Daniel 2:31-45

So [Music] so [Music] so well good morning church good morning it's so good to see y'all here at first baptist church my name is cody I'm the pastor here and I'm glad that you're here too and it's by no chance or just so happens that you're here God has purpose in you being here on this particular sunday and I'm glad that you are here a couple of announcements we have summer camp this week and so we got a bunch of students that are going off to summer camp and so please be in prayer for payton and Isaac fuel and Isaac lewis maddie hollingsworth of zoedea abby ersham ayla hal and summer keller because they're going to be down in texas at a it's called imfuge that's a mission fuge they're going to go and they're going to do some hard work and re-roofing houses and mending fences and painting stuff and ministering and then they're going to hear a whole lot about Jesus pray for them pray that the Lord gets a hold of their heart in a really powerful and amazing way because you know we most of us I think last week we asked how many of you have ever had an encounter with God at summer camp and most of us kind of raised our heads and said yes that was me and so we want to pray that the Lord gets a hold of our young people in a really awesome way amen oh man we want to pray that the Lord gets a hold of our young people in a really amazing way amen making me sweat guys we got vbs meeting this upcoming wednesday night at 5 30 or at 6 00 o'clock p.m don't forget that we have a vacation Bible school t-shirt offering

Next week what that does is basically we got a whole bunch of kids that are going to be here we got a hundred and some odd of them down here we can just so you know our we care has just been exploding and enrollment you know we've been able to take in a lot of foster families and we thank the Lord for that we've thank thanks to the graciousness of the forever young class being willing to move down to this end of the building we've we've been able to increase our enrollment significantly in that ministry and so thank you church for allowing for us to do that and we're gonna have a bunch of those families that are and those children here in our church and they're gonna hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they're gonna go home and they're gonna tell their parents about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we believe that the Lord is going to do some amazing things now we do have the denims that are gonna be joining us here in a couple of weeks they have found a home to an apartment to rent and so we thank the Lord for that and they're hoping to be here at the beginning of july if you can help move them in then you can join me and break your back and moving them in it's gonna be great I'll give you some tylenol sunday night services tonight we got men's prayer breakfast and work projects it's going to be happening june 25th from 8 a.m to 11 got some classrooms that we're going to be painting got national night out on august 2nd please be in prayer for that as that's going to be coming up also we have salt and light sunday that's going to be happening august 14th we got a meeting on june 22 to help plans for some of those projects salt light sunday is a sunday where we won't be actually having church service during this hour what we're going to do is we're going to

Have a breakfast down in the gym we're going to have a time of celebratory worship and then we are going to be the church equipped to go out and share the Gospel through service projects and so if that's something that interests you and you want to be a part of that then come to that planning meeting on june 22nd and it's going to be a great time also just want to point your attention to the offering plates the past several weeks we've just kind of been a little lower on our offerings and I'm not saying you have to give more because I understand that times are tight and it's hard right now amen but we also don't pass the plates and some people they say I don't even know how to give and so you can give by either going there or going on to our website or church center and you can give through the app or online because as you give that empowers us to make improvements and significant investments into ministries as you guys know our church we are having a major repair occurring over here on the north side of the building that's going to be about 109 000 when it's all said and done and so we thank the Lord the Lord's given us this kind of facility and so for some of you know I'm just letting you know that's a need that's out there now before we actually get into our service today I want us to take a moment because it's been a hard week a lot of a lot of different things that have happened in our in our country in our world that have not been good if you watch the news at all then you know that things can seem

A little daunting for the church and for the Gospel what I would ask you to do is just bow your heads and close your eyes and take those burdens and those cares those things that have really been weighing on your heart and take them to the Lord right now maybe there are things that are going on in your personal life not necessarily in this world but just you personally that have been weighing down on you maybe it's a bad doctor's appointment or an upcoming one maybe it's financial pressures maybe it's unrealized hopes or expectations take those before the Lord as well okay so Lord we do ask that you would help us to throw off all those distractions that would that would keep us from focusing totally on you on who you are and what you've done for us and in us and through us Lord we ask that though we are unworthy that you would make us a part of your great your great plan of redemption in the lives of those around us God help us to focus completely on you help us to worship in spirit and in truth this morning and even as we go from this place it's in Jesus name we pray amen please stand and join me as we sing together [Music] I was buried beneath my chain who could carry that kind [Music] till I met you I was breathing but not alive all my failures I'm trying

To hide [Music] till I met you called my name you called my name and I ran out like frames out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name [Applause] and I ran out of that grave [Music] out of the darkness into your glorious day [Music] now your mercy has saved my soul now your freedom is all that I know the old man knew Jesus when I met you called my name [Applause] and I ran out of that grave [Music] out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and I ran out of that grace out of the darkness into your glorious day I needed rescue my sin was heavy but chains break at the weight of your glory I need a shelter I was an orphan now you call me a citizen of heaven when I was broken you were my healing now your love is the air that I'm breathing I have a future my eyes are open cause when you called my name I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day [Music] you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day

You called my name and I ran out of that grace out of the darkness into your glorious day [Music] [Applause] amen this next song we're going to sing you can be seated it's a psalm 150 taken straight from the Scriptures psalm 150 praise the Lord [Music] you made the starry hosts you traced to the mountain peaks you paint the evening skies [Music] praise the Lord sing his greatness all creation praise the Lord raise your voice you heights and all your depths from furthest east to west let everything that has breath praise the Lord [Music] you reached into the dust in love your spirit breathes you formed us in your very light to know your wondrous works to tell your mighty deeds to join the everlasting [Music] course praise the Lord sing his graveness all creation praise the Lord raise your voice you heights and all your debts from birthdays to west let everything that has breath praise the Lord [Applause] let symphonies resound let drums and choirs ring out all heaven hear the sound of worship let every nation bring its honors to the king a roar of harm and easy turn oh praise the Lord

Sing his greatness all creation praise the Lord raise your voice you heights and all your depths from birds east to west let everything that has breath praise the Lord sing it again praise the Lord sing his greatness all creation praise the Lord raise your voice new heights and all your depths from birthers east to west you distant burning stars all creatures near and far from the sky to see the shore sing out forevermore let everything that has breath praise the Lord [Music] let's continue to praise his holy name even as we ask him to be our vision the Lord of our heart I ask that you please stand as you're able and join us as we sing honestly I don't it doesn't bother me at all whether you stand or sit or kneel or sing or pray I just want your hearts to be engaged in worship because that's why we're here today we're here to worship the name of the Lord together as the body of Christ that's a privilege that we take for granted far too often including myself it's something that's easy to forget just how precious and beautiful it is when the body of Christ praises the name of our Savior together [Music] to me say that thou art [Music] thy presence [Music] is [Music] thou mine inheritance now and

Always thou and thou only be first in my heart king of heaven my treasure thou art [Music] [Applause] [Music] may I reach heaven's joy's old bright heaven sun heart of my [Music] a heart of my own heart whatever before still be my vision [Music] as morning dawns and may [Music] I always my need o gracious God my source in you I live [Music] renew my spirit help me stand be glorified today [Music] as day unfolds I seek your will in all of life's demands [Music] let every ever of my life display the matchless worth of Christ make me a living sacrifice be glorified today as sun gives way to darkest night your spirit still is here and though my strength fades like the light new mercies will appear I rest in you who abide with me until our trials and suffering give way to final victory be glorified today I rest in you abide with me until our trials and suffering give away to final victory

Be glorified today [Music] Lord we pray that you would help us to rest in you even as you abide in us God we pray for those for those here that cannot say that you abide within them that Lord you would open their hearts and open their minds and draw them unto yourself Lord we pray that we would glorify you today and every day that you would remind us of your Gospel you would remind us that we are indeed in servitude to you and you alone Lord we rejoice in that and Lord we know it's only by your power and by your grace that we come it's in Jesus name that we pray amen well if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to the book of Daniel chapter two we are at Daniel's interpretation of nebuchadnezzar's dream we're gonna be in verses 31 through 45. This is a prime example of one of the clearest prophecies in the Bible that should cause believers of any sort of denomination that you might be affiliated with if you're here I'm glad that you're here got some weekenders here we love having weekenders here because we get a chance to minister to you and before you get out and enjoy the lake but this is such a wonderful and amazing prophecy that just comes comes together so well over the millennium we've seen countless nations and leaders try to dominate the world it's one of the things that people might fear you know people might think about globalism that's kind of a

Trigger word now for nebuchadnezzar here he is finally going to get some answers to a question it's something that's been keeping them up at night what does this dream mean and it's been troubling him and as we started out the service talking about things that trouble us and I asked you guys this a couple of weeks ago what troubles you what are the things that keep you awake at night what are the things that cause you to lose sleep what troubles you maybe it's the reports of the mass shootings it seems like they're shooting after shooting after shooting right now it could be the report of the sex abuse task force from the sbc that the messengers myself and austin and larry we voted to appoint this sex abuse task force because we wanted to make sure that type of stuff wasn't happening in our convention could be bad news about stock markets or maybe it's putin threatening nuclear war or whatever it is that keeps you awake at night remember God is still in control and I don't mean that in some type of like fickle imaginary kind of thing where God is just kind of up there watching and managing the situation he is intimately involved in the details and he is working out a greater redemption for his people for you for me for all who hope in the Lord Jesus and so none of this stuff catches them off guard you know I still follow richmond news because I'm a richmonder I've that's where I was born that's where I was

Raised and so I keep up with the news you know and there were two girls on the James river that just all of a sudden went missing you know they've discovered one's body and another one I don't know if they found the other one yet I don't think I hadn't heard anything but God's he's still involved in that even though we don't see his goodness in that season we don't see it the pain is real and it hurts and it hurts bad but as believers as those who have faith in the Lord we can trust that God is still at work I mean how terrifying would it be to think that no one's steering this boat called the universe and verses 21 and 22 Daniel he prayed this he said he changes times and seasons he removes kings and sets up kings he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding he reveals deep and hidden things he knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him God he rules God he reigns even right now he upholds the universe by his power and even you right now are completely dependent upon his grace that next heartbeat that next one that next one it's all because of his grace that he gave you that one in that one the troubles that we face they aren't outside of God's control but he has allowed for those things to happen God he permits evil to grow in this world for a bunch of different reasons but one of the most important reasons is to drive people to seek the Lord it's part of the reasons why God brings people so low and for some of us he has to bring us lower than others so when the

When the burdens of life get low when we feel like we are at our lowest point or maybe our nation is getting harder to live in the economy gets worse and worse remember that people are going to be looking outside of themselves for answers and God has equipped you Christian with the answers and the opportunities to share the hope of the Gospel that he has given to you not so that way you can hoard it but so that you can share the truth of the Gospel message with others and Daniel he's he's driven to prayer and he has humbled himself under the mighty hand of God and the passage that we are looking at today is a prophetical passage and I hope that's a blessing to you today and I pray that you are encouraged if you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read Daniel chapter 2 verses 31-45 God's word says this you saw o king and behold a great image this image mighty and of exceeding brightness stood before you and its appearance was frightening the head of it of this image was a fine gold its chest and arms of silver it's middle and thighs of bronze it's legs of iron it's feet partly of iron and partly of clay as you looked a stone was cut out by no human hand and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces then the iron the clay the bronze the silver and the gold all together were broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them could be found but the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth this was the dream

Now we will tell you we will tell the king its interpretation you o king the king of kings to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom the power and the might and the glory and into whose hands he has given wherever they dwell the children of man the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens making you rule over them all you are the head of gold another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you and yet a third kingdom of bronze which shall rule over all the earth and there shall be a fourth kingdom strong as iron because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things and like iron that crushes it shall crush and it shall break and crush all these and as you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron it shall be a divided kingdom but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay and as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle as you saw the iron mixed with soft clay so they will mix with one another in marriage but they will not hold together just as iron does not mix with clay and in the days of those kings the king the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed nor shall the kingdom be left to another people it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end and it shall stand forever just as you saw a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand and that it broke in pieces the iron the bronze the clay the silver and the gold a great God has made known to the king what shall happen after this the dream is certain and its interpretation sure and so God we do thank you for your word

We ask that right now that you would just be with us God is this passage has sparked many different interpretations God help us to listen your word to be lenient with one another to have grace and understanding that we might gain a greater knowledge of your word and not just knowledge but Lord help us to apply your word to our lives that we might not be foolishly bickering over interpretations but that we might be ready for your kingdom and all of its fullness when you return we love you in Jesus name amen well Daniel he stands before king nebuchadnezzar and he shares the dream okay we've been building up to this for several weeks now of course you guys know that the wise men of babylon they were they were in a tight spot nebuchadnezzar had this dream he said you need to tell me what the interpretation is and you need to tell me what I dreamed about and the wise men said we can't do that no one can do that only the gods of the heavens can do that and thankfully there is a God in heaven who spoke through the prophet Daniel and he was able to deliver not just you know his friends azariah hananiah and mishael but he was also able to save and deliver the wise men of babylon now the dream is of a large sculpture if you've got notes in the bulletin you should be able to open that up and see this is kind of what it looked like this is obviously an

Artist's depiction okay we look at this and we don't think of anything too terrifying or anything like that it's not exceedingly bright it's hard to portray exceeding brightness through art and depictions of it yeah but Daniel he is he describes it as mighty as exceedingly bright as frightening that word frightening in aramaic is de hal which means exceedingly beautiful and you know we have to remember that a lot of the ancients they enjoyed building these monolithic structures as a sign of their eternal power and their divine nature because that's what people believe that the king was not just appointed by the gods but in a lot of ways he was actually divine and so when we see things like this we've got to remember that this is almost a sign that nebuchadnezzar is indeed appointed by the Lord we don't see this as a as a thing of beauty but in the ancient world it was a sign of power of course these people they weren't divine they were just talented folks sometimes they were sometimes they weren't they weren't very talented but they were simply gifted humans that were given responsibility for a season over what the Lord has allowed and that's all that government really is you see the statue it's described very briefly in two verses you look at it's not very long that Daniel spins describing the verb describing the statue it's got a the head of this image was a fine gold it's chests and arms of silver it's middle and thighs of bronze it's lags of iron his

Feet partly of iron and partly of clay done that's it a much larger portion is devoted to the stone that struck the statue that was cut by no human hand which annihilates this mighty statue and it's blown away like chaff in the stone it grows and grows and grows until it becomes a great mountain and fill the earth fills the earth this is the dream and Daniel he isn't stopped by nebuchadnezzar at all do you know why it's because Daniel is 100 correct you guys yeah you know when I was a kid I used to go to the grocery stores with my mom and at the checkout line they had like the garbage magazines you know what I'm talking about like the bat like I've got a picture here of one that terrified me as a kid can you show batboy yeah you guys remember that yeah there he is yeah bat child found in cave it was a an older lady that was a neighbor and she said that's where you get the real news from right I'm like why are we discovering this stuff all the time I saw it I saw another one yeah world's smartest ape goes to college yeah and all that nine-month-old baby gets black belt in karate you know obviously these are garbage right I remember they was really popular right before y2k you guys remember y2k right all right and I'm starting to get to that age where some kids are like what's y2k [Laughter] I remember it was like december 28th my grandpa he came back with like a package of bottled

Water and some dried beans and that was it's like yeah that's gonna last us a long time but anyways yeah and everyone was obsessed with nostradamus and all that kind of stuff and here's the thing is that a profit has to be right how much percentage of the time 100 of the time I was a teenager in high school and a psychic had her business robbed and the headline said never saw it coming I'm serious I'm serious but what Daniel does here is 100 correct and that's why nebuchadnezzar doesn't stop at all he doesn't doesn't say wait you got you missed that part it's 100 complete and accurate in its revelation this is truthful because it comes from the Lord and I can picture him leaning forward at this point listening intently this was my dream what does it mean that's when Daniel is going to give this interpretation of the dream and so he starts Daniel starts by honoring the king you o king the king of kings to whom God the God of heaven has given the kingdom firstly there is one king of kings okay king kings with capital k his name is Jesus and he will return to this earth to rule and reign secondly notice this that nebuchadnezzar he is just simply a steward of what God has given to him he's been entrusted with it for just a little bit thirdly nebuchadnezzar was given the kingdom anyone that is a leader in this nation locally or not they are there because God has them there and this should prompt people who are in

Leadership not to be proud and say look at me but to be humble and seek the Lord now nebuchadnezzar he was one of the most prolific kings of the ancient world he was a genius he pioneered various forms of mathematics he was an extremely talented builder and architect he pioneered some areas of astronomy he was he was always writing and studying he was a fierce military leader and strategist and he had all of these things power and might and glory not because nebuchadnezzar was exceptionally talented although he was he had those talents because God gave him those talents and in the same way God he has given you unique gifts and talents not for you to squander on your own kingdom but to use for his kingdom and God he had blessed nebuchadnezzar's rule and it was very nearly absolute it was over all the people that he came in contact with over the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens that's what Daniel says anyways nebuchadnezzar he had authority over them all and it should remind us at least of Genesis chapter 1 in what the Lord had called Adam to do in Genesis chapter 1 verse 28 it says and God blessed them Adam and Eve and said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on earth and this is the call of humanity that is why like you know people will talk about environmentalism and things like that like Christians should be concerned about the environment in a healthy way taking care of the earth because that's one of the things that we're

Called to do we are called to subdue it and to rule over it's the call of humanity and it's why people have that desire innately in their lives to enjoy his creation this is why Christians can and should be involved anywhere and everywhere they can be in leadership in government in the arts and more because the more that Christians have a voice in government in areas of entertainment in education the more that Christians have a voice there the more God will be glorified in our nation and so what do each of these different parts mean because that's ultimately what people are concerned about thankfully Daniel he gets us going he says you are the head of gold you like can't get around that and I love that I love it when Scripture does that we don't have to read into it very much nebuchadnezzar by extension the babylonian empire is the head of gold this is a map of the babylonian empire that map got that map there we go thanks so it went down the nile river up the euphrates into modern day turkey it was a large empire and it was a unified empire that's why it was one head and as we descend the statue we start to notice how and how much more inferior it becomes and also how it becomes increasingly divided the next empire is inferior in quality and that's why it says in verse 39 another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you this means immediately after there is a kingdom and we will actually see this prophecy fulfilled in the book of Daniel it's in Daniel chapter five and it's the medo-persian empire the medo-persian empire had arose in 538 bc under king cyrus and it extended its influence from the himalayas to greece and africa into southern parts of

Russia okay and so you have even there into the mediterranean some of the greek islands you know you see just how massive the medo-persian empire was the third kingdom well the medo-persian empire it fell in 334 to the greeks and of course alexander the great is the one who led the grecian empire to dominate all the known world that is the belly and thighs of bronze he extended it all the way to the himalayas it is said that while alexander the great was still in his 20s he wept because there were no more cultures no more lands for him to conquer he extended his influence in his reach that far of course it was conquered by the fourth empire the roman empire in 168 bc rome is traditionally understood to be the legs of iron it is the toughest of all these medals by far it was said that the romans they would create a desert and call it peace these were bad dudes what they would do is they would actually as they conquered different areas they would spread salt and fields in order to make it to where the people there couldn't go grow crops in order to make them dependent upon rome in the government this fourth is given a lot more detail than the others the romans they break to pieces and they shatter all things just like iron that crushes it shall break and crush all these rome had been growing for years in the italian peninsula and by 290 it controlled all of mainland italy then there was the punic wars when they conquered the island of sicily hannibal he crossed the alps to attack rome and

He was defeated which gave rome complete control over the western mediterranean and then rome conquered Philip the fifth of macedon he was the grecian king at that time and then antiochus iii the king of syria he also surrendered all of asia minor in 146 bc macedonia was made a roman province which gave bring up that map gave control of rome oh no go back to there we go gave rome control over all of northern africa all the way up into parts of russia by its greatest extent it even got up into parts of great britain an absolutely massive massive empire the toes and the feet they are part of the same kingdom rome as before each kingdom was unique in its composition and yet here the strength of the old kingdom remains and yet though it was also weak it was because rome was too big it became unruly you couldn't manage it which led to a great division between the empire go ahead and pull this up so this is where the roman empire was divided they had two caesars they had two emperors you're talking about something that had never happened very unique in our world's history of course it wasn't able to even then manage itself and it was slowly conquered of course by Christianity praise the Lord amen once again this is following what we see in Scripture here immediacy things happening one right after the other you had the rise of one empire the fall of another the rise of one the fall of another the rise won the fall of another and ultimately the last empire is of course the kingdom of God the longest part of this passage it's

Devoted to what it should be devoted to which is the stone made without human hands look at verse 44. It says and in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed nor shall the kingdom be left to another people it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end and it shall stand forever you see the God of heaven the same God who had given nebuchadnezzar power and might he is bringing his kingdom to the earth and it was during the reign of rome that Christ he entered the world in Luke chapter 2 verse 1 it says that in those days the decree went out from caesar augustus that all the world should be registered and when Jesus Christ when he began his earthly ministry you know what he proclaimed first in Mark chapter 1 verse 15 Jesus came into galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God and saying the time is fulfilled the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe the Gospel he went on in Matthew chapter 4 verse 17 once again from that time Jesus began to preach saying repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand Jesus he preached the arrival of the kingdom throughout his ministry and this is known to you and I today as the kingdom of God and so for us like the kingdom of God it's it's it's a present reality but it's also a future hope in that we already have it but not yet complete does that make sense it's almost like the ancient betrothals you were technically married you were technically joined together but you weren't yet fully married and so for us we look at the kingdom not just as something that is coming but that is already here if you are in

Christ and you have received the Gospel you have the kingdom of God so we don't have to worry about you know like what's going to happen next in this world because we are already citizens and ambassadors and children of the kingdom of God and so what are what are some things that we learn about God's kingdom if you're taking notes you need to write these things down firstly it is God's creation it says the God of heaven will set up a kingdom this kingdom of heaven it is not like other kingdoms it doesn't have a rome or a babylon it doesn't exist in vatican city you know where it exists it exists where the Gospel is proclaimed that's where the kingdom of God is we don't have a military we don't need a military there's no military here on earth that can stand against the kingdom you know you know how many times people have tried to destroy the Gospel and yet it never works all it does it's like a grease fire and someone tries to put water on it just spreads everywhere praise the Lord and so for you and I we don't have to be in despair when trials and tribulations come that's why when you talk to persecuted believers they don't pray that the persecution would end they pray that they would be able to endure Thomas watson said it is the blood of martyrs that's the seed of the Gospel Jesus he said in Luke chapter 17 verse 20 and 21 the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed nor will they say look here it is or there for behold the kingdom of God is in the midst of you secondly it is an indestructible

And unending kingdom Daniel he describes it as a kingdom that shall never be destroyed nor shall the kingdom be left to another people of course the contrast of that is all the other kingdoms that you know are destroyed and they wither away and they blow away like chaff remember and I say this with all due respect because I love this nation amen like we love we love america we are thankful for the rights that we have but america is not the kingdom of God and for you and I we want to be citizens primarily of the kingdom first because Jesus paid it all and it's all to him that we owe he delivered your soul from hell by the shedding his own blood for you the contrast of course is these kingdoms that turn to chaff and have blown away it should remind us of psalm chapter 1 and says blessed is the man who is like a tree planted by a stream well watered and what's the wicked man like wicked man is like chaff that the wind drives away therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous before the king of heaven no one will be able to stand unless they have Christ it's the only way that you or I will ever be able to stand before the throne of grace thirdly it's a kingdom of victory and eternal by nature the kingdom Daniel says it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end and it shall stand forever and this is a promise in psalm chapter 2 and verses 7 through 9 you are my son it's a promise to Jesus you are my son

Today I have begotten you ask of me I will make the nations your heritage in the ends of the earth you're possession you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel fourthly it will be universal it's why we believe in mission work we want the Gospel to go we know that there's people out there that are just waiting to hear the Gospel they don't know that they need the Gospel but that's why we send missionaries to tell them about their tremendous need for Christ that's why we that's why we give our money that's why we go that's why we send missionaries that's why we partner that's why we pray that's why we don't just go to the nations but we also go to our neighbors because they need Jesus as well and so this stone it became a great mountain and it filled the whole earth and this is what we do as Christians we share the Gospel we share the message of the kingdom of God that we would be partakers in this in fulfilling this prophecy not that we fulfill the prophecy God does but you know what I'm saying we build the kingdom by declaring the Gospel this is why we're described as being in a spiritual war because we're we are seeking to bring all things under the subjection of the Lord God this is why Christians we must be engaged in moral issues we have to be engaged in social issues political issues we don't have the right because we've been bought by Christ we don't get the right to be silent on things that God has spoken clearly about you know there's a story of robert the bruce king of scotland who he was in a war for freedom against england

And william wallace had been killed and one of the things according to legend robert the bruce used to he had a jar that would hang around his neck and that's what they kept william wallace's heart in okay and they were in a big battle and he had the jar and he held it up and he said fight for the heart of your king this is the king saying this about william wallace fight for the heart of your king and so he held it up and the scotsman all surrounded him and they pushed up against the english the english fighters and they won the war for their freedom because they fought for the heart of their king and for you and I we have to come to that point where we're willing to fight for the heart of our king how many times have we had opportunities to fight but we get silent and we clam up or we shut up how many opportunities did the Lord give us every day to fight for the heart of our king but we just say I'm too busy I don't need to do that right now I don't want to I don't want to create waves and you're not going to be remembered unless you stand you're not going to like it's not like you go with the flow and everything's good and you get to heaven and God's going to go well done good and faithful servant no you stand and you fight because that's what God has called us to do to fight for the kingdom of God not by using nasty words not by being rude but you know how we do it we do it through love we do it graciously

We eat with our neighbors and we find ways that we can serve them and love them and minister to them we go and we visit we talk to people about the Lord our battle is not against flesh and blood so those who are of flesh and blood you know what we need to do we need to pray for them we need to love them today you know we don't have rome I guess we kind of do but you know they're not a superpower but I do want you to know that there is an antichrist there is a spirit of the antichrist in first John chapter 2 it tells us in verse 18 children it is the last hour as you have heard the antichrist is coming so now many antichrists have come therefore we know that it is the last hour you know we are in the last days we've been in the last days since you know Jesus ascended these are the last days and our hope is in the truth of the Gospel we've been in the last days and God you know you know why he delays his wrath he delays his wrath because there's people that still need to hear the Gospel and there's many spiritual enemies that don't want that there's some physical people that don't want that either but even then it's because they're blinded by our spiritual enemy and so what happens is they what satan tries to do is he tries to distract you tries to entertain you he tries to get you to be troubled and downtrodden you guys remember me talking about satan's lullaby he wants to lull you to sleep you can't do it for the sake of Christ don't do it for the sake of the kingdom of God don't do it

For the sake of those who are lost and need hope the hope of the Gospel don't do it quit looking for rapture and look for the kingdom which is already here and seek to fulfill his will today for you the stone that the builders have rejected has become the chief cornerstone is what the Scripture says and this kingdom that started with 120 people on a little upper room prayer meeting has led to billions of believers all parts of the globe and so why does Jesus delay his return he delays it because there are still people that need to hear the Gospel and this statue it's also a glimpse at the entirety of human history you see with each kingdom is this in this progress of time it shows that humanity is decreasing decreasing decreasing it becomes inferior and inferior and what's interesting is that God he doesn't just replace it with like a brand new man like hey here's a diamond he doesn't do that you know what he does is he replaces it with something radically new and different and it's replaced with the work of God that starts small and grows and flourishes until it dominates every part of the globe and he reigns forever and ever and so that should ask us make us ask ourselves that question what is it that we're living for what is the kingdom that we are investing in are we investing in our own kingdom in the kingdoms of this world are we investing in the kingdom of God head hand heart head I want you to know that the kingdom of God is here today Jesus he said in Luke 20 verses 20 through 21 being asked by the pharisees when the

Kingdom of God would come he answered them the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed nor will they say look here it is or there for behold the kingdom of God is in the midst of you it is presently here right now because Jesus he rules and reigns in the lives of believers that are in this room today hand I want you to live for the kingdom now since the kingdom is here and it's God's creation it's indestructible it's unending it's a kingdom of victory and eternal by its nature since it grows with every disciple that is made why do you and I oftentimes struggle to live with kingdom purpose I want to challenge you if you don't serve in a ministry you need to do it if you're not regularly evangelizing people you need to do it we don't have much time we don't know when that moment is going to come when he will stop upholding you by his grace none of us do but you're called to serve in the kingdom by sharing the Gospel with a neighbor by serving in your church by repenting of sin so live for Christ today heart I want you to believe that the kingdom it will annihilate anything opposed to it you might think that your ultimate thing that you're living for is more important but let me tell you that God he will show you that your ultimate things really don't matter unless they're him like your strength will fade your aspirations may never come to fruition your health it will fail but God's kingdom it will ultimately destroy anything that is opposed to it and just as all those glorious kingdoms babylon medo-persia greece

Rome every single kingdom that has ever existed will fade away but God's kingdom will not my question is have you surrendered to Christ have you entered into his kingdom have you turned away from sin and turned to Christ have you yielded to him in his lordship because you can do that today to be a Christian means to increase in your submission to God have you started by submitting to his will for you have you started by turning away from that sin and turning to Christ because you can do that today the Bible says that he desires for all men to be saved the Bible says that you can be born again by trusting in him and his finished work on the cross his death his burial and his resurrection do you have eternal life because you can have it today [Music] the Bible says that you must be born again to enter into the kingdom of God I want to ask you if you don't know where you're going come shake my hand say cody and I just need to talk to you about this because I'm not quite sure be happy to counsel you with that let's all stand together and let's pray and then worship so God we do thank you for this great day that you've given to us I thank you Lord for the work that you're doing and in our church and in our people we pray that our hope would not be in the kingdoms of this earth [Music] but in your kingdom that is already here but not yet quite fully realized help us Lord to be faithful ambassadors of that kingdom to share the truth of the Gospel

To live according to your will for us that we might be able to see this world reached with the Gospel help us to declare it each and every day in Jesus name amen as morning dawns and day awakes to you I bring my need o gracious God my source of strength in you I live and breathe each hour is yours by wisdom planned each deed empowered by sovereign hands renew my spirit help me stand be glorified today [Music] as day unfolds I seek your will in all of life's demons and [Music] I cling to your comments let every effort of my life display the matchless worth of Christ make me a living sacrifice be glorified today as sun gives way to darkest night your spirit still is here and though my strength fades like the light new mercies will appear I rest in you abide with me until our trials and suffering give way to final victory be glorified today I rest in you abide with me until our trials and suffering give away to final

Victory be glorified today [Music] thank you especially this week speech you