Daniel Study Sermon Series - Roanoke Baptist

1 Daniel Study Sermon Series Chapter Sermon Title Introduction Prophecy What and Why? (2 Peter 1:19 2:3) 1 Daniel : A Prophet For All Times (1:1-6) 1 Training of a Champion (1:1-21) 2 Nebuchadnezzar s Nightmare (2:1-30, 46-49) 2 Nebuchadnezzar s Statue (2:29-45) 3 Fiery Faith (3) 4 The Gospel According to Nebuchadnezzar (4) 5 Handwriting on the Wall (5) 6 Liars, Laws, and Lions (6) 7 Parade of Kingdoms (7) 7 The Little Horn (7:19-26) 8 How the West Won (8) 9 Seventy Sevens (9:1-4a, 20-27) 10 Demon Power (10:1 11:1) 11 The Message Angels Fought to Deliver (11:2-45) 12 The End (12) Resources Anderson, Sir Robert, The Coming Prince, Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 19th ed, 1975. Gangel, Kenneth O., Holman Old Testament Commentary: Daniel , Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2001.

2 jeremiah , David with Carole C. Carlson, The Handwriting on the Wall: Secrets from the prophecies of Daniel , Nashville: W Publishing Group, 1992. jeremiah , David, The Handwriting on the Wall Study Guide, Vol I, II, & III, San Diego: Turning Point, 2002. Wiersbe, Warren W., Be Resolute, Colorado Springs: Victor, 2000. Prophecy What and Why 2 Peter 1:19 2:3 BRIAN: Pastor, there is something I need to tell you right away. ALAN: Are you sure it can t wait until after the worship service is over? BRIAN: No. No, this is important. ALAN: OK, what is it? BRIAN: Well, God told me that we need to change the color of the church carpet. ALAN: Oh, really? BRIAN: Yes, we need to put in canary yellow carpet. ALAN: Canary yellow?!? BRIAN: Yes, He said "canary yellow," and we need to do it this week. ALAN: Well, that is an interesting idea.

3 Maybe we can discuss it later. I m not sure the Board of Directors will go for canary yellow, and actually, I m not sure that we need a new carpet. BRIAN: But, Pastor, this is not something we need to discuss. God told me this is what we need to do. I m just giving you the message. We d better do it. ALAN: What do you mean, God told you we need to put in canary yellow carpet this week? BRIAN: Just that. God told me. He spoke to me. I am just telling you what He said. ALAN: Did you hear an audible voice say this? BRIAN: No. ALAN: So, how do you know God told you this? BRIAN: How do I know? Well, I .. well, I just do! ALAN: But, Brian, there is nothing in the Bible which even remotely talks about carpet color, and frankly, canary yellow just doesn t seem like the color the Lord would recommend. BRIAN: Are you trying to tell me that God didn t speak to me?

4 Who are you to decide what God can or can t say? I think when someone has a message from the Lord, you d better listen! ALAN: Now, Brian, let s not get excited. You know, I think you will be real interested in the Sermon today. Why don t you just sit down and we ll talk about the carpet later. BRIAN: Well, OK. But I sure hope Carpet Corner has a big roll of canary yellow carpet on hand. I think most of us would agree that it is very unlikely that God would talk to us in the way that Brian described. As Christians, however, we believe that the Lord has spoken to men in the past and can still speak to us today if he wants to. We are convinced God exists and is not silent. So, how does the Lord communicate with us? We believe it is primarily through the Bible, his Word. We regard the words found in this book as the very words of God.

5 When we read and Study the Bible, we believe that the Lord is speaking to us. Paul told Timothy that All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16 17) Peter tells us that we have the word of the prophets and that we do well to pay attention to it. So why is it that most people don t like to Study prophecy? Surely it isn t because they don t think it is important. So it must be that they find it hard to understand most prophecy. I don t know whether that is a problem for you but it shouldn t be after we finish examining the prophetic writings of the Bible. To begin this Study , let s try to answer two questions today what is prophecy and why Study it.

6 What is prophecy? Some people believe that prophecy is speaking forth the Word of God or, in other words, explaining what the Bible says. But explaining what the Bible says is teaching and Paul told the Ephesians that [God] gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers. (Eph 4:11) Since the offices of prophet and teacher are separate, we can see that teaching is not prophecy. Most Christians believe that prophecy is a God-given revelation of the future given to a prophet such as Moses, Ezekiel, Isaiah or Daniel . We believe God did this to prepare people for the future, and to show that he is the one true God and that he is all-powerful. But really a prophecy is not a prediction of the future - it is a promise about the future.

7 For example, God said that the Jews would be forced out of Israel, scattered worldwide, persecuted worldwide, and that they would eventually return to Israel. All of these promises have been fulfilled at least in part. There are different kinds of prophecies . Some prophecies are about a Messiah, which means "anointed one" or "chosen one." These are called "Messianic" prophecies . Christians believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of these prophecies . There also are "end time" prophecies . These prophecies refer to a time of war, famine and pestilence, after which a Messiah will reign over the world with justice and righteousness. Christians believe that the Messiah of the end time prophecies is Jesus. The Bible contains hundreds of prophecies . Some were fulfilled more than 3000 years ago.

8 Let s look at one example. In Genesis 15:12 16, God promised Abram (Abraham) that his descendants would be strangers in a strange land for 400 years, that they would be enslaved and mistreated, but that God would plunder the nation enslaving them and that they would come out with great possessions. The fulfillment came in Exodus 12:35 36 when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses told them to ask the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. Why would the Egyptians be willing to give their slaves their riches? Because God made them willing to do it as he had promised their ancestor, Abram. It was God s plan to redistribute his wealth that he had allowed the Egyptians to collect so that the Israelite people would have what was necessary to build him a tabernacle when they arrived in the desert.

9 Other prophecies have been fulfilled since then. And, by some scholars count, more than 50 have found fulfillment or partial fulfillment during the past 200 years. Many Bible prophecies have found fulfillment more than once, such as the prophecies that the Jews would have Israel as their own country. The Jews had control over the land of Israel from about 3400 years ago up until about 2700 years ago, and then again beginning in 1948. So prophecy is God s decision to promise something about the future to people and then show himself to be the one true God and in total control by causing what he promised to happen just as he said it would. Why Study prophecy? In some sense we have already answered the question of why we should Study prophecy. It is God revealing himself to people. That is reason enough to Study prophecy.

10 But there are more good reasons. Amount of Scripture devoted to prophecy To neglect the Study of prophecy we would have to neglect what to of the Bible says. Entire chapters of books are devoted to prophecy - Matt. 24-25; Mk. 13; Luke 21. Entire books of the Bible are devoted entirely to prophecy - Zechariah; Daniel ; Revelation. Prophecy about the Return of Jesus is mentioned over 300 times in the NT. Some questions are answered only by studying prophecy What is the Resurrection? How many are there? Will everyone be resurrected together or separately? What will heaven be like? Will we know one another in heaven? What are the judgments? Will everyone be judged together? Will nations be judged? Will the lost be judged? Will believers be judged? Can a person be saved after judgment?