WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:08.720 This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:12.480 Helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:18.079 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandParkway.org. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:20.320 Amen. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:20.879 Amen. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:21.519 You can have a seat. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:24.960 If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to the Old Testament book of Daniel. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:28.000 If you don't have a Bible, what I'm going to read is going to come up on the screen. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:29.600 And let me begin with a confession. 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:38.640 There are times if you read much of the Bible where you're going to read things in the Bible and your prevailing thought is going to be, What in the world did I just read? 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:39.200 Okay? 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:44.960 I say that because we're depart in Daniel chapter 2, Old Testament book of Daniel, that is one of those parts. 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:47.039 You're just kind of like, what the what? 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:47.679 The what? 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:48.719 Are you kidding me? 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:50.560 So let me just give you the context, okay? 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:52.000 We're preaching through the book of Daniel. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:53.840 We took a break for the past couple of weeks. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:59.920 One of our other pastors preached the last week we had Jason Gray, uh singer-songwriter from Nashville here. 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:02.320 And we're picking back up in Daniel chapter two. 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:03.679 I'll start reading verse 31. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:07.760 I'm going to talk to you this morning about the one reality that you were created for. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:10.000 The reality that you were created for. 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:12.719 And we're right in the middle of a chapter. 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:18.560 What has happened is Nebuchadnezzar, who is the he's the king, he kind of rules the known world at this time. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:19.519 He had a dream. 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:23.280 It was very troubling to him, so much so he couldn't get back to sleep. 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:33.280 And so he issued a decree and said, Hey, usually a king would have a dream, and then he would say to his little enchanters and magicians that he has on the payroll, hey, come and tell me what this means. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:37.200 And in this case, he up the annie, he said, I'm not going to tell you the dream. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:42.560 If you guys are really real, I want you to tell me the dream that I had, and I want you to interpret it for me. 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:44.560 And so they were like, nobody can do that. 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:48.560 I mean, the only person that could do that is God, and he lives in heaven. 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:50.159 He doesn't dwell with men. 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:54.400 Daniel, this young teenager, he's about 16, 17, best we can tell. 00:01:54.640 --> 00:02:03.840 Daniel has three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and they get together, have a prayer meeting at their off-campus apartment, and God reveals the dream and the interpretation. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:12.479 Where we left off last time was Daniel said, Hey, because the king said, I'm going to kill all you wise men, you wise men, if you can't tell me the dream and the interpretation. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:14.400 And Daniel goes, Don't kill anybody. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:15.599 We've heard from God. 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:18.159 Let me tell you what God's what God's revealed. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:19.759 That's where we drop in on it. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:26.800 And what's revealed in Daniel chapter 2, starting verse 31, is this one reality that you and I were created for. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:29.680 Let's look, let's look at verse 31. 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:33.439 Uh he says, This he says, You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:38.960 The image mighty and of exceeding brightness stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:49.919 The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, it's partly, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:56.639 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. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:08.159 And 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. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:12.879 But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:14.400 But this is the dream. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:17.360 Now we will tell the king its interpretation. 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:31.919 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 whose hand he has given wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, the birds of the heaven, making you rule over them all. 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:33.520 You are the head of gold. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:41.919 Another kingdom inferior to you shall rise, shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze which shall rule over all the earth. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:47.599 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:51.520 And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:58.240 And as you saw, the feet and the toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:03.599 But some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw, iron mixed with the soft clay. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:11.360 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:19.600 As you saw the iron mixed with the 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. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:31.600 And in the days of those kings, just mark verse 44 in your Bible, 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. 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:36.879 It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever. 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:45.040 Just as you saw that, a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:48.879 A great God is made known to the king what shall be after this? 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:52.399 The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:05:00.879 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell down upon his face, and he paid homage to Daniel and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:09.120 The king answered and said to Daniel, Truly your God is God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery. 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:18.160 Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole providence of Babylon, and the chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:24.000 Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:27.279 But Daniel remained at the king's court. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:31.519 Now, what what do you what what what does all that mean? 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:41.920 Whenever you read something in the Bible you don't understand, there's three timeless truth, three principles of biblical interpretation that help us kind of get at what the Bible's saying, and they are this observation, okay? 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:43.360 That's the first one. 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:46.560 Observation, interpretation, and then application. 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:47.600 Let me say them again. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:49.519 Observation, just kind of looking. 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:50.399 What do I observe? 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:50.959 What do I see? 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:52.000 What stands out to me? 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:52.959 What's here on the page? 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:55.120 Observation, interpretation, okay. 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:56.639 Now I see what I see. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:57.759 What does this mean? 00:05:57.839 --> 00:05:58.800 That's interpretation. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:00.879 What did it mean in its original context? 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:02.560 What does it mean for me today? 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:04.000 And then application, okay. 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:05.439 How do I apply that to my life? 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:10.319 So I want to take those three principles and lay them down over this passage that we just read, okay? 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:13.600 Number one, observation is verses 31 to 35. 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:16.160 It's basically where Daniel interprets the dream. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:19.680 It begins with, You saw, O king, behold, a great image. 00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:27.519 And then he describes this, for lack of a better word, this statue, this image, and the top part of its head and shoulders was made out of gold. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:29.839 And then the next part was made out of silver. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:36.160 And then the next part was made out of bronze, and then the legs and the feet were made out of iron, and the legs were made out of iron. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:39.839 And he gets to the feet, and it's this mix of iron and clay. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:42.160 Have you ever heard the phrase feet of clay? 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:43.279 Say amen. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:45.040 This is where it comes from. 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:50.480 Basically, it's saying when someone says, Oh, he's great, but he has feet of clay, they're saying this is his weakness. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:54.639 Now, now just on an observation level, just kind of looking. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:07:02.399 It's kind of one of those dreams where you just think you get up from this and you say to yourself, Mimer itself, do not eat Chinese food after 11 o'clock at night. 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:02.959 Okay? 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:08.879 This is like, hey, we went out to dinner, we went to the concert, and then on the way home, we went to Waffle House. 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:10.319 We shouldn't have done that, okay? 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:14.800 And so it's this weird, crazy, chaotic vision of this statue. 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:27.839 It's made out of four different kinds of steel, of, of, of elements, of like precious, like there's gold, and then there's silver, and then there's bronze, and then there's iron, and then there's clay, just by a show of hands. 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:31.920 How many of you, when I read that description, you thought, I know exactly what that's talking about? 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:33.120 Raise your hand. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:39.600 Yeah, the look on y'all's face is uh isn't that your job? 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:41.519 Uh that's why you're here. 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:43.600 Dance monkey, get on with it, okay? 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:46.639 So here's the point there are things you're going to read in the Bible. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:48.160 You're in good company if you read that. 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:49.519 Because here's what you don't want to do. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:52.160 You don't want to read that and go, that doesn't make sense. 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:55.199 The Bible doesn't really apply to life in 2020, okay? 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:58.079 This is why it just don't stop at observation. 00:07:58.240 --> 00:07:59.920 Get to the second part, interpretation. 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:01.199 Because here's the interpretation. 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:02.959 Basically, what you see is five kingdoms. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:04.560 I've listed them out here for you. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:13.360 The Bible, because God knows the future, and the Bible is the breathed out word of God, the Bible doesn't predict the future, the Bible tells the future. 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:14.959 Let me say that again. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:18.079 The Bible doesn't predict the future like this may or may not happen. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:19.439 The Bible tells the future. 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:22.879 I don't know if you remember this, but when I was a kid, we had those little magic eight balls. 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:23.839 Remember that? 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:26.560 Hello, and you'd shake it and you'd look at it and say something. 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:30.160 I remember I had a stepsister that just that thing was like the canon of scripture. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:32.240 She's like, I've got to consult the magic eight ball. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:35.919 And I remember getting in bed one night just thinking, my stepsister's a witch. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:38.879 We're gonna have to kill her as soon as we're done here. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:41.360 Because it was always like, let me ask the magic eight ball. 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:42.879 This is not a magic eight ball. 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:46.000 We don't shake this and kind of go, okay, who's gonna win the election? 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:47.679 Oh, Trump, I knew it. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:49.600 Uh it's just a joke. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:52.159 By the way, I sent the email yesterday, you all. 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:54.960 I made a joke how the Democrats infected the president. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:57.360 Within five minutes, I had 61 responses. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:59.279 That's exactly what I thought. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:03.200 And then I got Democrats kind of going, no, don't you stop making fun of us. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:05.840 And I'm like, I wrote the same thing back to all of y'all. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:07.840 Two words, lighten up. 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:12.639 Okay, one guy wrote back and said, get a life, but he's a friend of mine to play golf with. 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:15.200 But anyway, and so you got these five things here. 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:18.720 Let me explain what it is you're looking at because history will bear this out. 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:22.159 He tells him in the interpretation part, which starts in verse 36. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:27.600 He says, basically, the the head of gold, that's you, Nebuchadnezzar, that's you and the Babylonian kingdom. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:36.879 By the way, when he's listing stuff out there and he's describing the reign and the scope of his rule, it's kind of sounds like what God said to Adam back in Genesis. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:39.120 Hey, wherever there are people, you rule over them. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:41.840 And Nebuchadnezzar's like, that's right, I'm awesome. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:51.360 I'm the head of gold, which, by the way, a little foreshadowing the next week, because when men get over the age of 50, maybe 60, we start thinking about our legacy. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:59.519 He says, because God basically tells him, Hey, you're the statue, the top part that's ahead and the shoulders appear of gold, that's you, but there's a kingdom coming after you. 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:02.080 So in the next chapter, what does Nebuchadnezzar do? 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:11.679 He goes out on the plains of Dura and he builds this big statue that's 90 feet tall and nine feet wide, and it's made out of gold. 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:15.840 It's kind of like my kingdom's fading, I'll show you. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:16.960 No. 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:20.080 So the top part, that's the Babylonian kingdom. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:21.039 That's Nebuchadnezzar. 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:25.200 The next part is the Medo-Persians, the silver is it represents the king. 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:31.360 You go Google it and you see who succeeded, what empire succeeded Babylon, and they'll tell you, the Medes and the Persians. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:32.720 They were led. 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:35.840 Sometimes the Bible raises his voice and gets out of. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:39.039 Sometimes the Bible just goes, ps, psych, watch this. 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:40.639 This is one of those places. 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:43.679 The Medes and the Persians were led by a man named Darius. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:45.120 Darius was ruthless. 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:48.639 They would conquer a country and then he would make that country pay him tribute. 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:51.200 And guess what currency he would make them pay him in? 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:52.320 Silver. 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:59.519 And God just kind of says, This next part, this is the Medes and the Persians, led by Darius, the guy that loves silver. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:02.000 He's like the Hunt brothers before the Hunt brothers. 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:03.200 Anybody? 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:05.519 Anyone remember that? 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:06.639 Keep going. 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:07.360 Okay, all right. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:09.120 Uh so the next part is bronze. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:10.000 That's Greece. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:12.080 You say, Well, how do you know it's Greece? 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:13.840 Again, just check history, okay? 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:22.480 Uh Greece, the armies of Greece led by God named Alexander the Great, who got off his horse and wept because there were no more worlds to conquer. 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:25.919 He was vaclimed because there was nothing else to do. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:30.240 And by the way, the Greek armies were known for having these beautiful shields made of bronze. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:35.039 The next little iration, the iron and the clay, this is a reference to Rome. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:36.399 This is a reference to Rome. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:39.919 That's why I draw your attention to verse 44. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:41.120 We'll get to that in just a minute. 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:45.759 He says, hey, that Rome, because Rome was a ruthless military machine. 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:48.799 I mean, overwhelmingly powerful. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:50.159 They just routed. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:51.840 They were so much more advanced. 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:56.320 Matter of fact, our present system of government is based on the Rome. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:59.120 Like our idea of the Senate, we got that from Rome. 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:02.639 And so much of the Western world was influenced by Rome. 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:08.080 It was probably the most far-reaching empire kingdom in the history of humanity at that time. 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:24.639 But then, towards the end of that, he I mean, just the description part, just the observation part, you look and you see in verse 34, he says, 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. 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:31.600 The iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, the gold, all together were broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:35.679 And the wind carries them away, so that not a trace of them can be found. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:39.759 But the stone that struck the image became the great mountain and filled the whole earth. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:42.159 This stone is a reference to Jesus. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:46.320 And even more so, it's the kingdom of God. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:48.480 Which is why, look at verse 44. 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:58.080 It says, And in the days of those after it lifts off, and he says, You saw iron mixed with soft clay, he's telling you, hey, this is how this is why the Roman Empire, how the Roman Empire falls. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:01.120 It falls because they interburied with the wrong people. 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:08.320 Uh, and and they turned their hearts uh uh against us in allegiance to Rome, and and it falls from within. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:23.120 But then the Bible says in verse 44, notice this, it says, In the days of those kings, talking about the the the the rulers of this of the this kingdom of iron, 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. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:25.279 Let me just stop here and ask you a simple question. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:30.720 When Jesus comes on the scene, what country, what government is occupying Jerusalem? 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:32.639 Rome. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:45.840 Way back in Daniel chapter 2, the Bible kind of winks at us and says, Hey, by the way, in the days of these guys, the the the the these this kingdom of iron and their and their kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:51.200 Now, a couple things by way of observation, and then I'll show you what this where this happens in the Bible. 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:54.480 About about these five little kingdoms here, actually the first four. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:56.799 Uh each of these kingdoms has a successor. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:01.120 He says about the kingdom, hey, there's gonna be no but there's gonna be nobody coming after this, okay? 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:08.000 Uh he 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. 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:10.399 It's not like, hey, and after this there comes somebody else. 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:11.919 No, it's never going to be destroyed. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:15.679 This is what I mean when I say this is the reality you were created for. 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:17.279 You were listen very carefully. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:22.080 You were not created just to have your sins forgiven and go to heaven when you die. 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:26.720 You and I were created to live as citizens of the kingdom here in this earth. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:28.559 And I'll unpack that a little bit more. 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:39.840 Because if you just think, if you went to church and they scared you to death and told you you're gonna go to hell, you better come to Jesus and get your and get forgiveness and go to heaven when you die, and then you get you that that's great. 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:43.919 It motivates you for about three weeks, and then you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa. 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:47.039 And at some point you look around and you just think, you know what? 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:50.320 I don't know what I'm supposed to do for the next 70 years, but this is pretty lame. 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:54.159 You're supposed to live in and dwell in and enjoy life in the kingdom. 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:59.919 But we don't preach kingdom, we preach heaven, hell, sin forgiveness, but we'll get to that in just a minute. 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:02.720 First of all, these key each of these kingdoms has a successor. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:08.159 Secondly, notice that as these metals decrease in value, they increase in strength. 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:17.919 As they decrease in value, gold, silver, bronze, iron, clay, uh, as they decrease in value, they increase in strength. 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:19.759 What do you mean? 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:22.080 These people trust in their military might. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:25.759 These kingdoms are ruthless and they rule through just brute force. 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:31.919 That's why the Bible says some trust in horses, some trust in chariots, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God. 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:33.279 Here's a third thing I want to say. 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:38.159 This is a stone that's Jesus representing the kingdom of God. 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:40.399 Uh, Jesus inaugurates the kingdom. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:45.279 Uh you say, now what do you mean when I say this is the reality that you were created for? 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:48.320 I'm not saying, oh, as a Christian, you don't get to go to heaven. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:49.279 Absolutely. 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:55.440 But what I am saying is we got to stop thinking of heaven as just the reward for all of this. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:59.200 The real reward for Christianity is life in the kingdom. 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:01.360 Let me unpack that just a little bit. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.360 Mark chapter 1, verse 14. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:05.840 Mark chapter 1, Jesus is coming on the scene. 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:06.639 Look at what he says. 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:14.320 It says, Now after John, John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:15.919 The kingdom of God is at hand. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.159 Repent and believe in the gospel. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:20.000 How simple is that? 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:20.879 Hear it again. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:22.559 The time is fulfilled. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:24.159 Four things I want to draw your attention to. 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:26.240 Number one, the time is fulfilled. 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:31.679 The time, notice in the Bible, when it comes to time, time doesn't run out, time fills up. 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:34.960 Like I heard some guys talking in the hall this morning about the Aggies yesterday. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:37.519 And I said, Oh, they didn't lose, they just ran out of time. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:41.039 You got the brakes beat off of you by Alabama's what happened. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:44.960 I mean, I would I would change channels and flip back, and it wasn't getting any better. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:46.960 I was like, they're gonna they're gonna come back. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:48.639 Oh, finally I was like, 42. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:50.799 Man, Nick, call off the dogs, okay? 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:54.399 But he says that notice what he says, he says, the time is fulfilled. 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:58.639 Now we we live in chronos time, chronological time, time runs out. 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:00.480 In the Bible, time fills up. 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:02.399 That's why they talk about Jesus being born. 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:04.160 It says in the fullness of time. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:07.039 Jesus says, right here, hey, the time is fulfilled. 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:08.480 Here's what I want to say to you. 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:11.920 And we need to hear this in 2020, especially in 2020. 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:14.240 Somebody is in control of time. 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:17.440 You are not at the mercy of just waiting. 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:20.400 Oh, I can't wait for the calendar to rip 2020 off. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:27.440 There's a God in this world and He's in control of time. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:32.240 He dwells outside of time, he dwells in eternity, and he has influence over time. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:35.839 When the time is fulfilled, here's the second thing: the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:37.440 The kingdom of God is at hand. 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:40.960 Now I know this is some of you are kind of like, uh this is all new to me. 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:43.680 Think about it as if I was standing here holding a hula hoop. 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:48.640 The kingdom of God is the realm within which what God wants done gets done. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:50.319 That's the kingdom of God. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:54.720 It's not a bunch of 40-year-old bachelors in their mom's basement playing risk. 00:17:55.359 --> 00:18:00.960 The kingdom of God is the realm within which what God wants done gets done. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:09.440 And we get to, that's why when Jesus taught the disciples to pray, part of the prayer was, you know, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:15.519 That's why Jesus says to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, hey, unless you're born again, you won't see the kingdom. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:18.000 Jesus says, now watch this. 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:20.960 He says, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:21.920 So what do you do? 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:24.640 You repent and you believe in the gospel. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:26.000 You repent. 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:30.720 The motivation to repent and believe in the gospel is not, you want to go to hell? 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:32.720 Not at all. 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:36.079 And it's not, you want to go to heaven, you got to repent and believe in the gospel. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:46.160 The motivation to repent and believe in the gospel is this is that this reality that you were created for, life in the kingdom is here and now and it's available. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:46.960 Why is that? 00:18:47.119 --> 00:19:08.640 Because way back in Daniel chapter 2, where these people were being oppressed, where these people were taken captive to Babylon and pressed into service of a pagan king named Nebuchadnezzar, these people, these four teenage boys, sovereign God who dwells outside of time and lives in eternity and controls everything, says this in verse 44. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:16.400 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. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:22.799 It'll break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever. 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:26.240 This is the reality that you and I were created for. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:31.839 This is why we repent and believe the gospel, because this is what we were created to experience. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:38.559 Uh, no one captures it better than way back in the 60s in England, there was a preacher by the name of Martin Lloyd Jones. 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:47.920 I try to tell you this story at least once a year, and it's on purpose because I want this to be this language to be in the water around here, around Grand Park Way. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:52.559 Uh, because Martin Lloyd Jones is trying to get his people to understand what life in the kingdom is. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:56.880 Like I talk about life in the kingdom, and y'all are like, Well, I go to church, I read my Bible. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:03.599 Some of you have repented and believed in the gospel eight times, and you just keep, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:06.640 But but we never talk to you about living in the kingdom. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:08.880 Lloyd Jones explained to his people like this. 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:19.519 He said, Hey, listen, if there was a king that was a good king and he ruled over a kingdom, and he got word that an invading army was coming from far off, and they were coming to declare war on him. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:22.960 And so he sent out his army to fight them out on the battlefield. 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:25.119 Now, there's this big battle going on. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:27.200 Now, if they had lost, he had a plan. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:35.119 He said, If my army loses, I'm gonna send back military attaches and they're gonna tell everybody, get ready, the invading army is coming. 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:36.000 We are at war. 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:42.640 We need archers up on the castle wall, and we need the heavy cavalry over here with the heavy horses, and we need the infantry here. 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:51.200 But if the king wins, I'll send back you and Galeon, messengers of good news, to tell all my people, hey, the king is one. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:55.119 Continue to live in and enjoy the peace that the kingdom has provided. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:56.400 And so, guess what? 00:20:56.559 --> 00:21:02.079 The king wins, and he sends back news to all his citizens and says, Hey, the king is one. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:03.759 I've defeated every foe. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:08.400 Just continue to live in and enjoy the peace that the king has provided. 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:09.920 Now, why do I tell you that? 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:23.200 Because it's one of the reasons, if you'll notice around here, we don't talk a lot about being warriors and soldiers for Jesus and fighting the good fight and getting out there uh so much so that I have to be careful that I don't mock that. 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:30.799 Like this past year, I was at a fundraiser breakfast for uh a ministry, uh, and their keynote speaker was a guy. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:41.680 He got up and first thing he said, he introduced himself and he said, I want you to know uh we're we're at a big hotel ballroom and we're having breakfast, and we had breakfast, and I was still hungry because it wasn't much breakfast. 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:45.119 And so he said, I want you to know I'm a warrior for God. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:50.319 And I turned to the people at my table, none of whom I knew, and I just said, Hey, are you gonna eat that biscuit? 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:54.799 Because I don't care one snit about this. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:59.759 And the guy's frothing at the mouth, we're in a post, we're in a fight for the soul of our nation. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.720 And we gotta and I'm like, hey, that piece of bacon, are you gonna eat that, ma'am? 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:05.599 You know that? 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:08.400 And she's like, sir, this is our keynote speaker. 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:09.839 We flew him in. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.200 You should pay him respect. 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:17.839 And listen, I said, I I respect him as a person, but what he's saying, all it's gonna do is motivate y'all to try harder. 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:24.480 And I'm gonna just continue to live in the key in the peace that my king has provided and eat your bacon if you're okay with that. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:29.119 And so I took the bacon, folded it up, put it on the biscuit, and I looked at the lady over there. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:30.559 I said, Hey, you're gonna eat that butter? 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:32.480 And she goes, Sir, what are you doing? 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:34.240 I'm enjoying the kingdom. 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:39.279 Because if I got to go out and fight today to ensure victory, we're in deep weeds. 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:44.960 And that doesn't get people assigned the pledge cards. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:49.119 And she said, I said, I'll make a donation if the guy will stop right now. 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:50.400 You want money? 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:51.279 I'll give you money. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:53.839 Just shut your yapper with all the war talk. 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:54.960 You're not a soldier. 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:56.480 I know soldiers, okay? 00:22:56.640 --> 00:22:57.759 You're not one. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:05.119 I know soldiers that go out on a mission and they lay out in a field for like four days to get one shot at the enemy. 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:06.880 Those are soldiers. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:12.400 You are wearing a suit and makeup, because this is on TV. 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:14.319 You're not a soldier. 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:21.279 And so after it was over, they're rolling, they're taking the chairs up, and it goes, people were offended because I thought I was being helpful. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:22.720 Apparently I was being rude. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:26.240 And so they're like, Well, sir, could you explain to us your attitude? 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:28.799 And I said, Listen, y'all think y'all are gonna go out here. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:31.119 This is why people aren't interested in Christianity. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:38.079 You sound like a bunch of desperate crackpot lunatics that are fighting some invisible enemy, and we're gonna overcome and win. 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:40.559 And I'm just telling you, the king is one. 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:43.119 The king is one. 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:45.759 Are you gonna finish that orange juice? 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:49.039 And the guy goes, Dude, do you even care? 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:50.960 I said, Oh, absolutely I care. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:53.920 But what it's the issue is not do I care? 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:55.759 The issue is do I understand? 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:56.960 Do y'all go to church? 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:01.279 Oh, yeah, we go to first this and second that and third that and holy presbyterian, blah, blah, blah. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:05.279 Does your pastor ever preach, ever teach y'all the gospel of the kingdom? 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:11.599 You know, Jesus says in Matthew 24, when all hell's breaking loose, he says, Oh, by the way, this gospel of the kingdom will be preached. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:15.519 Well, our church, we have our own K through 12 high school, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:17.599 I said, Your church is the kingdom. 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:19.039 That's your problem. 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:25.920 The hotel workers are stacking chairs and rolling the table, the round tables away, and my table's just sitting there. 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:28.960 And the hotel, one of the guys who works at the hotel is like, man, keep going. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:30.079 This is awesome. 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:31.359 I'm down with this. 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:33.359 And I said, like run DMC. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:34.960 I'm down with the king. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:37.359 And he's like, I like run DMC. 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:38.799 I said, I do too. 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:42.799 It's tricky to rock a rhyme, to rock a rhyme that's right on time. 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:45.920 The people at my table are like, Are you speaking in tongues? 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:49.039 I said, Here's the problem. 00:24:49.279 --> 00:25:02.640 Have you noticed that not the people that go to these things with you, not the people in your Republican Ladies Lunch League or whatever you who you get together and panic with and tell yourselves it all depends on us and our grassroots efforts. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:08.079 Now, God stopped me after the first service and he said, Hey, I think I get all that, but what about spiritual warfare? 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:09.839 Ephesians, I said, Absolutely. 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:16.559 You know, he says, Hey, put on the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, have your feet shy with the preparation of the gospel of peace. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:20.240 We can be at peace because the good news is the king is one. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:25.119 And when the Bible says, hey, in Ephesians 6, when you've done all to stand, stand. 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:28.160 I'm not I'm not disrespecting the keynote speaker. 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:31.519 I'm just standing and enjoying a butter bacon biscuit. 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:35.200 Because it was a cheap little breakfast with a little scoop, little fruit cup. 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:40.319 I mean a little melon baller of scrambled eggs and two pieces of bacon and one little biscuit. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:41.200 I'm like, really? 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:43.200 This is$80 a plate? 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:44.559 This is what you gave me? 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:46.640 I can't fight the fight with this. 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:52.720 And so they're stacking chairs and rolling the tables down. 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:55.920