The Ancient ofDays

Amen. Amen. Amen.

He finds its peace in the confidence that God is in control and that He reigns. But this chapter in our Bible is not just sort of an isolated vision that Daniel has. There is a thread that runs from Genesis to Revelation. In Genesis chapter 10, there is a table of nations listing the nations of the earth. And in Revelation, you find the multitude of every tribe, tongue, and nation. And there in Daniel 7, you find the king's dominion extending to all people in all places. We also hear the echoes of the 110th Psalm. The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool." Jesus will take the title in Daniel chapter 7, "Son of Man." And He uses it to describe both His glory, His authority, and His return.

And when the church is born in Acts chapter 2, Peter preaches from the 110th Psalm to declare that Jesus is the risen Savior, and He now reigns as Lord is Christ. So this chapter that we're going to find ourselves in this morning isn't just a disconnected vision of beasts coming out of the ocean filled with scary images and things that might be for us hard to understand, but rather it's a connection and a picture that God is in control in all circumstances and in all areas of our life. And so in a world that so often, I think, for us feels unstable, we can stand in the same hope that Daniel had, that our King reigns forever. His kingdom shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall not pass away. Let's go ahead and pray, and then we'll read Scripture together.

God, we know You are sovereign and reign over all things on the earth, and in our world that is so often filled with noise and confusion and fear and opposition, and those who oppose Your kingdom and who persecute Your saints. And as we come, sometimes we are weary and we're tired and we're struggling and we're hurting. Remind us that You are our steady foundation, that Your Son has authority over all things. And so we ask that You would strengthen our hearts with Your truth, that You would unite us together under Your reign to glorify You and to shine Your light into this world. And so we pray in the name of the King who reigns forever, Jesus Christ our Lord. It's in His name we pray. Amen. Let's go ahead and be standing. I'm going to read Daniel 7:13, and then we'll stand and we'll read Daniel verse 14 together.

So this is the first part of Daniel's vision. "I saw in the night visions, and behold, the clouds of heaven. There came one like a Son of Man, and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him." And so if you would read with me. "And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. And his kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed." This is the word of the Lord. And so as the prophet Daniel, he sees the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, receiving an everlasting dominion. In the book of Revelation, John sees a similar vision, fulfilled in the Lamb upon the throne. And so our first two songs this morning, we're going to begin with Revelation's song, which is a song of praise in heaven.

And then we're going to sing Revelation of Days, sort of as we confess who Jesus is. And so we sort of see two perspectives in the songs we're singing this morning, both the heavenly perspective and the earthly perspective. So we're going to begin by singing the Revelation song.

Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Holy, holy is He. Sing a new song. Heaven's mercy seat. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Holy, holy is He. Sing a new song to Him who sits on Heaven's mercy seat. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings. You are my everything and I will adore You. Thank you. Let your power be to you the only wise king. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings. You are my everything, and I will adore you.

Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder, at the mention of your name. Jesus, your name is power, breath and living water, such a marvelous mystery. Holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. With all creation I sing praise to the King of Peace. You are my everything, and I will adore You. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. With all creation I sing praise to the King of Peace. You are my everything, and I will adore You. Holy, holy is the Lamb who was slain. Holy, holy is He. Amen. Amen.

For His moment shall remain and ever stay. Oh, the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. Oh, my God is the Ancient of Days. Oh, the dread of night. Oh, the world's my soul. Be with me. I am not alone. Oh, His love is sure. And He knows my name. For my God is the Ancient of Days. Lord of love Him. Lord before Him. All of time in His hand. For His glory shall be made and never saved. For the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For my God is the Ancient of Days. For the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name.

For the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. Oh, my God is the Ancient of Days. Oh, my God is the Ancient of Days. Oh, my God is the Ancient of Days. Oh, my God is the Ancient of Days. Oh, my God is the Ancient of Days. Oh, my God is the Ancient of Days. Oh, my God is the Ancient of Days. Oh, my God is the Ancient of Days. Oh, my God is the Ancient of Days. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. For more information, visit www.fema.org. For more information, visit www.fema.org. For more information, visit www.fema.org. Thank you. For more information, visit www.fema.org. For more information, visit www.fema.org. For more information, visit www.fema.org. Thank you. For more information, visit www.fema.org. For more information, visit www.fema.org. For more information, visit www.fema.org.

As we have just come before God in prayer, one of the things that we are reminded of as we read through so many of these Old Testament prophets, is that when we see who God truly is and we see who we truly are, we become much more aware of our weakness, our sinfulness, and our need for God's grace. So in this vision we'll look at in a few minutes, Daniel sees the holiness of the ancient of days. And even though the peace are terrifying, I think Daniel is still troubled and feels small before the glory of God, but in that vision of God's glory, there is also hope because the Son of Man comes and reigns in mercy and truth. And in fact, that word, "Son of Man," that name is Jesus' favorite name for Himself.

And in fact, we'll read in just a little bit from the Gospel of Mark that Jesus will put that term that we see in Daniel 7, "Son of Man," together with this verse in Isaiah 53, verse 6. "All we like sheep have gone astray, and we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." All right, the good news for us as God's people is the same King who reigns over every kingdom is also the Lamb, as we sang earlier, who was slain for us. And so in him our sins are forgiven, and our hearts are made new. And so we're going to, in this moment, sing. And our purpose in this song, "I Set My Hope," is to both confess our brokenness, to confess our struggles, but also to be assured of where hope anchors our soul.

So we're going to sing "I Set My Hope," and then we're going to move into "Christ Our Hope in Life and Death." When this life of trials tests my faith, I set my hope on Jesus. When the questions come and doubts remain, I set my hope on Jesus. For the deepest wounds the time won't heal. There's a joy that runs still deeper. There's a truth that's more than all I feel. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. My rock, my only trust. Who set his heart upon me first? I set my hope on Jesus.

I set my hope on Jesus. When I feel the fight and sink within, I set my hope on Jesus. Though the shame would draw me in its sea, and I dread the wave of justice. I will cast my hope on Jesus. I will cast my life on Calvary. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. My life, my only trust. You set His heart upon me first. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. Though the world call me to leave my Lord, I set my hope on Jesus. Though it offer all its favor, I set my hope on Jesus. Through all its vain rewards, I set my hope on Jesus. Though this heart of mine is prone to stray, give me grace enough to finish. Till I worship on that final day, I set my hope on Jesus.

I set my hope on Jesus. My rock, my only trust. Who set his heart upon me first. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. My rock, my only trust. Who set his heart upon me first. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus.

What is our hope in life and death? Christ alone, Christ alone. What is our only confidence? That our souls to him belong. Who holds our days within his hand? What comes apart from his command? And what will keep us to the end? The love of Christ in which we stand. Oh, sing hallelujah. Our hope stays eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah. Now and ever we confess Christ our hope and love and love.

What truth can cause the troubled soul. God is good. God is good. Where is His grace and goodness known? In our great Redeemer's blood. Who holds our faith when fears arise. Who stands above the storm The child who sends the waves that bring us now. Unto the shore of the rock of Christ. Oh, sing hallelujah. Our hope is eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah. Now and then we confess. Christ, I won't be alive again. And if we will pray, what will we sing? Christ, He lives. Christ, He lives. And what reward will heaven bring? Everlasting life within us. There we will rise to meet the Lord. Then sin and death will be destroyed. And we will feast in endless joy. When Christ is ours forevermore. Let's sing. Hallelujah. Our hope is eternal. Let's sing. Hallelujah. Now that we can face, Christ our hope will ever be. Let's sing.

Let's sing. Hallelujah. Our hope is eternal. Let's sing. Hallelujah. Now that we can face, Christ our hope will ever be. Let's sing. Now that we can face, Christ our hope will ever be. In Matthew, the 14th chapter, there's a very familiar account from the life of Jesus. He has been ministering with his disciples. He has fed the 5,000. And Jesus has gone up to the mountain to pray, and the disciples have taken the boat to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. And as they are traveling across this, a storm rises, and the waves begin to get bigger, and the wind begins to blow. And Mark's account tells us that Jesus sees that they're struggling to make headway, and so he goes down to meet the boat, not on the shore, but by walking across the water.

Now, the people in the boat are understandably fearful. Here comes a guy walking on the water. That's not normally something that we see done. And so after Jesus reassures them, Peter, in sort of his very normal, exuberant way, says, "If it's really you, let me come walk on the water to you." And in that, you see Peter's sort of unrelenting trust in the power of Jesus. And so Peter jumps out of the boat, begins to walk on water. And Matthew chapter 14 says this, "But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and it began to sink, and cried out, 'Lord, save me.'" And so Peter, in his joy at seeing Jesus, and in his remarkable faith in his power, jumps out. But then, like many of us, he begins to do this sort of mental calculation.

Yes, I know Jesus is walking on the water. I know he's walked on the water. But these waves are very big. This wind is very strong, and what happens if I can't walk on the water? And in that moment, he takes his eyes, like we do, off Jesus, and fixes them on the storms of life, and begins to sink. And so Jesus, in this, grabs a hold of Peter's hand, lifts him out of the water, refocuses him on Jesus. And as we come to this table, this is what is necessary for our hearts. Because many of us have walked through the difficulties, maybe big, maybe small, the frustrations and the storms and the winds and the waves, and we need this moment where Jesus reaches out to us and turns our eyes to him. What you find is a people who are focused on their Savior. It's remarkable.

In Daniel chapter 3, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, facing the fire, say, "Our God is able to deliver us, but even if he doesn't, we will not bow." Their hope stretched beyond this life and was anchored not in safety, but in God himself. And in Daniel chapter 6, as Daniel faces the lions, his trust doesn't waver, even as his life is threatened. And with windows open, he kneels and he prays to the God who gives life. It's interesting, chronologically, between this comes Daniel chapter 7, where we're going to be this morning. And Daniel sees a picture of sort of what's happening behind the scenes. Right? Not the fiery furnace. That's happened earlier. The den of lions hasn't happened yet. But Daniel sees beasts and chaos and brokenness. And it's something where fear begins to fill the earth. However, in the midst of

that terrifying vision, above it all is a throne that cannot be moved, and a Son of Man who receives an everlasting kingdom. This same Son of Man is Christ Jesus. And He one day will walk the earth. He faces death. He conquers it. And even though the nations rage, they cannot win. And so this table reminds us of that victory. The bread speaks of His broken body to us. The cup proclaims His blood that is poured out, that brings us life in the new covenant. And so as we eat and drink, we remember, as we just sang, that in life and death, our hope is in Christ alone. This is my prayer as we partake of this in just a moment. This moment will fix your eyes on Jesus, that it will strengthen you, encourage you, and nourish you

in the truth of who He is and what He has done. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for the salvation that you have given to us. We thank you that you are in control of all things, whether we understand, whether we can see where it goes ahead of us, we know that you are in control. And so we ask that you would calm our hearts, that you would strengthen our wills by your spirit and through your power to stand for what is right, that you would anchor us to the rock that is your Son, and that you would fix our eyes on what truly matters. I ask that you bless this bread and this cup. May we proclaim your Son until He comes again. It's in His name we pray. Amen. If you would partake of the bread with me.

Jesus says, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." This cup is the new covenant in Jesus' blood, and He commands us to do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of Him. And so we come so very thankful for God's unshakable mercy and His eternal reign to broken sinners. So we're going to be in Daniel. Let me grab my remote Daniel chapter 7 this morning. We're going to take a look at how God reigns over all things in the midst of this sort of chaotic and hard to understand text. One of the realities that you and I experience is sometimes what is happening in front of us maybe appears to us more vivid and grabs our attention more than the truth of what we know is really happening.

And so sometimes we find ourselves in fear and confusion and weariness. We'll see this is where Daniel finds himself in the midst of this chapter. And so we want to see how God moves in our hearts. So let's go ahead and pray, and then we'll dive into his word. Father, be with us as we unpack this text that for us might be difficult to understand. So we ask that you would give us understanding that as we come sometimes tired, sometimes feeling like we've been pursued or chased through life, maybe fearful or worried or overwhelmed or seemingly living in the midst of chaos, may you calm our hearts with the truth of your word. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So we have transitioned in Daniel from sort of the outward public part of the book, which is in the first six chapters,

to sort of the inward part of the book where we see what is going on behind the scenes. And so this morning we're actually going to jump backwards just a little bit into the life of Daniel before the lion's den and see this vision that God has given. And so what we will do is sort of see Daniel as he is stuck in the middle between these beasts on one hand, but also living for God's kingdom. And so while life sometimes seems overwhelming, what we see in Daniel is that God is in control and we are not alone. So we're going to pick it up at the very, very beginning. And this chapter is very much a terrifying reality. We'll hear later on that Daniel's heart is troubled, and the reality is what we see on this earth can shake us.

And Daniel's dream or this vision, it's really more of a nightmare. And what we're going to see as we walk through it in this first section is that it just gets worse. And then it gets worse. And when you think it can't get any more bad, it just gets worse again. And so it begins like this in Daniel chapter 7 and verse 2. Like every good story begins and every story that Snoopy ever writes, "It was a dark and stormy night." And Daniel declared, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea." Now, in ancient times, the sea is a picture of chaos. But notice this is not your ordinary chaos, right? The four winds of heaven, what that means is north, south, east, and west, all directions of the wind coming from every direction are making it even more chaotic.

This is not orderly waves. It's not a good time to take your kite to the beach or to break out the sailboat. What we're talking about is in this storm, a dark and dangerous sea picturing chaos made even more chaotic by coming from every direction, not just chaos, but chaos that surrounds and chaos where there is no escape. And to add to this dark and stormy night, what we find is that it's filled with monsters. And four great beasts came up out of the sea different from one another. And so these beasts now add to the chaos. These are not thinking, logical, trainable animals, but abominations, as we'll see, that are bent on destruction and chaos. And there are four of them. And in part, what we see is there's not just one kind of monster, right?

There are things that you and I are not afraid of. And if we're thinking about monsters, somebody may say, "Well, I'm scared of ghosts." And we go, "Well, I'm not scared of ghosts." And somebody else says, "Well, I'm scared of zombies." Well, I'm not scared of zombies, right? There are things that we aren't scared of, but in these four beasts, what we see is there's something that terrifies every single person. Basically, in these beasts, you're covering all of the nightmares in regard to the chaos of the world that surrounds us. So not only is it a dark and stormy night, not only is it filled with monsters, these are not ordinary monsters. Let's take a look. The first was like a lion but had eagle's wings, and I continued watching until its wings were torn off.

It was lifted up from the ground and set on its feet like a man and given a human mind. And then we go just a little bit further from this picture of power that moves swiftly and then somehow is transformed through this traumatic moment to this. Suddenly another beast appears, a second one, that looked like a bear, and it was raised up on one side with three ribs in its mouth between its teeth, and it was told, "Get up and feast on flesh." And so here is a big fat bear, and it's sort of laying on its side, and it has ribs in its mouth. It's obviously eating, obviously has gorged itself, and my guess is, we aren't told this, my guess is these are not like elk ribs that the bear is chewing on.

But then a voice comes to this bear as it gorges itself and goes, "Hey, get up and go eat some more things." Right? It's told to get up and go and to move. Now the third beast is even more of an abomination, and while I was watching, another beast appears. It was like a leopard with four wings of a bird on its back. It had four heads, and it was given dominion, so not only does it move fast, but it can fly, and it has four heads that look in every direction. Right? You cannot escape. And then the fourth beast is even more frightening and dreadful. And the only description we have of this beast are found in the implements of destruction that it uses. And so after this while, I was watching in the night visions, and suddenly a fourth beast appeared.

Frightening, dreadful, and incredibly strong. With large iron teeth, it devoured and crushed, and it trampled with its feet whatever was left. And it was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns. And while I was considering the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. And suddenly in this horn there were eyes, like the eyes of a human, and a mouth that was speaking arrogantly. Later we'll learn about the claws which are made of bronze. And so you have in this nightmarish picture of the fourth beast's strength, large iron teeth, feet that trample. It breaks, devours, and crushes. And then it has ten horns. Now, biblically, horns are pictures of power and strength. And notice, right, this is not a unicorn with one horn, right?

It's not a cow with two, but it has ten horns. And if you're Daniel, you have to look at this and go, like, that's too many horns. And then in the middle of that, three of these horns get ripped up, another horn grows, and it begins speaking arrogantly. And so it is a dark and it is a stormy night filled with monsters. And these are not ordinary monsters, but worst of all, these monsters are real. In verse 17, we find this. These huge beasts, four in number, are four kings that will rise from the earth. And what you find is that these four beasts represent four great kingdoms. You have Babylon, Medo-Persia, the Greeks, and the Romans. And right for us, we say, well, that's a weird picture. We're using animals or beasts to describe nations. We do it today.

Right? So on our patriotic 4th of July close, what bird do we have on everything? Right? A bald eagle. We talk about Russia. Well, we have the Russian bear. So this is not, for us, an unfamiliar thought that these beasts could represent nations. And we've seen nations already symbolized in chapter 2 by this statue, and now we're going to see them symbolized by these beasts. And as you dig into it, it begins to make sense that first beast, the lion with the wings, and the wings are torn off, and then its mind is given back, and it begins to stand up and walk on two feet. Very much a picture of what happens with Nebuchadnezzar as he turns into a beast in a field, and as he acknowledges God, God lifts him up and restores him to power.

In the bear, you see the hunger of the Medes and the Persians, but it's the third beast that things begin to get very interesting. The beast with four heads, when Alexander dies in 323, you know how many parts Greece breaks into? It breaks into four kingdoms of the four heads of the beast, and what we'll find is this is not just people guessing, going, well, this third beast is probably Greece because of this, because in chapter 8, God is going to be, when Greece breaks up into these kingdoms, it's confirmed. And the fourth beast we see in these first few verses is the terrifying power of Rome. These are not just some sort of political cartoons making fun of one aspect or another of a nation, right? It is dark. It is stormy. There are monsters. They are terrifying, and they represent Babylon, the Medes, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans.

This succession of kingdoms. However, it gets even worse, right? It's not the end of the story for the fourth beast. Maybe you've watched those infomercial ads where it says, you know, something like, "Well, order today and we'll send you not one, not two, not three, not four." But 17 French fry makers will include the recipe case, the car battery attachment, and the jet pack add-on. This is sort of what happens with the darkness that we see in the book of Daniel. It's not just dark and stormy, and there's monsters, and the monsters are real, but it's about to get much, much worse. In verse 23 he said, "As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth and trample it down and break it into pieces."

And while in the first section we see the fourth beast symbolizing the Roman Empire, it seems that as this fourth beast gets expounded upon, it's not just the Roman Empire, but it seems to go beyond. And so some have identified this as continuing to all ungodly governments, that they all, as they grow out of the evil that we see, elevating themselves and bringing chaos to others. In fact, all ungodly governments that we remember in history exhibit some of these same characteristics. There are others who see it as also a specific final government. And the question that people have argued about year after year, century after century, is this just sort of a picture of all ungodly governments, or is there one sort of great final ungodly government? I think probably the answer is yes. And you have

this picture of brokenness. If it hasn't already gotten bad, it gets a little worse. This destruction becomes targeted against God's people. And as I look, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them. Not only is there chaos and beasts, but they target God's people. And what you find is in Revelation, chapter 13, there is a passage about a beast that comes out of the ocean with a bunch of horns and ten heads. And you find this. It was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given to it over every tribe and people and language and nation. John will say it like this, "Children, it is the last hour. As you have heard, the Antichrist is coming. So now many of the Antichrist have come. Therefore, we know it is the last hour that this picture of evil and chaos

for God's people and this opposition is ongoing." And I think we see in this beast that first pictures Rome, but then pictures ultimately all ungodly governments. And the question is, does it culminate in one sort of terrible government? Maybe. Jesus does say that today has enough worries of its own. So I want you to look at this bad news. The stormy darkness, the monsters that grow increasingly strong and increasingly hostile, and where do we find ourselves? In Daniel chapter 7, verse 25, hear this, "He shall speak words against the Most High," and this is what I want you to see, "and he shall wear out the saints of the Most High." It kind of hits close to home to hear that and to feel it. "He shall wear out the saints of the Most High." And maybe we don't feel that all the time,

but there are days where we feel it much more deeply than others. And when we look at the power that is opposed to God in this world filled with chaos and brokenness, right, our hearts are going to struggle. Our hearts are going to be worn out. They're going to be tired. They're going to be hurting. They're going to be fearful. And what we need is something that directs our attention in a different way. Just like when we're outside with the puppy who really wants to go chase the squirrels. I'm not sure if he's trying to play with them or if he's trying to rid our neighborhood of that menace that is the squirrels that live there. But if we're outside and we're playing with him, and we look and there's a squirrel running across the backyard where they run.

We grab his attention. We're like, "Ranger! Ranger! Look! Look! Look!" And he's staring at you as the squirrel runs to safety. It doesn't just work with dogs, but it also, like when little kids are learning to walk and they're toddling around, and they take that fall, and they're not hurt, but that fall startles them, and the tendency is to cry. What do we do? We go, "Oh, good job!" And we distract them with our joyful praise of what they've done. And it doesn't just work when we're little. There are times, maybe you've done this or had this done to you, where somebody in the midst of a physical struggle goes, "Look at me." Right? Don't look at what's happening around you. Don't think about the pain or the suffering, but look at me. And what God does to Daniel in this dark and stormy night, filled with chaos and monsters that get worse and worse and worse

until they become undescribable, except for their power to destroy and to crush and to trample. God, in the midst of this, lifts Daniel's eyes to see what is happening above it all. And in the same way as He lifts Daniel's eyes, He is lifting ours. And so here in the darkness of the storm and in the chaos, we see the heavenly reality. "As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took a seat. His clothing was white as snow, the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, and its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before Him, and a thousand thousand served Him. And 10,000 times 10,000 stood before Him, and the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

And so in the midst of all of the bad news about the beasts, the vision shifts. And what's remarkable is that as you look at the Ancient of Days, He contrasts these beasts in every way possible. While the beasts are filled with darkness and chaos, what you see in this picture is order and light. Right? Things aren't happening in the midst of a storm or the midst of winds from every direction. Right? Seats are laid out intentionally. There is a throne that is sat upon intentionally. And while the beasts represent out-of-control desires that lead to destruction. Right? You see in the white hair of the Ancient of Days, both a picture of a holiness and a picture of His eternal nature. And you see the Ancient of Days firmly in control on His throne, filled with great power and flames.

And it's surrounded by a massive army, and then, not in a chaotic manner, the books are opened. So to contrast the darkness and the storminess, we have order and light and judgment coming from the One who is eternal and who is holy and who sees all things and sits upon His throne. And then there's another vision. Listen to what Daniel sees next. "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came One like a Son of Man, and He came to the ancient of days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom is one that shall not be destroyed."

Just as the beasts seem to overwhelm by never stopping with bad news, right, here's more good news. Another character enters the scene, the Son of Man. He comes not from the chaos of the oceans, but from the glory of heaven. He is glorious, and He is given complete dominion. And while the other kingdoms come one after another, or are given time limits, in verse 25, a time, times, half a time, right, the kingdom of the Son of Man is an everlasting kingdom that shall not pass away. And what's remarkable is the authority in these visions. They're not reacting in sort of an emergency way, being surprised by something. They are in control. They have been in control, and will be in control, right? This is not an emergency. Somebody quick call 911, right? While the beasts, in their stormy darkness rage, God is still on the throne, and in holiness, and in righteousness,

is opening His books of judgment, and the Ancient of Days still rules an everlasting kingdom that shall never be destroyed. And so what now? This is the unseen reality that holds us firm when the world shakes. And what Daniel now finds himself in, he's sort of stuck. On one hand, he's in the midst of the beast, and in Daniel's life, right, it's the end of the lion with the wings and the beginning of the air with the ribs. So on one hand, there is chaos and struggle and hurt. But on the other hand, there is the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man who rule and judge all things in righteousness and complete opposite to the brokenness we see in the world. And here is Daniel stretched in between them. But it's not just Daniel, right?

Here we stand, stretched between the chaos and the darkness and the hope of the Ancient of Days and in the Son of Man. You can actually hear in this chapter Daniel's struggle to be stretched between these two things. Listen in verse 15, "As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me." This is not Daniel after he's only seen the beast. This is after Daniel has seen the beast in the Ancient of Days. "I desired the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrified." Now, at this point Daniel has seen the beast, the Ancient of Days, the descending king, and the Son of Man who reigns over all things. And he's still struggling with fear. And in verse 28, at the very end of the chapter, "Vision complete."

"As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, my color changed, and I kept the matter in my heart." There are the beasts, and there is the everlasting kingdom of our God, and Daniel finds himself living in the same place we do, between the struggle and the brokenness of this world, and the reality that God is decisively on the throne. We see it here. If you want this chapter in just two verses. If you want to know what this chapter is all about, it's this: "These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth, but the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever, and ever." Now these visions, I think, unlike what has happened in the church so often, are not meant to start an argument.

They're not meant to terrify or discourage, but rather that God's people in the midst of the darkness and the chaos and the ravaging beast will see the greatness and the goodness of God, and that we will be secure in his faithfulness. And for Daniel, that was certainly true, because this happens before Daniel ever goes to the lion's den. And so maybe you're a Christian and it feels like you're surrounded by the oceans filled with chaos, with opposition, and you're struggling with brokenness. There is one on the throne, but more than that, God the Father, the Ancient of Days, sends God the Son, the Son of Man to come near. "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a Son of Man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him." Do you know who this is?

In the center of it all, between the chaos of the broken world and the holy righteous judgment of the Ancient of Days, stands the Son of Man. This is Jesus' favorite way to describe himself. Almost 70 times in Matthew and Mark and Luke, he describes himself as the Son of Man. Twelve times in the Gospel of John, he calls himself the Son of Man. Let me just show you two. Here is the words of Jesus, "For even as the Son of Man came not to serve, but to be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many." And going back just a few verses, they're going to Jerusalem, and Jesus says, "The Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes. They will contend him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles, and they will kill him.

They will mock him, spit on him, flog him and kill him, and after three days he will rise." And here is the Son of Man. Between the broken chaos of the fourth beast and the glorious righteousness of the judgment of heaven, he takes the place of a broken people facing the judgment that they deserve. The Son of Man literally stands between and is hung between the chaos and brokenness of this world and the judgment of heaven in our place. And the result of seeing Jesus in this way is that when we face those trials and this brokenness, Stephen, as he dies, has a vision of heaven being opened in Acts 7. And he says, "Behold, I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." The Son of Man standing to welcome Stephen home.

And John, on the Isle of Patmos, on that Lord's Day, as he is praying in the midst of the lampstands, he has this vision, "One like a Son of Man," clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash, and he falls to the ground, both worship and likely in dread. And if you read Revelation 1, the Son of Man, Jesus, comes over, puts his hand on his shoulder, lifts him up, and John sees his Savior face to face, right? The beasts threaten, they attack, sometimes they kill, but there is a Son of Man who saves and he brings us to a kingdom that never ends. And the call for faithfulness in Daniel chapter 7 means that even sometimes in the midst of fear, with tears in our eyes, praying that what we feel is taken from us. And it isn't always taken from us,

but we are given the strength to walk through it. In the fiery furnace and in the lion's den, the picture of hope is not that the trial is completely removed, but that God is with us in the midst of that trial. That the Son of Man not only stands in our place and takes our judgment, but He stands with us. And as we see in Acts chapter 7, one day will welcome us home. Father in heaven, as we look at a world that seems increasingly chaotic and increasingly broken, and increasingly filled with hurt and sin, and that which seeks to devour the souls of men, may You focus our eyes on You, the Ancient of Days, who comes in glory and power and strength and might. And may we see the goodness of Your Son who comes,

and first of all stands in our place, and makes a way for us, away from the chaos and through the judgment, ultimately to have peace and hope in You. It's in His name we pray. Amen. We're going to stand and sing. One of the remarkable things about these parts of Daniel is how closely they picture parts of Revelation. And so, just as Daniel sees this vision of the future, and in some parts impacting his current reality, we look forward to the day when Jesus returns. So let's sing, and then we'll sing on that day. We'll sing.

We will praise you as we lift our voices one till that day. We will praise you for your never-ending grace. And we will keep on singing on that glorious day.

What a blessed home, though now tired and warm. We will spend eternity around our Savior's thorns. Though we grieve our losses, we grieve not in vain. For we know our crown of glory weighs beyond the grave. On that day, we will see our Lord's glory. On that day, we will see you shining brighter than the sun. On that day, we will know you as we lift our voices one. Till that day, we will praise you for your never-ending grace. And we will keep on singing. On that glory. We lift our voices one. Till that day, we will praise you for your never-ending grace. And we will keep on singing. On that glorious day. Hallelujah, what a day it will be. For at home with you, my joy is to be. As I'm only to you, my joy is to be.

Hallelujah, what a day it will be. For at home with you, my joy is to be. As I'm only to your arms open wide, I must see you. My Father who is waiting for me. Hallelujah, what a day it will be. Hallelujah, what a day it will be. For at home with you, my joy is to be. As I'm only to your arms open wide, I must see you. My Father who is waiting for me. Hallelujah, what a day it will be. Hallelujah, what a day it will be. For at home with you, my joy is to be. As I run into your arms open wide, I will sing. My Father who is waiting for me. My Father who is waiting for me. My Father who is waiting for me. On that day, we will see you shining brighter than the sun. On that day, we will know you as we lift our voices one. Till that day, we will praise you for your never-ending grace. And we will keep on singing.

And we will keep on singing on that glorious day. On that day, we will see you shining brighter than the sun. On that day, we will know you as we lift our voices one. Till that day, we will praise you for your never-ending grace. And we will keep on singing on that glorious day. And we will keep on singing on that glorious day.

Just a couple of quick announcements before we close. It is Soup Sunday, so we'd encourage you to join us downstairs right after the service for a time of food and fellowship. If you haven't had a chance and you brought soup, there are some little black card things, and there's a chalk pen there if you want to write the name of your soup and put it out so we can see what's what. We also have some take-home containers. If you want to take home some soup, they're in the kitchen. We'd like to deliver some to a couple folks that we need. But if there are any leftovers that you don't want to take home, one of the things we would like to try to do today is we might sort of container that up. And downtown there is what is called the Freege. It's just the Free Fridge. And we thought about taking some of our leftover containers down there with the church name on it and putting them out there for those who need that at the end.

So that's the Soup Sunday announcement. We're here Wednesday night at 6 p.m. for our Wednesday night Bible study. Just a reminder, you can find usually on Sunday afternoon or Monday afternoon, all of the sermon is on our website as well as the handouts or the devotions that go along with that. Next Sunday is Children's Church. And so what I'm going to do is we're going to close in prayer. I'm going to go ahead and pray now for the soup. So as we get stuff ready, we can go ahead and eat together, and then we'll read a Scripture, share with you a blessing, and sing the doxology. Father in heaven, thank you for how you provide for us. Thank you for how you have saved us. Thank you for the hope that we have. Thank you for the fellowship we have with your people. So be with us this afternoon or this morning as we gather and share a meal.

May we encourage and strengthen one another. We thank you for your good gifts. It's in your son's name we pray. Amen. Revelation chapter 1, beginning in verse 5, the second part of verse 5, simply says this: "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us a kingdom of priests to his God and Father, for him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." And so as we get ready to go, I want to remind you of this: that the same Son of Man who Daniel saw in his glory coming with the clouds of heaven is Christ Jesus, the one who has loved you, who loves you and freed you from his sins, and he does so by his blood. And so you belong as a Christian to his kingdom. You serve under the ancient of days,

and no power in this world can shake what he has established. And so we want to go into this week full of hope, living as his people, confident in his rule, resting in his mercy and his grace, looking forward to the day when we will see him again. And as John writes in Revelation, "To him be glory and dominion forever and ever." Amen.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Father, Son, and Son. Father, Son, and Son. Father, Son, and Son. Father, Son, Son, Son, Son, Son, Son, Son, Son, Son, Son, Son.