Dan.2:20-23

http://www.bbc.edu
last year in spring of 06 i was asked to speak for the senior class before they graduated.

How to Have Joy in Gods Sovereignty?
Background:
Chapter one: Babylonian captivity, training program, shows faith, see the excellent of God’s men.
Chapter two:
V.1-3-Kings second year he has a dream, and asked for all the magicians to come in and tell him the dream.
V.4-11-Tells them that if they can do it they will be given gifts and if not they will dead. Then they could not tell the dream and the king looks for all the wise men to kill.
V.12-13-Even Daniel!
V.14-16-Daniel ask for some time and him and his friends not to be killed
V.17-18-went to find his friends and tell his friends about the matter. And ask God for compassion on his friends and himself.

V.19- is the transaction verse-seeing what God is doing in the situation and not Daniel.
So the title of my message is…even when death is upon you, still have joy, one of the greatest fears in ministry is its going to be hard…Daniel prayed for his ministry!!! But he also praises God for it.
Problem with us we have everything to begin with, it is easy being a Christian when we have everything. But time is coming to see if all your praises have been real to Jesus? See Daniel never worried about himself in the situation. See Daniel didn’t work for his name, but he realized Gods and there showed God first and foremost. That brings me to the first point…

Prepositional Statement (#, Noun, Application, action)
I have two questions for you, to take into your ministry.

I. Instructional Points-V.20-22 are you praising God for being a part of His plan?
20Daniel said,…”Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever,For wisdom and power belong to Him. 21″It is He who changes the times and the epochs;He removes kings and establishes kings;He gives wisdom to wise menAnd knowledge to men of understanding. 22″It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things;He knows what is in the darkness,And the light dwells with Him.
A. Illustration-If I stopped everything in middle of a crisis you’d say I was ridiculous? We have one of the best illustrations of praising in what God is doing here! I mean Daniel doesn’t even know what hit him before the captain of the kings bodyguard is like, “Daniel come on we are killing you, o and all your friends too, ok.” First thing is he stands up for what he believes in, and shows faith for what he believes in and goes strait to the king! Says I’ll tell you tomorrow. Let me have a day to live. God first sees if he’s going to have faith and then allows Daniel to see this in a night vision and it comes to him. And the first thing he does is praise the Almighty God he showed his faith in. That is what God wants…
B. Application-are you an example of biblical praise?
v.20-This is what praise is, it is looking at what God has done! Then reflecting on what that tells us about God, and then the wonderful chance to come to Him and express those reflections in words to our Savior. Why don’t we remember what God has done he’s bought you so far along pretty good huh? You think God is going to do something wrong for you life?
v.21-Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful king at the time, but he had been granted his power by the sovereign Lord and was under His complete control. Some times in your life you might think that you have made it somewhere in life, but I remind you the only reason is because God has placed you there and you are doing His will and it wouldn’t matter if an unsaved person was doing if the Lord would terry without you any given day. Some of you want to boast in your name, your job, your wife, your family, your father, your house, your car, but there is no better name to boast in the name God.
God wants His praise! -IMPORTANT-thee example of biblical praise…thee ultimate praise is the Cross- Jesus cries out in Matt.27:46“MY GOD, MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME” which is a direct quotation form Ps.22:1 when David states the exact cry to God. Which was a form of praise. Jesus Christ going through what he did for 33 year’s of a sinless and blameless life and this is what he got, the cross… that is the way a lot of you respond like… you say, “I’ve done my best in my life and this is what you give me, this is what I am worth you God. To be a Christian is to take up your cross… this doesn’t mean that there’s going to be a kid in your suite that has harmed you wrong by using your shampoo or that is a 4 point instead of 5 on Calvinism, crosses are where people die, nails through your hands, hanging for three days until the crows come to eat at your mouth and pick you eyes out. Crosses are a year into ministry and your church splits, your youth group is falling at the seems, or crosses are you loosing your child after a year, crosses are maybe graduating without a mate, crosses are not knowing what your doing after you do graduate, crosses are going back to the factory cause you don’t have a job, you say I have went 4 years of schooling for you God and you give me this job, this kind of life? Praise God for His Sovereign plan in your life.
C. Interaction-what do you do when hard times come?
When we see and understand that God is in control, we must have the cross first in life. We then know our salvation to its fullest and there we show our true hearts in boosting form the cross saying, “it is ok, it’s ok, it must be ok because God is on control.” There is where we can find joy. In knowing God and not ourselves.
Daniel understood the sovereignty of God like no other, do we really trust God in hard times? Or does it become just a talk that we must talk. When we do not live out in which we believe to be true we then commit heresy and that is in a sin and a failure to Christ in itself.

II. Instructional Points-V.23 are you rejoicing in God for being a piece of His plan?
The difference is that don’t just praise God for His plan but you GET you be a part of the plan.
23″To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,For You have given me wisdom and power;Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You,For You have made known to us the king’s matter.
A. Illustration-do you rejoice when big events ruin you plans?
Read from Dan Cruvers book…pages, 75-76
B. Application-are you an example of Biblical rejoicing?
Some of you are going into big ministry, some of you might be going home to hell, a father that is unsaved, some might go to a job that is dirty and worthless, when you go home rejoice in what you have. Part of Gods plan is there, cutting edge of what Gods doing selling fires, flipping burgers, washing cars, and even factories.
What do you think Daniels first reaction was when finding out he was going to be killed? Some you going to walk out this school, and hit home, those jobs and then the worst the Lords ministry and won’t even rejoice or praise God for one thing! Daniel chose to rejoice! He knew God was in control! Daniel could have said now God you took me out of my country, then made me learn under a pagan god and now I have to die!!! No he had faith in Gods severity and praise God through his circumstances, constantly reminded him self of just being able to serve God.
God wants His rejoice!
C. Interaction-do you truly have faith in Gods Sovereignty to even rejoice in him?
Review of the two points…
This is a 18 year old boy, lost his mentor Jeremiah, he lost his family! Watch his home be burnt down, lost his brothers, sister, and had no contact with them again, lost his king, his ruler, watched 5 of them in Jerusalem die and fall to pieces.