Who Knows?

Order of Service

• Hymn — O Bless Our God with One Accord (based on Psalm 134)
• Call to Worship — Luke 1:68-75
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith (Scots Confession)
• Scripture Reading — Luke 1:5-25
• Hymn — How Deep the Father's Love for Us
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Preparation
• Hymn — Soldiers of Christ, Arise
• Sermon
• Hymn — Thee We Adore, Eternal Lord
• Benediction
• Doxology

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Sermon Title: Who Knows

Scripture: Daniel 2:1-30

I. Pagan Knowledge

A. Nebuchadnezzar's dream troubles him deeply and he summons his wise men — not merely for interpretation, but to tell him the dream itself

1. Ancient Near Eastern rulers were suspicious of dream interpreters who could fabricate meanings
2. The Chaldeans confess in Daniel 2:11 that only the gods can know such things — but those gods do not dwell with flesh

B. The gods of Babylon know but cannot reveal — they do not dwell with flesh

1. Contrast with the God of Israel, who reveals mysteries through fleshly mouthpieces — an incarnational knowledge
2. As Hebrews 1:1-2 states, God spoke through prophets and finally through his Son — the prophets are a prototypological incarnational revelation leading to the Word made flesh
3. The Greek word mysterion denotes that which was hidden in the mind of God and is now revealed through the incarnate Son

C. All religions outside of Christianity can only manipulate and distort what has already been revealed — they cannot disclose what is truly hidden in the mind of God

II. Faith Knowledge

A. Daniel responds with prudence and discretion when faced with the death decree (Daniel 2:14)

1. He does not panic or retaliate; he calmly and respectfully inquires of Arioch
2. The man of faith never stops treating those in authority with respect and deference, even when delivering a hard word
3. This composure is only possible for one whose feet are on the solid rock of a sovereign Lord

B. Daniel's calm mirrors God's own posture toward rebellious sinners in Isaiah 1:18 — "Come, let us reason together"

1. In a world of loud, panicked, obnoxious voices, the world needs the prudent voice of faith

C. Faith knowledge does not know all the details but trusts the God who does

1. Daniel 2:22 — "He knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him"
2. Psalm 139 — the darkness is not dark to God
3. Even when we cannot understand our dark circumstances, we take comfort that the one who dwells in unapproachable light does know and cares for us

D. Faith knowledge is manifested through prayer — Daniel 2:17-18

1. Unlike the Chaldeans who declare all is lost because their gods cannot be reached, Daniel and his friends seek the God of heaven for mercy
2. The God of the Hebrews is a God who can be sought — he condescends to his people
3. Isaiah 55:6-9 — "Seek the Lord while he may be found... for my thoughts are not your thoughts"
4. Challenge: Are you a Christian pagan — claiming the name of Christ but never seeking him in prayer, treating him as distant and merciless? Or do you storm the throne of grace as Daniel did?

III. God's Knowledge

A. After receiving the revelation, Daniel pauses to praise God before running to the king — Daniel 2:20-23

1. The temptation is to treat God as a side character who supplies the answer while the human hero rides off into the sunset
2. Daniel refuses this man-centered pragmatism — his religion is theocentric and Christocentric through and through

B. Daniel has not received a magic trick — he has been invited into the divine mind of God, and this fills him with awe

1. He deflects all credit entirely: the God who reveals mysteries must receive all glory
2. Colossians 2:2-3 — in Christ "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge"; Daniel points forward to Christ from a redemptive-historical distance

C. What Daniel says to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:30 anticipates the Son of Man of Daniel 7 — the Ancient of Days, the Lord of glory, in whom all wisdom and knowledge is found

1. The biblical religion is Christ-centered — those who belong to Christ, whether on death's doorstep or in the prime of life, cannot help but praise him
2. On the Lord's Day we pause, rest from our restless weekly lives, and do what Daniel did — praise the triune God regardless of what the watching world thinks