The Sovereign Lord of History

Order of Service

• Hymn — O Worship the King (#1)
• Call to Worship — 1 Peter 1:3-5
• Hymn — O Worship the King
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — 1 Peter 2:24
• Scripture Reading — Luke 1:26-38
• Hymn — Hallelujah, What a Savior
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn — God the Lord a King Remaineth
• Sermon
• Hymn — The Church's One Foundation
• Benediction — Hebrews 13:20-21
• Gloria Patri

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Sermon Title: The Sovereign Lord of History

Scripture: Daniel 2:31-49

I. The Sovereign Lord and the Decline of Natural History

A. The four kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar's dream represent a downward gradation

1. Gold = Babylon; Silver = Medo-Persia; Bronze = Greece; Iron = Rome
2. The progression moves from best to worst — not worst to best
3. Daniel 2:39 — each successive kingdom is described as inferior; the fourth is marked by division and internal strife

B. This vision is completely counter to the modern post-Enlightenment view of history (teleology)

1. Teleology teaches that history is on a steady incline of progress toward a utopian future (e.g., Marxism)
2. Scripture's view is degression, not progression — from gold to iron mixed with clay

C. The degression Scripture describes is primarily moral and ethical, not technological

1. Genesis 4 — in the wicked line of Cain, technological advancement (cities, arts, metallurgy) coincides with moral decay (Lamech glorying in murder)
2. Genesis 11 — the Tower of Babel combines massive industrial innovation with rebellion against God
3. Image-bearing qualities used as weapons of self-destruction; kingdoms come and go in this cycle

II. The Sovereign Lord and the Incline of Supernatural History

A. The fifth kingdom — the stone cut by no human hand — is entirely the work of God

1. Daniel 2:34 — the stone is cut out without human hands
2. Daniel 2:44 — God sets up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed
3. This kingdom enters history through the virgin birth of Christ — supernatural intervention, not natural descent (Luke 1:26-38)

B. God's kingdom begins small but grows to fill the earth

1. Contrast: natural kingdoms decline from gold to iron and clay; God's kingdom grows from a small stone to a great mountain (Daniel 2:35)
2. It begins as a mustard seed and blossoms into a fully grown tree
3. Kingdom inaugurated during the fourth kingdom's reign (Rome) — Christ dies, resurrects, ascends, and is declared Lord (Acts 2; Matthew 28:18)

C. The authority of all earthly rulers is derived from God alone

1. Daniel 2:36-38 — Nebuchadnezzar's power was given to him by the God of heaven
2. Jesus to Pilate: "You would have no authority over me unless it had been given you from above" (John 19:11)
3. Romans 13:1 — there is no authority except from God

D. The carpenter's son, not the great Babylonian king, ends up on top

1. Story of Julian the Apostate — the Christian's reply: the maker of the world is making a coffin for your emperor
2. Dale Ralph Davis: "Jesus has a coffin for every empire and emperor"

III. The Sovereign Lord and the Security of Church History

A. Two contrasting perspectives on the dream: Nebuchadnezzar's and the Jewish exiles'

1. Nebuchadnezzar was relieved and content — he was the head of gold; he asked no further questions about God or the future (Baldwin)
2. The Jewish exiles in Babylon learned the Messiah's kingdom would not come for many generations — many would die in exile without seeing it fulfilled

B. The security of citizens in the kingdom of this world vs. the kingdom of God

1. Citizens of earthly kingdoms are secured by present comfort and power — "you had me at head of gold"
2. Citizens of God's kingdom are secured by the sure word of God, not present circumstances

C. The saints died in faith without receiving the promises

1. Hebrews 11:13 — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all died in faith, seeing the promises from afar, acknowledging they were strangers and exiles on the earth
2. Following Christ does not guarantee earthly comfort or survival — but it guarantees citizenship in the kingdom that lasts forever

D. Call to surrender all for the kingdom of the carpenter's son

1. Luke 23:43 — the dying thief on the cross: "Today you will be with me in paradise"
2. Mark 8:36 — what does it profit a man to gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul?
3. In the end, the stone the builders rejected wins