April 27, 2008 – “WHEN IT SEEMS THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO”

TEXT: Daniel 2:1-49 (Sermon Reading 2:14-23) Page 625 in Pew Bible

I. (vs. 1-16) WHEN THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO YOU CAN PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD

(Daniel 2:4) “…O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”

(Daniel 2:5) “The king replied to the astrologers, ‘This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble.’”

(Daniel 2:10) “The astrologers answered the king, ‘There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer.’”

(Daniel 2:11) “What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men.”

(Daniel 2:12) “This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon.”

(Daniel 2:13) “So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.”

(Tommy Barnett) “God can solve a problem in a thousand ways.”

(Psalm 62:5-6) “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.”

(Gilbert Beenken) “Other men see only a hopeless end, but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope.”

(Psalm 42:5-6) “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

(Isaiah 40:28-31) “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

II. (vs.17-18) WHEN THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO YOU CAN ASK GOD FOR HELP

(Jerry Falwell) “The size of your God, determines the size of your prayer request. The size of your prayer request, determines the size of your answers.”

(Philippians 4:6-7) “Do not be anxious about anything, but in prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

(Hebrews 4:16) “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

(I Peter 5:7) “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

(E. M. Bounds) “Prayer is our most formidable weapon, but the one in which we are least skilled and the most averse to using.”

(James 5:16b) “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

(Matthew 18:19-20) “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

(Dietrich Bonheoffer) “Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. It means, first, that a Christian needs others because of Jesus Christ.”

(Peter Wagner) “Intercessory prayer for others may be the most under used resource of power in the church.”

(Dr. A. C. Dixon) “But when we rely on prayer, we get what God can do!”

(Jeremiah 33:2-3) “This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it – the Lord is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’”

III. (vs.19-23, 27-28, 36-37& 47) WHEN THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO YOU CAN DISCOVER GOD IS BIG ENOUGH

(Daniel 2:19a) “During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.”

(Maude Royde) “When you have nothing left but God, then you become aware that God is enough.”

(Daniel 2:20) “…Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.”

(Psalm 18:1-2) “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

(I Corinthians 1:24-25) “…but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”

(Daniel 2:23) “I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: you have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king.”

(I Thessalonians 5:18) “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

(James 1:5) “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

(Colossians 1:29) “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.”

(Daniel 2:28) “…but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.”

(Genesis 50:20) “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

(I Samuel 23:14) “David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.”

(Psalm 73:26) “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

(Ephesians 2:4-5) “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.”

(Daniel 2:37) “You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory;”

(Romans 13:1) “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”

(Daniel 2:47) “The king said to Daniel, ‘Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.’”

-