Choose Your Kingdom
Bonus notes from my message on Daniel 7
Hi. This is not a typical article. It’s just some “behind the scenes” notes from my recent message in Daniel 7, or the vision of the four beasts. I’m passing them along because people have commented that it’s good to have some clarity on apocalyptic visions like the ones in Daniel.
Have questions about the passage or message? Leave a comment, or reply to me.
If you’re interested, the following are the last notes I made before I wrote out the sermon. In other words, after all my study of the passage (and a lot of other notes), these ideas and outline were what I worked from to write the actual message.
Why does God want this story told to my church? (Bottom Line)
You are not ready to reign. You’re ready to be refined.
After studying the passage, this is the message for today that stood out to me. It will be different at different times and for different preachers. It comes from study of the passage plus experience in your life and church, and prayer.
Applied Truths / Homiletical Outline*
Accept the Earthly Reality
Kingdoms come and go (Dan 7:17) -explain beasts from first part of the vison.
Suffering of the saints comes and goes with them (Dan 7:19-21, 23-25). - Daniel was in exile, trib still future...
Believe the Heavenly Explanation
God was always in charge (Dan 7:4, 5, 6, 9-12, 26).
He is preparing a people to reign (Dan 7:18, 22, 27). - Persecution first, then dominion.
Choose Your Kingdom
Jesus is coming back (Dan 7:13-14) - Messiah-->Jesus, crucified and resurrected (gospel).
His people reign with him (Rom 8:17; 2 Tim 2:11-12; Rev 2:26-27; 20:4-6). - The saints who rule with the savior have suffered. Personal: not persecuted for faith, so have to find value in every hardship. Can’t avoid/deny/ignore. Must go through it. (Also see: Beatitudes.)
*A homiletical outline is what you preach to your particular congregation, based on how you would apply the passage to them. Prior to this, I would prepare an exegetical outline, which is my outline of the passage itself, how I think the author might have outlined it for his readers, and a timeless outline, which is an in-between outline of how the passage might apply to all hearers at any time. So, for me, the outline of my message is different that the outline of the passage. Sometimes they are very different; sometimes they are similar. Either way, I still want to explain the key elements of the passage as I go through the body of the sermon.
What is the application today? (Main Point)
Why does it matter?
We’re not ready to reign, yet. God will get us there if we endure hardship with Jesus.
Similar to the bottom line, the main point is the single idea I want to communicate. If people remember nothing else, I want them to get this idea from the message.
What happens next?
Every hardship presents a kingdom choice. Every difficulty presents a kingdom choice. Every choice is a kingdom choice. Choose your kingdom.
Application is different for everybody, but I want to suggest something that will generally apply to everyone.
Well, I don’t know if you like this kind of thing, but it’s a peek behind the curtain of my prep time, anyway. Let me know if you have questions about any of it.