Sermon Manuscript

Daniel 7:15-18; Who Receives the Kingdom? ~ 20220424 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

04/24_Daniel 07:15-18; Who Receives the Kingdom? Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20220424_dan07_15-18.mp3

In Daniel 7, an exiled Jew in captivity in Babylon was given a comprehensive vision of the Gentile nations who would rule over God’s people, depicted as ravenous beasts, extending to the very end of time, when the Ancient of Days takes his seat on his flaming chariot throne to judge the nations, and one like a Son of man comes riding on the clouds, and to this divine cloud rider is given an eternal kingdom, that all the nations of the world bow to worship him.

We’ve spent the last few weeks looking at this centerpiece of Daniel, the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man; in New Testament terms God the Father and God the Son. The Son, (Phil.2:5-8) although he was fully equal with his Father, humbled himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and because he was obedient even to the point of death, even death on a cross,

Philippians 2:9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Last time we looked at the parallels between this vision of the one like a Son of Man given to Daniel, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ given to John, where the one seated on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, is holding a scroll, with which to judge the nations, and a search is made for one who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals. No one was found worthy in heaven or on earth or under the earth, except the Lion of the tribe of Judah who had proven himself victorious. He was presented before the one seated on the throne. But when John turned to look, he did not see a mighty lion, but rather a lamb standing, as though it had been slain. The Lion of Judah conquered by becoming a sacrificial Lamb who laid down his life for others. When the slain Lamb took the scroll from the hand of the Ancient of days, all heaven worshiped him:

Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

YHWH the cloud rider, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, is presented before the Ancient of Days as the Son of Man slain for the sins of his people.

Who Receives the Kingdom?

I want to ask one question of our text today; Who receives the kingdom? To whom does the Ancient of Days give the eternal kingdom? The answer to this question seems obvious given what we have read so far.

Daniel 7:13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

It is to this one like a son of man that the Ancient of Days gives dominion and glory and a kingdom; his kingdom and his dominion is eternal; it will never pass away.

This title ‘the Son of man’ was by far Jesus’ most consistent way to refer to himself in the gospels. When put under oath by the Jewish high priest in his mock trial;

Matthew 26:63 ...And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

The religious leaders took it as blasphemy; the one they believed to be a mere man making himself out to be God (Mt.26:65).

In John 13, before Jesus humbled himself to wash his disciples’ feet, it says:

John 13:3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,

As Jesus moved resolutely toward his death, he was fully aware of who he was; that he is the one who had come down from God, that he was returning to take his seat at the right hand of his Father, and that the Father had given all things into his hand.

In John 17, Jesus prayed to his Father:

John 17:4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Jesus eternally existed as God, equal with his Father, he had come to bring glory to his Father, and he was eager to return to the glory he had with his Father before he created all things.

Jesus the King

Throughout his ministry, Jesus proclaimed ‘the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand’ (Mk.1:15), because he, the King had come.

The wise men from the east came seeking the one who was born king of the Jews (Mt.2:2). Just before his glory was revealed on the mount of Transfiguration, Jesus said:

Matthew 16:28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

To Jesus, the Son of Man, belongs the kingdom. It seems his disciples were continually arguing about who would be greatest in his kingdom (Mt.18:1).

On Palm Sunday, Jesus presented himself as the humble King on a donkey in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9 (Mt.21:4-5). Before Pilate he acknowledged that he was indeed a king, but his kingdom was not from this world (Jn.18:36-37).

In Revelation, Jesus the Lamb, Jesus the Word of God is called ‘King of kings and Lord of Lords (Rev.17:14; 19:16)

To whom does the Ancient of Days give the kingdom? It is to the Son of Man, to him:

Daniel 7:14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

The Saints of the Most High Shall Receive the Kingdom

But keep reading in Daniel 7!

Daniel 7:15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. 16 I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. 17 ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. 18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’

Wait! I thought it was to the divine Son of man that the Ancient of Days gave the kingdom? But here it says ‘the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’ Which is it? Is the kingdom given to the Son of man forever, or is the kingdom given to the saints of the Most High forever and ever? Who are these saints of the Most High?

Saints and Holy

First, what is a saint? The word ‘saint’ is a form of the word ‘holy’. Holy means unique, separate, distinct, set apart. God is holy; he is utterly unique, in a class by himself. Places can be holy, a specific location set apart for worship. Things can be holy, like the things that are set apart for use in the tabernacle or temple of God. Time can be holy, specific days set apart for the worship of God. The beings we call angels are sometimes called ‘holy ones’, set apart, devoted to God and to his service and glory. God’s people are called to be holy;

Leviticus 20:7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. ...26 You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

God’s people are called saints, holy, chosen and set apart to belong to the Lord as his own treasured possession.

Paul addresses his letter to the church in the city of Corinth this way:

1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

The church is made up of people who have been sanctified or set apart in Christ Jesus, people who are called to be saints. And this is no special class of extra holy people wearing halos who have attained to some degree of meritorious moral and spiritual amazingness. Listen to how Paul addresses the saints in 1 Corinthians 6.

1 Corinthians 6:9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

To inherit the kingdom of God, you have to be righteous. He gives the laundry list of bad people who do bad things and says that these kinds of people will not inherit the kingdom of God. But pay attention to what he says next:

1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

There is hope for every flavor of sinner. This is the transforming power of the good news. The blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to wash away every sin, every stain. We are all unrighteous. No one is righteous before God, no not one. But we can be made righteous, we can be justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. We who are unholy can be set apart, made holy, sinners can be called saints, transformed by the Holy Spirit of God.

1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Inheritance; Identity not Performance

Notice that in this passage Paul is talking about saints inheriting the kingdom of God. Only the righteous, only saints washed in the blood of Jesus will inherit the kingdom.

There was a man who ran up to Jesus and asked him “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mk.10:17). This is an interesting question, because doing and inheriting don’t seem to go well together. Laborers get wages. An inheritance is based on your identity not your performance. The inheritance goes to the one who is born into a position as the heir.

Jesus turns this man’s attention to himself. He asks ‘why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.’ In effect he is asking this man if he really is recognizing Jesus for who he truly is. Only God is good. In calling me good, are you acknowledging me as God? Then he points the man to the commandments. The commandments were given not as a ladder to climb to show how good we are; they were given as a mirror to show us just how far we fall short. No one is truly good except God himself. But this guy is so performance based that he thinks he is doing well, although he has a nagging suspicion that he is missing something essential. Jesus points it out. He says ‘you lack one thing.’ There is stuff in the way of that one thing, and it needs to go, but that is not the one thing. Get rid of whatever is in the way of the one thing. Jesus says ‘I am the one thing you lack’. Get rid of whatever is hindering you from following me, and come, follow me. Jesus invites the man into a relationship with him as the only good God, who can wash sinners clean and make them saints.

Born into the Right Family

Remember, workers get wages. Inheritance is based on your identity. You are born into an inheritance. This is why Jesus tells Nicodemus “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn.3:3). To enter the kingdom, to obtain the inheritance, you must be born into the right family.

Listen to what Peter writes:

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In God’s great mercy, while we were dead in our sins, he makes us alive, we are born into his family, and we are born into an eternal heavenly inheritance.

Heirs through Adoption

The Bible uses language of the new birth, it also uses language of adoption; we are adopted into God’s family as sons of God.

Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

This is amazing! Jesus redeems us with his own precious blood, he pays our price in full so that we can experience adoption as sons, and if we are adopted as sons, we are included in the inheritance!

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

The inheritance is based on identity not performance. This is staggering. God gives us his Holy Spirit, the Spirit of adoption, and that makes us adopted children of God and heirs of God. And that makes us co-heirs with Christ the only begotten Son of God. The inheritance that Jesus has by right is given also to us.

Who Receives the Kingdom?

Let’s go back to Daniel and look at the question we started with; who receives the kingdom?

Jesus the divine Son of man receives the kingdom and dominion and glory from his Father. But then we read in verse 18:

Daniel 7:18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’

Those of us who are in Christ, born again by the Spirit of God, adopted into his family, we become heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. What he inherits we inherit. We are called saints, washed clean and made holy by the blood of Jesus Christ. We, the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.

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2022.04.24 Sermon Notes

Daniel 7:15-18; Who Receives the Kingdom?

The Ancient of Days = God the Father

One like a son of man = God the Son

Daniel 7:9-14; Philippians 2:5-11; Revelation 5:1-9;

The eternal Son of God is Jesus the Son of Man

Matthew 26:63-65; John 13:3; 17:4-5

To King Jesus belongs the eternal kingdom

Mark 1:15; Matthew 2:2; 16:28; 18:1; 21:4-5; John 18:36-37

Revelation 17:14; 19:16; Daniel 7:14

The Saints of the Most High receive the kingdom

Daniel 7:18

Saint / Holy – unique, separate, distinct, set apart

Leviticus 20:7, 26; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 6:9-11

Inheritance; identity not performance

Mark 10:17-21

We must be born into the right family

John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:3-5

We become heirs through adoption

Galatians 4:4-7; Romans 8:15-17

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org