My evening sermons are deliberately brief. ER
Wednesday of Lent 1 There is a God in Heaven Who Reveals Mysteries Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. Daniel said to the king, No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known… what will be in the latter days. Dear Christian friends: You are the Baptized of Christ. In Baptism, the God of heaven gave you supernatural abilities that are very similar to the supernatural abilities He gave to Daniel. · Daniel knew what was going on inside Nebuchadnezzar’s head. You also know what is happening inside peoples’ heads. · Nebuchadnezzar’s disturbing thoughts had meaning, which God had revealed to Daniel. Like Daniel, you also know the meaning of what goes on in people’s heads. How do you know these things? You know these things because “*there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.*” God spoke the mysteries directly into Daniel’s head, “*in a vision of the night*.” In an equally divine way, God has handed the revelation of His mysteries to you—not in a vision, but in the form of a book. Daniel had the mental ability, you have the Scriptures, and both of these are supernatural gifts from God. With the Scriptures, you now have the power to do for your neighbor what Daniel did for the Babylonian king. What I mean is this: 1. King Nebuchadnezzar feared the future, just as every person in your life likewise fears the future. Nebuchadnezzar felt afraid because of a dream, which had been given by God. In the same way, all people likewise feel afraid today because of their guilty conscience. The guilty conscience, like Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, bears witness against them, “*their conflicting thoughts alternately accusing them and excusing them*” (Romans 2:15). How do you know that all everyone around you suffers a guilty conscience that makes them fear the future? God has revealed it to you in His Scriptures. People do not wish to tell you such things. They want to hide their conscience from you, just as Nebuchadnezzar hid his dream and would tell no one about it. “*But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries*” and He has revealed to you the mystery of the human heart, explaining it to you in His Scriptures. That is why I said earlier that you are like Daniel, able to know what is happening inside peoples’ heads. God has revealed it to you. 2. Like Daniel, you also know the meaning of what is going on in peoples’ heads. Daniel knew the meaning of the king’s dream because God revealed it to him. You know the meaning of your neighbor’s guilty conscience because God has likewise revealed it to you. Daniel knew Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was about God’s future judgement, just as you know that your neighbor’s guilty conscience is likewise all about God’s future judgment. That is why I said earlier that you now have the power to do for your neighbor what Daniel did for the Babylonian king. What did Daniel do? Daniel used his divine revelation and supernatural knowledge to speak comfort and consolation to the king. To be sure, Daniel warned Nebuchadnezzar of God’s future judgment. But as you heard, Daniel also spoke God’s promises, assuring the king that “*the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed… it shall stand forever*.” With these Words, Daniel was pointing Nebuchadnezzar to the promise of eternal life in Christ. Stated another way, Daniel used God’s promises to draw other people into the forgiveness and life that Daniel himself had already received. We are the baptized of Christ. That means we believe “*there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries*,” most especially the mystery of Christ, “*the hope of glory*” (Colossians 1:27). Perhaps there are people in our lives who will find some relief if we explain the mystery to them.
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