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EXALTING CHRIST
Daniel
7
Dan 7:1
In the first
year of Belshazzar king of
1. Daniel’s dream was a prophetic dream
(Read with FEELING & MYSTERY)
Dan 7:9-10
"I kept
looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow And the hair of
His head like pure wool. His throne was
ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire.
(10) "A river of fire was
flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon
thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before
Him; The court sat, And the books were opened.
2. Imagine
– how majestic
3. Now
verses 13-14
Dan 7:13-14 "I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him. (14) "And to Him was given dominion, Glory
and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve
Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which
will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
4. “Son of
Man” = Christ
5. “Ancient
of Days”=Father
6. DOMINION was given to the “Son
of Man” when he came to the “Ancient
of Days” in the clouds
7. Note how
God has exalted Christ
8. Compare
with the parable of Jesus concerning the kingdom (church)
Luke 19:11-12 While they were
listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near
A. Rom. 16:16 – “churches of Christ greet you”
B. Acts 20:28 – “feed the
C. It is Christ’s church
D. When did He go to the Father in the clouds
to receive it?
(Dan.
7:13-14)
Act 1:4-9
Gathering them
together, He (JESUS) commanded
them not to leave
9. He
received dominion, or a kingdom, after He ascended to
the Father in the clouds – (Dan.
10. Isaiah prophesied of Jesus – Isaiah 9:6-7
Isa 9:6-7 For a child will
be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His
shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal
Father, Prince of Peace. (7) There will
be no end to the increase of His
government or of peace, On the throne of David and
over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and
righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will
accomplish this.
11. Jesus was
given ALL AUTHORITY
A. Matt. 28:18
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came
up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has
been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
B. 1 Cor. 15:24-28
1 Cor. 15:24-28 then comes the end, when He hands over the
kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority
and power. (25) For He must reign until He has put all His
enemies under His feet. (26) The last enemy that will be abolished is
death. (27) For
HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, "All
things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted
who put all things in subjection to Him. (28)
When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be
subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in
all.
C. Notice what Peter says – 1 Pet. 3:21-22
1 Pet. 3:21-22 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves
you--not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good
conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (22) who
is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and
authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
D. Paul told
the Ephesian brethren (Eph.
Eph 1:20-23 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the
heavenly places,
(21) far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to
come. (22) And He
put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all
things to the church,
(23) which
is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
E. Look at what Paul said in Philippians
2:5-11
Phi 2:5-11 Have this attitude in yourselves which was
also in Christ Jesus, (6) who, although He existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, (7)
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of
men. (8)
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (9)
For this reason also, God
highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every
name, (10) so
that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and
on earth and under the earth,
(11) and that every tongue will
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father.
12. The
Father is gloried in this age through the Son…(v. 11)
A. Eph. 3:20-21
Eph 3:20-21 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask
or think, according to the power that works within us, (21) to
Him be the glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
B. Jesus has ALL
AUTHORITY during this time
(Matt. 28:18; 1 Cor.
15:27) The Father is glorified through Him
13. But it
was only for a prescribed period of time…..UNTIL
A. His exaltation
came after His death, burial, and resurrection
B. Only until the
end – when Jesus comes in judgment –
and turns it all back to the Father – (1 Cor.
1 Cor. 15:24-28 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has
abolished all rule and all authority and power. (25)
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. (26)
The last enemy that will be abolished is death. (27) For
HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, "All
things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted
who put all things in subjection to Him.
(28) When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will
be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all
in all.
14. Yet, we sometimes deny Christ His proper place of glory, honor, dominion, rule, and headship in the
church which He purchased with His own
blood….THE POSITION OF AUTHORITY THAT GOD GAVE
HIM.
A. We speak ABOUT
HIM – rarely TO HIM
B. See Him more
as a FALLEN HERO rather than a LIVING SAVIOR
1. The
“Jesus only” movement ---- Pentecostalism ----
caused us to
“back off”
2. Some
feel they would DIS-HONOR the Father
3. Tradition
– YOUNG LISTEN TO THE PRAYERS OF OLDER
C. We need to
praise Jesus to the glory of the Father
D. Jesus is to be
King of kings and Lord of lords in our PERSONAL LIVES and in our PUBLIC WORSHIP
1) In
our personal lives:
Don’t speak of Him as we should
Don’t give credit to Him
Don’t talk TO Him
2) I
have found NO ONE who will not agree with my teaching
that Jesus should be exalted ----King of kings; Lord of lords
E. Remember….
1) Eph.
1:21-22 – head over ALL THINGS to the church
2) Matt.
28:18 – ALL authority given to Him
3) 1 Cor. 15:27 – The
Father put ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION TO HIM (JESUS)
F. In practice we
by-pass Jesus in our thinking….. still consider the Father to have
retained all authority….reflected in
our prayers
1) We
even by-pass Him in our prayers around the Lord’s Table.
If He gets any glory & praise it is
only if He overhears our prayers to
the Father
2) When
do you hear prayers taking our troubles to Him?
G. We sing songs
of prayer to Jesus – and songs that admonish us to pray to Jesus
1) #77
– I Must Tell Jesus:
“I must tell Jesus all of my
trials; I cannot beat these burden alone; Jesus can
help me, Jesus alone”
2) #69
– What a Friend We Have in Jesus
“What a friend we have in
Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear;
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer.”
“Have we trials and
temptation? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be
discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer”
“Can we find a friend so
faithful, who will all our sorrows bear?
Jesus knows our every
weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer.”
3) #512
– “Looking to Thee” is a prayer TO Jesus
4) many,
many more – Jim Green made a list of songs from our songbook that are prayers to – or
about praying to Jesus
– Pages of numbers & titles
15. These songs are not authority – are they?
A. Must appeal to
the scriptures…
B. Command or
direct statement, approved apostolic example, necessary
inference
1) How
many times? – 1 would be enough
2) What
do we demand others do when we show them the many places baptism is taught? – Allow
them to whisk it away
with (so called) contradicting passages?
3) How
many times – L/S first day of the week?---Offering on 1st
day of the week? ---
16. If I can show scriptural principles – Approved apostolic
examples –
-- or necessary inferences… would
THAT be enough to prove that it is
scriptural to pray to Jesus?
A. Scriptural principles:
1) Already shown that Jesus has ALL
authority; and He is the
head over ALL things to the church
2) He
is our Advocate with the Father
1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things
to you so that you may not sin. And
if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous;
Who can
we go to about our “case” (dealing with sin)
Jesus
is our Advocate (counselor) – He pleads our case before
the Father
(not my description – John’s)
Can
we talk to our Advocate about our sins?
3) We are to go to Him because He has
personal experience and expertise in our human
predicament…
(Context about Jesus being our SPIRITUAL High Priest –
the Jewish Hig Priest was their
ADVOCATE)
Heb 4:13-16
And there is no
creature hidden from His sight, but
all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. (14) Therefore,
since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the
Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
(15) For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our
weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. (16) Therefore
let us draw near with confidence to
the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in
time of need.
B. Command or
Direct Statement
Context – Son of God
1 John 5:11-15 And the
testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
(12) He who has the Son has the life; he who
does not have the Son of God
does not have the life. (13) These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of
God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. (14)
This is the confidence which we have
before Him, (BEFORE WHOM? – THE SON OF GOD) that, if we ask anything according to His
will, He hears us. (15) And
if we know that He hears us in
whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked
from Him.
WE HAVE SEEN PRINCIPLES – DIRECT STATEMENTS –
DO WE HAVE APPROVED APOSTOLIC EXAMPLES OF PRAYING
DIRECTLY TO JESUS?
C. Examples of prayer to Jesus
1) Steven – (Not at same time as seeing
Jesus standing)
Act
NOTE: WHEN Jesus appeared – some want to make this all a part of the
same
COULD WE–BEING
PERSECUTED-TURN TO OUR LORD – WHO KNOWS WHAT PERSECUTION WAS LIKE
(remember Heb.
2) Paul
thanked Jesus
1 Tim. 1:12-14
I thank him that enabled me, even
Christ Jesus our Lord, for that he counted me faithful, appointing me
to his service; (13)
though I was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious:
howbeit I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief; (14) and the grace of our Lord abounded
exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
CAN WE, LIKE PAUL, WHEN WE
NEED STRENGTH GO TO JESUS?
CAN WE TOO, THANK JESUS, WHO
IS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH, FOR STRENGTHENING US AND PUTTING US INTO SERVICE IN
HIS CHURCH?
3) Paul
carried his needs to Jesus
2 Cor. 12:7-10 Because
of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me
from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of
Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself! (8)
Concerning this I implored the
Lord three times that it might leave me. (9)
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected
in weakness." Most
gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (10)
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with
distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I
am weak, then I am strong.
CAN WE TURN TO JESUS WITH OUR REQUESTS?
WHEN WE SEEK RELIEF FROM A PROBLEM?
17. Why are we in the habit of addressing the Father only?
A. Jesus is Head
over all things to the church –
But we pray to the Father
B. Some point to
the Lord's prayer - (explain)
C. Consider:
1) Lord's Supper - can't thank Him?
2) He is King (1 Cor.
can't talk to Him
3) He is my High Priest - sacrificed for me -
I
can't say, "thank you, Jesus"?
4) He is my Advocate (lawyer - to plead for me)
but I can't talk to Him
5) He is the head of all things to the church
(Eph.
But
I can't talk to Him? How is He my head?
6) He has all authority (Matt 28:18)...... for
what??
Just lawmaking??? not to grant our
prayers??
7) He is our judge.... I can't talk to Him??
8) He is our brother, friend, physician,
minister, bishop, shepherd, and Lord.
18. What IS our relationship with Jesus today??
Jesus wants a close, "personal" relationship with
you
A. If I said, "Do you know Jesus as your Personal
Savior?"
"denominational" "liberal" "pentecostal"
B. Mat
THIS
IS A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
C. Peter tells us
to cast all your anxiety upon Him, because
He cares for you.
(1 Pet 5:7)
THIS IS A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
So many other passages-
He
is the Good Shepherd -
personal relationship
He
Is our Advocate
- personal relationship
He
is our friend - Jesus said, John 15:13-15 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay
down his life for his friends. (14) "You are My friends if you do
what I command you. (15) "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not
know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things
that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
DO
YOU HAVE A CLOSE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
WITH JESUS??
CONCLUSION:
Can we have a close personal
relationship with Jesus? - We MUST!
A. Christ
is not being preached in this regard by many today!!
1.
No PERSONAL relationship
2.
Not wanting to be like PTL & denominations
a. many
just stress PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP no rules
b. Some
brethren, perhaps, stress a RULES to the exclusion of a personal relationship
Some brethren today seem to teach impersonal
LAWKEEPING - l.e. told to obey
"or else"
c. We MUST OBEY
(I am not de-emphesizing)
But we must obey FOR THE PROPER REASON
d. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My
commandments."
(John
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
NOT “If you FEAR ME, you will keep My commandments”
e. "He who has My
commandments and keeps them,
he
it is who loves Me”...." (John 14:21)
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
f. "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word" (John
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
g. MANY
OTHER SUCH PASSAGES
CLOSE:
Jesus is a friend who cares
about you – He wants to have a close, personal, relationship with you.
That relationship is only had
by submitting to His will. He has
instructed us how to enter into that relationship with Him…. BELIEVE in Him,
and His gospel…. CONFESS your belief in Him…. TURN away from the world and
FOLLOW Him… Let His blood wash away your sins in BAPTISM.
Why put it off another
minute…. Will you come to Him today?
Sometimes Christians forsake
their friendship with Christ – If that is you… you can be reconciled… Jesus is
anxious to forgive you if you will REPENT AND ASK HIM TO FORGIVE YOU….and make
a new beginning…….Jesus wants you to come back to Him.
Jesus is waiting for you…
won’t you come to Him right now as we stand and sing to encourage you…