Daniel 7:15-28 I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the middle of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.… Wisdom and righteousness are the qualities of a real king. Daniel, though not ambitious of a material sceptre, yet, by virtue of his weighty influence, swayed the destinies of the Babylonian empire. He ruled by an unpretentious grace. I. GOOD MEN ARE MORE CONCERNED FOR GOD'S CAUSE THAN FOR ANY SELF-EXALTATION. Daniel was grieved in spirit, not because of personal ill, nor from fear of the lions' den, but because of the obscurity of the vision; in other words, because of the uncertain fortune of God's kingdom. The symbol of the fourth beast seemed to betoken disaster, suffering, yea, even destruction, for the people of God. That under the violence of this unnatural monster the saints of the Most High should be worn out with oppression, and that rude wickedness should prevail; this distressed and overwhelmed the heart of Daniel. He lived for one object. His life, from the early days of youth, had been directed towards one end - viz, the reversal of Israel's over-throw - the restoration of the Hebrews to Canaan. If this end seemed nearer, he was content; if this event was shrouded in doubt, he grieved. In his ease self was repressed - kept down. He was consumed with pious zeal for others' good - for God's honour. Never once do we find him plotting for his own elevation or for his own interests. He did not live for fame. Yet he had it. He thought mainly of God, and God set his thought and care upon him. He had so completely identified himself with God's cause on earth, that all his interest and happiness were indissolubly bound up with it. Herein God observed his promise, "Them that honour me I will honour." To him heaven was open. He moved in the society of angels. And, when his mind was enveloped with difficulty, he gladly sought counsel and instruction from one of the heavenly host. A wise man will ever seek to increase his wisdom. He welcomes light from every quarter. II. SELF-EXALTATION IS EVENTUALLY DOOMED TO DESTRUCTION. The nature of man has great possibilities both of elevation and descent. He who will be a monarch, be the methods what they may, shall be degraded to the level of a beast. These four human sovereigns are represented by the Spirit of truth as four beasts. They were so rapacious after rule, that, on the road, they did not hesitate to devour much flesh. A thousand, or a myriad, human lives were, in their estimation, nothing, so long as they could climb to a throne, and see their proud wills obeyed. Yet they were only beasts in the guise of men. They had the tastes, inclinations, ferocity, of brutes. The fourth in the contemptible series was so wanton and lustful in his rage, that not one of the wild beasts on earth could fitly represent him. He was a very prodigy of brutality. But empire so gained could not continue. The seeds of decay were sown in it from the beginning. "They that use the sword shall perish by the sword." Their success is but for a moment - a vapour, which barely appeareth, and then for ever vanisheth. Who can point us to-day to an earthly throne, which has been founded by military arms, and has endured? Vaulting ambition has always overleaped itself. They that have determined to be rulers, be the cost what it may, shall sink into infamy - into the pit of human scorn. "The judgment shall sit." A King of all other kings calmly rules, with irresistible sceptre, in a higher sphere; and woe be to the puny tyrant that dares resist his will! Jehovah hath "prepared his throne in the heavens;" and this is a fundamental principle in his kingdom: "He that exalteth himself shall be abased." They that bite and devour shall be consumed one of another. III. LOWLY GOODNESS SHALL RISE TO A GLORIOUS AND PERMANENT THRONE. They who sink self shall rise into the possession of a better nature and of a loftier state. To live for others is heroic - god-like. Real goodness thinks little about itself - is blind to its own virtues and charms. It deems others' merits superior to its own, others' faults to be less. Its eye is mainly fixed upon the true standard of excellence, and it strains every nerve to reach that. So long as that is beyond, unattained, it mourns and grieves. The mark of true saints, in their present state, is not perfection, but consecration. They are God's devoted ones - "the sacramental host of his elect." Their characteristic mark is loyalty - growing holiness. They are devoid of personal ambition. If they have crowns thrust upon them, they will place them at once at the service of their Lord. To acquire wisdom, righteousness, love, - this is their ambitious aim, even to be worthy friends of the King of grace. In process of time they become "more than conquerors," for they acquire a conquest which is permanent and irreversible - a conquest which serves as a vantage-ground for higher conquest yet. Whether the dominion, which the saints of God obtain, is over evil principles, or over living personalities, or over men, may remain an open question. It may very properly be said to include all. It is a dominion over self, over sin, over death, over Satan, yea, over their fellow-men. For, in the nature of firings, in proportion as any man has wisdom, purity, love, he rules with invisible sceptre over other men. Yet, kings and priests though the saints are, they are willing vassals under Christ. He is "Lord of all." - D. Parallel Verses KJV: I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. |
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