SERIES: 27 Daniel - I Dare You MESSAGE: I Dare You: Be Great! SPEAKER: Skip Heitzig SCRIPTURE: Daniel 8:1-8 & 8:20-22

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1 SERIES: 27 Daniel - I Dare You MESSAGE: I Dare You: Be Great! SPEAKER: Skip Heitzig SCRIPTURE: Daniel 8:1-8 & 8:20-22 MESSAGE SUMMARY The New York Life Review posted this: "Great men have but a few hours to be 'great.' Like the rest of us, they must dress, bathe, and eat. And, being human, they must make visits to the dentist, doctor, and barber and have conferences with their wives about domestic matters. What makes men great is their ability to decide what is important, and then focus their attention on that." (I think that goes for great women too!) Let's compare three men who some consider to be great, and then see how we measure up. DETAILED NOTES I. Introduction A. We use the word great a lot B. ESPN sportscaster used the word great over and over again C. What is a great person? 1. The world would say a. A person with power b. A person with prestige c. A person of position d. A person with possessions 2. What is a great person to God? 3. The dictionary definition says great is something that is considerably above normal, remarkable 4. Sometimes the word great is part of a formal name a. Herod the Great b. Ivan the Great c. Alexander the Great d. Napoleon the Great e. Skip googled and discovered 142 people with the Great as part of their name f. Infers that something (one) is not so great g. Man suffering from an inferiority complex D. What is a great person as God would define greatness? E. How can I become a significant person contributing to God's great plan F. Daniel had a vision of the future 1. Four kingdoms 2. Chapter eight gives us details on two of those kingdoms a. Medo-Persian Empire Page 1

2 b. Grecian Empire II. Compare three great people A. Daniel the prophet 1. The world, apart from the church, would not consider Daniel great a. His name is not on Time Magazine's list "100 Greatest People Who Ever Lived" b. He was a Jewish captive one of the conquered peoples i. Shameful to be conquered ii. Was not brought with the wise men in Daniel 5 2. God considered him great a. Daniel gets visions b. God gives Daniel the interpretation of dreams c. "For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15) d. John the Baptist i. The world didn't consider him great ii. Jesus said, "There is none greater than John the Baptist" (see Luke 7:28 and Matthew 11:11) 3. What made Daniel great? a. Humility i. In verse one the language reveals a sense of amazement that God would speak to him ii. Some people too easily say "God spoke to me" iii. When God speaks to someone they are usually pretty humble about it iv. An old Chinese proverb says, "Great men never know they're great" v. Moses, at the burning bush, was amazed that God would use him (see Exodus 3) vi. King Saul before he got prideful said "Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin?" (1 Samuel 9:21) vii. King David said, "Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far?" (1 Chronicles 17:16) viii. Paul the apostle, aka Saul of Tarsus, always looked back on his life and remembered that he persecuted Christians and wondered at the grace he was given (see Ephesians 3:8) b. Singularity i. Daniel pointed to God no matter what king he stood before a) He made sure God was exalted b) Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius the Mead c) It started when he was a teenager; he purposed in his heart not to defile himself (see Daniel 1) ii. Two brothers from Scotland discussed their life goals a) One wanted to be rich and famous Page 2

3 b) The other intended to follow Christ to the fullest c) David Livingstone was the great explorer and medical missionary to Africa he achieved his goal d) John Livingstone became rich; but his fame came from being the brother of David Livingstone c. Consistency i. What began in his youth continued through his life ii. He regularly distinguished himself because there was an excellent spirit within him (see Daniel 6) d. Summary i. A great person bows before God a) He points toward God b) He's faithful to God c) He has a personal humility d) He has spiritual singularity e) He has an ethical consistency ii. Is that what you want for yourself? a) Do you want to be king of the mountain for a day? b) Or a child of God for eternity? iii. Parents, what do you want for your children? a) How do you define great? b) Report cards? c) Sports? d) Instill within them the greatness that Daniel had: humble, spiritual, faithful B. Cyrus the Persian 1. Daniel received a vision; he was transported to Shushan, the Medo-Persian headquarters and he saw a ram 2. "And he became great" (v. 4) 3. The ram was considered the guardian spirit of the Kingdom of Persia 4. How do we know this represents the Medo-Persia Empire? It says so in verse Just like the two horns that came up, so did Medo-Persia 6. Cyrus the Great and his son, Cambyses II 7. The Persian portion grew stronger 8. It was the largest world-governing empire of that time 9. His military strategy in this order a. He conquered westward i. Babylon ii. Mesopotamia iii. Syria iv. Asia Minor v. Macedonia b. He marched northward Page 3

4 i. Colchis (modern-day Georgia) ii. Armenia iii. Iberia iv. Lands around the Caspian sea c. He conquered south i. Levant ii. Egypt iii. Libya iv. Ethiopia 10. This is what Daniel saw in the vision; how could he have known that? a. He didn't b. He couldn't c. It was a direct revelation from the Spirit of God 11. Cyrus was great a. The word for great in Hebrew is gadol b. Do important things c. But, there's always someone around the corner who is just a little bit greater than you are d. There was a young kid who was growing up in Greece name Alexander who would become greater than Cyrus e. Even King Solomon said he attained greatness but it was vanity (see Ecclesiastes 1:12-18) f. Greatness doesn't last g. Jesus said, "What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Mark 8:36) C. Alexander 1. A little goat confronts the ram with rage a. The goat came from the West b. He moved so quickly that his feet didn't even touch the ground c. The male goat is the kingdom of Greece (v. 21) 2. This goat was Alexander the Great a. His dad, Philip II of Macedon, didn't think he was great b. His dad was a warrior c. Alexander liked books d. His dad got him a tutor, Aristotle e. Philip died when Alexander was 19 years old f. Alexander decided to take up his dad's cause g. He put together and army h. He was savage, he butchered thousands of people i. He defeated Persia at the ancient city of Nineveh 3. His mom thought he was great a. She convinced him that he was an offspring of the gods, that he was divine b. He believed it c. He alienated some people d. But with that mindset, he went out and conquered Page 4

5 4. In short years, he conquered the whole world 5. At the age of 33 he wept because there were no more worlds to conquer 6. The large horn was broken on 323 BC when Alexander died of a fever 7. When asked who the kingdom should go to, he said to give it to the strong; they gave it to his four generals 8. Walt Disney was asked what it felt like to be such a great celebrity III. Closing A. Kings don't impress God; He's the King of Kings and Lord of Lords B. Conquerors don't impress God; He'll one day conquer the whole earth that He created C. Politicians, musicians, movie stars don't impress God D. What does impress God? 1. God never goes "Wow" to anybody 2. God is drawn to and notices a person who is a servant 3. You want to be great, go low (see Matthew 23:11) a. Husbands serve your wives and be humble b. Wives serve your husbands and be humble c. Parents serve your kids d. Serve one another (see John 13:35) E. Both Jesus and Alexander the Great were 33 when they died 1. Jesus and Alexander died at 33, one lived and died for self, one died for you and me, the Greek died on a throne, the Jew died on a cross, one's life a triumph seemed, the other but a loss, one led vast armies forth, the other walked alone, one shed a whole world's blood, but the other gave His own, Jesus and Alexander died at 33, one died in Babylon, one at Calvary, one gained all for self, and one Himself He gave, one conquered every tongue, the other every grave, the one made himself a god, the other made Himself less, the one lived but to blast, the other but to bless, Jesus and Alexander died at 33, the Greek made all men slaves, the Jew made all men free 2. Alexander vs. Jesus 3. Cyrus vs. Jesus F. Daniel, Cyrus, and Alexander were men 1. Daniel was great from God's perspective 2. Cyrus and Alexander were great from the world's perspective 3. Skip would rather be great in God's estimation Hebrew terms: ; gadol, great Publications referenced: ESPN, Time Magazine Figures referenced: David Livingstone, John Livingstone, Philip II of Macedon, Aristotle, Walt Disney Cross references: Exodus 3, 1 Samuel 9:21, 1 Chronicles 17:16, Ecclesiastes 1:12-18, Daniel 1, Daniel 5, Daniel 6, Matthew 11:11, Matthew 23:11, Mark 8:36, Luke 7:28, Luke 16:15, John 13:35, Ephesians 3:8 Page 5

6 Topic: Greatness Keywords: great, Daniel, Alexander, Cyrus, Jesus, God, goat, ram, end times, vision Page 6