SONS OF BEASTS AND SONS OF GOD

April 28, 2002 pm
MFBlume


Ecclesiastes 3:18-20  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.  (19)  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.  (20)  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

The one factor that compares man to a beast is death and returning to the dust.
The BEAST is related to humanity in this world.

It was a beast that Satan used to possess and then lie to mankind in the Garden.
Matthew 3:7  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Matthew 12:34  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Let us turn to Daniel 2.

Nebuchadnezzar had a dream.
Daniel 2:31-33  Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.  (32)  This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,  (33)  His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
A stone smashes the image.
Daniel 2:34-35  Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.  (35)  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
Jesus is the Rock.
Matthew 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
Nebuchadnezzar then built what he saw in his dream.
Daniel 3:1  Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Daniel 3:5  That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
He saw God tear it down in his dream, but yet he still built it.
We need to let the ROCK of Christ deal with the Beast!
Why do some people agree with the Bible and God, and ever support it, but yet refuse to worship God and serve Him?
Romans 1:21-24  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  (22)  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,  (23)  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.  (24)  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
This force is of the enemy.
God gave people up to worship the creature -- the BEAST.

A person worships the beast.
Daniel 2 -- Nebuchadnezzar has a dream of a man's image.
Daniel 3 -- He builds what he saw in his dream -- the golden image, since the head of gold in the dream was himself.
Daniel 4 -- Nebuchadnezzar has another dream....
Daniel 4:20-26  The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;  (21)  Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:  (22)  It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.  (23)  And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;  (24)  This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:  (25)  That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.  (26)  And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.
So Daniel warns Nebuchadnezzar to get right with God.
Daniel 4:27  Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
He had an altar call right there in the throneroom for the king!
Daniel 4:28  All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
Here is what happened.
Daniel 4:29-30  At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.  (30)  The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
He boasted of himself.
Daniel 4:31-33  While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.  (32)  And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.  (33)  The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.
He acted like a BEAST.

The only additional extrabiblical reference to this seems to be that of a heathen writer named ABYDENUS who claimed he wrote under divine influence and foretold the destruction of Babylon by a Perisan Mule (Cyrus) and a Mede.
God gave him up!

Perhaps the reason God instituted the sacrifice of beasts to atone for man's sins was to show man what state he is in, like a beast, which must die, and he be reborn as a son of God.
2 Peter 2:10-12  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.  (11)  Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.  (12)  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
The harlot rode a beast in Revelation 17.
Revelation 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

Notice there are seven heads and ten horns -- 10 + 7 = 17

There are seventeen works of the flesh in the following verses.
Galatians 5:19-21  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,  (20)  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,  (21)  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
The beast is introduced in Revelation, and is removed by the time the narrative ends.

A force of the beast is upon us all, and Jesus, like a rock, came to crash it all down.
Matthew 21:40-45  When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?  (41)  They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.  (42)  Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?  (43)  Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.  (44)  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.  (45)  And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them .
The Jews would throw a man to be stoned down from a height of two men's  stature.
Jerusalem went with the beast of Rome.
This morning I preached about the serpent hanging from Paul's hand.
The beast worked against the WOMAN in Genesis.
We die with Christ in the work of the Cross by faith.