Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG002821
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00:09 It's been 2,000 years since the glorious light of the cross
00:12 illuminated a world veiled in darkness and confusion 00:15 about the character of God. 00:17 And still today, the greatest need of mankind 00:19 is a revelation of God's love as revealed 00:22 in the life of Christ. 00:23 Amazing Facts presents the Everlasting Gospel 00:26 with Pastor Doug Batchelor 00:28 coming to you each week from Sacramento Central Church 00:31 in sunny California! 00:33 Discover hidden treasures in God's Word today. 00:37 We're going to talk about a story this morning 00:40 that is very familiar, maybe take a fresh look 00:44 at a story that has been referred to 00:46 especially for the children and it's a story of 00:49 Daniel in the lion's den. 00:52 You find this story in, of course, the book of Daniel 6, 00:58 and it's not a passage that is just intended to make for a 01:03 good story for the children or a fun song they might sing. 01:09 There's a lot of very important theology in here that is 01:12 relevant for us today. 01:15 I do believe that we are living in the last days 01:18 of the world's history and the book of Daniel, we're told 01:24 in a special sense, would be opened to us in the last days, 01:28 and this story is part of that. 01:32 Now in order to get the background for the story 01:34 about Daniel in the lion's den, 01:36 you need to just go back to chapter 5 a little bit 01:40 to understand the context of what is happening. 01:43 Long before I was a Christian, and I was hearing the expression 01:48 about the "handwriting on the wall," I didn't know that 01:51 that was a Bible expression, 01:53 but it's something that comes from the Bible. 01:55 Very quickly, to give you the history... 01:57 Daniel, when he was a young man, had been carried off 02:00 captive to Babylon during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar. 02:05 Through a series of miracles, he was exalted from the position 02:08 of being a captive to being prime minister and 02:11 chief counselor for Nebuchadnezzar. 02:13 He maybe had a lesser capacity under the service of 02:17 Nebuchadnezzar's son, Evil-Merodach, 02:19 and then Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, Belshazzar. 02:22 Belshazzar was an irreverent king, did not have the reverence 02:28 for God as Nebuchadnezzar did. 02:32 He had a drunken feast in which he was mocking the God of heaven 02:36 ...praising the idols of Babylon by drinking from 02:40 the holy vessels that had been captured from the temple of God 02:44 in Jerusalem. 02:46 He knew he was not supposed to do that, 02:48 but he was just mocking the God of heaven. 02:49 But the Lord said - enough is enough and in the middle of 02:53 this great, big, drunken political feast, 02:57 there on the plaster, against the wall, 03:02 where everybody could see it, 03:04 a bloodless hand began to write, in burning characters, 03:08 some cryptic letters... "Mene, mene, tekel upharsin" 03:13 Well, they didn't know what that meant, 03:14 and when the wise men of Babylon could not translate it, 03:17 someone remembered... Oh, there was someone who is in the 03:21 cabinet of Nebuchadnezzar who had the Spirit of 03:24 the God of Heaven - he could tell you what it means. 03:27 So Daniel was brought in. 03:29 King Belshazzar says, "If you tell me what this writing means 03:33 ...Everybody is so terrified by this spiritual spectacle, 03:37 that the party had come to an abrupt halt... 03:41 The King said, "You tell me what this means and I'll make you 03:44 third ruler in the kingdom... 03:45 Belshazzar could only offer third ruler because he was 03:48 the second ruler, his father was off fighting battles 03:51 somewhere else... And I'll give you gifts!" 03:55 And Daniel, very bold, very courageous, 03:58 a man of integrity... he says, "Keep your gifts 04:01 for yourself... You don't say that to a 04:02 king typically... But Daniel knew he wasn't 04:06 going to be king for much longer, so it didn't matter. 04:09 He was soon going to be voted out of office by the Lord. 04:13 And said... but I'm going to tell you for free, 04:15 what the writing says, and he translated. 04:19 The writing basically said that you are weighed in the balances, 04:21 you are found wanting; your kingdom is being divided, 04:25 and given to the Medes and the Persians. 04:28 And of course, that's exactly what happened. 04:30 That night, the Medo-Persian empire had been camped outside 04:36 the walls; they had had this drunken party in spite of the 04:39 fact that the kingdom was being 04:40 besieged by the Medes and the Persians. 04:42 They diverted the Euphrates River where it ran 04:45 under the walls; the army of Cyrus and Darius, the Mede, 04:48 marched underneath the walls; the solders inside were drunk; 04:53 they had left the gates, the inner gates unlocked... 04:55 JUST as it had been foretold by Isaiah 04:58 hundreds of years earlier and Babylon fell. 05:01 One of the first things they did, is they executed the king, 05:04 and all of the rulers in Babylon but they spared Daniel 05:09 because Daniel was a man of such sterling character 05:14 and integrity, he was legendary even among his enemies. 05:19 Daniel was a person who had sterling character, courage 05:26 and integrity. 05:27 He was a man of honesty. 05:29 He was true to duty as the needle is to the pole. 05:34 Others knew that and they respected it. 05:38 Now, go with me to the book of Daniel 6 05:41 We're going to read verse 1 with that background. 05:43 The Medo-Persian kingdom was sort of a dual kingdom. 05:49 The Persians were later the supreme kingdom, 05:54 but when they first started out, the Medes had the rulership. 05:57 King Darius of the Medes, sat over the kingdom. 06:00 Verse 1.. "It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 06:03 120 princes or governors to be over the whole kingdom; 06:08 and over these, 3 governors of whom Daniel was chief 06:11 or first, that the princes might give account to them, 06:15 and so the king would have no loss. " 06:17 Part of delegating such a big kingdom, 06:19 because not only was it the Babylonian empire, 06:21 but now the Babylonians had been absorbed by the Persians, 06:24 so you got this VERY big kingdom to administrate, 06:27 and so they delegated to 127 different princes. 06:31 There's a trinity of 3 governors over those. 06:34 Darius said... Look, I need a REALLY good, honest 06:37 administrator. 06:38 He had heard about Daniel; 06:39 he said... I think I can trust you. 06:42 Now that really says something 06:43 because how old was Daniel at this point? 06:45 He had already been in Babylon 70 years from when he had been 06:50 captive probably as a teenager, so he must be 80-something 06:56 at this point and yet he is strong enough of body, 07:00 and clear enough of mind that he is being chosen for a very 07:05 strenuous, demanding position. 07:09 It says something for the health message 07:10 that you read about in chapter 1... Amen? 07:13 And so, he puts Daniel in among 07:15 the 3 governors because he can be trusted... 07:17 Well you know, the other Medo-Persians 07:20 sort of resent that! 07:21 Here you take this captor from Judah, he's not even a national, 07:25 and not only you give him a position of honor, 07:28 but the king was thinking about setting him over the whole realm 07:32 Verse 3... "Then this Daniel - while he was working as 07:37 one of the 3 top governors... distinguished himself above 07:41 the governors and the princes because an excellent 07:44 spirit was in him and the king gave thought to setting him 07:49 over the whole realm. " 07:50 An excellent spirit was in him. 07:54 Has anyone every accused you of that? 07:58 If someone were to say, "Well you know that person over there, 08:02 that person over there, they are spirit-possessed" 08:06 Would you think that was a good thing or a bad thing? 08:09 Depends on what spirit. 08:13 If I were to ask you, "Would you like to be spirit-possessed?" 08:16 How would you answer? 08:18 Now let's admit it, be honest... 08:20 If I say to you, "spirit- possessed," 08:22 what do you automatically think of? Which spirit? 08:25 We always think of the bad spirit... you know why? 08:28 We've met so few people who are GOOD-spirit-possessed. 08:32 And so, you know if I said, "Well that person 08:36 has got a spirit," you'd say, "Well let's stay away from them" 08:40 But when it came to Daniel, they said, 08:41 "He's got an excellent spirit in him" 08:45 He just exuded the Holy Spirit. 08:47 There was the aura of God's Spirit about him 08:50 that others recognized. 08:51 And the King understood that he was faithful. 08:54 He was honest, he could not be bribed. 08:57 You know, often in positions of power, power corrupts! 09:00 And the more power a person has, the more corrupted they are 09:04 ...The more chances for compromise. 09:06 And yet the king saw that Daniel was true and honest, 09:10 and noble and good... 09:12 You know why Daniel was so faithful under the 09:16 administration of Nebuchadnezzar and Evil-Merodach, 09:19 Belshazzar, Darius and Cyrus, the Bible says he 09:24 continued to the first year of the reign of Cyrus, 09:26 and that does not mean he died during the first reign 09:29 of King Cyrus, that means Cyrus issued a decree 09:32 that the temple could be rebuilt. 09:33 Daniel may have even gone back! 09:35 He may have lived to even go back to Jerusalem 09:39 during that time. 09:40 Why did he thrive during the reign of all those monarchs? 09:44 Because Daniel really never served them first. 09:49 Daniel could serve them well because he served a 09:51 higher Monarch first and they recognized that about him. 09:57 John Wesley said, "He that fears God, fears nothing else. 10:01 He that does not fear God, fears everything else. " 10:04 Daniel was not afraid of anything because 10:06 he feared the King of Kings and they saw that. 10:09 ...And he thought to set him over the whole realm. 10:12 He was going to make him prime minister or viceroy 10:16 of the entire empire. 10:17 Now that really bothered the other politicians 10:22 who thought they should be in line. 10:24 There was envy. They were jealous. 10:27 Now before I go very far in the study of Daniel 6, 10:31 I want you to know the whole great controversy is 10:33 in this story between Christ and Satan. 10:35 The battle between good and evil. 10:38 The life of Christ is even modeled in the life of Daniel. 10:42 I'm sorry, the life of JESUS is modeled in the story of Daniel. 10:49 Did Jesus have enemies that tried to find 10:53 something wrong with Him? 10:55 Did He have spies following him around? 10:57 Did they resent the high position that He 11:01 held with the Father... when He said that 11:04 He was the Son of God? 11:06 That He might someday rule over Him, 11:09 that He was a King in some capacity? 11:11 Yeah, they wanted to get rid of Him. 11:13 Jesus, second only to God Almighty the Father, 11:18 the idea that Daniel would be second only to the king, 11:21 they could not stand that. 11:24 What was it that caused the rebellion of Lucifer? 11:26 He was jealous, he envied the position of Christ. 11:29 He wanted to be like the Most High. 11:32 So a plot was put into effect to get him out of the way. 11:37 They said... We'll just follow him around. 11:38 We'll get some small lipstick cameras; 11:40 we watch as he fills out his tax returns; 11:43 we'll check his driving record. 11:47 So they tried to trap him. 11:49 They tried to find something wrong and they couldn't 11:51 find anything! 11:53 A man of integrity. 11:56 They sought to find some occasion against Daniel 11:59 concerning the kingdom, but they could find no 12:01 charge or fault because he was faithful. 12:05 What did they say about Jesus? 12:06 Even Pilot said, "I find no fault in Him" 12:09 They sent spies who came back and said, 12:10 "No man speaks like this man" 12:13 He was faithful. 12:16 By the way, Daniel was human. 12:18 You can have the same spirit Daniel had. 12:22 Daniel was faithful living in a foreign land. 12:26 You and I, as children of another kingdom, 12:28 are living in a foreign land. 12:30 If Daniel could be faithful surrounded by Babylonians, 12:33 you could be faithful surrounded by pagans too. 12:36 Amen? So stop making excuses. 12:38 This story is in the Bible to encourage you 12:41 that you can live a godly life and have integrity. 12:46 Verse 5... They said, "We're not going to find any charge 12:49 against this Daniel - They can't even say Daniel, 12:51 THIS Daniel... Unless we find it against 12:54 him concerning the law of his God. " 12:57 We're going to need to probably get some religious law enacted 13:01 and use that against him; somewhere where his law 13:06 and principles conflict with the law of the Medo-Persians. 13:11 Now you need to really sit up and pay attention because 13:14 this may happen to you before it's over. 13:17 So the governors and the princes thronged before the king, 13:20 and they said, "King Darius, live forever. 13:23 All of the governors of the kingdom and the administrators, 13:26 and the princes and the advisors have consulted together 13:32 to establish a royal statute. " 13:34 Well, they're lying - it wasn't all of them. 13:36 Daniel was chief, he wasn't in there. 13:38 I can promise you that. 13:40 They were trying to give the king the impression 13:43 that they had had consensus and everybody agreed 13:45 this was a good thing to unite the kingdom. 13:49 "We're consulting that the king establish a royal statute, 13:53 and make a firm decree that whoever petitions or prays 13:57 to any god or man for 30 days, except for you, Oh king, 14:01 he'll be cast into the den of lions. 14:04 Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing 14:08 that it cannot be changed according to the law of the 14:11 Medes and the Persians which does not alter. " 14:14 I underlined in my Bible, "cannot be changed," 14:17 "does not alter" 14:19 Now, you might be wondering... And then it goes on to say, 14:23 "Therefore King Darius, sign the written decree" 14:26 Now, the Medo-Persians, when they made a law, 14:29 it wasn't like in North America, when we vote a law 14:32 and we vote it out, we say here's a good law, 14:34 now we're changing that law, we're repealing that law, 14:35 we're modifying that law. 14:37 Depends on who is in office at the time and whether 14:39 or not we liked it. 14:43 When they made a law back then, 14:45 the law of the king did not change. 14:48 It would be in the books for generations, 14:52 or at least for the life of the king. 14:55 And it wasn't just his vanity, nobody prays to anybody 15:00 but me for 30 days - probably appealed to his vanity. 15:05 But you see, they knew something back then that leaders know... 15:08 When you cannot unite diverse people, 15:12 because of politics or because of language barriers, 15:16 because there are cultural differences or geography, 15:19 you can unite people through religion. 15:21 It is the HARDEST thing to overcome. 15:25 You know why the problems in the Middle East 15:27 are so entrenched? 15:29 They get the best political minds, 15:32 the best negotiators, the best advisors to come in 15:37 to that region and try to get the people together, 15:40 but why are they divided? 15:42 It's not culture, it's not language that's really 15:45 the problem, it's not the economics, 15:47 it's not the traditions... it's the RELIGION! 15:52 If you can get people united in RELIGION, 15:54 they can overcome all the other barriers. 15:57 The devil knows that. 15:58 Nebuchadnezzar knew that. 16:00 Why do you think he said... I'm going to have everybody 16:03 gather on the plain of Dura; we're going to make a statue; 16:05 we're all going to bow to the same statue at the same time, 16:08 unite the kingdom; we'll be welded together 16:11 by common faith and worship. 16:14 King Darius said... Yeah, that's the way to do it! 16:17 Why do you think the Caesars had it declared that 16:19 they were gods? 16:21 Do you think they really believed they were gods? 16:23 Ahhh - I think some of them probably became narcissistic 16:27 and started thinking that way, but... megalomaniacs. 16:32 Most of them knew it was a maneuver to 16:34 manipulate the simple masses; 16:36 believe that the Pharaoh is a god; 16:39 believe the Caesar is a god; 16:40 unite the kingdom through common worship! 16:43 You know, that principle has not changed. 16:45 The devil is going to use it in the last days. 16:47 He's going to compel the whole world to worship a certain way. 16:52 So Darius signs the decree, good idea! 16:54 I got 127 provinces; the people are scattered; 16:57 we got some Babylonians, some Medes, some Persians, 17:00 some Jews and all these different... weld them together. 17:04 You all pray to the king for 30 days and develop 17:08 morale and support. 17:11 So he signed the decree, but he didn't know 17:14 that it was really a rouse; 17:16 the whole thing was to get rid of Daniel. 17:21 Now here's where, for me, the story is phenomenal... 17:27 Daniel is a man of sterling conviction and courage. 17:33 You read in verse 10, I've got this underlined 17:37 in my Bible... "Now when Daniel knew 17:42 that the writing was signed... 17:43 I doubt with his high position that they could get the 17:46 document printed, copied and circulated 17:49 without his knowing, somebody brought him a copy 17:53 before it went out... 17:54 When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, 17:57 he went home, he withdrew from the 18:00 corruption of the palace back to his house, 18:04 and in his upper room... 18:07 A lot of interesting things happen in upper rooms. 18:10 You hear about, of course - Elisha, he goes into that 18:18 upper room and he prays and that boy is resurrected. 18:25 The Bible talks about the church being born in an upper room. 18:28 Jesus first appears in an upper room. 18:32 Daniel goes into his upper room; 18:34 the last supper New Testament Church was inaugurated there. 18:39 His windows being open... Now why would that be mentioned? 18:44 What does the law say? 18:45 Anybody caught praying for 30 days... 18:50 And by the way, I don't know if there's a connection, 18:54 but it's interesting when you get to Daniel 12, 18:57 there is a 30-day period, a 30-year period, 19:01 between the 1260 and the 1290, not sure if there's a 19:06 connection there, but just thought that was interesting, 19:08 represented a month. 19:10 Not supposed to be caught praying... 19:15 You know, doesn't Jesus say, "when you pray, 19:17 enter into your closet and shut the door" 19:19 Wouldn't this have been a good 19:20 time to go in the closet and shut the door? 19:23 Why did he pray - not only did he pray with his 19:26 windows open, he prayed on his knees so they could see 19:30 physically, he was in a posture of prayer. 19:32 He could have just sat there in the window with his 19:34 arms folded and look like he was meditating, 19:36 but he got down and took on the posture of prayer, 19:39 and he did not pray towards the palace in Babylon, 19:43 or in Shushan, he prayed towards Jerusalem. 19:47 Everything about what Daniel did said... 19:49 "I am NOT going to worship MAN, I'm going to worship GOD 19:54 because it's better to obey God than man, right? 19:57 See, it was something he had done for a long time, 20:01 and so now, the people in the courtyard, 20:03 below Daniel's window, they see everywhere is plastered 20:06 this poster about this new law and they all began 20:10 to think - Here we got this neighbor, Daniel, 20:11 and he's got this custom opening his window and people SEE! 20:19 Another reason he left his window open, 20:21 Jesus said in Matthew 5, "Let your light so shine 20:24 before men that they may see your good works, 20:28 not to glorify you, glorify your Father in heaven. " 20:31 Don't hide what you believe! 20:33 If you're a Christian and you thank God for your food 20:35 when you're at home, don't be afraid to bow your 20:37 heads when you're in a public restaurant. 20:39 If you're on a airplane, let someone see. 20:42 It always encourages me, if I'm in some public place, 20:45 and I see somebody take off their baseball cap 20:47 and bow their head to pray over 20:49 their hamburger wherever they are... bless their hearts! 20:53 Sometimes I want to just go up and talk to them! 20:54 Are you a believer - strike a conversation, 20:57 I noticed you look like you were praying... 20:59 There are others out there that are looking! 21:02 Don't be ashamed of what you believe. 21:05 Daniel was ready to be caught praying at the cost of his LIFE 21:14 You don't have to hide when you pray. 21:17 I remember, I traveled with a singing group and we would 21:21 break up and room, different rooms and stay in hotels, 21:26 and you break up - the guys would stay with different guys, 21:28 and the girls with different girls and I really admired 21:31 one member of the group, no matter what was 21:33 happening or who he was staying with 21:34 before he went to bed and when he got up in the morning 21:37 he knelt there by his bed, he folded his hands and he prayed 21:40 There's nothing discrete about it. 21:42 And some of them might have the TV on in the room, 21:46 and he'd say, "You know, I'm going to pray now," 21:48 and he would kneel down and he would pray... 21:50 And he said, "This is something I've done since a child, 21:52 and I'm not stopping" and that taught me something 21:57 that I never forgot. 21:59 Let your light shine - don't be afraid of what you believe, 22:04 stand up for your convictions! 22:09 Oh, I never finished reading for you, verse 10... 22:13 "When Daniel knew the writing was signed, he went home 22:16 with his upper room, place of visibility, windows open 22:20 toward Jerusalem, knelt on his knees, 3 times that day, 22:25 and he prayed and gave thanks before his God" 22:28 He's not only praying, petitioning God for the people 22:32 which you read about his prayer in Daniel 9... 22:34 You also hear him giving THANKS, 22:37 prayed for his needs - he's giving thanks. 22:39 If you knew you were about to be kitty food, 22:42 would you thank God? 22:43 I mean, some of us would say, "Oh, I have nothing to 22:46 thank the Lord for, it's just been a rough week, 22:49 a rough day," and you know, you just complain 22:51 in your prayers and tell God what you need, 22:53 or what you want Him to change and you forget to thank Him. 22:55 Daniel is about to die and he's thanking the Lord. 22:59 So, doesn't the Bible say, "... in all things give thanks" 23:03 If he can thank God THEN, in those circumstances, 23:06 then we can always be thankful. Amen? 23:08 Three times that day... and there were probably spies 23:13 set up watching to see - 23:14 Is he going to continue his custom? 23:16 Is he going to close his windows? 23:18 Is he going to hide the posture of prayer? 23:21 Daniel did not change ANYTHING about his relationship with God 23:26 even though it might cost him his life. 23:29 Was it because he was stubborn? 23:31 Is there any virtue in Christians being stubborn, 23:34 wearing our religion on our sleeve and being obstinate? 23:37 No... I think Daniel did it because he loved God, 23:40 and he was more interested in the honor of God, 23:44 his REAL boss than the King of Medo-Persia. 23:48 He wasn't doing it because he was just stubborn. 23:52 It was about LOVE! 23:54 And he said... I'm not going to let ANYTHING come between 23:57 my relationship and my time with God. 24:00 Now I can't do this without trying to exploit 24:05 a very simple point... 24:07 The reason there is a book in the Bible called "Daniel," 24:09 I believe, is seen right here in this verse. 24:14 "As his custom was, 3 times a day," 24:18 this means Daniel had a personal devotional life. 24:23 How could you survive a believer in the God of heaven 24:28 surrounded by first the Babylon paganism, 24:32 then the Medo-Persian paganism and all that went with it, 24:36 to be in a position of politics? 24:39 I mean, you know, one of the most suspect 24:41 occupations for honesty and integrity is politics. 24:48 A show of hands... How many of you think that 24:51 most politicians tell untruths? 24:56 The approval rating for congress, I think is like 20% 25:01 To be an honest politician, is possible, 25:05 but boy, they're really rare. 25:08 You got Joseph, he was one; 25:11 David was one; Daniel was one; 25:14 not too many! 25:16 It can be done. 25:19 Why is the book of Daniel in the Bible? 25:22 Why could God use him the way He did? 25:24 The key is in this verse... He prayed and he read his Bible. 25:29 How do you know, Pastor Doug, that he read his Bible, 25:31 it doesn't say that, it says he knelt down and prayed 3 times 25:33 Why is he praying towards Jerusalem? 25:36 Because Daniel read in 2 Chronicles 6:21, 25:42 Daniel read where Solomon said, "May you hear the supplications 25:46 of your servant and your people Israel when they 25:48 pray towards this place" 25:50 As-a-matter-of fact, Solomon specifically said... 25:52 If your people are unfaithful and they're carried off to a 25:54 foreign land, if they pray towards this place... 25:58 You know why Muslims pray towards Mecca? 26:02 Because they learned that from Solomon saying it makes 26:06 a difference what direction you pray if you're 26:08 carried away from your sacred place. 26:13 That starts here with Solomon, Daniel did that. 26:16 How do I know that Daniel read the Bible? 26:19 Why did Daniel pray 3 times a day? 26:21 Because before Daniel was born, someone named David was born, 26:26 and David wrote a Psalm that said in Psalm 55:17, 26:29 "Morning, evening and at noon, 26:31 I will pray, You shall hear my voice" 26:35 Daniel probably read in Psalm 119:11, 26:39 "Your word I have hidden in my heart 26:41 that I might not sin against you" 26:42 And Psalm 119:9, "How shall a young man 26:46 cleanse his way... He was carried off 26:48 as a young man. ... by taking heed 26:50 according to Your word" 26:53 Maybe he read in the Bible in Psalm 22 where King David said 26:57 ...listen to this, verse 21, 26:59 "Save me from the lion's mouth" 27:03 Maybe Daniel read that; maybe he was claiming 27:05 that promise in his prayer... 27:06 "Lord, save me from the lion's mouth" 27:09 I think Daniel read his Bible, 27:12 and I think Daniel prayed and he did it 3 times a day 27:15 which means no matter how BUSY he was or what was going on, 27:18 what political changes or wars were transpiring, 27:21 and if you think you're too busy to find time to pray, 27:23 I doubt you're as busy as the prime minister of the 27:26 biggest kingdom in the world, 27:28 and yet he found time for God. 27:31 No matter what was on his schedule, 27:33 cell phone going off, his blackberry, pager, 27:36 Faxes... Daniel would say, I'm going to my upper room, 27:40 and he prayed, 3 times! 27:45 Do you have a devotional life? 27:46 If you'd like to have the character of Daniel, 27:48 you might need to have the devotional life of Daniel. 27:52 And, a good time for God is not found, it's made... 27:55 you've got to just do it! 27:57 It's like FOOD, you've got to believe it's more important 28:01 than food. 28:02 The Word of God IS like food... 28:05 As-a-matter-of-fact, Jeremiah 15:16, 28:08 "Your words were found and I ate them; 28:12 Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart" 28:17 Job 23:12, "I've not departed from the commandment of His lips 28:22 I've treasured the words of His mouth more than 28:25 my necessary food" 28:26 And then everyone knows where Jesus says in Matthew 4:4, 28:29 "But man shall not live by bread alone, 28:32 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" 28:35 Your time in God's Word, your time in prayer 28:39 ...how important is it to you? 28:41 Now, here's where I want to make the connection... 28:43 There's a BIG TEST coming in the last days. 28:48 There is a big test coming... some people are preparing 28:52 all along the way; some people try to cram 28:54 for their finals right at the last minute. 28:56 There are going to be some people who are 11th hour workers 29:00 that will still make it. 29:03 But for the most part, it's those who are studying now 29:07 for the little quizzes that will pass the final. 29:11 In this big test that is approaching, 29:15 we're going to make a decision. 29:16 Do I love the Lord so much, I would rather die 29:19 than disobey Him? 29:22 This is the test that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego passed. 29:25 There was a law made; they had to decide 29:28 ...Am I going to obey the law of God or man? 29:31 They said - even if it means that I'm going to lose my job 29:34 in Babylon; even if it means I'm going to lose my life, 29:39 I would rather burn to death - which can't be pleasant, 29:43 than to bow down to the graven image. 29:46 One of the commandments is don't worship images; 29:48 they said... We'd rather die. 29:51 In Daniel 6, Daniel says... One of the commandments 29:54 says - Thou shalt not have other gods before Me, 29:56 and that would certainly include the king of Medo-Persia. 29:59 I'm not going to worship him as a god. 30:01 We're to pray to the Lord! 30:03 I'm making a decision, I'm going to obey God's 30:05 commandments instead of the political commandments 30:08 or the commandments of men. 30:09 I'd rather die, be torn limb from limb by lions 30:13 than disobey God. 30:15 In the last days, those who live during that time 30:18 will face the same test. 30:20 Do you love the Lord so much you would rather say... 30:23 "I'd rather starve - can't buy or sell; 30:28 be persecuted - lose my job; 30:31 lose my life than break one of God's commandments. " 30:35 Like the Sabbath, how important is that one? 30:40 Or maybe, you know, I won't really break it, 30:43 I'm still going to keep it, I'm just going to 30:44 keep it a different day than the one that God picked. 30:48 I mean, I know God said keep THE Seventh day, 30:50 but as long as it's A seventh day, maybe it doesn't matter. 30:53 Well, that will be like Daniel saying... 30:55 "Well, I'm gonna pray to God, but I'm going to pray 30:59 towards the palace of Persia while I do" 31:03 He would not compromise in any little particular. 31:06 What if Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 31:07 when they played the music and everybody bowed down 31:09 to the statue - I'm assuming you all know this story... 31:13 What if they had said... We're not going to pray to 31:15 the statue, but this is a good time to check our sandals! 31:18 And go down and start... No, no, we're not, we're just, 31:22 you know, we don't want to create a spectacle... 31:25 May as well go along... 31:26 They wouldn't compromise! 31:28 They were fanatics about little things. 31:31 Like God said the 7th day and that 31:32 means the 7th day and we know what day that is 31:34 that's the day we're going to keep, 31:36 even if we're the only ONES! 31:37 Daniel was the only ONE with his window open, 31:41 praying towards Jerusalem. 31:43 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were the only ONES 31:47 standing up when everyone else bowed down. 31:50 Do you love the Lord so much that if everybody in this church 31:53 was to give up their faith, would you still keep it? 31:57 I hear about some people... 31:59 Every now and then Amazing Facts gets a letter, 32:03 we've had several of them - 32:04 It says something like this... Dear Sirs, I'm writing you from 32:08 India. I've been reading the Bible for years, 32:12 and keeping the Bible Sabbath, I did not know there were 32:15 other people OUT there that kept it... I've been alone. 32:18 Praise the Lord, I found other people! 32:21 We've gotten letters like that from the Middle East, 32:22 from places in Africa, remote viewers 32:25 they find it on satellite or they get some literature, 32:29 and they are trying to be true to God. 32:31 God has His people everywhere that we don't know about 32:34 that are standing up for Him. 32:36 I want to have that kind of faith, don't you? 32:40 So Daniel read the Bible, it was like food for his soul. 32:45 There's a verse in Great Controversy, page 51... 32:48 If we're going to survive during this final conflict, 32:51 we need to be a people of the Word! 32:54 "Satan well knew that if the Holy Scriptures... 32:58 Let me start again... "Satan well knew that 33:01 the Holy Scriptures would enable man to discern his 33:04 deceptions and withstand his power. 33:07 It was by the word that even the Savior of the world 33:10 had resisted his attacks. 33:12 At every assault, Christ presented the shield of eternal 33:15 truth, saying, "It is written. " 33:17 To every suggestion of the adversary, he opposed in 33:20 the wisdom and power of the word. 33:22 In order for Satan to maintain sway over men, 33:26 and establish his authority, he must keep them in 33:29 ignorance of the Scriptures. " 33:31 We need to read our Bibles. 33:33 Your spiritual life is going to almost always be 33:35 in proportion for the place the Word of God holds 33:38 in your devotions. 33:40 How deep and wide your experience with God IS 33:43 will always be proportionate to your devotional life. 33:49 It's the time that you choose to make for God... 33:53 Quality time - where you really set aside time and say... 33:57 This is just time to pray, this is time to study. 34:03 This is, I think, a very relevant chapter because 34:06 there is a storm coming and we need to 34:09 prepare for what's ahead. 34:11 Now, back to Daniel 6, we want to return to our story. 34:14 So we've just finished reading verse 10 where he said, 34:17 once he knew the writing was signed. 34:20 There were spies watching him pray. 34:21 They saw him do it 3 times that day. 34:25 These men assembled and found Daniel praying 34:28 and making supplication before his God, 34:30 and they went before the king and spoke concerning 34:33 the king's decree. 34:34 "Have you not signed the degree that every man 34:36 who petitions any god or man within 30 days, 34:39 except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?" 34:42 And the king answered and said, "The thing is true according 34:45 to the law of the Medes and the Persians 34:47 which does not alter" 34:50 So they answered and said to the king... 34:53 "That Daniel, who is one of the captives from the 34:56 tribe of Judah, he does not show regard for you, O King, 34:59 or for the decree that you have signed, 35:01 but he makes his petition 3 times a day" 35:05 And I would like to have had a snapshot of the 35:08 king's face when he heard them say... 35:10 "That Daniel" - the king, his mouth probably fell open 35:14 his eyes got big, and I bet he said... Oh, when I signed that 35:17 decree, I forgot about Daniel, 3 times a day he prays 35:21 to his God... OH NO! 35:23 He was set up! He spotted it right then, 35:28 that he had been played, that there was jealousy. 35:31 They were trying to get rid of him. 35:32 Pilot knew that the religious leaders were trying to 35:35 get rid of Jesus just because of jealousy and envy... 35:38 And he sought to deliver him, but he couldn't 35:42 because they kept after him, threatening that it was 35:45 going to be rebellion against the laws of Rome 35:48 because Jesus was making himself a king and according 35:51 to the laws of Rome, if anyone else claimed 35:52 to be king, they were to be executed. 35:56 Same kind of thing. 35:59 "And the king, when he heard these words was 36:01 GREATLY displeased with himself, 36:03 and he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; 36:07 and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him" 36:11 What time of day did Jesus die? 36:15 Was it the going down of the sun? 36:18 "And these men approached the king and said, 36:23 "Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians 36:27 that no decree or statue which the king establishes 36:31 may be changed. " 36:32 They're pulling out the fine print and they're saying, 36:34 We realize that you regret that you signed this law, 36:36 but king, this is the law of the Medes and the Persians, 36:40 and especially now where we've just taken over the Babylonians 36:43 we cannot alter our laws; it DOES NOT change, 36:46 you've written it, you signed it as a decree, 36:48 it will have no respect for you as a king. 36:51 The WHOLE empire is going to 36:52 unravel if the king changes his law. 36:56 And he had all of these corrupt advisors around him saying,... 36:59 ...He got his lawyers together and he says, 37:01 Isn't there some loophole, what can we do? 37:03 And they said... It's CLEAR! 37:05 They wrote it up very carefully because they wanted to 37:07 make sure there was no way Daniel would get out. 37:10 And the king labored until the going down of the sun. 37:12 He had to implement the law before the end of the day. 37:15 Daniel had broken it. 37:20 No way, the law of the kings, the Medes and the Persians 37:26 could not be changed. 37:27 Now here's a question... 37:30 How firm is the law of God? 37:34 Does God's law change? 37:37 You know, it's fascinating to me that - 37:41 You've got 3 examples here where you have kings 37:44 in the Bible that made laws, they later regretted, 37:47 they wanted to change and they could not change. 37:50 You remember, of course, King Ahasuerus - 37:53 He made a law that all the Jews should be attacked 37:56 on a certain date; then he found out his 37:58 beautiful wife, Esther, was a Jew! 38:01 He COULD NOT repeal that law! 38:04 So what he did was he issued another law 38:06 that gave the Jews the right to defend themselves 38:09 ahead of time against the people who would attack them 38:13 and so it sort of countermanded that law, 38:16 but he couldn't change the law! 38:19 King Herod spoke and the king's word was law; 38:21 he said that if his stepdaughter would come out wiggle and dance, 38:24 that whatever she wanted, up to half the kingdom, 38:26 he'd give it to her; he spoke, made a promise. 38:30 She said, "I want the head of John the Baptist" 38:31 He did NOT want to do that. 38:33 He was very sorry to hear, he knew John was a prophet 38:36 but he was a king and he had spoken, 38:37 and a king's word is law when he speaks IT! 38:42 And yet in spite of the fact that you got these 38:45 examples in the Bible, of kings that make promises, 38:48 and there are others I could cite, 38:50 and once they speak, their word is law, 38:52 they cannot change it! 38:56 A- matter-of-fact, even King Saul, he said, 39:01 "Whoever it was that had eaten before the battle was over, 39:05 would die," and his son Jonathan had eaten and Saul said, 39:09 "Jonathan, you surely will die" 39:11 and Jonathan did die the same day as his father. 39:15 A king's word is law. 39:17 In spite of all the examples in the Bible, 39:22 there are people out there that claim to be Christians 39:25 that believe that when God spoke the 10 Commandments 39:28 with His own voice and He wrote them with His own finger, 39:32 in the presence of a whole nation, 39:34 that He's going to just change it, 39:36 or He's going to sweep it aside and say, 39:37 Well, we got a new plan now. 39:39 You know how ludicrous that really is? 39:41 And yet, folks have got these clever arguments 39:44 they've concocted that we can CHANGE the law of God. 39:48 It doesn't change. 39:50 So, the king did all that he could do, 39:53 and there was no way out for Daniel. 39:55 So, reluctantly, the king, verse 16, I'm in Daniel 6:16 40:04 "The king commanded and they brought Daniel, 40:06 and they cast him into the den of lions, 40:11 but the king spoke and said to Daniel... 40:13 "Your God who you serve continually," 40:17 "He will deliver you" 40:20 Now, there are a lot of us that might want to take a pen, 40:24 I've taken a yellow highlighter in my Bible where it says, 40:27 "your God who you serve continually" 40:30 Is it possible for us to serve God 40:33 continually and consistently? 40:35 I think everybody who is a believer, 40:36 serves God a little bit some of the time. 40:39 Right? But how are we to serve God? 40:44 We're His servants all the time, continually, consistently. 40:48 And then the promise is - "Your God who you serve 40:50 continually, He will deliver you" 40:53 Is there a time of trouble and a storm coming? 40:56 If we serve God continually, because we love Him, 40:59 will He deliver us? 41:00 I believe that a promise we can count on. 41:03 "Then they took a stone and they brought it, 41:06 and they laid it on the mouth of the den" 41:09 Oh, that sounds familiar... 41:12 was there a stone placed over the tomb of Christ? 41:18 And by the way, that lion's den was the equivalent of 41:22 a death sentence. 41:24 Those were Asiatic lions; I think they're pretty much 41:28 extinct now, but they were sort of a cross between a 41:31 ferocious bobcat and an African lion. 41:35 These were FERROCIOUS animals that were very fast, 41:40 and very hungry, so this is a miracle. 41:46 "and he sealed it" 41:47 Not only was there a stone placed on the tomb of Christ, 41:50 but what else was put on the tomb? 41:53 The government seal and that seal said... 41:56 "King Darius, King Medo-Persia" 42:00 On Jesus' tomb, it said... "Pontius Pilot, Governor Judea" 42:06 seal placed on the stone... Interesting 42:15 "With the signet of his lords that the purpose concerning 42:18 Daniel might not be changed" 42:20 This reinforced the miracle. 42:21 "Now the king went to his palace and he spent the night fasting, 42:26 and no musicians were brought before him, 42:28 and his sleep went from him" 42:30 What do you think the condition was of God in heaven 42:32 during the time when Christ was in the tomb? 42:36 Were they playing their harps in heaven? 42:40 Or was there a great somberness there? 42:43 "Then the king arose very early in the morning" 42:46 What time of day did Jesus rise? Very early in the morning 42:51 "And he went in haste to the den of lions and when he came 42:54 to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel... 42:57 and the king spoke" 42:59 The king's heart yearned after Daniel. 43:01 You know, it said - "The king set his heart to deliver Daniel" 43:04 This was his best man! He didn't want to lose him 43:08 "And he said, Daniel, servant of the living God" 43:14 Why did he say that? 43:15 Because he knew that Daniel served the real God, 43:18 unlike the gods of Medo-Persia. 43:21 "Has your God, who you serve continually, 43:25 been able to deliver you?" 43:26 I always thought it was interesting... 43:27 when he put him in, he said, "Your God will deliver you" 43:29 But after 24 hours, he's not so sure anymore; 43:32 the king's faith was wavering. 43:36 "Has your God, who you serve continually, 43:38 been able to deliver you from the lions?" 43:41 "Then Daniel said to the king, "Oh king, liver forever" 43:44 Now that shocked the king right there because 43:49 they had never heard any voices 43:50 coming from the lion's den 24 hours later. 43:54 Everybody who went into the lion's den - nobody came out, 43:57 nothing came out. 43:59 And to hear someone speaking was a shocking thing. 44:04 "And Daniel said to the king, "Oh king, live forever, 44:07 my God has sent His angel and shut the lion's mouth, 44:11 that they have not hurt me because I was found 44:13 innocent before Him" 44:15 You've read the story of "Pilgrims Progress" 44:17 where the lion, who was a type of the devil; 44:20 be sober, be vigilant - Peter tells us because your 44:23 adversary the devil goes around like what? 44:25 A roaring lion seeking whom he might devour. 44:29 So how are you and I going to survive the lion? 44:32 By having faith in a relationship like Daniel did. 44:37 Daniel had a devotional life; 44:39 "Thy word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin" 44:42 How did Jesus survive the attacks and temptations 44:45 of the devil, the lion? 44:46 He said, "It is written... It is written... It is written" 44:49 Jesus had a custom. Daniel had a custom. 44:52 What was Daniel's custom? 44:53 He prayed, he worshipped God 3 times a day. 44:56 Jesus had a custom; every Sabbath He was in the 44:58 synagogue reading the Scriptures. 45:00 We need some of those customs in our lives; 45:03 reading the Word, a devotional life, regular church attendance. 45:08 I've often said - If we don't have enough faith to 45:11 get us to church once a week, then how can we expect 45:13 to have enough to get us to heaven? 45:17 I'm glad for everybody that's here today. 45:19 I suspect that some of our folks 45:21 are on vacation from church today. 45:25 When I'm on vacation, we find a church 45:29 or at least have worship with the family 45:32 if there's none around, 45:33 but I think it's real important that we're regular about that. 45:37 You know, reading about this time when Daniel was 45:41 in the lion's den - "My God has sent His angel 45:44 and shut the lion's mouth" 45:49 Dwight Moody, I believe it was, said he always envisioned 45:52 that during the night, Daniel was an old man, 45:54 he got tired - that he leaned up against one of those lions 45:56 and used it as a pillow and like 45:59 in the story of "Pilgrims Progress," the lions 46:02 had no claws, they had no teeth; 46:07 their mouths were shut by the angel; 46:09 their claws were retracted 46:11 and they just couldn't do anything. 46:13 And they laid back and Daniel tugged on the lion's tail 46:17 and said... Could you please purr for me and vibrate? 46:20 Put me to sleep! 46:26 It's one thing, sleeping with someone that snores. 46:28 Can you imagine sleeping with someone that roars? 46:33 Someone said one time, the reason the lions 46:35 did not eat Daniel was because he had too much backbone! 46:42 If he was chicken, they would have eaten him, right? 46:46 "My God has sent the angel and shut the lion's mouth, 46:50 so they have not hurt me because I was found innocent 46:52 before Him, also before you, O king, I have done no wrong" 46:57 Isn't that what Pilot said, "I find no fault in Jesus" 47:00 "Then the king was exceedingly glad for him and commanded 47:03 they should take Daniel up out of the den. 47:05 So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury or hurt 47:09 was found on him whatsoever because he BELIEVED in his God" 47:14 Daniel was saved by faith. 47:18 It starts out by saying, here in the beginning of chapter 6:4, 47:22 "He was faithful" Daniel was full of faith. 47:26 Daniel was not saved by works. 47:28 He had good works but his works were because of great faith. 47:32 He was saved from the lion's den by his faith. 47:36 What does real faith mean? Because he believed in his God. 47:39 He showed his belief by putting God first. 47:42 "Whoever believes in Him will not perish" 47:45 Do we have the kind of belief 47:46 where we take our time with God? 47:48 That's what it means to believe in Him! 47:50 If we say we BELIEVE in God, we don't ever give him our time, 47:52 then we're lying! 47:53 It's not just saying, "Oh, I believe He's out there 47:55 and He exists," the devil says that. 47:57 It means I believe in Him and I'm going to 47:59 spend time with Him every day. 48:01 That's what it means to "be-live" in God. 48:05 We need to have that kind of relation, 48:07 that's what I want friends; 48:08 got to have that priority in my life. 48:12 We're going to be facing the same test. 48:15 You know how quickly the final events could happen? 48:17 Could you imagine if there was a 7.9? 48:20 That's what they just had in China. 48:22 It seems like there's been a lot of seismic activity. 48:25 Can you imagine a 7.9 in San Francisco? 48:29 ...Or in Los Angels? 48:31 What if you combine a couple of more Katrinas 48:35 with a 7.9? What would happen? 48:38 Would people start turning to God out of fear? 48:41 I think you'd see a WAVE of religion! 48:44 The next politician-preacher that ran for president 48:48 would probably get elected at that point. 48:51 People would be looking for... 48:52 Things could change very quickly; laws could be made... 48:57 What kind of faith do you have now? 48:59 Are you passing the little tests in preparation for the final? 49:04 "He that is faithful in that which is least 49:05 is faithful also in much" 49:08 "The king was exceedingly glad for him" 49:11 Jesus came out alive, didn't He? 49:13 Daniel came out alive. 49:15 "He was taken up out of the den and no injury 49:18 whatever was found on him" 49:19 They needed no band aids, not even the smell of smoke 49:24 was on Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. 49:26 When God saves you, He saves you completely! Amen? 49:31 And some people said... The lions weren't hungry. 49:33 You know, the kingdom had just gone through transition, 49:36 and the lions had eaten so many political prisoners, 49:39 that they were all laying with indigestion 49:41 at the bottom of the den burping - little lion burps! 49:46 And they couldn't eat another; 49:47 they threw Daniel in, they just groaned and rolled over. 49:51 No, if you don't think the lions were hungry, keep reading... 49:53 "The king gave command and they brought those men 49:56 who had accused Daniel and they cast THEM into the den of lions, 50:01 them, their children, their wives, 50:04 and the lions overpowered them and broke all their 50:08 bones in pieces or ever they came to the bottom of the den" 50:12 Those lions were very ferocious lions! 50:15 Now Daniel standing up - not only was it a witness, listen... 50:19 The king, he sent out a decree that everyone was supposed 50:22 to pray to the king - that decree is completely 50:24 forgotten and swallowed up by the next decree. 50:27 This decree is what the king sends out that people remember. 50:31 "To all peoples, nations and languages 50:34 that dwell on the earth, peace be multiplied to you. 50:37 I make a decree in every dominion of my kingdom 50:40 that men must tremble in fear before... King Darius? No 50:45 The God of Daniel, for He is the living God 50:50 and steadfast forever and His kingdom is the one 50:53 that shall not be destroyed; Not Medo-Persia 50:56 and His dominion shall endure to the end; 50:59 and He delivers and rescues and He works signs and wonders 51:02 in heaven and on earth, who has delivered Daniel 51:04 from the power of the lions" 51:06 This is really what God, the Father, did with Jesus 51:10 when He was resurrected. 51:12 "So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, 51:15 and in the reign of Cyrus, the Persian 51:17 In the first year of Cyrus' reign, he issued the decree 51:21 that Jerusalem should be rebuilt 51:24 and that the temple could be rebuilt, 51:26 and I'd like to think that Daniel was as an old man, 51:30 retired from his responsibilities in Medo-Persia 51:34 where he could go back and die in his home country 51:37 with the knowledge that the temple was going to be rebuilt. 51:40 That was a real prayer of his heart... 51:42 And that the Messiah was some day coming. 51:44 I expect to see Daniel in heaven someday. 51:48 It's going to be fun to talk to him and ask him a lot of 51:49 questions about that experience, what it was like. 51:53 But you know, he might be asking us about our experiences, 51:55 isn't that something to think about? 51:57 What was it like to stand up for your faith in the last days, 52:00 and know that you would be killed if you compromise 52:05 your convictions? 52:06 Wouldn't you like to have that kind of a conversation 52:08 with Daniel where we could compare notes about 52:10 our adventure of faith? 52:12 You can have that. 52:14 It's going to come from having a relationship with Jesus 52:17 and believing His word. 52:18 You know I've changed the closing hymn. 52:21 I was looking for that song, "Dare To Be a Daniel," 52:24 but I couldn't find it in the hymnal, 52:25 but I found one just as good. 52:27 It's called, "Give Me The Bible" 52:31 because Daniel read the Bible, he had a devotional life, 52:34 and that's what made the difference in his experience. 52:37 I'd like to encourage you to say I'm going to have 52:41 a devotional life like that and I want to have the experience 52:43 of Daniel to sustain me in the last days. 52:46 If that's your prayer, why don't you signify that by standing 52:49 as we sing 272... "Give Me The Bible" 53:11 Give me the Bible, star of gladness gleaming, 53:17 To cheer the wanderer lone and tempest tossed, 53:22 No storm can hide that peaceful radiance beaming, 53:28 Since Jesus came to seek and save the lost. 53:33 Give me the Bible holy message shining, 53:39 Thy light shall guide me in the narrow way, 53:44 Precept and promise, law and love combining, 53:49 'Till night shall vanish in eternal day. 53:56 Before we sing the next verse, we'll be singing all 3... 53:59 I want to give you an opportunity to respond 54:01 to the Word of God this morning. 54:03 If there's some special need in your life 54:06 or if you're feeling the Lord calling you to re-consecrate 54:10 yourself in some way and you'd like to come to the front 54:12 and request special prayer, then we'd like to offer 54:15 that opportunity... as we sing verse 2 together. 54:21 Give me the Bible when my heart is broken, 54:27 When sin and grief have filled my soul with fear; 54:32 Give me the precious words by Jesus spoken, 54:38 Hold up faith's lamp to show my Saviour near. 54:43 Give me the Bible holy message shining, 54:49 Thy light shall guide me in the narrow way. 54:54 Precept and promise, law and love combining, 55:00 'Till night shall vanish in eternal day. 55:07 Before we sing the last verse, 55:09 after considering this wonderful story today, 55:12 and you realize we are entering into sobering times, 55:15 and we need to have that close relationship with Jesus, 55:19 so we're willing to open our mouths and open our windows, 55:22 and let our light shine. 55:24 We know that's going to depend on a relationship with Him 55:28 that comes from our time on our knees with our Bibles. 55:33 If you'd like to ask the Lord, just say, "Lord, help me to 55:36 have a revival in my personal devotions and make that 55:38 commitment NOW - to spend time with God 55:41 every day in His Word and prayer. 55:42 Would you like to lift your hands and say, 55:44 "Lord, that's my desire, help me to know You better" 55:47 Let's sing the last verse, then we'll close with prayer. 55:52 Give me the Bible all my steps enlighten, 55:57 Teach me the danger of these realms below; 56:03 That lamp of safety, o'er the gloom shall brighten, 56:08 That light alone the path of peace can show. 56:14 Give me the Bible holy message shining, 56:20 Thy light shall guide me in the narrow way, 56:25 Precept and promise, law and love combining, 56:31 'Till night shall vanish in eternal day. 56:38 AMEN! Sounds good with the academy singers here. 56:44 Father in Heaven, Lord, we've heard this 56:47 story before, but it just energizes 56:50 and encourages us each time. 56:53 We long to have the relationship with You 56:55 that Daniel had... where we could be 56:58 people of integrity, honesty, faithfulness... 57:01 where our lives can be transparent and consistent. 57:05 Lord, we want to serve You continually. 57:08 Help us to believe as Daniel believed. 57:11 Lord, I pray that we will resolve, 57:13 like Daniel, we're living in a foreign land, 57:16 and we want to be Your ambassadors. 57:19 Help us to fortify our minds with the truth of Your Word, 57:22 that we can stand through this final conflict... 57:25 to love You so much, Lord, that we will not close our 57:29 windows or hide our faith, but we will boldly courageously 57:33 stand up for truth. 57:35 Give us that determination. 57:38 Forgive us for our compromise in the past, Lord, 57:40 and give us consistency in the future. 57:42 Bless each person here; those who have come forward 57:45 for the appeal - whatever the needs are in their life, 57:48 help them to experience Your power and Your peace, 57:51 and that we can go from this place knowing that we 57:53 go with You and we have nothing to fear 57:55 because we ask in Jesus name, Amen |
Revised 2014-12-17