¤¤¤ 00:00:00.66\00:00:10.41 ¤¤¤ 00:00:12.67\00:00:22.65 ¤¤¤ 00:00:22.68\00:00:30.76 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends. 00:00:36.03\00:00:37.57 Welcome to "Sabbath School Study Hour" coming to you here 00:00:37.60\00:00:39.87 at the Granite Bay Seventh Day Adventist Church 00:00:39.90\00:00:41.84 in Sacramento, California. 00:00:41.87\00:00:43.61 We'd like to welcome those who are joining us, our online 00:00:43.64\00:00:45.81 members and our friends across the country and around the 00:00:45.84\00:00:48.54 world, part of our extended Sabbath School class, also our 00:00:48.58\00:00:52.41 regular members and visitors who are joining us here in person 00:00:52.45\00:00:56.02 as we continue our study in a very interesting and important 00:00:56.05\00:01:00.16 prophetic book that we find in the Old Testament, 00:01:00.19\00:01:02.32 the Book of Daniel. 00:01:02.36\00:01:03.96 Today we find ourselves on one of those great Old Testament 00:01:03.99\00:01:06.93 stories, and it's lesson number seven if you've been following 00:01:06.96\00:01:10.50 along with the lesson quarterly. 00:01:10.53\00:01:12.50 It's entitled From The Lion's Den 00:01:12.53\00:01:14.67 To The Angel's Den. 00:01:14.70\00:01:16.47 It's lesson number seven, you know what our story is 00:01:16.50\00:01:18.21 that we're going to be looking at today. 00:01:18.24\00:01:20.01 But before we get to our study, I'd like to remind our friends 00:01:20.04\00:01:22.58 about our free offer for this morning. 00:01:22.61\00:01:26.05 It is a Amazing Facts study guide. 00:01:26.08\00:01:28.32 It's entitled "Is Obedience Legalism?" 00:01:28.35\00:01:30.75 And we'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. 00:01:30.79\00:01:33.15 The number is 866-788-3966, and you can ask 00:01:33.19\00:01:37.86 for Offer Number 706. 00:01:37.89\00:01:40.20 We'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. 00:01:40.23\00:01:43.16 You'll also be able to download for free a copy of our study 00:01:43.20\00:01:47.00 guide simply by visiting the Amazing Facts website. 00:01:47.04\00:01:51.77 And you could also text the code SH041 to the number 40544. 00:01:51.81\00:02:00.42 You'll be able to get a link as to where you'll be able 00:02:00.45\00:02:03.45 to read the study guide, "Is Obedience Legalism?" 00:02:03.49\00:02:06.19 I think you'll find it encouraging of just 00:02:06.22\00:02:08.59 packed with all kinds of excellent Scriptures. 00:02:08.62\00:02:11.39 But before we get to our study this morning, we have five 00:02:11.43\00:02:15.10 students from Wiemer College that are going to be bringing us 00:02:15.13\00:02:18.40 a special musical item at this time. 00:02:18.43\00:02:22.60 ¤ In Christ alone my hope is found ¤ 00:02:22.64\00:02:28.68 ¤ He is my light, my strength, my song ¤ 00:02:28.71\00:02:33.68 ¤ This Cornerstone, this solid Ground ¤ 00:02:33.72\00:02:39.75 ¤ Firm through the fiercest drought and storm ¤ 00:02:39.79\00:02:44.89 ¤ What heights of love, what depths of peace ¤ 00:02:44.93\00:02:50.57 ¤ When fears are stilled, when strivings cease ¤ 00:02:50.60\00:02:56.34 ¤ My Comforter, my All in All ¤ 00:02:56.37\00:03:02.71 ¤ Here in the love of Christ I stand ¤ 00:03:02.74\00:03:08.25 ¤¤¤ 00:03:08.28\00:03:18.26 ¤¤¤ 00:03:18.29\00:03:23.23 ¤¤¤ 00:03:23.26\00:03:29.74 ¤ In Christ alone who took on flesh ¤ 00:03:29.77\00:03:35.21 ¤ Fullness of God in helpless babe ¤ 00:03:35.24\00:03:40.25 ¤ This gift of love and righteousness ¤ 00:03:40.28\00:03:45.99 ¤ Scorned by the ones He came to save ¤ 00:03:46.02\00:03:51.06 ¤ Till on that cross as Jesus died ¤ 00:03:51.09\00:03:56.33 ¤ The wrath of God was satisfied ¤ 00:03:56.36\00:04:02.00 ¤ For every sin on Him was laid ¤ 00:04:02.04\00:04:07.91 ¤ Here in the death of Christ I live ¤ 00:04:07.94\00:04:13.72 ¤¤¤ 00:04:13.75\00:04:23.59 ¤ There in the ground His body lay ¤ 00:04:23.63\00:04:29.53 ¤ Light of the world by darkness slain: ¤ 00:04:29.56\00:04:34.54 ¤ Then bursting forth in glorious day ¤ 00:04:34.57\00:04:40.14 ¤ Up from the grave He rose again ¤ 00:04:40.18\00:04:44.71 ¤ And as He stands in victory ¤ 00:04:44.75\00:04:49.92 ¤ Sin's curse has lost its grip on me ¤ 00:04:49.95\00:04:55.39 ¤ For I am His and He is mine ¤ 00:04:55.42\00:05:01.26 ¤ Bought with the precious blood of Christ ¤ 00:05:01.30\00:05:07.37 ¤ No guilt in life, no fear in death ¤ 00:05:08.94\00:05:14.58 ¤ This is the power of Christ in me ¤ 00:05:14.61\00:05:19.35 ¤ From life's first cry to final breath ¤ 00:05:19.38\00:05:24.99 ¤ Jesus commands my destiny ¤ 00:05:25.02\00:05:29.62 ¤ No power of hell, no scheme of man ¤ 00:05:29.66\00:05:34.83 ¤ Can ever pluck me from His hand ¤ 00:05:34.86\00:05:42.54 ¤ Till He returns and calls me home ¤ 00:05:42.57\00:05:48.88 ¤ Here in the power of Christ I'll stand ¤ 00:05:48.91\00:05:54.72 ¤ Here in the power of Christ we stand ¤¤ 00:05:54.75\00:06:04.69 Jean: Let's bow our heads for Word of prayer. 00:06:09.43\00:06:11.37 Dear Father in heaven, we thank you once again that you've given 00:06:11.40\00:06:13.64 us life and strength, the ability to gather in Your 00:06:13.67\00:06:15.70 presence on this Your Sabbath and open up Your Word. 00:06:15.74\00:06:18.61 Father, we're looking at just a fantastic story that we have 00:06:18.64\00:06:21.44 recorded in Scripture of tremendous faith and devotion. 00:06:21.48\00:06:24.98 And not only that of our Daniel who stood faithful to You, 00:06:25.01\00:06:28.92 but how You stood faithful for him. 00:06:28.95\00:06:31.49 And we just ask in a special way that you would guide in our 00:06:31.52\00:06:33.92 study, lead us into a clear a full understanding 00:06:33.96\00:06:37.13 of this great passage. 00:06:37.16\00:06:38.86 In Jesus's name, amen. 00:06:38.89\00:06:41.00 Well, as mentioned, we're going to be looking 00:06:41.03\00:06:42.70 at Daniel chapter 5, I believe it is. 00:06:42.73\00:06:45.60 So, if you have your Bibles, you can open it up. 00:06:45.63\00:06:48.57 We're going to be looking at the story of Daniel 00:06:48.60\00:06:50.37 in the lion's den. 00:06:50.41\00:06:51.91 I'd like to invite Pastor Doug to come forward, 00:06:51.94\00:06:53.41 and he'll be leading in our study today. 00:06:53.44\00:06:55.44 Doug Batchelor: Morning everybody, want to welcome you 00:06:56.38\00:06:57.91 to our Granite Bay Sabbath School Program 00:06:57.95\00:07:00.65 and "Sabbath School Study Hour." 00:07:00.68\00:07:02.65 We're just so thankful that you're joining us. 00:07:02.68\00:07:04.49 We know we have friends that are watching from other parts 00:07:04.52\00:07:08.19 of the planet that are studying with us. 00:07:08.22\00:07:10.49 Just met a gentleman who's here this morning, lives about 200 00:07:10.53\00:07:12.83 miles north of Anchorage, if I'm not mistaken, 2,000, 00:07:12.86\00:07:19.47 2,000 miles, and he said it's 32 below zero there today. 00:07:19.50\00:07:23.67 Wow. 00:07:23.71\00:07:25.64 So, we have folks that come from all over and we're just 00:07:25.67\00:07:28.88 so thankful for those who are online members as well. 00:07:28.91\00:07:33.28 Now, our lesson today is an amazing study. 00:07:33.31\00:07:36.62 It's based on the Book of Daniel chapter 6. 00:07:36.65\00:07:39.25 Now, it's easy to get confused because we're on lesson seven, 00:07:39.29\00:07:43.09 studying Daniel chapter 6. 00:07:43.12\00:07:45.43 Last week, we were studying Daniel chapter 5, 00:07:45.46\00:07:47.50 we were in lesson six. 00:07:47.50\00:07:49.30 And so, you can see it sounds a little incongruous at times. 00:07:49.33\00:07:54.50 And the title of our lesson is From The Lion's Den 00:07:54.54\00:07:56.87 To The Angel's Den. 00:07:56.91\00:07:58.67 We have a memory verse. 00:07:58.71\00:08:00.44 The memory verse is from Daniel 6, verse 4. 00:08:00.48\00:08:03.28 If you want to find your Bibles, you can read it right out 00:08:03.31\00:08:05.18 of your quarterly. 00:08:05.21\00:08:07.02 It's from the New King James Version there. 00:08:07.05\00:08:08.72 Daniel 6, verse 4. And you ready? 00:08:08.75\00:08:12.55 "So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge 00:08:12.59\00:08:17.43 against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find 00:08:17.46\00:08:21.53 no charge or fault, because he was faithful; 00:08:21.56\00:08:25.57 nor was there any error or fault found in him." 00:08:25.60\00:08:30.34 All right, friends, put on your seatbelts. 00:08:30.37\00:08:33.68 We are getting ready to dive off into what I believe is one of 00:08:33.71\00:08:36.44 the greatest chapters in the Bible because it talks about the 00:08:36.48\00:08:39.98 greatest character in the Bible, and that is not Daniel, 00:08:40.02\00:08:43.35 that's Jesus. 00:08:43.39\00:08:45.45 The story of Daniel chapter 6 is a wonderful parallel that gives 00:08:45.49\00:08:49.66 us a number of insights into Christ Himself. 00:08:49.69\00:08:53.50 Now, let's go ahead and just jump to the first verse and I'll 00:08:53.53\00:08:57.73 have a few of you, in a moment, help me read a couple of verses 00:08:57.77\00:09:01.27 in our study. 00:09:01.30\00:09:03.57 Now, I've just got to tell you that keep in mind, a lot of 00:09:03.61\00:09:07.64 people grow up, they go to Sunday school or Sabbath school 00:09:07.68\00:09:10.65 and they hear the story of Daniel in the lion's den, 00:09:10.68\00:09:12.78 and that story is often relegated to the children. 00:09:12.81\00:09:16.58 And you know, they'll bring in some stuffed lions, 00:09:16.62\00:09:18.85 and they'll reenact this cute story. 00:09:18.89\00:09:23.22 And but when I first read it, I didn't know that it was 00:09:23.26\00:09:26.56 a children's story. 00:09:26.59\00:09:28.63 I thought it was a story of the most magnificent theology. 00:09:28.66\00:09:33.13 And so, I was looking at it for its prophetic value for the 00:09:33.17\00:09:39.14 Christ in the story of Daniel and it's the story, it's always 00:09:39.17\00:09:43.88 been just such an amazing monumental story to me. 00:09:43.91\00:09:47.15 All right, first of all, this transpires shortly after chapter 00:09:47.18\00:09:51.19 5 when Babylon has fallen. 00:09:51.22\00:09:54.16 Immediately, they installed new government, which is known to be 00:09:54.19\00:09:57.03 the Medo-Persian government, and we know that Darius the Mede, 00:09:57.06\00:10:01.43 along with Cyrus of Persian, work together to bring 00:10:01.46\00:10:03.93 about the downfall of Babylon. 00:10:03.97\00:10:06.37 And so, then they established a new government. 00:10:06.40\00:10:09.70 And you read in chapter 6 of Daniel verse 1, "It pleased 00:10:09.74\00:10:13.74 Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps," 00:10:13.78\00:10:19.01 princes, "who would be over the whole kingdom, and over these, 00:10:19.05\00:10:23.49 three governors, of whom Daniel was one," or to be chief, 00:10:23.52\00:10:28.52 "that the satraps might give account to them, 00:10:28.56\00:10:31.46 and that the king would suffer no loss." 00:10:31.49\00:10:34.86 Now, this is astonishing because typically when one kingdom 00:10:34.93\00:10:39.37 conquers another kingdom, the first thing they do is wipe out 00:10:39.40\00:10:44.54 the cabinet, the leadership that was loyal to the former king. 00:10:44.57\00:10:50.18 You can't have people in your new department 00:10:50.21\00:10:53.25 that were loyal to the other king. 00:10:53.28\00:10:55.25 They might try to assassinate you. 00:10:55.28\00:10:57.12 In ancient kingdoms, your own family might try 00:10:57.15\00:10:59.09 to assassinate you. 00:10:59.12\00:11:01.12 So, this is very unusual that Daniel, 00:11:01.16\00:11:03.59 who had served Nebuchadnezzar for so long, 00:11:03.63\00:11:08.10 is now not only being allowed to remain in this kingdom, 00:11:08.13\00:11:11.90 but he's given a leadership role. 00:11:11.93\00:11:14.20 Now, keep in mind word had gotten out about Daniel telling 00:11:14.24\00:11:18.87 Belshazzar to take his gifts and keep them and Daniel foretelling 00:11:18.91\00:11:23.98 that the Medes and the Persians were going to win. 00:11:24.01\00:11:26.82 And so, they knew there was something extraordinary 00:11:26.85\00:11:29.12 about this man, and he was known for his wisdom. 00:11:29.15\00:11:34.19 You heard of someone, ever heard the expression of a person being 00:11:34.22\00:11:36.36 a legend in their own time? 00:11:36.39\00:11:38.96 Daniel was a legend while he was still alive. 00:11:38.99\00:11:42.06 Even Ezekiel in a prophecy said, "Thou art wiser than Daniel." 00:11:42.10\00:11:47.87 Daniel was, a few people in the Bible are known for 00:11:47.90\00:11:50.64 extraordinary wisdom, Solomon is one, Daniel is another. 00:11:50.67\00:11:53.98 Of course, Jesus. 00:11:54.01\00:11:55.91 And so, Daniel was known for his wisdom and when Darius came 00:11:55.94\00:11:59.55 into power, he wanted Daniel as part of his cabinet. 00:11:59.58\00:12:02.88 But there's a problem. 00:12:02.92\00:12:05.15 Daniel is not a Persian, he's not a Median. 00:12:05.19\00:12:07.29 He's not a Chaldean. 00:12:07.32\00:12:09.06 He's a Jew, and the way they found their way into Babylon was 00:12:09.09\00:12:13.13 because they were brought in as captives, many were made slaves. 00:12:13.16\00:12:16.80 And so, then for these other Medes and Persians that are 00:12:16.83\00:12:22.04 running the kingdom, to have a former Jewish captive 00:12:22.07\00:12:26.27 and someone who had served Nebuchadnezzar 00:12:26.31\00:12:28.11 giving them orders, that didn't sit well with them, 00:12:28.14\00:12:31.91 and there was some resentment. 00:12:31.95\00:12:34.32 And the king put so much confidence in Daniel, they were 00:12:34.35\00:12:36.75 frankly jealous, which is one of the first sections 00:12:36.79\00:12:39.92 in your lesson. 00:12:39.95\00:12:42.49 It says that, not only that, 00:12:42.52\00:12:45.43 says Daniel distinguished himself. 00:12:45.46\00:12:47.23 I'm in verse 3. 00:12:47.30\00:12:49.30 "Daniel distinguished himself above the governors 00:12:49.33\00:12:52.07 and the satraps, because--" 00:12:52.10\00:12:54.57 Some versions will say princes. 00:12:54.60\00:12:56.34 These are the administrators. 00:12:56.37\00:12:58.47 "Because an excellent Spirit was in him." 00:12:58.51\00:13:01.74 Now, you remember reading, if you go to chapter 5, 00:13:01.78\00:13:05.45 and verse 12, it says an excellent spirit, knowledge 00:13:05.48\00:13:09.42 and understanding, was in Daniel. 00:13:09.45\00:13:12.65 So, he was known as being a Spirit-filled man. 00:13:12.69\00:13:19.76 Now, right away, you're going to see some parallels 00:13:19.79\00:13:22.90 between the story of Daniel and Jesus. 00:13:22.93\00:13:26.90 Was there an effort made to get rid of Jesus? 00:13:26.94\00:13:31.94 Was there jealousy? 00:13:31.97\00:13:35.61 And there was resentment. 00:13:35.64\00:13:39.65 There was envy. 00:13:39.68\00:13:42.22 I've got someone's going to help me read a verse 00:13:42.25\00:13:44.92 in just a minute, okay? 00:13:44.95\00:13:47.06 Something else you'll notice, these men who want to get rid 00:13:47.09\00:13:50.03 of Daniel, they follow him around, they're trying 00:13:50.06\00:13:53.13 to find something wrong. 00:13:53.16\00:13:54.83 It says, "The governors and the princes sought to find 00:13:54.86\00:13:56.50 some occasion," this is verse 4, "concerning Daniel 00:13:56.53\00:14:00.04 concerning the kingdom." 00:14:00.07\00:14:01.97 They say let's open his file cabinet when he's not home. 00:14:02.00\00:14:04.14 There's got to be someplace that he's pilfering money, 00:14:04.17\00:14:06.68 or he's not being faithful in his taxes, or he's using some 00:14:06.71\00:14:10.28 of the king's money for his vacation expense. 00:14:10.31\00:14:13.45 There's got to be a place he's double dipping 00:14:13.48\00:14:15.22 or something's going on. 00:14:15.25\00:14:17.02 I mean, everybody's got a skeleton in their closet, 00:14:17.05\00:14:19.65 they thought. 00:14:19.69\00:14:21.56 People always superimpose on others what they have 00:14:21.59\00:14:23.29 in their own hearts. 00:14:23.32\00:14:26.83 And even after the private detectives came back, they said, 00:14:26.86\00:14:30.60 "We can't find anything. 00:14:30.63\00:14:32.37 We looked at all the video footage. 00:14:32.40\00:14:34.30 We listened to his phone calls, and we can't find anything. 00:14:34.34\00:14:38.51 This guy is the same person in public as he is in private." 00:14:38.54\00:14:42.41 By the way that's integrity. 00:14:42.44\00:14:44.91 Integrity means that you are the same person that you profess 00:14:44.95\00:14:48.68 to be in private as you are in public. 00:14:48.72\00:14:52.55 And it says they could find no fault in him, 00:14:52.59\00:14:55.76 neither was any error in him. 00:14:55.79\00:14:59.03 Now, why don't you go ahead read for me, I think it's John 18:38. 00:14:59.06\00:15:04.27 female: "And when he had said this, he went out again 00:15:04.30\00:15:07.24 to the Jews, and said to them, 00:15:07.27\00:15:09.30 'I find no fault in Him at all.'" 00:15:09.34\00:15:12.84 Doug: Now, there were spies that were following Jesus around. 00:15:12.87\00:15:16.88 And even though that they were trying to find something 00:15:16.91\00:15:19.28 wrong with him, they couldn't find any fault. 00:15:19.31\00:15:21.75 Now, you'll notice that Pilate realizes one of the reasons 00:15:21.78\00:15:27.16 that Jesus has been turned over to him is envy. 00:15:27.19\00:15:29.89 Look at here, Mark chapter 1, verse 15. 00:15:29.92\00:15:32.99 I'm sorry, Mark, Mark 15, verse 8, "Then the multitude, 00:15:33.03\00:15:38.67 crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he 00:15:38.70\00:15:42.20 had always done for them. 00:15:42.24\00:15:43.74 But Pilate answered, saying, 'Do you want me to release 00:15:43.77\00:15:45.61 to you the King of the Jews?'" 00:15:45.64\00:15:47.24 Notice, "For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him 00:15:47.28\00:15:51.15 over because of envy." 00:15:51.18\00:15:53.18 Why did they envy Jesus? 00:15:53.21\00:15:56.18 There's nothing the priests wanted more 00:15:56.22\00:15:58.42 than the recognition of the crowds. 00:15:58.45\00:16:01.06 Jesus said, "You pray to be seen of men, you fast to be seen of 00:16:01.09\00:16:04.39 men, you give to be seen of men. 00:16:04.43\00:16:06.56 You want the glory of men." 00:16:06.59\00:16:08.80 Who ended up getting the crowds? 00:16:08.83\00:16:12.53 And they said, "We've been trying to get this special 00:16:12.57\00:16:14.97 treatment, and this respect, and this recognition, and esteem 00:16:15.00\00:16:18.77 all our lives, and here is this uneducated carpenter shows up 00:16:18.81\00:16:22.91 and everyone's following him and the power of God's in him. 00:16:22.94\00:16:25.55 And they resented that so much. 00:16:25.58\00:16:27.45 They said, "He doesn't have any degrees. 00:16:27.48\00:16:29.32 How can he do all of this?" 00:16:29.35\00:16:31.45 They wanted to get rid of them. 00:16:31.49\00:16:34.29 Did they want to get rid of Daniel? 00:16:34.32\00:16:37.43 Yeah, 'cause the king put so much confidence in him, 00:16:37.46\00:16:39.49 he had so much power. 00:16:39.53\00:16:42.30 And not only that, but was Daniel called Spirit-filled? 00:16:42.33\00:16:48.67 What about Jesus, is Jesus accused of being Spirit-filled? 00:16:48.70\00:16:52.57 When he's baptized, what happens? 00:16:52.61\00:16:55.44 They saw the Spirit of God descend upon him like a dove. 00:16:55.48\00:16:59.31 It says, "God filled Christ with the Holy Spirit 00:16:59.35\00:17:01.62 who went about doing good." 00:17:01.65\00:17:03.55 Jesus was Spirit-filled. 00:17:03.59\00:17:05.32 And so, you see already. 00:17:05.35\00:17:08.22 Now, Daniel was a eunuch, so, how did Mrs. Daniel feel 00:17:08.26\00:17:14.20 about that? 00:17:14.20\00:17:16.06 There's no Mrs. Daniel. 00:17:16.10\00:17:17.97 Was Daniel ever married? 00:17:18.00\00:17:19.67 I'm just wanting to see if you're listening. 00:17:19.70\00:17:21.60 Daniel was not married. 00:17:21.64\00:17:23.10 Was Jesus ever married? 00:17:23.14\00:17:25.84 Daniel's love was the church. 00:17:25.87\00:17:29.14 He spends his time praying and interceding for God's people. 00:17:29.18\00:17:33.38 Who is the bride of Christ? 00:17:33.42\00:17:35.95 The church. 00:17:35.98\00:17:37.69 You read Daniel 9, you can hear him just praying for the people. 00:17:37.72\00:17:41.19 And so, all through the story of Daniel, you're going to see 00:17:41.22\00:17:45.99 images of Jesus in here. 00:17:46.03\00:17:48.90 All right, and so, we read on. 00:17:48.93\00:17:51.37 Now you see the plot is thickening here. 00:17:51.40\00:17:54.24 They say, "You know, we're not going to get rid of them 00:17:54.27\00:17:56.27 unless we find some law." 00:17:56.30\00:17:59.27 They could not find any charge or fault 00:17:59.31\00:18:01.81 because he was faithful. 00:18:01.84\00:18:03.78 Now, is that because Daniel was a freak of nature? 00:18:03.81\00:18:07.98 Is it possible for you and I to have that experience? 00:18:08.02\00:18:11.52 Can we be like Daniel? 00:18:11.55\00:18:13.62 Should we desire that? 00:18:13.66\00:18:16.12 Wouldn't you like the Lord to look down from heaven 00:18:16.16\00:18:18.29 like he did to Job and say, "Have you ever beheld 00:18:18.33\00:18:21.56 someone like Job, a faithful and upright man who fears God 00:18:21.60\00:18:24.43 and hates evil?" 00:18:24.47\00:18:26.17 Wouldn't you like the Lord look down at you and say, 00:18:26.20\00:18:29.27 "He's faithful. 00:18:29.30\00:18:30.97 He's the same person in public as he is in private," or she? 00:18:31.01\00:18:35.61 Yeah, an excellent spirit was in him. 00:18:35.64\00:18:38.71 We're going to talk about the secret 00:18:38.75\00:18:40.35 of Daniel's faithfulness here. 00:18:40.38\00:18:43.08 And so, they plot to destroy him. 00:18:43.12\00:18:47.29 Notice what happens to Jesus. 00:18:47.32\00:18:49.92 You look in Matthew chapter 12, verse 14, 00:18:49.96\00:18:52.53 "Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, 00:18:52.56\00:18:55.06 how they might destroy Him." 00:18:55.10\00:18:57.53 Same thing that's happening to Daniel is happening to Jesus. 00:18:57.57\00:19:02.30 And they spied on him. 00:19:02.34\00:19:04.11 Now, keep in mind what happened to Daniel and happened 00:19:04.14\00:19:06.51 to Jesus will happen to you. 00:19:06.54\00:19:08.38 We're talking about Daniel historical, we're talking about 00:19:08.41\00:19:10.95 Christ, and we're talking about Daniel teaching us 00:19:10.98\00:19:12.98 for the last days. 00:19:13.01\00:19:14.72 Will there be a law in the last days and if we don't obey that 00:19:14.75\00:19:17.65 law, there'll be a death decree? 00:19:17.69\00:19:20.56 So, the story of Daniel is really a message 00:19:20.59\00:19:22.69 for the church also. 00:19:22.72\00:19:24.46 We need to have the kind of faith Daniel had. 00:19:24.49\00:19:28.06 Was Daniel a preacher? 00:19:28.10\00:19:31.33 Well, by his life, but he wasn't a priest. 00:19:31.37\00:19:35.27 He wasn't a preacher. 00:19:35.30\00:19:37.14 Daniel was a businessman, and he witnessed in everything he did. 00:19:37.17\00:19:41.61 God wants us to be faithful, so that we're witnessing 00:19:41.64\00:19:45.31 in our everyday lives. 00:19:45.35\00:19:47.22 "But Doug, it's so hard to be a Christian in such 00:19:47.25\00:19:49.18 a pagan culture." 00:19:49.22\00:19:51.09 Daniel had to be a Christian in Babylon and Medo-Persia. 00:19:51.12\00:19:56.39 Was he able to do it? 00:19:56.42\00:19:58.79 Then what excuse do we have for not being real Christians 00:19:58.83\00:20:01.93 and letting our light shine in a pagan world? 00:20:01.96\00:20:05.07 There really is no excuse, is there? 00:20:05.10\00:20:08.00 So, we read on, "The governors and the princes, they thronged 00:20:08.04\00:20:11.81 before the king, and said thus to him: 'King Darius, 00:20:11.84\00:20:15.28 live forever! 00:20:15.31\00:20:17.05 All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators 00:20:17.08\00:20:18.81 and satraps, the counselors and advisors, 00:20:18.85\00:20:20.85 have consulted together--" 00:20:20.88\00:20:22.48 They're lying, it wasn't all of them, but they wanted him 00:20:22.52\00:20:24.42 to think they'd all agreed. 00:20:24.45\00:20:27.39 "And they consulted together to establish a royal statute and to 00:20:27.42\00:20:31.16 make a firm decree," don't miss the word firm decree, "that 00:20:31.19\00:20:35.63 whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, 00:20:35.66\00:20:40.20 O king, shall be cast into the den of lions." 00:20:40.24\00:20:45.34 Now, that was the death decree. 00:20:45.37\00:20:48.84 I thought I'd throw in a little amazing fact here for you. 00:20:48.88\00:20:53.72 For 9 months between 1898 and 1899, there were 00:20:53.75\00:20:58.12 two infamous man eating lions of Tsavo. 00:20:58.15\00:21:01.39 They terrorized workers employed in the construction of a railway 00:21:01.42\00:21:05.63 bridge in Uganda. 00:21:05.66\00:21:07.50 We were there in Uganda a couple of years ago. 00:21:07.50\00:21:09.93 As the death toll rose, construction was brought 00:21:09.96\00:21:12.37 to a standstill. 00:21:12.40\00:21:14.10 You can understand why the workers refused until protection 00:21:14.14\00:21:16.71 could be provided. 00:21:16.74\00:21:19.34 This reign of terror--until the reign of terror was 00:21:19.37\00:21:21.61 brought to an end. 00:21:21.64\00:21:23.28 They finally brought in Lieutenant Colonel J.H. 00:21:23.31\00:21:25.65 Patterson. He succeeded in tracking and killing the two 00:21:25.68\00:21:28.58 lions, which by that time had devoured 100 men. 00:21:28.62\00:21:33.86 There's a big debate about which number. 00:21:33.89\00:21:35.89 Those lion's are very real. 00:21:35.92\00:21:37.69 They're actually, they were stuffed and they're in the Field 00:21:37.73\00:21:40.30 Museum in Chicago today, the man-eating lion's of Tsavo. 00:21:40.33\00:21:42.33 But that's not the worst. 00:21:42.36\00:21:44.00 There are times in Africa, I think there's one example in 00:21:44.03\00:21:46.40 Tanzania, yeah, where they had killed off so much of the lion's 00:21:46.43\00:21:51.54 natural game, that a large pride of lions developed 00:21:51.57\00:21:56.58 a taste for people. 00:21:56.61\00:21:59.18 And they say that between 1932 and 1947, this pride of lions 00:21:59.21\00:22:06.86 in southern Tanzania devoured as many as 1500 people. 00:22:06.89\00:22:15.56 I tell you, they must have been eating, or those were 00:22:15.60\00:22:19.90 skinny people, they needed to eat several. 00:22:19.93\00:22:22.87 That's a lot of people during that time, whole pride of lions. 00:22:22.90\00:22:27.34 Did you know that Karen was attacked and bitten by a lion 00:22:27.38\00:22:31.61 in South Africa? 00:22:31.65\00:22:34.32 It's true. 00:22:34.35\00:22:36.05 We were visiting a lion park, and these lion cubs attacked her 00:22:36.08\00:22:39.19 leg and scratched her, they did. 00:22:39.22\00:22:43.59 I turned around, there she was. 00:22:43.63\00:22:45.76 We were videotaping the lions, and she was being attacked by 00:22:45.79\00:22:48.70 a lion right in front of me, and I did nothing to help her. 00:22:48.73\00:22:53.23 So, when it says you go into the lion's den, 00:22:54.90\00:22:58.57 that's a death decree if you don't pray to King Darius. 00:22:58.61\00:23:03.78 And you notice they just say, just 30 days, just 30 days. 00:23:03.81\00:23:10.02 They knew that Daniel, they did this because they knew Daniel 00:23:10.05\00:23:13.66 would not wait 30 days to continue 00:23:13.69\00:23:15.62 his regular practice of prayer. 00:23:15.66\00:23:19.03 That's wonderful. 00:23:19.06\00:23:20.86 They said, "We don't need a one year law. 00:23:20.90\00:23:22.50 It's only going to take a month for him to come out 00:23:22.53\00:23:24.53 of the closet." 00:23:24.57\00:23:26.57 A lot of us would be quoting that verse where Jesus says, 00:23:26.60\00:23:29.00 "Enter into your closet and pray." 00:23:29.04\00:23:32.14 But Daniel was not going to do that. 00:23:32.17\00:23:34.61 So, they make this death decree. 00:23:34.64\00:23:36.28 Therefore, the King Darius-- and this king seems 00:23:36.31\00:23:38.25 to be a good king. 00:23:38.28\00:23:40.18 Now, he's about 62 years old, the Bible tells us, 00:23:40.22\00:23:42.75 and that's how old I am. 00:23:42.78\00:23:45.95 And what a coincidence. 00:23:45.99\00:23:52.56 But the reason he signed that law is because they believed 00:23:52.59\00:23:57.40 back then that when you had people from many different 00:23:57.43\00:23:59.43 backgrounds, you know, this is a massive kingdom. 00:23:59.47\00:24:02.04 It says there's 120 provinces, and by the time of Esther, 00:24:02.07\00:24:06.24 I think it's 127 provinces, 00:24:06.27\00:24:09.68 stretches, you know, through parts of Europe, and Africa, and 00:24:09.71\00:24:13.42 the Middle East, and he's got to administrate all these different 00:24:13.45\00:24:15.38 people's different languages, different cultures and customs. 00:24:15.42\00:24:18.09 And it's hard to unite people with all those differences, 00:24:18.12\00:24:21.32 except through common worship. 00:24:21.36\00:24:23.99 Alexander the Great, he went to Egypt, he realized 00:24:24.03\00:24:26.56 that the pharaohs were worshipped as gods. 00:24:26.59\00:24:28.80 They knew they were not gods, but they were worshipped as gods 00:24:28.83\00:24:31.73 so that they could bring the kingdom together. 00:24:31.77\00:24:34.94 So, Alexander declared he was a god as he went off 00:24:34.97\00:24:37.91 into Persia to conquer. 00:24:37.94\00:24:40.44 Augustus Caesar, Octavian, they said, "You know, you've got 00:24:40.48\00:24:43.55 all this--these different countries you've conquered. 00:24:43.58\00:24:45.85 If you want to bring them together, Caesar needs 00:24:45.88\00:24:47.88 to be respected as a god." 00:24:47.92\00:24:49.98 So, they started claiming divinity. 00:24:50.02\00:24:52.72 I'm sure at the end of the day, they knew they were not gods, 00:24:52.75\00:24:56.09 but they thought, "Well, if we make the people worship us, 00:24:56.12\00:24:58.96 they'll respect us more and it keeps the nations together." 00:24:58.99\00:25:02.60 So, they said, "This weld together the kingdom, 00:25:02.63\00:25:04.60 common worship." 00:25:04.63\00:25:06.43 He said, "Okay, if you guys say so." 00:25:06.47\00:25:08.67 Does Nebuchadnezzar try to bring everyone together through 00:25:08.70\00:25:10.91 common worship in chapter 3? 00:25:10.94\00:25:14.74 Will there be an effort to bring the world together through 00:25:14.78\00:25:17.38 common worship in Revelation 13 in the last days? 00:25:17.41\00:25:22.68 So, we can look at Daniel chapter 6 and maybe get 00:25:22.72\00:25:25.05 some ideas on how to, how to survive that. 00:25:25.09\00:25:30.09 So, the king signs the decree, it's a royal decree, 00:25:30.13\00:25:33.93 a firm statute. 00:25:33.96\00:25:35.83 Now, this to me is one of the most magnificent verses 00:25:35.86\00:25:37.80 in the book. 00:25:37.83\00:25:39.73 "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, 00:25:39.77\00:25:44.11 he went home. 00:25:44.14\00:25:46.17 And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, 00:25:46.21\00:25:51.58 he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed 00:25:51.61\00:25:55.72 and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom 00:25:55.75\00:25:58.99 since early times." 00:25:59.02\00:26:01.66 Daniel, knowing about the writing, you would think this 00:26:01.69\00:26:06.39 would be a good time to at least close your windows. 00:26:06.43\00:26:09.30 See, everyone in the capital city knew about Daniel. 00:26:09.33\00:26:14.24 He was famous before the Babylonians were conquered, 00:26:14.27\00:26:18.04 and they knew that just like, I forget where I was in Salzburg, 00:26:18.07\00:26:24.05 Austria or something. 00:26:24.08\00:26:25.91 There's some of these towns in Europe, 00:26:25.95\00:26:27.48 they've got these courtyards and in the courtyard, 00:26:27.52\00:26:29.02 they've got these magnificent clocks. 00:26:29.05\00:26:30.59 We call them cuckoo clocks, and some are very elaborate. 00:26:30.62\00:26:33.49 At certain times of the day every hour, people will all 00:26:33.52\00:26:35.82 start to gather out there and they'll watch in the courtyard, 00:26:35.86\00:26:38.99 and they'll look up and on the hour, all of a sudden, 00:26:39.03\00:26:42.26 it starts to ding. 00:26:42.30\00:26:43.97 And just as it's dinging, these little doors open up and these 00:26:44.00\00:26:47.64 people come out and they like, you know, they dance or they, 00:26:47.67\00:26:50.97 you know, play a fiddle, and they circle around, 00:26:51.01\00:26:53.71 and they do very creative. 00:26:53.74\00:26:55.58 These puppets come out on the top of the hour 00:26:55.61\00:26:57.71 and they do these amazing things. 00:26:57.75\00:26:59.41 I've seen several them. 00:26:59.45\00:27:01.35 And Daniel was as faithful as a cuckoo clock, just every day, no 00:27:01.38\00:27:08.06 matter what the weather, three times a day they saw his windows 00:27:08.09\00:27:11.39 open up, they saw him come out where they could all see him. 00:27:11.43\00:27:14.86 He knelt upon his knees, he prayed towards Jerusalem, 00:27:14.93\00:27:18.90 which was to the west, and he gave thanks. 00:27:18.93\00:27:23.54 And people in the neighborhood when they wanted to know 00:27:23.57\00:27:26.47 what time it was they'd say, "Has Daniel come out yet." 00:27:26.51\00:27:30.08 Oh, that's what time it is. 00:27:30.11\00:27:32.05 He was just, you could say he was a legalist about prayer. 00:27:32.08\00:27:39.65 You know what religion is? 00:27:39.69\00:27:41.19 Everyone says, "I'm not religious, but I'm spiritual." 00:27:41.22\00:27:43.86 Daniel was religious. 00:27:43.89\00:27:45.96 He had a habit, and whether he felt like it or not, he said, 00:27:45.99\00:27:50.30 "I have my regular devotions." 00:27:50.33\00:27:53.20 The reason the Book of Daniel is in the Bible is because of 00:27:53.23\00:27:56.20 chapter 6, verse 10, in my opinion, his devotional life, 00:27:56.24\00:28:03.04 his devotion to God, his faithfulness to God. 00:28:03.08\00:28:05.88 The reason that Daniel did not eat unclean food in chapter 1 00:28:05.91\00:28:10.49 is because he read the Bible. 00:28:10.52\00:28:13.25 If you read in Daniel chapter 9, it says, 00:28:13.29\00:28:16.42 "I was reading in the books of Jeremiah. 00:28:16.46\00:28:19.93 The reason--" 00:28:19.96\00:28:21.53 Oh, I'm getting ahead of you here. 00:28:21.56\00:28:23.06 Someone's going to read for me, let's see, no, I want-- 00:28:23.10\00:28:28.60 I want someone to read for me Psalm 55, verse 17. 00:28:28.64\00:28:30.94 Do one of you have that one? 00:28:30.97\00:28:32.61 Yeah. 00:28:32.64\00:28:34.58 How do we know that Daniel read the Bible? 00:28:34.61\00:28:36.31 Why do you think Daniel prayed towards Jerusalem? 00:28:36.34\00:28:39.61 Because it says in the Bible in 2 Chronicles, if your people are 00:28:39.65\00:28:42.65 carried away to this place, if they pray towards this place, 00:28:42.68\00:28:47.89 Solomon said when he dedicated the temple, 2 Chronicles 6:21, 00:28:47.92\00:28:51.16 Daniel read that so he literally did what the Bible said. 00:28:51.19\00:28:54.73 Why did he pray three times a day? 00:28:54.73\00:28:56.40 Go ahead, read for a Psalm 55:17. 00:28:56.43\00:28:58.60 female: "Evening and morning and noon, I will pray, 00:28:58.63\00:29:01.80 and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice." 00:29:01.84\00:29:05.47 Doug: That's King David. 00:29:05.51\00:29:07.41 David lived, of course, a long time before Daniel. 00:29:07.44\00:29:09.11 Daniel read where David said, "Morning, evening, and at noon, 00:29:09.14\00:29:11.15 I will pray." 00:29:11.18\00:29:12.75 Daniel did exactly what the Bible said. 00:29:12.78\00:29:14.72 Why could Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego make it 00:29:14.75\00:29:17.52 through the fiery furnace? 00:29:17.55\00:29:19.25 They read where Isaiah said, "When you pass through 00:29:19.29\00:29:22.29 the fires, I will be with you. 00:29:22.32\00:29:24.19 The flame will not kindle upon you." 00:29:24.23\00:29:27.13 They were Bible reading, they were people of prayer, 00:29:27.13\00:29:32.77 and they put into practice what they read. 00:29:32.80\00:29:37.61 Now, I can't help but wonder if there was a law, suddenly for 00:29:37.64\00:29:43.51 some bizarre reason, a new law is issued by our government or 00:29:43.55\00:29:47.95 our governor--now that could happen in California, anything. 00:29:47.98\00:29:51.19 We never know from day to day what the next law 00:29:51.22\00:29:52.99 is going to be. 00:29:53.02\00:29:57.03 I better not comment on that. 00:29:57.06\00:30:00.23 I just heard the voice of prudence and she said, 00:30:00.26\00:30:02.20 "Don't say that." 00:30:02.23\00:30:06.77 But if, for some reason, there was a law and it said you can't 00:30:06.80\00:30:11.54 go to your prayer meeting at your church for 30 days 00:30:11.57\00:30:15.88 or you're going to go to prison, I wonder what would happen 00:30:15.91\00:30:19.05 to our prayer meeting attendance? 00:30:19.08\00:30:23.02 We're better than most, but still, for most churches, prayer 00:30:23.05\00:30:26.09 meeting is usually pretty scant. 00:30:26.12\00:30:29.19 And but you wonder how many people would say, "Oh, you know, 00:30:29.22\00:30:35.16 probably better not to aggravate the government right now." 00:30:35.20\00:30:38.03 Or would we say, "I don't care what the government says, 00:30:38.07\00:30:41.27 my relationship with God is more important than even 00:30:41.30\00:30:43.74 my own life"? 00:30:43.77\00:30:45.67 I mean, why couldn't Daniel closes his windows? 00:30:45.71\00:30:47.54 Was he a fanatic or what? 00:30:47.58\00:30:49.74 Was he looking for trouble? 00:30:49.78\00:30:52.05 Or maybe he said, "I'm almost 90, 00:30:52.08\00:30:53.82 what difference does it make?" 00:30:53.85\00:30:59.05 His courage is amazing. 00:30:59.09\00:31:01.12 He is so bold, he is so undaunted that just think of all 00:31:01.16\00:31:04.86 the opportunities Daniel had to compromise. 00:31:04.89\00:31:08.80 He could have gone to his upper room and prayed, 00:31:08.83\00:31:11.67 kept the windows closed. 00:31:11.70\00:31:13.74 He didn't have to pray out loud. 00:31:13.77\00:31:15.60 The reason they knew he was praying is 00:31:15.64\00:31:17.44 because he they heard him. 00:31:17.47\00:31:19.07 How did they know he was giving thanks? 00:31:19.11\00:31:20.68 You can close your eyes, if you're praying with your eyes 00:31:20.71\00:31:22.31 closed, I can't tell what you're saying. 00:31:22.34\00:31:23.71 But they knew he was giving thanks because he was audible. 00:31:23.75\00:31:26.28 They heard him. 00:31:26.31\00:31:28.22 They saw him. 00:31:28.25\00:31:29.65 He opened the windows. 00:31:29.68\00:31:31.19 You can say Daniel had a fresh experience. 00:31:31.22\00:31:32.82 A lot of us have a closed window prayer life. 00:31:32.85\00:31:36.26 Daniel wanted to keep it fresh. 00:31:36.29\00:31:38.43 He wanted to see and be seen. 00:31:38.46\00:31:41.60 Someone's going to read another verse for me Matthew, yeah, 00:31:41.63\00:31:45.10 you get that one? 00:31:45.13\00:31:46.74 Go ahead. 00:31:46.77\00:31:48.64 male: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may 00:31:48.67\00:31:52.27 see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." 00:31:52.31\00:31:55.74 Doug: You know, Daniel knew the people in the community were 00:31:55.78\00:31:57.88 used to seeing him pray three times a day and then they see on 00:31:57.91\00:32:01.22 the telephone poles there in the capital, "If anyone is caught 00:32:01.25\00:32:04.79 praying to any god or man for 30 days, he's going 00:32:04.82\00:32:06.92 into the lion's den." 00:32:06.96\00:32:08.62 Death decree, if you're caught praying, and they're all 00:32:08.66\00:32:10.06 thinking, "Ooh, I wonder what Daniel is going to do." 00:32:10.09\00:32:14.00 And they probably gathered in the courtyard and started 00:32:14.03\00:32:15.96 watching his window. 00:32:16.00\00:32:17.60 And he thought, "You know, this is not the right time for me 00:32:17.63\00:32:19.30 to shut my window." 00:32:19.33\00:32:21.64 He said, "What are people going to think?" 00:32:21.67\00:32:25.61 If you've got to make a decision and say, "You know, I want to 00:32:25.64\00:32:29.74 obey the laws of the land," and Christians should obey the laws 00:32:29.78\00:32:32.08 of land, but what happens if the laws of land conflict 00:32:32.11\00:32:35.18 with the law of God? 00:32:35.22\00:32:37.95 God's law always trumps the law of the land. 00:32:37.99\00:32:41.52 I didn't mean that to be a pun. 00:32:41.56\00:32:45.09 The law of God, doesn't Peter say we ought to obey God 00:32:45.13\00:32:50.53 rather than man? 00:32:50.57\00:32:52.53 And Daniel's very respectful of the government laws, 00:32:52.57\00:32:55.74 but he said, "I'm not going to put God second place." 00:32:55.77\00:33:00.11 And Daniel said, "People are going to be watching me, 00:33:00.14\00:33:03.01 and I want to be a witness." 00:33:03.04\00:33:04.95 You know, people are watching you when you don't know they're 00:33:04.98\00:33:07.28 watching you, especially now, not just in Daniel's day. 00:33:07.32\00:33:12.65 Now, there's cameras go on all the time and if you're about to 00:33:12.69\00:33:15.69 do something stupid, be sure someone's going to take out 00:33:15.72\00:33:17.93 their phone just before you do and they're going 00:33:17.96\00:33:20.23 to press record. 00:33:20.26\00:33:22.43 It seems like everybody's recording everything these days. 00:33:22.46\00:33:28.60 Let your light so shine. 00:33:28.64\00:33:31.31 Now, he had a custom. 00:33:31.34\00:33:32.94 It says he had done this since early days. 00:33:32.97\00:33:35.74 First of all, notice he's in the upper room. 00:33:35.78\00:33:38.01 Did Jesus pray with his disciples in an upper room 00:33:38.05\00:33:41.38 before a great trial? 00:33:41.42\00:33:44.09 And he also had a deep moment of prayer in the garden 00:33:44.12\00:33:46.96 before a great trial. 00:33:46.99\00:33:48.66 Daniel has a great season of prayer before a great trial. 00:33:48.69\00:33:53.23 Knelt down. 00:33:53.26\00:33:55.70 I won't say a lot about that, but the Bible tells us that 00:33:55.73\00:34:01.77 physical posture in prayer is actually important. 00:34:01.80\00:34:06.14 Solomon, the king knelt when he prayed, Paul knelt 00:34:06.17\00:34:09.71 when he prayed, the apostles knelt when they prayed. 00:34:09.74\00:34:12.58 Not every time, but I just noticed that in our culture 00:34:12.61\00:34:17.29 today, I think people are becoming increasingly 00:34:17.32\00:34:19.69 more familiar with God and casual about prayer, 00:34:19.72\00:34:22.76 and we forget that he is the Sovereign of the cosmos. 00:34:22.79\00:34:26.26 And when we bow down before Him, we're acknowledging 00:34:26.29\00:34:31.60 that He is the King. 00:34:31.63\00:34:34.10 Daniel knelt and, yeah, I'm getting older, to be honest, 00:34:34.14\00:34:38.01 it's sometimes a little harder getting down, 00:34:38.04\00:34:40.61 a little harder getting up. 00:34:40.64\00:34:42.54 I remember when I was young, I could drop on my knees, 00:34:42.58\00:34:44.78 I could jump in the air and land on my knees, didn't hurt. 00:34:44.81\00:34:47.85 And I could pop off my knees without just right up 00:34:47.88\00:34:50.25 to my feet. 00:34:50.29\00:34:52.35 And now I'm kind of going, uh. 00:34:52.39\00:34:54.79 And then you're down on your knees and after you're done 00:34:54.82\00:34:56.66 praying, you're thinking, is there anything else I can do 00:34:56.69\00:34:58.36 down here before I get up? 00:34:58.39\00:35:03.03 But Daniel's an old man, and he still gets on his knees. 00:35:03.06\00:35:06.40 Now, I'm not trying to make any of the seniors here feel bad 00:35:06.43\00:35:08.74 because, you know, I think that finally, you know, 00:35:08.77\00:35:11.71 our physiology takes over and God understands that. 00:35:11.74\00:35:14.68 But and I don't think that God wants you on your knees praying 00:35:14.71\00:35:17.95 if all you can think about when you're on your knees is 00:35:17.98\00:35:19.95 how much your knees hurt. 00:35:19.98\00:35:22.85 And a word to elders and pastors or other people, if you're 00:35:22.88\00:35:26.19 leading in group prayer, if there's seniors there, don't 00:35:26.22\00:35:29.16 pray long prayers because you lost them after about a minute. 00:35:29.19\00:35:34.93 Just see what you got to say and then let him get up. 00:35:34.93\00:35:39.03 So, he prays, as his custom was since the early days. 00:35:39.07\00:35:45.31 Did Jesus have a custom about worship? 00:35:45.34\00:35:48.11 Luke 4, he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up 00:35:48.14\00:35:50.81 and as his custom was, that means from a child, 00:35:50.85\00:35:53.31 train up a child in the way he will go. 00:35:53.35\00:35:56.75 Paul, as his custom was, he went to them and for three Sabbath 00:35:56.79\00:36:00.19 days he reason with them from the Scriptures. 00:36:00.22\00:36:03.96 Now, you know, there is a promise in the Bible, I think 00:36:03.99\00:36:06.06 Daniel read and it says, "Save me from the lion's mouth 00:36:06.09\00:36:12.33 and from the horns of the wild oxen." 00:36:12.37\00:36:16.74 That's, by the way, written by King David. 00:36:16.77\00:36:19.17 Daniel read that. 00:36:19.21\00:36:20.81 So, when he saw the decree, if you're caught praying the next 00:36:20.84\00:36:24.08 30 days, you're going to the lion's den, Daniel claimed 00:36:24.11\00:36:27.38 that promise, "Lord, save me from the lion's den." 00:36:27.42\00:36:31.85 So, he goes to his upper room, a lot of things happen 00:36:31.89\00:36:34.56 in the upper room. 00:36:34.59\00:36:35.99 Opened his windows, didn't need to open those windows. 00:36:36.02\00:36:38.49 Prayed towards Jerusalem, didn't need to pray towards Jerusalem. 00:36:38.53\00:36:41.96 Opened his mouth when he prayed, got down on his knees. 00:36:42.00\00:36:45.50 Everything Daniel did said, "I am praying," 00:36:45.53\00:36:48.94 probably had his back to the palace 00:36:48.97\00:36:52.07 and his face to Jerusalem. 00:36:52.11\00:36:56.64 Now, there's a law that you couldn't pray for 30 days. 00:36:56.68\00:37:03.22 It's incredible that some people go days without praying. 00:37:03.25\00:37:08.56 And it is the most incredible privilege, think about it, that 00:37:08.59\00:37:12.23 you and I can have an uninterrupted audience 00:37:12.26\00:37:17.10 with the king of the universe through Christ. 00:37:17.13\00:37:20.40 The Bible says, Daniel looked towards Jerusalem because that 00:37:20.44\00:37:23.37 represented the presence of God. 00:37:23.41\00:37:25.21 That's where the temple was. 00:37:25.24\00:37:26.84 You and I don't look towards Jerusalem, do we? 00:37:26.88\00:37:28.81 Muslims look towards Mecca. 00:37:28.84\00:37:30.78 You and I look up towards the heavenly sanctuary where Christ 00:37:30.81\00:37:35.78 is interceding as our high priest before the Father. 00:37:35.82\00:37:38.35 You and I have a friend in high places. 00:37:38.39\00:37:40.52 And to think, here I can have Jesus present my request before 00:37:40.56\00:37:44.06 God Almighty and not take advantage of that. 00:37:44.09\00:37:47.30 God is up there and he's going, "Okay, waiting to hear from you. 00:37:47.36\00:37:50.53 You want to talk?" 00:37:50.57\00:37:51.87 And we're too busy down here to talk to him. 00:37:51.90\00:37:54.67 It's just incredible. 00:37:54.70\00:37:56.37 I think when we get to heaven, a lot of us may still be there 00:37:56.40\00:38:00.18 and we're going to think, "Wow, I can't believe I prayed 00:38:00.21\00:38:01.98 so little, and I had the opportunity through Christ 00:38:02.01\00:38:04.68 to commune with the Father." 00:38:04.71\00:38:09.98 So, Daniel took advantage of that, and he was busy 00:38:10.02\00:38:13.59 and he still found time for prayer. 00:38:13.62\00:38:15.36 Someone said a good time for prayer is not found, it's made. 00:38:15.39\00:38:20.53 You need to decide to do it. 00:38:20.56\00:38:24.07 Daniel read the Bible, and he prayed. 00:38:24.10\00:38:26.60 Let me read something to you from this is 00:38:26.63\00:38:29.40 "Great Controversy" page 51. 00:38:29.44\00:38:31.91 "Satan well knew that the Holy Scriptures would enable men 00:38:31.94\00:38:35.34 to discern his deceptions and withstand his power. 00:38:35.38\00:38:38.08 It was by the Word that even the Savior of the world had resisted 00:38:38.11\00:38:41.02 his attacks. 00:38:41.05\00:38:42.75 At every assault, Christ presented the shield of eternal 00:38:42.78\00:38:45.55 truth saying, 'It is written.' 00:38:45.59\00:38:47.96 To every suggestion of the adversary he opposed 00:38:47.99\00:38:50.39 in the wisdom and the power of the Word. 00:38:50.43\00:38:52.89 In order for Satan to maintain his sway over men and establish 00:38:52.93\00:38:56.30 his authority, he must keep them in ignorance 00:38:56.33\00:38:59.30 of the Scriptures." 00:38:59.33\00:39:01.54 Daniel had a regular devotion life where he prayed and he read 00:39:01.57\00:39:04.64 the Word, and that was the secret to his overcoming the law 00:39:04.67\00:39:07.74 of the beast. 00:39:07.78\00:39:09.54 Now, I better move on with my story. 00:39:09.58\00:39:11.15 They catch him praying, as you know. 00:39:11.18\00:39:14.25 And they go to the king and they say, "King, didn't you make a 00:39:14.28\00:39:17.05 law saying that if anyone, you signed a petition, firm decree, 00:39:17.09\00:39:21.42 law of the Medes and the Persians, does not change, if 00:39:21.46\00:39:25.03 anyone prays to any god or man within 30 days, 00:39:25.06\00:39:28.36 except you, O king, he goes to the lion's den." 00:39:28.40\00:39:30.53 The king is still, you know, he's clueless. 00:39:30.57\00:39:32.87 He doesn't realize what they're up to. 00:39:32.90\00:39:35.20 King says, "Yeah, it's true, according to the law of the 00:39:35.24\00:39:37.31 Medes and the Persians, which does not change." 00:39:37.34\00:39:39.87 Then they answered and said before the king, "That Daniel," 00:39:39.91\00:39:43.58 just the way they say it, "That Daniel who is of the captives, 00:39:43.61\00:39:47.02 that captive you put over us from Judah, not even a Persian, 00:39:47.05\00:39:51.72 he doesn't show regard for you, O king, or the decree that you 00:39:51.75\00:39:54.62 signed, but he makes his petition three times a day." 00:39:54.66\00:39:57.53 And I can just picture right there that king groaned 00:39:57.56\00:40:00.10 and sighed and said, "Oh, I've been duped." 00:40:00.13\00:40:05.37 "And the king, when he heard these words, 00:40:05.40\00:40:07.47 was greatly displeased with himself. 00:40:07.50\00:40:10.74 And he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him." 00:40:10.77\00:40:13.84 He labored and worked with all his heart to try to save him. 00:40:13.88\00:40:16.51 "He labored till the going down of the sun." 00:40:16.54\00:40:18.71 What time of day did Christ die? 00:40:18.75\00:40:23.52 Just before Sabbath going down of the sun. 00:40:23.55\00:40:27.59 And then these men approached the king and they said-- 00:40:27.62\00:40:29.86 he had to fulfill the law before the end of the day, see? 00:40:29.89\00:40:33.53 And they go to him and say, "No king, that is the law of the 00:40:33.56\00:40:37.30 Medes and the Persians that no decree or statute that the king 00:40:37.33\00:40:41.27 establishes can be changed." 00:40:41.30\00:40:43.54 King had spent all day getting the best lawyers in the kingdom 00:40:43.57\00:40:45.71 and said, "any loophole, any loophole, any way around this?" 00:40:45.74\00:40:49.44 And they said, "No king, you signed an ironclad agreement. 00:40:49.48\00:40:52.28 There is no way, it is a law that cannot be changed." 00:40:52.31\00:40:57.72 So, the king gave command and they brought Daniel 00:40:57.75\00:41:00.29 and they cast them into the den of lions. 00:41:00.32\00:41:03.49 Now, think about this, this to me is mind boggling that here 00:41:03.53\00:41:10.90 you've got this earthly king. 00:41:10.93\00:41:12.57 He's a king, I mean, he is the undisputed king, but he makes 00:41:12.60\00:41:16.47 a law he can't change his own law. 00:41:16.50\00:41:20.21 Do we think God, the King of the universe, is going to make a law 00:41:20.24\00:41:22.58 and change it? 00:41:22.61\00:41:24.95 You have three or four cases in the Bible of kings or judges 00:41:24.98\00:41:29.48 that made laws they didn't want to keep, but they had to 00:41:29.52\00:41:32.75 because their word was law. 00:41:32.79\00:41:35.39 You have Herod that made a promise that if his stepdaughter 00:41:35.42\00:41:41.03 would come out and dance that he said, "Anything you want up 00:41:41.06\00:41:44.17 to half my kingdom is yours." 00:41:44.20\00:41:46.30 She said, "I want the head of John the Baptist." 00:41:46.33\00:41:48.07 He said, "Oh, not that, I like John. 00:41:48.10\00:41:51.11 I like to go listen to him preach." 00:41:51.14\00:41:53.27 He didn't want to do it, but everyone was watching. 00:41:53.31\00:41:55.78 He knew, "I will never have the respect of the people if I break 00:41:55.81\00:41:58.48 my own word," so John had to die. 00:41:58.51\00:42:03.08 Similarly, Ahasuerus signs a law that all the Jews should be 00:42:03.12\00:42:06.65 attacked on a certain day and under law of the Medes 00:42:06.69\00:42:10.86 and the Persians, 00:42:10.89\00:42:12.79 and then after he signs it, his wife lets him know, 00:42:12.83\00:42:14.93 "I am a Jew." 00:42:14.96\00:42:17.00 And the king cannot change his law so what he does is he makes 00:42:17.03\00:42:20.27 an additional law that gives them permission to attack 00:42:20.30\00:42:22.54 their enemies first, preemptive attack, 00:42:22.57\00:42:26.11 because you can't change the law. 00:42:26.14\00:42:28.08 Jephthah, who is to become a judge in Israel, he speaks and 00:42:28.11\00:42:32.21 says, "Whatever comes out of the doors of my house is going 00:42:32.25\00:42:35.72 to be offered to the Lord if I'm victorious." 00:42:35.75\00:42:39.42 Turns out it was his daughter. 00:42:39.45\00:42:41.19 He didn't expect that. 00:42:41.22\00:42:42.69 He thought it would be a goat, or a sheep, or a cow. 00:42:42.72\00:42:45.79 And but he can't change his word. 00:42:45.83\00:42:47.96 Now, in light of that, how in the world do Protestant and 00:42:48.00\00:42:53.03 Catholic Christians in the world get the idea that God changed 00:42:53.07\00:42:55.97 the Ten Commandments? 00:42:56.00\00:42:58.77 I mean, if God was going to do anything to show its permanence, 00:42:58.81\00:43:02.54 what more could He have done? 00:43:02.58\00:43:04.45 He audibly speaks in the presence of a whole nation 00:43:04.48\00:43:07.18 with thunder and lightning and earthquake. 00:43:07.22\00:43:09.78 He then writes it with His own finger, and He writes it 00:43:09.82\00:43:12.52 on stone to show its enduring nature. 00:43:12.55\00:43:15.12 And then people say, "Well, God, you know, Ten Commandments 00:43:15.16\00:43:17.76 have been done away with, they're optional." 00:43:17.79\00:43:20.13 I never could figure that out. 00:43:20.16\00:43:22.60 I just don't under--how can a person fool themselves 00:43:22.63\00:43:25.13 into believing that? 00:43:25.17\00:43:28.77 So, that's why I'm a Seventh Day Adventist, I believe in keeping 00:43:28.80\00:43:31.34 all Ten Commandments. 00:43:31.37\00:43:34.38 And even if you're not going to keep them, at least admit 00:43:34.41\00:43:38.51 they're there, that God doesn't change. 00:43:38.55\00:43:40.58 He says, "I am the Lord, I change not." 00:43:40.62\00:43:42.42 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:43:42.45\00:43:44.22 "Heaven and earth will pass away, My Word 00:43:44.25\00:43:45.99 will not pass away." 00:43:46.02\00:43:47.69 The king couldn't change his law. 00:43:47.72\00:43:50.69 So, the king commanded and they brought Daniel, 00:43:50.73\00:43:52.59 and they put him in the lion's den. 00:43:52.63\00:43:54.40 And the king says to Daniel, "Your God, 00:43:54.46\00:43:56.77 who you serve occasionally, He will deliver you." 00:43:56.80\00:44:01.20 Now, I didn't know if anyone was following me, 00:44:01.24\00:44:03.61 but that's not what it says. 00:44:03.64\00:44:06.88 I changed a word, Your God who you serve, when it's convenient. 00:44:06.91\00:44:15.58 Your God who you serve, when others are watching. 00:44:15.62\00:44:20.66 He said, "Your God who you serve continually," 00:44:20.69\00:44:24.46 there was a consistency, "He will deliver you." 00:44:24.49\00:44:27.13 By the way, friends, if you and I consistently 00:44:27.20\00:44:28.83 continually serve God, he will deliver you. 00:44:28.86\00:44:31.57 That's a promise you can claim. 00:44:31.60\00:44:35.04 So, they put him in the lion's den. 00:44:35.07\00:44:37.51 They lowered him down. 00:44:37.54\00:44:39.21 They could probably hear the ground shake from the roaring 00:44:39.24\00:44:41.44 that was going on in there, these ravenous lions. 00:44:41.48\00:44:45.25 Doesn't say a lion, it says lions. 00:44:45.28\00:44:49.35 Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den. 00:44:49.38\00:44:53.15 They probably gently lowered Daniel down with a rope, 00:44:53.19\00:44:55.46 he's an old man. 00:44:55.49\00:44:57.33 I don't think the king tossed him in. 00:44:57.36\00:45:00.60 And then the accusers of Daniel want to make sure the king's not 00:45:00.63\00:45:04.37 going to sneak back during the night and save him, 00:45:04.40\00:45:06.70 so the king puts a seal on it. 00:45:06.74\00:45:08.50 Why else did he do it? 00:45:08.54\00:45:11.07 He did it to show them, "Look, I'm keeping the law, sealing 00:45:11.11\00:45:13.48 that no one's going to--I have no guards that I paid off 00:45:13.51\00:45:17.61 to come rescue him during the night." 00:45:17.65\00:45:20.55 The king seals it so there'd be no interference. 00:45:20.58\00:45:24.65 What time of day does this happen? 00:45:24.69\00:45:26.39 Around the going down to the sun? 00:45:26.42\00:45:28.19 What time does Jesus die? 00:45:28.22\00:45:30.83 Was Jesus placed in the ground? 00:45:30.86\00:45:33.40 Was there a stone put over the mouth? 00:45:33.43\00:45:36.63 Was there a government seal that sealed the stone? 00:45:36.67\00:45:41.07 Does Jesus come out alive? 00:45:41.10\00:45:44.34 What do you think's going to happen to Daniel? 00:45:44.37\00:45:46.98 I'm not ruining the story for you, am I? 00:45:47.01\00:45:51.91 "Now the king went to his palace and spent the night in fasting; 00:45:51.95\00:45:55.12 nor was music brought before him." 00:45:55.15\00:45:58.09 Remember, he was sore displeased with himself. 00:45:58.12\00:45:59.82 I bet you, you know, of course, it says he's fast, he's praying. 00:45:59.85\00:46:03.39 What do you think the angels in heaven were doing? 00:46:03.43\00:46:05.26 Were they playing songs in heaven when Jesus was 00:46:05.29\00:46:07.73 in the tomb or when he was on the cross? 00:46:07.76\00:46:11.43 No, there was sadness, sadness in the palace. 00:46:11.47\00:46:17.07 "Then the king arose very early in the morning." 00:46:17.11\00:46:19.64 What time of day did the women come? 00:46:19.67\00:46:21.74 All the gospels are consistent, very early in the morning. 00:46:21.78\00:46:25.48 They come to the tomb, they come to the lion's den. 00:46:25.51\00:46:30.32 And the king comes and he cries out with a lamenting voice. 00:46:30.35\00:46:33.25 He's been crying all night. 00:46:33.29\00:46:36.59 Daniel, he says, "Daniel, servant of the living God," 00:46:36.62\00:46:42.16 as opposed to what? 00:46:42.20\00:46:43.87 The gods of Persia, the gods of Babylon. 00:46:43.90\00:46:48.50 Servant of the living God, the king doesn't know Daniel's 00:46:48.54\00:46:50.97 God saved him yet, and he still calls him the living God. 00:46:51.01\00:46:56.44 "Servant of the living God who you serve continually. 00:46:56.48\00:47:00.55 Has your God been able to deliver you from the lions?" 00:47:00.58\00:47:04.22 And then he hears a voice come up from the lion's den. 00:47:04.25\00:47:08.29 Daniel says to the king, "O king live forever. 00:47:08.32\00:47:11.39 My God has sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth. 00:47:11.43\00:47:15.40 So, they have not hurt me because I was found innocent 00:47:15.43\00:47:19.30 before him and also I have none no wrong before you." 00:47:19.33\00:47:24.91 Now, this is amazing. 00:47:24.94\00:47:29.91 The angel comes. 00:47:29.94\00:47:32.18 Who came to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 00:47:32.21\00:47:35.32 in the fiery furnace? 00:47:35.35\00:47:40.19 Who was it that came to Daniel? 00:47:40.22\00:47:43.39 Calls him an angel but, you know, sometimes when it talks 00:47:43.43\00:47:47.40 about the angel of the Lord, he may have sent an angel, 00:47:47.46\00:47:51.20 but don't rule out that it wasn't the same one that came 00:47:51.23\00:47:53.34 to the fiery furnace. 00:47:53.37\00:47:55.90 Jesus said, "If we stand up for him, he will stand up for us." 00:47:55.94\00:48:01.28 And he says, "He's delivered me from the lions." 00:48:01.31\00:48:05.61 Who delivers us from the-- well, let's back up. 00:48:05.65\00:48:08.38 Who's the lion? 00:48:08.42\00:48:10.55 Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant, because 00:48:10.59\00:48:15.52 your adversary the devil," walks about like what? 00:48:15.56\00:48:19.03 "A roaring lion looking for whom he may devour." 00:48:19.06\00:48:23.23 Psalm 91:13 and 14, "You shall tread upon the lion 00:48:23.26\00:48:26.63 and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent--" 00:48:26.67\00:48:29.20 Lion, serpent, symbol of the devil. 00:48:29.24\00:48:31.91 "You will trample underfoot." 00:48:31.94\00:48:34.11 God gave David victory over a lion. 00:48:34.14\00:48:36.85 He gave Samson victory over lion when they were filled 00:48:36.88\00:48:39.25 with the Spirit, and He will give us victory over the lion. 00:48:39.28\00:48:41.65 That's the devil, right? 00:48:41.68\00:48:43.99 And how did Daniel do it? 00:48:44.02\00:48:45.95 Three times a day on his knees knowing the Word of God 00:48:45.99\00:48:49.36 gave him victory. 00:48:49.39\00:48:51.09 The lions could not hurt him. 00:48:51.13\00:48:53.29 I don't know how well he slept that night. 00:48:53.33\00:48:55.03 Dwight Moody says that he probably curled up and leaned 00:48:55.06\00:48:57.70 against a lion that purred as he went to sleep. 00:48:57.73\00:49:02.84 It's hard not to sleep with someone that snores. 00:49:02.87\00:49:05.14 I can't imagine sleeping with someone that roars. 00:49:05.17\00:49:10.25 But he was preserved. 00:49:10.28\00:49:12.81 Now, some people say the lions weren't hungry and that's why 00:49:12.85\00:49:15.62 this happened. 00:49:15.65\00:49:17.19 There was really no miracle here. 00:49:17.22\00:49:19.72 And I got time for a short story. 00:49:19.75\00:49:23.93 I might go long just one minute. 00:49:23.96\00:49:26.83 This man went to a zoo, and he really wanted a job. 00:49:26.86\00:49:30.40 And they said, "Well, we don't have anything." 00:49:30.43\00:49:31.93 He said, "You gotta give me something. 00:49:31.97\00:49:33.34 It's been my dream to be able to work at the zoo." 00:49:33.37\00:49:35.17 He said, "I just love the animals." 00:49:35.20\00:49:37.11 And one of the heads, board members said, 00:49:37.14\00:49:39.94 "Well, there's one thing, but it's sort of strange." 00:49:39.97\00:49:43.75 He said, "Anything." 00:49:43.78\00:49:45.28 He says, "If I can get an entry level job 00:49:45.31\00:49:46.75 and I can work in the zoo." 00:49:46.78\00:49:48.15 He said, "Okay, but what happened is, this weekend, 00:49:48.18\00:49:50.99 our chief attraction is the gorilla died, 00:49:51.02\00:49:54.72 and we need someone-- 00:49:54.76\00:49:56.62 if people find that out, they're not going to come. 00:49:56.66\00:49:58.49 We need someone to just put on a gorilla suit, 00:49:58.53\00:50:00.13 sit quietly in a corner. 00:50:00.16\00:50:02.66 You know, you'll be by a food dish, just move a little bit 00:50:02.70\00:50:04.77 every now and they'll think you're just resting." 00:50:04.80\00:50:07.14 Says, "The people will keep coming 00:50:07.17\00:50:08.77 until we find another gorilla." 00:50:08.80\00:50:10.41 "I think I can do that, yeah." 00:50:10.44\00:50:12.47 So, the man dresses up in this very realistic looking gorilla 00:50:12.51\00:50:14.78 suit, and they--in the morning he goes out in a gorilla cage, 00:50:14.81\00:50:17.58 and they kind of push him out and there's a glass there, 00:50:17.61\00:50:19.55 and the people can see him. 00:50:19.58\00:50:21.08 And he's got the lion cage next door, 00:50:21.12\00:50:22.82 and he's got some zebras on the other side of him. 00:50:22.85\00:50:25.35 And he's got this, you know, concrete tree that's there 00:50:25.39\00:50:27.99 for him to climb on. 00:50:28.02\00:50:30.03 So, their first few hours, he just sits there 00:50:30.06\00:50:31.86 and all the people, when he comes out, all they come 00:50:31.89\00:50:33.86 and they're all pointing. 00:50:33.90\00:50:35.40 And he kind of likes that and he notices every time they move all 00:50:35.43\00:50:37.37 the kids go, "Whoo, hoo, look," you know, they're snapping 00:50:37.40\00:50:40.04 pictures, and he's starting to get into his job a little bit. 00:50:40.07\00:50:43.54 And then he starts to walk around a little bit, a bigger 00:50:43.57\00:50:47.01 crowd comes, and the people are all hooting. 00:50:47.04\00:50:49.44 And the next day he thinks, "You know, I've got 'em fooled." 00:50:49.48\00:50:53.42 And so, he starts to walk around, he bounces a little bit, 00:50:53.45\00:50:56.32 he leans up against the tree and more crowd comes. 00:50:56.35\00:50:58.59 They're taking pictures and they're calling everybody over. 00:50:58.62\00:51:00.49 No one's at any of the other exhibits because they want 00:51:00.52\00:51:02.39 to watch what he's going to do. 00:51:02.42\00:51:04.63 He got so full of himself, he thought that he could climb 00:51:04.66\00:51:06.46 the concrete tree. 00:51:06.49\00:51:08.43 And so, he gets up on the tree and everybody's looking. 00:51:08.46\00:51:10.13 He starts pounding on his chest like King Kong, and bouncing. 00:51:10.17\00:51:14.14 And he got out on a limb that was over the lion's cage 00:51:14.17\00:51:17.94 and people thought, "Well, this is really interesting." 00:51:17.97\00:51:20.78 And he starts throwing things down at the lion. 00:51:20.81\00:51:22.84 The lion just looks up at him. 00:51:22.88\00:51:25.01 The whole zoo is over here watching this carry on. 00:51:25.05\00:51:27.95 He starts to beat his chest, bounce up and down. 00:51:27.98\00:51:30.62 And the little concrete limb that he was on snapped, 00:51:30.65\00:51:33.49 and he fell off into the lion cage. 00:51:33.52\00:51:36.22 And when he looked over and he saw the lion, 00:51:36.26\00:51:38.39 and he recovered himself he's like, "I'm going to get eaten." 00:51:38.43\00:51:41.63 He starts to say, "Help, help." 00:51:41.66\00:51:44.30 The lion ran over to him, put his hand over his mouth 00:51:44.33\00:51:47.44 and said, "Be quiet, you're going to get us both fired." 00:51:47.47\00:51:50.61 [congregation laughing] 00:51:50.64\00:51:54.04 The lions that Daniel was with were real lions. 00:51:54.08\00:51:58.21 The fact that they didn't eat him is because he had the Spirit 00:51:58.25\00:52:02.62 of God and the angel protected him. 00:52:02.65\00:52:04.35 Now, if you wonder does this still happen, in Addis Ababa, 00:52:04.39\00:52:10.09 Ethiopia 2005, a girl was kidnapped by six men to be 00:52:10.13\00:52:16.90 forced--he was a Christian, to be forced into a marriage 00:52:16.93\00:52:20.57 with a Muslim, and she was 12 years old. 00:52:20.60\00:52:24.17 And she did not want to do it. 00:52:24.21\00:52:25.84 She refused and so they beat her repeatedly. 00:52:25.87\00:52:28.41 And she ran off, and the men came after her to find out 00:52:28.44\00:52:34.75 that she had been surrounded by a pride of lions. 00:52:34.78\00:52:38.05 There were actually three female lions, and the lions chased off 00:52:38.09\00:52:42.86 the men and when the family came along with a guard, they confirm 00:52:42.89\00:52:48.53 that there were three lions that were guarding the girl. 00:52:48.56\00:52:52.23 And when they saw the family come, they got up 00:52:52.27\00:52:54.20 and they walked away. 00:52:54.24\00:52:56.04 They protected her, and you can read about that yourself and 00:52:56.07\00:52:58.57 it's printed in AP News, which is usually pretty reputable. 00:52:58.61\00:53:02.68 God can still send lions to protect us, amen? 00:53:02.71\00:53:05.65 In conclusion, and if anyone wants more about this, 00:53:05.68\00:53:07.98 it'll be in my notes that we usually post online 00:53:08.02\00:53:10.49 with our Sabbath school study. 00:53:10.52\00:53:12.42 How was Daniel like Jesus? 00:53:12.45\00:53:14.16 I got 14 points real quick. 00:53:14.19\00:53:16.56 Jesus and Daniel were never married. 00:53:16.59\00:53:19.76 Daniel and Jesus both came from the royal bloodline of David. 00:53:19.79\00:53:23.57 Remember, Daniel came from the house of Hezekiah. 00:53:23.60\00:53:27.20 They had spies follow Daniel and Jesus from envy. 00:53:27.24\00:53:30.71 It was declared of both of them, there's no fault found in them. 00:53:30.74\00:53:34.44 They're both recognized as being Spirit-filled. 00:53:34.48\00:53:37.91 Both are known for exceptional wisdom. 00:53:37.95\00:53:40.45 Ezekiel 28, "Behold, you are wiser than Daniel." 00:53:40.48\00:53:43.52 Mark 6, "Where did this man get this wisdom?" 00:53:43.55\00:53:46.82 Speaking of Jesus. 00:53:46.86\00:53:48.99 Point seven, they both, Daniel and Jesus, pray before a great 00:53:49.02\00:53:53.06 trial Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, 00:53:53.09\00:53:55.03 Daniel in his upper room. 00:53:55.06\00:53:57.63 They both give thanks, Jesus at the Last Supper, 00:53:57.67\00:54:00.44 and Daniel in the upper room. 00:54:00.47\00:54:02.64 Daniel goes to the lion's den just before sunset, 00:54:02.67\00:54:04.97 Jesus goes to the cross, or he dies on the cross, I should say, 00:54:05.01\00:54:10.71 and he goes to the tomb. 00:54:10.75\00:54:12.91 When Daniel is in the den, the palace is in mourning 00:54:12.95\00:54:15.05 as heaven was for Christ. 00:54:15.08\00:54:16.85 A stone with a government seal is placed in the door of the 00:54:16.89\00:54:18.95 tomb and on the lion's den. 00:54:18.99\00:54:22.12 The king removes the stone very early in the morning. 00:54:22.16\00:54:24.83 The stone is taken away from the tomb very early in the morning. 00:54:24.86\00:54:27.76 Daniel emerges alive from the lion's den and is a type 00:54:27.76\00:54:31.37 of resurrection just like Jonah coming out of the whale 00:54:31.40\00:54:33.64 and Christ coming out of the tomb. 00:54:33.67\00:54:35.84 The lions could not hurt Daniel because he was innocent, 00:54:35.87\00:54:39.24 and the devil could not keep Jesus in the grave. 00:54:39.27\00:54:42.58 Just amazing parallels in this story between Christ 00:54:42.61\00:54:45.65 and Daniel, amen? 00:54:45.68\00:54:47.45 And so, it's just one of the great story. 00:54:47.48\00:54:49.42 I wish I had more time. 00:54:49.45\00:54:50.95 I could go an hour on this. 00:54:50.99\00:54:52.39 I want to tell you about our study is Obedience Legalism. 00:54:52.42\00:54:54.86 This is a free offer we'd like to make available. 00:54:54.89\00:54:56.96 You may have missed it at the beginning, 00:54:56.99\00:54:58.99 and ask for offer number 706. 00:54:59.03\00:55:01.73 You can call for it, 866-788-3966 is the number 00:55:01.76\00:55:06.50 you'll see there on your screen. 00:55:06.53\00:55:08.27 And you can even download it and look at it. 00:55:08.30\00:55:10.17 Text, you can text this SH041, text that to 40544. 00:55:10.21\00:55:17.21 And this is, we only mail in the U.S. territories. 00:55:17.25\00:55:20.22 You'll be blessed by it. 00:55:20.25\00:55:21.95 God bless you, friends, and we will study His Word together 00:55:21.98\00:55:23.75 next week. 00:55:23.79\00:55:26.32 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 00:55:26.35\00:55:27.99 life-changing free resource. 00:55:28.02\00:55:29.99 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 00:55:30.03\00:55:32.19 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer 00:55:32.23\00:55:34.66 or mobile device. 00:55:34.73\00:55:36.40 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 00:55:36.43\00:55:38.83 simply text the keyword on your screen to a 40544, 00:55:38.87\00:55:42.84 or visit the web address shown on your screen. 00:55:42.87\00:55:45.67 And be sure to select the digital download option 00:55:45.71\00:55:47.98 on the request page. 00:55:48.01\00:55:49.84 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word 00:55:49.88\00:55:52.58 with Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want. 00:55:52.61\00:55:55.78 And most important, to share it with others. 00:55:55.82\00:55:58.85 ¤¤¤ 00:56:01.02\00:56:05.99 ¤¤¤ 00:56:06.03\00:56:11.93 Doug: Hi, friends, you know the modern flags that we see 00:56:11.97\00:56:15.07 flying from the top of Capitol buildings or out in front 00:56:15.10\00:56:17.54 of patriotic homes really stem back from the times of battles 00:56:17.57\00:56:21.21 being fought between warring nations. 00:56:21.24\00:56:24.18 These beautifully designed and intricately colored banners were 00:56:24.21\00:56:27.45 flowing high above the battlefield so the warring 00:56:27.48\00:56:29.75 forces were able to identify amid the chaos, and the smoke, 00:56:29.78\00:56:32.72 and the fog of war, where their forces were rallied and where 00:56:32.75\00:56:36.32 they were fighting the battle. 00:56:36.36\00:56:38.16 And if you could capture your enemy's flag, 00:56:38.19\00:56:40.10 it was considered the highest honor. 00:56:40.13\00:56:42.33 I wonder if that's where we got the game capture the flag. 00:56:42.36\00:56:46.17 With the changes in war, now these flags also represent 00:56:46.20\00:56:49.30 a little more of a demarcation and identification 00:56:49.34\00:56:52.21 of different nationalities. 00:56:52.24\00:56:54.08 Today, the flags that represent the different nations of 00:56:54.11\00:56:56.24 the world are very colorful and diverse and all of the colors 00:56:56.28\00:56:59.35 and the shapes have a specific meaning. 00:56:59.38\00:57:01.68 They're easy to distinguish and recognize from one another. 00:57:01.72\00:57:04.59 Perhaps, one of the most interesting flags in the world 00:57:04.62\00:57:07.39 is the flag of the Philippines. 00:57:07.42\00:57:09.96 This is unique because it is flown differently in times 00:57:09.99\00:57:12.66 of peace than it is in times of war. 00:57:12.69\00:57:15.40 During times of peace, the Filipino flag that's composed of 00:57:15.43\00:57:18.33 red, white, blue, and yellow, is flown with the blue side up, 00:57:18.37\00:57:22.47 but in times of war, they flip it around and the red side is up 00:57:22.50\00:57:26.51 because there they're willing to make sacrifices of their blood 00:57:26.54\00:57:29.51 to defend the freedom of the country. 00:57:29.54\00:57:32.68 In the same way that an embassy that is situated in a foreign 00:57:32.71\00:57:35.88 country flies their flag while still surrounded by another 00:57:35.92\00:57:39.39 nation, Christians are supposed to have the flag of God's love 00:57:39.42\00:57:43.19 flying in this fallen world. 00:57:43.22\00:57:45.53 You can read in the Book Song of Solomon chapter 2, verse 4, 00:57:45.56\00:57:48.40 "His banner over me is love." 00:57:48.43\00:57:50.83 Love is the flag that identifies Christians as a unique kingdom, 00:57:50.87\00:57:54.57 even here in the world. 00:57:54.60\00:57:56.57 So friend, the big question is, how are you flying your flag? 00:57:56.60\00:58:00.91 ¤¤¤ 00:58:00.94\00:58:10.92 ¤¤¤ 00:58:10.95\00:58:20.93 ¤¤¤ 00:58:20.96\00:58:24.87 CC BY ABERDEEN CAPTIONING 1-800-688-6621 WWW.ABERCAP.COM 00:58:24.90\00:58:29.90