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Daniel 6

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Okay. Live from Bremerton. It's Monday night. We are gathered at the Weedrich home, and we're gonna study, Lord willing, tonight, Daniel chapter six. We're gonna start with worship, and let us open in prayer. Be in prayer for Pamela's family as little Caden went home to be with the Lord. He drowned on Saturday. So pray for the family. Continue to pray. Pray for Sally. Those of you who listen on Facebook, she's got cancer. Pray for Joe. He has cancer also. Pray that Rob passed his stone and Rolling Stones, and let's open with prayer. Father, we come before you, Lord, and these people are really yakking in that other room, Lord. Convict them. But we just commit this night in your hands and pray that you bless the time of worship, the time of study, and thank you for the meals. And, Lord, we do lift up Sally, and we lift up Joe, and we lift up Pamela and her family with you taking Caden home to be with you, and we just pray for your comforting hand upon the family. And give me your peace that surpasses all understanding that guards our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. And keep your hedge of protection around all of our kids, all of our loved ones, and and just guard our hearts and minds, Lord. Be glorified in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. This is an old song we haven't done in a long time, but I really love this song. So we're just gonna do the chorus. Alright. Thanks, Rob. Alright. Father, we lift up Thomas Spoole to you. We pray that you've you heal his legs and his feet and help the nurses that are coming tomorrow to help with that and just take away the infection, whatever else is going on there. And, again, we lift up Sally and Joe and Linda. And, Lord, we lift up Pamela and her family. We pray that you comfort and heal, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Daniel chapter six, Daniel in the lion's den. P b Bliss says, dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone, dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known. Got a little poem there for you. Alright. PB Bliss. Daniel chapter one. Father, we ask that you be our teacher. You open the scriptures to understanding. Thank you for the courage of Daniel. Thank you that, Lord, many ways like a type of Christ, we represent you, Lord, and people treat us in the same way. And, we pray that we would learn from those that have gone before us, Lord, how to trust you, Lord, in the midst of the fire, in the midst of the furnace, in the midst of the lion's den, Lord. Lord, give us your peace and surpass all understanding to guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, Lord. So blessed tonight. Be our teacher. Open the scriptures. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Alright. So Darius, it says, please Darius has set over the kingdom a 120 princes who should be over the whole kingdom. So what's happening is Cyrus is the king, and Cyrus, the Medo Persian Empire, far larger than the area of Babylon. Darius is over Babylon, and he and he divides it into 10 different provinces with 10 what they call satraps, guys to help him rule and reign. But the empire goes from Asia to Africa to Europe and just an enormous amount of territory. And so Cyrus the Great is above. He's the king, and Darius is in charge of the area of Babylon is how it works out. And notice verse 28. It says, so that Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. And we looked last last week at Isaiah forty four and forty five where the Lord named Cyrus, his surname, a hundred and ninety years before he was born. And so he said over the kingdom, a 120 princes that should be over the whole kingdom. And over these three presidents of whom Daniel was first that the princess might give accounts unto them and the king should have no damage. So these other 120, three overseers, three three presidents, if you will. Daniel's the first of of them. The other two are supposed to check with everybody and make sure that the king so checks and balances that the king doesn't have any financial damage, people stealing from him or not not paying their taxes, whatever it might be. So no damage. No financial damage. And promotion, the Lord promoted Daniel. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to send him over the whole realm. So God's great grace upon Daniel, like Joseph, we remember Joseph comparing with Joseph, and Joseph the same sort of thing. And a preferred above and promotion comes from the Lord. Psalm seventy five six and seven. And an excellent spirit. So pagan people, unbelievers, recognize that there's an excellent spirit, that there's something different about Daniel. That Daniel's got this globe about him. He's got this relationship with the true living God, and he has gifts. He's very, very gifted. And so they want they want his giftedness there as a counselor within the kingdom. And then verse four, then the presidents and the princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no occasion nor fault for as much as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Could that be said of you and I? No. Are we above reproach? So if somebody if somebody was jealous of you, envious of you, and they tried to find fault think of them trying to find fault with Jesus. Think of how many people they got concocted together to lie about him, and none of the lies stuck. They couldn't get any lies and anything to stick. And then eventually, Pilate says he knew for envy that he was delivered. Well, that's what happens to, Daniel and many of the Jews in the world today. The anti Semitism toward the Jews is because God's greatly greatly blessed them in a lot of places of leadership, and, and people get very, very envious and jealous of of the nation of Israel and of the Jews, the antisemitism and all. So these guys, they say, let's let's analyze him. Let's bug his house. Let's check, you know, his computer. Let's look at him. Let's find everything about him. You know? Let's audit him. Let's find something that he's done wrong that we can bring to the king and get rid of him. And so they couldn't find anything. That's pretty crazy. Could they find something on you, Thomas? Yeah. Probably. Yeah. My poem is, you know, I know I have a good report, but people not are not with me 24. I know I have a good report, people aren't with me 24. So Peter tells us that if we're persecuted, make sure that we're persecuted for righteousness sake. Amen. That we're not in trouble for unrighteousness sake. So in this case, Daniel's gonna face some persecution, but it's because he's righteous. And Jesus tells us in the sermon on the mountain, Matthew five, 10 through 14 that, blessed are you when you're persecuted for righteousness sake. And, so you shouldn't think it's strange concerning the fiery trial that's gonna take you. All they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. If they've hated Jesus, they're gonna hate you. So you can be living a life that's pleasing unto God, but the enemies of the cross, the spirits, principalities are there. They could be plotting and and scamming and and conspiring. Can we use that word conspiracy theorist? Anybody here a conspiracy theorist? Yeah? That's right. Is that okay? Is it okay to be a conspiracy theorist? Is it okay to mention that the conspiracy theorist didn't get jabbed and they're all okay now? Yeah. Exactly. Right? That we're we're called pure bloods. No myocarditis. No blood clots in our legs. I I gotta tell you a really sad story. The the COVID thing, they in their advertising and trying to promote it to everybody, one of the things they did is they used, you know, Hollywood stars and also athletes. And so when it first started, they used a Hank Hank Aaron, Hammer and Hank Aaron. So he would be a good spokesperson to the elderly people to tell everybody, hey. Go ahead and get the jab. You know? And then they Marvin Hagler, a boxer, he'd I don't think he was a spokesperson, but he took the jab. And both of them died very quickly after getting the jab. Now we've got Neon Deion Sanders. Right? And he was really promoting it. In fact, he got over three shots himself, and his legs started to go out on him. His feet, he started to have amputations on his toes and stuff because of blood clots in his legs. And now now he's got, as doctor Sherry Tenpin, he said, the turbo cancers. So he's had his bladder removed because he got cancer. And and he's very great and he's a believer, and he's very gracious about it and all, and God did a miracle. But don't be afraid to be mocked and ridiculed and called a conspiracy theorist. Don't be afraid of that. Do you know where that phrase in social engineering was coined where where it originated? Yeah. Conspiracy theorist? Right here in America. JFK. JFK. When JFK happened, they very quickly tried to have, like, a we checked into it, and it's Lee Harvey, Oslo, whatever. And so anybody, the CIA began to mock people online, you know, on television. Anybody that questioned the official narrative from the state to the social you know, state media was a conspiracy theorist nut job. You know? And nowadays, when you go back all those years to what's that? One shooter. One shooter. Yeah. And now they've confirmed there was more than that and whole lot of the other one is nine eleven. If you question the official narrative of nine eleven, you're a wackadoodle, you know, conspiracy theorist. So ridicule, mocking, people laughing at you is one of the ways to cause people to not be like Daniel here, to give in to evil. All all Daniel has to do is not pray publicly, and nothing will happen to him as we move forward, as we move through this this passage. And so another one to remember is there is a conspiracy to crucify Jesus. The religious leaders conspired to crucify him after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Do you remember? And all these people were coming to Jesus. And, I mean, here you have irrefutable proof. Can anybody cause a man that's blind born blind to see in John nine? Can anybody raise the dead? You know, here's Jesus doing these things, feeding them everything. And the religious leaders said that all men are gonna be drawn to him. We gotta do something. So Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, said, it was expedient, which means profitable for the nation, that one man would die for the nation, speaking of Jesus. So they began to strategize and conspire how they can get him on a capital punishment charge. And and they worked it pretty hard. They sent in witnesses like Jezebel did where when Ahab wanted Naboth's vineyard, all it took was for Jezebel to conspire against Naboth by sending in two unruly, you know, unscrupulous witnesses that said, we we heard Naboth blaspheme. And just that testimony brought brought it to the place where Jezebel and Ahab could have Naboth stoned and killed, and then they Ahab could have his property. And so too with Jesus, they tried to bring in false accusers to lie about him and all. And then eventually, the crime that the religious leaders were able to use against Jesus was what? He was sedition against the Romans. Now that's that's the that's the one for the Romans. Yeah. Blasphemy. But for the Jews, it's blasphemy. So two of them, robbed they were both right. So then the thing for the Jews was blasphemy. You you're declaring yourself to be God. So it's punishable by death, but they didn't have the right of capital punishment even though later they'd use it against Stephen. Right? Stone him to death. But they were subservient to the Romans, so what they did is they tried to come up with another trumped up charge, which would be he claims to be a king, and that would be treason. So now they put the onus on Pilate, like, you're not a friend of Caesar if you don't execute this guy. And Pilate's trying everything he can do to get Barabbas in there and to satisfy their bloodlust for somebody that was a real criminal. And Pilate's wife said, have nothing to do with this righteous man. You know? I had a terrible dream last night and all. And and then, you know, it's just like as I'm watching the story unfold, I'm waiting for someone to save Jesus. You know? Someone get in there and save him, but there's no saving him. It was ordained of God. You know? It's ordained that he's gonna be crucified. And so and Daniel being kinda like Jesus here as we go through here, the way he's being persecuted. So as I'm getting older in the Lord and older as a as a Christian, as a man, when I was first a Christian, I used to be surprised when I'd be persecuted or people would mistreat me. And as I'm getting older, it's like I expect it. I expect it. I expect people to freak out. Welcome it. And not so much welcome it, but I expect it. I'm not surprised anymore. So what I do for myself is I say this. I say I go through a thing with Kathy and and the church. I say, how was Jesus treated? Well, unfairly. Well, how are you being treated? Unfairly. And they they're gossiping about me. They're slandering about me. They're saying bad things about me. Well, how was Jesus treated? Same way. Why do you think it's strange? He said if they hated me, they're gonna hate you. Right? And the only way to avoid that hatred or that is to compromise. Daniel can avoid all of this by compromise. Just compromise. Go along to get along. The devil will leave you alone. You will prosper. You will prosper greatly if you don't stand up for Jesus. And then you ask the next question. How do they treat the apostles? Oh, they all died martyrs except for John the beloved. They tried to boil him in oil. He wouldn't boil, so they put him on the Island Of Baptism. Right? So expect it. Expect it if you're and if you're attending a church that teaches the Bible and desires to be spirit filled, expect attacks against your life. If you want the attacks to stop, find a neutral church that the devil is not threatened by. You'll be left alone, and you might even prosper. Ain't that funny? Alrighty. So Daniel, he's already proved himself. The guy's been exalted. He's been promoted. He's, like, number one of the of the three. You know? And those the other two, you know, are Persians or Medes. Daniel's a Jew, and these guys are you know, they're anti Semitic. We don't like this guy. He's showing us up. And and I wouldn't mess with him if I were these guys because God's hands upon his life. Right? And so they can't find any fault with him. They couldn't find any fault with Jesus. Pastor, you know, we're supposed to be above reproach. Right? And good luck with that. Right? And the lord is my sufficiency, said Jesus. Alright. But, boy, a lot of religious types try to act like they are, don't they? They try to throw the airs around that they're better and, hey. Get get you're too close to me. You know? Watch out. And we can't hang out with you lowlives. You know? You'll defile me. Then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. So they are gonna study Daniel. The devil studies you, and he understands how you tick, the things that are important to you. With Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the devil must have known those guys weren't gonna bow down to Nebbe's image. You know? Must have known These men of character, but it's a test. It's a test. If they had compromised, they wouldn't have to go into that fiery furnace. Right? But no compromise. They'd rather die than dishonor God, and that's a great lesson to learn. And here we have Daniel being mistreated, lied about, and they're gunning for him. And and it's for righteousness sake. And so he's concerning the law of his God. So, you know, we gotta study the law of his God, and we need to make new laws that go against the laws of his god. We need to say that you're not allowed to pray in Jesus' name anymore. Is that happening in The UK? Is it happening in Canada? Is it happening if you pray quietly in front of an abortion clinic, can you get arrested? You know? The thought police wanna know what's hey. What are you thinking about? I'm just standing here on the sidewalk. Are you praying? You don't know. Devil's not omniscient. He don't know what I'm thinking. I'm not telling you. You know? But in some places, you know, obviously in Islamic countries, it's it's against a lot of praying Jesus' name to be a Christian, to have a bible, you know, those kind of things. So we've got to make laws against these Christians to entrap them and and capital punishment them, you know, just just wipe them out and the martyrdom of the church. And so the those who keep statistics about Christians being martyred, there were more Christians martyred in the twentieth century than all the other centuries combined. So it's always been open season on the Christians. It's an anomaly. It's a rare thing, epoch or a period of time where Christians are not under severe persecution. And so against concerning the law of his God. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king and said thus unto him, king Darius, live forever, said the flattery that's coming in. They're gonna appeal to his ego, and there's a political conspiracy that's developing here. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes and the counselors and the captains have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god, little g god, of any man for thirty days except you, o king, shall be cast into the den of lions. So king Darius, you get to be a god for thirty days. We love you so much. You're the big kahuna, and we're gonna let you be god for thirty days. So that would be intoxicating. You know? I wonder if president Trump would take that bait if he's alright. You know? I've got a Trump bible. You know? And I think that's a good idea. Yeah. And I don't know. But what's wrong with this this statement that they brought before the king? That was a lie. Why was it a lie? Well, because Daniel didn't join in. Daniel didn't get consulted. Right? They didn't consult. They didn't they didn't consult Daniel, but they said we consulted them all. And that's just not true, o king. And so so they're lying. So Darius is gonna have misinformation. He's not he's not being informed. And then as we move on through here, Darius is gonna get real angry when he finds out how binding this decree is in that he was tricked. He likes Daniel, and he's gonna be very angry at these guys. But the head of gold that Nebuchadnezzar had was more authoritative, more powerful than the Medo Persian Empire. Their form of government was a lesser autocratic. They didn't have quite the authority that king Nebuchadnezzar did. King Nebuchadnezzar could do anything he wants. But these guys, once they in their in their code, in their constitution, form a government, if they make a decree, even the king can't back away from it. It's it's written in stone. So you'll see, like, with queen Esther, same sort of thing when when Haman tried to trick Ahasuerus to kill all the Jews and all. It's it can be binding in that way. So they consulted together, which is a big lie, a God for thirty days. This is very root of sin, that of wanting to be as God in the garden. That's what Satan tempted Adam and Eve with. And when we're looking at the beast system, one of the things they promise in second Thessalonians chapter two, God's gonna give them over to a strong delusion because they rejected the truth, and then they're open to believing the lie. And the lie is you guys can be as gods. President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Noel Yuval Harari and a bunch of these techno techno people, they prophesy, they predict that one day their generation's not gonna die because they're gonna be able to be transhuman with all the technology that's coming. So that's a big lie that the antichrist is gonna bring to people, that if you comply, if you get this vaccine, and if you use this math and this this sorcery and these drugs and such, you can have more power. Your your intellect, you put this neural link into your brain, you're gonna be smarter than the AI. The AI's got an advantage on you guys. You're gonna lose your jobs. AI's gonna have a huge advantage. You guys aren't smart enough to keep up with AI. So guess what? Let's put a Neuralink into your brain, and now we'll link you with AI. We'll link you with the technology, and you'd be smart enough to keep your job then. You want to keep your job? And so they're gonna promise these people all sorts of things. And and if you take this pill, if you take this shot, if you do this, then you're gonna overcome cancer. You're gonna live forever. You're never gonna get old and become as vampires and drink blood. You know? And and we laugh at that, but that's what they're doing. That's called adrenachrome. And a lot of these older people, they they have infusions of children's blood. That's why there is a demand for all these babies and children, this pedophilia ring they have. And part of it is they think that that it will liven up their bloodstream because there's components in the children's blood that old people don't have. So they are vampires. They're Satanists. Whosoever shall ask a petition of any god, little g god, or man for thirty days except of thee, o king, shall be cast into the den of blinds. So they outlawed prayer. Can't pray. And we our our daycare was shut down by the state because we used the Abeka curriculum. So the state says, you guys need to stop using the daycare, you know, the Abeka curriculum, Christian curriculum. You need to use the secular curriculum in your Christian daycare, Christian preschool, and school. And we blew it off like, no. We got constitutional rights. You know, we can freedom of religion, all that. And we underestimated their evil because then they lied and came up with a charge against us and to shut the daycare down. So sometimes people lie and you underestimate their evil. Like, in my estimation, everything was going really good. We were pleasing to God. This place was a really good place. The kids were growing. They were two grades ahead, you know, academically, and they're learning about Jesus. And a lot of these parents were unbelieving parents, but they like the idea that their kids were learning Noah's Ark and all that. But I underestimate the evil of these licensors who work for the state and their their ability to lie. And and so these guys are lying about Daniel. They're conspiring against him, and he's standing up for righteousness. And it really, really hurts when you're standing up for righteousness. And is God gonna defend Daniel? Yes. Gonna be great. Right? Love it. Now, oh, king, now Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, they were hoping that God would defend them, but they said, our God is able, but even if he doesn't, even if this means our death now you need to have that same chutzpah. You know the story. God is gonna defend Daniel. But what if Daniel died? What if Daniel would have been a martyr here like Stephen? You still gotta stand up for truth. You don't go into it saying, well, I'm invincible and there's no way I'm gonna get hurt. Well, you might get hurt. You might die a martyr. Right. But you are invincible until God says come home and I'm gonna use martyrdom to bring you home. So you are invincible until that point in time he says to come home. So you can be bold as a lion. You don't need to cower in fear and try to act like you're in control or whatever. Some things are nonnegotiable in our lives, in our walks and relationship with the lord. Some things are just absolute nonnegotiable we will not compromise. And for me, I will not compromise the word of God Amen. Because I'm gonna stand before God and give an account. So let's say back when we had the daycare that I compromised so that we could have this financial engine and cause this church to grow, or what if I had to compromise during COVID and and told everybody to get the jab, and then I got the money from the state. The state would pay me to shut the church down. What what am I gonna say when I stand before Jesus? Right. Well, even later when I finally find out I was lied to. So there's some things that are just absolutely nonnegotiable no matter what the cost because god's honor and people's lives are at stake. You want those lives on your on your conscience? You know? Getting getting people to go get jabbed because you're gonna get paid? And then and then lying to him saying it's the most loving thing you could do, love your neighbor? Do you know how out of bounds these pastors and people were using that sort of reasoning? It's loving. No. It's unloving to watch these little children be vaccinated and then die and get autism and all those things. That's very unloving. But you're gonna have to go against the tide. You're gonna have to go against everybody to to say that. People are gonna think you're a wackadoodle, that you're crazy. And then later later, you're gonna have confirmation that you heard from the Lord and that what you did was true and righteous, but nobody's gonna come up to you and pat you on the back and say, I should've listened to you. They're not gonna do that because they're ashamed. That's okay, though. I'd rather I'd rather go that route than be ashamed that I let the Lord down. So the most important thing for us is to be faithful to God's word, be faith to what he's called us to do, and don't allow anybody to degrade or dishonor, you know, our king and and his word. And so now a king established the decree and signed the writing that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which alters not. So these guys are in a big hurry. They've got to get this done quick, you know, pressuring the king. So this is a legislation for immorality. Legislation of immorality. Is it moral to pray? Is it immoral not to pray? So when you hear a pastor say this is something I disagree with strongly. When you hear a pastor say, hey. Just preach the gospel. You can't legislate morality. What do you think of that statement? Compromise. Can can the devil and the people on the other side legislate immorality? Can they take away your rights of prayer? Can they take away the bible and the 10 commandments out of the schools your kids are going in? In the state of California right now, can they legislate that the state has greater rights over the children than the parents? Can they can they legislate to transgender your kid without you knowing it? That's legislation of immorality. So the Christians gotta be on their game and be involved and aware of all the legislation because all morality is legislated. The law is there to protect your kids, to protect your family. And as soon as you cease being salt and light and you abdicate your responsibility to shine light on the evil and just say, hey, just preach the gospel. Well, narrow is the ways that leads to eternal life and few there be that find it. We do not live in a democracy. We live in a constitutional republic. And if we're on our game, we can control the majority by a written document. Do you understand that? That written document controls a majority of evil people. We have god given inalienable rights. It's it's not up for debate. You don't you don't you have to have a constitutional republic to change all I mean, a constitutional convention or whatever to change some of these amendments to the constitution. So they're there, and these judges and these governors in these places, they should not be able to vote and change the constitution. For instance, let's say let's say in Kitsap County, somebody votes and says, you're not allowed to have a gun anymore. Well, my second amendment says I can. So your law that you just tried to pass by voting is null and void because the constitution protects me from your voting. You see what I mean? Same with your free speech and your right of assembly. They can say, hey. You Christians can't meet anymore in homes. Well, my constitution says I can. I'm a minority here, but I'm protected by the constitution. But they want you to think that this is a democracy, that's up for vote. It's a bold faced lie. We're gonna spread democracy out Bernie's looking at me like I'm a nut job. You know, like like like, because the media makes everybody think we're gonna spread this democracy all over the world. It's a constitutional republic. Our founding fathers understood tyranny. They understood what it means to be a state run church. The separation of church and state was to keep the state out of the church, not the church out of society. People are so dummy down. So, anyway, the the laws Paul tells Timothy that the law is there for the lawless. We need laws. We need laws to protect children. We need pedophiles, you know, removed from society. We need murderers. We need we need liars and extortioners and all these different things that happen. We need protection from that. So that's what the law does. We as Christians, we live on a higher plane, which is love. And so we we if we love our brother, we're not gonna lie to him. We're not gonna cheat him, steal. If we do a business deal with him, we're not we're gonna be honest. And so these guys are legislating immorality, and Daniel doesn't have anybody supporting him. Even Darius can't alter this. Darius can look for a loophole. So he's with Daniel in spirit, but even he is bound to these laws here. So wherever king Darius signed the writing and the decree? And so now we look at Daniel. So Daniel's aware of all this. He knows what just happened. What's he gonna do? Dare to be a Danny. But he doesn't just pray. He opens the windows up. He could have prayed with the windows closed. But his lifestyle was such that three time at least three times a day, he opens his windows up, faces coast to Mecca, and prays in pastor Chuck's name. No. That's okay. So the Islam, they face Mecca. Right? They bring their their prayer rugs to work at Bangor, Keefort, whatever. And if they really want to, they have the religious freedom to roll their rugs out, get on their knees, face Mecca, and pray. Right? And you can't stop them. Right? That's that's their religious freedom, and and we would applaud that. Well, Jews, when Solomon built the temple, Solomon inaugurated in second Chronicles six thirty six through 39 that wherever you guys go, wherever you are, pray three times a day and face toward Jerusalem. So Daniel, being an exile, not being far from Jerusalem, being in this country about 88 years old now, he's a teenager when he went there, he, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, never stopped, never quit in his devotion, in his walking relationship with the Lord. The number one thing in your life, in my life, that will keep us strong and spirit filled is our devotional time with the Lord. You can skip everything else. If you want to skip leg day, they're brutal, but never skip never skip your devotional time with the Lord. And it doesn't need to be in the morning because people that get up at three or four in the morning are not any more spiritual than you. They like to tell you they are. And they like to tell you that I get up at three in the morning to start reading my bible. Well, I watched you at church at 07:00 falling asleep. You're tired. You can't go to a midweek. You know? So Kathy, when we were raising our kids, she's super busy girl with these two kids and all that. Imagine Britney was seven. And a morning devotional was really difficult for her because it always gets interrupted because you gotta get everybody in their day going. You know? So what Kathy developed was a time at night. Kathy's a night owl. So when you put the babies down, you put the babies down, and you fill your husband's stomach up with food and put him down. Now now now you have your time. And so that's her devotional time. But it can be in the it can be your lunch break at work. But you choose a time that you're gonna be consistent in in nurturing your relationship with the Lord. Not out of law, but out of love. And you you will find as you pray and read God's word and spend time with him, you will live the life of the spirit, spirit filled. But if you neglect feeding your spirit, nourishing your spirit, and spending time with the Lord, you can go through the motions for a time, but you're gonna find that you're operating more in the flesh than you are in the spirit. Alright. So Daniel, it's a nonnegotiable in his life. Absolute nonnegotiable. Now the apostle Paul, he talked about being married. And with all the persecution that was coming against someone like him, he saw that it was advantageous to not even be married, to be single. Because why put your wife and your children through this kind of thing? And Peter had a wife and family and some of the others, but Paul was looking at it like, you know what? It's gonna be a huge heartache upon my family. So to serve the Lord, it's best that I remain single. Now that's not true for everybody. Right? But that was true for him. And for Daniel, same sort of thing here. He can be as bold as he want. He doesn't have to worry about his wife, his kids, his babies, you know, none of that stuff. Plus, he's about 88 years old. What are they gonna do with him now? You know? You remember the story of Polycarp. Right? Polycarp? You guys remember Bishop of Smyrna? You guys know all the story of Polycarp. Right? Alright, Rob. Tell the story of Polycarp. Well, he just got he was eighty eighty eight years old. 80 and five or eighty six eighty six years old. And they told him, go ahead and denounce god. And he was like, are you kidding me? At this stage of the game, you've been faithful for me up to this point. I'm not gonna do it. Right. Aideen's six years. He's been faithful to me. Why would I deny him now? Oh, yeah. You know? And they tried to burn him at the stake, and he wouldn't burn. And then the story goes that the guy put a spear to his to his heart area, blood and water popped out and subdued the the fire and the whole thing. But, you know, the bishop of Smyrna, he was he was tutored. He was discipled by John the beloved. Right? And and so very famous, you know, martyrdom, but nonnegotiable. So now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into the house and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before God as he did previously. So let's say the economy crashes and everybody gets a central bank digital currency, and they have complete control over your finances, and you have a social credit score. In order to eat meat, you've gotta toe the line. You wanna have a car, fifteen minute cities. Catherine Austin Fitz says if they get this in place, which they are, it will be a concentration camp without walls. Monitoring every move you make, everything you do. And what if they say something to the effect of, you Christians need to come down and get the vaccine. All you people that didn't get the jab, you need to get the jab or you don't get no money. You Christians and you can fill in the blank. You're not allowed to meet in homes anymore. You can only meet in a government approved church. Now you look at China, you look at communist countries, they have government approved churches and the people attend the government approved churches. They even have bibles. They have government approved bibles. But the true church, you're there. They know you. They're watching. You attend that government approved church, but you also go to a hidden bible study somewhere or get on your motorcycle and go up into the mountains when Brittany went to Laos, and you go up in the hills to hang with the true church. So they try to operate under the radar a little bit. But in our case, if we're being watched to that degree, Daniel's being watched, they know Daniel, he doesn't try to hide it. His opens a window, and he's putting his putting his life in the Lord's hands. So we got some huge decisions to make if the rapture doesn't come and take us out before this beast system. You know, the the one world governmental system can start before, you know, the beast signs that peace treaty, which starts the seven year tribulation period. So you could see it, 10 toes, 10 technocrats, a one world government form with the present digital economic system in place, but it hasn't got to the point where the tribulation starts because that starts with the signing of the peace treaty confirming the covenant. In Revelation 13, the mark on your right hand to your forehead hasn't happened yet. That's a absolute that's for people in the tribulation period. We won't see that. But the prelude leading up to it is going to be incentives. They're gonna incentivize it. There's $10,000 in your fed bank account. Just go there and take it. And that but they're also gonna use the stick once that incentivization's over, where if you don't do it, this is gonna happen. So we as Christians, we're going to be threatened and all. And when COVID happened, they used the word mandates, and people didn't understand mandates. They didn't understand that that's just like puppycock. You know? Like, who cares you made a mandate? It's not a law. So my son-in-law, sheriff, we don't have a ticket for not wearing a mask. Sorry. So we don't have a ticket. We're not here to enforce because we're here to enforce the constitution. We're sworn, hold up the constitution. So if a governor makes a mandate, and interesting since all that happened, they've tried to tighten it up for this next wave next wave coming because the mandates fell on their face and for people that were aware. So we have we have to steal our mind. We have to get ready. Alright. What would I do if someone told me I'm not allowed to pray? What would you do? Pray anyway. Pray anyway. And we see examples of that in the book of acts chapter four and five. We're gonna obey God rather than men. Right? They were threatened and not speaking his name anymore. And and they prayed. They became bold. And they went out there again. And the religious leaders were like, what? We did we just incarcerated and put them in you know, beat them and and put them in jail. Now where are they? They're right back in the temple. Sharon again. And they even they even came to a point later in the book of Acts where these that have turned up the world upside down. Yeah. We can't stop them. They just you can't be you can't stop them. And I saw in Syria, I saw pictures of the Christians in Syria who are being decimated and killed and all. They finally got tired of the fear. They went out in the public square, and they said Jesus raised himself from the dead. We're not afraid. And they're worshiping the lord out in public. Like Daniel here, open the window. You know? So they're dead men walking. They're already dead. And so Jesus said in Matthew 10, don't fear him that can kill your body, but fear him who can not only kill your body but cast your soul into hell. So fear's a big motivator. It's a huge. Joseph Goldblatt said, if you can get them afraid, you can get them to do anything. And people will give up freedom for the promise, and I underline promise, the promise of peace and security. All they need is a boogeyman. All they need to do is blame the Russians, blame the Chinese, blame somebody that they're gonna destroy your country, or here's a new one, terrorist. The new boogeyman was a terrorist. What's a terrorist? What do you mean a terrorist? Oh, we'll go to Iraq and see if we can find one. We'll go to Afghanistan and guard some poppy fields, see if we can find one. And then pretty soon that's not working anymore. And it could swing over to you know, the terrorists become these sovereign citizens in Hayden, Idaho. You know? White supremacist groups. You know? The any kind of a group, Ku Klux Klan, any kind of a group can become an enemy of the state. But we as Christians throughout history and Jews have been the ones that wind up being the enemy of the state. So you remember the 10 waves of Roman emperors, first two centuries of the church, six million Christians were killed. And you guys know why. Right? Everybody knows this one. Once a year, compulsory that you had to go into a pagan temple and pinch incense once a year and say, is Lord. If you refuse to do that, you're martyred. So as a Christian in that community with kids, family, jobs, everything, that's a little thing. All I gotta do is go pin some incense. I know that Jesus is lord. That's the one I worship. But I'm just gonna go through the formality of doing that so that we don't die. How many people are gonna take the mark of the beast for convenience? And so so when he knew it, the writing was signed and he went into his house and the windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did previously. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying. They went there with their phones and they filmed him, started filming him. Look at him. He's got his windows open and he's praying. You know? What a criminal. This guy's a criminal. You know what mean? You call those that are good evil and evil good? He's lived a lifestyle of prayer. He's 88 years old. He ain't stop it now. Not gonna stop now. They do him a favor to let him go be with Jesus. From his youth, three times a day. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying. Are you guilty? Could they find you praying? Hope so. Hope so. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication for his god, Big God, big g god, his god. Then they came near. It wasn't their god. Then they came near and spoke before the king concerning the king's decree. Has thou not signed a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any god, little g god, or man within thirty days except of thee, o king, shall be cast into the den of lions? No prayer, public or private, not allowed. The king answered and said, the thing is true according to the law of the Medes and the Persians which alters not. So the only thing you guys can do legally is worship government. Worship government. And that's what the that's what the devil wants to know. It's what the government wants. They wanna take the place of God for people to depend and worship the government. Then answered they and said before the king, that Daniel who is of the children of the captivity yeah. Daniel's from California, man. He's from Cali. Then Daniel who is of the children of the captivity of Judah regarded not thee, o king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but makes this petition three times a day. Man, am I guilty? Am I guilty of praying three times a day? I like the idea of praying without ceasing. Right? I like the idea of first Thessalonians five seventeen, you know, praying without ceasing, just always be in communion with the Lord, worshiping the Lord. Then the king, when he heard these words, was very much displeased with himself and set his heart on that. Look at that. Displeased with himself. Why? What's the realization of the king? He was deceived. I was tricked. Yeah. I was tricked. You guys tricked me. You said everyone signed it. I thought I I assumed Daniel did too. So he's displeased with himself. I don't want any king mad at me. I'm one of those guys. They're in trouble. And set his heart to Daniel to deliver him. So he's got an advocate. He's got someone that set his heart. You and I have king Jesus in heaven. He's prophet, priest, and king, and he's our advocate. And he ever lives to make intercession for you and I. You're not left alone. You know what? He found a loophole. The loophole I guess loophole, but he he pardoned us because of his blood. You know? And the devil wants to accuse and say we deserve hell, but Jesus says, no, I died for them, paid for it in full. And set his heart on Daniel to deliver him and he labored all the going down to the sun to deliver him. Boy, I'd like some friends like that. You ever took a hit and you're going down and you're like, Lord, where are my friends? Where's my family? Is there anybody I can call to help me? Anybody? Anybody? Anybody there? And so Daniel doesn't have any friends or anything. The apostle Paul said in second Timothy four that at at my last defense so he's gotta defend himself in a courtroom of law of the Romans with Caesar. Right, Paul? He's incarcerated in prison awaiting execution. And he said, at my last defense, no man stood with me. Everyone forsook me. Thomas, you're gonna get it right? I think it's actually similarly Mark and somebody else. No, Thomas. Second Timothy there you go. There you go, Thomas. But the Lord stood with me. Right? When Stephen was being martyred, it was Jesus that stood. Right. He seated the right hand of the father, but for Stephen, I'm gonna give him a standing ovation. Amen. He stood. Right? So we're never alone. We're never alone. Amen. The Lord's always there, and he's promised, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. In the great commission, he told us he'll he'll be with us even to the end of the age. End of the church age, he's coming for us. When the church age is open, over, it ends with the rapture, even at the end of the age. So we can be bold. We can be bold as lions. So as of the children of the captivity of Judah has signed but his petition three times a day, and the king heard all these words very much displeased within himself, set his heart on Daniel to deliver him and his labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. So you can see him calling all the lawyers, calling all the legal people. Hey. Run this through. See if there's a loophole. See if there's something we can do. What can we do with this guy? Because he's he's scheduled for execution, and we need to do something before 06:00 because he's going into the lion's den unless we can get some judge or somebody to stop this. Seen that in the movie. Right? You've seen that. And you remember, Pilate did the same thing, Pontius Pilate. Remember how Pilate did that for Jesus? How Pilate was appealing to everybody like, I'll give you Barabbas, a known murderer, to take your vengeance out on. Right? And I'll release Jesus. But the religious leaders promoted and manipulated the crowd where they kept crying out, crucify him. Crucify him. Let his blood be upon us and upon our children. Right? It was a demonic, ravenous mob riot, kinda like in Ephesus, great as Diana of the Ephesians, you know, space of two hours. So these people were just insane, demonically insane. And and Pilate's trying to reason with them. Why? What evil has he done? You know? And he says, I find no fault in the man. Right? Amen. And Pilate has watched many a man be scourged and many a man confess what they've done wrong. Because in that form of preparing the criminal, the lictor would ease up on the stripes as you confess your sins, as you confess your crimes. Jesus, as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, opened not his mouth. He had nothing to confess. He had nothing to claim. Not not so so Pilate's watching him and how majestic he is in taking this kind of a punishment. And and he brings him out, and he says, behold the man. This guy's a man's man. And then he concluded he knew for envy that they delivered him. And they began to use political maneuvering much like Darius is experiencing here. They were entrapping Pilate in saying, you're not Caesar's friend if you don't kill this guy. And and so Pilate, what we call political expediency, condemned an innocent man. It says traditionally that Pilate later went crazy and committed suicide. You know? So Kangaroo court. Kangaroo court, man. Alright. So then these men assembled under the king and said unto the king, know, o king, that the law of the Medes and the Persians is no. Do you think he doesn't know that? That no decree nor statute which the king established may be changed, and I like the word of God in that way. Heaven and earth will pass away, Jesus said, but not my word. Right? God's word is sure. Right? Never gonna change. And I can bank on God's word. I can trust in him and his word. He keeps his word. He keeps his promises. And they're yay and amen. He's not wishy washy. You know? It doesn't nobody's gonna vote about it and renegotiate a a new deal. You know? And so these guys are saying to the king, gotcha. We gotcha. We're smarter than you with evil. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel and cast him in the den of lions. So Daniel is an extremist. Daniel is a radical. He's an enemy of the state. He's a danger to the state. He's a terrorist. What's his crime? He prays three times a day facing Jerusalem. His track record's been such he's been nothing but good from the time of King Nebuchadnezzar to the present. They couldn't find anything that he's ever done wrong. But that don't matter with demonic people. It don't matter. It doesn't make sense. It's illogical. It's irrational. And you have to conclude when you're trying to reason this stuff, why do these people hate me so much? You have to conclude it's demonic. It doesn't make sense. The devil hates you. So then you have to say, hey. It's in God's hands. There's a king here, and above that king is maybe the devil, and above the devil is all these holy angels, and above the holy angels is the true living God. Right? There's a chain of command. We're fighting against principalities and powers. Right? Satan's little g god of this world, but Michael the archangel has just as much authority. Right? So we we don't see Satan as a opposite of God. We see him as a tool that God uses to expose men's hearts if men are gonna love God or not. They have the ability of choice of rebellion against God or surrender to the true living God. And so the stage is set. The stage is set, and people are wondering what's God gonna do here. Now how hungry do you think these lions are? They eat like 30 pounds of meat a day. How long has it been since they've been fed? Have you ever heard the term hangry? You get kind of angry when you're hungry. Right? These lions, as I was reading about this, lions are so gluttonous that they'll hunt and eat even after they're full. They just like to kill things and eat. What kind of guys? No. Just kidding. Why do I eat when I'm already full? I don't know. Head case. So then came the king commanded that he brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake unto Daniel, thy god whom thou serve us continually, there's your reputation, your god, big g god, your conserve your serving him continually, he will deliver thee. And the greatest privilege you and I have is serving the king, serving Jesus, king Jesus. The the greatest privilege we have is to function within the body of Christ where we belong with the gifts he's given and to know that he describes us as his servants. We get to be used to the Lord. Now, the king's listening. He's saying, have faith and may your god, your big g god, you know, save you from this. Now this is what we call an ordeal. I taught you about what an ordeal is. Right? An ordeal is people are wondering if your god's the big g god or not. So they will allow you or want you to go into a situation that's impossible for you to get out of unless God intervenes. They're not gonna help. So in the time of persecution against the Christians who would have a bible, let's say, or preaching and stuff. And the popes and the Catholics would outlaw Christians having bibles, and only the pope has authority on the word and Catholic church and all. You could you could have you could be burned at the stake and family martyrs. Fox's book of martyrs describes a lot of this. But one of the things that come out of that is an ordeal where, alright. We're gonna test and see if you're really holy or not, and we're gonna tie you up and throw you into the water. And if you're a godly man and God likes you, somehow he's gonna untie you. So we're gonna do Houdini to you. Bind you, throw you in, or the other one was tie you at a stake and light you on fire. And if you're if your god chooses to, he's gonna rescue you. And I'm sure a lot of good godly people died going through an ordeal because of people forcing or tempting god in that way. Another aspect of this is the martyrs were known for singing, worshiping the Lord, and going in with great bravery, great great great courage into the arena as the Romans and others would watch them be consumed by lions and wild beasts and animals and all, whole families. But the Christian was a huddle near the middle, and they would start singing. They'd start worshiping. And eventually, what happened was it was so majestic and so powerful watching these Christians go to their death worshiping God that the the spectacle, the theatron, the people watching lost interest. They lost the bloodlust. It it broke the thrill of it, so to speak. And and so they quit doing it after a time. But still even today, do it. Kinda they dig holes and throw them in. Have you ever seen somebody stoned in The Middle East the way they do it? You ever watch a video on that? They'll not always, but they'll take a person and they'll dig a hole, and they'll leave only their head out. And then the people in the community will come in there, a lot of stones everywhere, and then they just start throwing stones. Start throwing them. Now, Idi Amin, he hated Christians and he buried them and put their heads out. And he was a polo player, so he had his horse and he'd come and whack him, you know, with his mallet. And you guys know what Nero did. Right? I've told you that many times. What's it feel like now, Christians, to be the light of the world? So Nero would take the Christians and impale them on a pole and put them in his garden, and he's got a pathway. He would roll them in pitch, put them on a pole, and then he'd go through his garden, riding his chariot with a torch, lighting the Christians on fire, shrieking like a madman. What's it feel like now Christians to be the light of the world? Insane. Now maybe the apostle Paul had the chance to share the gospel with Nero, and in rejecting the gospel, he became even more insane. Don't know. So Daniel, he's down in the lion's den. Now this lion's den is a pit. So they'd catch lions in a big hole, a big pit, and this is a deep hole with the lions where they can't jump out. And then it's got a a lid. They put a rock on top of it to heap keep them in. And and a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it. Where have you heard that before? The tomb. The tomb, a great stone was put in front of it and then sealed by the Romans. Right? And so this is an official signet. And a stone was brought and upon the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of the Lord's that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. So the religious leaders, they told Pilate, they said, hey, this deceiver says, you know, destroy this temple in three days I'll raise it up. We fear that his men are gonna come and steal his body, put a soldiers there, a criterion of soldiers, and a seal upon it that's punishable by death if anybody remove that rock, that stone from there. You know? So all the official dotting your i's and crossing your t's, all the stuff, the bureaucracy, everything's in place, and the stone is thrown uphill. Angels are sitting on it. The keepers are quaking like dead men, you know, and shaken from fear. And stone was removed for what reason? So we could see him. So we could see him, not so Jesus could get out because he don't need to he he walks through walls. Right? He just walks in the room. He don't need a door, walk in so that we could see, so that we could investigate. And and they did us a great service, the Romans and the religious leaders, because we have that office authenticity. We have that proof evidence thereof that the stone was put in place, that it was sealed, that it was soldiers guarding it. So it refutes the idea that this ragtag group of guys could overpower those soldiers and stole the body. No way that would happen. And if they did, if you did that, would you then go to your death? No. You wouldn't go to your death. You would not be emboldened to go to your death. So because he raised himself from the dead, you weren't afraid of death anymore. You see? So human behavior such as we can see their boldness like they didn't fear death like the Christian's sincere right now. They don't fear death. You know, in Iran, what they fear most is denying the Lord. That's what they fear the most. Now watch this king. So the king sealed it with his own signet, the signet of the Lord's and the purpose might be changed not be changed concerning Daniel. Stage is set. Verse 18. Then the king went to his palace and had a huge feast. They began to party, dancing on the Titanic. Is that what they did? Yeah. So when have we ever fasted and prayed and interceded in this manner. When has America ever been called to fasting and praying for God to heal our land? I know another kingdom that when a prophet came through and he said, you got forty days and you're gonna perish. They began to party. Hey. We only got forty more days of partying. Let's start partying. Let's let's let's go for it. What do they do? They repented. Repent. They repented. And ashes. Sackcloth and ashes began to fast. Right? And these were Ninevites, pagans. Pagans. And this is a pagan king, and he's fasting. Neither an instrument or music. So no entertainment, no music. This is this is serious for him. He loves Daniel. And his sleep went from him. He he he didn't have any of the harp players coming in with a lullaby, you know, and giving him some wine so that he could sleep and wake up in the morning and make this pain go away. He was experiencing it. So when one part of the body suffers, we all suffer. Right? And we we have empathy toward people that, you know, lose a grandson. And our heart aches, our heart hurts, and we don't just blow it off. Then the king arose very early in the morning. How early in the morning did the women go to the tomb? Sunrise. Mark sixteen two, they went there at sunrise before the sun's even up. So their Sabbath day is ending with the sun up. Right? And, boy, they're off and running. First day of the week, they're running. They're they're there at sunrise. They didn't sleep in. Well, I'll go check it out at nine in the morning. I'm gonna go to Oak Table first, get breakfast, then I'll go over and see if Daniel's okay. You know? And so then the king rose very early in the morning, and he went in haste under the den of the lions. You ever got up real early because you're so excited on Christmas morning? Oh, I'm so excited. Gotta get up early. Gotta wake mom and dad up. Oh, what are my presents? It's Christmas morning. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice, painful voice, painful, unto Daniel. And the king spoke and said to Daniel, oh, Daniel, servant of the living God. And I like that, a servant. My servant Job, my servant Moses, are you the Lord's servant? Is thy God, big God? Is thy God whom thou servest continually? Able to deliver thee from the lions? What problem are you facing? What trial are you facing? Is our God able to get you through that? Is he able? So if Sarah's 89 years old and Abraham's 99 years old, it's impossible for Sarah to have a baby. Right. What kind of question does God pose to Abraham? You're gonna be a father of many people. Well, he says that, but, I mean, doesn't he say, is anything too hard for God? And and get rid of the too hard. Is there anything hard for God? Also, in Jeremiah, is there anything hard is there anything you're facing that your god's unable unable? Now somebody read what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said. Read in chapter two what they said when Nebbe was threatening them. What kind of chutzpah do they have? Oh, Lord. Yeah. Didn't they use the word able? Didn't they use that word able? Chapter three. Right? Two. Let's see here. Yeah. Three. Up there, who is that God, he says. Says, who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hand? Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego answered and said to the king, oh, Nebuchadnezzar somebody else read it now. We are not careful to answer thee in this matter. Not careful. We're not is a no brainer. Yeah. We don't we don't need to pine over this. If it be so, our god whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, o king. But if not, be it known also unto thee, o king, that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Oh, Nebuchadnezzar's face went to a rage. He went insane with anger. Right? Yeah. Right. But that's how we need to answer the devil. The devil's the one behind these kings bringing forth these threats, and we just need to say, hey, devil. The lord rebuke you. We're not we don't even have to give much thought to this. This is a no brainer. You're God's able. So whom thou serves continue able to deliver thee from the lions. So Hebrews eleven thirty three, we read that God closed the mouth of the lions. Right? Daniel had the faith. I like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's position. Our God's able. Lord, if you're willing, remove this cup from me. But nevertheless, not as I will, but thy will be done. And even if he doesn't, o king, he's still gonna deliver us from you from death. Right? Yeah. We're still not gonna have to look at your ugly mug anymore. So it's a win win for us, o king. Then said Daniel unto the king, o king, live forever. Yes. I've been raised from the dead. He went into the grave, stone rolled away, raised from the dead. And so we look at Ephesians three verse 20. Three verse 20. And how about read Three twenty. Somebody else read the last the benediction of Jude, the very last few verses of Jude. Now in him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless. Read that part. You wanna read? For his presence was singing. Well, one person read the last part of Jude. Another person in the regard to Abel. Now unto him who is able to do exceedingly. Ephesians three verse 20. Three twenty. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. So now think back to the children of Israel. Did they limit God through unbelief? Yes. Yes. Can we quench and grieve the Holy Spirit and limp he's able now in whom is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or think. Jesus said, if you had faith as a mustard seed, say this mountain, be thou removed. Cast on the sea. Nothing be impossible. Right? Amen. How often we limit God because of doubt, because of unbelief. They failed to enter into his rest in Hebrews chapter three and four because of unbelief. Right. Because they so God says, you guys are just gonna go in circles. Your life's just gonna be a hamster cage. You're gonna be in a hamster wheel, no progress, not going anywhere for forty years. What a wasted life. And who's got Jude? The last part. I love that. It's a song actually we sing. Okay. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and represent you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, our savior, be glory and majesty, dominion, and power both now and forever. Amen. Ain't that great? Amen. That's exalting. You know? I know that my redeemer lives, and he shall stand on the ladder. You know, you're it's victory. You know? Death can't even stop me. Not even death can hold me down. Our god's able. Servant of the living god, whom thou serves continually able to deliver thee from the lions? And it's like, yeah, oh, king. Then said Daniel unto the king, oh, king, live forever. My king, my god has sent his angel sent the angel of the lord Jesus there with me. He's with us in all the trials. Everywhere we go, the lord's there with us. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, there's a fourth, Nebbe said, and he's as the son of man. Jesus with us in these trials. Sent his angel, and he has shut the lion's mouths that they have not hurt me for as much as before him innocence was found in me. So he wasn't preserved because he was holy, but he's saying my innocence was I didn't do what those guys are charging me. I didn't do anything wrong. And also before thee, o king, have I done no hurt. I didn't do anything against you, king. I didn't know about that decree. I didn't know. They didn't tell me about any of that. And not only that, but the blood of Jesus, God's son continually cleansed me of all unrighteousness. Then was the king exceedingly glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him because he believed in his god. So his faith it's his faith that pleased god. For without faith, it's impossible to please God for they that come to must believe that he is, and he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Alright. So I got some verses for us. Okay? So how about sec second Peter two verse nine? Somebody want that? I can do it. Okay. First Peter five seven through 11. I'll read it. Alright. Matthew ten twenty one through 39. Okay. Luke 12 verse six. Luke 12 verse six. Yep. Revelation twelve ten. I got it. Esther seven, nine, and 10. I can do it. Alright. Job four ten. I'll do it. Psalm twenty two thirteen. I'll do it. Proverbs nineteen twelve. And I'm not saying them again, so you better write them down. Ezekiel twenty two twenty five. Twenty two twenty five? Is that what you said? Twenty two twenty five? Yes, sir. Revelation five verse five. You want it? Yep. I'll take that one. Alright. So we're looking at this lion. We're looking at Satan being like a type of lion. Goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah. Satan's a counterfeit. And some would say that Satan, if we look at first Corinthians 15 where Paul says, oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? Satan relies more upon his growl and his lying to intimidate Christians because he's a toothless lion. He's he doesn't have the amount of power he'd like people to think he has. He has a delegated authority, and he can thump on us if god allows it. But and Michael the archangel would contend you for the body of Moses dared not make a railing accusation after him. So there's a chain of command, but said the lord rebuke ye, but greater is he that's in us than he that's in the world since God's for us. Who can be against us? So we can be bold bold, especially when we're in the right. And and just lay our lives, lay the result at the Lord's feet like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did, and as Daniel did, not cowering in fear. So first verse, second Peter two verse nine. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out temptations and to reserve the unjust until the day of judgment to be punished. So God can deliver us, and he will. First Peter five seven through 11. Seven through 11. Casting all your cares upon him. So wait. Stop there. Casting all your cares upon him. So Daniel's in the den. He's there. The load is coming on his shoulders, this big weight of am I gonna live? Am I gonna die? And you just like like a fly fisherman, every time you feel like that it's it's hitting you, you just keep don't carry those cares. Cast those cares upon him. Amen. Just just keep giving them to him. Don't carry that. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Let the Lord take that burden. Alright. Go ahead. Casting all your cares upon him for he careth for you. Be we said seven to eleven. Be sober, be diligent because your adversary, the devil, as a warming roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, established, strengthened, settle you. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So God allow for our growth. And other people out there are going through trials and difficulties and all, but our God is is using it, all things working together for good for those who love god and are called according to his purpose. And the devil's going about like a roaring lion, but faith, trust in the lord is how we get the victory. Matthew ten twenty one through 39, a big section, but listen closely there. And then pay close attention to Luke 12 verse six. There's a little play on there's a play on words there. I want you to catch it. Okay. So the devil's threatening you, roaring lion, gonna kill you, and watch what Jesus says in that regard. Matthew ten twenty one through 39. That's pretty rad. So for Daniel, think Daniel's afraid? No. You think Daniel was gonna deny the Lord? No. No. Absolutely not. He laid his burden down three times a day. I know. But it's just so bizarre here. You got your own family against you. Being a Christian, Jesus said he didn't come bring peace but a sword. We're gonna have conflict, and we're gonna have conflict with the people closest to us. And it's simply because you're a spirit filled Christian. You're a threat to the kingdom of darkness, and people will hate you just as they hated Jesus. But here's the thing. He he talked about sparrows falling to the ground, and he said, are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? Not one of them falls on the ground without your father. And the very hairs of your head, you know, you're invincible. Not no. The devil can't touch one hair of your head unless I allow it. And if I do allow it, I'm aware that you, you know, you fell to the ground, but your value is so great. You're If not there for your more value than many sparrows. So then you read Luke 12 verse six. Alright. Are not five sparrows sold for But, anyways, verse five confirm We who we need to fear. And I was gonna say Daniel really had a good pill being being the lion's pill. Right? Anyway, are not five sparrows sold for two fartings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? And so in the mathematics of that, the denomination, the money Mhmm. Two sparrows are sold for a farthing. Now if you buy if you buy two more, I'll throw one more in for free. You ever heard that kind of bargaining? So even the worthless one, the one that was for free doesn't fall to the ground and die. God says you're far more valuable, than these sparrows, and God knows every little sparrow that falls to the ground. So fear is what, the opposite of faith. It keeps us to where we would compromise or deny the Lord. And and, you know, the lord, the power of the holy spirit, gives us the boldness. We don't need we don't conjure up the boldness. We don't even the faith is there if we'll just act on it. And and faith is like a muscle. The more that we exercise faith and trust the Lord and walk by faith, the stronger we get spiritually and the more we grow. And and I like I like verses like to be absent the bodies to be present with the Lord, and I'm already crucified with Christ, you know, and to where we overcome the fear of death. And the unbelievers always afraid of dying, but you and I, we don't fear death because death is just the way that we move into our new glorified body. Yeah. The acronym of faith is for forsaking all I trust him. There you go. And the king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of the lions. Them, their children, their wives, their lions had mastery over them and broke all their bones in pieces before they came to the bottom of the den. Revelation twelve ten. So the accuser of the brethren, which is the devil, these guys were accusing Daniel, which really behind it was the devil. And we also read the book of Revelation that they overcame him by The blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. And the third one? And and they let not their lives. So if you try to hold on to your life, you're gonna give in to fear. Right? Mhmm. So they didn't even value their life to the point of not denying the Lord. Right? Fear death. Did somebody reach Esther seven nine and ten? The story of Esther? I got it. Okay. And Harbonna, one of the chamberlains, set before the king, behold also the gallows 50 cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. The king said, hang him thereon. So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, then was the king's wrath pacified. Amen. So Haman concocted a plan to kill all the Jews, and Mordecai he hated Mordecai because Mordecai wouldn't bow down to him. And Mordecai was the uncle of Esther, queen Esther. She won a beauty contest. Queen Vashti got aced out, so Esther's there. And when Mordecai got word of this conspiracy to kill all the Jews, Mordecai came to queen Esther and said, you know, how do you know that you weren't raised up for such a time as this? And don't think that if you remain silent that you're going to escape this, because she was a Jewess, that you were to escape this this execution. And so he exhorted her to go to the king, which could be punishable by death. And even though she's one of she's a queen, and approach him. And so she had to be very delicate and careful of how she would approach him, Ahasuerus. And and what she did is she told Mordecai and the others to pray and fast. She wanted them to pray and fast. Then there came a day where she approached the king, and and Haman made the mistake of sitting on a couch near her or whatever, and she was able to expose him. And then, the king took Haman, who had erected this huge gallows to to hang Haman from and or Mordecai Mordecai from. But it turns out that Haman wound up hanging from his own gallows, and God turned it around. And then his his whole family was wiped out, and, the house of Haman was given to the house of queen Esther as a gift, and Mordecai was the one that would manage it for her. And here, critics of this story say that the lions must have been satiated. They must have not been hungry. Well, when these other guys came in there, they're pretty hungry, weren't they? Yeah. Yeah. They're pretty hungry. And, you remember the number 16, the Choradath and the Byram, the ground opened up and swallowed them and the people in their houses. Now, this whole idea of reparations or paying for the sins of your fathers, that's not a biblical truth. The fathers are responsible for their own sin. So in Deuteronomy twenty four sixteen, when a father sins like that, it doesn't mean the whole family gets wiped out. So only the father. So those that are in our history and as America that were involved in the slave trade, only they are the ones that are guilty for perpetuating that upon people. And it doesn't come back and tumble back down on us to where I have to go to promise keepers and start apologizing to the great great great great grandsons of you know, it's so ridiculous. And and most people understand that, but the social engineering thing is just so bizarre. Alright. So now verse 25. Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages that dwell on the earth. Peace, which he's speaking goodwill, be multiplied upon you. So they want everyone to know about this. Shalom, peace, and, grace and peace. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom, men tremble and fear the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, g o d, big g, and all because of the testimony and the witness of Daniel. And steadfast so notice the characteristics of of Daniel's god that Darius learned from observing Daniel. That men should tremble and fear him, for he is the living god. He's not a dead god. He's not an idol. That which the Gentiles worship, you know, they worship demons. Eyes they have, but they can't see. Ears they have, they can't hear. Mouse they have, they can't speak. But no, Daniel's God is the living God. He's alive. Jesus isn't a dead God. Jesus is a risen savior, a living god, and we have a lively hope. We have a hope of the resurrection. And he's steadfast forever in his kingdom that that which shall not be destroyed. The pagan guy is saying that his kingdom will never be destroyed. And his dominion shall be even unto the end. He's the alpha. He's the omega. He's the eternal. And Vicky has the lion, chapter five verse 10. Who's worthy to open the scroll and loose the seals, Vicky? Amen. And John wept. There's nobody worthy. Then one of the elders said to me, do not weep. See, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. Amen. Amen. So he delivers and rescues oh, go ahead. Oh, I'm just And saying worketh signs and wonders in the heaven and in the earth. And who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions? Satan. Satan's mind. He goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Who's gonna deliver us from the power of the devil? Jesus did at the cross. He already delivered us. So this Daniel prospered because in Colossians, it said Jesus spoiled all principalities and powers, triumphing over them. The devil thought the cross was his victory, gonna just nail Jesus, just pin him to the ground, you know. And but it turned out he miscalculated and it was the greatest victory of all and that he spoiled all principalities and powers and triumphed over them. So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus, the Persian. Alright. Any other comments or questions you have before we close in prayer? I think it's Have dessert? Because he made a decree earlier that your god will deliver you. Yeah. Because he knew Dan he knew Daniel. Yeah. He knew him. He loved him. Yeah. He trusted him, and he'd seen what god had done before in the past. Yeah. And he knew the he knew the stories of Nebuchadnezzar. Yeah. And Belshazzar. And Belshazzar. And how they took it over. Yeah. So then that's why he was so anxious, excited to come in the morning and see the revelation of what he actually saw. It sounds like he had a good relationship with Daniel. Yeah. And liked him very much. And it's only a few years since, you know, since Belshazzar was killed and and Darius, you know, took the helm. Yeah. So story is almost the same as Nebuchadnezzar because he he just came at the end of all and decreed that god was god. Yeah. Because look at no god could do what what he has done. Thank god Darius didn't have to eat grass for seven years and, you know, that. Go sleep with the lions. Alright. So learn from history? What's that? Did they ignore history? Because god was a deliverer other times. Guess not, buddy. Right. You wanna close us in prayer, Thomas? Yeah. Sure. Hey, Thomas. Don't forget to pray for your feet and your legs. Yeah. Over Kelly's stomach. Kelly. And somebody's stomach? Kelly. Oh, Kelly. Yeah. Pray for Sally. Pray for James. Pray for Joe and Linda. And pray for Pamela and her family. Okay? If I forget Lord, know what's going on. Ask Lord ask you, Lord, that you might do with Sally and Kelly and I mean, Kelly, I just ask you, Lord Jesus Christ, you might be with Rick and family, Lord. Hallelujah. All the in laws and the outlaws, whatever. And, Lord, I ask you, Lord, that you might heal me, Lord Jesus Christ. Be with me as as they come. They they come for home health tomorrow. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Yes, Lord. Lord, that Yes, Lord. I rebuke the power of the devil in every matter that that con concerns us. We just ask you, Lord, that we we won't fear the lions. Hallelujah. We we we we stand up in truth truth at Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you, Lord, that you might be with you know, I can't remember all the names, but your Lord Jesus Christ, minister to each and every one of them, Lord. And bless us all today. Help us to have victory ahead in the name of Jesus. Victory ahead. Amen. Amen.

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About This Podcast

Calvary Chapel Bremerton - Home Bible Study

Listen to Rick Beaudry, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Bremerton, lead our home Bible Study session in worship and teaching the Word of God. Be edified and built up in your faith with solid Bible teaching. New episodes released on Tuesdays in the Pacific Standard Timezone.

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