Participants:
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000091S
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00:01 Music...
00:30 James: Welcome back... 00:31 Yvonne: Yay... 00:32 James: We are in Daniel chapter 6... 00:34 Yvonne: Yes. 00:35 James: And it's a great chapter. 00:37 This is another one of those chapters 00:38 that kind of steps aside from prophecy 00:40 and focuses on relationship... experience... 00:42 it's going to help us with our Christian walk... 00:45 the emphasis of this chapter is prayer and trust in God 00:48 and one of the main features that we find in here 00:52 is witnessing... 00:53 Daniel is in a situation where he is going to be witnessing 00:57 or bearing this incredible testimony 01:00 of God's power and grace and... 01:02 in the context of a political environment 01:05 and it's going to really impact Darius 01:08 who is the king of the Medo-Persians. 01:10 So, we've moved from chapter 5 where Medo-Persia took over, 01:15 the kingdom of Babylon and Belshazzar fell... 01:18 Darius is now in charge and he's setting up his kingdom... 01:22 that's basically the context 01:23 of what we're going to be seeing here in Daniel chapter 6. 01:26 Daniel chapter 6, we're going to find out later, 01:29 is connected with Daniel chapter 9. 01:31 All: Hmmm... 01:32 James: When you look the succession... 01:35 the flow of this... these chapters in history, 01:38 we're going to find that Daniel chapter 7 is written in the... 01:42 or is a vision that Daniel receives 01:44 in the first year of Belshazzar. 01:46 Daniel chapter 8, is a vision that Daniel receives 01:50 in the third year of Belshazzar. 01:51 So, Daniel 7 and 8 01:53 are received by Daniel when Belshazzar is ruling 01:57 and Belshazzar's dead... 01:58 so you could actually read Daniel chapter 4, 02:01 7, 8, 5, 6, 9 02:06 Yvonne: So, it's not chronologically in order. 02:08 Ivor: Right, right... 02:09 James: And the thing that's cool about understanding that is that 02:11 6 and 9 not only chronologically flow consecutively, 02:16 but they also connect together 02:18 because in Daniel chapter 6, 02:20 they're trying to stop Daniel from praying 02:22 and in Daniel chapter 9... 02:23 Daniel is praying for understanding 02:26 of the 2,300-Day Prophecy 02:27 so, there's a connection there that we're going to see, 02:29 in other words, there's some significance 02:31 to why Daniel is saying, "I need to keep praying... " 02:33 and I just wanted to just throw this out 02:35 and then we'll start with a word of prayer... 02:37 and that is... prayer is powerful... 02:39 prayer is important 02:40 and Satan will do anything he can 02:43 to stop us from praying as we're about to find out. 02:45 Ivor: I want to just mention this really quickly 02:48 because that point you mentioned about 02:49 the chronology of the book of Daniel, 02:51 it's... it's amazing like, why didn't... 02:53 why wasn't the book just written in its chronological order? 02:56 but you see the way the book is written... 02:59 it's almost as if God purposely like, just set it in this way 03:03 so that we can see this pattern of Christ's life... 03:07 we can see these pattern of events... 03:09 you see what I'm saying? 03:10 Like, we typically write something... 03:12 we're just going to write it in chronological order 03:14 but the Lord inspired it to be put this way 03:17 so that we could understand 03:19 events to come later in Daniel 11 03:21 we could see the chronology of Christ... the life of Christ, 03:25 and also see, "Hey, this is what's going to happen 03:28 with God's people at the time of the end... " 03:30 so, I think that's just a really powerful observation... 03:33 that's a really powerful point there, yeah. 03:35 James: All right, who wants to pray for us? 03:37 Jason: I'll pray. James: Thank you, Jason. 03:39 Jason: "Dear heavenly Father, 03:40 we thank You so much for the opportunity 03:42 that we have to freely study Your Word, 03:44 we just ask that You would be with us 03:46 as we continue to journey 03:48 through this powerful book of Daniel, 03:49 and help us to learn principles 03:52 that we can apply to our everyday lives, 03:54 in Jesus' name, we pray, amen. " 03:55 All: Amen. 03:56 James: All right, let's start at Daniel chapter 6... 03:58 Yvonne, would you like to read 04:00 just the first three verses for us? 04:02 Yvonne: Right, "It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 04:06 one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom; 04:09 and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, 04:13 that the satraps... " 04:15 satraps... that's a kind of a tongue twister... 04:17 "satraps might give account to them, 04:19 so that the king would suffer no loss. 04:22 Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors 04:26 and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; 04:30 and the king gave thought 04:31 to setting him over the whole realm. " 04:34 James: "Okay, so this is an amazing opening to a new kingdom 04:40 Daniel is obviously someone 04:42 that was part of the Babylonian Empire 04:44 and he was a prominent part of that Empire. 04:47 He was set over the Head of that Empire 04:49 and this knowledge has to be known 04:51 because I'm sure that the new Rulers are going to say, 04:55 "Okay now, what did you do in Babylon?" 04:57 and "What did you do in Babylon?" 04:58 and "What did you do in Babylon?" 05:00 "Okay, kill those guys... " 05:01 "Okay, what did you do in Babylon?" 05:03 "What did you do in Babylon... " 05:04 "All right, send those guys into exile... " 05:05 "Okay, what did you do in Babylon?" 05:07 "I ruled over the whole of Babylon. " 05:08 "Hmmm... what are we going to do with this guy?" 05:11 "Ask him some more questions. " 05:13 "So, what do you think of the death...?" 05:15 "Ah, I predicted it... " 05:17 "You predicted the death of B... " 05:18 "Yes. " 05:20 "What do you think of the fall of Babylon?" 05:21 "I predicted that too... 05:22 God gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream 05:24 and He gave me the dream and the interpretation... 05:27 and here it is and I'll... I'll... " 05:29 and he starts... somehow Darius gets to know Daniel 05:32 and he says, "Wow! that guy has an excellent spirit 05:36 and he's really... he's really trustworthy... 05:38 he's an honest guy... 05:40 he's just telling me the truth... he... 05:42 I want to make him one of the first... 05:45 one of the first rulers... 05:47 I'm going to have three top guys 05:48 and he's going to be one of them. " 05:50 Then he starts thinking, 05:51 "I might even put him at the very top... 05:53 like, maybe yeah... that was... 05:56 I think I might put him at the very top... " 05:58 and as he's thinking about this, 06:00 of course, he's probably been talking 06:02 to some of his counselors, 06:03 as he's thinking about this, 06:05 something develops in the rest of the princes 06:07 or satraps or rulers... 06:09 they... they start... they start becoming envious or jealous 06:12 and that's what we see as we get into the rest of these verses. 06:15 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 06:17 Ivor: Yeah, I'm just thinking here... this is really... 06:22 I'm looking at this story 06:24 and my mind is just flashing back to heaven. 06:27 James: Hmmm... Yvonne: Hmmm... 06:29 Ivor: And seeing Christ as Ruler over the entire realm 06:34 and angels becoming jealous of the relationship 06:41 between He and His Father 06:43 which is exactly what happens in this story. 06:45 They are upset about Daniel's relationship with God 06:50 and we mentioned in the last Study... the last Program 06:54 that we have here Daniel being thrown into a Lions' Den 06:59 with a stone put over it and a seal on that stone 07:01 and it's just like... kind of like a juiced-down version 07:06 of really... the entire great controversy 07:08 that unfolded in heaven, 07:10 so, that might be something that we want to 07:13 kind of think about as we go through this study 07:15 because this is a new thought to me, 07:17 but maybe we can weave that in as we're... 07:18 James: Oh, it's there... 07:20 Ivor: Yeah... yeah. 07:21 James: I mean, Daniel stands blameless 07:23 from political mud-slinging 07:25 and the war in heaven, comes from that word "war" 07:28 comes from the word "Polemic" I think it is... 07:30 Ivor: Yeah, yeah. 07:32 James: That is the basis for politics... mud-slinging. 07:33 Ivor: Yeah. Yvonne: Hmmm... 07:35 James: It was mud-slinging really is what was taking place 07:36 there... and this is... yeah... so this, 07:39 that's... that's beautiful. 07:41 Yvonne: Yeah... and... and professional jealousy... 07:44 we find that today... I mean, this is... 07:48 these principles and situations are timeless... 07:51 you know, professional jealousy... 07:53 and envy and... 07:55 and then being carried from one Administration to the other, 07:59 think about it... Daniel was in the former administration 08:03 and now the current king says, "Wait a minute... 08:06 I think I want you in my Administration. " 08:08 I mean, like, what Democrat will bring a Republican 08:13 into his Administration? 08:14 You know, or what Republican would bring a Democrat in? 08:17 So, it's... it's very interesting... 08:20 the other thing that jumps out at me as I read this is Joseph, 08:24 how Joseph got promoted... 08:27 how God had this plan for... 08:30 even though Joseph was going through 08:32 all of these bad situations... everything... 08:35 he still was... he ended up being over the whole realm 08:40 just being second to the king so, I mean to Pharaoh 08:46 so, it's like how... how does this happen? 08:50 It's because God has a plan 08:51 and when we are faithful to God and His plan, 08:55 and we're walking in His plan for us, 08:57 this is what happens... 08:59 God's plan is to prosper us... not to have us, you know, 09:03 He wants us to be the head... not the tail 09:05 and these guys Joseph and Daniel... 09:08 they became the heads because they were faithful to God. 09:12 Jason: One of the things that I love about this story and Joseph 09:15 excellent parallel... 09:17 is that... it shows you how to operate with integrity 09:22 through tough political climates 09:23 so, they're facing situations that they could die for... 09:29 they can... this isn't just, "I'll get fired 09:32 or I'll go to prison... do some time... " 09:35 this is... no, you can die... 09:38 "We can... we can either feed you to lions, 09:41 we can burn you up in... in the chamber... 09:44 I mean, these are your... 09:47 these are some options that you have. " 09:50 James: Or comply. Jason: Or comply. 09:53 Yvonne: Right. 09:55 Jason: But in all that... they chose to remain faithful to God, 09:58 they chose to operate with integrity... 10:00 they told the truth even when it was unfavorable 10:04 or unpopular to do so and now... 10:06 those are the days and times in which we live today 10:08 where it's... it's unfavorable or unpopular to tell the truth 10:15 because, as we said in previous Program 10:17 that when you speak out and speak the truth, 10:21 people... and you disagree with something that someone's doing, 10:25 they deem you as a "Hater" 10:27 or as... as if it's a personal attack 10:30 but you're just operating with integrity 10:33 and staying true to the principles 10:36 that are found in God's Word. 10:37 All: Hmmm... hmmm... 10:38 James: All right, Jason, you're giving us some real talk here 10:40 and I think it's really important... 10:41 we should just stay on this for a little bit... 10:43 I really like what you said, 10:44 I think that we talked about this a bit last night 10:48 and... and when you're in ministry... 10:50 when you're in politics... 10:51 Satan doesn't like what God is doing through His people. 10:58 Satan didn't like what God was doing through Daniel 11:01 and Daniel was there for a reason, 11:04 God wanted to use him to influence and to impact that 11:08 not only to the king but the nation 11:09 and the direction of the nation. 11:11 We'll see this more when we get to Daniel chapter 10, 11:13 it's really powerful but when we're doing God's will, 11:16 Satan comes against us 11:18 and the main thing we need to remember 11:20 above everything else 11:22 is to stay true to what it is we're doing 11:25 and what Satan wants to... 11:27 what I'm learning and this is something 11:29 that I think is really practical for me right now in my life... 11:31 what I'm learning is... 11:33 is that Satan is trying to take us off track 11:36 from what we're doing... 11:38 getting us... getting us distracted... 11:41 you remember when they were building the wall 11:42 and Sanballat came and they were making these accusations... 11:45 "Hey, this is written and this is written and that's been said 11:47 and this has been said and that's been said... " 11:49 and he said, "I don't have time for that... 11:50 I cannot come down, I've got a work that I'm doing" 11:53 and he just stayed focused 11:55 and he could have gotten all worried and that... 11:57 "You need to hide out... they're trying to kill me... 11:59 come here and hide out... you need to do this... " 12:00 "No, I don't have time for that, I'm going to stay focused... " 12:03 Yvonne: Nehemiah stayed focused. James: Yes. 12:05 Ivor: Yeah, I think you look at the principle... 12:06 going back to heaven, 12:08 Lucifer and his angels... jealous of Christ... 12:12 that principle has spilled out into the earth, 12:17 so, you see it in the story of Daniel, 12:19 they're jealous of him because the story goes on to say 12:23 that they're... they... 12:25 they can't find anything wrong with him 12:27 or if they're going to find something wrong with him, 12:31 it needs to be concerning his relationship with God 12:32 and this is how the world still operates today, 12:36 like, when you become a Christian, 12:38 you are exalted into heavenly places. 12:42 You become royalty 12:44 and what's going to happen is that people in the world 12:47 and sometimes people in... in the church 12:50 will begin to be like, 12:51 "I just don't like this guy's relationship with God, 12:54 I don't like how other people are looking at this... 12:57 this person's relationship with God and... 12:59 I don't like him... I don't like her 13:03 so, we have to find... I can't... 13:05 we've got to find something... " 13:08 and the Bible actually uses this term 13:10 where they search out iniquity, right? 13:13 The wicked search out iniquity, 13:15 "All right, let me go see, what can I find... 13:17 what can I find?" 13:18 And you find this principle just prevalent in the world today 13:23 and unfortunately, even in the church... 13:25 even in the church. 13:27 James: Yeah, the way you said that was... was... was true 13:30 that in the world and sometimes in the church 13:33 I would even say that there are times when we could say that 13:37 in the church and sometimes in the world. 13:39 Ivor: That's the right way to say it. 13:41 James: Sometimes the world is... is more supportive 13:45 of God's people than the church is... 13:47 and sometimes we have to find refuge in the world... 13:49 even Jesus... Mary and Joseph had to find refuge in Egypt 13:53 for a while... 13:55 and David sought refuge outside of his people for a while, 14:00 Elijah was sent to the woman of Zarephath remember 14:04 and I think that we... 14:07 God gives us these lessons to help us right now... 14:09 Joseph was made king in Egypt. 14:11 We are in a place where 14:16 God is reminding us where our strength is 14:18 and we're... number one where our strength is... is in prayer, 14:22 is in talking to God... communing with God 14:24 and letting Him speak in to us 14:26 so let's read some more verses here. 14:27 Yvonne: Before we do that, 14:29 just so that there's no misunderstanding by the Viewers 14:31 with what you just said about... 14:33 "sometimes you have to kind of go into the world... " 14:35 would you just let them know that's... 14:37 you didn't mean that they have to leave 14:39 their belief in God and go out... 14:41 James: Oh, yeah, absolutely... yeah. 14:42 Yvonne: You know what I mean because some people will say, 14:44 "Oh, did he just say 14:45 you have to, like, find 14:47 some kind of companionship with the world?" 14:50 No... that's not what you meant, 14:52 so would you just explain it a little bit more? 14:54 Ivor: I will... I will even say this, 14:57 I lived as a non-Christian for 22 years of my life 15:05 and this is really a sad thing to say, 15:09 but I found at times more strength... more companionship, 15:14 more loyalty in the world than I have at times found 15:20 among those who profess to be Christians 15:22 and that's a very sad commentary 15:26 but the fact is, sometimes the worst enemies of Christianity 15:31 are Christians themselves who profess the name of Christ 15:36 but do not live up to that character... 15:39 backbiting... stabbing in the back... 15:42 you know, those kinds of things and we're like, 15:44 "How is this happening in the house of God... 15:47 are you serious?" 15:48 Yvonne: Hmmm... 15:50 James: And I think too when we talk about Joseph... 15:52 when we talk about Elijah... 15:54 when we talk about Christ... 15:55 we're not talking about people who gave up their faith, 15:58 I think that's the clarification we need to make. 16:00 Yvonne: Right, right. 16:01 James: These guys... when they sought refuge in Egypt, 16:03 when they sought refuge with the woman of Zarephath... 16:08 when they sought refuge in part of his house or wherever it was 16:11 where Joseph found refuge from his brothers, 16:13 their faith in God was strong. 16:16 Yvonne: Right. 16:17 James: So, we're not talking now when we talk about... 16:19 sometimes the world is more compassionate than the church... 16:21 we're not talking about giving up our faith, 16:23 or compromising... no, we're not... 16:26 in fact, we're talking about being stronger 16:27 and so, yeah... so, with Jeremiah for example, 16:32 he was imprisoned by his own people 16:35 because he was preaching a message 16:37 that the Babylonians were going to come... 16:38 you need to surrender to them. Yvonne: Right. 16:39 James: When the Babylonians came, they set him free... 16:41 that's what you're talking about 16:43 and that's what we're talking about here. 16:45 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... yeah. 16:46 James: All right, so let's read now, Daniel chapter 6, 16:50 let's read verses 4 down to verse 9. 16:53 Jason, would you like to read those for us? 16:54 Jason: Sure... "So the governors and satraps 16:57 sought to find some charge against Daniel 16:59 concerning the kingdom; 17:00 but they could find no charge or fault, 17:03 because he was faithful; 17:04 nor was there any error or fault found in him. 17:08 Then these men said, 17:10 'We shall not find any charge against this Daniel 17:12 unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God. ' 17:15 So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, 17:19 and said thus to him: 'King Darius, live forever! 17:23 All the governors of the kingdom, 17:25 the administrators and the satraps, 17:27 the counselors and advisors, have consulted together 17:31 to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, 17:35 that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, 17:38 except you, O king, 17:40 shall be cast into the den of lions. 17:43 Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, 17:47 so that it cannot be changed, 17:49 according to the law of the Medes and Persians, 17:52 which does not alter. '" 17:53 James: Hmmm... hmmm... and then verse 9. 17:56 Ivor: "Therefore King Darius signed the written decree. " 17:59 James: All right now, there are two factors here 18:02 that I just wanted us to bring out and look at 18:04 and one of them is... 18:05 when you're in a political environment, 18:08 there's a lot of mud-slinging that goes along... goes on... 18:12 there's a lot of false accusation that takes place, 18:14 there's a lot of lying and pretense 18:16 and in that context, 18:18 they're trying to find some mud on Daniel 18:20 and they can't find anything. 18:22 Yvonne: Right... Jason: Hmmm... 18:23 Yvonne: Also, that could be said about all of us, right? 18:25 Nothing else can be said. 18:28 James: Yeah, and so, they have to go after him 18:29 in relationship to the law 18:31 and when they come to Darius, they lie... 18:34 they say, "Oh king, live forever... " 18:37 and then in verse 7 it says, 18:39 "All the presidents of the kingdom... 18:42 and the governors and princes and counselors, 18:44 and the captains, have consulted together 18:46 to establish a royal decree... " 18:48 Yvonne: Hmmm... James: Eeeenh... 18:49 Yvonne: Oh, I hadn't even noticed that. 18:51 James: It wasn't all the presidents... 18:52 it wasn't all the presidents... 18:54 where was Daniel? 18:55 He wasn't part of that... 18:57 he would have lifted up a voice and said, 18:58 "Wait a minute... that's not going to work for me, 19:01 I just want you to know that... " 19:03 James: So, so politics is based on deception and lies. 19:06 At least that's what we're seeing here in the Bible, 19:09 now, I don't think we need to make that statement 19:13 to our Viewers with any kind of evidence, 19:16 I think most of our Viewers... 19:17 most of us know that's just the way it is... 19:19 it just happens that way... 19:21 but we're looking at this from a Biblical perspective 19:23 because we want to know... 19:24 "Is it possible for people to be Christians and to be Godly 19:29 and still be involved in politics?" 19:30 And the answer to that is, "Yes it is... 19:33 but there's going to be a big price to pay. " 19:35 Yvonne: Right. 19:36 James: "You've got this big risk involved in doing that... 19:39 in being honest in politics... there's a big risk... " 19:42 and Daniel is willing to take that risk 19:44 and... and... and then the second thing is, 19:46 there's a lot of flattery in politics. 19:48 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 19:49 James: And that's how people get by in politics, they flatter 19:53 and we know that the reason why Darius signed this 19:56 is because it was flattering to him. 19:57 "Oh, no one can pray to anyone 20:00 or ask a petition of anyone except you... " 20:01 and he's like, "Hmmm... that sounds harmless enough... " 20:03 Yvonne: "I like that... " 20:05 James: "I like that... 20:07 oooh... you guys are really... 20:08 wow! you guys are really my friends... 20:10 you really are supportive of me... 20:12 I want to sign... let me sign that right now... " 20:15 and he comes to find out... now, think about this... 20:17 he comes to find out that the very people 20:19 that were flattering him... 20:20 the very people who were lifting him up... 20:22 the very people who were really 20:23 the people that were trying to hurt him 20:26 more than anyone else. 20:27 I mean, that's what he felt after he... 20:30 he was like, "I can't believe they did that to me. " 20:32 Yvonne: Right. 20:33 James: "I can't believe they... I trusted them... 20:35 look what they did to me. " Yvonne: Right. 20:36 James: "The very guy that I had the most confidence in... 20:39 this was all about trying to take him out of my kingdom. " 20:43 Yvonne: Right... right... James: And... 20:44 Yvonne: They made a fool out of him. 20:46 James: Yeah, they made a fool out of him... 20:47 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 20:49 James: And so, that was... that's the whole... 20:50 and I... this is now true to life for us today, 20:53 it really is. Yvonne: It is. 20:55 James: When you look at the political scene today... 20:56 and that's why it's so important 20:58 and I'm just going to say this as carefully as I can 21:01 but as... as strongly as I can, 21:03 "It's so important for us to recognize deception, 21:08 lying and flattery for what it is... " 21:10 because we may not know what's going on behind it 21:13 but as soon as someone starts flattering you, 21:15 and you're like, "Why are they... 21:17 there's nothing special about me... " 21:19 you know what I mean? 21:20 and as soon as they start saying things 21:22 that you know aren't quite true, 21:23 they're just not quite true, something's going on 21:27 and it's time for us to back up... 21:29 get into our prayer chamber, that's what Daniel did, 21:30 he's like, "Okay, I'm getting in my prayer chamber right now, 21:33 I'm focusing on God. " 21:34 Yvonne: Yeah, these... Ivor: Go ahead, go ahead. 21:38 Yvonne: These folks were so diabolical because they knew 21:41 that according to the law of the Medes and Persians, 21:43 it cannot be undone, 21:45 so, the king could not say, "You know what? 21:47 no... I changed my mind, no, that can't happen... " 21:51 no... once his signature was on there... that's it... 21:54 it cannot be altered... 21:56 and that was deep to me too because they knew that. 21:59 James: They trapped the king. Yvonne: They trapped the king. 22:01 Ivor: So, I'm jumping ahead of the debate 22:05 because I'm going to... when we get to Daniel chapter 7, 22:07 we're going to see that there are four beasts 22:10 that are mentioned, a Lion... a Bear... Leopard 22:12 and then the fourth non-descript beast... 22:13 we're going to see that these beasts... 22:15 we already know who they are 22:16 and you'll remember in our previous studies in Revelation, 22:21 that that beast of Revelation 13 22:24 is a combination of all four beasts in Daniel 7 22:28 so, why is that significant? 22:30 Well, remember what happened 22:32 in the first four chapters of Daniel, 22:34 right? We have Babylon in power, 22:37 five chapters in Daniel, 22:38 you have Babylon in power 22:39 and the major issue in chapters 1 through 5 22:41 is, the major worship issues deal with this image, right? 22:46 Them bowing down before an image... 22:48 that's specifically Daniel chapter 2, 22:50 Daniel chapter 3... 22:51 bow down or die... 22:53 then the other threat for death 22:56 of death chapter is this chapter... chapter 6 22:59 and that's in the Medo-Persian Empire, 23:01 and what's happening in the Medo-Persian Empire 23:04 is this issue of laws that cannot be changed... 23:07 laws that are enforced... 23:09 Ivor: So in Daniel 2 and 3, 23:11 you have something that deals specifically 23:13 with the second commandment... 23:15 "Do not bow down before graven images... " 23:16 and then in Daniel 6, you have an issue dealing with worship... 23:21 with time of worship... 23:23 right, they're looking at Daniel's times of worship 23:26 and they're like, "Hmmm... this is when he worships, 23:29 all right, we're going to set up a law 23:31 that cannot be changed... 23:33 cannot be altered... " 23:34 now, remember, Daniel 7:25, "God's law... " 23:38 what does it say about God's law? 23:41 "He will think to change times and laws... " 23:43 and after he thinks to change times and laws, 23:45 he will make it so that those changed times and laws 23:48 cannot be changed. 23:49 James: Hmmm... Yvonne: Whoa... 23:51 Ivor: So, this is what I say, "I am God... " 23:53 and you know how God's laws are, right? 23:56 God's laws don't change. 23:57 Yvonne: That's right. 23:58 Ivor: And so, standing in the place of God, 24:00 claiming this law and then saying, 24:03 "Bow down because this law cannot be changed... " 24:06 so, again you see this thing coming into play 24:08 where, "Oh, that's why this beast of Revelation 13 24:11 is a combination... " 24:12 because it's taking different elements 24:14 from the different kingdoms 24:15 and what element is it taking from Medo-Persia? 24:18 this fact that when a law is passed... 24:19 that's it... it can't be changed... 24:21 James: Infallibility. Ivor: Infallibility... 24:23 James: That's what we call it, "Infallibility. " 24:25 I said it, it's not going to change... infallible. 24:27 Yvonne: Wow... 24:29 James: That's it... it's an important principle, 24:30 okay so, let's go to the next section here, 24:32 unless anyone has any other thoughts there 24:34 and let's read verses 10 all the way through to verse 13 24:41 or, wait a minute... 12... 10 through 12... 24:45 no, 10... 11... just 10... 11... 24:48 Jason: Okay, "Now when Daniel knew 24:51 that the writing was signed, he went home. 24:53 And in his upper room, 24:55 with his windows open toward Jerusalem, 24:58 he knelt down on his knees three times that day, 25:01 and prayed and gave thanks before his God, 25:03 as it was his custom since the early days. 25:07 Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying 25:11 and making supplication before his God. " 25:13 James: Yeah, these guys were spying on Daniel... 25:15 they were looking for the goods and they found him... 25:18 they found this guy praying. 25:19 Jason: Yeah. Yvonne: Yeah. 25:21 James: Whoa... "If they only want people spying on me... 25:24 that's what they found... 25:25 like, they're looking for bad stuff. " 25:26 Jason: The part that I love though is... 25:28 he had the window open... 25:29 he's like, "You're not stopping me from praying to my God. " 25:33 He had the window open, like, 25:35 "Yeah, I know that the decree is out... so what?" 25:39 Ivor: And this is why he had the window open 25:41 because it takes us right back to Daniel 1... 25:42 "he purposed in his heart... " 25:44 you start right there, "he purposed in his heart... " 25:47 to do what? "Daniel 1, Daniel 2, Daniel 3... 25:50 all that stems from, "He purposed in his heart. " 25:53 James: Okay, based on a little bit of our conversation 25:55 last night, I'm going to have a little phrase here, 25:57 "Daniel knew how to push the buttons... " 25:59 Yvonne: Yes. laughter... 26:02 James: He knew what buttons needed to be pushed 26:03 and this was the time the buttons needed to be pushed. 26:06 Yvonne: Yes. 26:07 James: "No, I'm not closing these windows... 26:08 I'm not denying my God. " 26:10 You look at all... people praying... 26:12 no... no... Daniel says, 26:14 "No, I'm opening the windows right here 26:15 and I'm going to be... " 26:16 and in fact, here's what's really interesting... 26:18 it says, "He prayed and he gave thanks. " 26:20 Jason: Hmmm... Yvonne: Yes. 26:22 James: What was he thanking God for? 26:23 He was already thanking God ahead of time, I think, 26:26 for deliverance... 26:27 it's like, "Thank you Lord for this opportunity... " 26:29 in fact, I would say he was saying, 26:30 "Thank You Lord for the strength to be bold for You... 26:33 to be courageous for You... 26:35 to be a witness for You... 26:36 thank You for giving me that strength... 26:38 thank You for giving me the strength to open the windows 26:39 and thank You for whatever is going to happen 26:41 in the next few hours... in the next few days... 26:43 thank You... thank You... thank You... 26:45 I know You're in this... I know You're going to bless. " 26:46 Yvonne: Yes. 26:48 James: And that's where we need to be, you know, 26:49 we get worried... and the laws come against us... 26:51 the persecution comes against us... 26:54 the threats come against us... 26:55 people start saying belligerent things about us 26:57 and we worried and we get anxious 26:58 and I think that there's... 27:00 there's a little bit of selfishness in that... 27:03 when self is completely dead 27:05 and when it's completely surrendered to God, 27:06 it's all about Him. 27:08 If we're... if we're doing His work 27:09 and we're being criticized and opposed for that, 27:11 that is God's concern, not our concern. 27:14 Our concern is that we stay connected with Him 27:17 when we keep doing His work and we leave it with Him. 27:18 Yvonne: Right... 27:20 James: And so, if there's that little bit of selfishness... 27:21 the self-concern in there... that's got to go 27:24 and God has the way of weeding that out, you know. 27:25 Yvonne: Yes. 27:27 James: We got a little... "Okay, what does God want me to do? 27:28 I can't change them but I can change me... 27:30 I can change the way I respond to this 27:31 and the way I interact with this... " 27:33 I'm preaching to myself right now, 27:34 hope you understand that, Ivor. 27:35 Ivor: Oh, it's okay... 27:37 and I'm not going to do another program with you 27:39 if you don't stop talking to me... I'm just kidding... 27:41 All: Laughter. 27:43 James: It's all good, isn't it? It's all good. 27:44 This is preparation... 27:45 this little stuff is preparation for the big stuff. 27:47 Yvonne: Yes. 27:48 James: And I thankful God's got a guy that's gone before us 27:51 and in this case, his name is Daniel... 27:53 I'm thankful for that because we need that... 27:55 we need that courage that He's given us right here, don't we? 27:57 Yvonne: We do... Ivor: Absolutely. Yvonne: Amen. |
Revised 2020-07-06