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00:06 ♪♪♪ 00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:17 ♪♪♪ 00:23 ♪♪♪ 00:29 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Shawn Brummund: Hello, friends. 00:37 We're glad that you're joining us for yet another edition 00:38 of the "Sabbath School Study Hour" right here in Sacramento, 00:42 California in the Granite Bay Church, in partnership 00:44 with "Amazing Facts Ministries." 00:46 We're always glad to have everybody that's watching online 00:49 from week to week, and of course everybody that's watching 00:51 on the various television networks as well. 00:53 We're glad that you've decided to join us. 00:55 I am confident that your decision to join us for this 00:58 program will make a real difference in growing your 01:01 faith, in helping to you understand Jesus, understand 01:04 the Bible that much better, and understand that God is 01:07 somebody that we can trust, as we look at this very 01:09 faith-building lesson study today. 01:12 Now, just two or three weeks ago, we started a new quarterly 01:15 study on one of my favorite books, which is entitled Daniel. 01:18 And Daniel is found of course in the Old Testament, and he was 01:22 given some of the most powerful and far-reaching prophecies that 01:25 we can find in all the Bible. 01:27 So if you haven't got yourself a copy of the new quarterly yet, 01:29 make sure that you get a copy of this because you want to find 01:32 yourself getting your nose into it from day to day 01:35 throughout the week and be acquainted with it before you 01:38 even join us here on the "Sabbath School 01:40 Study Hour." 01:42 You'll get that much more out of it as God speaks to both 01:43 of us as we continue to study his Word. 01:47 Always good to have everybody here in the Granite Bay Church 01:49 join us as well, and so a good morning to all of you as we 01:52 continue to study this very important and powerful book. 01:56 And so those of you who are watching online, I want to also 02:00 invite you to take advantage of a free gift offer that we 02:02 have for you which is entitled, "Saved from Certain Death." 02:06 "Saved from Certain Death." 02:07 And as you get into this particular study, which is my 02:11 favorite study of all, which is on salvation, how can we know 02:14 that we have eternal life? 02:15 How can we know that we all-- that death is not the end in our 02:18 experience, that we can have eternal life together? 02:21 So please call the number that you see on the screen, 02:23 which is... 02:27 Take advantage of this offer. 02:28 For those of you who have a phone, a digital phone, that 02:31 would like to download that for free, you can do that even 02:33 if you live outside of America and you can't get the hard copy 02:36 gift that we're offering here today. 02:38 And so just simply text the code that you see on the screen, 02:42 and that is text code SH060, and you want to text that 02:48 to the phone number, or the text number I guess we would call it, 02:50 40544. 02:53 So text that to 40544. 02:56 Take advantage of that either way and I know that you will be 02:59 blessed as you continue to study that important topic as well. 03:03 And so before we invite our teacher forward and we actually 03:07 get into our lesson study, we're gonna invite our singers forward 03:09 as they have a special song of praise. 03:12 Join us now. 03:15 female: Happy Sabbath, church family. 03:18 We're gonna be singing hymn number 330, if you'd 03:21 like to follow along with us. 03:23 ♪♪♪ 03:33 ♪ Take my life and let it be consecrated, ♪ 03:43 ♪ Lord, to thee. ♪ 03:46 ♪ Take my hands and let them move ♪ 03:52 ♪ at the impulse of thy love. ♪ 03:59 ♪ At the impulse of thy love. ♪ 04:06 ♪ Take my feet and let them be swift ♪ 04:13 ♪ and beautiful for thee. ♪ 04:19 ♪ Take my voice and let me sing ♪ 04:25 ♪ always only for my King. ♪ 04:32 ♪ Always only for my King. ♪ 04:39 ♪ Take my lips and let them be ♪ 04:46 ♪ filled with messages from thee. ♪ 04:52 ♪ Take my silver and my gold. ♪ 04:58 ♪ Not a mite would I withhold. ♪ 05:05 ♪ Not a mite would I withhold. ♪ 05:12 ♪ Take my will and make it thine. ♪ 05:18 ♪ It shall be no longer mine. ♪ 05:25 ♪ Take my heart, it is thine own. ♪ 05:31 ♪ It shall be thy royal throne. ♪ 05:38 ♪ It shall be thy royal throne. ♪ 05:45 ♪ Take my love, my Lord, I pour ♪ 05:51 ♪ at thy feet its treasure-store. ♪ 05:58 ♪ Take myself and I will be ♪ 06:04 ♪ ever, only, all for thee. ♪ 06:10 ♪ Ever, only, all for thee. ♪♪ 06:21 Shawn Brummund: Well, thank you for that. 06:22 I wanna invite everyone to join us as we ask the Lord to bless 06:25 us in prayer. 06:26 Father in heaven, we are thankful for this opportunity 06:27 to be able to come together, to be able to study this 06:30 powerful book that you have given to us, to be able to help 06:33 us to understand, and for as many of us, to remind us 06:36 and confirm that you are sovereign, that you are 06:39 the Almighty, that you are the one that rules all 06:41 of the universe, Father in heaven, that you are the one 06:44 that knows the beginning from the end. 06:47 You're the one that comes from eternity and goes 06:49 into eternity. 06:50 And Lord, we're thankful to be a part of that here today. 06:53 God, we're thankful for the offer of eternal life 06:55 that you give to us. 06:56 We claim it through Jesus, even now, and we thank you for giving 06:59 us that gift. 07:01 Father in heaven, I want to pray that you will bless our 07:03 teacher today. 07:04 We thank you for our Senior Pastor, Pastor Doug Batchelor, 07:07 as he's going to be teaching us here today. 07:10 I wanna pray, God in heaven, that you will continue to guide 07:12 him with your Spirit, that you will give him the remembrance 07:14 that you intend for him to remember in regards 07:17 to the Word in which you are going to share with us 07:19 here today. 07:21 Please bless each and every listener and each and every one 07:23 that is worshiping in the church today. 07:24 Father, that your Spirit may guide us and lead us. 07:26 In Jesus's name we pray, amen. 07:31 Doug Batchelor: Thank you, Pastor Shawn. 07:33 Thank you to our singers. 07:36 Good morning to the people in the chairs. 07:38 How's everybody? 07:41 And I wanna welcome you. 07:42 If some of you are bold and brave, you can sit 07:45 on the front pews. 07:46 There is no rule that these are reserved and you're welcome. 07:50 I always do my best to, like, brush my teeth, and gargle, 07:53 and deodorize, so there's no threat coming from here. 07:57 And we're gonna be studying today, Daniel. 08:02 It's lesson number four, and it is one of the great mountaintops 08:08 of the Bible. 08:10 It's a story of the three Hebrew worthies in the fiery furnace. 08:15 Wanna welcome those who are joining us on satellite 08:18 television or maybe you're watching on one of our social 08:21 media sites. 08:22 We know a lot of people tune in via Facebook every week 08:25 and wanna welcome those. 08:26 We have people out there around the world that are online 08:28 members of the Granite Bay Church, and we're just 08:30 so thankful that you could join us today as well. 08:33 You know, there's people that are scattered, different parts 08:35 of the world, usually English-speaking people 08:38 or at least it's a second language, and there's no local 08:41 church they can attend, and they become some of our digital 08:44 members, our online family. 08:46 If you'd like to know more about how to do that, just 08:48 simply go to Granite Bay SDA and you could say, "How do I 08:52 become one of your online members?" 08:54 and our pastors will walk you through that. 08:57 You might even get an email from Mrs. Batchelor, 08:58 who helps with that. 09:01 Lesson number four, and we have a memory verse, and the memory 09:04 verse comes to us from Daniel chapter 3, verse 17. 09:09 Daniel 3:17, if you want to say that with me, then 09:13 that'll be helpful. 09:14 You ready? 09:15 "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, 09:22 fiery furnace, and he will deliver us from your hand, 09:27 O King." 09:29 All right, let's open our Bibles, Daniel chapter 3. 09:34 Now, people get a little confused. 09:35 It's less than four, but it's Daniel chapter 3 that 09:37 we're studying. 09:39 And you remember in Daniel chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar, 09:42 this great golden monarch of the Babylonian Empire, this 09:47 king who has had this dream of this idol. 09:55 And the idol represents the false kingdoms of the world 09:59 that would be oppressing his people, and it's made of, what 10:03 are the metals? 10:04 Gold and silver, bronze, iron. 10:08 The feet are concrete, iron and miry clay. 10:14 That's my theory and I'm sticking to it. 10:16 And so, the head of gold is what kingdom? 10:20 Babylon. 10:21 He says, "Thou, O King, are this head of gold." 10:23 But it bothered Nebuchadnezzar that the vision went on to say, 10:26 "And after you will arise another kingdom." 10:29 He didn't want to have another kingdom. 10:31 He wanted to be the king of the world forever. 10:33 He wanted his kingdom, his monarchy, his posterity 10:36 to continue to reign. 10:39 And so when you get to Daniel chapter 3, it says, 10:43 "Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height 10:48 was 60 cubits and its width 6 cubits. 10:52 And he set it up in the Plain of Dura in the 10:55 province of Babylon." 10:56 So now the king, you think at the end of chapter 2 he's 10:59 glorifying God, but some time had elapsed between chapter 2 11:03 and the vision where he says, "Your God is a God of gods," 11:05 to Daniel and maybe some of his wise men. 11:11 You know, keep in mind, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 11:15 had got promoted at the end of chapter 2, that the wise men 11:18 of Nebuchadnezzar could not interpret the dream, but 11:21 Daniel could. 11:23 That probably created a little resentment in the minds of these 11:27 other magi that the Chaldeans, the astrologers, that could not 11:30 interpret the king's dream. 11:32 And then Daniel gets promoted and his three friends 11:34 above them. 11:36 And as you see in Daniel chapter 6, they're threatened by that. 11:41 And so now they're saying, "Oh Nebuchadnezzar, have you given 11:43 up our idols and our gods to worship the Jewish God?" 11:46 He said, "Oh no, no, no, I still worship our gods." 11:48 He wasn't really converted yet. 11:51 And so the combination of that, maybe the urging of some 11:55 of the wise men, he decided to-- maybe he could overthrow 12:03 the prophecy. 12:05 If the head of gold is Babylon, if he makes an idol that's all 12:08 gold, maybe there will be no silver kingdom and Babylon could 12:12 last forever. 12:15 And you can read in the book, "Prophets and Kings," page 504, 12:19 "The wise men of his realm, taking advantage of this," 12:23 of his return to idolatry, "proposed that he make an image 12:27 similar to the one that he had seen in the dream and set it 12:29 up where all might behold the head of gold, which it had 12:32 been interpreted to represent his kingdom. 12:35 Pleased with the flattering suggestion, he determined 12:38 to carry it out and to go even farther instead of reproducing 12:41 the image as he had seen it." 12:43 You know, gold, silver, bronze, iron, iron and clay. 12:47 "It would excel the original. 12:48 This image would not deteriorate in value from the head 12:51 to the feet, but it would be entirely of gold, symbolic 12:55 throughout Babylon as an eternal indestructible, all-powerful 12:59 kingdom, which would break in pieces all the other kingdoms 13:03 and stand forever." 13:04 He said, "I can overthrow the Word of God and the prophecy 13:07 of God," so he makes his mammoth image. 13:10 Now just earlier, I almost said this year, of course it was last 13:13 year now because we're in 2020, Karen and I, with Jared, were 13:17 in Asia doing some evangelistic programs, and some training, 13:21 and recording some "Amazing Facts." 13:23 And while in Malaysia--we went to Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong. 13:27 While in Malaysia, we went to Batu Caves. 13:30 They got it up on the screen there? 13:31 Yeah, that's a statue of Lord Murugan, and it is great, golden 13:39 statue. 13:40 I don't know, it's like 250 feet tall. 13:42 And no, we were not there worshiping the statue. 13:45 We were there recording an "Amazing Fact." 13:47 Behind the statue are some beautiful, massive caves. 13:50 Very--big enough you could fly a plane into it, and people go 13:54 there. 13:56 You can see I'm ascending up and down the steps, but when 13:58 I saw that, what do you think I thought about? 14:00 Daniel chapter 3. 14:02 And I did an "Amazing Fact" about Daniel chapter 3 while we 14:06 were there that day that you still haven't seen yet because 14:09 we have so much editing to do. 14:11 We've gotta catch up. 14:12 But that is not the tallest statue in the world, nor is it 14:15 the statue of Liberty. 14:16 Tallest statue in the world was just built recently. 14:19 It's called the Unity Statue. 14:20 It is in India. 14:22 And you can see the different statues, tall statues 14:24 of the world, there's a little chart I put up there just 14:27 for your interest, trivia. 14:29 You've got the first one there, it's the statue of Our Christ 14:32 the Redeemer. 14:34 It's 38 meters. 14:35 That's above Rio de Janeiro. 14:36 You've probably seen it on the hill. 14:38 They got the Mother of Russia there, 91 meters. 14:40 Statue of Liberty, 2 meters taller, but actually it's not 14:44 taller. 14:45 The statue's shorter, but it's on a big pedestal. 14:47 So with the pedestal, The Statue of Liberty is 93 meters. 14:51 Then you've got a couple of Buddhas in China, in other 14:55 parts of the world. 14:56 And then you've got in India, this massive, colossal statue, 15:00 597 feet tall, if you can imagine that. 15:05 It's of one of their founders of the country, Patel I think is 15:10 the name. 15:11 And boy, I tell you, it was-- that's really something. 15:14 And you know, man keeps building bigger and bigger statues in our 15:17 day and age and we're building bigger--just in this 15:19 generation, and bigger and bigger buildings. 15:23 You thought that the Burj Khalifa was tall. 15:26 Right now it's the tallest building of the world. 15:28 I've been there and went up the building. 15:31 Karen and I were there, but when we went, we didn't have time 15:33 to go to the top again. 15:35 And now I understand that in Saudi Arabia, they're 15:39 planning on building a building that is a mile high, if you can 15:43 imagine that. 15:45 Makes you think about Daniel chapter 11, Tower of Babel. 15:49 Well, back to our story in Babylon. 15:51 They always wanted to outdo everything before, so he makes 15:54 his massive statue of gold, sets it up in the Plain of Dura, 15:59 and he says, "We're going to have an inauguration 16:02 ceremony." 16:03 Now, something right at the beginning ought 16:05 to trigger your interest. 16:07 What's the dimension of the statue? 16:10 Sixty cubits by six cubits. 16:15 Now you know, as we read on in the story, it says he 16:18 makes an idol and tells everyone if they don't worship the idol, 16:21 they'll be killed. 16:22 Does that sound familiar to you? 16:24 You see that happening somewhere else in the Bible? 16:27 When you go to Revelation 13, does it talk about those that do 16:30 not worship the image should be killed? 16:32 And then there's a number that is given at the end of 16:34 that chapter. 16:36 What is the number? 666. 16:38 Now, with that in mind, Dr. Leslie Harding, 16:41 a great scholar in our church, he told me that 16:46 in Hebrew, if it gives the the width and it does not 16:50 give the depth, the depth and the width will be the same 16:53 as the--and then you've got the height. 16:56 An example of this, if you look in Exodus 30, verse 1 and 2, 16:59 talking about the altar of incense, You shall make 17:01 an altar to burn incense on it. 17:03 Make it of acacia wood. 17:05 A cubit shall be its length, a cubit its width. 17:08 Equal length and width, and two cubits its height. 17:13 So if it does not give the figure for the depth, it 17:16 will be the same as the width, which means that the image is 6 17:21 cubits by 6 cubits by 60 cubits. 17:25 You see what he's saying? 17:27 And yeah, so don't miss that number 6 in this big statue. 17:33 The numbers mean something, like when you get to the New 17:34 Jerusalem, 12,000 furlongs. 17:37 Don't use feet. 17:38 I know it's 1500 feet, but they didn't use feet. 17:41 The used cubits. 17:42 They used furlongs. 17:44 And using their measurements, the number meant something. 17:46 So in Babylon, 60 and 6 and 6 meant something. 17:52 Anyway, so now this is not-- this image he's making, it's not 17:57 genuine because it's hollow. 18:01 It's not solid gold. 18:03 They could never afford an image that big, solid gold. 18:06 Even Babylon with all their magnificent wealth, it's plated. 18:11 Isaiah 40, verse 19, "The workman melted the graven image 18:15 and the goldsmiths spreadeth it over with the gold and cast as 18:19 silver change." 18:21 You'll look in Habakkuk 2:19, there's several verses that say 18:24 this, "Woe to him who says to the wood, 'Awake,' to silent 18:28 stone, 'Arise. 18:30 It will teach.' 18:31 Behold, it," the wood and the stone, "is overlaid 18:33 with gold and silver, and yet there's no breath 18:37 in them." 18:38 They're hollow, and so they would take these wooden 18:41 statues--some of you read in Jeremiah 10, where it says he 18:43 goes to the woods and he cuts down a tree, and he overlays it 18:47 with gold and silver. 18:48 And people say, "That's the Christmas tree." 18:49 No, it's just what they did with idols. 18:51 They'd cut down the tree, and they'd fashion it, and then 18:53 they'd plate it. 18:54 So this is not solid gold, it is plated with gold, but still it's 18:59 like that statue I showed you of Lord Murugan. 19:02 That is gold leaf paint that they use, and they use a whole 19:06 lot of it too on that statue. 19:10 So he wants the the gold to last forever. 19:14 He's wanting his kingdom to last forever. 19:17 And someone's going to read for me in a moment I think Luke 19:19 14:13, but who gets invited to this feast? 19:24 If you'll look in Daniel chapter 3, verse 2, it says, "And 19:29 the King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together 19:32 the satraps and administrators," that's the princes, "and 19:35 administrators, and the governors, 19:37 and the counselors, and the treasurers, 19:39 and the judges, and the magistrates, and all 19:41 the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication 19:45 of the image, who King Nebuchadnezzar had set up." 19:49 And so who gets to come? 19:52 The who's who. 19:54 He's bringing all the elite, all the important people. 19:56 Why? 19:58 He doesn't send out this invitation to the general 20:01 population. 20:02 The idea is that if you can get the heads of all the people-- 20:06 You know the most popular magazines? 20:08 Anyone want to guess? 20:10 The rich and the famous, the tabloid magazines. 20:15 People don't want to hear about poor people doing 20:17 nothing nowhere. 20:18 They want to know what the rich people are doing, what 20:20 the famous people or doing. 20:21 Am I right? 20:23 You just--don't ever buy it, but if you look at the tabloid 20:26 magazines when you check out of the market--don't ever 20:29 buy them or it will lower your perceived IQ, but they're always 20:36 talking about the rich and the famous. 20:38 Because the king knew that if these folks would come 20:40 and dedicate his image, then all the poor people would follow. 20:44 But when Jesus had a feast, who did he invite? 20:46 Why don't you read that next verse to us. 20:48 female: Luke 14:13, "But when you give a feast, invite 20:52 the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind." 20:57 Doug Batchelor: Isn't that interesting? 20:58 Nebuchadnezzar, he invites the rich and the famous. 21:01 Jesus said when you give a feast, if you want to be 21:04 blessed by your Father in heaven, invite people who 21:06 can't repay you. 21:07 Invite people who might be socially insignificant, 'cause 21:10 he makes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust. 21:13 So Nebuchadnezzar's doing things the way the devil would do it. 21:16 It's all about name, and power, and prestige. 21:20 And so he wants to persuade the leaders to help him 21:23 inaugurate this new religion. 21:26 He's trying to weld together a kingdom that will last. 21:28 Now, don't miss this 'cause it comes up in Revelation as well. 21:33 You know, when you have a world power and you're tryin' to unite 21:36 it, if you cannot unite this world power that might be 21:39 divided by language, culture, customs, race, you can unite 21:46 them by religion. 21:48 Why do you think Hitler had everybody say, "Heil Hitler"? 21:52 It actually turned to a religious cult. 21:56 Why do you think Augustus Caesar said that he was a god, 22:00 and Alexander the Great? 22:01 And Darius said, "Everybody worship just the king 22:04 for 30 days." 22:05 Why 30 days? 22:06 Because history has shown that when you cannot unite people 22:09 from all these different backgrounds through common 22:12 language and custom or race, that religion can be a unifying 22:18 factor. 22:19 In the last days, what is the devil gonna do? 22:21 He's gonna call--cause all to worship. 22:24 Why? 22:25 He wants to have one world religion that is opposing 22:28 the religion of Jesus in the last days through common 22:31 worship is what's gonna happen. 22:33 Do we see religious leaders like the Pope today trying 22:36 to get all the different religious leaders to come 22:38 together for common purpose? 22:40 Yeah, this pope in particular is reaching out more than any other 22:43 that I know of. 22:45 So he calls them together to inaugurate this grade idol, 22:51 but some people have been invited. 22:52 And maybe these three Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, 22:57 did not know exactly what was going on, and--but there's gonna 23:03 be a problem. 23:05 Here's what his instructions are. 23:08 They all come to the dedication and a herald--messages 23:14 circulated among this vast crowd of leaders from around 23:17 his realm. 23:19 A herald cries out. 23:20 Now, here they're getting the instructions. 23:22 "To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, languages." 23:27 Isn't that what it says? 23:28 "To every tongue and nation, the gospel goes, and every 23:31 tongue and nation must worship the beast and image." 23:34 There's a battle in the last days for every tongue 23:36 and nation. 23:38 He says, "O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time 23:41 you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the harp, the lyre, 23:45 the psaltery, the symphony with all kinds of music, you 23:49 will fall down. 23:50 You shall prostrate yourself and worship the gold image that 23:54 Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 23:56 Whoever does not fall down and worship will be cast 24:00 immediately into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace." 24:04 Now, there is a problem for some of the Jews that might be 24:08 in the audience. 24:09 There may have been many Jews in the audience that day, 24:10 but there's only three that stood up. 24:14 It tells us that Exodus 20, verse 4. 24:17 How many of you know that third commandment? 24:21 The second commandment, sorry. 24:23 Second commandment, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 24:28 image of the likeness of anything in the heaven above, 24:30 or the earth beneath, or the water under the earth. 24:33 You will not bow down yourself to them nor serve them, for I 24:36 the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity 24:39 of the fathers on the children unto the third and fourth 24:41 generation of them that hate me, but showing mercy unto thousands 24:45 of them that love me and keep my commandments." 24:47 You realize that in the second commandment, you've got 24:50 the promise, "Love me and keep my commandments." 24:53 Everyone focuses on the judgment on the third and fourth 24:56 generation, but they don't focus on, "Mercy on thousands that 25:02 love me and keep my commandments." 25:04 There's a very clear, explicit commandment repeated in the New 25:08 and the Old Testament, "Do not make idols and pray to them." 25:12 It is forbidden. 25:15 So what are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego gonna do? 25:19 You've got this law. 25:23 You got a government law. 25:24 The government law conflicts with the law of God. 25:26 Which law you're going to follow? 25:29 Peter said, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you 25:33 more than God, judge ye." 25:35 He said we ought to obey God rather than men. 25:39 Are we gonna be faced with a similar challenge 25:42 in the last days? 25:44 Actually some of us are faced with that challenge all the time 25:47 in little things. 25:48 We don't think about it. 25:50 We're often being faced with a decision, "Will I obey 25:52 God or man? 25:54 Will I obey God or my own inclination?" 25:57 And if we're falling down and failing in the little 26:00 tests, the little quizzes that come from day to day, what will 26:04 we do when the big test comes? 26:06 People always wonder, "What will I do when I must choose?" 26:09 Well, you're deciding every day what you're gonna do. 26:12 It's in the little tests. 26:14 "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful 26:17 in much." 26:18 Well, these three young Hebrews, when the music sounded, they 26:24 decided, "You know, guys, this would be a really good time 26:27 for us to adjust our sandals. 26:31 Let's just get down. 26:32 We won't pray to the image, but let's fix our shoes. 26:35 We don't want to be a spectacle. 26:38 The Bible tells us to obey the laws of the land, and we 26:41 won't pray to the idol. 26:43 We'll get on our knees and we'll pray to God." 26:46 Couldn't they have said that? 26:48 They could have rationalized. 26:50 They could've said, "Look, they're having a wonderful 26:52 celebration right now. 26:54 We are gonna be known as the world's worst party poopers 26:58 if we do not bow down with everybody else." 27:00 I mean, who wants to stand out in a crowd? 27:03 Not only that, everything about the event that day was 27:08 calculated by the king to inspire worship. 27:10 I should say the devil was behind it all. 27:13 Golden image, can you imagine? 27:15 They probably waited until the twilight, the sun is 27:19 just--the sky is gilded, you know, with the clouds, and you 27:23 had a beautiful sunset, and the sun is on this 27:27 the veiled image, and the music plays, best musicians 27:31 in the world back then. 27:33 And they pull the little ripcord and this parachute falls 27:36 off the statue, revealing it, and everyone goes, "Ah!" 27:40 And they know that's the moment, the trumpet hits its notes, 27:44 you're to bow down, and everyone just falls down. 27:47 Everything in that situation was calculated to make them want 27:51 to worship. 27:54 I mean, there's power in music. 27:58 Is the devil gonna use music in the last days to inspire 28:01 the wrong kind of worship? 28:03 Music is good, and I think that music should be part of worship, 28:09 but there is the right kind of music and there is Babylonian 28:11 music. 28:14 I remember before I was a Seventh-Day Adventist 28:16 Christian, I worshiped with Charismatic, Pentecostal 28:20 brothers and sisters. 28:21 A lot of good people. 28:22 I expect to see a number of those people in heaven. 28:24 They love the Lord and maybe didn't know better, but boy I'll 28:28 tell you, before their services, they--the band--not all, 28:33 but some of the churches I went to, they would whip 28:35 up into a frenzy. 28:37 And I thought to myself, "This just can't be right. 28:39 I cannot picture Jesus in this hootenanny." 28:43 I mean, it was, you know, just a drum beat, and the people 28:46 kicking, and dancing, and running 28:47 up and down the aisles, and falling down, and it was 28:49 just bedlam. 28:51 And they'd all start getting taken away in ecstatic 28:55 utterances and they said, "This is the Holy Spirit." 28:58 I said, "I'm not reading that in the Book of Acts." 29:00 I don't know where they're getting that, but the music 29:03 would always prepare for the wild worship. 29:10 When things get out of hand at concerts, it's usually not 29:14 Mozart they're playing. 29:15 Have you noticed that? 29:16 You ever heard they had a stampede at a 29:20 Beethoven concert? 29:23 That the police were called in for Chopin? 29:27 No, they don't ever say that. 29:31 So music was involved, Babylonian music. 29:35 And I'm sure it was very moving. 29:39 And the music played, they dropped the curtain, unveiled 29:42 the image, and everybody was overwhelmed, and they 29:46 all bowed down. 29:48 But there were three Hebrews that day that had made up their 29:52 minds, no matter what, they were not going to disobey God. 29:58 Now, the music was heavenly. 30:01 They could see the furnace burning in the distance and it 30:04 was not heavenly. 30:07 So they had the motivation of the heavenly music 30:10 and the diabolical furnace that was like hell. 30:14 Neither would move them. 30:17 The people who are there on the Plains of Dura that day 30:19 were being moved by the heavenly music--and well, maybe it 30:23 wasn't so heavenly. 30:25 Babylonian music and the furnace. 30:28 Neither one of those should be the reason we worship. 30:31 It should not be the people around us that makes us worship. 30:35 It should not be fear of the fire. 30:37 How many people go to church because they're afraid 30:38 of the furnace? 30:40 Isn't that right? 30:43 I remember once I was giving a Bible study to a pastor 30:46 of a Baptist church, and a good man, and we were studying 30:50 the subject of the lake of fire. 30:52 And I went through all the verses that explain that 30:54 there is a lake of fire, but it doesn't burn forever. 30:58 And there's a lot of compelling biblical arguments for that that 31:02 are really hard to refute. 31:03 I mean, I've talked about perished, burnt up, 31:05 consumed, devoured, no more pain, all things new, 31:10 and the wicked shall blow away into ashes, burnt up. 31:13 You know, I can--verse, after verse, after verse. 31:16 And he got real quiet and he finally said, "Well, Pastor 31:18 Doug," he said, "If I--I've seen these passages before and I 31:21 know you got some strong arguments here, but if I told my 31:23 people that, they wouldn't come to church. 31:26 If they didn't think that hell burned forever, they wouldn't 31:28 come to church." 31:29 I'll never forget that. 31:31 And I said, "Brother, are they coming because they're 31:33 afraid of hell?" 31:34 I said, "That's a sorry reason to come." 31:36 Might be a starting point, but you know, you don't want 31:41 everyone to come to church because they're afraid they're 31:42 going to burn. 31:44 And Nebuchadnezzar was inaugurating his 31:47 worship on fear. 31:48 Is there a large religion in the world today that "says, 31:51 If you convert from our religion, we will kill you"? 31:55 Well, if you gotta tell people you're going to kill them if 31:57 they convert from your religion, there's somethin' suspicious 32:00 about your religion. 32:02 Isn't that right? 32:04 It's like if you're in a country that has to build walls to 32:06 keep people in. 32:08 We're building a wall to keep people out. 32:10 A lot of countries build a wall to keep people in. 32:13 There's something wrong with your country if you gotta 32:15 build an iron curtain to keep 'em in. 32:17 That means they hate it and they want to get out. 32:20 If you've got to make laws that we're going to kill you if you 32:22 dare leave my church, that means that the actual content of your 32:25 religion is not strong enough to keep them in. 32:28 And if Nebuchadnezzar had to build a furnace and say, "You 32:30 better worship my image," well, something's wrong with 32:32 your religion. 32:34 This is a sign of the devil's religion when they have 32:36 to employ those tactics. 32:40 So they play the music and they don't bow down. 32:47 Well, sure enough, there were people in the crowd that day, 32:51 the other wise men that maybe were resenting the three 32:54 Hebrews. 32:56 You can get to Daniel chapter 3 verse 8, "Therefore at that 32:59 time, certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews." 33:04 These are the ones who were put out of a job. 33:07 They spoke to the king, "Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live 33:09 forever. 33:10 You, O king, haven't you made a decree?" 33:14 They're reminding the king of his law. 33:15 Isn't that what happens in Daniel? 33:16 They go back to King Darius and say, "Didn't 33:18 you make a law?" 33:22 "Didn't you make a decree that whoever doesn't fall 33:26 down and worship the image will be cast in the midst 33:28 of the burning furnace? 33:30 There are certain Jews that you have set over the affairs 33:34 of the province of Babylon." 33:35 You can tell they resent that they maybe were displaced. 33:40 "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, these men, O king, 33:44 have not paid due regard to you." 33:48 It has nothing to do with Nebuchadnezzar. 33:50 They're just not going to insult their God. 33:53 "Nor do they serve your gods or worship the gold image which 33:56 you have set up." 33:58 Now, what's the big question that we haven't mentioned yet? 34:04 There's a silent question in this chapter when you talked 34:07 about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 34:09 Yeah, who is in chapter 1 and 2? 34:13 Daniel ends, Daniel 2, by saying he exalted his three friends, 34:16 so they're all in this together. 34:17 And all of a sudden you're going, "Wasn't Daniel 34:19 over Babylon? 34:20 Where is he?" 34:21 Well, you can theorize. 34:23 There is no definite answer, but I suspect that 34:27 Nebuchadnezzar, knowing what he was up to, knowing how Daniel 34:30 felt about idolatry, Daniel said that, "Your idol in your dream 34:34 was going to be pulverized by God's Kingdom. 34:37 That will grow into a great mountain and fill the whole 34:40 earth," that Nebuchadnezzar thought, "You know, I don't 34:42 want--I don't want anybody to ruin my party, and he 34:45 probably won't want to be there." 34:47 And maybe Daniel just knew what was up and refused to come, just 34:51 like he didn't go to Belshazzar's feast either, 34:53 did he? 34:54 They had to bring him in. 34:55 So Daniel's not there, and he either wasn't invited or by his 35:00 choice, he did not come. 35:03 But Nebuchadnezzar, when he first hears this, 35:09 he doesn't want to lose them. 35:12 And so Nebuchadnezzar--notice this in verse 13, it says, 35:17 "Nebuchadnezzar in a rage and a fury, he gave 35:21 the command." 35:22 He said, "What? 35:23 You're telling me that all the trouble I went to, I brought 35:25 all these people in so I could execute this perfect ceremony, 35:29 and some people have the audacity to stand 35:32 up and ruin my program?" 35:35 So they brought these three men before the king, 35:37 and Nebuchadnezzar, he saw them, and these are the young men he 35:40 had just said a few years earlier they're ten times wiser 35:42 than anyone else. 35:44 He knew who they were. 35:45 Notice he says it by name. 35:47 "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not 35:52 serve my gods or worship the golden image that 35:53 I've set up?" 35:55 He doesn't wait for their answer yet. 35:57 "Now, I want to give you another chance. 35:58 Maybe you weren't ready. 35:59 Maybe you didn't hear about the consequences. 36:01 I don't want to lose you guys. 36:02 You're good. You're smart." 36:05 Even though he's mad, he says, "I'm going to give you 36:07 another chance." 36:09 Now, the devil. 36:10 Does the devil want them to die or does he want them 36:12 to compromise? 36:13 More than anything, the devil doesn't want to just kill 36:15 Christians, he wants them to compromise. 36:19 I was reading some church history this week and frequently 36:24 during the Inquisition, when Christians were tortured, 36:28 witnesses there say they did not give up their faith. 36:32 They stood to the end. 36:33 They died, but then their inquisitors would say, "Yes, 36:37 they renounced Christ. 36:39 They renounced their views before they died." 36:42 They lied because they felt defeated if they died for their 36:45 faith, and they would lie and say they did. 36:48 The devil wants more than anything to point the finger 36:50 at the church and say they compromised, they capitulated, 36:52 they gave up. 36:55 And so he wants something--he said, "I'm going to give you 36:57 another chance. 36:58 I want you to bow down." 37:00 More than anything on the cross, the devil wanted Jesus to sin. 37:05 He did everything he could to get Christ to curse, or deny 37:07 his faith, or something. 37:11 The last resort is death. 37:14 It says, "If you didn't hear it, I'll give you one more chance. 37:16 When you hear the sound of the harp, the flute, 37:19 the lyre, the psaltery, and symphony, fall 37:21 down and worship, then good. 37:24 But if you do not worship, you will be cast immediately 37:28 into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace." 37:31 And catch this taunt. 37:33 He says, "Who is that God who will deliver you from my hands?" 37:40 You gotta be very careful about daring the Lord. 37:44 He was about to find out who that God was. 37:47 So you notice what's happening here? 37:50 Again, as in chapter 2, you've got two kingdoms in conflict. 37:54 You've got Nebuchadnezzar's idol and the Rock of Ages. 37:59 In Daniel 1, you've got the diet of Daniel and the diet 38:04 of Babylon. 38:05 In Daniel 3, you've got Nebuchadnezzar's worship 38:09 and the worship of God. 38:11 Which one is gonna win? 38:13 So there's this terrible conflict. 38:15 He says, "My worship, my idol, is bigger than your God. 38:18 My laws more important than your law." 38:22 You see, there's a conflict here. 38:24 Daniel is always saying that God wins in the end. 38:28 "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king." 38:32 I don't know which of them was the spokesman. 38:35 "Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this 38:40 matter." 38:41 They said, "Look, this is an easy question for us. 38:46 If that is the case, our God who we serve is able to deliver us 38:51 from the burning, fiery furnace and he will deliver us from your 38:55 hand, O king." 38:57 Now first of all, they say, "Our God is able and he will." 39:01 That's incredible faith that they should say that. 39:05 They said, "We're going to put our God first." 39:07 Now you know, some people would argue, "Well, when in Rome, do 39:10 as the Romans," and I even meet some Christians that say, "Well, 39:13 you know, you don't want to offend them, and so you 39:16 worship their god when you're in their country." 39:19 No, I think you stand for God wherever you are. 39:23 You don't compromise your faith. 39:27 And they said, "Our God is able to deliver us." 39:31 But notice verse 18, "But if not, if he chooses not to, let 39:37 it be known to you, O king, that we do not--" like, "we're just 39:41 letting you know right now, we do not serve your gods, nor will 39:44 we worship the gold image which you have set up." 39:47 Would all of us have that kind of resolve as we enter the last 39:50 days, that we know whom we have, who we serve, and he is able 39:56 to deliver what we've committed to him against that day. 39:59 We are not going to compromise. 40:00 We know who we have believed in. 40:03 They said, "Even if he doesn't deliver us, we're not gonna stop 40:07 believing." 40:08 It's like Job said, "Though he slay me, I'm still going 40:10 to trust him." 40:12 I remember visiting with a brother years ago. 40:14 He was struggling with serious cancer. 40:17 Didn't have very good prognosis. 40:20 He said, "Doug, I've prayed and I've asked God to heal me. 40:23 I know he can. 40:25 But I was reading in Daniel and it says even if he doesn't, 40:28 I'm going to love and trust him. 40:30 No matter what happens, I'm not gonna compromise. 40:34 I know God can, but even if he doesn't." 40:37 If you're a believer and he doesn't choose to heal you, what 40:40 does that mean? 40:42 Well, you're gonna be healed in the resurrection. 40:44 He's going to heal you, right? 40:46 You'll get a glorified body. 40:49 They said, "Well, we might die for our faith, but we expect 40:52 a better resurrection." 40:55 You remember reading in Hebrews, where it's describing people, 41:01 Hebrews 11, verse 32, "And what shall I more say for the time 41:06 would fail me to tell of Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, 41:09 and Jephthah, also David, and Samuel, and the prophets, 41:12 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, 41:16 obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions." 41:19 Who is Paul thinking of here? 41:22 Daniel. 41:24 "Quenched the violence of the fire." 41:25 Who is he thinking of? 41:27 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, right? 41:30 He said, "Our God who we serve, he is able to deliver us, and he 41:33 can deliver us from your hand, O king." 41:37 So the king then, when he hears that, he says, "Who's going 41:42 to deliver you from my hand?" 41:44 They said, "We're not gonna bow down." 41:45 Notice in Daniel 3:13, Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury 41:49 calls Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 41:52 Then after they tell the king, "We are not gonna bow down. 41:54 You don't have to play the music a second time." 41:57 Now, some of us would probably say, 41:59 "Well, I'll tell you what, king. 42:00 Let's play that music one more time. 42:02 Let's see how I feel. 42:04 Maybe something will happen." 42:06 They said, "You don't even need to play the next verse." 42:08 They said, "We are not bowing down," amen? 42:12 Now, verse 19, "Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury." 42:16 You read in Revelation about the dragon was wroth. 42:20 And the expression on his face changed. 42:24 He had been showing them some sympathy and patience, 'cause he 42:27 said, "Look, you guys, not you. 42:29 I don't wanna throw the book at you." 42:32 He was willing to, you know, kind of even blur his own law 42:35 a little bit to give them more time. 42:38 They said, "We don't need more time. 42:40 We're not changing." 42:42 Now it says, "His face changed." 42:44 His face probably contorted with anger and he gives this 42:49 severe, urgent command. 42:51 Someone's going to read for me Isaiah 43, verse 2 in just 42:55 a moment. 42:56 You get the mic there. 42:58 Let me read Daniel 3:22. 43:00 "Therefore, because the King's command was urgent 43:03 and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed 43:08 those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego." 43:15 You know, it's interesting that the ones who were the accusers 43:22 end up dying. 43:23 What happened to the people who accused Daniel? 43:26 Daniel gets out of the lions den; they get fed to the lions. 43:30 What happens to the Pharaohs soldiers? 43:33 The Red Sea parts for the Israelites and it drowns 43:37 the Pharaoh's soldiers. 43:39 God always proves his miracles. 43:44 And it tells us that the fire was so hot. 43:46 Now, you know, up in our cabin in the hills, one of the things 43:50 we like to do in the winter is we burn brush. 43:54 Up there, it's still one of the places in America you 43:56 don't need an Act of Congress and we use common sense. 43:59 We just wait until the ground's all wet. 44:02 And we had a little fire going a couple of weeks ago 44:05 during Christmas. 44:06 We were burning a small pile, but we've burnt some piles 44:08 up there. 44:09 And you know, it doesn't matter how much it rains. 44:11 If you get a good fire going up there, it'll burn. 44:13 You can throw just total wet stuff in there and it burns it. 44:17 And I've got heavy equipment, so when I start a brush fire, I 44:20 don't fool around. 44:22 I get a bulldozer and I pile all this slash and these logs up, 44:25 and it's bigger than a house. 44:27 And it's really fun to burn it. 44:30 And the people 10 miles away in the town of Covelo at night, 44:33 they see the hills glowing up by the Batchelors' place. 44:39 But we're not the only ones, don't worry about it. 44:40 Other people do that. 44:43 And but we've had some fires going where I underestimated how 44:46 big and hot it was, and I'd pick up this wet log, and I knew it's 44:50 so heavy. 44:52 And to get it burnt, you can't throw it by the fire, you've got 44:53 to get in the fire. 44:55 So I'd get a running start and I run up this big ol' raging, 44:57 pulsating brush fire, and I threw this wet log in, and I 45:02 realized as I got up there, I got too close because it 45:06 actually burnt the eyebrows. 45:08 It singed my eyebrows and I got, like, you know, second degree 45:11 burns on my--it looked like I'd been in a solar booth. 45:14 And little sparks rained down on my beanie and singed 45:19 holes in the nylon on my beanie. 45:21 And I thought, "Boy, if I had gone 6 inches closer, it 45:23 would've blistered me." 45:26 Nebuchadnezzar told them to heat the furnace seven times hotter. 45:32 Now, I'm sure they didn't have some accurate measuring devices. 45:35 Just letting us know that it was seven times hotter than it was 45:38 designed to be heated to melt gold. 45:40 And that thing is making noise, and the light inside has got 45:45 a blue light, and it's pulsating, and you can feel 45:48 the convection is sucking. 45:50 Everything's coming in the door and going out the chimney. 45:53 It's roaring. 45:56 And he's in a fury. 45:57 He says--his commandment is so hasty. 45:59 He doesn't even undress them to try and save their clothes, 46:02 you know? 46:03 At least Jesus, they undressed him and gambled 46:04 for his clothing. 46:06 They're tied up in all their fine garments. 46:08 And they get two soldiers on each side and they run 46:10 towards the mouth, and they heave 'em up in there, and, 46:12 poosh, they're burned. 46:14 Now, if I was the second group throwing in Meshach, I would've 46:19 said to the king, "You know, can we get another volunteer 46:22 for this job?" 46:25 He says, "You better get him all the way in there." 46:28 Second group runs up with Meshach and they hurl 46:30 him off in there, and they fall down screaming and writhing, 46:33 and they die. 46:34 If I was that third group throwing in Abednego, I'd see if 46:38 I could appeal to the king and say, "You know, can't we 46:40 catapult them in there? 46:42 Do I have to throw him in?" 46:45 All the soldiers, must have been at least six, that threw them 46:49 in died. 46:50 The fire was so hot. 46:51 So if anyone says, "Oh, the hot fire just wasn't hot. 46:53 You know, there's Fijians that walk on fire. 46:54 It wasn't anything," uh-uh. 46:58 It was a first class miracle. 47:00 They were all burned. 47:03 "Then Nebuchadnezzar was astonished," verse 24. 47:07 Oh, someone's going to read for me. 47:08 Yeah, go ahead, read that verse, Isaiah 43 for me. 47:11 male: Isaiah 43, verses 2 and 3, "When you pass 47:15 through the waters, I will be with you, 47:17 and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. 47:21 When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, 47:25 nor shall the flame scorch you. 47:27 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy one of Israel, 47:30 your Savior." 47:32 Doug Batchelor: Amen. 47:34 Now, who lived first: Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, or Isaiah? 47:40 Isaiah. 47:41 So could they read the promise of Isaiah? 47:44 Yeah, Daniel read the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, no 47:47 question. 47:49 They read that promise we just read. 47:50 "When you go through the fire, I will be with you." 47:53 Did Jesus keep his promise? 47:55 Nebuchadnezzar gets up astonished and he says 47:58 in haste, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst 48:02 of the fire?" 48:03 They said to the king, "It's true, O king, look." 48:05 He said, "I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire 48:09 and they're not hurt, and the form of the fourth is 48:12 like the Son of God." 48:14 If you go through trials, who goes with you? 48:18 Does Jesus come to you when you go through fiery trials? 48:22 Yeah, Jesus was with them. 48:23 How did Nebuchadnezzar know who that was? 48:27 You know, you read in "Prophets and Kings," page 508, "The Lord 48:31 did not forget his own. 48:33 As his witnesses were cast into the furnace, the Savior 48:36 revealed himself to them in the person, and together-- 48:40 in person, and together they walked in the midst of the fire. 48:43 In the presence of the Lord of heat and cold, the flames 48:46 lost their power to consume." 48:49 You know what the Bible says? 48:50 If you are walking with the Lord now, you will be able to endure 48:55 the brightness of his coming. 48:56 What's going to happen to the wicked when Jesus comes? 49:00 They are destroyed with the brightness 49:02 of his coming. 49:04 Look in Isaiah 33:14, "Who among us will dwell 49:08 with the devouring fire? 49:10 Who among us will dwell with everlasting burnings? 49:13 He who walks righteously, who speaks uprightly, who despises 49:18 gain and oppressions, who gestures with his hands refusing 49:22 brides, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, 49:25 and shuts his eyes from seeing evil?" 49:27 Those are the ones who will be able to abide the fire of his 49:31 second coming. 49:33 Bible says, 2 Peter 3, "The day of the Lord will come as a thief 49:36 in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise. 49:39 The elements will melt with fervent heat. 49:41 The earth and the works that are therein will be burned up." 49:44 You and I need to have lives now where we can walk in the furnace 49:47 with Christ. 49:51 So Nebuchadnezzar, he says, "Didn't we--" 49:53 He calls his advisers, "Just want to double check, 49:56 how many did we throw in?" 49:59 "Three." 50:00 "Well, that's what I thought, but I see four, and the form 50:05 of the fourth is like the Son of God." 50:07 How did he know what the Son of God was like? 50:11 Because he had spent time with Daniel. 50:14 He knew about the Jewish Messiah. 50:17 He knew that God would come to the Earth. 50:19 Nebuchadnezzar knew. 50:22 This is a wonderful testimony. 50:23 Then the king, he issues a decree. 50:26 He has a decree to throw 'em in. 50:27 Now he has a decree bring 'em out and he calls them forth 50:32 from the fire. 50:33 He says, "Oh, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, come forth, servants 50:35 of the Living God. 50:37 Come forth." 50:38 And they come out and the Bible says that their hair was 50:42 not singed. 50:44 The only thing burnt was the ropes that bound them. 50:46 Sometimes God allows us to go through the fire so that 50:49 the shackles might burn, so to speak. 50:53 We're liberated. 50:54 They were liberated by the fiery trial they went through. 50:58 And then Nebuchadnezzar says in Daniel 3, verse 28, he spoke 51:05 saying, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, 51:09 and Abednego, who sent his angel and delivered his servants, who 51:13 trusted in him. 51:15 And they have frustrated the king's word and yielded 51:17 their bodies that they should not worship." 51:19 This is something we're all invited to do. 51:22 "Yielded their bodies that they should not worship any god 51:25 except their own God. 51:27 Therefore, I make a decree that any people, nation, or language 51:32 which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, 51:35 Meshach, and Abednego, he will be cut in pieces and their 51:38 houses will be made a heap, a dunghill, because there is no 51:42 other god that can deliver like this." 51:44 This is incredible. 51:46 He starts with a threat that you must worship his god, 51:48 but at the end of the story, because they stand up for God, 51:52 a witness ends up going to the world because of their 51:54 fortitude. 51:56 You know, I heard a pastor say one time, because 51:59 of the faithfulness of those three Hebrews, God accomplished 52:02 that day on the Plain of Dura what he had been trying to do 52:06 through the Hebrew nation their entire history. 52:10 During the entire history of the nation of Israel, God had 52:14 been trying to get the Israelites to stand 52:17 up for him, stand up for his law, live a holy life so he 52:21 might witness to the other nations through them. 52:25 But he was able to accomplish it with those three Hebrews while 52:28 they were in captivity what he had failed to do when Israel 52:30 was free. 52:32 All of the who's who of those nations that had come 52:35 from everywhere to inaugurate his idol, that day nobody-- 52:40 that poor idol. 52:41 Nobody was paying attention to that idol at the end 52:43 of the day. 52:44 No one was even looking at the idol. 52:45 They were looking at the three Hebrews that had stood 52:48 up for their God and saying, "What manner of man are these?" 52:54 The smoke did not even--there wasn't even the lingering 52:58 scent of smoke. 52:59 There wasn't one little ash-burn on their clothing. 53:02 They were impervious to the fire because they had put 53:05 the commandments of God ahead of the commandments of men. 53:09 Will God protect us through the fiery trials 53:11 of the last days? 53:13 Yeah, he says, "Though you go through the fire, I will go 53:15 with you." 53:17 How were they prepared for doing that? 53:21 Through faithfulness in little things. 53:23 In chapter 1, you can see they care about things like diet. 53:27 In chapter 6, you see they had a devotional life. 53:30 Daniel prayed three times a day. 53:31 Not just Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. 53:34 They knew the Lord. They worshiped God. 53:36 It's because they worship God all the time, they weren't going 53:38 to worship an idol. 53:40 They said, "We don't need a second chance." 53:43 Are we going to face the same test in the last days? 53:46 You know, because of their faithfulness, all the world, 53:50 those world leaders, went away from that experience. 53:53 You think they were talkin' about Nebuchadnezzar's 53:55 golden image? 53:57 His Golden image never is mentioned again. 53:58 Never appears in history. 54:00 Probably had the thing dismantled as a titanic failure. 54:05 But the God of Daniel, and Shadrach, Meshach, 54:09 and Abednego, he's been immortalized in Scripture 54:12 because they stood up for God. 54:14 Friends, I pray that we'll be faithful in the little things 54:17 all the time and so we can stand in the last days. 54:21 Soon we're going to have the fury of the dragon, just 54:23 like Nebuchadnezzar was enraged. 54:25 And who is he enraged with? 54:27 The people who keep the commandments of God and have 54:30 the testimony of Jesus. 54:32 Are you resolved to stand up for the law of God 54:33 no matter what? 54:35 Be faithful even in the little things and you'll be faithful 54:38 in much. 54:40 Well, we are out of time. 54:41 And I want to remind you about our free offer, and that 54:43 offer is a special study guide, "Amazing Facts" study guide, 54:47 "Saved from Certain Death." 54:48 Goes well with our lesson today. 54:50 If you call the number, ask for offer number 109. 54:53 You can call, it's free... 54:57 That's... 54:59 Or you can download this. 55:01 If you want to download it, go right now and text "SH060." 55:06 Text that to 40544. 55:10 You can read that lesson today. 55:11 God bless you, friends. 55:13 We'll study his Word together again next week. 55:17 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 55:19 life-changing, free resource. 55:21 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 55:23 download a digital copy straight to your computer 55:25 or mobile device. 55:27 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply 55:30 text the key word on your screen to 40544 or visit the web 55:34 address shown on your screen, and be sure to select 55:37 the digital download option on the request page. 55:40 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word 55:43 with "Amazing Facts" wherever and whenever you want, and most 55:47 important, to share it with others. 56:02 Doug: Have you ever worried that you don't have enough time 56:04 in your days, or you could add another day to your life? 56:07 Well, perhaps there is a way for you to add a whole 'nother 56:10 day to your existence. 56:12 Watch how easy it is. 56:14 I just stepped into yesterday. 56:16 No, I'm not talking about going back to the future or back 56:19 in history. 56:20 I happen to be standing here in Taveuni, Fiji, one 56:23 of the only places in the world where the International Meridian 56:27 Dateline runs through a piece of land. 56:30 People have not always been able to play with time this way. 56:33 Back in 1878, Sir Sanford Fleming, a Canadian, he 56:37 recommended to the science community of the world that 56:40 the globe be divided in 24 even segments, each separated 56:43 by 15 degrees of longitude that would establish the 56:47 international time system. 56:50 In 1884, there was a Prime Meridian Conference held 56:52 in Washington D.C. 56:54 to standardize time and select the point for the Prime 56:58 Meridian, which would be 0 degrees on the globe. 57:00 It ended up being Greenwich, England, 57:02 but that's not where we are. 57:03 We are on the polar opposite side of the planet right now, 57:07 but we're gonna step into the future. 57:08 You wanna come? 57:11 And look at that. 57:12 The Lord is still with us, even here. 57:14 He'll continue to take care of you, friends, 57:15 wherever you go. 57:17 Friends, do you sometimes worry about the future? 57:19 What will you eat? Will you have a home? 57:21 Are you going to still have your job? 57:23 What will you wear? 57:24 Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 6, verse 25 through 34, 57:29 "Don't take thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow will 57:31 take thought for the things of itself." 57:33 He tells us that he feeds the birds and he clothes 57:36 the flowers. 57:37 He'll take care of us. 57:39 We know that God will watch over us. 57:40 He forgives the past, he promises to be with us 57:43 in the present, and he will continue to lead us 57:46 in the future, but you've just got to give yourself to him. 57:49 I invite you to do that right now. 57:52 ♪♪♪ 57:57 ♪♪♪ 58:07 ♪♪♪ 58:17 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-01-20