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00:12 ♪♪♪ 00:22 ♪♪♪ 00:36 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends. 00:37 Welcome to "Sabbath School Study Hour" coming to you here 00:39 at the Granite Bay Seventh Day Adventist Church 00:41 in Sacramento, California. 00:43 We'd like to welcome those who are joining us, our online 00:45 members and our friends across the country and around the 00:48 world, part of our extended Sabbath School class, also our 00:52 regular members and visitors who are joining us here in person 00:56 as we continue our study in a very interesting and important 01:00 prophetic book that we find in the Old Testament, 01:02 the Book of Daniel. 01:03 Today we find ourselves on one of those great Old Testament 01:06 stories, and it's lesson number seven if you've been following 01:10 along with the lesson quarterly. 01:12 It's entitled From The Lion's Den 01:14 To The Angel's Den. 01:16 It's lesson number seven, you know what our story is 01:18 that we're going to be looking at today. 01:20 But before we get to our study, I'd like to remind our friends 01:22 about our free offer for this morning. 01:26 It is a Amazing Facts study guide. 01:28 It's entitled "Is Obedience Legalism?" 01:30 And we'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. 01:33 The number is 866-788-3966, and you can ask 01:37 for Offer Number 706. 01:40 We'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. 01:43 You'll also be able to download for free a copy of our study 01:47 guide simply by visiting the Amazing Facts website. 01:51 And you could also text the code SH041 to the number 40544. 02:00 You'll be able to get a link as to where you'll be able 02:03 to read the study guide, "Is Obedience Legalism?" 02:06 I think you'll find it encouraging of just 02:08 packed with all kinds of excellent Scriptures. 02:11 But before we get to our study this morning, we have five 02:15 students from Wiemer College that are going to be bringing us 02:18 a special musical item at this time. 02:22 ♪ In Christ alone my hope is found ♪ 02:28 ♪ He is my light, my strength, my song ♪ 02:33 ♪ This Cornerstone, this solid Ground ♪ 02:39 ♪ Firm through the fiercest drought and storm ♪ 02:44 ♪ What heights of love, what depths of peace ♪ 02:50 ♪ When fears are stilled, when strivings cease ♪ 02:56 ♪ My Comforter, my All in All ♪ 03:02 ♪ Here in the love of Christ I stand ♪ 03:08 ♪♪♪ 03:18 ♪♪♪ 03:23 ♪♪♪ 03:29 ♪ In Christ alone who took on flesh ♪ 03:35 ♪ Fullness of God in helpless babe ♪ 03:40 ♪ This gift of love and righteousness ♪ 03:46 ♪ Scorned by the ones He came to save ♪ 03:51 ♪ Till on that cross as Jesus died ♪ 03:56 ♪ The wrath of God was satisfied ♪ 04:02 ♪ For every sin on Him was laid ♪ 04:07 ♪ Here in the death of Christ I live ♪ 04:13 ♪♪♪ 04:23 ♪ There in the ground His body lay ♪ 04:29 ♪ Light of the world by darkness slain: ♪ 04:34 ♪ Then bursting forth in glorious day ♪ 04:40 ♪ Up from the grave He rose again ♪ 04:44 ♪ And as He stands in victory ♪ 04:49 ♪ Sin's curse has lost its grip on me ♪ 04:55 ♪ For I am His and He is mine ♪ 05:01 ♪ Bought with the precious blood of Christ ♪ 05:08 ♪ No guilt in life, no fear in death ♪ 05:14 ♪ This is the power of Christ in me ♪ 05:19 ♪ From life's first cry to final breath ♪ 05:25 ♪ Jesus commands my destiny ♪ 05:29 ♪ No power of hell, no scheme of man ♪ 05:34 ♪ Can ever pluck me from His hand ♪ 05:42 ♪ Till He returns and calls me home ♪ 05:48 ♪ Here in the power of Christ I'll stand ♪ 05:54 ♪ Here in the power of Christ we stand ♪♪ 06:09 Jean: Let's bow our heads for Word of prayer. 06:11 Dear Father in heaven, we thank you once again that you've given 06:13 us life and strength, the ability to gather in Your 06:15 presence on this Your Sabbath and open up Your Word. 06:18 Father, we're looking at just a fantastic story that we have 06:21 recorded in Scripture of tremendous faith and devotion. 06:25 And not only that of our Daniel who stood faithful to You, 06:28 but how You stood faithful for him. 06:31 And we just ask in a special way that you would guide in our 06:33 study, lead us into a clear a full understanding 06:37 of this great passage. 06:38 In Jesus's name, amen. 06:41 Well, as mentioned, we're going to be looking 06:42 at Daniel chapter 5, I believe it is. 06:45 So, if you have your Bibles, you can open it up. 06:48 We're going to be looking at the story of Daniel 06:50 in the lion's den. 06:51 I'd like to invite Pastor Doug to come forward, 06:53 and he'll be leading in our study today. 06:56 Doug Batchelor: Morning everybody, want to welcome you 06:57 to our Granite Bay Sabbath School Program 07:00 and "Sabbath School Study Hour." 07:02 We're just so thankful that you're joining us. 07:04 We know we have friends that are watching from other parts 07:08 of the planet that are studying with us. 07:10 Just met a gentleman who's here this morning, lives about 200 07:12 miles north of Anchorage, if I'm not mistaken, 2,000, 07:19 2,000 miles, and he said it's 32 below zero there today. 07:23 Wow. 07:25 So, we have folks that come from all over and we're just 07:28 so thankful for those who are online members as well. 07:33 Now, our lesson today is an amazing study. 07:36 It's based on the Book of Daniel chapter 6. 07:39 Now, it's easy to get confused because we're on lesson seven, 07:43 studying Daniel chapter 6. 07:45 Last week, we were studying Daniel chapter 5, 07:47 we were in lesson six. 07:49 And so, you can see it sounds a little incongruous at times. 07:54 And the title of our lesson is From The Lion's Den 07:56 To The Angel's Den. 07:58 We have a memory verse. 08:00 The memory verse is from Daniel 6, verse 4. 08:03 If you want to find your Bibles, you can read it right out 08:05 of your quarterly. 08:07 It's from the New King James Version there. 08:08 Daniel 6, verse 4. And you ready? 08:12 "So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge 08:17 against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find 08:21 no charge or fault, because he was faithful; 08:25 nor was there any error or fault found in him." 08:30 All right, friends, put on your seatbelts. 08:33 We are getting ready to dive off into what I believe is one of 08:36 the greatest chapters in the Bible because it talks about the 08:40 greatest character in the Bible, and that is not Daniel, 08:43 that's Jesus. 08:45 The story of Daniel chapter 6 is a wonderful parallel that gives 08:49 us a number of insights into Christ Himself. 08:53 Now, let's go ahead and just jump to the first verse and I'll 08:57 have a few of you, in a moment, help me read a couple of verses 09:01 in our study. 09:03 Now, I've just got to tell you that keep in mind, a lot of 09:07 people grow up, they go to Sunday school or Sabbath school 09:10 and they hear the story of Daniel in the lion's den, 09:12 and that story is often relegated to the children. 09:16 And you know, they'll bring in some stuffed lions, 09:18 and they'll reenact this cute story. 09:23 And but when I first read it, I didn't know that it was 09:26 a children's story. 09:28 I thought it was a story of the most magnificent theology. 09:33 And so, I was looking at it for its prophetic value for the 09:39 Christ in the story of Daniel and it's the story, it's always 09:43 been just such an amazing monumental story to me. 09:47 All right, first of all, this transpires shortly after chapter 09:51 5 when Babylon has fallen. 09:54 Immediately, they installed new government, which is known to be 09:57 the Medo-Persian government, and we know that Darius the Mede, 10:01 along with Cyrus of Persian, work together to bring 10:03 about the downfall of Babylon. 10:06 And so, then they established a new government. 10:09 And you read in chapter 6 of Daniel verse 1, "It pleased 10:13 Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps," 10:19 princes, "who would be over the whole kingdom, and over these, 10:23 three governors, of whom Daniel was one," or to be chief, 10:28 "that the satraps might give account to them, 10:31 and that the king would suffer no loss." 10:34 Now, this is astonishing because typically when one kingdom 10:39 conquers another kingdom, the first thing they do is wipe out 10:44 the cabinet, the leadership that was loyal to the former king. 10:50 You can't have people in your new department 10:53 that were loyal to the other king. 10:55 They might try to assassinate you. 10:57 In ancient kingdoms, your own family might try 10:59 to assassinate you. 11:01 So, this is very unusual that Daniel, 11:03 who had served Nebuchadnezzar for so long, 11:08 is now not only being allowed to remain in this kingdom, 11:11 but he's given a leadership role. 11:14 Now, keep in mind word had gotten out about Daniel telling 11:18 Belshazzar to take his gifts and keep them and Daniel foretelling 11:24 that the Medes and the Persians were going to win. 11:26 And so, they knew there was something extraordinary 11:29 about this man, and he was known for his wisdom. 11:34 You heard of someone, ever heard the expression of a person being 11:36 a legend in their own time? 11:38 Daniel was a legend while he was still alive. 11:42 Even Ezekiel in a prophecy said, "Thou art wiser than Daniel." 11:47 Daniel was, a few people in the Bible are known for 11:50 extraordinary wisdom, Solomon is one, Daniel is another. 11:54 Of course, Jesus. 11:55 And so, Daniel was known for his wisdom and when Darius came 11:59 into power, he wanted Daniel as part of his cabinet. 12:02 But there's a problem. 12:05 Daniel is not a Persian, he's not a Median. 12:07 He's not a Chaldean. 12:09 He's a Jew, and the way they found their way into Babylon was 12:13 because they were brought in as captives, many were made slaves. 12:16 And so, then for these other Medes and Persians that are 12:22 running the kingdom, to have a former Jewish captive 12:26 and someone who had served Nebuchadnezzar 12:28 giving them orders, that didn't sit well with them, 12:31 and there was some resentment. 12:34 And the king put so much confidence in Daniel, they were 12:36 frankly jealous, which is one of the first sections 12:39 in your lesson. 12:42 It says that, not only that, 12:45 says Daniel distinguished himself. 12:47 I'm in verse 3. 12:49 "Daniel distinguished himself above the governors 12:52 and the satraps, because--" 12:54 Some versions will say princes. 12:56 These are the administrators. 12:58 "Because an excellent Spirit was in him." 13:01 Now, you remember reading, if you go to chapter 5, 13:05 and verse 12, it says an excellent spirit, knowledge 13:09 and understanding, was in Daniel. 13:12 So, he was known as being a Spirit-filled man. 13:19 Now, right away, you're going to see some parallels 13:22 between the story of Daniel and Jesus. 13:26 Was there an effort made to get rid of Jesus? 13:31 Was there jealousy? 13:35 And there was resentment. 13:39 There was envy. 13:42 I've got someone's going to help me read a verse 13:44 in just a minute, okay? 13:47 Something else you'll notice, these men who want to get rid 13:50 of Daniel, they follow him around, they're trying 13:53 to find something wrong. 13:54 It says, "The governors and the princes sought to find 13:56 some occasion," this is verse 4, "concerning Daniel 14:00 concerning the kingdom." 14:02 They say let's open his file cabinet when he's not home. 14:04 There's got to be someplace that he's pilfering money, 14:06 or he's not being faithful in his taxes, or he's using some 14:10 of the king's money for his vacation expense. 14:13 There's got to be a place he's double dipping 14:15 or something's going on. 14:17 I mean, everybody's got a skeleton in their closet, 14:19 they thought. 14:21 People always superimpose on others what they have 14:23 in their own hearts. 14:26 And even after the private detectives came back, they said, 14:30 "We can't find anything. 14:32 We looked at all the video footage. 14:34 We listened to his phone calls, and we can't find anything. 14:38 This guy is the same person in public as he is in private." 14:42 By the way that's integrity. 14:44 Integrity means that you are the same person that you profess 14:48 to be in private as you are in public. 14:52 And it says they could find no fault in him, 14:55 neither was any error in him. 14:59 Now, why don't you go ahead read for me, I think it's John 18:38. 15:04 female: "And when he had said this, he went out again 15:07 to the Jews, and said to them, 15:09 'I find no fault in Him at all.'" 15:12 Doug: Now, there were spies that were following Jesus around. 15:16 And even though that they were trying to find something 15:19 wrong with him, they couldn't find any fault. 15:21 Now, you'll notice that Pilate realizes one of the reasons 15:27 that Jesus has been turned over to him is envy. 15:29 Look at here, Mark chapter 1, verse 15. 15:33 I'm sorry, Mark, Mark 15, verse 8, "Then the multitude, 15:38 crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he 15:42 had always done for them. 15:43 But Pilate answered, saying, 'Do you want me to release 15:45 to you the King of the Jews?'" 15:47 Notice, "For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him 15:51 over because of envy." 15:53 Why did they envy Jesus? 15:56 There's nothing the priests wanted more 15:58 than the recognition of the crowds. 16:01 Jesus said, "You pray to be seen of men, you fast to be seen of 16:04 men, you give to be seen of men. 16:06 You want the glory of men." 16:08 Who ended up getting the crowds? 16:12 And they said, "We've been trying to get this special 16:15 treatment, and this respect, and this recognition, and esteem 16:18 all our lives, and here is this uneducated carpenter shows up 16:22 and everyone's following him and the power of God's in him. 16:25 And they resented that so much. 16:27 They said, "He doesn't have any degrees. 16:29 How can he do all of this?" 16:31 They wanted to get rid of them. 16:34 Did they want to get rid of Daniel? 16:37 Yeah, 'cause the king put so much confidence in him, 16:39 he had so much power. 16:42 And not only that, but was Daniel called Spirit-filled? 16:48 What about Jesus, is Jesus accused of being Spirit-filled? 16:52 When he's baptized, what happens? 16:55 They saw the Spirit of God descend upon him like a dove. 16:59 It says, "God filled Christ with the Holy Spirit 17:01 who went about doing good." 17:03 Jesus was Spirit-filled. 17:05 And so, you see already. 17:08 Now, Daniel was a eunuch, so, how did Mrs. Daniel feel 17:14 about that? 17:16 There's no Mrs. Daniel. 17:18 Was Daniel ever married? 17:19 I'm just wanting to see if you're listening. 17:21 Daniel was not married. 17:23 Was Jesus ever married? 17:25 Daniel's love was the church. 17:29 He spends his time praying and interceding for God's people. 17:33 Who is the bride of Christ? 17:35 The church. 17:37 You read Daniel 9, you can hear him just praying for the people. 17:41 And so, all through the story of Daniel, you're going to see 17:46 images of Jesus in here. 17:48 All right, and so, we read on. 17:51 Now you see the plot is thickening here. 17:54 They say, "You know, we're not going to get rid of them 17:56 unless we find some law." 17:59 They could not find any charge or fault 18:01 because he was faithful. 18:03 Now, is that because Daniel was a freak of nature? 18:08 Is it possible for you and I to have that experience? 18:11 Can we be like Daniel? 18:13 Should we desire that? 18:16 Wouldn't you like the Lord to look down from heaven 18:18 like he did to Job and say, "Have you ever beheld 18:21 someone like Job, a faithful and upright man who fears God 18:24 and hates evil?" 18:26 Wouldn't you like the Lord look down at you and say, 18:29 "He's faithful. 18:31 He's the same person in public as he is in private," or she? 18:35 Yeah, an excellent spirit was in him. 18:38 We're going to talk about the secret 18:40 of Daniel's faithfulness here. 18:43 And so, they plot to destroy him. 18:47 Notice what happens to Jesus. 18:49 You look in Matthew chapter 12, verse 14, 18:52 "Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, 18:55 how they might destroy Him." 18:57 Same thing that's happening to Daniel is happening to Jesus. 19:02 And they spied on him. 19:04 Now, keep in mind what happened to Daniel and happened 19:06 to Jesus will happen to you. 19:08 We're talking about Daniel historical, we're talking about 19:10 Christ, and we're talking about Daniel teaching us 19:13 for the last days. 19:14 Will there be a law in the last days and if we don't obey that 19:17 law, there'll be a death decree? 19:20 So, the story of Daniel is really a message 19:22 for the church also. 19:24 We need to have the kind of faith Daniel had. 19:28 Was Daniel a preacher? 19:31 Well, by his life, but he wasn't a priest. 19:35 He wasn't a preacher. 19:37 Daniel was a businessman, and he witnessed in everything he did. 19:41 God wants us to be faithful, so that we're witnessing 19:45 in our everyday lives. 19:47 "But Doug, it's so hard to be a Christian in such 19:49 a pagan culture." 19:51 Daniel had to be a Christian in Babylon and Medo-Persia. 19:56 Was he able to do it? 19:58 Then what excuse do we have for not being real Christians 20:01 and letting our light shine in a pagan world? 20:05 There really is no excuse, is there? 20:08 So, we read on, "The governors and the princes, they thronged 20:11 before the king, and said thus to him: 'King Darius, 20:15 live forever! 20:17 All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators 20:18 and satraps, the counselors and advisors, 20:20 have consulted together--" 20:22 They're lying, it wasn't all of them, but they wanted him 20:24 to think they'd all agreed. 20:27 "And they consulted together to establish a royal statute and to 20:31 make a firm decree," don't miss the word firm decree, "that 20:35 whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, 20:40 O king, shall be cast into the den of lions." 20:45 Now, that was the death decree. 20:48 I thought I'd throw in a little amazing fact here for you. 20:53 For 9 months between 1898 and 1899, there were 20:58 two infamous man eating lions of Tsavo. 21:01 They terrorized workers employed in the construction of a railway 21:05 bridge in Uganda. 21:07 We were there in Uganda a couple of years ago. 21:09 As the death toll rose, construction was brought 21:12 to a standstill. 21:14 You can understand why the workers refused until protection 21:16 could be provided. 21:19 This reign of terror--until the reign of terror was 21:21 brought to an end. 21:23 They finally brought in Lieutenant Colonel J.H. Patterson. 21:25 He succeeded in tracking and killing the two lions, 21:28 which by that time had devoured 100 men. 21:33 There's a big debate about which number. 21:35 Those lion's are very real. 21:37 They're actually, they were stuffed and they're in the Field 21:40 Museum in Chicago today, the man-eating lion's of Tsavo. 21:42 But that's not the worst. 21:44 There are times in Africa, I think there's one example in 21:46 Tanzania, yeah, where they had killed off so much of the lion's 21:51 natural game, that a large pride of lions developed 21:56 a taste for people. 21:59 And they say that between 1932 and 1947, this pride of lions 22:06 in southern Tanzania devoured as many as 1500 people. 22:15 I tell you, they must have been eating, or those were 22:19 skinny people, they needed to eat several. 22:22 That's a lot of people during that time, whole pride of lions. 22:27 Did you know that Karen was attacked and bitten by a lion 22:31 in South Africa? 22:34 It's true. 22:36 We were visiting a lion park, and these lion cubs attacked her 22:39 leg and scratched her, they did. 22:43 I turned around, there she was. 22:45 We were videotaping the lions, and she was being attacked by 22:48 a lion right in front of me, and I did nothing to help her. 22:54 So, when it says you go into the lion's den, 22:58 that's a death decree if you don't pray to King Darius. 23:03 And you notice they just say, just 30 days, just 30 days. 23:10 They knew that Daniel, they did this because they knew Daniel 23:13 would not wait 30 days to continue 23:15 his regular practice of prayer. 23:19 That's wonderful. 23:20 They said, "We don't need a one year law. 23:22 It's only going to take a month for him to come out 23:24 of the closet." 23:26 A lot of us would be quoting that verse where Jesus says, 23:29 "Enter into your closet and pray." 23:32 But Daniel was not going to do that. 23:34 So, they make this death decree. 23:36 Therefore, the King Darius-- and this king seems 23:38 to be a good king. 23:40 Now, he's about 62 years old, the Bible tells us, 23:42 and that's how old I am. 23:45 And what a coincidence. 23:52 But the reason he signed that law is because they believed 23:57 back then that when you had people from many different 23:59 backgrounds, you know, this is a massive kingdom. 24:02 It says there's 120 provinces, and by the time of Esther, 24:06 I think it's 127 provinces, 24:09 stretches, you know, through parts of Europe, and Africa, and 24:13 the Middle East, and he's got to administrate all these different 24:15 people's different languages, different cultures and customs. 24:18 And it's hard to unite people with all those differences, 24:21 except through common worship. 24:24 Alexander the Great, he went to Egypt, he realized 24:26 that the pharaohs were worshipped as gods. 24:28 They knew they were not gods, but they were worshipped as gods 24:31 so that they could bring the kingdom together. 24:34 So, Alexander declared he was a god as he went off 24:37 into Persia to conquer. 24:40 Augustus Caesar, Octavian, they said, "You know, you've got 24:43 all this--these different countries you've conquered. 24:45 If you want to bring them together, Caesar needs 24:47 to be respected as a god." 24:50 So, they started claiming divinity. 24:52 I'm sure at the end of the day, they knew they were not gods, 24:56 but they thought, "Well, if we make the people worship us, 24:58 they'll respect us more and it keeps the nations together." 25:02 So, they said, "This weld together the kingdom, 25:04 common worship." 25:06 He said, "Okay, if you guys say so." 25:08 Does Nebuchadnezzar try to bring everyone together through 25:10 common worship in chapter 3? 25:14 Will there be an effort to bring the world together through 25:17 common worship in Revelation 13 in the last days? 25:22 So, we can look at Daniel chapter 6 and maybe get 25:25 some ideas on how to, how to survive that. 25:30 So, the king signs the decree, it's a royal decree, 25:33 a firm statute. 25:35 Now, this to me is one of the most magnificent verses 25:37 in the book. 25:39 "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, 25:44 he went home. 25:46 And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, 25:51 he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed 25:55 and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom 25:59 since early times." 26:01 Daniel, knowing about the writing, you would think this 26:06 would be a good time to at least close your windows. 26:09 See, everyone in the capital city knew about Daniel. 26:14 He was famous before the Babylonians were conquered, 26:18 and they knew that just like, I forget where I was in Salzburg, 26:24 Austria or something. 26:25 There's some of these towns in Europe, 26:27 they've got these courtyards and in the courtyard, 26:29 they've got these magnificent clocks. 26:30 We call them cuckoo clocks, and some are very elaborate. 26:33 At certain times of the day every hour, people will all 26:35 start to gather out there and they'll watch in the courtyard, 26:39 and they'll look up and on the hour, all of a sudden, 26:42 it starts to ding. 26:44 And just as it's dinging, these little doors open up and these 26:47 people come out and they like, you know, they dance or they, 26:51 you know, play a fiddle, and they circle around, 26:53 and they do very creative. 26:55 These puppets come out on the top of the hour 26:57 and they do these amazing things. 26:59 I've seen several them. 27:01 And Daniel was as faithful as a cuckoo clock, just every day, no 27:08 matter what the weather, three times a day they saw his windows 27:11 open up, they saw him come out where they could all see him. 27:14 He knelt upon his knees, he prayed towards Jerusalem, 27:18 which was to the west, and he gave thanks. 27:23 And people in the neighborhood when they wanted to know 27:26 what time it was they'd say, "Has Daniel come out yet." 27:30 Oh, that's what time it is. 27:32 He was just, you could say he was a legalist about prayer. 27:39 You know what religion is? 27:41 Everyone says, "I'm not religious, but I'm spiritual." 27:43 Daniel was religious. 27:45 He had a habit, and whether he felt like it or not, he said, 27:50 "I have my regular devotions." 27:53 The reason the Book of Daniel is in the Bible is because of 27:56 chapter 6, verse 10, in my opinion, his devotional life, 28:03 his devotion to God, his faithfulness to God. 28:05 The reason that Daniel did not eat unclean food in chapter 1 28:10 is because he read the Bible. 28:13 If you read in Daniel chapter 9, it says, 28:16 "I was reading in the books of Jeremiah. 28:19 The reason--" 28:21 Oh, I'm getting ahead of you here. 28:23 Someone's going to read for me, let's see, no, I want-- 28:28 I want someone to read for me Psalm 55, verse 17. 28:30 Do one of you have that one? 28:32 Yeah. 28:34 How do we know that Daniel read the Bible? 28:36 Why do you think Daniel prayed towards Jerusalem? 28:39 Because it says in the Bible in 2 Chronicles, if your people are 28:42 carried away to this place, if they pray towards this place, 28:47 Solomon said when he dedicated the temple, 2 Chronicles 6:21, 28:51 Daniel read that so he literally did what the Bible said. 28:54 Why did he pray three times a day? 28:56 Go ahead, read for a Psalm 55:17. 28:58 female: "Evening and morning and noon, I will pray, 29:01 and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice." 29:05 Doug: That's King David. 29:07 David lived, of course, a long time before Daniel. 29:09 Daniel read where David said, "Morning, evening, and at noon, 29:11 I will pray." 29:12 Daniel did exactly what the Bible said. 29:14 Why could Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego make it 29:17 through the fiery furnace? 29:19 They read where Isaiah said, "When you pass through 29:22 the fires, I will be with you. 29:24 The flame will not kindle upon you." 29:27 They were Bible reading, they were people of prayer, 29:32 and they put into practice what they read. 29:37 Now, I can't help but wonder if there was a law, suddenly for 29:43 some bizarre reason, a new law is issued by our government or 29:47 our governor--now that could happen in California, anything. 29:51 We never know from day to day what the next law 29:53 is going to be. 29:57 I better not comment on that. 30:00 I just heard the voice of prudence and she said, 30:02 "Don't say that." 30:06 But if, for some reason, there was a law and it said you can't 30:11 go to your prayer meeting at your church for 30 days 30:15 or you're going to go to prison, I wonder what would happen 30:19 to our prayer meeting attendance? 30:23 We're better than most, but still, for most churches, prayer 30:26 meeting is usually pretty scant. 30:29 And but you wonder how many people would say, "Oh, you know, 30:35 probably better not to aggravate the government right now." 30:38 Or would we say, "I don't care what the government says, 30:41 my relationship with God is more important than even 30:43 my own life"? 30:45 I mean, why couldn't Daniel closes his windows? 30:47 Was he a fanatic or what? 30:49 Was he looking for trouble? 30:52 Or maybe he said, "I'm almost 90, 30:53 what difference does it make?" 30:59 His courage is amazing. 31:01 He is so bold, he is so undaunted that just think of all 31:04 the opportunities Daniel had to compromise. 31:08 He could have gone to his upper room and prayed, 31:11 kept the windows closed. 31:13 He didn't have to pray out loud. 31:15 The reason they knew he was praying is 31:17 because he they heard him. 31:19 How did they know he was giving thanks? 31:20 You can close your eyes, if you're praying with your eyes 31:22 closed, I can't tell what you're saying. 31:23 But they knew he was giving thanks because he was audible. 31:26 They heard him. 31:28 They saw him. 31:29 He opened the windows. 31:31 You can say Daniel had a fresh experience. 31:32 A lot of us have a closed window prayer life. 31:36 Daniel wanted to keep it fresh. 31:38 He wanted to see and be seen. 31:41 Someone's going to read another verse for me Matthew, yeah, 31:45 you get that one? 31:46 Go ahead. 31:48 male: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may 31:52 see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." 31:55 Doug: You know, Daniel knew the people in the community were 31:57 used to seeing him pray three times a day and then they see on 32:01 the telephone poles there in the capital, "If anyone is caught 32:04 praying to any god or man for 30 days, he's going 32:06 into the lion's den." 32:08 Death decree, if you're caught praying, and they're all 32:10 thinking, "Ooh, I wonder what Daniel is going to do." 32:14 And they probably gathered in the courtyard and started 32:16 watching his window. 32:17 And he thought, "You know, this is not the right time for me 32:19 to shut my window." 32:21 He said, "What are people going to think?" 32:25 If you've got to make a decision and say, "You know, I want to 32:29 obey the laws of the land," and Christians should obey the laws 32:32 of land, but what happens if the laws of land conflict 32:35 with the law of God? 32:37 God's law always trumps the law of the land. 32:41 I didn't mean that to be a pun. 32:45 The law of God, doesn't Peter say we ought to obey God 32:50 rather than man? 32:52 And Daniel's very respectful of the government laws, 32:55 but he said, "I'm not going to put God second place." 33:00 And Daniel said, "People are going to be watching me, 33:03 and I want to be a witness." 33:04 You know, people are watching you when you don't know they're 33:07 watching you, especially now, not just in Daniel's day. 33:12 Now, there's cameras go on all the time and if you're about to 33:15 do something stupid, be sure someone's going to take out 33:17 their phone just before you do and they're going 33:20 to press record. 33:22 It seems like everybody's recording everything these days. 33:28 Let your light so shine. 33:31 Now, he had a custom. 33:32 It says he had done this since early days. 33:35 First of all, notice he's in the upper room. 33:38 Did Jesus pray with his disciples in an upper room 33:41 before a great trial? 33:44 And he also had a deep moment of prayer in the garden 33:46 before a great trial. 33:48 Daniel has a great season of prayer before a great trial. 33:53 Knelt down. 33:55 I won't say a lot about that, but the Bible tells us that 34:01 physical posture in prayer is actually important. 34:06 Solomon, the king knelt when he prayed, Paul knelt 34:09 when he prayed, the apostles knelt when they prayed. 34:12 Not every time, but I just noticed that in our culture 34:17 today, I think people are becoming increasingly 34:19 more familiar with God and casual about prayer, 34:22 and we forget that he is the Sovereign of the cosmos. 34:26 And when we bow down before Him, we're acknowledging 34:31 that He is the King. 34:34 Daniel knelt and, yeah, I'm getting older, to be honest, 34:38 it's sometimes a little harder getting down, 34:40 a little harder getting up. 34:42 I remember when I was young, I could drop on my knees, 34:44 I could jump in the air and land on my knees, didn't hurt. 34:47 And I could pop off my knees without just right up 34:50 to my feet. 34:52 And now I'm kind of going, uh. 34:54 And then you're down on your knees and after you're done 34:56 praying, you're thinking, is there anything else I can do 34:58 down here before I get up? 35:03 But Daniel's an old man, and he still gets on his knees. 35:06 Now, I'm not trying to make any of the seniors here feel bad 35:08 because, you know, I think that finally, you know, 35:11 our physiology takes over and God understands that. 35:14 But and I don't think that God wants you on your knees praying 35:17 if all you can think about when you're on your knees is 35:19 how much your knees hurt. 35:22 And a word to elders and pastors or other people, if you're 35:26 leading in group prayer, if there's seniors there, don't 35:29 pray long prayers because you lost them after about a minute. 35:34 Just see what you got to say and then let him get up. 35:39 So, he prays, as his custom was since the early days. 35:45 Did Jesus have a custom about worship? 35:48 Luke 4, he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up 35:50 and as his custom was, that means from a child, 35:53 train up a child in the way he will go. 35:56 Paul, as his custom was, he went to them and for three Sabbath 36:00 days he reason with them from the Scriptures. 36:03 Now, you know, there is a promise in the Bible, I think 36:06 Daniel read and it says, "Save me from the lion's mouth 36:12 and from the horns of the wild oxen." 36:16 That's, by the way, written by King David. 36:19 Daniel read that. 36:20 So, when he saw the decree, if you're caught praying the next 36:24 30 days, you're going to the lion's den, Daniel claimed 36:27 that promise, "Lord, save me from the lion's den." 36:31 So, he goes to his upper room, a lot of things happen 36:34 in the upper room. 36:36 Opened his windows, didn't need to open those windows. 36:38 Prayed towards Jerusalem, didn't need to pray towards Jerusalem. 36:42 Opened his mouth when he prayed, got down on his knees. 36:45 Everything Daniel did said, "I am praying," 36:48 probably had his back to the palace 36:52 and his face to Jerusalem. 36:56 Now, there's a law that you couldn't pray for 30 days. 37:03 It's incredible that some people go days without praying. 37:08 And it is the most incredible privilege, think about it, that 37:12 you and I can have an uninterrupted audience 37:17 with the king of the universe through Christ. 37:20 The Bible says, Daniel looked towards Jerusalem because that 37:23 represented the presence of God. 37:25 That's where the temple was. 37:26 You and I don't look towards Jerusalem, do we? 37:28 Muslims look towards Mecca. 37:30 You and I look up towards the heavenly sanctuary where Christ 37:35 is interceding as our high priest before the Father. 37:38 You and I have a friend in high places. 37:40 And to think, here I can have Jesus present my request before 37:44 God Almighty and not take advantage of that. 37:47 God is up there and he's going, "Okay, waiting to hear from you. 37:50 You want to talk?" 37:51 And we're too busy down here to talk to him. 37:54 It's just incredible. 37:56 I think when we get to heaven, a lot of us may still be there 38:00 and we're going to think, "Wow, I can't believe I prayed 38:02 so little, and I had the opportunity through Christ 38:04 to commune with the Father." 38:10 So, Daniel took advantage of that, and he was busy 38:13 and he still found time for prayer. 38:15 Someone said a good time for prayer is not found, it's made. 38:20 You need to decide to do it. 38:24 Daniel read the Bible, and he prayed. 38:26 Let me read something to you from this is 38:29 "Great Controversy" page 51. 38:31 "Satan well knew that the Holy Scriptures would enable men 38:35 to discern his deceptions and withstand his power. 38:38 It was by the Word that even the Savior of the world had resisted 38:41 his attacks. 38:42 At every assault, Christ presented the shield of eternal 38:45 truth saying, 'It is written.' 38:47 To every suggestion of the adversary he opposed 38:50 in the wisdom and the power of the Word. 38:52 In order for Satan to maintain his sway over men and establish 38:56 his authority, he must keep them in ignorance 38:59 of the Scriptures." 39:01 Daniel had a regular devotion life where he prayed and he read 39:04 the Word, and that was the secret to his overcoming the law 39:07 of the beast. 39:09 Now, I better move on with my story. 39:11 They catch him praying, as you know. 39:14 And they go to the king and they say, "King, didn't you make a 39:17 law saying that if anyone, you signed a petition, firm decree, 39:21 law of the Medes and the Persians, does not change, if 39:25 anyone prays to any god or man within 30 days, 39:28 except you, O king, he goes to the lion's den." 39:30 The king is still, you know, he's clueless. 39:32 He doesn't realize what they're up to. 39:35 King says, "Yeah, it's true, according to the law of the 39:37 Medes and the Persians, which does not change." 39:39 Then they answered and said before the king, "That Daniel," 39:43 just the way they say it, "That Daniel who is of the captives, 39:47 that captive you put over us from Judah, not even a Persian, 39:51 he doesn't show regard for you, O king, or the decree that you 39:54 signed, but he makes his petition three times a day." 39:57 And I can just picture right there that king groaned 40:00 and sighed and said, "Oh, I've been duped." 40:05 "And the king, when he heard these words, 40:07 was greatly displeased with himself. 40:10 And he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him." 40:13 He labored and worked with all his heart to try to save him. 40:16 "He labored till the going down of the sun." 40:18 What time of day did Christ die? 40:23 Just before Sabbath going down of the sun. 40:27 And then these men approached the king and they said-- 40:29 he had to fulfill the law before the end of the day, see? 40:33 And they go to him and say, "No king, that is the law of the 40:37 Medes and the Persians that no decree or statute that the king 40:41 establishes can be changed." 40:43 King had spent all day getting the best lawyers in the kingdom 40:45 and said, "any loophole, any loophole, any way around this?" 40:49 And they said, "No king, you signed an ironclad agreement. 40:52 There is no way, it is a law that cannot be changed." 40:57 So, the king gave command and they brought Daniel 41:00 and they cast them into the den of lions. 41:03 Now, think about this, this to me is mind boggling that here 41:10 you've got this earthly king. 41:12 He's a king, I mean, he is the undisputed king, but he makes 41:16 a law he can't change his own law. 41:20 Do we think God, the King of the universe, is going to make a law 41:22 and change it? 41:24 You have three or four cases in the Bible of kings or judges 41:29 that made laws they didn't want to keep, but they had to 41:32 because their word was law. 41:35 You have Herod that made a promise that if his stepdaughter 41:41 would come out and dance that he said, "Anything you want up 41:44 to half my kingdom is yours." 41:46 She said, "I want the head of John the Baptist." 41:48 He said, "Oh, not that, I like John. 41:51 I like to go listen to him preach." 41:53 He didn't want to do it, but everyone was watching. 41:55 He knew, "I will never have the respect of the people if I break 41:58 my own word," so John had to die. 42:03 Similarly, Ahasuerus signs a law that all the Jews should be 42:06 attacked on a certain day and under law of the Medes 42:10 and the Persians, 42:12 and then after he signs it, his wife lets him know, 42:14 "I am a Jew." 42:17 And the king cannot change his law so what he does is he makes 42:20 an additional law that gives them permission to attack 42:22 their enemies first, preemptive attack, 42:26 because you can't change the law. 42:28 Jephthah, who is to become a judge in Israel, he speaks and 42:32 says, "Whatever comes out of the doors of my house is going 42:35 to be offered to the Lord if I'm victorious." 42:39 Turns out it was his daughter. 42:41 He didn't expect that. 42:42 He thought it would be a goat, or a sheep, or a cow. 42:45 And but he can't change his word. 42:48 Now, in light of that, how in the world do Protestant and 42:53 Catholic Christians in the world get the idea that God changed 42:56 the Ten Commandments? 42:58 I mean, if God was going to do anything to show its permanence, 43:02 what more could He have done? 43:04 He audibly speaks in the presence of a whole nation 43:07 with thunder and lightning and earthquake. 43:09 He then writes it with His own finger, and He writes it 43:12 on stone to show its enduring nature. 43:15 And then people say, "Well, God, you know, Ten Commandments 43:17 have been done away with, they're optional." 43:20 I never could figure that out. 43:22 I just don't under--how can a person fool themselves 43:25 into believing that? 43:28 So, that's why I'm a Seventh Day Adventist, I believe in keeping 43:31 all Ten Commandments. 43:34 And even if you're not going to keep them, at least admit 43:38 they're there, that God doesn't change. 43:40 He says, "I am the Lord, I change not." 43:42 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 43:44 "Heaven and earth will pass away, My Word 43:46 will not pass away." 43:47 The king couldn't change his law. 43:50 So, the king commanded and they brought Daniel, 43:52 and they put him in the lion's den. 43:54 And the king says to Daniel, "Your God, 43:56 who you serve occasionally, He will deliver you." 44:01 Now, I didn't know if anyone was following me, 44:03 but that's not what it says. 44:06 I changed a word, Your God who you serve, when it's convenient. 44:15 Your God who you serve, when others are watching. 44:20 He said, "Your God who you serve continually," 44:24 there was a consistency, "He will deliver you." 44:27 By the way, friends, if you and I consistently 44:28 continually serve God, he will deliver you. 44:31 That's a promise you can claim. 44:35 So, they put him in the lion's den. 44:37 They lowered him down. 44:39 They could probably hear the ground shake from the roaring 44:41 that was going on in there, these ravenous lions. 44:45 Doesn't say a lion, it says lions. 44:49 Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den. 44:53 They probably gently lowered Daniel down with a rope, 44:55 he's an old man. 44:57 I don't think the king tossed him in. 45:00 And then the accusers of Daniel want to make sure the king's not 45:04 going to sneak back during the night and save him, 45:06 so the king puts a seal on it. 45:08 Why else did he do it? 45:11 He did it to show them, "Look, I'm keeping the law, sealing 45:13 that no one's going to--I have no guards that I paid off 45:17 to come rescue him during the night." 45:20 The king seals it so there'd be no interference. 45:24 What time of day does this happen? 45:26 Around the going down to the sun? 45:28 What time does Jesus die? 45:30 Was Jesus placed in the ground? 45:33 Was there a stone put over the mouth? 45:36 Was there a government seal that sealed the stone? 45:41 Does Jesus come out alive? 45:44 What do you think's going to happen to Daniel? 45:47 I'm not ruining the story for you, am I? 45:51 "Now the king went to his palace and spent the night in fasting; 45:55 nor was music brought before him." 45:58 Remember, he was sore displeased with himself. 45:59 I bet you, you know, of course, it says he's fast, he's praying. 46:03 What do you think the angels in heaven were doing? 46:05 Were they playing songs in heaven when Jesus was 46:07 in the tomb or when he was on the cross? 46:11 No, there was sadness, sadness in the palace. 46:17 "Then the king arose very early in the morning." 46:19 What time of day did the women come? 46:21 All the gospels are consistent, very early in the morning. 46:25 They come to the tomb, they come to the lion's den. 46:30 And the king comes and he cries out with a lamenting voice. 46:33 He's been crying all night. 46:36 Daniel, he says, "Daniel, servant of the living God," 46:42 as opposed to what? 46:43 The gods of Persia, the gods of Babylon. 46:48 Servant of the living God, the king doesn't know Daniel's 46:51 God saved him yet, and he still calls him the living God. 46:56 "Servant of the living God who you serve continually. 47:00 Has your God been able to deliver you from the lions?" 47:04 And then he hears a voice come up from the lion's den. 47:08 Daniel says to the king, "O king live forever. 47:11 My God has sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth. 47:15 So, they have not hurt me because I was found innocent 47:19 before him and also I have none no wrong before you." 47:24 Now, this is amazing. 47:29 The angel comes. 47:32 Who came to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 47:35 in the fiery furnace? 47:40 Who was it that came to Daniel? 47:43 Calls him an angel but, you know, sometimes when it talks 47:47 about the angel of the Lord, he may have sent an angel, 47:51 but don't rule out that it wasn't the same one that came 47:53 to the fiery furnace. 47:55 Jesus said, "If we stand up for him, he will stand up for us." 48:01 And he says, "He's delivered me from the lions." 48:05 Who delivers us from the-- well, let's back up. 48:08 Who's the lion? 48:10 Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant, because 48:15 your adversary the devil," walks about like what? 48:19 "A roaring lion looking for whom he may devour." 48:23 Psalm 91:13 and 14, "You shall tread upon the lion 48:26 and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent--" 48:29 Lion, serpent, symbol of the devil. 48:31 "You will trample underfoot." 48:34 God gave David victory over a lion. 48:36 He gave Samson victory over lion when they were filled 48:39 with the Spirit, and He will give us victory over the lion. 48:41 That's the devil, right? 48:44 And how did Daniel do it? 48:45 Three times a day on his knees knowing the Word of God 48:49 gave him victory. 48:51 The lions could not hurt him. 48:53 I don't know how well he slept that night. 48:55 Dwight Moody says that he probably curled up and leaned 48:57 against a lion that purred as he went to sleep. 49:02 It's hard not to sleep with someone that snores. 49:05 I can't imagine sleeping with someone that roars. 49:10 But he was preserved. 49:12 Now, some people say the lions weren't hungry and that's why 49:15 this happened. 49:17 There was really no miracle here. 49:19 And I got time for a short story. 49:23 I might go long just one minute. 49:26 This man went to a zoo, and he really wanted a job. 49:30 And they said, "Well, we don't have anything." 49:31 He said, "You gotta give me something. 49:33 It's been my dream to be able to work at the zoo." 49:35 He said, "I just love the animals." 49:37 And one of the heads, board members said, 49:39 "Well, there's one thing, but it's sort of strange." 49:43 He said, "Anything." 49:45 He says, "If I can get an entry level job 49:46 and I can work in the zoo." 49:48 He said, "Okay, but what happened is, this weekend, 49:51 our chief attraction is the gorilla died, 49:54 and we need someone-- 49:56 if people find that out, they're not going to come. 49:58 We need someone to just put on a gorilla suit, 50:00 sit quietly in a corner. 50:02 You know, you'll be by a food dish, just move a little bit 50:04 every now and they'll think you're just resting." 50:07 Says, "The people will keep coming 50:08 until we find another gorilla." 50:10 "I think I can do that, yeah." 50:12 So, the man dresses up in this very realistic looking gorilla 50:14 suit, and they--in the morning he goes out in a gorilla cage, 50:17 and they kind of push him out and there's a glass there, 50:19 and the people can see him. 50:21 And he's got the lion cage next door, 50:22 and he's got some zebras on the other side of him. 50:25 And he's got this, you know, concrete tree that's there 50:28 for him to climb on. 50:30 So, their first few hours, he just sits there 50:31 and all the people, when he comes out, all they come 50:33 and they're all pointing. 50:35 And he kind of likes that and he notices every time they move all 50:37 the kids go, "Whoo, hoo, look," you know, they're snapping 50:40 pictures, and he's starting to get into his job a little bit. 50:43 And then he starts to walk around a little bit, a bigger 50:47 crowd comes, and the people are all hooting. 50:49 And the next day he thinks, "You know, I've got 'em fooled." 50:53 And so, he starts to walk around, he bounces a little bit, 50:56 he leans up against the tree and more crowd comes. 50:58 They're taking pictures and they're calling everybody over. 51:00 No one's at any of the other exhibits because they want 51:02 to watch what he's going to do. 51:04 He got so full of himself, he thought that he could climb 51:06 the concrete tree. 51:08 And so, he gets up on the tree and everybody's looking. 51:10 He starts pounding on his chest like King Kong, and bouncing. 51:14 And he got out on a limb that was over the lion's cage 51:17 and people thought, "Well, this is really interesting." 51:20 And he starts throwing things down at the lion. 51:22 The lion just looks up at him. 51:25 The whole zoo is over here watching this carry on. 51:27 He starts to beat his chest, bounce up and down. 51:30 And the little concrete limb that he was on snapped, 51:33 and he fell off into the lion cage. 51:36 And when he looked over and he saw the lion, 51:38 and he recovered himself he's like, "I'm going to get eaten." 51:41 He starts to say, "Help, help." 51:44 The lion ran over to him, put his hand over his mouth 51:47 and said, "Be quiet, you're going to get us both fired." 51:50 [congregation laughing] 51:54 The lions that Daniel was with were real lions. 51:58 The fact that they didn't eat him is because he had the Spirit 52:02 of God and the angel protected him. 52:04 Now, if you wonder does this still happen, in Addis Ababa, 52:10 Ethiopia 2005, a girl was kidnapped by six men to be 52:16 forced--he was a Christian, to be forced into a marriage 52:20 with a Muslim, and she was 12 years old. 52:24 And she did not want to do it. 52:25 She refused and so they beat her repeatedly. 52:28 And she ran off, and the men came after her to find out 52:34 that she had been surrounded by a pride of lions. 52:38 There were actually three female lions, and the lions chased off 52:42 the men and when the family came along with a guard, they confirm 52:48 that there were three lions that were guarding the girl. 52:52 And when they saw the family come, they got up 52:54 and they walked away. 52:56 They protected her, and you can read about that yourself and 52:58 it's printed in AP News, which is usually pretty reputable. 53:02 God can still send lions to protect us, amen? 53:05 In conclusion, and if anyone wants more about this, 53:08 it'll be in my notes that we usually post online 53:10 with our Sabbath school study. 53:12 How was Daniel like Jesus? 53:14 I got 14 points real quick. 53:16 Jesus and Daniel were never married. 53:19 Daniel and Jesus both came from the royal bloodline of David. 53:23 Remember, Daniel came from the house of Hezekiah. 53:27 They had spies follow Daniel and Jesus from envy. 53:30 It was declared of both of them, there's no fault found in them. 53:34 They're both recognized as being Spirit-filled. 53:37 Both are known for exceptional wisdom. 53:40 Ezekiel 28, "Behold, you are wiser than Daniel." 53:43 Mark 6, "Where did this man get this wisdom?" 53:46 Speaking of Jesus. 53:49 Point seven, they both, Daniel and Jesus, pray before a great 53:53 trial Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, 53:55 Daniel in his upper room. 53:57 They both give thanks, Jesus at the Last Supper, 54:00 and Daniel in the upper room. 54:02 Daniel goes to the lion's den just before sunset, 54:05 Jesus goes to the cross, or he dies on the cross, I should say, 54:10 and he goes to the tomb. 54:12 When Daniel is in the den, the palace is in mourning 54:15 as heaven was for Christ. 54:16 A stone with a government seal is placed in the door of the 54:18 tomb and on the lion's den. 54:22 The king removes the stone very early in the morning. 54:24 The stone is taken away from the tomb very early in the morning. 54:27 Daniel emerges alive from the lion's den and is a type 54:31 of resurrection just like Jonah coming out of the whale 54:33 and Christ coming out of the tomb. 54:35 The lions could not hurt Daniel because he was innocent, 54:39 and the devil could not keep Jesus in the grave. 54:42 Just amazing parallels in this story between Christ 54:45 and Daniel, amen? 54:47 And so, it's just one of the great story. 54:49 I wish I had more time. 54:50 I could go an hour on this. 54:52 I want to tell you about our study is Obedience Legalism. 54:54 This is a free offer we'd like to make available. 54:56 You may have missed it at the beginning, 54:59 and ask for offer number 706. 55:01 You can call for it, 866-788-3966 is the number 55:06 you'll see there on your screen. 55:08 And you can even download it and look at it. 55:10 Text, you can text this SH041, text that to 40544. 55:17 And this is, we only mail in the U.S. territories. 55:20 You'll be blessed by it. 55:21 God bless you, friends, and we will study His Word together 55:23 next week. 55:26 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 55:28 life-changing free resource. 55:30 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 55:32 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer 55:34 or mobile device. 55:36 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 55:38 simply text the keyword on your screen to a 40544, 55:42 or visit the web address shown on your screen. 55:45 And be sure to select the digital download option 55:48 on the request page. 55:49 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word 55:52 with Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want. 55:55 And most important, to share it with others. 56:01 ♪♪♪ 56:06 ♪♪♪ 56:11 Doug: Hi, friends, you know the modern flags that we see 56:15 flying from the top of Capitol buildings or out in front 56:17 of patriotic homes really stem back from the times of battles 56:21 being fought between warring nations. 56:24 These beautifully designed and intricately colored banners were 56:27 flowing high above the battlefield so the warring 56:29 forces were able to identify amid the chaos, and the smoke, 56:32 and the fog of war, where their forces were rallied and where 56:36 they were fighting the battle. 56:38 And if you could capture your enemy's flag, 56:40 it was considered the highest honor. 56:42 I wonder if that's where we got the game capture the flag. 56:46 With the changes in war, now these flags also represent 56:49 a little more of a demarcation and identification 56:52 of different nationalities. 56:54 Today, the flags that represent the different nations of 56:56 the world are very colorful and diverse and all of the colors 56:59 and the shapes have a specific meaning. 57:01 They're easy to distinguish and recognize from one another. 57:04 Perhaps, one of the most interesting flags in the world 57:07 is the flag of the Philippines. 57:09 This is unique because it is flown differently in times 57:12 of peace than it is in times of war. 57:15 During times of peace, the Filipino flag that's composed of 57:18 red, white, blue, and yellow, is flown with the blue side up, 57:22 but in times of war, they flip it around and the red side is up 57:26 because there they're willing to make sacrifices of their blood 57:29 to defend the freedom of the country. 57:32 In the same way that an embassy that is situated in a foreign 57:35 country flies their flag while still surrounded by another 57:39 nation, Christians are supposed to have the flag of God's love 57:43 flying in this fallen world. 57:45 You can read in the Book Song of Solomon chapter 2, verse 4, 57:48 "His banner over me is love." 57:50 Love is the flag that identifies Christians as a unique kingdom, 57:54 even here in the world. 57:56 So friend, the big question is, how are you flying your flag? 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Revised 2020-02-10