WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Standing Tall In Babylon Publishing Date: 2024-11-17T05:04:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/standing-tall-in-babylon/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.440 We are here because you have brought us together. 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:25.560 We enjoy being in your company. 00:00:25.560 --> 00:00:27.920 We enjoy being with each other. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:31.840 I want to go back to where Don started, Abba, 00:00:31.840 --> 00:00:35.040 that when your spirit is here, 00:00:35.040 --> 00:00:38.720 then we can expect things from you. 00:00:38.720 --> 00:00:41.600 And so the truth is that your spirit is here. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:44.000 We don't have to manufacture anything 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:50.760 because you promised us that when two or more gather together in my name, 00:00:50.760 --> 00:00:52.480 I will be with you. 00:00:52.480 --> 00:00:56.760 And so your very presence, Jesus, is in this place. 00:00:56.760 --> 00:00:58.120 We get to enjoy you. 00:00:58.120 --> 00:00:59.800 We get to hear from you. 00:00:59.800 --> 00:01:01.200 Thank you for your word, Abba, 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:07.720 because your word is a light, a lamp unto our path. 00:01:07.720 --> 00:01:12.360 It is a lamp unto our path. 00:01:12.360 --> 00:01:18.080 So thank you that you're shining light on our path today 00:01:18.080 --> 00:01:21.560 so that we know how to move ahead. 00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:24.680 Thank you, Abba, that your word equips us. 00:01:24.680 --> 00:01:26.680 It empowers us. 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:32.400 Your word gives everything we need to live well. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:35.120 Thank you that you break things off of us 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:38.280 that aren't from you through your word. 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:39.600 So we sit here. 00:01:39.600 --> 00:01:42.000 We are here expectant. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:43.720 In Jesus' name, help us, Abba. 00:01:43.720 --> 00:01:46.040 Amen. 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:50.320 So the title for today's message is Standing Tall in Babylon. 00:01:50.320 --> 00:01:53.600 Standing Tall in Babylon. 00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:03.120 So if you want to turn your Bibles to Book of Daniel, Chapter 1, 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:06.480 we'll go through a few verses together. 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:08.640 Book of Daniel, Chapter 1. 00:02:08.640 --> 00:02:13.120 You see four Hebrew boys there, 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:19.240 among about 15,000 others who were taken from Jerusalem. 00:02:19.240 --> 00:02:21.200 Is there an echo? 00:02:21.200 --> 00:02:23.160 A little bit? 00:02:23.160 --> 00:02:25.200 Can someone address a little bit? 00:02:25.200 --> 00:02:27.960 Thanks, James. 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:30.800 So four Hebrew boys were taken, right, 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:36.840 with about 15,000 people from Jerusalem to Babylon. 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:40.640 And they lived there a certain way 00:02:40.640 --> 00:02:43.880 that changed things in Babylon. 00:02:43.880 --> 00:02:45.280 We read about them. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:46.720 Kids read about them. 00:02:46.720 --> 00:02:51.160 There is so much that we can learn from those lives. 00:02:51.160 --> 00:02:54.320 What I hope is that we can learn from those lives 00:02:54.440 --> 00:02:57.600 what I hope we can do today is look at a few things 00:02:57.600 --> 00:03:00.720 about how they lived in Babylon 00:03:00.720 --> 00:03:04.440 that allowed them to align their lives 00:03:04.440 --> 00:03:07.000 with where God wanted them to go, 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:11.040 which then affected the very place and the people, 00:03:11.040 --> 00:03:14.960 including a king, that they lived amongst. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:17.080 That's what we look at today. 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:19.200 Four young men. 00:03:19.200 --> 00:03:20.560 That was it. 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:21.840 So a couple of things. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:23.080 Daniel, Chapter 1. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:24.800 Let's read a few verses. 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:27.840 It talks about how in the verse 1, 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:32.840 in the third year of the reign of Jehoi, king of Judah, 00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:36.200 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem 00:03:36.200 --> 00:03:37.560 and besieged it. 00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:41.240 So it's one king coming, attacking Jerusalem, 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:42.640 capturing people. 00:03:42.640 --> 00:03:46.360 And among people, he also carries vessels 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:49.760 from the temple of God back to Babylon. 00:03:49.760 --> 00:03:51.840 Now, when we hear Babylon, of course, 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:54.800 it was an actual place with real people. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:56.840 But for everything we're talking about today, 00:03:56.840 --> 00:03:59.040 for standing tall in Babylon, 00:03:59.040 --> 00:04:02.520 we're simply taking parallels from that story, 00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:04.240 from what really happened, 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:08.320 and then drawing things into our lives 00:04:08.320 --> 00:04:09.400 based on what happened. 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:13.600 Yeah, so Babylon, yes, it's a real place with real people. 00:04:13.600 --> 00:04:14.800 It actually existed. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:15.960 Of course it did. 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:19.520 But for us, Babylon is the very place we live in today. 00:04:20.400 --> 00:04:21.240 Yeah? 00:04:21.520 --> 00:04:22.760 Where did Babylon start? 00:04:22.760 --> 00:04:25.800 Well, it goes back all the way to Genesis, chapter 11. 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:28.760 11, Tower of Babel. 00:04:28.760 --> 00:04:32.440 You see men getting together and deciding 00:04:32.440 --> 00:04:36.960 that we want to build for ourselves a city. 00:04:36.960 --> 00:04:37.800 Note that. 00:04:37.800 --> 00:04:41.160 We want to build for ourselves a city. 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:42.680 It has nothing to do with God. 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:45.680 We want to build a city for ourselves, 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:48.920 and we want to make a name for ourselves. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:53.400 The first city that was built was by Cain's son, 00:04:53.400 --> 00:04:55.600 and then you see in Genesis, chapter 11, 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:57.480 another city being talked about. 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:00.040 And God completely disrupts that plan. 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:03.760 Because what he has always wanted, 00:05:03.760 --> 00:05:05.480 like we talked about a few weeks ago, 00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:07.920 is he wants to dwell with man. 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:10.520 That's always his desire. 00:05:10.520 --> 00:05:14.160 And here comes a group of people in Genesis, chapter 11, 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:18.440 and they say we want to build for ourselves a city. 00:05:19.200 --> 00:05:23.760 We want to separate God from everything we are about. 00:05:23.760 --> 00:05:26.440 And we want to make a name for ourselves. 00:05:26.440 --> 00:05:27.960 So God disrupts that. 00:05:27.960 --> 00:05:30.080 That was Genesis, chapter 11, 00:05:30.080 --> 00:05:31.600 but then you go through the Bible, 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:34.960 you see that by the time Daniel and his friends 00:05:35.840 --> 00:05:39.040 are on earth, the same principle, 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:41.800 the same idea happens again. 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:42.720 What is it? 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:47.280 Babylonian kingdom is a kingdom that was put together 00:05:47.280 --> 00:05:50.440 with the intent of everything that is enmity 00:05:50.440 --> 00:05:52.240 towards God was Babylon. 00:05:53.280 --> 00:05:55.360 Babylon existed, was a great city. 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:57.160 You read through the New Testament. 00:05:57.160 --> 00:05:59.040 It's not just referred to in the Old Testament, 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:00.600 even in the New Testament, 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:03.280 Babylon is referred to about 11 times. 00:06:03.280 --> 00:06:06.040 In the book of Revelation, it's referred to about six times. 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:09.480 So you see the idea, the Babylonian construct, 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:13.160 the idea repeated over and over again. 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:15.720 But it's simply this, two things. 00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:20.720 Man wanting to build for himself, excluding God, 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:26.600 and two, man wanting a name for himself outside of God. 00:06:28.880 --> 00:06:31.840 And if you look at the place we live in today, 00:06:32.760 --> 00:06:36.120 the world we live in today, that's exactly what it is. 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:41.120 So Babylon is simply a name for what is actually referred to 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:44.280 in the Bible in terms of what actually happened there, 00:06:44.280 --> 00:06:46.840 which also happens today. 00:06:46.840 --> 00:06:49.080 So in your universities, you have this, 00:06:49.080 --> 00:06:51.440 hey Josh, good to have you back, bro. 00:06:51.440 --> 00:06:52.680 It's the same thing, right? 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:55.160 In your universities, you have the same thing, 00:06:55.160 --> 00:06:57.080 where there is a construct, 00:06:57.080 --> 00:07:00.240 there is something that's happening around the systems, 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:04.600 the institutions, the setup is all designed a certain way. 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:08.560 It is designed to do just one thing, 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:12.720 keep man away from the one who created them. 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:16.280 It goes back to the garden, 00:07:16.280 --> 00:07:20.880 where Eve and Adam, they decided to do something 00:07:20.880 --> 00:07:23.400 which resulted in what happened. 00:07:23.400 --> 00:07:26.960 And so when I say standing tall in Babylon, 00:07:26.960 --> 00:07:29.480 this isn't just going back and looking at the book of Daniel, 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:31.160 this is about our lives, 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:36.160 how we can be living in the world we occupy today. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:41.560 In a world where things are, where sin is celebrated, 00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:43.280 where pride is applauded, 00:07:43.280 --> 00:07:47.200 where moving away from God is considered the norm. 00:07:47.200 --> 00:07:51.200 How can you and I live not to just live for ourselves, 00:07:51.200 --> 00:07:54.360 but to shine a light so bright 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:57.880 that those around us, like Nebuchadnezzar will talk about, 00:07:57.880 --> 00:07:59.720 will look at that and go, wow, 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:02.440 I didn't know that your God is true. 00:08:02.440 --> 00:08:05.040 I didn't know that this is the real deal. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:08.360 And I want this because I see something in you 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:10.360 that I've never tasted. 00:08:10.360 --> 00:08:12.680 And this becomes so practical for all of us. 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:15.160 One of my favorite things to teach about is the kingdom. 00:08:15.160 --> 00:08:17.080 And ultimately this is the kingdom. 00:08:19.320 --> 00:08:22.440 Jesus talked about the kingdom after he resurrected, 00:08:22.440 --> 00:08:24.440 kept teaching about it. 00:08:24.440 --> 00:08:29.440 We live in a kingdom that is in war with another kingdom. 00:08:32.800 --> 00:08:35.400 And so everything you talk about, you hear today, 00:08:36.360 --> 00:08:39.560 take it, use it in your lives is how can I apply it 00:08:39.560 --> 00:08:42.080 so that I can live a life that's different 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:44.280 from what I see all around me? 00:08:46.020 --> 00:08:49.000 Can you read Daniel chapter four, verse 30? 00:08:50.640 --> 00:08:53.120 Daniel chapter four, verse 30. 00:08:54.520 --> 00:08:57.640 This is Nebuchadnezzar saying, 00:08:57.640 --> 00:09:01.120 and he can draw parallels to the Tower of Babel, 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:03.640 is not this, so he's looking at the kingdom 00:09:03.640 --> 00:09:04.920 that he has built. 00:09:04.920 --> 00:09:08.880 And Nebuchadnezzar says, is not this the great Babylon? 00:09:08.920 --> 00:09:11.720 I have built as the royal residence 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:16.640 by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty. 00:09:16.640 --> 00:09:17.960 I wanna take a quick second there guys, 00:09:17.960 --> 00:09:19.720 because sometimes when we read it, right, 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:22.760 it just seems like the king, Nebuchadnezzar, 00:09:22.760 --> 00:09:25.400 saying something, but see what he is saying. 00:09:25.400 --> 00:09:30.400 I have built as the royal residence. 00:09:30.400 --> 00:09:34.360 So he is the royal one taking residence 00:09:34.360 --> 00:09:37.720 in the city of Babylon is what he is saying, 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:40.960 which is completely opposite to the design of God 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:43.360 that he wants to dwell with us. 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:45.240 Because if you read through Revelation, 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:48.600 you see this idea about the city being clearer and clearer, 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:50.440 the city, the holy city of Zion, 00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:52.360 the holy city of Jerusalem, what is it? 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:55.120 A place where God dwells with man. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:57.560 And so it's important to note here 00:09:57.560 --> 00:09:59.560 that Nebuchadnezzar said this, 00:09:59.560 --> 00:10:02.160 I have built as the royal residence 00:10:02.160 --> 00:10:06.500 by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty. 00:10:07.760 --> 00:10:12.040 Babylon counters God and his ways. 00:10:12.040 --> 00:10:16.440 Babylon counters God and his ways. 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:20.960 Babylon is programmed by the antichrist spirit. 00:10:22.380 --> 00:10:27.380 Babylon is programmed by the antichrist spirit. 00:10:31.760 --> 00:10:35.600 So now think about the four young men. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:39.320 Daniel was probably 16, 17 years old. 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:44.320 He lived much longer in that city, in that place. 00:10:44.800 --> 00:10:45.640 Think about them. 00:10:45.640 --> 00:10:50.040 So they were taken as captives, exiles in a foreign land. 00:10:50.920 --> 00:10:53.680 Their eyes would have seen huge structures 00:10:53.680 --> 00:10:55.280 that they had never seen before. 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:59.760 Money, power, majesty, 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:03.680 things that they had never been exposed to. 00:11:03.720 --> 00:11:06.200 They're seeing for the first time. 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:09.560 They probably heard philosophies and ways of man, 00:11:09.560 --> 00:11:12.280 thoughts that were so different from everything 00:11:12.280 --> 00:11:15.440 that they had known the first few years of their lives. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:20.000 And keep this in mind, it's not friendly territory. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.480 It's a territory where anything you say 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:24.000 can be used against you. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:27.220 Anything you do can be used against you. 00:11:27.220 --> 00:11:29.600 That is where you find these guys. 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:35.320 Couple more things about Babylon. 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:41.520 Babylon's intent is to indoctrinate Daniel. 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:47.840 Babylon's intent is to indoctrinate Daniel and his friends. 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:52.960 Anyone who comes or goes to Babylon, same thing. 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:56.120 How can I indoctrinate this man? 00:11:56.120 --> 00:11:59.800 How can I assimilate this man or woman 00:11:59.800 --> 00:12:03.120 to be part of this culture? 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:05.480 So it's a slow erosion sometimes. 00:12:05.480 --> 00:12:09.000 You go, you are there, or you are born on earth, 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:12.440 and slowly, slowly, slowly, 00:12:12.440 --> 00:12:16.000 the intent is to assimilate you to that culture. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:18.820 The intent is to draw you away 00:12:18.820 --> 00:12:23.060 from the original call of God over your life. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:26.960 So as I was writing some parts of this, 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:31.960 I realized that it's amazing how easy it is to see that, 00:12:32.880 --> 00:12:35.760 because I could easily see things in my life 00:12:35.760 --> 00:12:40.240 where over a period of time, slow erosion happens. 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:41.940 I guess erosion is anyway slow, 00:12:41.940 --> 00:12:44.640 so you don't have to say it's slow erosion. 00:12:44.640 --> 00:12:45.920 Things get eroded. 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:48.900 It doesn't stand out on one day, 00:12:48.900 --> 00:12:51.480 but you see that you're assimilating 00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:53.820 with something that's foreign. 00:12:55.740 --> 00:12:58.640 And the prayer is that the Spirit of God 00:12:58.640 --> 00:13:01.800 allows us to see where that may be happening. 00:13:02.640 --> 00:13:04.840 So that we say no to it, and we say, 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:08.720 aha, I am, come in, man, come on in. 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:15.560 So that we can say, aha, I see what's going on. 00:13:15.560 --> 00:13:18.740 I don't want to be part of a setup like that. 00:13:18.740 --> 00:13:19.760 I'm different. 00:13:19.760 --> 00:13:22.000 I am from my father, 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:25.600 and I choose to live differently in Babylon. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:30.080 So in today's world, men and systems and institutions 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:32.880 have been conditioned by the Spirit of Babylon. 00:13:32.880 --> 00:13:35.920 In today's world, think about it, 00:13:35.920 --> 00:13:37.680 men you see around you, 00:13:38.640 --> 00:13:43.640 systems, educational system, banking system, 00:13:44.800 --> 00:13:49.720 you name it, all those systems, institutions, 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:52.840 they have all been conditioned. 00:13:52.840 --> 00:13:56.800 Every single one of them, it's programmed, 00:13:56.800 --> 00:14:00.440 it's conditioned by the Spirit of Babylon. 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:03.240 And as I said, when I say the Spirit of Babylon, 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:07.620 it is the anti-Christ Spirit. 00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:12.620 So we have a world around us where sin is uploaded, 00:14:13.140 --> 00:14:15.120 pride is celebrated, 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:18.240 and man doesn't want anything to do with God. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.460 But it's also important to see where it's all ending. 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:23.240 Revelation chapter 11, verse 15, if you can go there, 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:25.440 Revelation chapter 11, verse 15, 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:28.280 then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, 00:14:28.280 --> 00:14:31.400 and there were loud voices in heaven saying, 00:14:31.400 --> 00:14:35.080 the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:37.720 of our Lord and of his Christ. 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:40.600 He shall reign forever and ever. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:43.280 That's where it's ending. 00:14:43.280 --> 00:14:47.600 And the part that we should be so excited about, 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:52.400 truly, truly, truly, is we get to be part of this story, 00:14:52.400 --> 00:14:56.080 this narrative, where like these guys in Babylon, 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:58.540 in the world we occupy today, 00:14:58.540 --> 00:15:00.600 in the streets that we are in, 00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:02.120 in the schools that we go to, 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:05.120 workplaces where we do our jobs, 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:10.120 we get to bring a kingdom that is foreign to the kingdom 00:15:10.340 --> 00:15:12.140 in which we live. 00:15:12.140 --> 00:15:15.140 It happens through real people like us, 00:15:15.140 --> 00:15:17.120 simple people like us. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:19.960 And it's something that we have to take on 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:22.120 as this is what we are about. 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:25.840 Luke chapter four, Isaiah chapter 61, 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:28.860 for the spirit of the Lord is upon me 00:15:28.860 --> 00:15:31.040 to bring good news to the poor, 00:15:31.040 --> 00:15:32.880 to bind up the brokenhearted. 00:15:32.880 --> 00:15:37.280 This is what your life and my life is about. 00:15:37.280 --> 00:15:40.280 There is nothing else outside of this 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:44.080 that should cause our heart to leap. 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:46.200 This should be the main thing. 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:48.040 Everything else is secondary. 00:15:48.040 --> 00:15:49.800 And keep this in mind, 00:15:49.800 --> 00:15:53.480 again, we are conditioned to think a certain way. 00:15:53.480 --> 00:15:56.320 We are programmed to think that, 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:59.000 no, that's not us, that we are not enough, 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:02.780 that we are not good enough, that it's someone else's. 00:16:02.780 --> 00:16:07.200 But the spirit of the Lord always has a different statement, 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:10.520 a different proclamation over your life. 00:16:10.520 --> 00:16:13.060 And so please work with the spirit of God today 00:16:13.060 --> 00:16:17.660 to say, like these men, you want to stand in this land, 00:16:17.660 --> 00:16:20.540 standing tall with resolve 00:16:20.540 --> 00:16:24.300 so that you can infiltrate this kingdom 00:16:24.300 --> 00:16:29.300 with the values and the nature of the king you follow. 00:16:29.300 --> 00:16:31.300 A few things, so number one, 00:16:31.300 --> 00:16:36.300 Babylon cultivates a one among many mindset. 00:16:36.580 --> 00:16:41.580 Babylon cultivates a one among many mindset. 00:16:44.660 --> 00:16:46.780 It spotlights human abilities 00:16:46.780 --> 00:16:48.860 instead of your divine mandate. 00:16:48.860 --> 00:16:50.780 I'll explain those two things. 00:16:50.780 --> 00:16:55.780 Babylon cultivates a one among many mindset. 00:16:56.220 --> 00:16:59.600 Two, it spotlights human abilities 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:02.020 instead of your divine mandate. 00:17:02.020 --> 00:17:02.960 Why do I say that? 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:04.780 Let's read this together. 00:17:04.780 --> 00:17:09.060 Chapter one, verse three. 00:17:09.060 --> 00:17:12.200 Then the king commanded, as Phaenus, 00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:17.200 the chief eunuch to bring some of the people of Israel, 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:20.640 both of the royal family and of the nobility, 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:22.400 youths without blemish. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:24.640 So here it goes, verse four. 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:27.160 Who did the king ask to be brought? 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:30.440 Youths without blemish, number one, 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:33.600 of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom. 00:17:33.600 --> 00:17:36.080 Number two, endowed with knowledge. 00:17:36.080 --> 00:17:38.240 Number three, understanding, learning. 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:40.720 Number four, in fight, 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:43.100 and competent to stand in the king's palace 00:17:43.100 --> 00:17:44.560 and to teach them the literature 00:17:44.560 --> 00:17:46.320 and language of the Chaldeans. 00:17:47.480 --> 00:17:50.080 You see what Babylon is about? 00:17:50.080 --> 00:17:52.600 Babylon is about simply this. 00:17:52.600 --> 00:17:57.280 Babylon has you look at yourself and go, 00:17:57.280 --> 00:18:00.360 are you meeting it or are you not? 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:04.000 Babylon sets a standard. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:07.520 And Babylon says, if you don't get to this, 00:18:07.520 --> 00:18:11.040 if you can't jump as high as this, you ain't good enough. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:15.600 And some people could jump as high as that. 00:18:15.600 --> 00:18:18.800 Some people won't jump as high as that. 00:18:18.800 --> 00:18:21.880 And Babylon then dictates what happens 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:25.960 to those who can jump and not jump as high. 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:27.880 So let me go back to what I read. 00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:32.000 Babylon cultivates a one among many mindset 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:36.880 and spotlights human abilities over divine call. 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:39.880 The divine call of God over your life says, 00:18:39.880 --> 00:18:44.040 I formed you, I made you, you're my son. 00:18:44.040 --> 00:18:47.040 Even before you were formed in your mother's womb, 00:18:47.040 --> 00:18:49.800 I knit you together, I put you together. 00:18:49.800 --> 00:18:53.220 All the days of your life are written in my book. 00:18:53.220 --> 00:18:55.600 That is the father's word over him. 00:18:55.600 --> 00:18:57.320 On the other hand, there is another word 00:18:57.320 --> 00:18:59.560 being spoken over him, which is, 00:18:59.560 --> 00:19:02.720 you must be like this, like this, like this. 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:03.680 That beard isn't good. 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:06.080 No, I just don't have something as good as you. 00:19:07.600 --> 00:19:11.400 That's the whole point, where it keeps telling you, 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:13.800 this, that, the other. 00:19:13.800 --> 00:19:15.360 If you don't meet that target, 00:19:15.360 --> 00:19:17.360 if you can't jump as high as that, 00:19:17.360 --> 00:19:19.160 then you're not good enough. 00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:23.200 It's amazing how we can do the same to our kids. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:26.800 Where we can teach them, 00:19:26.800 --> 00:19:29.800 you gotta be this way to be successful. 00:19:29.800 --> 00:19:33.280 You've gotta do it this way to be successful. 00:19:33.280 --> 00:19:36.700 Because the very definition of success 00:19:36.700 --> 00:19:40.940 has now been morphed by Babylon. 00:19:42.500 --> 00:19:46.800 The very definition of what the world says is success 00:19:46.800 --> 00:19:48.980 has been morphed by Babylon. 00:19:48.980 --> 00:19:50.980 Think about it, guys, this is very true. 00:19:52.260 --> 00:19:55.620 What men are after is something 00:19:55.620 --> 00:19:57.500 that Babylon has constructed. 00:20:00.060 --> 00:20:04.060 Babylon wants you to look at what human abilities you have. 00:20:05.060 --> 00:20:06.420 And the truth of the matter is, 00:20:06.420 --> 00:20:09.660 you will always find someone better than you. 00:20:09.660 --> 00:20:11.660 I just found him better than me. 00:20:11.660 --> 00:20:13.260 Better beard than me, for sure. 00:20:14.980 --> 00:20:18.380 You will always find someone better than you. 00:20:19.300 --> 00:20:22.140 And so as long as this setup 00:20:22.140 --> 00:20:24.420 forces you to look at yourself, 00:20:24.420 --> 00:20:28.180 look at your human qualities, or the lack thereof, 00:20:29.540 --> 00:20:32.580 you can't be successful, is what that kingdom says. 00:20:33.420 --> 00:20:36.780 And secondly, it forces you to think 00:20:36.780 --> 00:20:38.580 that you are one among many. 00:20:41.340 --> 00:20:43.780 You wrote an exam, you're one among many. 00:20:43.780 --> 00:20:47.540 You have to apply for a job, 300 people applied. 00:20:47.540 --> 00:20:49.260 I'm one among many. 00:20:49.260 --> 00:20:51.900 I need to do this, I'm one among many. 00:20:52.980 --> 00:20:56.680 Again, that's what's being yelled at you. 00:20:57.780 --> 00:21:00.140 You're one among many. 00:21:00.180 --> 00:21:05.180 But God says, you are the one that I have chosen 00:21:05.860 --> 00:21:10.660 for such a time as this, at this point in time in history, 00:21:10.660 --> 00:21:15.540 I need you and you only to do and accomplish certain things. 00:21:18.740 --> 00:21:20.660 Any area in your life where you think 00:21:20.660 --> 00:21:23.500 you're one among many, that a computer program 00:21:23.500 --> 00:21:27.420 can decide where you get in and where you does not get in. 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:32.300 Think about it, please. 00:21:32.300 --> 00:21:34.460 I'm not interested to run through this, 00:21:34.460 --> 00:21:35.860 because it's so important, right? 00:21:35.860 --> 00:21:37.540 This is the world we live in, 00:21:37.540 --> 00:21:40.180 and we have to know how we think. 00:21:40.180 --> 00:21:42.660 Because the fact of the matter is there are sometimes, 00:21:42.660 --> 00:21:44.220 there are these gray areas. 00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:45.660 There are sometimes black and white, 00:21:45.660 --> 00:21:48.220 and you know the black, you know the white. 00:21:48.220 --> 00:21:51.500 But there are gray, a lot of gray areas 00:21:51.500 --> 00:21:56.500 where you choose and you opt for the ways of Babylon, 00:21:56.500 --> 00:21:59.340 or you are succumbed by it, 00:21:59.340 --> 00:22:01.260 and God wants us to say no to it. 00:22:04.860 --> 00:22:08.860 So these qualities form the basis, the ones that I read, 00:22:08.860 --> 00:22:12.780 the basis for selection and promotion in Babylon. 00:22:13.980 --> 00:22:16.300 So Charles Darwin did not come up with 00:22:16.300 --> 00:22:19.500 the idea of natural selection. 00:22:19.500 --> 00:22:20.340 Who came up with it? 00:22:20.340 --> 00:22:22.660 It was an old Babylonian construct. 00:22:22.700 --> 00:22:23.540 Who came up with it? 00:22:23.540 --> 00:22:25.780 It was an old Babylonian construct. 00:22:26.740 --> 00:22:29.060 That the weak will die, 00:22:31.100 --> 00:22:33.900 and the strong will be successful. 00:22:35.940 --> 00:22:38.860 God instead has supernatural selection. 00:22:38.860 --> 00:22:42.380 Let's read 1 Corinthians chapter one, 26. 00:22:42.380 --> 00:22:45.900 1 Corinthians chapter one, verse 26. 00:22:45.900 --> 00:22:49.140 For consider your calling, brothers, 00:22:49.140 --> 00:22:50.820 not many of you, 00:22:51.660 --> 00:22:53.500 actually I'll read it. 00:22:53.500 --> 00:22:55.020 I want you to really pay attention to that. 00:22:55.020 --> 00:22:56.820 So once you get there, I'll read it again. 00:22:56.820 --> 00:22:59.380 1 Corinthians chapter one, verse 26. 00:23:09.020 --> 00:23:10.780 1 Corinthians one, verse 26. 00:23:10.780 --> 00:23:13.140 So on one hand, everything I just said 00:23:13.140 --> 00:23:17.020 is what Babylon speaks, but here is what the Lord says. 00:23:17.020 --> 00:23:18.900 In this case, Paul is writing. 00:23:18.940 --> 00:23:21.540 For consider your calling, brothers, 00:23:21.540 --> 00:23:25.140 not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. 00:23:25.140 --> 00:23:26.860 Not many were powerful. 00:23:26.860 --> 00:23:29.180 Not many were of noble birth. 00:23:29.180 --> 00:23:33.420 But God chose what is foolish in the world 00:23:33.420 --> 00:23:34.860 to shame the wise. 00:23:36.020 --> 00:23:40.220 God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 00:23:41.300 --> 00:23:44.460 God chose what is low and despised in the world, 00:23:44.460 --> 00:23:46.500 even things that are not, 00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:49.380 to bring to nothing things that are, 00:23:49.380 --> 00:23:53.340 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 00:23:53.340 --> 00:23:55.900 How cool that in this kingdom, 00:23:55.900 --> 00:23:58.780 in the kingdom of God, it's completely different, 00:23:58.780 --> 00:24:03.780 where me being weak allows me to be strong, 00:24:05.260 --> 00:24:09.580 where me saying I don't have the ways of this other world, 00:24:09.580 --> 00:24:13.420 Lord, all I want is your way makes me wise. 00:24:14.420 --> 00:24:16.060 And it isn't a thing where, 00:24:16.580 --> 00:24:17.740 yeah, those guys are a little weird. 00:24:17.740 --> 00:24:19.340 They don't believe in what we believe. 00:24:19.340 --> 00:24:20.500 It's not that. 00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:23.580 In fact, David, Daniel, and the other three guys 00:24:23.580 --> 00:24:25.620 that we're gonna talk about, 00:24:25.620 --> 00:24:27.780 they held on to their beliefs 00:24:27.780 --> 00:24:30.180 that actually countered everything else 00:24:30.180 --> 00:24:33.540 that the Babylonian construct said is true. 00:24:33.540 --> 00:24:34.580 It challenged it. 00:24:34.580 --> 00:24:36.060 It defeated it. 00:24:36.060 --> 00:24:38.380 Oftentimes when Christians take a stand, 00:24:38.380 --> 00:24:40.500 let's admit it, what does the world think? 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:42.100 Those guys are a little weird. 00:24:46.860 --> 00:24:47.940 He talks funny. 00:24:51.060 --> 00:24:53.140 So different. 00:24:53.140 --> 00:24:56.100 I can tell you no one in Babylon said that 00:24:56.100 --> 00:25:00.300 about Daniel and the other guys. 00:25:00.300 --> 00:25:04.140 And Aniah, Misha, and what was the other name? 00:25:05.500 --> 00:25:06.860 Yeah. 00:25:06.860 --> 00:25:08.820 None of them were funny 00:25:09.980 --> 00:25:12.300 because they believed in what they believed in. 00:25:13.700 --> 00:25:14.540 Next one. 00:25:16.820 --> 00:25:21.500 Babylon aims to seat you at Nebuchadnezzar's table, 00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:24.580 lowering your threshold of godliness 00:25:24.580 --> 00:25:26.700 and dependency on God. 00:25:28.100 --> 00:25:31.900 Babylon aims to seat you 00:25:34.020 --> 00:25:36.780 at Nebuchadnezzar's table, 00:25:36.780 --> 00:25:40.540 lowering your threshold of godliness 00:25:40.540 --> 00:25:42.700 and dependency on God. 00:25:44.060 --> 00:25:45.100 Let's read this. 00:25:46.940 --> 00:25:47.780 Verse five. 00:25:49.780 --> 00:25:54.140 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food 00:25:54.140 --> 00:25:58.500 that the king ate and of the wine that he drank. 00:25:58.500 --> 00:26:01.100 They were to be educated for three years, 00:26:01.100 --> 00:26:02.780 and at the end of that time, 00:26:02.780 --> 00:26:04.700 they were to stand before the king. 00:26:07.180 --> 00:26:08.580 So what happened here? 00:26:08.580 --> 00:26:11.900 The king says, I'm gonna assign to you 00:26:11.900 --> 00:26:15.300 daily portion of what you need to eat. 00:26:15.340 --> 00:26:16.580 And that's what you need to eat. 00:26:16.580 --> 00:26:19.860 At the end of three years, I have plans for you, 00:26:19.860 --> 00:26:23.140 but Daniel, you've seen the verses down below, 00:26:23.140 --> 00:26:24.820 he takes a stand. 00:26:24.820 --> 00:26:25.660 You know this. 00:26:25.660 --> 00:26:26.580 We all know this. 00:26:26.580 --> 00:26:28.940 And he says, nope, I'm not gonna do this. 00:26:28.940 --> 00:26:30.180 The question is why. 00:26:31.340 --> 00:26:33.140 Why did Daniel say? 00:26:33.140 --> 00:26:35.500 Because the king actually said a bunch of things, right? 00:26:35.500 --> 00:26:36.740 You need to be trained this way. 00:26:36.740 --> 00:26:38.460 You need to learn this language. 00:26:38.460 --> 00:26:40.100 He didn't say no to any of that. 00:26:41.580 --> 00:26:43.860 So it wasn't a, well, you took me here. 00:26:43.860 --> 00:26:46.020 I am saying no, no, no, no, no. 00:26:46.020 --> 00:26:47.260 No to everything, no. 00:26:47.260 --> 00:26:49.740 He actually said yes to a bunch of stuff. 00:26:50.620 --> 00:26:54.300 He said, okay, I'll be trained in this language. 00:26:54.300 --> 00:26:55.700 I'll do that, I'll do that. 00:26:55.700 --> 00:27:00.700 But when it comes to the daily portion of food and wine 00:27:01.060 --> 00:27:02.460 that you're trying to give me 00:27:02.460 --> 00:27:04.780 or that you wanna give me, no to that. 00:27:04.780 --> 00:27:05.980 Why did he say that? 00:27:07.540 --> 00:27:08.500 Could be two reasons. 00:27:08.500 --> 00:27:13.500 One, it could purely be because there is, 00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:16.420 okay, let me take that back. 00:27:16.420 --> 00:27:19.540 On one hand, it is the Levitical law 00:27:19.540 --> 00:27:21.460 that says you can't eat certain things. 00:27:21.460 --> 00:27:23.100 So that's a given. 00:27:23.100 --> 00:27:26.500 So you would expect Daniel and the guys not to eat that, 00:27:26.500 --> 00:27:28.060 purely because of that. 00:27:28.060 --> 00:27:32.020 But there is the other thing that can be forgotten. 00:27:32.020 --> 00:27:34.580 It is that as soon as you're saying, 00:27:34.580 --> 00:27:38.420 the king assigns me my daily portion, 00:27:38.420 --> 00:27:42.860 that is them saying I am dependent on you 00:27:42.860 --> 00:27:44.260 for the rest of my life. 00:27:45.100 --> 00:27:50.100 That is also why Daniel said no. 00:27:50.780 --> 00:27:52.900 So it isn't just, 00:27:54.300 --> 00:27:58.840 it isn't just a, this meat we can't eat 00:27:58.840 --> 00:28:00.620 because the wine he could drink. 00:28:00.620 --> 00:28:02.740 He said no to the wine as well. 00:28:04.220 --> 00:28:07.380 He didn't say no to just the food. 00:28:07.380 --> 00:28:10.100 He said no to the wine as well. 00:28:10.100 --> 00:28:10.940 Why? 00:28:10.940 --> 00:28:14.700 It has to be something more than the Levitical law. 00:28:16.060 --> 00:28:18.860 And I'm saying that it was a dependency 00:28:18.860 --> 00:28:22.540 that was associated with the daily portion 00:28:23.380 --> 00:28:26.500 of food and wine that the king was giving. 00:28:28.140 --> 00:28:30.260 Okay, so let's proceed from there. 00:28:32.020 --> 00:28:35.820 It is not worthy to enjoy the feast. 00:28:36.820 --> 00:28:41.100 It's not worth it to enjoy the feast 00:28:41.100 --> 00:28:44.420 that Nebuchadnezzar put in front of these guys. 00:28:44.420 --> 00:28:46.300 It was not worth it for them. 00:28:46.300 --> 00:28:47.500 Let's think through it. 00:28:47.500 --> 00:28:50.900 On one hand, they know that God 00:28:50.900 --> 00:28:53.420 gives them everything they need for their lives. 00:28:53.420 --> 00:28:56.580 On one hand, they know that the God of their fathers, 00:28:57.460 --> 00:28:59.180 this God has purpose for them. 00:28:59.180 --> 00:29:01.100 And here comes the king who is saying, 00:29:01.100 --> 00:29:03.180 I'm gonna issue you your daily portion. 00:29:03.180 --> 00:29:05.140 Your ration comes from me. 00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:06.980 If you have it, it's because I have it. 00:29:06.980 --> 00:29:10.340 If you don't have it, it's because I don't give it to you. 00:29:10.340 --> 00:29:12.860 And Daniel says no to it first. 00:29:14.460 --> 00:29:16.860 You actually read, as you read through that, 00:29:16.860 --> 00:29:19.740 the other three guys don't say no to it first. 00:29:20.700 --> 00:29:24.860 They join Daniel in Daniel's decision for it. 00:29:24.860 --> 00:29:26.300 And so that's the other thing to look at, 00:29:26.300 --> 00:29:30.180 where my yes or no, 00:29:30.180 --> 00:29:34.620 or me taking a stand for what is important, 00:29:34.620 --> 00:29:39.460 will also empower those with me to rise up and stand up. 00:29:40.420 --> 00:29:45.420 Sometimes we are in circles where someone has to say no, 00:29:45.900 --> 00:29:48.660 where someone has to say yes, 00:29:48.660 --> 00:29:50.740 where someone has to step up. 00:29:51.820 --> 00:29:55.900 And you may think that there aren't many people like you, 00:29:55.900 --> 00:29:58.420 but the truth is there are situations 00:29:58.420 --> 00:30:02.900 where you have to be that one who says enough is enough. 00:30:02.900 --> 00:30:04.580 It can't be like this. 00:30:05.420 --> 00:30:06.740 Because there are many who are waiting 00:30:06.740 --> 00:30:08.700 for those words to be uttered. 00:30:10.340 --> 00:30:13.780 So you see glorious things about the other three boys 00:30:13.780 --> 00:30:18.660 a little later, but, and in a passage in chapter three, 00:30:18.660 --> 00:30:20.380 Daniel is not in the picture. 00:30:22.260 --> 00:30:23.500 It's just the three boys. 00:30:23.500 --> 00:30:27.420 But the first time it was just Daniel saying no, 00:30:27.420 --> 00:30:30.020 and the others accompanied him. 00:30:30.020 --> 00:30:33.140 The importance of standing up and saying things. 00:30:33.140 --> 00:30:34.900 So what does it look like? 00:30:34.900 --> 00:30:38.660 It could look like where at your workplace 00:30:38.660 --> 00:30:42.420 you see something wrong, but it's widely accepted. 00:30:43.460 --> 00:30:44.980 Can you speak up? 00:30:48.020 --> 00:30:50.060 You may not be the most popular person, 00:30:50.060 --> 00:30:52.540 but can you speak what you truly believe? 00:30:54.200 --> 00:30:56.860 It could be, because the fact of the matter is 00:30:56.860 --> 00:30:59.620 whenever we start talking along these lines, 00:30:59.620 --> 00:31:01.900 I'm going away from my notes now, but that's okay. 00:31:01.940 --> 00:31:03.900 Whenever we start talking along these lines, 00:31:03.900 --> 00:31:07.140 the immediate things that come to mind is abortion. 00:31:09.020 --> 00:31:09.940 You see why? 00:31:09.940 --> 00:31:11.340 Because that's all you hear. 00:31:12.860 --> 00:31:16.700 While yes, you have to take a stance against abortion, 00:31:16.700 --> 00:31:21.700 100%, that is not all of Christianity. 00:31:23.100 --> 00:31:24.580 There is so much more. 00:31:25.460 --> 00:31:27.580 And so in my life and in your life, 00:31:27.580 --> 00:31:30.900 wherever we are at, what are those things where we say, 00:31:32.220 --> 00:31:35.420 it can't be this way, and you take a stand, 00:31:36.940 --> 00:31:39.580 and you speak it, because once you do, 00:31:39.580 --> 00:31:41.820 you realize that others around you 00:31:41.820 --> 00:31:44.220 were just waiting for someone to say it, 00:31:46.180 --> 00:31:47.820 and it blesses them. 00:31:47.820 --> 00:31:50.740 And the agenda that God has will happen 00:31:50.740 --> 00:31:55.060 because you said yes to what God wanted you to. 00:31:56.940 --> 00:31:58.580 So when you think about it, the boys, 00:31:58.580 --> 00:32:01.140 they were offered scholarships, really, 00:32:01.180 --> 00:32:04.300 instead of slavery, and banquets, 00:32:04.300 --> 00:32:06.220 instead of bread and water. 00:32:06.220 --> 00:32:09.220 So it wasn't a difficult choice, 00:32:09.220 --> 00:32:12.380 meaning it wasn't like, oh, you're forcing me to this. 00:32:12.380 --> 00:32:14.540 They were being offered the best, 00:32:16.260 --> 00:32:18.580 the best in the kingdom there is. 00:32:18.580 --> 00:32:21.180 Look at those other boys, they don't get it, 00:32:21.180 --> 00:32:22.820 but you get it. 00:32:22.820 --> 00:32:25.300 You get it because you are of nobility. 00:32:25.300 --> 00:32:29.780 You are from the royal lineage, and therefore you get it. 00:32:29.780 --> 00:32:32.180 You see, it's not it. 00:32:32.180 --> 00:32:34.060 They were being offered something 00:32:34.060 --> 00:32:35.940 that others did not even get. 00:32:39.180 --> 00:32:44.180 Babylon's meat and drink desensitizes my taste buds 00:32:44.580 --> 00:32:48.140 to the flavor of God morals and principles. 00:32:48.140 --> 00:32:53.140 Babylon's meat and drink desensitizes my taste buds 00:32:54.820 --> 00:32:58.740 to the flavor of God morals or principles. 00:33:00.540 --> 00:33:03.220 So I'll go back to what I read before. 00:33:03.220 --> 00:33:08.220 Babylon aims to seat you at Nebuchadnezzar's table. 00:33:08.780 --> 00:33:10.740 The intent is twofold. 00:33:10.740 --> 00:33:15.260 One, to lower your threshold for godliness, 00:33:15.260 --> 00:33:18.020 and two, your dependency on God. 00:33:25.140 --> 00:33:26.620 I actually found this interesting 00:33:26.620 --> 00:33:29.300 because in Matthew chapter four, 00:33:29.340 --> 00:33:34.340 when Jesus finished the 40-day fast, what happens? 00:33:34.620 --> 00:33:38.340 There comes the devil, and here is what the devil says. 00:33:38.340 --> 00:33:41.060 If you are the son of God, command these stones 00:33:41.060 --> 00:33:43.980 to become loaves of bread. 00:33:43.980 --> 00:33:45.940 But he answered, it is written, 00:33:45.940 --> 00:33:48.820 man shall not live by bread alone, 00:33:48.820 --> 00:33:52.660 but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. 00:33:52.660 --> 00:33:55.060 Similar, you see it? 00:33:56.060 --> 00:33:58.100 The boys, they were told, 00:33:58.100 --> 00:34:00.260 your daily portion comes from me. 00:34:00.940 --> 00:34:03.420 To Jesus, after a 40-day fast, 00:34:03.420 --> 00:34:05.900 the devil comes and says, you're bread. 00:34:07.220 --> 00:34:09.020 It's a question of sustenance. 00:34:10.220 --> 00:34:13.260 Babylon forces you to think 00:34:13.260 --> 00:34:16.980 that your sustenance comes from its systems. 00:34:18.780 --> 00:34:22.580 Babylon forces you or compels you to think 00:34:22.700 --> 00:34:26.300 that your progress is dependent on your good job, 00:34:26.300 --> 00:34:31.300 that your life is tied to the income you make, 00:34:31.300 --> 00:34:36.300 that if you don't get this job, your life is outright gone, 00:34:36.300 --> 00:34:39.100 that if you don't have those connections, 00:34:39.100 --> 00:34:41.260 then how can you be successful? 00:34:44.100 --> 00:34:45.940 That's what Babylon tries to do. 00:34:45.940 --> 00:34:48.900 When you don't talk like that in that circle, 00:34:48.900 --> 00:34:51.300 how come they'll ever invite you in? 00:34:51.300 --> 00:34:52.940 They'll ever invite you in. 00:34:58.140 --> 00:35:02.820 It's a question of significance 00:35:02.820 --> 00:35:07.220 because Babylon tries to make you depend on itself 00:35:07.220 --> 00:35:09.180 for your daily sustenance. 00:35:09.180 --> 00:35:11.740 So if I can say, if you can say, 00:35:11.740 --> 00:35:16.740 my bread, both physical and spiritual, 00:35:17.540 --> 00:35:19.380 because it's easy to think that my bread 00:35:19.380 --> 00:35:20.860 comes from the father alone, 00:35:20.860 --> 00:35:24.100 very easy because the spiritual bread comes from him. 00:35:24.100 --> 00:35:29.100 But my physical bread, what I need for me to live every day, 00:35:29.460 --> 00:35:31.540 it's not tied to a job. 00:35:32.420 --> 00:35:34.580 It's not tied to a thing. 00:35:35.580 --> 00:35:37.740 It actually comes from him, 00:35:38.660 --> 00:35:42.340 he who cares about everything he created. 00:35:42.340 --> 00:35:44.300 When he cares about the sparrows that much, 00:35:44.300 --> 00:35:46.300 how much more you? 00:35:46.300 --> 00:35:50.660 When you as evil fathers think of your sons this way, 00:35:50.660 --> 00:35:53.660 when you won't give them bread when they ask, 00:35:53.660 --> 00:35:55.180 or stone when they ask for bread, 00:35:55.180 --> 00:35:59.380 when you don't give them a soap and when they ask for fish, 00:35:59.380 --> 00:36:01.300 how much more the father than I am? 00:36:04.660 --> 00:36:07.620 My sustenance, your sustenance, 00:36:07.620 --> 00:36:11.300 truly, truly comes from our father. 00:36:11.300 --> 00:36:16.020 We cannot allow the devil to make us think and believe 00:36:16.020 --> 00:36:20.300 that we need to hit that jackpot, 00:36:20.300 --> 00:36:23.620 not that jackpot, that job, or this or that. 00:36:30.060 --> 00:36:31.780 But, yes. 00:36:32.780 --> 00:36:35.260 Do you agree this happens? 00:36:38.420 --> 00:36:39.700 This happens. 00:36:39.700 --> 00:36:40.540 Why? 00:36:40.540 --> 00:36:41.540 It's very simple, guys. 00:36:41.540 --> 00:36:44.620 It happens because it happens all around us. 00:36:44.620 --> 00:36:46.420 Without you hearing, you hear it. 00:36:46.420 --> 00:36:48.020 Without you seeing, you see it. 00:36:48.020 --> 00:36:49.980 Without you smelling, you smell it. 00:36:49.980 --> 00:36:51.460 It is all around you. 00:36:52.460 --> 00:36:54.420 And so, if you're not careful, 00:36:54.420 --> 00:36:57.820 you can go through six months and actually believe that. 00:36:57.820 --> 00:36:59.060 And that is my point. 00:36:59.060 --> 00:37:01.740 That is what I said, erosion. 00:37:01.740 --> 00:37:03.420 That's the word that came to me, 00:37:03.420 --> 00:37:08.220 because it's an attempt to slowly but surely 00:37:08.220 --> 00:37:09.820 take away these things from you. 00:37:11.060 --> 00:37:13.940 Can we be a people where we march out 00:37:14.020 --> 00:37:18.500 onto the streets confident that we are cared for 00:37:18.500 --> 00:37:19.580 by our father? 00:37:20.540 --> 00:37:24.860 That when he said, when David said that, 00:37:24.860 --> 00:37:27.860 I was a young man, now I am old, 00:37:27.860 --> 00:37:29.580 but I know that it doesn't matter 00:37:29.580 --> 00:37:31.180 which day of my life it is. 00:37:31.180 --> 00:37:33.180 I know that he is faithful. 00:37:33.180 --> 00:37:35.420 He will take care of me. 00:37:35.420 --> 00:37:39.500 I have never seen a righteous man go hungry. 00:37:40.580 --> 00:37:41.780 What does that mean? 00:37:41.780 --> 00:37:44.500 It means that when God is our righteousness, 00:37:44.500 --> 00:37:46.220 when he is our portion, 00:37:46.220 --> 00:37:48.780 it's not Nebuchadnezzar or Babylon 00:37:48.780 --> 00:37:51.900 who commands your daily assignment of bread. 00:37:51.900 --> 00:37:54.660 It comes truly from heaven above. 00:37:56.260 --> 00:37:58.820 And you and I have to enforce this 00:37:58.820 --> 00:38:01.260 as this is what I believe in. 00:38:01.260 --> 00:38:03.020 And then I need to go to Sheldon. 00:38:03.020 --> 00:38:07.300 I need to go to those around me out in the world and say, 00:38:07.300 --> 00:38:09.260 this is my God. 00:38:09.260 --> 00:38:11.780 I know that this Babylon forces you to think 00:38:11.780 --> 00:38:13.460 that you need to go this path 00:38:13.460 --> 00:38:15.500 and only then can you be successful. 00:38:15.500 --> 00:38:20.500 Can I tell you, can I tell you how different my father is? 00:38:20.500 --> 00:38:24.700 Can I tell you that as I told Joe a little while ago, 00:38:24.700 --> 00:38:26.220 this is how he thinks of you. 00:38:37.100 --> 00:38:37.940 Next. 00:38:40.260 --> 00:38:44.780 Babylon is designed to hijack your identity. 00:38:44.780 --> 00:38:48.780 Babylon is designed to hijack your identity. 00:38:50.100 --> 00:38:53.100 So come with me, verse six now. 00:38:53.100 --> 00:38:56.540 We'll probably only go a few more verses, but we'll see. 00:38:56.540 --> 00:39:00.940 Verse six, among these were Daniel, Hananiah, 00:39:00.940 --> 00:39:04.180 Michelle, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 00:39:05.180 --> 00:39:09.740 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names. 00:39:09.740 --> 00:39:13.260 Daniel, he called Belteshessar. 00:39:13.260 --> 00:39:15.580 Hananiah, he called Shadrach. 00:39:15.580 --> 00:39:17.460 Michelle, he called Meshak. 00:39:17.460 --> 00:39:19.820 And Azariah, he called Abednego. 00:39:21.540 --> 00:39:25.900 They came, they were given a new identity right away. 00:39:27.620 --> 00:39:29.260 Now here is what it means. 00:39:29.260 --> 00:39:34.260 The word or the name Daniel means God is judge. 00:39:35.380 --> 00:39:37.460 That's what Daniel means. 00:39:37.460 --> 00:39:41.300 Daniel means God is judge. 00:39:41.300 --> 00:39:44.780 Belteshessar means Prince of Baal. 00:39:47.540 --> 00:39:49.300 God is judge was his name. 00:39:51.460 --> 00:39:54.780 Babylon says your name is Prince of Baal. 00:39:54.780 --> 00:39:56.460 I'll explain that in a little bit. 00:39:56.500 --> 00:39:59.780 Hananiah means gift of the Lord. 00:40:00.660 --> 00:40:04.780 Hananiah means gift of the Lord. 00:40:04.780 --> 00:40:07.060 His name was changed to Shadrach. 00:40:07.060 --> 00:40:08.660 What does Shadrach mean? 00:40:08.660 --> 00:40:10.260 Servant of sin. 00:40:12.060 --> 00:40:16.540 Shadrach means servant of sin. 00:40:16.540 --> 00:40:19.260 Let's go to the third guy, Michelle. 00:40:19.260 --> 00:40:23.380 Michelle means who is what God is. 00:40:23.380 --> 00:40:25.580 Who is what God is. 00:40:27.300 --> 00:40:31.460 Meshak was the name given to him, 00:40:31.460 --> 00:40:36.380 which means who is what the moon god Akku is. 00:40:38.500 --> 00:40:42.220 Who is what the moon god Akku is. 00:40:42.220 --> 00:40:45.380 Fourth person, Azariah. 00:40:45.380 --> 00:40:49.940 Azariah means whom Jehovah helps. 00:40:52.340 --> 00:40:55.340 Whom Jehovah helps. 00:40:55.340 --> 00:40:57.700 Abednego, the name given to him, 00:40:57.700 --> 00:41:01.380 means servant of Nebo, another false god. 00:41:03.820 --> 00:41:06.780 You see this is not just a name thing. 00:41:08.020 --> 00:41:12.580 This is to hijack their identities. 00:41:12.580 --> 00:41:16.100 The very thing that God spoke of them 00:41:16.100 --> 00:41:17.940 is what Babylon was after. 00:41:17.940 --> 00:41:20.420 It wasn't, let's just name them something. 00:41:20.420 --> 00:41:23.300 Please understand, that's absolutely not what it is. 00:41:23.300 --> 00:41:26.380 It's a carefully drafted name change. 00:41:27.380 --> 00:41:30.780 As soon as God speaks something over you, 00:41:30.780 --> 00:41:34.660 there is always another voice that tries to combat it 00:41:34.660 --> 00:41:37.260 and tries to make you believe that that's not true. 00:41:37.260 --> 00:41:39.180 It happened in the Garden of Eden. 00:41:39.180 --> 00:41:40.900 Did God really say? 00:41:46.620 --> 00:41:48.260 So let's look at these names 00:41:48.260 --> 00:41:50.540 and try to draw out a couple more things. 00:41:50.540 --> 00:41:51.580 What does it do? 00:41:51.580 --> 00:41:55.660 Babylon tries to have you forget your identity 00:41:55.660 --> 00:41:59.020 by introducing you to new titles. 00:41:59.020 --> 00:42:01.180 That's what happened with Daniel. 00:42:01.180 --> 00:42:04.580 God as judge was changed to Prince of Baal. 00:42:04.580 --> 00:42:05.420 Prince. 00:42:06.700 --> 00:42:09.020 Prince of Baal. 00:42:09.020 --> 00:42:14.020 New titles, new initiatives, new prospects, 00:42:15.620 --> 00:42:17.540 new symbols of success. 00:42:18.540 --> 00:42:20.860 That's one thing that Babylon does. 00:42:20.860 --> 00:42:23.580 But it doesn't operate the same way with everyone. 00:42:23.580 --> 00:42:25.780 So what does it do with some other folks? 00:42:25.780 --> 00:42:26.780 Here's what it does. 00:42:26.780 --> 00:42:29.620 It tries to have you forget your identity 00:42:29.620 --> 00:42:32.700 by having you be stuck with your past failures. 00:42:32.700 --> 00:42:34.740 You're a servant of sin, 00:42:34.740 --> 00:42:38.220 which is the name that was given to Hananiah. 00:42:38.220 --> 00:42:39.060 Shadrach. 00:42:41.180 --> 00:42:42.020 Wow. 00:42:44.780 --> 00:42:48.140 Basically all of what you are is what happened to you. 00:42:49.100 --> 00:42:52.860 All of what you are is your failures. 00:42:52.860 --> 00:42:55.940 All of what you are is your shortcomings. 00:42:55.940 --> 00:42:58.460 All of what you are is your flaws. 00:43:02.100 --> 00:43:04.100 So it's pre-calculated. 00:43:05.420 --> 00:43:08.860 God says something and Babylon says something else. 00:43:08.860 --> 00:43:11.820 It forces you to be overpowered. 00:43:11.820 --> 00:43:14.740 It forces you to be bound by its ways. 00:43:15.740 --> 00:43:17.660 But this is where, 00:43:17.660 --> 00:43:21.220 like, it's amazing how it got repeated over the last little while, 00:43:21.220 --> 00:43:23.260 but I love repeating it again. 00:43:23.260 --> 00:43:25.140 This is where, like Abraham, 00:43:25.140 --> 00:43:28.100 you and I can lift our hands to heaven 00:43:28.100 --> 00:43:31.580 and say everything that we are, 00:43:31.580 --> 00:43:33.940 everything we have, 00:43:33.940 --> 00:43:38.140 everything goes to the mighty possessor of heaven and earth. 00:43:39.220 --> 00:43:42.460 My name is not that. 00:43:42.540 --> 00:43:44.540 My name is what he calls me. 00:43:46.460 --> 00:43:49.020 He calls me son. 00:43:49.020 --> 00:43:51.660 He calls me beloved. 00:43:51.660 --> 00:43:54.700 He calls me friend. 00:43:54.700 --> 00:43:57.180 He calls me forgiven. 00:43:57.180 --> 00:43:59.980 He calls me righteous. 00:43:59.980 --> 00:44:03.260 He calls me all these names. 00:44:03.260 --> 00:44:05.260 And that is my name. 00:44:05.260 --> 00:44:08.140 And those are my names. 00:44:08.140 --> 00:44:11.580 What you want to give me, Babylon, 00:44:11.580 --> 00:44:13.180 it will not stick. 00:44:13.180 --> 00:44:17.260 So some of us have to stand up like these guys 00:44:17.260 --> 00:44:21.980 and shake off a few names that's been given to you. 00:44:21.980 --> 00:44:24.140 True thing. 00:44:24.140 --> 00:44:26.380 You have to stand up and say, 00:44:26.380 --> 00:44:28.420 this isn't me. 00:44:28.420 --> 00:44:30.420 This was never me. 00:44:32.060 --> 00:44:35.460 This is a label that's been thrown at me. 00:44:35.460 --> 00:44:39.420 And for no, not one more minute will I carry it. 00:44:39.500 --> 00:44:43.500 Will I bow down to it? 00:44:46.220 --> 00:44:48.020 Take your place. 00:44:48.020 --> 00:44:49.820 I think we started this year. 00:44:51.380 --> 00:44:52.500 Yeah. 00:44:52.500 --> 00:44:55.740 We started this year by that series that Jacob started. 00:44:57.540 --> 00:44:58.940 Take your rightful place. 00:44:58.940 --> 00:44:59.780 Take your right. 00:44:59.780 --> 00:45:01.540 So take your rightful place. 00:45:02.540 --> 00:45:05.500 So Babylon tries to hijack your identity. 00:45:10.380 --> 00:45:14.220 So the intent is to have you forget your life source. 00:45:15.140 --> 00:45:18.500 The intent is to have you forget your life source 00:45:18.500 --> 00:45:21.100 and have you lift your hands to something else. 00:45:23.860 --> 00:45:26.140 Galatians chapter four, verse six. 00:45:27.140 --> 00:45:28.860 And because you are sons, 00:45:28.860 --> 00:45:32.540 God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, 00:45:32.540 --> 00:45:34.260 crying, Abba, father. 00:45:35.620 --> 00:45:36.980 Wow. 00:45:36.980 --> 00:45:40.220 So on one hand, Babylon says all of that, 00:45:40.220 --> 00:45:43.820 but we have to remind ourselves continually who we are. 00:45:45.460 --> 00:45:46.940 It has to be continuous. 00:45:46.940 --> 00:45:49.020 Where I continually tell myself, 00:45:49.980 --> 00:45:53.900 think Jacob used to say this for meditation. 00:45:53.900 --> 00:45:55.820 How do you, what does it mean? 00:45:55.820 --> 00:45:56.660 How do you meditate? 00:45:56.660 --> 00:45:58.260 What does that really look like when it says, 00:45:58.260 --> 00:46:00.780 I meditate in the Lord's presence, 00:46:00.780 --> 00:46:01.980 I meditate on his words. 00:46:01.980 --> 00:46:02.860 What does it mean? 00:46:02.860 --> 00:46:04.780 God directed self-talk. 00:46:05.780 --> 00:46:08.460 God directed self-talk. 00:46:08.460 --> 00:46:09.740 God said these things. 00:46:09.740 --> 00:46:10.740 And you're telling yourself, 00:46:10.740 --> 00:46:12.500 you're informing your own being 00:46:12.500 --> 00:46:15.060 that this is what God says of you. 00:46:15.060 --> 00:46:16.660 And it helps. 00:46:16.660 --> 00:46:17.500 Next. 00:46:18.740 --> 00:46:20.140 You can write this thing down. 00:46:20.140 --> 00:46:24.740 Babylon morphs wealth to greed. 00:46:24.740 --> 00:46:28.300 So Babylon has a thing where it takes the good things 00:46:28.300 --> 00:46:32.860 that God said and morphs all of them to bad things, 00:46:32.860 --> 00:46:34.340 evil things. 00:46:34.340 --> 00:46:38.020 It takes wealth and morphs it to greed. 00:46:38.020 --> 00:46:41.340 Dominion to control and power. 00:46:44.780 --> 00:46:46.940 You see that all through the world, right? 00:46:48.660 --> 00:46:52.540 People are given a position to drool, to do things, 00:46:52.540 --> 00:46:55.580 but what does that immediately end up as? 00:46:55.580 --> 00:46:59.220 It ends up as control and power. 00:46:59.220 --> 00:47:01.100 Faith to religion. 00:47:02.100 --> 00:47:05.420 Seeking God's will becomes sorcery. 00:47:06.460 --> 00:47:08.540 Morality becomes legalism. 00:47:09.820 --> 00:47:13.180 Significance becomes success. 00:47:13.180 --> 00:47:15.780 So when I say that, I don't think success is bad. 00:47:16.740 --> 00:47:20.260 It depends on what you mean by success. 00:47:20.260 --> 00:47:23.460 Definitely not what Babylon sets it to be. 00:47:23.460 --> 00:47:26.020 Order to equality. 00:47:26.020 --> 00:47:29.020 Wisdom to the knowledge of good and evil, 00:47:29.060 --> 00:47:33.260 like it is in Genesis chapter three. 00:47:33.260 --> 00:47:37.700 Free will to casting off restraints. 00:47:37.700 --> 00:47:39.540 Submission to slavery. 00:47:41.060 --> 00:47:43.020 So that's what Babylon is good at. 00:47:43.020 --> 00:47:45.260 It morphs all these things. 00:47:46.300 --> 00:47:48.100 Wealth to greed. 00:47:48.100 --> 00:47:50.180 Morality to legalism. 00:47:50.180 --> 00:47:53.380 So you can see, think about this. 00:47:54.380 --> 00:47:59.380 The spirit of Babylon tries to infiltrate the church. 00:48:01.660 --> 00:48:03.260 Let's think about it differently. 00:48:04.900 --> 00:48:07.780 Genesis chapter three, what happened? 00:48:10.220 --> 00:48:12.540 The serpent speaks to who? 00:48:13.580 --> 00:48:15.100 The woman. 00:48:15.100 --> 00:48:17.140 Who did God set in place? 00:48:17.140 --> 00:48:18.740 Adam and then Eve. 00:48:19.660 --> 00:48:22.060 Who did God say, don't eat this? 00:48:23.060 --> 00:48:26.900 God said that to Adam before Eve was formed. 00:48:28.340 --> 00:48:29.780 Before Eve was formed. 00:48:29.780 --> 00:48:32.300 But who does the serpent go to? 00:48:32.300 --> 00:48:35.060 Not Adam, to Eve. 00:48:35.060 --> 00:48:36.980 Who is the bride of Adam? 00:48:37.900 --> 00:48:40.780 What does the devil try to do today? 00:48:40.780 --> 00:48:43.140 He didn't get it with the second Adam. 00:48:43.140 --> 00:48:46.580 So he tries to go to the second Eve. 00:48:47.540 --> 00:48:49.380 But if the second Eve knows, 00:48:49.380 --> 00:48:51.900 second Eve as in the bride of Christ, 00:48:52.740 --> 00:48:56.340 but if the second Eve knows that that is not my father, 00:48:56.340 --> 00:49:00.380 that is not my God, that is not my bridegroom, 00:49:00.380 --> 00:49:04.580 then the second Eve is also empowered 00:49:04.580 --> 00:49:07.900 by the spirit of God to say, no more. 00:49:10.020 --> 00:49:11.540 Yeah? 00:49:11.540 --> 00:49:14.420 So it's so important to see it in that light, 00:49:14.420 --> 00:49:18.340 in that there is these voices that come at us. 00:49:18.340 --> 00:49:19.940 We have authority over it. 00:49:22.420 --> 00:49:24.380 And again, I'm going off script, 00:49:24.380 --> 00:49:27.660 but let's finish it off in five minutes. 00:49:27.660 --> 00:49:30.540 One of the, it's not directly related to this, 00:49:30.540 --> 00:49:32.220 but while we are on the subject. 00:49:38.780 --> 00:49:43.780 Your progression in life is dependent on 00:49:46.060 --> 00:49:50.700 your ability to discern the thoughts in your mind. 00:49:52.860 --> 00:49:57.860 Your progression in life is dependent on your ability 00:49:58.580 --> 00:50:00.860 to discern the thoughts in your mind. 00:50:02.020 --> 00:50:04.980 Can you look at some thoughts? 00:50:04.980 --> 00:50:09.980 Can you hear some thoughts that you have inside your head 00:50:11.180 --> 00:50:12.340 and say, that's not me. 00:50:14.140 --> 00:50:15.220 That's not my father. 00:50:16.500 --> 00:50:17.820 There is your victory. 00:50:18.740 --> 00:50:21.700 So when we say the mind of, 00:50:21.700 --> 00:50:23.740 your mind is the battleground, 00:50:23.740 --> 00:50:28.500 it actually means that God has given us the gift to discern, 00:50:28.500 --> 00:50:30.500 to say, that's not me. 00:50:30.500 --> 00:50:33.740 What the devil wants you to do is to think that that's you. 00:50:34.660 --> 00:50:36.740 And as soon as you realize that that's not me, 00:50:36.740 --> 00:50:38.460 there comes your victory. 00:50:38.460 --> 00:50:40.540 Because he just said it, that's not me. 00:50:40.540 --> 00:50:42.180 He goes, oops, failed. 00:50:43.820 --> 00:50:45.500 True guys, so true. 00:50:45.500 --> 00:50:46.340 I promise you. 00:50:47.340 --> 00:50:51.300 Your progression in life is dependent on your ability 00:50:51.300 --> 00:50:54.340 that God has given you, your discernment, 00:50:54.340 --> 00:50:58.220 to distinguish between his voice and the other one. 00:51:16.460 --> 00:51:17.660 I'm gonna skip a couple of things. 00:51:17.660 --> 00:51:19.460 Maybe we'll do it next time around. 00:51:19.460 --> 00:51:21.460 I wanna finish it off with, 00:51:24.340 --> 00:51:26.380 maybe you can write it down though. 00:51:26.380 --> 00:51:31.380 Next one, Babylon rallies to cast a shadow on the father. 00:51:31.700 --> 00:51:35.180 Babylon rallies its troops, rallies everything. 00:51:35.180 --> 00:51:38.180 Babylon rallies its troops, rallies everything. 00:51:38.180 --> 00:51:41.180 Babylon rallies its troops, rallies everything. 00:51:41.180 --> 00:51:44.180 Babylon rallies its troops, rallies everything. 00:51:44.180 --> 00:51:46.900 Babylon rallies its troops, rallies everything. 00:51:46.900 --> 00:51:50.020 To cast a shadow on the father. 00:51:51.180 --> 00:51:55.020 You see this in the story when the three guys, 00:51:55.020 --> 00:51:56.700 Daniel, not in the picture, 00:51:56.700 --> 00:51:59.420 is in front of the fiery furnace, 00:51:59.420 --> 00:52:03.340 and Nebuchadnezzar asks this question. 00:52:03.340 --> 00:52:05.140 But if you do not worship, 00:52:05.140 --> 00:52:09.820 you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 00:52:09.980 --> 00:52:14.340 And who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands? 00:52:15.460 --> 00:52:16.740 You see that? 00:52:16.740 --> 00:52:19.740 There is an attempt by Babylon 00:52:19.740 --> 00:52:23.580 to cast a shadow on your father. 00:52:25.060 --> 00:52:29.820 Babylon always wants to make you look at your father 00:52:29.820 --> 00:52:30.780 and doubt him. 00:52:31.940 --> 00:52:35.100 So Nebuchadnezzar asks the question, 00:52:35.100 --> 00:52:38.740 who is your God that he can save you from my hands? 00:52:40.620 --> 00:52:45.620 Matthew chapter four, you see Jesus' second temptation. 00:52:45.620 --> 00:52:49.620 If you are the son of God, throw yourself down, 00:52:49.620 --> 00:52:52.940 for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you, 00:52:52.940 --> 00:52:55.860 and on their hands they will bear you up 00:52:55.860 --> 00:52:58.340 lest you strike your foot against a stone. 00:52:58.340 --> 00:53:01.140 Jesus said to him, again it is written, 00:53:01.140 --> 00:53:05.100 you shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test. 00:53:05.100 --> 00:53:05.940 What's my point? 00:53:06.140 --> 00:53:08.020 When these thoughts come, 00:53:08.020 --> 00:53:13.020 when Babylon tries to cast a shadow on your father, 00:53:14.420 --> 00:53:18.460 rise up, take a stand, and say, 00:53:18.460 --> 00:53:20.660 my father is not that. 00:53:22.060 --> 00:53:26.020 It requires you to make a declaration. 00:53:26.020 --> 00:53:29.660 It requires you to make a statement. 00:53:29.660 --> 00:53:31.500 And as I said before, 00:53:31.500 --> 00:53:33.860 sometimes you make a statement, 00:53:34.500 --> 00:53:37.220 sometimes you making that statement 00:53:37.220 --> 00:53:41.660 is just that one thing that someone else is waiting to hear. 00:53:43.300 --> 00:53:46.500 Because they couldn't say it, but you have spoken, 00:53:46.500 --> 00:53:49.740 you have put words together 00:53:49.740 --> 00:53:51.900 to express their feelings that they had, 00:53:51.900 --> 00:53:53.780 but they didn't have the words for. 00:53:53.780 --> 00:53:55.740 In the kingdom of Babylon, 00:53:56.900 --> 00:53:59.900 Daniel then finds himself at a place 00:53:59.900 --> 00:54:03.380 where an injunction was signed, 00:54:03.380 --> 00:54:06.660 the seal was placed on it, 00:54:06.660 --> 00:54:10.300 because he was bowing down to Yahweh, 00:54:10.300 --> 00:54:14.460 he was commanded to be thrown into the den. 00:54:15.580 --> 00:54:18.140 There is one thing that is very important 00:54:18.140 --> 00:54:20.620 in the Bible, and it is the fact that 00:54:20.900 --> 00:54:22.020 he was thrown into the den. 00:54:23.060 --> 00:54:26.660 There is one thing that I want to take from that story. 00:54:26.660 --> 00:54:31.060 Daniel actually says once he comes out of the den 00:54:31.060 --> 00:54:34.020 to Darius, another king by this time, 00:54:34.020 --> 00:54:37.180 he tells Darius, I wasn't wrong, 00:54:37.180 --> 00:54:39.020 I never committed anything wrong. 00:54:39.980 --> 00:54:41.780 It's important to note that, 00:54:41.780 --> 00:54:46.780 because condemnation, when you read that chapter, 00:54:46.820 --> 00:54:48.940 I think it's Daniel chapter six, 00:54:48.980 --> 00:54:52.460 everything that was charged against this man 00:54:52.460 --> 00:54:55.420 was based on the law of the land, 00:54:55.420 --> 00:54:59.260 the law of Persians and Medes, it says. 00:54:59.260 --> 00:55:02.460 So the injunction was signed based on something. 00:55:03.820 --> 00:55:08.300 For you and I here on earth, Romans chapter eight, 00:55:08.300 --> 00:55:11.940 there is a pull, and Paul writes it so well. 00:55:11.940 --> 00:55:14.780 Paul says, there is this thing, 00:55:14.780 --> 00:55:19.020 the law of life and death, sin and death, 00:55:20.060 --> 00:55:23.140 sin and death, sin and grave, 00:55:23.140 --> 00:55:27.100 and then on the other side is this beautiful thing 00:55:27.100 --> 00:55:30.100 that Christ has offered us, the law of the spirit. 00:55:32.140 --> 00:55:37.140 To live in Babylon, we must know that we have been freed, 00:55:37.580 --> 00:55:40.940 Romans chapter eight, there is no condemnation, 00:55:40.940 --> 00:55:45.100 and that we now have his fullness inside of us. 00:55:45.100 --> 00:55:47.180 It changes everything. 00:55:47.180 --> 00:55:49.780 Guys, as Christians, we hear it too often, 00:55:49.780 --> 00:55:54.780 but may we never be dulled to this. 00:55:57.180 --> 00:55:58.580 As Dawn started today, 00:55:58.580 --> 00:56:00.860 that the possibilities of the spirit of God 00:56:00.860 --> 00:56:02.300 living inside of us, 00:56:03.420 --> 00:56:05.860 the possibilities of the spirit of God 00:56:05.860 --> 00:56:07.420 living inside of us, 00:56:07.420 --> 00:56:11.260 may we never paint it with a small brush. 00:56:12.380 --> 00:56:14.340 May we never limit it. 00:56:15.380 --> 00:56:18.620 Wow, we are in this kingdom, 00:56:18.620 --> 00:56:22.780 because we have been appointed for a time such as this, 00:56:22.780 --> 00:56:27.100 to stand up and say who our Father, speak of our Father, 00:56:27.100 --> 00:56:32.100 to say to the watching world that I know someone 00:56:32.100 --> 00:56:36.420 who is so different from how you perceive God to be. 00:56:36.420 --> 00:56:38.420 He is a loving Father. 00:56:38.420 --> 00:56:40.820 He is kind and he is good. 00:56:40.820 --> 00:56:42.180 And just so that you know, 00:56:42.180 --> 00:56:45.340 this is what my life looked like, 00:56:45.340 --> 00:56:47.340 but he brought me out, 00:56:47.340 --> 00:56:50.180 and I know that he can do the same for you. 00:56:53.820 --> 00:56:57.940 The law of the spirit, the freedom that comes with it. 00:56:59.100 --> 00:57:00.700 I'll finish off with this story. 00:57:02.060 --> 00:57:03.140 It's six o'clock. 00:57:04.140 --> 00:57:07.100 I don't know when I started becoming so conscious of time. 00:57:07.100 --> 00:57:10.100 Sorry, I have to take my mic back. 00:57:19.100 --> 00:57:21.580 There was a time when I was unconscious, but... 00:57:25.140 --> 00:57:28.140 See, the spirit of God takes us on adventures. 00:57:28.140 --> 00:57:30.700 We have to live on earth today, 00:57:30.700 --> 00:57:32.900 having a mindset of adventure. 00:57:33.860 --> 00:57:38.860 When I first walked into Acts 29, about 13 years ago, 00:57:40.300 --> 00:57:42.500 Wayne may be listening to this. 00:57:42.500 --> 00:57:45.500 Wayne was doing sound back then. 00:57:45.500 --> 00:57:47.340 And so I was sitting at the back, 00:57:47.340 --> 00:57:50.940 and one day he came and he put his arm around me. 00:57:50.940 --> 00:57:52.940 I was going to UBC then, like you guys. 00:57:54.380 --> 00:57:56.220 He put his arm around me and he said, 00:57:56.220 --> 00:57:59.740 Derek, with God, life can be adventurous. 00:57:59.740 --> 00:58:00.980 I was 23 years old. 00:58:01.980 --> 00:58:03.380 I haven't forgotten it. 00:58:03.380 --> 00:58:04.540 I will never forget it. 00:58:05.460 --> 00:58:08.300 With God, life can be adventurous. 00:58:08.300 --> 00:58:11.100 Guys, there's so much to stand up for. 00:58:11.100 --> 00:58:14.100 There is so much to fight for. 00:58:14.100 --> 00:58:16.820 There is so much to content for. 00:58:16.820 --> 00:58:21.820 It is worth it to rise up like men and women of valor, 00:58:22.140 --> 00:58:25.900 to allow the spirit of God inside you, 00:58:25.900 --> 00:58:30.100 to issue forth, like it says in John chapter four, 00:58:30.900 --> 00:58:33.660 because what you have been given is his spirit, 00:58:33.660 --> 00:58:35.700 and his spirit is strong. 00:58:35.700 --> 00:58:37.460 His spirit is powerful. 00:58:37.460 --> 00:58:39.700 His spirit is, it leads you. 00:58:39.700 --> 00:58:40.540 He leads you. 00:58:40.540 --> 00:58:42.540 He directs you, not just you. 00:58:42.540 --> 00:58:44.420 It is for others around you. 00:58:45.580 --> 00:58:47.660 And let us not limit this thing 00:58:47.660 --> 00:58:49.700 to just a few different things. 00:58:49.700 --> 00:58:53.220 It's so big, it's so vast, it changes nations. 00:58:53.220 --> 00:58:54.580 These guys changed. 00:58:55.740 --> 00:58:59.700 Babylon, you read chapter five or so, 00:59:00.580 --> 00:59:05.580 you see Nebuchadnezzar, he talks about God, about Yahweh. 00:59:05.580 --> 00:59:08.780 He sends a letter to the kingdom about Yahweh. 00:59:10.180 --> 00:59:12.060 That's what we are after, 00:59:12.060 --> 00:59:15.700 that we stand tall in this kingdom. 00:59:15.700 --> 00:59:19.220 And there are so many adventures for us. 00:59:19.220 --> 00:59:21.540 Story I was gonna say, I'm not gonna share it. 00:59:21.540 --> 00:59:22.380 Let's pray. 00:59:29.700 --> 00:59:31.700 Holy Spirit, we recognize, 00:59:37.500 --> 00:59:40.500 we recognize who you are. 00:59:41.780 --> 00:59:43.780 Before the earth was formed, 00:59:44.980 --> 00:59:49.980 you hovered over the waters with a plan and a purpose. 00:59:53.940 --> 00:59:56.940 You are the one who created the earth. 00:59:57.180 --> 01:00:00.180 You are greater than any power 01:00:00.180 --> 01:00:02.140 that's out there in Babylon. 01:00:03.660 --> 01:00:05.940 You are King Jesus. 01:00:06.900 --> 01:00:11.900 So we surrender our lives to your ways, 01:00:11.900 --> 01:00:13.340 to your principles. 01:00:14.740 --> 01:00:17.820 We say in this world, 01:00:19.780 --> 01:00:22.220 our identity goes back to you. 01:00:23.540 --> 01:00:25.460 You call it your identity. 01:00:26.460 --> 01:00:29.500 You call us sons and daughters. 01:00:29.500 --> 01:00:31.380 We are not one among many. 01:00:32.420 --> 01:00:37.300 We are your prized possession, apple of your eyes. 01:00:38.780 --> 01:00:43.620 We say we will not have our identity be hijacked. 01:00:44.980 --> 01:00:49.980 We will rise up to take a stance for you, Jesus. 01:00:50.140 --> 01:00:55.020 We will wear and we wear your name on our forehead. 01:00:56.460 --> 01:01:00.700 It's an honor for us to stand on your behalf, 01:01:00.700 --> 01:01:02.660 to speak for you. 01:01:02.660 --> 01:01:06.500 Holy Spirit, I pray that in our hearts right now, 01:01:06.500 --> 01:01:09.700 you will cause wells to spring up, 01:01:09.700 --> 01:01:12.620 wells to spring up that will change our lives 01:01:12.620 --> 01:01:15.660 so that we know where erosion has happened 01:01:15.660 --> 01:01:18.380 so that we can put an end to it 01:01:18.380 --> 01:01:21.700 and return to your ways, Holy Spirit. 01:01:21.700 --> 01:01:24.020 I pray that over my life, over our lives, 01:01:24.220 --> 01:01:28.780 that erosion stops and we say enough is enough. 01:01:28.780 --> 01:01:31.980 We go back, we return to the original mandate, 01:01:31.980 --> 01:01:35.300 to the original call over our lives. 01:01:35.300 --> 01:01:39.700 And we say, Holy Spirit, we are here for your adventures. 01:01:39.700 --> 01:01:42.300 Take us in Jesus' name, amen. 01:01:44.100 --> 01:01:47.260 Hey guys, quickly wanna say something to you. 01:01:48.180 --> 01:01:49.860 Some of you who come to Pursuit know that 01:01:49.860 --> 01:01:52.300 this is exactly what we've been talking about. 01:01:52.300 --> 01:01:55.340 In Revive 24, we have been talking about this. 01:01:55.340 --> 01:01:57.780 And every time God stresses something, 01:01:57.780 --> 01:02:00.180 there is a reason behind what he says. 01:02:00.180 --> 01:02:02.740 Because Derek and I, we did not talk about what we wanted. 01:02:02.740 --> 01:02:04.220 We talked, we are in good terms with this. 01:02:04.220 --> 01:02:07.580 Yeah, like that, something like that. 01:02:07.580 --> 01:02:10.100 We actually kind of did not talk. 01:02:10.100 --> 01:02:11.060 Please pray for us. 01:02:12.460 --> 01:02:13.780 But there is a reason why, 01:02:15.180 --> 01:02:17.860 he doesn't know what I'm teaching at Pursuit. 01:02:20.100 --> 01:02:20.940 What's her name? 01:02:20.980 --> 01:02:23.700 I just don't know what she asked me to teach, 01:02:25.300 --> 01:02:27.180 whether it was based on what I was speaking. 01:02:27.180 --> 01:02:29.820 But nobody knows that my point is that. 01:02:29.820 --> 01:02:33.020 But when God tells something to the church, 01:02:33.020 --> 01:02:34.780 he has a purpose behind it. 01:02:34.780 --> 01:02:36.180 And so I do not believe that. 01:02:36.180 --> 01:02:38.940 And when the word of God says that, 01:02:38.940 --> 01:02:42.780 he speaks something and the word does not come back void. 01:02:42.780 --> 01:02:44.260 It does its thing. 01:02:44.260 --> 01:02:46.220 And so when Derek spoke today, 01:02:46.220 --> 01:02:48.780 I believe, and this is where we started, right? 01:02:48.780 --> 01:02:51.900 We believe that the spirit of God is doing his work. 01:02:51.900 --> 01:02:53.740 You should have the faith to believe 01:02:53.740 --> 01:02:55.500 that the spirit of God, what he wants to do, 01:02:55.500 --> 01:02:57.540 is done in your hearts. 01:02:57.540 --> 01:03:00.220 And we might think big things, guys, 01:03:00.220 --> 01:03:04.140 but small things as breaking cultures in your life 01:03:04.140 --> 01:03:06.300 is only possible by the spirit of God. 01:03:08.260 --> 01:03:11.940 Okay, so believe what we heard today. 01:03:11.940 --> 01:03:13.540 And it's not just for the young men and women. 01:03:13.540 --> 01:03:15.660 We can easily think this is for the newer culture. 01:03:15.660 --> 01:03:16.660 It's not. 01:03:16.660 --> 01:03:19.580 For guys who are as old as I don't want to name names. 01:03:19.580 --> 01:03:21.860 But it's for you too. 01:03:21.860 --> 01:03:22.780 It's for you too. 01:03:23.820 --> 01:03:24.980 It's not for the young men. 01:03:24.980 --> 01:03:28.260 For you mostly because you're right in the thick of it. 01:03:28.260 --> 01:03:30.380 But for the older people too. 01:03:31.300 --> 01:03:36.060 It's as much as much applicable as the younger ones. 01:03:36.060 --> 01:03:39.020 So Father, we thank you and we bless your holy name. 01:03:39.020 --> 01:03:40.900 Derek prayed so I don't want to pray again. 01:03:40.900 --> 01:03:43.300 But we bless you, Jesus, and it's a privilege. 01:03:44.700 --> 01:03:46.020 Cool guys, see you. 01:03:46.660 --> 01:03:47.500 Thank you. 01:03:56.820 --> 01:03:58.980 Be people to pray for you if you need prayer. 01:03:58.980 --> 01:04:00.780 There'll be people to pray for you.