0:07 So we continue our study on the subject of new covenant men who lived in the Old Testament times. We've already considered Job, Abraham, 0:27 Moses, Elisha. And these men, they were not perfect. Job, we see how he complained against God and of course God forgave him. Abraham made mistakes calling Sarah his 0:45 sister. Moses also made mistakes. He got upset um with the people and struck the rock twice. And Elisha also, we don't know much about his life, but we know 1:05 once when somebody made fun of him saying, "Go up, go up, you bald head." Made fun of his bald head and uh said, "Why don't you also go up like Elijah?" It says he turned round and I think he brought a curse upon them. 1:25 And uh some says in Daniel uh 2 Kings 2:24, he cursed them and two female bears came and ate up 42 of those young people. Now, I wouldn't I don't know whether that was right or not. I don't think it was, but however, so he 1:43 made mistakes, okay. But when we come to certain people in the Bible, it says almost nothing is recorded bad about them. Joseph is one of them. But even with Joseph, I feel it was a mistake that he made in boasting about 2:00 his dreams to his brothers that caused a lot of problems. But now we want to think about another man about whom I can't find any mistake at all in the Old Testament and that's Daniel. Amazing man, you read through the whole 2:16 book and you don't find a single thing wrong that mistake that he ever did. Of course, he was a failing man like all of us, but had an amazing testimony. There's one thing written about Daniel in Daniel chapter 10, when 2:35 an angel comes and says to him in Daniel 10:11, "Oh Daniel, a man of high esteem, a man who is very precious, desirable to God." Boy, what a testimony. 2:53 One whom God desires. Just like men desire for gold and things like that. God desired Daniel. And when he was a young man, a man highly esteemed by God, very precious 3:10 in God's eyes. A challenge to us. And Daniel was the man who began the movement of God's people out of Babylon back to Jerusalem. He He lived through the entire period of 3:28 the captivity. He must have been a young man when the the Israelites were taken in captives to Babylon, maybe 17 years old. 70 years later when he's past 87, nearly 90 years old, he's still faithful 3:45 praying that God's people will go back to Jerusalem. He's a picture of those people whom God is choosing today to lead people out of Babylonian Christianity into a new covenant church. The Jerusalem is a picture of the new 4:00 covenant church. Babylon is a picture of corrupt backslidden Christianity where the preachers are all after money. You read in Revelation 17 and 18. The fundamental principle of Babylon is money. In Revelation chapter 17, you read 4:19 the Babylon, the religious Babylon, being hand in hand with the political leadership. And you find a lot of that in Christendom also today. Uh religious leaders getting involved with corrupt political leaders for their own gain in some way and thinking that 4:38 they are serving God by influencing these political leaders. But the political leaders, we read in Revelation 17, they use use Babylon just for their own purpose and they destroy them. Political leaders are using religious people, even Christians, just 4:55 for their own purposes. And we need to be alert to that, not be fooled by all these religious people whose support politicians who are corrupt. And then in chapter 18, you read of Babylon as entirely a business system. 5:12 Merchants of the earth weep when Babylon is destroyed. Our profits are gone. So, wherever Christianity becomes a means of financial gain and profit, that is Babylon. Any preacher who has made money through preaching the gospel is 5:31 part of Babylon. Paul never made money through preaching the gospel. He supported himself. John Wesley, I think it was who said that if you have become rich through preaching the gospel, you have gone astray. Now, and yet so many people there are in 5:48 the world today who make money through preaching the gospel, pastors and preachers. The best way to serve the Lord today is like Daniel, like Paul. Daniel was not a full-time worker being supported by others. He supported himself. 6:06 He was working in a government office. And he was a prophet of God and he was the main force that started the movement of God's people out of Babylon to Jerusalem. I believe that's the type of person God's looking for. Those who will 6:20 work today, earn their own living, not be dependent on anyone financially. I'm not saying you cannot receive a birthday gift or any gift that people give you. We are not legalistic, but we don't depend on people. That's the point. We 6:32 must support ourselves. And that's Daniel is a great example there. And yet he fasted and prayed and began the movement that started the process of the people of the Jewish people going back from Babylon 6:51 to Jerusalem. Though he never himself lived to reach there, he started the process which led to Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah all going and finally building the temple. So there's a great example for us and he's also a picture of what the Book of 7:07 Revelation calls overcomers. You know, in all to all the churches in Revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3, the Lord speaks to the overcomers. To him who overcomes, I'll grant this. To him who overcomes, I'll grant this. So 7:21 in that church, that was the church that were all born again believers, but in the midst of the church, there were some who were overcomers. In all of those seven churches, the message of the Lord is to him who overcomes, I'll give this. And Daniel is 7:34 an example of those overcomers. Those overcomers are pictured in Revelation chapter 14 as the 144,000 who stand with the lamb on Mount Zion, who follow the lamb wherever he goes. There's a difference between that and the group mentioned in chapter 7, which 7:53 is a great multitude. The The main difference is that it's it's not a question of numbers, but in Revelation 7, it says a great multitude which cannot be numbered. Uh Revelation 7:9, heaven is going to consist of a great multitude and I think 8:07 many of them were uh babies who died and were aborted. And they're all there from every nation, tribe, and tongue standing before God, millions and millions of people. But what can they say? Our salvation is due to the lamb. We washed our robes and 8:26 made them white in the blood of the lamb, verse 10 and verse 14 of Revelation 7. That's all their testimony. But when it comes to the overcomers in Revelation 14, that's a much smaller number. The number 144,000 is not the point. The point is this is a 8:40 number that can be counted compared to the other number which cannot be counted. There are many people who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But the overcomers who accomplish God's purpose are a small number that can be 8:51 counted. And they are the ones who were not defiled by the earth and not defiled by corrupt Babylonian Christianity and who followed the lamb wherever he went. They were redeemed from out of the earth. A wonderful passage in Revelation 9:08 14:1-5. Daniel is a forerunner of that category. And because we see a similar situation there in the Old Testament. And he was a young man. Many people were called by Jesus, by the Lord, when they were young. Joseph was 30 and 9:27 and he was 17 when God called him. And uh Jeremiah was a young man, we read in chapter 1. Ezekiel was 30 years old when God called him for a ministry. And Daniel was probably only 17 years old when God called him, between 17 and 9:43 20. And as the as a young man, we read here, you know, the Bible says it's good for a man to bear the yoke when he's young, Lamentations 3:27. So all of you young people, I want you to be challenged by this example of Daniel. It says here in 9:59 8 a decision that all young people should take and all believers he made up his mind that he would not defile himself Daniel 1 verse 8 with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank. What was he concerned about? 10:17 There were laws given by God through Moses in the book of Leviticus chapter 11 that they should not eat certain types of meat. They should not eat meat which has got the blood inside it Leviticus 17:10 and they should not 10:36 drink wine when it is fermented and stirring itself up in the cup Proverbs 23:31. There were verses like this forbidding you from drinking fermented alcoholic wine and certain meats which were not good. Um and he studied the word. That's the main 10:54 thing we see there. He would not have known this if he had not studied God's word. He knew what the law said and these are all small commandments. These are not the big 10 commandments. In the 10 commandments there's nothing about food. 11:06 So it's not enough just to keep the big commandments. He studied the small commandments and he he didn't say well this is against the 10 commandments but he said no God's word forbids me from drinking this wine which is fermented. God's word forbids 11:23 me from eating this pork which is provided here in this uh food with the meat with the blood in it. I'm going to avoid it. Now people going to say don't be legalistic man these are all silly rules. It was given to Israelites when 11:36 they were in the wilderness. No they were God's laws. And that's the primary mark of an overcomer. He is careful about God's laws even the smallest one of them. Remember what 11:50 Jesus said in Matthew 5 and verse 19. Whoever cancels one of the least of these commandments. Why did he talk about the least? Because the test of a person's obedience is not that he keeps the big commandments don't murder don't commit 12:08 adultery. No. The test of a person's obedience is in keeping the small commandments. Whoever cancels one of the least of these commandments and teaches others saying ah well that's not serious. Don't worry about keeping that that's not the 12:21 main thing in scripture. He will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps and teaches these smallest commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. So even if you're not a great preacher 12:36 why don't you become great in the kingdom of heaven like this? By keeping the smallest commandment of course that includes the biggest ones and teaching others to keep the smallest ones. Now you find in Christendom today 12:48 there's such compromise. For example Jesus has taught very clearly against divorce and remarriage. There are so many believers and so many pastors who have divorced remarried divorced people remarry and they even become pastors and preachers. Where is 13:03 Christendom gone? Or for example take a commandment like women should pray with their heads veiled. Very small commandment. You look around all the churches around in most countries and you don't see them veiling their heads. 13:18 And even in places where they do veil their heads it's just a ritual. They don't understand what it means. What and men who don't veil their heads they don't understand what that means that their head is unveiled because they 13:31 are careless. If you read 1 Corinthians 11 is very clear. Who obeys these small commandments? Those who are overcomers. And who insists that in your church you must keep these commandments. When you pray and prophesy a woman must veil her 13:44 head and a man must not veil his head. Those who obey little commandments they are called great in the kingdom of heaven. There's an attitude I find among Christians oh that's small it doesn't matter. Jesus said baptize in the name of the 13:56 Father Son and Holy Spirit Matthew 28 verse 19 and 20. But there are people who baptize in the name of Jesus. Okay it doesn't matter that's not a serious thing. Okay. Well you disobey the commandment of God you're going to be least in the kingdom 14:09 of heaven even if you get there. But Daniel was concerned about the smallest command that's the first lesson we need to learn from the life of Daniel a man who was highly esteemed by God because he kept the smallest commandment. You can follow in his 14:25 footsteps. He determined in his heart that he would not compromise even in the smallest little things. And it's not just that I won't bow down to idols. That's fine. But I will obey God in the smallest things. 14:43 So you find here that even when everybody else you know all the other Jews around sitting at the table they were eating everything. They were probably telling Daniel come on man don't be so sticky. Don't be a legalist. Speaking about these small things. You 14:56 know you can get abused like that that you're being a legalist when you try to be concerned about the small things. Obedience to God's small commandments is not being legalist. No. The question is not whether command is 15:09 big or small. The question is who commanded it. If it's almighty God ruler of heaven and earth who has commanded it if it's my heavenly father who has commanded it I don't care whether it's a small one or a big one. That's what makes the 15:20 commandment important who commanded it. That's Daniel's attitude and if you want to be an overcomer begin there. Stand up for God in the midst of all the opposition all the people at the at the table there were many people Jews 15:33 selected. And they enjoyed it all that food. Daniel said no. Now I want you to see here because Daniel said no we read here that three other people Hananiah Daniel 1:11 Mishael and Azariah also joined him. We know them today as Shadrach Meshach and 15:52 Abednego. They're Babylonian names but they were originally Hananiah Mishael and Azariah Daniel 1:11. Here's a picture of how a New Testament church gets formed new covenant church. The tremendous lessons in the book of 16:05 Daniel. One man takes a stand for God and God brings out almost out of the woodwork three people who stand for him. Now Hananiah Mishael and Azariah did not have the courage to stand on their own. They were waiting for a Daniel to take a 16:20 stand. And when they saw one man take a stand they said hey Daniel we're joining you. I believe around the world in every country there are many Hananiahs Mishaels and Azariahs who really want to obey God really want to start a new 16:34 covenant church really want are fed up with Babylonian Christianity but they don't have the boldness and the courage and the anointing to start a new covenant church. What are they waiting for? They're waiting for one Daniel and there 16:49 are very very few Daniels. But if a Daniel arises somewhere the Hananiahs and Mishaels and Azariahs would come and join him. And where two or three are gathered together there is a local church there and that can grow and grow and grow with 17:05 wholehearted disciples. That's how we saw the work begin in Bangalore in India 45 years ago. It wasn't a big numbers two or three that God brought together and that's how the church started and that's how we see here we can say this is a picture of a 17:19 new covenant church. Four people. The number didn't matter because those people influenced the nation of Babylon influenced the nation of Medo-Persia later on which all the other Jews could not. A small group of a new covenant church can 17:36 be a tremendous influence for God not influencing a country today. No. But in influencing the church in a battle against Satan. We want to shine as a a light before Satan the a light in a world controlled 17:54 by Satan that God has a remnant here that stands true to him and obey him in everything. You see the devil is always taunting God saying we you don't have people who will obey you in everything. They'll obey you in the big things and they'll 18:08 ignore all the small things you commanded. And the Lord says no but look at this group there. Maybe there are only four people there but they obey me 100%. That's what he could say in Babylon there. If the devil were to say look at 18:18 all these Jews they're all supposed to be descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the devil says but God none of them are obeying you in all the little details. When they see good food they just enjoy it. They don't care whether 18:28 it's against your laws or not but God says hang on look at those four. Look at Daniel and those three they're obeying me even in the little things. And I believe it's the same today that God can point out to Satan you see here in this 18:40 country and that country not many but a few three four people here and three four people there who are obeying me 100%. I want to ask you whether you're one of them. Or you're one of the big crowd who calls everybody legalists and you compromise 18:54 thoroughly because it's to your advantage. Well if you look at Christian history you'll find that God is always begun a new movement through one man. Whether it's John Wesley or William Booth or different people through the 19:10 years one man Paul. And like that through the through the years it's always been one man who stood up for God and then two or three gathered and then one man will be hated persecuted and made fun of called the devil and all types of things but around 19:27 him there gathers a few people. Initially only two or three but gradually the number increases and that's how a new covenant church is formed. That's how it's been formed throughout history. Any movement of God anyone who stood up for the whole truth 19:40 of God. Anyone for example John Wesley stood up for holiness. And then in the in the 19th century there were people who stood up for water baptism and for coming together in simplicity for evangelism among the poor and the 19:56 down and outs like William Booth did, there's always a small group. And around them came people who wanted to join up with that and stand for God and then more in the in this century where the truths of the baptism and the Holy Spirit and becoming 20:12 a a New Testament church, all these truths came up in the 20th century. It's always been that God finds one man somewhere and gathers other people around him. That's the lesson from Daniel and what I want to challenge you, 20:24 my dear brothers, are you willing to be that one man? Not for honor. Daniel didn't do it for honor. He didn't even know what is happening. But he said, "I want to live for God. I don't care if nobody joins me." That's the attitude. Not, "I want to be the I 20:38 want to have the honor of starting a new covenant church." God will never use you like that because he doesn't use people who are seeking their own honor. He's not doesn't use people who want to get a name for themselves. 20:48 He uses people for who who want to exalt Christ and who want to exalt Christ in the church. So, Daniel was like that. I want to show you some an amazing thing not only about his wholeheartedness in standing for God but his humility. 21:02 See, God had such confidence in Daniel's humility that he could say some amazing things about him. Remember, there was a prophet in in Babylon at that time called Ezekiel. Daniel was much younger than him, probably 10 years or more younger than 21:18 him. And Ezekiel was 30 years old and Daniel was probably 17 or 18. And God tells Ezekiel, listen to this. In the prophecy of Ezekiel, God says, in Ezekiel 14 and verse 13 and 14, he says, "If a country sins against me and 21:35 so on, I will destroy it. But if there are three men in that country, Ezekiel 14:14, Noah, Daniel and Job, they will save themselves by their own righteousness and nobody else." Noah died hundreds of years earlier. 21:55 Job died hundreds of years earlier, but Daniel was alive. Imagine including Daniel, a living young man, 20 years old, and God includes him along with Noah and Job when he says, "These are the three most righteous men I can think of right now." 22:15 How could God say that if he felt, "Oh, Daniel will get all puffed up" when Ezekiel says that because Ezekiel was in Babylon just with along with Daniel and he was prophesying. And Daniel heard that. And it did not puff him up. 22:30 Imagine if you heard something like that that God included you along with Noah and Job and your name. Would it puff you up? Oh, it's wonderful. It means a tremendous challenge that God had such confidence in Daniel's humility that he 22:45 knew that he would not puff him up. God's choosing for people who will never seek their own, who will not care about their own name, were not interested in exalting themselves, who will not get puffed up even if great prophets praise 22:58 them. Who will fall on their face before God all the time like John and say, "Lord, I'm a sinner saved by grace. That's all I am. And it's your mercy and your grace that's brought me where I am." Daniel had God had that confidence in Daniel. 23:13 And then I want to tell you another thing which uh Ezekiel said about Daniel. Listen to this. In Ezekiel 28, we read about the origin of Satan. He was in Ezekiel 28 and verse 12, he Satan is called the king of Tyre. There was a ruler in Tyre, but the real 23:32 king behind that ruler was the devil. So, Ezekiel 28:12, he talks about the devil saying, "You had the seal of perfection. You were in Eden, the highest of the angels. He was in the garden of God and he was the anointed 23:46 cherub, verse 14, Ezekiel 28:14, he the holy mountain of God until pride was found in you and you were cast down. Your heart was lifted up, verse 17. You know, that's how the highest angel became the devil. But there's one thing 24:02 said about this Satan that Ezekiel says concerning Satan, verse three, that Ezekiel 28:3, "You are wiser than Daniel." Not wiser than Solomon. Solomon was supposed to be the wisest man humanly 24:20 speaking of human wisdom. But when it came to spiritual wisdom, God says Daniel is number one. And Daniel was alive there. He was a young man. And Ezekiel could say such things about him. I'm amazed at the confidence that God had in Daniel 24:37 to say such things about him when he was a young man knowing it would not puff him up. Brother, if you're like that, you're a very, very blessed man. And so, he takes a stand against the food and he discovers at the end of it 24:52 that God honors him and he's selected to he's appreciated by those who selected the ones to serve the king. Then I want you to see another thing in Daniel 1:17. It says here that these four young men, Daniel and Hananiah, Mishael and 25:11 Azariah, Daniel 1:17, God gave them, listen to this, knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and writing and wisdom. Knowledge, intelligence, wisdom. And Daniel even had understanding of visions and dreams. 25:30 God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature. Yeah, it's God who gives intelligence. If you're a young man, you got to study in a school or a college and you got to study hard and do well to be able to earn your living. 25:49 How can you do that if God doesn't give you ability? I remember when my four sons were young and in school, I put this verse on top of their table where they sat and studied, Daniel 1:17. God gave these young men knowledge and 26:05 intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom. And I said to my boys, "Claim that for yourself. If God could do that for Daniel and his three friends, he can do it for you four of you as well." So, it's a good verse. 26:21 If you train your children to be wholehearted disciples, it's not for every Tom, Dick, and Harry. It's for those who are willing to be wholehearted disciples, God gives you many other things as well. So, that's a great verse and also 26:33 spiritual vision as well. The wonderful thing here is that God, it says in verse Daniel 1:9, God granted Daniel favor in the eyes of officials. And that's another thing we've experienced through the years. When God wants to give you favor in the 26:49 eyes of earthly officials, he can do it. And he does it for his servants where needed. Of course, sometimes he allows us to be persecuted and killed. That's another thing. Now, we go on to Daniel chapter two and we read about Nebuchadnezzar 27:07 having a vision. And what does he do? He calls all these magicians and says, "Please declare my dream and its interpretation is I don't know what the dream is because it's gone from me." Uh uh um I don't know what the dream is, but and 27:24 the magicians say, "Tell us what the dream is and we'll give you the interpretation." The king was shrewd. He said, "These guys are crooks. If I tell them the dream, they'll produce something and call it the interpretation, but I'll know if they're 27:33 really in touch with God, let them tell me the dream. If they're in touch with God, they should be able to tell me the dream I had without my telling them." Yeah. Then finally, he said, "Got to kill all of them. These fellows can't uh 27:47 tell me my dream." And Daniel was also one of those leaders there and they message went to Daniel saying, "The king wants to kill you." So, Daniel went in, verse Daniel 2:16, and requested the king, "Please give me some time. 28:01 I will declare the interpretation." He asked for time because he wanted to pray along with the others. And he knew absolutely certain that God would give him the dream and the interpretation. And what did he do? He didn't stand 28:15 alone. This is the New Testament church there as it were, a picture of it. Verse 17, he called his three friends. He said, "Let's pray together." Where two or three are gathered together in my name today, Jesus says, "I'll be 28:26 in the midst." This is a forerunner of that. They came together and they prayed to God for compassion and so, "Lord, show us this mystery and we don't want to be destroyed. We want to be your witnesses here." And verse 19, the 28:39 mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. God does amazing things when he wants to fulfill something. He'll do amazing things if he finds a wholehearted group of young people. It's a great encouragement to those who 28:51 want to start local churches wherever they are. And see, this is this is the difference between these godly men. The to me, the magicians are a picture of these Bible school professors and people who get Bible school degrees who 29:03 don't know head or tail about revelation from God. They only got head knowledge. Academic knowledge of scripture just like academic knowledge of history books and all that and chemistry books and physics books. They go to Bible colleges 29:16 and study and get degrees and doctorates and become professors. They're like these Chaldean magicians. They do it for money. You pay them a salary and they'll be your pastor and then they'll find a better church and more salary, they go 29:29 there. Daniel was not in that category at all. He wasn't doing anything for money. He was seeking the glory of God. So, there's a great example there of the contrast between Babylonian preachers and preachers who build the body of Christ. 29:44 And Daniel comes and explains the dream. And he exalts God. And we we read here finally when when Nebuchadnezzar saw this he was when he heard this he was absolutely amazed. Listen, it says here in Daniel 2 and 46, 30:02 Nebuchadnezzar fell down on his face before Daniel. And offered incense to him as if he were a god and said surely your god is a god and the king promoted Daniel and Daniel just walked away from there. He wasn't taken up with all that. He 30:17 would not accept that worship or any such thing. Think of this, the king was the most powerful person in the world at that time, Nebuchadnezzar. Imagine if the president of your country came and fell down before you. Oh, 30:32 how many preachers would be delighted today? That's why they are not like Daniel. They are Babylonian preachers. Daniel walked away from him and said I don't I don't want you to worship I'm not interested. He did not seek favor 30:48 from the political authorities of his time. But he did help his friends. He says he made request to the king and got jobs for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel 2:49. And that's good that we use whatever influence we have 31:04 in the world to help our fellow believers, especially those who are whole hearted and standing with us. But we don't uh want any honor or anything from them. Wonderful example, Daniel. Then we go to Daniel chapter 3. And here we don't see Daniel at all in 31:22 this chapter. The the king had ordered all the satraps, prophet, prefects, verse 3, Daniel 3:3, governors, counselors, all come because he set up a big idol and a huge idol and everybody is to fall down and worship and we find Shadrach, 31:37 Meshach, and Abednego are there because they were also officers in the king's kingdom. But Daniel is not there at all. I I often wondered where was Daniel? Either he didn't go or maybe he decided to go out of town that day. 31:56 And to avoid this situation is good to avoid situations where we may find ourselves trapped if we can. And uh so he was not there but he had done such a first class job in training these three people that they stood for 32:14 the Lord even though Daniel was not there to support them. That's the mark of a a man of God who's starting a new covenant church that he trains others in such a way that they're not dependent on this man of God all the time. Even at the very early 32:29 stage he trained them, led them up to God, and taught them God's ways, and told them to be strict and follow the commandments and then Daniel can be far away and disappear and these people are standing true to God just like Daniel would. They 32:43 said Nebuchadnezzar, "No, we're not going to bow down. You can throw us in the furnace of fire if you like but we will not bow down." What a work he had done. A true man of God in a new covenant church trains other younger people 32:56 quickly to stand for God just like he does. Great examples we have of this great man, a new covenant man in an Old Testament time. And when they went into the furnace they found Jesus was standing there with them talking to them. Boy, what an experience 33:13 that was. Wonderful. And then we come to chapter 4. Now the king has Nebuchadnezzar has another dream. But again we read Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. It says in verse 5, I saw a dream, Daniel 4:5. And again he doesn't call 33:30 Daniel. He's again dependent on the wise men, verse 6, Daniel 4:6. I called the wise men and uh See, by this time Daniel is now an older man. He's about 53 years old or more than 50 years old. And he doesn't project himself when he hears 33:48 the king had a dream, "Hey, you remember many years ago, oh king, I interpreted him, call me." No, he he's there in the background. A true man of God is like that. He's not always hanging around political leaders and wanting their favor. He's always in 34:02 the background. He says, "If you want me you'll call me but I'm not interested in coming there." And all these Bible school professors, they were called first. The magicians and the conjurers, verse 4, sorcerers and the 34:15 Chaldeans and all the pastors and all that and they could not reveal God's plan. How true of today. This is Babylonian Christianity. Corrupt. It does not stand true to God's word. It's interested in money and getting a salary. Jesus never got a 34:33 salary. The apostles never got a salary. No prophet in the Old Testament got a salary. No prophet went to a Bible school. Jesus didn't send his disciples to Bible school. Where does this new thing come from? Babylon. And the only person who went to a Bible 34:48 school before he came to Christ, that's the Apostle Paul. Paul Jesus had to send him into the desert for 3 years to get all that chaff that Gamaliel taught him out of his head. And yet Christendom is thinks that the only way to serve God is 35:02 to get up go to Bible school and get a salary. Well, then the apostles didn't serve God at all. They didn't go to Bible school. They never got a salary. So you see that Daniel is a great example of a man who supported himself 35:15 and revealed God's purposes. Daniel So when this dream came finally uh it says in verse 8, Daniel 4:8, finally Daniel. All the others had failed. They said, "There's only one man here who can tell me." Nebuchadnezzar calls Daniel and says, 35:31 "Please tell me what the dream means." And Daniel comes and tells him the dream. He he he prays. And it's interesting the dream was a message of judgment. The other one The earlier one was something that almost exalted the king 35:48 but this was a message of judgment. He says Daniel when he saw the dream his thoughts, Daniel 4:19, his thoughts alarmed him. And the he told the king, "Don't let the this alarm you but what I've seen about 36:06 you, oh king, is that you, verse 25, you'll be driven away from mankind and you will be with the beasts of the field. You eat grass like the cattle and drenched with the dew of heaven till seven periods of time have passed until 36:23 you recognize that almighty God, the most high, rules over the realm of men and you're not the one and uh that stump that remained from the roots of the trees, your kingdom will be assured after you recognize that it is 36:37 heaven that rules." See, to give a message of judgment to the world's top ruler and not to be a compromiser. Where do we find men of God like that? Like John the Baptist spoke to Herod, "You cannot take your brother's wife." 36:51 Or like Elijah spoke to Ahab, "You're the troubler of Israel, not me." And the way these prophets were fearless. And Daniel was like that, spoke the truth. I tell you God needs men like that who will speak the truth fearlessly and 37:08 don't bother about who gets offended and leaves your church, which big shot comes into your church and gets offended. I remember when we started a church we had a few rich people, maybe very few, two or three, and they were the first people 37:19 who got offended and left. Praise the Lord. We were left with the poor. And that's how the church began. It's always like that. God has chosen the poor of the world, rich in faith, James chapter 2, verse 5. Remember this, if you're out to please 37:34 the rich and the great and the mighty in the world, you'll never never build a new covenant church. And so he gives them some advice in verse 27, Daniel. Imagine this prophet of God giving the world's greatest ruler some advice. 37:48 Here's my advice. Number one, give up your sins. Stop sinning. The man I'm telling you to stop sinning. Where are the prophets today who will go to a president or ruler of a country and say, "Stop sinning, sir." That's what God says, "Stop sinning." 38:07 Stop telling lies. And do righteousness. And show mercy to the poor people. Care for those who are being afflicted, the poor and the helpless, care for them. Very relevant advice needed for top 38:27 leaders in all the big countries in the world today. They are all corrupt. Those who call themselves Christians or those who are anti-Christian, they're all exactly the same. And the advice that a true prophet should give such people is the same 38:38 thing here, Daniel 4:27. Break away from your sins. Do righteousness. And be merciful to the poor people who are suffering. You know, Daniel had read what the prophet Micah had said before him, Micah 6:8, "What does God require of you, oh 38:55 man? Do righteously. Love mercy. And humble yourself and walk with God." That's exactly what he said here. And but Nebuchadnezzar didn't listen. He was still worshiping the work of his 39:13 hands like Stephen said about those who worshiped the golden calf in Acts 7:41, they worshiped the work of their hands. Nebuchadnezzar said, "Look at this wonderful Babylon I have built." Verse 30. "How great it is." He worshiped the work 39:28 of his hands just like many preachers today worship the church building they've built or the people they've gathered. "Look, I've got a mega church." No different from from Nebuchadnezzar. They worship the work of their hands, 39:42 but God humbled such people. And you see many of these big preachers fall into adultery or something like that. God humbles them. Till finally Nebuchadnezzar recognized, he says in verse 35, one of the most powerful statements of 39:57 the sovereignty of God found anywhere in the Bible, and it's proclaimed by Nebuchadnezzar. All the inhabitants of the earth are like zero. Daniel 4:35, God does whatever he wants in heaven and on earth, and nobody can stop him. Nobody can ask him, "What have 40:11 you done?" Finally, he came to that place. Then we go to chapter five. Daniel is now about more than 80 years old. And Belshazzar, who they say was the Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, we don't know all details about him. But 40:31 he gets some finds some words written on the wall in a when he's having a feast along with others, um with their wives and concubines, etc., verse two and three. And the fingers of a man emerged in 40:50 verse five, Daniel 5:5. And the king began to tremble, his knees began to shake, and knocked together in Daniel 5:6. And again, does he call for Daniel, who's been there 70 years? No. Again, they call for the preachers, for 41:05 the Bible school degree holders, the conjurers, the Chaldeans, the diviners. And the king said, "Can you please explain this to me?" And none of them could do it. Yeah, they can explain the theory of the Bible, but revelation? Revelation is 41:19 given only to godly people, not to those who have degrees, not to those who work for money. And then the queen came in, that's probably his mother, and said, "Oh king, uh there's a man, you remember, in the days of your father, 41:36 King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, probably his grandfather, and he was an extraordinary knowledge, spirit, knowledge, and insight. It's Daniel. Call him." Then Daniel was brought. Daniel wasn't hanging around there. He was still 41:48 always in the background. You see that? You see it in chapter four, you see that in chapter four, chapter two, chapter four, chapter five. And then he comes, and king says, "I'll give you so many gifts." And look at this lovely word 42:01 from Daniel. Verse 17, when the king offers him, "I'll give you so much authority. I'll clothe you with purple." Verse 16, "I'll give you a necklace of gold, and I'll give you this money, everything else." Daniel says, words which every preacher 42:13 should say, verse 17, "Keep your gifts for yourself." Daniel 4:17. "Give your rewards to somebody else. I'm a servant of God. I don't want anything from you. But I want to tell you how God allowed you to be king." He says, and he 42:30 proclaims the message of judgment to him, saying, verse 27, "You have been weighed in the scales, and you've been found deficient, and your kingdom's divided to the Medes and the Persians. Judgment." And that's exactly what happened. That very 42:49 night, Belshazzar, verse 30, was killed. What Daniel prophesied was fulfilled, and the Medes and the Persians took over the kingdom. Daniel knew that because he got revelation from God about the meaning of these words. But he told 43:08 these people, like Abraham, "I will not take a shoelace from you." Like Elisha told Naaman, "I don't want your gifts." This is the mark of these men, godly men, Abraham, Elisha, Daniel, "Keep your rewards to yourself. I don't want any money from 43:24 you. I'll tell you what God says. Oh, that there were men like that today." Young men and older men who stand for God, who support themselves financially, who don't want any honor, and don't want any money from anybody else. 43:38 Then we come to chapter six. Now Daniel is an old man, he's probably 87 to 90 years old. And now Darius has become king. He's another kingdom, you know, Babylon has been overthrown by the kingdom of Medo-Persia, the Medes 43:54 and the Persians. And usually, when another kingdom takes over, they get rid of all the officials in the previous government. Like, you know, when one government, whether it's in India or America, any country, one government takes over and overthrows the 44:11 previous government, they get rid of all the officials in the previous government, say, "We don't want any of you. You all served that uh that previous party, and we don't want any of you." And they make their own followers to be the officers 44:25 there. That's how it is in every place. And I'm sure the Medes and the Persians did that, too. But Darius had the sense to let Daniel still be there. He examined the work, and he examined Daniel, and said, "This man is upright. 44:41 He's not a man-pleaser. Uh I've heard that he never pleased Nebuchadnezzar. He never pleased Belshazzar. He he did what was right, upright. What a testimony for a Christian to have, that I'm not supporting this politician, 44:54 I'm not supporting that politician, I'm not supporting this president or this prime minister or this person. I'm a servant of God. There are very, very few people like that in the whole world today. An example, if you want to be a man of 45:07 God like that, follow the example of Daniel. We talk about new covenant today, but this guy had more new covenant principles than millions of people who talk about the New Testament today. And Daniel appointed uh three commissioners. Daniel 6, sorry, 45:25 Darius appointed three commissioners, and Daniel was one of them. And verse three, this Daniel began distinguishing himself because he possessed an extraordinary spirit. And the king said, "Out of the three, I want you to appoint over you, 45:40 appoint you over the whole kingdom." And the other commissioners were jealous, the other two. They said, "We got to find some fault in him to make bring him down." And they examined every detail. They examined the finances, his books, accounts, and his 45:54 life. And look at this testimony in Daniel 6:4. It's an amazing testimony. That they could not find anything, any ground of accusation, or any evidence of corruption, because he was 46:11 faithful. No negligence or corruption was to be found in him. 70 years later, he's the same upright man. What a testimony for a Christian who works in an office. He doesn't take long coffee breaks and go around talking, wasting time. He's 46:27 faithful in his job all the time. He comes on time, works till the end, goes away on time. Nothing can be found. He's not corrupt. He doesn't do any favoritism to anyone. He doesn't take any money unrighteously for himself. 46:41 What a testimony. He was a prophet who earned his own living. Daniel, a great example for new covenant disciples today. But persecuted by others, and those people somehow fooled the king to sign a law that um 47:00 anybody who prays to any other god uh in the next few days will, in the next 30 days, must be thrown into a lions' den, verse seven and eight, and the king signed it foolishly. And he didn't know that they were trying to capture Daniel, and and they went and 47:17 found Daniel, and the king and Daniel heard about this. And they said, "Daniel is praying to God." And it says here that when Daniel heard about it, what did he do? It says here in verse 10, when Daniel 47:36 saw that the document was signed, Daniel 6:10, he entered his chamber, and his chamber was in the roof, top floor. He opened his window towards Jerusalem, and he knelt down for all the people walking by to see him at the window 47:52 praying. He was not ashamed of it. He didn't say, "Well, God will hear me even if the windows are closed, so I think I'll close." Or he didn't say, "Well, I think it's a bit windy today. I'll think I'll close the window." All 48:03 these silly excuses people make to avoid being a bold witness for Christ. It's a bit windy. Don't you think I should close the window? No. Even if it is windy, I'll open the windows because I want everybody to see that I'm I'm not ashamed to be praying 48:16 to the God of heaven. Three times a day, and the people saw it. And they told him, the king, "See, Daniel is doing it." And he was thrown into the lions' den. He didn't pray to Darius like all these 48:34 other commissioners, these Bible school professors. He prayed to God. And God protected him. What you will learn in the book of Daniel is God is sovereign, our Father who art in heaven today, sovereign over our health. He can You 48:53 can eat, drink, eat vegetables, and drink water, and he'll keep you healthy. You can be thrown in the fiery furnace, and God will protect you there. You can be thrown in the lions' den, and he'll protect you there. Now, you 49:05 can imagine Daniel sleeping there with with his head on one of the lions. What a wonderful thing. Not at all disturbed. We read in Second Timothy that 49:22 Paul says about himself, he says in Second Timothy 4, when he was taken to court, verse 16, "At my first defense, no one supported me, but everybody deserted me." Daniel, 4:16. But the Lord stood with me 49:41 and delivered me, verse 17, from the lions' mouth. Not only Daniel, all Daniel what 2 Timothy 4:17. He was to be thrown to the lions. That's how they kill people in those days, Christians. But he escaped it. And later on when the time came, 50:00 he was beheaded by Nero's order. But that's what we see here. So, that's what we see in Daniel chapter 6. Now we go to Daniel chapter 7. And here again, he's he's more than 80 years old and he's still having dreams and visions of God. 50:18 That's wonderful. To have dreams and visions of God when you are a young man and 60 years later, just to 70 years later, you're still faithful to God. This is about 60 years after, still faithful to God and receiving revelation from God and he 50:37 God showed him many things that were going to happen in the future. And then we go to you know, certain visions about what is going to happen in the world in chapter 7 and chapter 8. And some of the visions it says in Daniel 7 50:55 verse 15, distressed. Lord, is this what's going to happen in the world? But the Lord said, "Don't worry." Daniel 7 verse 18, finally, the saints of the kingdom will receive the kingdom. The kingdom forever. But till then, 51:12 there'll be a lot of problems. So many uh different different governments, they're like beasts. Everyone is just is like a beast, lion or a bear, you know, Daniel 7 verse 4, 5, one like a leopard verse 6, and one like a dreadful beast 51:28 verse 7. All that, all beasts, every human government is like a beast, but finally a man comes. Verse 12, the son of man. That's the difference between all human governments and the church. All human governments are run like animals 51:44 running their kingdom. But then the church, Jesus himself takes the kingdom. And Daniel, his when his spirit was disturbed, the Lord said, "Don't worry. The kingdom will come to God's people." And then we come to chapter 9. 52:03 Again, Daniel, we read here. He's probably around 87 years old now. He's fasting and praying, verse 3. It's one of the things we see here in Daniel 9, fasting and in chapter 10 also, he went into a partial fast. It says in Daniel 52:21 10 verse 3, "I did not eat tasty food or wine." When he was younger, he was fasting fully and when he grew older, he needed food as he grew older, but he avoided tasty food. He was disciplined in his eating. When he was 17, he was 52:34 disciplined in his eating when he was 87. What a wonderful man. He had control. He didn't allow food to run him. The Bible says in Philippians 3 about some people whose God is their stomach. You can't be a new covenant disciple of Jesus and 52:49 have your God as your stomach. No. Jesus alone must be your God. And it's to people who have like Paul says, "I've disciplined my body and made it my slave." It is to such people that God speaks. If you're a slave of money, if you're a slave of 53:04 food, if you're a slave of sleep, if you're a slave of sex, my brother, just forget about being a a person whom God can use to build his church. No. You'll be one of those third rate people like, you know, the Gibeonites whom 53:19 Joshua uh told them, "You can saw the wood and collect water, but you can't fulfill God's purposes." No, you got to be disciplined. Paul says that in the last verse of 1 Corinthians 9, "I don't want to be a castaway. I want to discipline my body." And you 53:34 find here that again and again you read about uh Daniel fasting and praying. I remember in the early days when our church started, we had many times of fasting and prayer. That's where many of us were filled with the Holy Spirit. 53:49 We sought God in prayer and fasting, not knowing which way to go. Sometimes we once we had 3 days, the two of us fasted for 3 days with only liquids to seek God. Lord, which is the direction in which we must go forward in a church. That's Those are 54:08 the days God guided us. We didn't know. We had no wisdom. We had nobody to guide us. We never had a spiritual father to guide us. God guided us and that's how it was with Daniel. Daniel didn't have a spiritual father either. 54:19 And he prayed and God spoke to him. And you see that wonderful prayer in Daniel 9. It's a prayer trying to switch started the process for God's people to move out of Babylon into Jerusalem. Picture of the forming of the New Testament church. 54:37 And this burden to build Jerusalem that Daniel had is the mark of an overcomer today. A burden to build the new covenant church. Then you come to chapter 10 and he does a partial fast as I told you, verse 3. He did not eat tasty food. 54:55 He disciplined himself in his eating. Perhaps he was old now and he needed to eat something. He couldn't fast the way he did when he was young. That's fine. But he still disciplined himself. And this is the place where he gets a 55:07 vision. A man sits as he trembles on his hands and knees. Verse 10, he's a man comes to him and says, "Oh Daniel, verse 11, God esteems you very highly." Oh, what wonderful words. Imagine, brother, if you and I could hear God saying, "I esteem you very 55:25 highly." I'd give anything in the world to hear that from God. All the flattery and approval of many, even about co-workers, means nothing. If God can say to you personally, "I esteem you highly." That's the only thing that matters, dear 55:46 brother. All your accomplishments and you think, "I've built a Babylon. I've built a church. I've built this." Means nothing. If don't glory in the work of your hands. Don't worship the work of your hands. Acts 7:41. And like Nebuchadnezzar, that'll always 56:01 be a Babylon. No, be highly esteemed and It says here in verse 12, Daniel 10:12, "From the first day, take this word to yourself, that you set your heart on understanding and humbling yourself before God, your words were heard 56:20 and I've come in response." It came much later. The answer didn't come immediately, but Daniel continuously humbled himself, humbled himself, and from the very first day God was watching him. And he said, "This is the man. I got to 56:33 use him to fulfill my purpose." And he did. It's an amazing thing that God did there through Daniel. And Daniel prays and he he God sends a messenger there in answer 56:50 to his prayer. You know, if we want to take God's burdens, I'll tell you something. We got to have empty hands. If your hands are full of the cares and worries of this world and how to make more money and how to 57:09 advance in your profession and all that, okay. You can't take the burdens of God then. That's for the people of the world. Earn your own living. By all means, earn as much as you can. Live in a comfortable way. That's all 57:24 right. Advance as much as you can in your profession, but seek the kingdom of God first and his righteousness. And let everything else by all means. There's nothing wrong in going to the top of your profession, being the top of 57:38 your company. If you are a CEO, fine. But don't compromise on the principles of God's kingdom. Very, very important. Daniel went to the top. He was a chief commissioner in two kingdoms. He was like the CEO here, then he moved and 57:55 became the CEO somewhere else. But he was the most godly man of his time. What an example. Top man in the highest position in the government and absolutely upright. Others are jealous of him. Doesn't matter. God supports 58:10 him. What a testimony there. You can be like that, brother. So, you know, it's there's nothing wrong in being high in your profession. Like we saw Job was the wealthiest man in the world and he was a godly man. And here we see 58:23 Daniel very high in his profession. Top, next to the king. But upright for God. His hands were not taken up with just the things of the world. The other thing we see in Daniel 10 is this angel comes and says to him, you know, "Peace be with you." 58:43 And he says, "You know what happened? Um I was coming here in verse 13, the kingdom of the king of Persia was withstanding me. These are evil spirits. But Michael, one of the angels, came and helped me. This is the first place in 58:57 the Bible, in the New Testament at least, uh rather in the Old Testament, where we read about evil spirits. You don't read about these evil spirits coming with any of the others, with the Abraham or in Job, it was happening there, but 59:10 Job knew nothing about it. And uh or with um Elisha. But here, Daniel, there's a conflict with evil spirits. This man says, "I was planning to come to you, but evil spirits were resisting me." And then Michael came and helped me, 59:25 Daniel 10:13. You know, if you want to build the New Testament church, I'll tell you something. Evil spirits will resist it tooth and nail. But God will help you to overcome. And then we come to chapter 11. What a wonderful word here. 59:43 I Daniel arose to be an encourager for Darius and a protection. That's a New Testament overcomer. An encourager to everybody in the church and a protection to protect the church from evil spirits. Two great ministries. 1:00:00 I want to be an encourager. I rise up to be an encourager and a protection for the church. Daniel 11:1. And we read here in another beautiful verse in verse 32. In the last part of verse 32 speaking about the last days. 1:00:17 The people who know their God will display strength and take action. The great need in the last days is people who know their God. Not know the Bible. But through the Bible know their God. The people who know God like Daniel. 1:00:35 They are the ones who will be strong and take action for God in these last days. Take these challenges from the book of Daniel. Finally we come to chapter 12, the last chapter the book of Daniel. And here we see some beautiful expressions 1:00:54 in verse One day there'll be a resurrection in verse two it says many who sleep in the dust will awake. Some to everlasting life and some to everlasting destruction. Daniel 12:2 speaking about the final end. And verse three, those who have insight. 1:01:12 That is a revelation of the Holy Spirit will shine brightly. The need today is for people who have revelation from the Holy Spirit. They will shine like stars. Not just head knowledge. Those who have revelation insight from 1:01:28 God they will shine like the brightness of the heavens in the daytime. And those who lead people to righteousness. Not those who preach wonderful sermons. Oh, it's I'm sorry to say that even in many of our churches people are thinking of preaching 1:01:45 wonderful sermons. Oh, can I preach like this? Can I preach like that? I wish I could preach and get honor from people. For what? For wonderful sermon you preached? No. Forget it. Be one of those who lead others to righteousness. 1:02:00 Daniel 12:3. Those who lead people to righteousness. Even if you're not a great preacher. You speak for 5 minutes but you lead people to righteousness. You will shine like the stars forever and ever. What are you seeking? Do you want 1:02:12 insight from heaven through the Holy Spirit and you want to lead people to righteousness. If you don't have insight from heaven you cannot lead people to righteousness. You will just preach some wonderful sermon. People will admire you. Oh, that 1:02:24 was a beautiful illustration you gave. And that was a lovely example you gave. And what a wonderful way you presented it. And all your three points were so great. Garbage. Seek for insight from heaven and seek to lead people to righteousness. 1:02:39 And then we read here the uh angel tells him you know, some of things Daniel you won't understand. Some things are concealed verse nine till the end of time. He was willing to accept that. 1:02:57 Lord, whatever you want to reveal to me is enough for me. I don't want to get more than that. You reveal so much to me. I'll accept it. The rest is up to you, Lord. I'm just your servant. If you say certain things are not 1:03:09 revealed to me but it's going to be revealed to somebody else, oh God bless you. But I will go my way verse nine. And I'll you say this is certain things are not for me. That's fine. But many will be purged verse 10. Pure pure and refined. Listen to this. 1:03:25 But the wicked will continue to act wickedly and they will not understand. But those who have insight will understand. So the point here is if there's sin in your life you will not understand. No matter how much you study, no matter 1:03:43 how much how many Bible college degrees you get, when there's sin in your life you will not understand. The wicked means those who have tolerate sin in their life. They will not understand. But Daniel verse 13, you go your way to 1:03:59 the end. One day you will enter into rest. And at the end of the age there'll be a reward for you. Humbly accept the ministry God has given for you and be satisfied with that. But seek for insight. Seek for revelation of the Holy Spirit. I tell 1:04:17 you there's a lot of things I've gone quickly through this book of Daniel. But here's a man who is highly esteemed of God. And I believe God wants young people like that will be faithful all the way till their old age. Utterly faithful. 1:04:30 And Daniel is a tremendous example. And God will protect you from all the evil. Don't seek honor from great men in the world or great men in the church or any such thing. Seek only to live before God's face and get honor 1:04:45 from him. I believe God wants you my brother to be in that number. If you will listen, sister. You also. God needs godly women who will support godly men. So this is a message for women too. Because many godly men need godly wives. 1:05:03 Yes. And together they can build godly families. How can a godly man build a family if he doesn't have a godly wife? And how can they be an example to others because the Christian world is not full of single people. It's full of families. 1:05:17 99% of people in our church are family people. And so if a godly man today must have a family. An elder must be a husband of one wife, brought up his children well. God wants you to be one like that. And you sister, you need to be one like that 1:05:30 so that you God can you give you as a wife to a godly man so that you can together with him build the new covenant church for the glory of God. So please remember all that you heard in yesterday and today in these five, six messages. 1:05:48 Pray that you'll be you will also live like these men. What an example these Old Testament men. What a challenge that is for us who have so much more light and who have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. May God help us. Let's pray. 1:06:08 Dear brothers and sisters, please think of all that you heard yesterday and today in these five messages of new covenant people in the Old Testament. And ask God to help you to be challenged when you have today the Holy Spirit and 1:06:27 the written word of God and fellowship and so many messages and people to guide you. How much higher we should be able to go than those people in the Old Testament. Repent. Set everything right. Humble yourself. Seek after righteousness. Stop sinning. 1:06:45 Be merciful to others. Set everything right in your life and say, Lord I want to be like these men. I want to be like a Daniel to be available to you to build a new covenant glory of God. Lead me to those who will join with me. Two or three 1:07:03 who can wholeheartedly that we can be a testimony for you where we are. Heavenly Father, we pray that you will help these words to sink deep into people's hearts and do not allow the devil to take it away from anybody's heart. 1:07:17 We commit all this to you in Jesus' name. Amen.
