0:00 So, since we're looking at Daniel earlier, I thought I would start begin there. First of all, in Daniel chapter 1. Now, I don't know whether you realize 0:17 that perhaps more than any other prophet in the Old Testament Daniel is an example for us. There were 0:34 a few prophets connected with the captivity to Babylon. The Old Testament is an example for us. And many Christians are aware of 0:51 the movement of God's people from Egypt to Canaan. Most Christians know about that, how the redemption from Egypt is a picture of our salvation from the power of Satan by the blood of the lamb. But in the Old Testament, there are two 1:11 movements of God's people. One is from Egypt to Canaan. And where they got stuck in the wilderness. 600,000 of them, and finally only two out of those 600,000 managed to get into Canaan, which is a picture of the life of victory. 1:29 But that movement speaks of the individual Christian life. You know, you come out of Egypt. You personally choose to trust in the blood of Christ. You're baptized in the Red Sea, baptized in the Holy Spirit, and then you have a 1:46 choice of either living under the law symbolized by the 40 years in the wilderness, defeated, up and down, up and down, up and down, or living under grace, which is going through the river of Jordan. Death to self. 2:05 And Jordan is a picture of life in the spirit. Canaan is a picture of life in the spirit where the giants are slain. The second movement of God's people in the Old Testament is from Babylon to Jerusalem. 2:23 Where they went into captivity in Babylon. And a lot of Christians don't know about that. And then they moved to Jerusalem. And the prophets connected with that are Jeremiah, who tried to stop God's people from going to Babylon. 2:42 Ezekiel. The prophet who was in Babylon. Daniel. Who was also in Babylon. And then finally um in coming out of Babylon, there was Ezra and Nehemiah, who were not prophets, but leaders. And 3:00 then later on, Haggai and Zechariah, who helped them in building the temple there. So, Daniel is one of those related to Babylon. Now, the significance of this is when you come to the end of 3:19 the New Testament you read about Babylon and Jerusalem again. Um Babylon there is a picture of the false church, the counterfeit church. And Jerusalem is a picture of the true church. And just like God's people went into 3:42 Babylon in the Old Testament most of Christendom today has gone into spiritual Babylon. And um just like in the Old Testament, there was a movement of 4:00 a few people who came out of Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem. In these days, there is a movement of a few who decide to come out of spiritual Babylon 4:19 to build the true church of Jesus Christ. And in this connection we can see Daniel had a very big part to play in it. Because the movement from Babylon to Jerusalem 4:37 started with Daniel. When he was maybe around 87 years old, he'd lived through the whole captivity of the people of Israel. He was taken captive when he was around 17 or so. And 4:58 stood faithful to God for 70 years till the time came for God's people to move back to Babylon, and he was the man you read in Daniel 9 who prayed and fasted and sought God and started the movement which continued through Ezra, 5:17 Haggai, Zechariah, and Nehemiah. Which finally established God's people in Babylon. So, for those who want to be not just those who want to go to heaven when they die. I've often said, "I'm not interested in talking to people who want to go to 5:36 heaven when they die." The world is full of such people. Jesus did not gather together in his earthly life people who wanted to go to heaven when they die. He never said, "How many of you want to go to heaven?" And so I do not waste my time trying to 5:52 gather people who want to go to heaven when they die, or who want to escape hell. I say, "Go and sit in some other church. I have no time to waste talking to you." Jesus gathered people who wanted to follow him every single day of their 6:05 life. He said, "If any one of you will come after me let him take up his cross every single day deny himself die to himself and follow me." In India or in any other country, those are the only people I'm interested in 6:23 speaking to. I say the rest of the people can go and listen to some other preacher, maybe list watch Christian TV or something like that. There are very few Christians who want to follow Jesus. There are thousands of Christians who want to go to heaven when 6:37 they die. And Daniel is not an example for those who want to go to heaven when they die. He's an example for those who want to stand up for the Lord as a witness right now on this earth. He was not interested in the 6:54 things that Babylon could offer him. And there are very few like that, you know. The devil offered all the kingdoms of the world and all the all the things the world could offer the devil offered Jesus, and he offers them to you and me. 7:13 Even today. The devil's the same. Jesus rejected it. He said, "I don't want it." My calling is to worship my father. Live for him. I don't want Satan. I don't want all that the world can offer me. Those are the people who follow Jesus. 7:32 Who say "I want to be a witness for Christ on this earth more than to be taken up with all the things of the world can offer." See, there are two categories of people. The devil offered Jesus all so many things of the world can offer, and he 7:51 offers believers today so many things the world can offer. Jesus said, "No." And all those who follow Jesus will say, "No." They live in the world and use the things of the world. Work like Daniel maybe in a secular job. 8:04 But they don't live for this world. When we live in this world and live for this world, we are like a ship which is in the middle of the water but it's got a leak somewhere, and all the water comes in and the ship 8:22 Whereas a good ship would not allow any water to come in. Even a small hole is enough to sink a ship or a boat. And we're called to be in the world, but not of the world. In the water without the water coming in. Daniel was like that. He was right in 8:38 the middle of Babylon. Like a ship in the middle of the sea. But there was no leak in it. We'd be very careful if we are in a boat and if there's a leak in it. You wouldn't want to stay in that boat. 8:57 You'd plug that leak as soon as possible. Because if you're out in the middle of the sea in a boat with a leak you're not going to survive. You're never going to come back to the shore. You'll just drown. But I find a lot of Christians 9:15 who have leaks in them. Leaks by which the world can come into their life and come into their home and they don't seem to be concerned. They'd be more concerned if they were in the middle of the sea with their boat having a leak. 9:35 Even though that will only kill their physical life. Than living in the world and seeing the leak coming into their life and their home. And it doesn't seem to concern them. Which proves that such Christians love 9:53 this life more than eternal life. Without a doubt. even though they talk about eternal life, they are more careful to preserve their physical life because they would plug a boat if they were out in the sea. But they're not so careful to plug the 10:11 leaks that bring the world into their life and in their home. Which proves that whatever they may sing, whatever they may say, they love this life more than eternal life. Now, it's good for us to face up to the 10:29 facts concerning ourselves. If I delude myself that oh, yeah, I'm interested in the things of God more than things of the world. And I don't face up to these type of situations where I find I'm not careful about leaks that come 10:48 into our life. And that's where Daniel is a great example. That verse in Daniel chapter 1 verse 8, which says, "Daniel made up his mind that he will not defile himself." And it was not a question of defiling 11:11 himself with adultery or stealing or murder or worshipping idols. You know, those are the big commandments. When you think of the thing that he did not want to defile himself with, it was none of the 10 commandments. He wasn't 11:32 saying, "I will not defile myself by worshipping idols. I will not defile myself by taking the Lord's name in vain. I will not defile myself by dishonoring my father and mother. I will not defile myself by not keeping the Sabbath or stealing or 11:47 killing or adultery or murder." No. Those things many people were doing. Keeping those commandments. I think many of those Jews kept those commandments. But where did he determine not to defile himself? Daniel 12:06 1:8. Now, remember, Daniel is an example for a Christian in the last days standing in in the midst of the Babylon that Christendom is today and standing for the truth. That type of person God can use to one 12:25 be start a movement towards Jerusalem to build the true church of Jesus Christ. To be a witness for God in these last days. Notice where he chose not to defile himself. Daniel 1:8. He would not defile himself with the king's choice food 12:44 or with the wine which he drank. Now, those who are not the major commandments. See, if you I don't want to turn to that now, but if you get time, you can read in Leviticus, I think it's chapter 11, where it says there was certain types of 13:01 meat which God said you should not eat. Now, that was an Old Testament law. It doesn't apply for us in the New Testament, but God was trying to teach them uh the principle of separation from the world in those 13:20 Maybe I should show it to you. Turn to Leviticus. The it Many of the Old Testament laws were to teach people separation from the world. For example, there was a law that you should not wear a dress mixed half 13:39 cotton, half woolen. Now, there's no law like that today. We can wear anything. But there the Lord was trying to teach us principle of separation. A woman must not wear man's clothes and man must not wear woman's clothes. The 13:52 principle of separation. You cannot plow a a field with an with a ox and a donkey. Principle of separation again. When you sow seed in a vineyard, don't sow mixed seed. Always the principle of separation from the world. You got to be 14:09 distinct from the world. And so, in Leviticus 11, he said, um you are not to eat, verse 4, among those which chew the cud uh or among those which divide the hoof. The camel, though it chews the cud, but 14:28 doesn't divide the hoof, it's unclean to you. And like the rock and the badger and and for example, the rabbit, though it chews the cud, it doesn't divide the hoof. Now, these have all got spiritual meaning. Chewing the cud means meditating on 14:42 God's word. Dividing the hoof means separation from the world. So, these are the two principles that we read there in Leviticus 11. So, there was certain um animals they were not supposed to eat and even uh certain type of fish, etc. 14:58 And there was a type of wine they were allowed to drink. And there was another type of wine which was said in Proverbs, "When it stirs itself and gives its color in the cup, you shouldn't even look at it." Now, Daniel knew these laws. 15:14 And so, these are not the major 10 commandments, remember. These were little, little laws. And I can imagine Daniel sitting with his friends out there with all some of those tasty meats which are forbidden in Leviticus 11 there on the king's table. 15:33 And the specific type of wine which Proverbs said you shouldn't even look at. Which stirs itself in the cup. And I'm sure it was very tasty. And Daniel's friends said, "Well, those were laws for 15:51 when they were in the wilderness. But we're in Babylon today. Times have changed. That's a long time ago. A thousand years ago when Moses was in the wilderness. Leviticus was written then. We're living in Babylon. We got to 16:08 adjust to the times." Just like Christians say today, "We can't take all these scriptures exactly. They were written by the apostles 2,000 years ago, but we're living in modern times and we've got to adapt to modern times." 16:23 Well, Daniel didn't didn't believe that. And I'll tell you something, the only people who are going to count for God in these days and who are going to build the true church of Jesus Christ are the ones who stand like Daniel and 16:35 say, "God's word is eternally true. God doesn't have to change his mind up 2,000 years. If there's something written in the New Testament, it's for me today. It's not just for somebody who lived 2,000 years ago." Not in the big commandments. God doesn't 16:52 test us in the big commandments. He tests us in the small commandments. If he's going to pick a man like Daniel even today to stand for him, he's going to test him in the small things. That's how we test obedience of our 17:07 children. We don't test the obedience of our children in small in big things. You tell your child, "Well, don't murder anybody today. Don't rob a bank today and don't go and commit adultery with anybody today." He says, "I didn't 17:26 Dad, I kept all the commandments today." "What commandments?" "All the big ones." "What about the small ones?" When you're busy playing with something, the children are busy playing and Mommy calls them to do some to help her in 17:38 some way and they say, "No. Uh just hang on." That's where their obedience is tested. Now, I want to say to you, my dear brothers and sisters, your obedience is not tested in the big things that you don't commit adultery, 17:52 you don't steal, you don't murder. It's in the small things which Jesus spoke about. Jesus spoke about a lot of small things. He said the way you just look 18:08 at a woman. That's a very small thing. Or the way you speak with anger. The tongue and the eye. So many sins are committed by believers with the tongue and the eye. 18:27 Very small things. Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself. Imagine if God could find a few Christians who make up their mind they will not defile themselves 18:47 with their eyes or with their tongue. Forget everything else. Just these two. Do you know, first of all, how much it would delight the heart of God to find a few people on Earth 19:06 among his people who have made up their mind whatever the provocation, I will not defile myself with my eyes or with my tongue. I'll tell you there very few people like 19:26 that. They're rarer than diamonds and rarer than the most precious stones on Earth to find such people. There are multitudes of Christians who want to go to heaven. Who drift along on the Earth useless to God. They attend church 19:46 regularly. They hold the right doctrines. They're not Daniel. They're like Are they members of Christ's body? I hope they are. I don't know, but they're like paralyzed members. Imagine if your right hand was paralyzed. Is that a member of your 20:04 body? Yes. But it's an absolutely useless member of your body. It's just got to be carried along by others. What does this paralyzed right hand do for the body? Nothing. The rest of the body has to nourish it, care for it. The left hand has to do 20:22 double the work because there's this useless paralyzed hand that comes along with the body. We don't want to cut it off. But it's very, very sad and I believe that the Lord has got I mean, in the church today there are so 20:40 many paralyzed members who are not useful to the Lord because they have not made up their minds not to defile themselves. Defiling themselves with sin, with little, little things, not big things. 21:00 They keep the 10 Commandments. But little things, they don't take it seriously. Now, I want to say all those other people who were there in Babylon, the young people who kept the 10 Commandments, I don't even know their 21:13 names. They were just useless. The question is whether you want to be in that small number that really counts for God in these days or you want to be just like one of those paralyzed members, somehow get to heaven 21:32 make the best of my life on this earth. Well, it all depends on I'll tell you, it all depends on how grateful you are. Please listen to me. It all depends on how grateful you are for Jesus dying for you. We all say we're so thankful Jesus died 21:51 for us. So, I don't believe it. Because if I really believed if I was really thankful for the fact that the Son of God came from heaven to this earth and gave up everything just to save me from hell and was willing to 22:13 take all the blame of my sin upon him. I don't know that I could ever repay that just by attending church a few times and putting a few cents into the offering box 22:32 and giving out a few tracts and saying that's how I show my gratitude. When I was a young man and I was gripped by the fact that Jesus died for me I was just about 20 years old. The Lord gave me a picture in my mind. 22:49 And this is how I saw Jesus saving me. Uh like a parable, like an illustration. I saw myself crossing a road and there was this huge truck coming down the road and I didn't see it. 23:08 And just as it was about to run me over somebody came from behind and pushed me out of the way and saved my life. And in the process he was run over by the truck and his 23:25 legs were crushed and broken and they had to be amputated. And he was lying in hospital with his broken legs, amputated, without two legs. And I go to visit him in hospital. You 23:43 know, me, I was my life was saved by him. And I go to How do I greet him and what do I say? I say hi, take some flowers, take some food and say thanks so much. And he's there in hospital maybe for 24:05 a long, long time and I sort of get about my business. Once in a while I call him up and say how I how things doing. How things going? I don't think I would respond like that. I would go to him and say listen 24:25 I wouldn't be alive today if you hadn't pushed me out of the way. And I want to say I'm I'll be grateful to you all my life. If ever if ever in your life you need anything done 24:45 you can call on me. Anything. If I'm doing the most important thing, I'll drop it and do what you want me to do for you because you don't have legs today because of me. Anytime, anywhere for the rest of my life 25:03 you can call on me. I will drop everything and come running if you call me. I give you my word. Tell me, do you think that would be too much of a dedication to that person for what he did for me? Don't you think you would say that? 25:21 That's the picture the Lord gave me. That Jesus had pushed me out of the way saved my life and in the process suffered more than broken legs. What shall my response be to him? Just an occasional thank you on a Sunday morning? 25:40 Or reading the Bible 15 minutes in the morning just to ease my conscience? I say shame on me if that's the way I respond to the Lord. So, I said Lord you can call on me anytime in my life. As long as I live on this earth, you can 25:59 call on me anytime. I'm yours. I will never, never forget what you did for me. I feel that the truth of Christ dying to save us from hell has become so familiar with many of us because you've heard it 26:17 so often and so often and so often. We become familiar with it. That it doesn't bring from within us the response of gratitude and love that it should bring. That's one of my prayers that I will 26:37 never ever become so familiar with the truth that Jesus died for a sinner like me. I mean, it gripped my heart 52 years ago. And it grips my heart today. I cannot think of Jesus dying for me 26:58 even today without it stirring me in my heart. Sometimes it brings tears to my eyes but it always brings tears in my heart. I think of that's a verse in Revelation 5. It says they sing a new song in heaven 27:17 saying thou was slain and thou has redeemed us by thy blood. And it The meaning of new song means it's like a fresh song. In Revelation 5 and what I got from that verse is that when they sing about Jesus dying and 27:37 shedding his blood for our sins in heaven, every time they sing it it's fresh as if they're hearing it for the first time. And I said Lord, that's how I want it in my life. The Holy Spirit has come to bring heaven 27:56 into our heart, the spirit of heaven. See, that's another great tragedy that a lot of Christians today do not know the power of the Holy Spirit. They're trying to live the Christian life without the power of the Holy Spirit. And I'm not speaking about 28:12 Pentecostalism or charismatic Christianity. I'm not a Pentecostal. I'm not a charismatic, but I believe in being filled with the Holy Spirit. I believe and I know what it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to be full of the Holy Spirit where the Holy 28:23 Spirit stirs me to love Jesus every day. Makes the things of heaven real to me like we sing in that song, heaven came down, glory filled my soul. This is what the Holy Spirit does. And if you're not experiencing it, I 28:42 want to say to you, dear brother, sister, be filled with the Holy Spirit. You don't have to be charismatic or Pentecostal to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You got to be like Peter, James, and John to be filled with the Holy 28:53 Spirit where heaven comes down. Where, you know, I believe the gospel is this that we can have two heavens. One here on earth where my earthly life becomes a foretaste of heaven. The victory, the peace, the joy, the rest 29:13 the total freedom from the fear of the devil, the total freedom from the fear of man the total freedom from all anxiety about the future. That's heaven. Do you think any angel is sitting in heaven tense wondering how things are going to turn out finally on 29:30 this earth? Will the devil win? No. I I've often pictured it like this. How how we're to live on this earth. In India one of the very popular games that 29:49 people watch is cricket. And there's a great excitement throughout the country when India is playing a cricket match against any any other team. You know, all Indians want the Indian team to win. And I picture it like this. Supposing I've 30:07 seen a cricket match where I watched the whole game and India won. Even though it's a very tight match. And it you didn't know it at different times of match who's going to win, but finally India won. And as an Indian, I'm very happy. 30:25 And here's some other person who uh maybe he was at work or he was busy. Could not watch the match. And so there's a replay of that match. And he's never seen it. He doesn't know the result. And he's sitting there watching it and 30:43 I'm also sitting with him watching it. I already know the result. So, he's very tense as the game progresses. Oh boy, I don't know who's going to win. But I sit there relaxed. He's how is this? Zach doesn't seem to be bothered whether India's losing or 31:02 going to win. Isn't he patriotic? It's because I already know the result. This is only a replay. I already know that India won it. He's tense, tense, tense. I apply that to the Christian life. I read the last chapters of Revelation. 31:23 I know who won. I know what's going to happen to the devil. I know who's going to rule in eternity. I'm not I know who's that I'm going to reign with Christ for eternally ages if I'm faithful to him for these few years on earth, whether 31:39 it's 60 years, 70 years, 100 years. Lord, whatever you give me. It's only a short time compared to eternity. I know I'm going to reign with him. Those who overcome on this earth are going to reign with him for eternity. 31:55 Not everybody. Those who accepted the devil's offer saying here you are, everything in this world I'll give it to you. They're not going to reign with him. No. I've read the end of the Bible. I believe it's true. And that's why I'm not tense wondering 32:12 who's going to win. All the terrible things coming upon the earth. How's it going to turn out next year? How's it going to turn out 10 years from now? It doesn't disturb me. I've seen the end of the match. I know who won. 32:24 Yeah, in the during as the match went on, there were times when it looked as if the other team was going to win. And then it looked as if we're winning and then it looked as if the other team was winning. But throughout it all, I could 32:35 sit back because it is a replay for me. And because I've read the last few chapters of Revelation a lot of things that happen on the earth today are just a replay for me. Yeah, sometimes it looks as if this team is winning. Sometimes it looks as if, 32:51 but I know the end of the story. Do you know it? That's what the Holy Spirit does. He brings the spirit of heaven into our hearts where you don't find anybody in heaven tense wondering how's it all going to turn out like a lot of believers are living. 33:11 And that's the mark of faith. Faith it says is um Hebrews chapter is the assurance 33:29 of things hoped for. Here I see Hebrews 11:1. The conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1. The absolute assurance of things I'm still hoping for. That's faith. 33:48 Just like I'm absolutely sure without a shadow of doubt that 2 + 2 is 4. And I don't care if the whole world says it's 3.9 or 4.1, it makes no difference to me. I know it's 4. Maybe one day the rest of the world will 34:06 realize their error that it's not 3.9, it's not 4.1, it's 4. But until then, if I'm the only person in the whole world who believes that 2 + 2 is 4, I will stand for it. 2 + 2 is 4. Nobody's going to convince me that 2 + 2 34:19 is 5. Let the world believe that if they want. I have an absolute assurance in my heart. Do you have that type of assurance? That the things written in God's word are true. That's faith. And you can't have it unless you're 34:39 filled with the Holy Spirit. You'll always wonder is it 2 + 2 is 4? That I know. But these things written in scripture? Yeah, I don't know. My dear brothers and sisters, that's why you reach out your hand and take the things of of the world the devil offers 34:57 you. And you lose what God wants to give you. If your hands are full of the things of the world, you'll have no place in it for the things of heaven. Faith is the conviction of things not seen. I'm absolutely convinced of things I 35:16 have not seen. I'm absolutely assured of the things I hope for. Now, let me ask you, do you have faith? If you're honest, you'd have to say most Christians they don't have faith. Then what have they been believing all 35:36 this time? They say I believe and I've got eternal life. They don't have eternal life. They believed in their head. Not in their heart. Do you know faith is something that's to come in the heart? Let me show you. Romans chapter 35:57 10. Romans chapter 10, it says verse 8 to 10. What does it say? What is the word 36:15 of righteousness say? The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart. Where is it? Not in your mind. In your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith which we are preaching. You got to read the Bible exactly. 36:32 That if you Now, where does the mouth and heart come in? Here it is. You confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is my Lord. And you believe in your heart God has raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. Believe in your heart, not in your mind. 36:53 The world is full of millions of people who believe in their mind. They're not saved. I'll tell you they're not saved. There are 1 billion people who call themselves Christians on the earth. You go and ask them anything uh 37:09 you go and ask them, do you believe Jesus Christ is the son of God? Yes. Do you believe he died for the sins of the world? Yes. Do you believe there's a trinity? Yes. They don't believe in their heart. They're not saved. 37:20 I think less than 10% of people who call themselves Christians are really saved. That's my conviction from what I've seen. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. Their conviction of things not seen. Believe in your heart 37:38 and confess with your mouth. Whatever I believe in my heart, I confess with my mouth. Jesus Christ is my Lord. Whenever I lead people to Christ, I always tell them to say Jesus Christ is my Lord. I say say that to the devil. 37:57 Jesus Christ is my Lord. The devil can never confess. Do you know that the devil never calls God Lord? He'll call him God, but he won't call him Lord cuz he's not his Lord. A demon-possessed person will never say Jesus Christ is my Lord. 38:16 It's one of the tests. You cast out the demon, he'll be able to say Jesus Christ is my Lord. So, to acknowledge from my heart Jesus Christ is Lord of my life. He's Lord of my eyes and Lord of my tongue. 38:35 No, it's one thing just to say it. It's quite another thing to say, Lord, from my heart I mean it. With the mouth we can easily say it, but it must come from the heart. We believe in our heart and we confess with our mouth. 38:48 Jesus Christ is my Lord and with the heart, verse 10, man believes. Very clear Romans 10:10. It's not with the mind man believes. That is intellectual faith which James says even the devils have. How much more is your faith than the 39:08 faith of the devils? Man believes in the heart. It it's it's a belief that makes us give our life for it. We believe. I remember reading in a book 39:30 um a letter that it was many years ago. I think it was here in the United States maybe 40, 50 years ago or something. Which a boy wrote to his girlfriend 39:47 breaking up the engagement. So, I can't have you as my girlfriend anymore. Because he said, I don't remember the exact words. It was something like this, I've become a communist. And I've been so gripped 40:04 by the truth of communism. This is that This is about 50 years ago when people thought communism was going to save the world. Some people did. And I'm gripped by this and I'm going to give my life for it. We called communists don't have time to 40:24 fool around. All my energy's for the party. To promote the party, to spread this message of communism across the world. I have to go for frequent party meetings during the week. So, I don't have time to come and see 40:43 you so often. I don't have so much money to buy things for you as gifts because my savings go to the communist party. I live simply so that the message of communism can spread. So, I'm sorry. I have to break off this 41:04 engagement. Communism means more to me than you. How many Christians would be committed to Christ like that? See, this is what Christ means to me. The children of this world are more 41:25 committed to the things they live for than the children of God. Daniel was not like that. He made up his mind that he would not defile himself. And those other three friends of his, 41:43 Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, more well-known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which is their Babylonian names. They had not taken that decision. Their names are mentioned there, but it says it is only Daniel. 42:00 And so, these folks were wondering, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, what shall we do? We're not so sure. They're like Christians who want to take a stand but don't have the courage to take it. But because there was a Daniel 42:18 who stood, then these people came out of the crowd and say, hey Daniel, we're standing with you. That's one of the things the Lord showed me many years ago in India. There are many Hananiahs, 42:37 Mishael's, and Azariah's in India and in other countries who want to stand for the truth but don't have the courage and the guts to stand. But if there is a Daniel 42:55 who'll take a stand, these people will come out and join him. But they don't have the courage to take a stand on their own. So, the Lord told me to look for the Daniels. Here and there, the Lord has a Daniel 43:15 who will say, I don't care if nobody here It looks at it that I don't know if that two, three hundred young Jews there in Babylon at the king's table. And his attitude was, I don't care if none of these 300 take a stand. 43:30 Um I'm They are good, upright people, all these 300. They keep the 10 Commandments and probably they pray on the Sabbath, etc., but that's not enough for me. For me, it is total obedience to everything written in the law, even if it's a small thing 43:45 like laws concerning food. If God has commanded it, I'm going to obey it. The important thing is not whether it's a big command or a small command. I find a lot of Christians today who when when when I point out a command 44:00 in the New Testament to them, they say, oh, well, that's a small thing. And I know immediately their attitude. The question is not whether it's a small command. The question is who gave the command. Was it a small person or a big 44:17 person? If it was almighty God who gave that command, I tell you it's not a small command anymore to me. Maybe to you. But certainly isn't to me. I take the smallest commandment in the New Testament and say, Lord, if you gave 44:31 it, it's a big command because you're a great almighty God. I mean, if there if there are laws in the United States, and whether it's a big law or a small law, if the government of the United States has made that law, it's a law. 44:50 But I find that a lot of Christians would keep the small laws of their country because violating it can cause them problems, can cause them penalties, but they're not so particular 45:10 to obey the small commandments in scripture. And that's why they're like Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah or like the others. But God is looking for the Daniels. Imagine if he found all of you sitting here 45:28 to be like Daniel. I will not defile myself. I remember when I was gripped by some of these truths after many years of being born again, defeated by sin as a born-again Christian. And then I began to see there was a life 45:47 that Christ offered me, an abundant life, which I had not tasted for so many years after being born again. And when I saw it, the possibility, the tremendous power that grace could give me to live for God, this is what I said to the Lord. I said, 46:06 Lord, if I'm the only person in India who believes this, I'll stand for it. And if everybody leaves me, my wife and I are all alone, one single family, we'll stand for the truth. It doesn't matter 46:24 if everybody else leaves. So, what? God's truth is still worth standing for, even if 1,200 million people in India standing against me, that's fine. I mean, today I can say let 7 billion people in the world stand against me. 46:37 Makes no difference. God's truth is still the truth. And it doesn't matter if nobody else in the world believes it, I'm going to believe it. Can you take that position? Can you say even if nobody else in the world is 46:54 interested in obeying a commandment like never once lust with your eyes after a woman, you're going to do it. Let the rest of the Christians do what they like. I'm going to do it. Or uh take another thing that Jesus said in 47:14 Matthew 12, every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account in the day of judgment. Every single careless word. Matthew 12:36. Do you know 47:33 that is one of the verses in the Bible which my guess is 99.99% of believers, born-again believers, do not believe. They do not believe that every careless word they speak, 47:53 they'll have to give an account in the day of judgment. If they believed it, they'd be a lot more careful with their speech. I didn't believe it in the early years of my Christian life. If I got angry, see, yeah, everybody gets angry. We're 48:07 It's normal. If I made fun of people and humiliated them, ah, people do it. Joke and humiliate people, speak a lot of not sinful words. He wasn't speaking about 48:26 dirty jokes. That's also included. But careless words, words that hurt people, words that push me up and push other people down, 48:43 words that are meant to show that I'm a smart guy and you're not. Words that exalt man, exalt me, not Christ. Every careless word men shall speak, 49:02 they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. I'll tell you the day I believed it, I became really careful with my speech. And I'll tell you something. The day you believe it, you will become really careful with your 49:20 speech, too. Everywhere. On the road, in your office, in your home, everywhere. It's not a tense life. No. It's not tense. Oh, did I say something? It's not like that. It's a very relaxed life. The yoke of ease Jesus is very 49:39 easy. But it's a determination like Daniel had in his mind. I will not defile myself. Let the other believers around me defile themselves. What what I mean if that's all they standard they want to live, that's up to them. They don't believe 49:57 God's word. Just like the other people in Daniel's time did not take Leviticus 11 seriously. They said that's not the main thing. Those are all small commandments. Don't be taken up with all that. The main thing is the 10 commandments. 50:13 That's how it is. I find the same spirit in Babylonian Christianity today. And I'll tell you the spirit of Babylon comes into the best churches. I have spoken in my own home church in Bangalore in India, CFC. I've said to 50:30 people who sat there for 30 years. I said, "Brothers and sisters, some of you sitting here have got the spirit of Babylon in you." So I have no hesitation in saying that to you here. It's a spirit. You don't just get out of 50:46 some dead church and sit in a good church and get rid of the spirit of Babylon. No. I'm absolutely convinced that people sitting in our CFC church in Bangalore have got the spirit of Babylon. I can only warn them. I can't deliver them 50:59 from it. They've got to take God's word seriously. They've got to be like Daniel and determine, "I will take the small commandments of God seriously. I shall be careful with my words. I shall be careful what I look at. I shall 51:16 be careful what I read. I'm going to have the fear of God in me. A reverence for God. Daniel reverence God. It's only a man who reverences God who can accomplish God's purposes. Um it says 51:39 in Isaiah 66. This is one of the words the Lord spoken to me many times concerning building the church. Isaiah 66 verse 1 and 2. Thus says the Lord, I want to paraphrase this in relation to building the church. 51:59 Isaiah 66 verse 1 and 2. Thus says the Lord, "Heaven is my throne. The earth is my footstool. Where is the church you're going to build for me? You're trying to build my church? Do you know who I am? 52:17 God says, "Heaven is my throne and the whole earth, which you call a big planet, is just the place where I keep my feet. And you think you're going to build my church? Okay? A place where I can rest. Okay, the Lord says, "I will allow you 52:36 to build my church if you have these two qualities." Now listen carefully. You and I can qualify to build the church of God if you have two qualities. "I will look at this person." He says in the last part of verse two. That means I 52:53 will look with favor upon this person and he will build my house. Number one, who is humble and contrite of spirit. Number one quality. Not smartness and cleverness and ability to speak and 53:12 ability to impress people and not even knowledge of the Bible. Humility. Humility. I've often spoken to people and asked the question, "Do you know the three secrets of the Christian life?" They take out their pencils to write 53:31 down. Number one, humility. Number two, humility. Number three, you know it, humility. Humble and contrite in spirit. That means broken in my spirit. 53:51 A broken person does not quickly lose his temper. He doesn't think he knows everything. A broken humble person will submit to the elders of his church and listen. 54:10 Very rare to find Christians like that. Everybody's a law unto themselves just like in the book of Judges. It says in the book of Judges, uh do you know the do you know why the book of Judges is one of the worst uh description of one of the 54:28 times when it things were really bad in Israel. And the reason is described in the last verse of the book of Judges. Never forget it. You don't have to remember the reference. The last verse of the book of Judges, there was no 54:45 ruler in Israel in those days. And everybody did whatever he felt like doing. Whatever he felt was right. That's how Judges became like that. And that's exactly the condition of many Christians today. 55:03 They don't submit to any elders in any church. They just do what they feel like doing. No wonder their life is like the book of Judges. Defeated by the enemy. When they're in trouble, they cry out to God. Then God will deliver them. They go 55:18 back and being defeated by the enemy all over again. Is that your life, my brother or sister? You get into trouble and then you turn to God and God gives you a little relief and then when everything is okay, back into the same That's the book of Judges. 55:33 You read that book of Judges. Very very very instructive. Whenever they're in trouble, they'll cry to the Lord. The rest of the time they just wander around. They didn't recognize the authority of God. They didn't recognize any authority at all. There 55:50 are lots of Christians like that. They will not submit to the authority of any church. They will not submit to any elders. They are a law unto themselves. And their life is like the book of Judges. You ask me, "Will such people enter the 56:09 kingdom?" I don't know. I really don't know. To tell you honestly, I don't know. I hope they do. I don't wish anybody to go to hell. But I have serious doubts. Humility. 56:26 Contrite of spirit. Broken. One who doesn't think he knows it all. And the second quality, Isaiah 66 verse two, one humble and contrite spirit, who trembles at my word. Who reads a word 56:44 and says, "Hey, I haven't obeyed that." They don't just say it. They tremble. Do you want to be one of those who builds God's house? God wants every one of you. I want to say to you in Jesus' name, God wants every one of you 57:03 to be a partner in building God's house here. And if you want to be that, you don't have to have great qualifications. But you have to have humility, which any any one of us can have if we want it. Trembling at God's word. You don't have 57:24 to be great scholar to tremble at God's word. When you read a verse that says, "I say to you," Jesus says, "Anyone who lusts after a woman in his heart has already committed adultery. And if he doesn't pluck out his right eye, he's 57:42 in danger of going to hellfire." I tremble at that word. Do you? Or do you say, "Oh, well, that's okay. I can do it and the Lord will forgive me." "I can lust, he'll forgive me. I can even go and commit adultery and he'll 57:56 forgive me." You think such people tremble at God's word? No. No. I mean, people are ignorant. I can understand. Lots of Christians who are ignorant of these truths. But imagine sitting in a church where we hear God's word preached so powerfully 58:14 and still being like that. Or another word, "Every careless word you speak, you will give an account in the day of judgment." And you tremble. Say, "Lord, I'm not I speak so many careless words at home every day. I speak so many careless words. I don't 58:32 tremble at your word." What shall we say? Daniel took the small commandments seriously. And he determined in his heart. And he didn't have the Holy Spirit. Today we have it. Today we have the Holy Spirit to strengthen us. 58:51 Okay. Let me conclude with Hebrews 11. We'll turn to these verses in closing. Hebrews 11 verse 33. Speaks about those who by faith 59:09 What do they do? Many things. The last part, shut the mouths of lions. That's Daniel. They're speaking of Daniel there. Yeah, we read in the Old Testament that God shut their mouths, but 59:28 here the New Testament explains it's because Daniel went into that lion's den, and he had faith. If he had gone into the lion's den and said, "Oh well, God, I'm not so sure whether you can shut the mouths of these lions." 59:41 Perhaps they wouldn't have been shut. By faith he shut the mouths of those lions when he was thrown into the lion's den. It was God who did it, but it was Daniel's faith. Lord, I trust you. You're more powerful than all these 59:56 lions here. I know they are hungry. But I've stood for you. It is because I feared you that I opened the windows and prayed to Jerusalem towards Jerusalem three times a day. I could have shut the windows at least today because of this new law so that 1:00:15 nobody would know me. And I could pray secretly, but that would be being ashamed of Jehovah my God. No, I shall keep my windows open and let these rulers see me praying. I'm not afraid of them. If they throw me to the dens of lions, 1:00:34 let them throw me. You can shut the mouths of those lions. That was faith. Are you ashamed to acknowledge that you're a disciple of Jesus Christ in your place of work to your relatives and friends because they think you're going to be crazy, you 1:00:53 old crazy guy obeying all these this book written 2,000 years ago, you take it as God's word. Yes, I do. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. That's how Daniel was. He was not ashamed to open his windows and let everybody know I pray to this God three 1:01:09 times a day. God's looking for such people who will not be ashamed to admit that they obey God's word even in the little things. And now, the verse I want to show you was verse 40. 1:01:27 God has provided something better for us even than Daniel had. Isn't that wonderful? Something better for us than Daniel had. And that is we can follow Jesus, chapter 12 verse two. 1:01:47 The author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured even the cross. What do we have to endure compared to what he had to endure? Despising the shame. And so the next time you find tremendous 1:02:06 hostility by sinners opposed to you, verse three, consider him who endured tremendous opposition from sinners so that you don't get discouraged. And the next time you're tempted to commit sin for a small thing, verse four, consider him 1:02:25 who resisted sin to the point of death. Whose attitude to sin was, "I'd rather die than commit sin." Are you tempted to sin? Consider him whose attitude would have been, "I'd rather die than speak careless words. I'd rather die 1:02:41 than lust once more with my eyes. I'd rather die than once more lose my temper and speak careless words. Consider him." And when you're opposed by multitudes of sinners, and especially Christian sinners consider him who was never going to compromise 1:03:01 no matter how many people opposed him. Then we won't lose heart. Let's bow before God. Heavenly Father we're so privileged to have your word. 1:03:20 Forgive us for becoming so familiar with it. Treating it with such disrespect that we don't even read it. That we read so many other things every day and don't read your word. Forgive us that we've been Christians 1:03:39 for so long and we're so ignorant of the one book you gave for mankind. Help us, Lord. Help everyone here to take your word more seriously from this day. Forgive us the years of ignorance. 1:03:58 We want to tremble at your word. We want to humble ourselves and not think too much of ourselves imagining that we can get along in this world without knowing your word. Give us grace to read it every day, to meditate on it 1:04:15 to spend time in it, to fear you to tremble at your word in the midst of a godless Babylonian Christianity which is seeking to infiltrate every single church. Lord, preserve us. Preserve a remnant for yourself, we pray 1:04:35 in these last days, even in this church. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
