Living In Babylon by Keith Malcomson

here tonight we're starting a new bible study afresh tonight on the book of daniel and i intend to work through each chapter consecutively and looking at this we won't cover every issue but i believe daniel and you're going to see this even tonight the importance of the book of daniel for us in this hour at this time in our generation as we prepare to leave 2020 and go into 2021 i i believe that this book actually has a remarkable message for us in this hour and we have looked uh in part even a few months ago at how daniel fits into matthew and into the book of revelation but i i want to go back and start in daniel chapter one and we're going to begin a study in this book and i believe daniel is a vital book if we're going to understand all the prophecies of scripture and if we're going to understand the book of revelation and if we're really going to understand the hour that we live in right now then the book of not daniel is fundamental it is foundational and it is essential if you don't understand the prophecies in daniel you will not understand god's plan of the ages and especially for this hour that we are living in in this series on the book of daniel i have called it the heavens rule that is our theme through every single message that we're gonna deal with and that text is taken from daniel chapter 4 and verse 26 where it says the heavens do rule that is our entire theme of this series as we work work through the entire book of daniel this is what we're going to come back to and i'm going to emphasize in every testimony every story and every prophecy that the heavens to rule in other words god's government in heaven does rule and before we read daniel chapter one here let me just say that when you come to daniel chapter two five times we read the statement the god of heaven in other words when we begin going into this book who is it who dominates it's not the kingdoms of this world it is the god of heaven five times in chapter two then when you go to chapter four again five times you read the word heaven and as you continue reading daniel you read the word heaven once in chapter five once in chapter six once are sorry twice in chapter 7 and beyond that we see that the entire book shows to us that no matter what is going on in our generation no matter what is happening with kings and kingdoms world empires and world powers that the heavens do rule please let's read together daniel chapter one reading from verse one tonight and it says in the third year of the reign of jehoiakim king of judah came nebuchadnezzar king of babylon unto jerusalem and besieged it and the lord gave jehoiakim of judah into his hand with part of the vessels of the house of god which he carried into the land of chennai to the house of his god and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god and the king spake unto ashen effect the master of the eunuchs that he should bring certain of the children of israel and of the king's seed and of the princes children and whom was no blemish but were well favored and skillful in all wisdom and cunning and knowledge and understanding science and hazard had ability in them to stand in the king's palace and whom they might teach the learning of the tongue of the chaldeans and the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine which he drank soon nourishing them three years that at the end thereof they might stand before the king now among these were the children of judah daniel hananiah michelle and azariah unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names for he gave unto daniel the name baltisr and on to hananiah of shadrach and to michiel of meshiach and to azariah of abednego but daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat nor with the wine which he drank therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself now god had brought daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs and the prince of the eunuch said unto daniel i fear my lord the king who has appointed your meat and your drink for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sir then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king then said daniel to melzar whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over daniel hananiah michelle and azariah prove thy servants i beseech thee ten days and let them give us pulse to eat and water to drink then let the countenances be looked upon before thee and the countenances of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat that eat of the portion of the king's meat and as i see a steal with thy servants so he consented to them in his in this matter and proved them 10 days and at the end of 10 days their countenances appeared fair and fatter and flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat thus meltzor took away the portion of their meat and the wine that they should drink and gave them pulse as for these four children god gave them knowledge and skill and all learning and wisdom and daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams not the end of days that the king had said he should bring them in then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before nebuchadnezzar and the king communed with them and among them all was found none like daniel hananiah michelle and azariah therefore stood there before the king and in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them he found them 10 times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were on all his realm and notice this last verse and daniel continued even unto the first year of king cyrus let's pray here together father i do pray as we reach the very last of the last days as we are coming to the fulfillment of all of prophecy you spoke by the old testament prophets i pray here tonight nor god that you'd speak to us as a church as a vessel as an instrument of recovery father i pray that you prepare us as a church we are so aware of god that you've given us a voice and a message they were small in number they were stuck at the ends of the earth lord god yet we believe in the god of heaven we believe that the heavens rule tonight that you rule in our personal lives and our nations in governments and all that's happening in this world and that you've chosen us to live in this hour at this time that nothing is out of your hands lord god that you have a plan that you're gonna reveal that you're going to work out in the midst of this generation as we see babylon arise we're asking you that you teach us how to prepare yourself and how to live in babylon in the name of jesus speak to us from your written scriptures in jesus name amen amen god bless you tonight in this bible study our series in daniel is called the heavens rule but here tonight as we look at daniel chapter one this is my message this is the title living in babylon i want to show you tonight how to live your life in babylon you see i believe that daniel is a book for this hour it's a book for you and i it's a book for how us the church at the end of days i believe it has a message for us not only about the raisin up of kings and the dash and dawn of kings not only about the fulfillment of prophecy but it shows us how god's people are to live in the last days how they can walk through this hour as we see babylon begin to arise begin to take form again and to begin to manifest its power in our day in our generation i want to tell you there's going to be a church there's going to be men of god again there's going to be women of prayer who are going to realize again that the heavens rule and through them god is going to manifest his divine plan you see i believe the book of daniel shows us that with babylon horizon that there is always a remnant who god has preserved who he trains and prepares to live in that hour when babylon arises again and that through that people like daniel shadrach meshach and abednego that god is going to prepare a vessel heaven is going to open the blessing but listen to me hell is gonna open to blast them the entire book of daniel actually shows us that these handful of consecrated vessels were set apart by heaven marked out by heaven but they were also marked out by hell and we're going to begin to look at this tonight how do we live in babylon how are we to walk through this hour that we see rising all around us no book has been attacked like daniel in the old testament it is the most attacked book by higher criticism in the old testament even more than genesis chapter 1 to chapter 10 daniel is a book that hire critics that unbelievers and that apostates hate why do they hate it it's because if it is true then it is the most remarkable book in world history it actually reveals prophecy and history covering at least 2 000 hundred years it is a remarkable book of prophecy and if daniel is who he said he was and if this book is written when we believe it was written then the god of the bible only the god of the heavens alone could have written it here tonight i've got several points for you as we begin to look at this book and in chapter one it's gonna set the historic stage it's gonna reveal who daniel is it's going to show you how all of this gets worked out and i want you to listen carefully because i i we're not just dealing with history this is a message for you and i right at this time we must understand this you see this book was sealed in daniel's day but i believe in our day it's going to be unsealed and revealed you know why the very last prophecies yet unfulfilled in this remarkable book are just about to begin to be fulfilled before our eyes it is a remarkable prophecy book and we're going to begin searching and studying these many remarkable prophecies but here tonight as we begin to look living in babylon as we begin to look at a man and a group of young men who grew to old age up into their late 80s and 90s how did they live and walk through babylon how do you do that how do you live in the society that we are seeing a rise in all around us socially governmentally legally politically religiously economically as we see it beginning to rise and don't we see it in this hour look at the news look at the past year 2020 we are seeing something radical happen how are you going to work through this how are you going to walk in the midst of it that's my message here tonight as we begin to look at the book of daniel and here's my first point tonight the rise of babylon underline that here tonight the rise of babylon you see in daniel chapter 1 we see the rise of babylon in daniel's day but i believe now we are beginning to see the rise of babylon i believe with all my heart that the bible predicts that a city a kingdom a last civilization is about to rise up and be given birth out of our world and it's going to be called babylon it's spoken about in revelation in chapter 18. it it is an economic political system that's going to reign on the earth before christ returns but can i tell you there is a similar al ah aaron between daniel's day and our day and how things were then is how they're returning to now so as we look at the rise of babylon then we're going to see a certain similarity here read with me in daniel chapter one and verse one it says in the third year of the reign of jehoiakim king of judah came nebuchadnezzar king of babylon on to jerusalem and he besieged it and the lord gave jehoiakim king of judah into his hand now i want to show you that at the beginning of daniel chapter one hello the entire book of daniel is set in babylon in the babylonian kingdom under the rule and the throne of king nebuchadnezzar here in chapter one where does it begin it begins in jerusalem in judea in the third year of king jehoiakim he was the king sitting of a descendant of king david sitting on the throne of israel of the royal house that's where the book of daniel begins and you know why it begins back there because there is a message here for us tonight about how does babylon rise why does god allow babylon to rise why does god allow his church his people his remnant to seem to come into captivity in babylon in certain days and in certain generations could god be involved in all of this and what happened in daniel's day are we about to see it happen again in our day where this world power is going to arise and yet a church that seems to be taken into captivity is going to be used in the hand of god one last time at the end of this age let me begin to show you about the rise of babylon and why god allowed babylon to rise king jehoiakim was the son of king josiah now if you know your bible you know the king josiah was a very different man than his son was gonna become king josiah had a wicked father an evil evil father but king josiah took up the throne of judah at the age of eight and he ruled for 31 years from eight years old he was a godly young man somehow god had reached his heart and this young boy king was godly to the backbone he was righteous he was holy and he sought after the way of god we're told that he ruled for 31 years and during the process of seeking after god they rediscovered god's word in the temple as he began to fix god's house and restore the things of god god opened up his word and there was a reformation in judah there was a return to the word of god there was preaching again in the streets of jerusalem and the spirit of god moved in the nation again and young king josiah was used in the hand of god to restore the word of god 31 years he reigned on the throne of israel now i'm setting the scene here of the rise of babylon you see there was revival in josiah's day but let me take you down to the end of his lifetime you see daniel was born in the days of josiah before josiah died daniel was a young boy probably growing up in the city of jerusalem now let me give you the context of the rise of babylon in the year 609 bc before christ there was a war you see assyria had been the world power but it was diminishing it was on the way down babylon had not yet come to be a world power and egypt was there on the scene of time with great power right in the midst of these three great empires in their demise and their rise was the little nation of judah with king josiah upon the throne we read that assyria and egypt joined their forces and they went out against babylon to a place called iran to fight against the rising babylonian army you see god had a plan he was going to raise up the babylonian kingdom and he did have a plan he had predicted that this was going to happen as syrian egypt joined together and they marched against the rising babylonian kingdom well we read in our history books that they were defeated and that the syrian capital of iran was taken by the babylonians this began to show us the rise of a new world empire saints we are living right on the very edge of a radical change of society and i want to tell you i want you to be prepared for this hour we are living in this hour just like daniel was living in this hour empires are going to fall and empires are going to be remade again well there was that battle and we're told that as the egyptian army returned back to their nation they stopped at jerusalem and they actually had a battle there but listen it was in the year 609 the josiah went out with his army to fight the egyptians and he was killed by an archer at megiddo at the battle of megiddo now you begin to see here that the rise of babylon takes on a prophetic meaning not only in daniel's day but in our day josiah was killed and his first son his first son ruled for three months until the egyptians came removed him from his throne and they put king jehoiakim in place as a vassal of the egyptian king the egyptian king put him there so listen to me when daniel was carried off in the captivity here was a king on the throne on the king of on the throne of israel who was joined to the egyptian system he was a puppet of the egyptian kingdom but there was a new kingdom rising called babylon now we're going somewhere so just hold all of this in place this new king jehoiakim was put on the throne of israel and he continued there for another three years as an instrument of the egyptian king do you know what the history books tell us about this king on the throne of david he was a wicked man he was a vile man do you remember who was preaching in the city of jerusalem it was jeremiah jeremiah was prophesying the babylonians are going to rise up they're coming with power and they'll take this city if you do not repent in other words this king on the throne was breaking god's law do you know what he done with jeremiah's prophecy his written prophecies he took them cut them up with a knife and he had them burnt he hated jeremiah with a vengeance he hated the word of god and he even ripped up that prophecy about the 70 years captivity this is what king jehoiakim was like and there he is on the throne daniel is a young man growing up part of the royal house watching all of this happen do you know the history books actually tell us that king joe hua kian even started to get tattoos on his arm he was someone who claimed to know the true god he hated the word of god he ripped the word of god up he did not respect the word of god and he even tattooed his body do you know who huaqiam is he is a picture of the laodicean church of our day and generation i believe so much to the church of our day they say they love jesus christ and yet they have no love for the word of god no respect for the word of god and they even tattoo their own body i assure you daniel was born in such an hour but god had a divine purpose you want to know why god would send the nation of judah into captivity to nebuchadnezzar you want to know why god would raise up a great empire and carry his people into captivity especially daniel you want to know that you say where is god in daniel chapter one you say where is god i want to tell you god disciplines his people and when his church rebel against them and lose a love for god's word and take their eyes off jesus christ i assure you we're going to find ourselves in a babylonian age god will raise up a political system to chastise his church that they might again turn back onto him and i believe that you you ask why is all this happening around us why are we losing our liberties why are we losing our freedoms it's because of the church of jesus christ i don't care how small she is i want to tell you tonight i believe that god is working you may see daniel didn't do anything that's right he was righteous he was perfect he was holy he walked with god and he's gonna get carried into babylon into captivity he's not being punished for his sins but god's people are but god has a plan in the midst of that he is going to raise up a remnant in the midst of this we're actually told in the year 605 bc that there was another battle when when the armies of babylon invaded further and they advanced on the little city of jerusalem and under the general ship of a man called nebuchadnezzar they took the city of jerusalem this was going to be be the beginning of 20 years of god's people being sent into captivity there was going to be three different captivities it was going to start small and then get to the point where the temples destroyed the walls the city and the entire people get carried off into babylon as prisoners under nebuchadnezzar we are looking at a remarkable hour on this but this first attack when nebuchadnezzar come and he besieged the city and took the city of jerusalem do you know what we're told that he took that he took certain vessels from the house of god in jerusalem and he carried them back to his own nation it was at this very time that daniel got taken from his homeland his city his family his people and he was carried into the land of babylon to the city of babylon since i am telling you what i believe we're on the verge of again what satan means to destroy the church is going to raise up a testimony in this last hour it may seem small but through daniel we're going to see that the heavens do rule a man of god is going to be forged in the fire and i believe that's what's just about to happen we're going to see a real church arise in this hour stand straight be men and women of the word of god what god's people have lost this remnant is going to return to we're going to be a people of faith a people of courage and people uncompromising and people who pray and people who know their god and people who understand prophecy and who have a message for this hour i assure you we have come right down to this hour at the beginning of daniel 1 we're told that daniel and all of these instruments from the house of god are carried back to the land of shinnar what is the land of shinar we read about it first in genesis chapter 10. shinor was the land of nimrod that's where the tower of babel was actually built and you know what that land of china is ancient babylonia or present-day iraq and the bible actually says that again in the last days we're going to see the economy in zechariah chapter four it says that the world's economy is going to return to the land of shinar it's not going to be wall street new york it's not going to be london it's not going to be berlin i i tell you the bible says that the world economic system one day is going to return to the ancient land of china to iraq and i believe specifically to the city of babylon you see i believe we're beginning only beginning to see the first step to the rising up of babylon again in this last hour just like daniel that's why it's so important for us to deal with tonight because as daniel began to see the rise of babylon so we in this hour are beginning to watch it form it only seems small at the minute but we are going to see a babylonian system come to bear on world politics education society custom everything you can imagine including the economy all of it is gonna have the mark of babylon on it and you know what you better know how to live in babylon that's my first point the rise of babylon the rise of babylon we're seeing it right now second of all this is my second point the residence of daniel the residence of daniel it says in verse 3 and the king that is nebuchadnezzar speak unto ash penas the master of his eunuchs that he should bring certain of the children of israel and of the king seed and of the princess now notice here what is happening the king nebuchadnezzar is commanding the master of the eunuchs to choose out from the children of israel of the king seed and of the princes do you realize daniel shadrach meshach and abednego these four young men and most bible teachers believe they were about 16 years old and the daniel chapter 1 covers a period of three years in their life from 16 to 19 years old and the rise of babylon and their captivity in it the first three years of their experience of this system and we see what actually happens we get nebuchadnezzar telling this master of the eunuchs to bring or to choose out certain do you know what that means daniel and his friends were of the royal seed they had the blood of david of king david flowing in their veins they were of royal aristocratic stock they were of the princes of israel and here they are chosen by this master of ceremonies called ish penas well all the critics say we we don't believe that the book of daniel's historically correct do you know you can go to the british museum you can go there and look at a stone tablet listen to what it says there in the british museum on in cuneiform ash penas chief of the eunuchs in the reign of king nebuchadnezzar do you realize in the british museum this man who was given the task by nebuchadnezzar to choose daniel to go to babylon his name is written there there is historical archaeological evidence for that now it goes on here to say in verse four children and whom was no blemish look at the sort of people are looking for no blemish physically but well favored in other words when you look upon them your heart is drawn towards them when you're with them you your heart rises up who are skillful in all wisdom cunning in knowledge and understanding science and such as had the ability in them to stand in the king's palace and listen this last point on whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the chaldeans this master under nebuchadnezzar was given the task to choose out in jerusalem young men of the royal house who fitted all of these qualifications daniel and the other three hebrew children were chosen and they were taken 700 miles back to the city of babylon daniel will never return never see his family again never see jerusalem again and over the next 20 years while they're in captivity they're going to hear of the situation amongst god's people get worse and worse daniel is going to watch three captivities and he'll see people carried into babylon he's going to hear the reports about the walls getting broken down and burnt down the gates being burnt with fire the temple being destroyed all the vessels being carried back to babylon he's going to see it he's going to hear about it for 20 years he's going to walk through this but notice he is a chosen vessel god's hand is in this working with a wicked king and a wicked master of ceremony god is here in the rise of babylon we are going to see the residence of daniel in the city of babylon this is going to be his new home the place that he's going to live the place of his new education you see these babylonians chose daniel and his three friends wanting to separate them from family from religion from culture from all the old influences and you know what they wanted to do they want not only wanted to separate them they wanted to brainwash them re-educate them they wanted them to forget their old people their old land their own god they wanted to obliterate any in hebrew influence upon them and they wanted to immerse their minds and their speech and their entire life in babylonian culture do you see now why daniel 1 is exactly where we are now since we are seeing our world radically change before our eyes things are not going to stay the same everything is changing our schools are changing our politics is changing our economy is changing and there is a new babylonian system rising that wants to immerse every nation from australia to ireland from japan to america there is a new world system beginning to arise that wants to immerse every culture in its own influence its own thinking its own science its own language in its mathematics in the learning of astronomy do you see how we've got to look at daniel we see second of all daniel's residence in babylon i'm telling you how to live if you study daniel you're gonna understand how do we live in the hour you see some of yous are scared of this hour you say how are we going to buy how are we going to sell how are we going to function in a job how are we going to have a house how do we live in this society i believe we have the key here in this chapter i believe god has given us this as babylon arose in that day and daniel lived in it and he dwelt in the midst of babylon and he served god in babylon we have a short period of time until things reach a climax where we are going to live in babylon i'm talking about us residing in babylon living in a babylonian culture it goes on here to talk about them being brought in in verse 5 and it says the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and the wine which he drank so not so nourishing them for three years for three years they're gonna be fed of the king's meat from his table the same food as the babylonian king what you eat is what you become do you hear me tonight this is not a small thing do you know what this king is in i want you immersed in what i am immersed in i want you to think like me speak like me believe like me look like me eat like me drink like me he was immersing them and for three years they're gonna be soaked in this way of thinking and he thinks at the end of that three years they'll come out acting speaking thinking like a babylonian because they're immersed in babylonian society and that's what he's looking for it says in verse six now among these were the children of judah daniel hananiah michiel and azariah unto whom the prince of the eunuch gave names nanura says very carefully they had their jewish names but they're going to be given you babylonian names we never see daniel argue we never see these hebrew children are you you see their jewish hebrew names had the name of god in each of their names their new babylonian names were going to have the names of babylonian gods put within them do you see what's happening here to these three hebrew children when you begin to realize they had jewish names do you know what that means they had jewish parents devout parents or they came from godly bible-believing homes that's where they originated and when you give a child a name with god's name in it you're trying to relate god's character and nature and blessing to that child in other words you want this child dedicated to god that's what you want so they were born into homes godly homes in the days of josiah in days of revival and yet suddenly in a few short years because god's people have turned away from the word of god we now see a young generation carried into a babylonian society to be re-educated to be trained to be prepared for a whole different lifestyle and you know what their names are changed let me show you what their names are here for a moment he gave on to danielle the nurse daniel's name finishes with e l one of the names of the god of the bible is el bethel the house of god danielle actually means god who is my judge that's what danielle means danielle it is the god who is the judge my judge and the judge of all the earth in other words right in daniel's name he had the name of his god what did the babylonians do they changed it to balchazzar what does that mean bell is the name of the babylonian god bell or bal do you know what his name was changed to bell protect your life he was changed from god is my judge to bail shall protect your life do you see how all of this was going about yes we're very religious in babylon we'll allow you to be religious but they're trying to change everything with hananiah ayah is actually from jehovah or yahweh yahweh so hananiah's name meant yahweh is gracious his name was changed to shadrach meaning by the command of aku aku was the moon god can you imagine being carried off 16 years old and your name is changed to the moon god is going to be gracious unto you do you see the attack on these young men if they don't believe in god now they'll never stand in these days ahead since there's something about faith in the real god they can change our clothes they can change our names they can change our skills but we're still going to raise up children in this city of babylon i mean limerick we're still going to raise up not only children in the city but we're going to raise up new converts in this city and as babylonia-ism suits our entire city i mean every area educationally politically socially you know what we're gonna do we're gonna raise up young hebrew children it's not a name that saves you it's not your clothes it saves you it's a faith in the real and the living god michelle meaning who's like god he's going to have his name changed too meshshack which means who is like a coup can you imagine that no longer are we like the lord no we're going to be like a coup the moon god an azariah whose name meant yahweh is my helper his name is changed to abednego nebo abednego nabo was the name of a babylonian god nebuchadnezzar neb was named after this god now azariah has his name changed from yahweh is my helper to nebo i am a servant of nebo could you imagine in that hour to have your name changed by nebuchadnezzar and to be actually told you are a servant of a babylonian god that's your name every time we're going to call you servant servant of nebu and you're going to say yes sir yes sir what what can i do for you you see they changed their education their tongue their names their dress the houses they lived in this city they lived in but you know what it goes a step further and this is my third point the resolve of daniel 0.3 the resolve of daniel it says in verse 8 but daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's mate change my name change my clothes change my job change my language change my education put me in the university of babylon do all of those things but you know what there's always a point with a real believer in god where you say you know what i can live in the midst but this one thing i will not do it says that daniel purposed in his heart he made a decision he said all those other things i won't die fighting on that battlefield church listen to me carefully there's some things we're not gonna fight over in this hour let them make laws that we've gotta wear masks let them make laws and legislations that affect our life you know what i'm going to walk through this because there's something greater in this as soon as my conscience is infringed on and i say i'll have to compromise i won't be doing it when they say don't preach in the name jesus i'm going to jail when they come after me and and say that that you've got to go against your conscience i won't do that change my name changed my clothes changed the school but you know what when you start telling me what i am going to eat and i must eat the food of the king of babylon there's an area i will not go into daniel and the hebrew children were told they must eat the meat or the food of the king of babylon and they must drink wine from off his table but you know what david on a purpose made a decision in his heart notice he didn't say it with his lips he didn't get angry he didn't go and speak to the others in his heart he purposed i'm not gonna defile myself with that meat or without wine i'm not going to do it do you know what that tells me that taking that meat and wine would have defiled him or made him unclean he remember he's only 16 years old he is soaked in an entire empire and a new society yet he knew how to make a godly decision 16 years old this is the beginning of daniel and babylon since i'm telling you tonight how to live in babylon how we're going to live in this hour don't worry about money or finance just walk with god and don't fight over masks and don't fight over stupid things you know what we are gonna stand for the word of god we have a calling in the midst of babylon in this very hour i believe it with all my heart you see there was a turning point there was a point where this command was different than changing your name daniel wasn't superstitious you know call me after bell i'm not superstitious that doesn't affect my heart it doesn't affect my mind it doesn't affect my convictions it doesn't affect my prayer life seem to be very careful that you don't use the excuse to say i can't pray i can't live i can't believe look at our society then you're not a daniel i want to tell you we need to be daniel's in this hour if you and hear me here is a young man at 16 who's going to show us there was something sinful about this food maybe he didn't want to sin over the sin of gluttony that would have been a good reason but that's not the reason here maybe it wasn't kosher food but that wasn't the issue here when i believe it was that food and the persian word for meat in this book do you know what it means it means choice food an offering or a tribute in other words it was offered up as a sacrifice it was dedicated to the dairies it was a religious act of worship see in our society eaton is not religious it is neutral but not in that hour and not in the day that we are approaching i can assure you change my name change everything around me but you know what i am not going to disobey god's word that's where i draw the line i don't care what happens i am purposed in my heart have you purposed in your heart tonight are you determined in your heart to say i don't care what it costs i will not compromise god's word let them change other things around me you know some of yous are pruning family to make a stand over something that's not a biblical issue or maybe at work you want to make a stand over something it's not a biblical issue but i tell you we need to make a stand as a church in this city when it compromises the word of god it is utterly vital now i know what some some of you is at this point you'll say i'll stand and i'll fight and i'll tell them no daniel purposed in his heart he didn't argue with them he didn't say to these men i'm not eating that meat i'm not drinking that wine he didn't do that you see he had courage but he also had courtesy he was doing the right thing but more than doing the right thing you could do the right thing but in the wrong way you could have courage without being courteous you could do all the right things and obey god's word and yet your attitude is wrong your words is wrong and you show forth the wrong testimony you see daniel in this chapter was reasonable he was logical he was practical in fact he goes to the master here and he makes a request not a demand he doesn't go to him and send i'm not eating that mate he makes a request he is humble do you see the hard attitude in babylon if you start saying i'm not doing that and i'm not doing that and they're not telling me and i see it everywhere look at daniel he still has respect for these unsaved babylonians do you know what he done he went to the master and he explained the situation he says i don't want to defile myself well the master explained back said daniel look i love you daniel you really have my love and my respect and and and i really look upon you a favor but do you realize you're saying you don't want to eat this if you don't need it it could lose me my head nebuchadnezzar will have my head and you know what daniel understood this you see daniel couldn't compromise god's word he understood conviction he understood what it was to honor the king of kings and here's a man a sinner a babylonian who says but i've got to obey the word of my king i have a conscience i'll lose my head you know daniel respected that daniel didn't say don't you know i serve god and your opinion your head doesn't matter i'm not gonna do you know daniel didn't have that attitude at all i believe daniel understood this man and he was courteous and he was mannerly towards him and can i instruct you in this air you've got to be very courteous and understanding and very wise with all of your actions it's not enough to be courageous you've got to be courteous in this hour what did daniel do next did daniel argue with them did he push it further no he actually said this man i understand them i understand them listen verse 11. then daniel then said daniel too melzar notice it's a different man here it's a different man melzer whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over daniel hananiah michiel and azariah so daniel goes to a different man mel's er is actually a servant he is lower down he is closer to daniel he has less power but daniel is using wisdom and he suggests to mal melsia he says prove thy servants i besee by sagely 10 days and he said look give us pulse on water what's pulse pulse is vegetables you vegetarians are going to like this chapter for a few moments only a few moments until i deal with it but you know what daniel said just feed us us for on vegetables things that grew out of the ground not meat from the king's table and he said water not wine not wine but water just feed us in these things and he says test us for 10 days and you're going to see at the end of 10 days that we'll be fatter we'll look better we'll be stronger than all of the rest that are taking the king's meat well this servant melzar tested him it says in verse 14 so we consented do you see how daniel daniel at the beginning of this purpose in his heart i'm not taking the mate i will not but look how he handles it look how he speaks to these men look how he requests them he doesn't say i'm not doing that he said would you would you allow me would you show me favor he explains himself and he's very very careful with all of this you know because daniel did not eat the king's food at 16. when he was an old man of 90 the lions in the den could not eat him you see if you don't learn tonight if you don't have daniel one in place you won't have the rest of daniel in place if you can't do this in this place over the conviction of what you're eating i assure you you won't stand against death alliance and you won't stand in the fairy furnace and and you won't be able to stand against all the corruption in the kingdom you won't be able to do it you see daniel was prepared in babylon's greatest university in a pagan society surrounded by idolatry but it never got inside of him fourth of all the rise of daniel and this is my last point tonight all i'm doing is laying the foundation for our series and daniel and if you don't get this right in chapter one very few people deal with chapter one and daniel they want to get onto the ten of lions or they want to look at the statue that we're gonna deal with next week and they want to see the children walking out of the fairy furnace no this is where it begins at 16 years old here you have these wise young men purposing in their heart they are saturated and immersed in babylonian society they use the money of babylon they're in a job in babylon they live in babylon they're in the palace of you can't get any deeper into the heart of it than this and yet you know what they purposed in heart not to allow anything to blemish their walk with god their faith their prayers their wisdom their manners you know i i hate to say a christian that doesn't have manners you can have all the faith all the preaching all the miracles you can have all the testimonies you could have a large church but if you don't have manners i've i've got a problem with that you see that's part of the fruit of the holy spirit in our life don't tell me about miracles when you don't have respect or manners if you don't respect this people in this world in your job in society in government you don't respect god i assure you it's a reflection but this fourth and final point the rise of daniel we looked at the rise of babylon and we are there we are residing in babylon we are actually there we're looking at the resolve of daniel since this is what we need in this hour right as we watch this break and upon us as we encounter this new civilization this reset of our entire society i don't know how quick this goes i don't know how widespread how much we shall say i don't know but i do know this is an hour for us to resolve in our heart to determine to purpose in our heart that we're gonna eat and feed on the word of god that we're not gonna compromise but force and lastly the rise of daniel you see too many christians in this r are saying it's all over i want to tell you this is our hour while we are here while the church is here don't tell me we can't function in babylon don't tell me we can't preach the gospel have you not seen in the past two weeks past three weeks how in this little church god has opened up an effectual door and given us a voice to hundreds of thousands in other nations have we not seen that don't tell me that we can't function in babylon don't tell me in an hour where they're taking away our rights and our liberties that we can't preach the gospel don't tell me that you can't have revival in babylon you see if you tell me that i'm gonna give you the word of god i'm speaking about the rise of daniel in babylon i'm telling you about a young man that's placed in the heart of this society verse 17 as for these four children god gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom hold on a second they're saturated in education they're learning the acadian language the sumerian language they're being taught the cuneiform writing style how to read it how to write it they know all about the cosmos all about science and mathematics they are soaked in the education of that hour the language the books the education the history all of this they they are being taught it but there's some things babylon can never teach you do you realize during those three years as they are being taught and trained by nebuchadnezzar nebuchadnezzar is training them for a job in the palace for a job close to him in politics as ambassadors as men of political influence men who are going to make legislation do you realize as he is training them in these three years we read in verse 17 that god is training them teaching them and preparing them we read in verse 17 god gave them there's some things this world can't give you babylon can't give you men can't give you you could be soaked in a babylonian society but there is knowledge that god wants to give you i believe we're there right now i'm talking about the rise of babylon you see sorry i'm talking about the rise of daniel in this point you see i'm talking about it's not over how does daniel get raised up in babylon you know how god gave him knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom that didn't come from babylon god gave a term church har is limerick city church gonna be get raised up in this hour as a vessel you know how god is going to give us knowledge he's going to give us skill in all learning and wisdom how is the church in this hour i mean right across our world a small remnant how are they going to rise up in this hour in the year ahead to raise up a testimony for god you know how god is going to give us knowledge he's going to give us skill and learning i'm not talking about the wisdom of babylon i'm talking about the things of god it goes on in verse 7 17 and daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams this is god working in daniel in these three years daniel became a young man he wasn't like this before before he came to babylon before he began to be educated by babylon he did not have understanding in all visions and dreams but now we see him being prepared by god do you know daniel's called a prophet shadrach meshach and abednego were not prophets but god gifted and called this young man notice where it began he purposed in heart i'm not eating the king's meat i'm not being defiled i'm not drinking that wine from the king's table i'm going to preserve myself and you know what in that sort of hour god raised up a young prophet from 16 to 19 years old he is soaked in the middle of babylonianism he is immersed in books from the babylonian library and yet you know what god does god says i am teaching you in this environment i am giving you skill i am making you a different man i'm making you a prophet i'm giving you understanding of visions and dreams and i'm going to use you over the next 80 years 80 years i'm going to use you in the midst of babylon thank god we're not going to be here for 80 years but this young man daniel was i'm talking about the rise of daniel and let me clues with this concerning them it says in verse 18 now at the end of days that the king had said at the end of three years he would bring them in then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before nebuchadnezzar verse 19 and the king communed with them or talked with them and among them all was none like daniel hananiah michiel and azariah therefore stood there before the king and in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all of his realm i'm talking about the rise of daniel in daniel chapter one daniel is about 19 years old three years of education in the babylonian university and here he is nebuchadnezzar out of all of the young men he pinpoints these four young men and he says you know what they have a knowledge no astrologer of my kingdom has you know they have a wisdom no magician in my entire kingdom has and as he begin to speak to them he said you know these four hebrew young men his eyes fell upon them and his favor fell upon them and he said they're ten times better than all my magicians are astrologers you know ten times there in the hebrew means ten hands higher that means they were at least twice as tall or high as anybody else they stood far above anyone where did they get this did they get it in their books and their education did they get it in the scholarship of that hour they got it from the presence of god how were they going to be prepared to live in babylon they were servants of the most high god take away my name change the money currency change the politics of this hour change the flag do whatever you're gonna do but there is going to be a real church at the end of time there's going to be a real church in this hour and this first chapter finishes in verse 21 and daniel continued even unto the first year of king cyrus he continued what a word saint you can live in babylon you can thrive in babylon if you walk with god he can rise you up in babylon when babylon engulfs your workplace god can give you divine favor god can protect your children god can guard our new converts in this church and you know what daniel done he continued even to the first year of king cyrus do you know what that means that last sentence in daniel chapter one from nebuchadnezzar all the way through for six kings until belshazzar six babylonian kings over a period between 60 to 70 years daniel lived in babylon saturated with babylonianism all around him statues everywhere the music of babylon everywhere and yet he thrived as the servant of the most high god and at the end of those six kings a new empire came in and king cyrus the middle persian in his first year daniel is still there you know what babylon is gonna fall babylon will come and go but the real people of god are always going to prosper and i assure you i know it's scary what we're looking at i know it's overwhelming i know we've never faced this before but can i tell you if god walks with you and if you walk with god and if god is your teacher you can rise up in this hour and you can become an interpreter of dreams and visions and have the wisdom of god for your boss or your family members or presidents and kings of nations i assure you church this is why and now you understand this is why we're looking at this precious book in this hour it is an absolute vital book the book of daniel god bless you here tonight let's pray together let's lift our hands god that we might live in babylon we have never faced this before but we're asking for the grace of god that we might rise up in this last hour we only have a short time it's a small window of opportunity but if you purpose in heart concerning what you drink and what you eat spiritually i assure you you'll look better than them all you'll know more than great men in this kingdom of babylon father we praise you we worship you we thank you for this remarkable book that the heavens do rule lord god it's not pablo on that rules it's not nebuchadnezzar that rules but my god it's heaven itself that rules the heavens do rule it is the god of heaven who rules over the affairs of men it is not nebuchadnezzar raisin up daniel but it is the god of heaven that is tolerating and using nebuchadnezzar to raise up the testimony in this babylonian city father we pray for your grace right now there's mothers in this church that need your wisdom there's fathers in the workplace that need your wisdom all of us need your wisdom we need to be taught of you we need understanding we need skill oh god father we want to serve you in this hour and what is meant for our destruction i pray o god that you would move in this local church that your name might be glorified in jesus mighty name amen god bless

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Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Keith Malcomson

Id: rBnOT2AJJ4c

Length: 69min 20sec (4160 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 07 2021