We welcome you to the We Are Zion sermon podcast.
We are a church based out of Chennai, India.
We are thrilled that you tuned in today and hope that you will
be refreshed, revived, and energized by what you hear.
Our desire is that you will live life with a renewed sense of
purpose that stems from a vibrant faith in Jesus.
During this year of a divine takeover, we are discovering
that there are a few essentials that we cannot overlook.
One of these is the fear of God. To live in awe and reverent fear
of God is imperative in order for God to take over our lives
and lead us in His ways according to His will.
We pray that as you listen in, you would invite the Holy Spirit
to give you a fresh revelation of God and that you will live in
the fear and wonder of God. Hi Church, It's such a joy and a
privilege to you to bring God's Word to you today, even as we
take some time to go into God's Word.
We just finished seeing the bumper of divine takeover.
And over the last couple of weeks, what we've been seeing as
we entered this new year is the essentials of a divine takeover.
And one of the essentials that we, as we went through
scriptures, we realized was having the fear of God.
And over the last couple of weeks, we saw an introduction to
the fear of God. We also saw two different
characters of how they have allowed the fear of God to work
in and through their lives. They've lived their lives
fearing God every step of the way, and they've been able to
see the fulfillment of God in and through their lives.
In fact, we've been meditating from a scripture in Ezekiel, and
that's what this entire sub series is built on.
And I just want to reflect on that verse again, from Ezekiel
14, verses 12 to 14. And this is what it reads.
The word of the Lord came to me, Son of man, if a country sins
against me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out my hand
against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it
and kill its people and their animals, even if these three
men, Noah, Daniel, and Joe were in it, they could save only
themselves by their righteousness declares the
sovereign Lord. Even as we went through the
Scripture and we've seen from the life of Job, we've seen from
the life of Noah, and today we'll be seen from the life of
Daniel. It says here the prophet
Ezekiel, even as he's hearing from God, says even if these
three men were there, you wouldn't be able to save this
entire city, Oregon, the country for their sins and how they've
been unfaithful to God. And so even as we get into God's
word today and look through the life of Daniel, it's a reminder
for us that we are living in times where we can always go
around saying, you know what? Everyone else is doing this, so
why should I be any different? But if we truly love God, if we
truly care for what God's done for us through his salvation,
we're not living in these olden times where they didn't know
Jesus or they didn't have the experience of the Saviour
walking here on this earth who died for them.
Today we get to experience that love, the one where he shed his
blood for us so that we can live in assurance that we will see
him face to face. We saw from the life of Noah
obedience. We saw righteousness.
We also saw surrender being in that ark to surrender to God's
will and his pen. There was number rudder.
He completely gave himself wholly to God.
And then we saw from the life of Job, you know, I've been going
through the Bible. I started doing this
chronological Bible plan of reading the Bible
chronologically, and even as I was reading through it, Job came
in the initial part of it as you're doing Genesis.
And it's interesting that Job had this countenance on him that
God was proud of, that he told Satan, you know, haven't you
seen my child Job? And it's in that Satan says
you've put a covering, a protection around him.
And God says he still will follow me.
And I believe a lot of us are walking this Christian life, one
filled with suffering, one filled with doubt, one filled
with, you know, sickness. And I pray and ask that God will
give us the strength to see far beyond what we are going
through. And it's interesting that we are
living in a time in the New Testament where God says, and
the early church even encourages a saying, let us suffer well for
Christ because Christ is glorified through that.
And so he saw from the life of Job that he kept his gaze on
God. He didn't focus on what he was
going through. He knew his ways because he had
an inherent fear, because he knew God's heart.
He knew God's ways because he knew God's heart.
And it also says that he accepted the sovereignty of God
over his life. He gives and he takes.
And I believe that sets us up for what we are called to do
here on this earth. And so even today, as we go into
the book of Daniel, it's interesting.
We're living in a time where Daniel was sent into exile.
Jerusalem had sinned, Israel had sinned, Judah had sinned.
And it's in that God says, I'm bringing another nation where
you'll be in exile for 70 years. And Daniel teaches us how to
live in exile. And I don't know how you are
positioned today. Probably you're living in a city
which is different from where you've grown up, where you've
been brought up, where you've been so used to.
But God's asking, will you live well in the city of exile today?
Will you live in the city where I've positioned you and placed
you? Because if you don't live well
here, God is asking us to flourish right here.
And I want to read from the passage in Jeremiah what it
talks about, where Jeremiah talks to those who are going
into exile. This is what it says in 25
verses 4. It's 4:00 to 11:00.
It says don't listen. Even as we start reading it,
Jeremiah gives a caution. Don't listen to the prophecies
that are being prophesied there by people saying that we'll
immediately leave back. No, he goes on to say to listen
to the Lord Almighty, and this is what it says He says in verse
8 onwards. Therefore, the Lord Almighty
says, because you've not listened to my words, I will
summon all the peoples of the north, and my servant
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, declares the Lord.
And I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants
and against all the surrounding nations.
I will completely destroy them and make them an object of
horror and scorn and an everlasting ruin.
I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the
voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones in the
light of the Lamb. The whole country will become a
desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of
Babylon for 70 years. And you're like Geshum.
That sounds like gloom. That sounds scary.
And the truth is Daniel was walking right into this.
It's interesting that as we read the book of Daniel, he, he, he
definitely was from a privileged household.
He, he was a fine young looking man.
The people who were taken into exile.
And when you see the life of Daniel, Shadrach, Neshak and
Abednego, you can see that they were a little apart.
So they were a bit of royalty in itself.
They were learnt of the ways of where they were from.
And so that's why they were positioned in a place to learn
of the newer exiled country that they were going into.
But here it says here they're going to go into and so today, I
don't know if you are in a place of experiencing some of this.
What are some of the things that if because we didn't listen to
God, God saying, I'm going to now make sure that they can't
experience some of these things. What are this?
The voices of the sounds of joy and gladness.
A lot of times, what does joy and gladness look like?
Joy and gladness is cheerfulness, and it's found in
festivity where we experience the harmony that is there or the
oneness that is there among our own people.
Today, as they are going back into this land of exile, they're
going to go into a place where they can't celebrate their
festivities anymore. They'll have to celebrate the
festivities of the land. They won't be in joy because
they will be in exile. They will be in slave to another
person, to another country, to another ruler.
The second thing we see is bride and bridegroom.
It here talks about families coming together, something new
coming out of this union. They won't be able to experience
that because it looked different, because they're going
to a land where traditions will be different.
They will be required to be of a different place that they won't
be. Their affirmations of loyalty
will be changed to other things. It says millstones and the light
of the lab. Millstones are basically when
there's harvest, when there's flour, they put it into it and
then they grind it. And so it's a, it's a sign of
abundance, it's a sign of harvest.
It's a sign of fullness. And so it's saying that
millstones won't even be able to experience that.
And God saying all this is happening because you didn't
listen to me. All this is happening because
you were obeying someone else and not me.
And so today probably we are in the same place where probably
one of these things we are experiencing in lack, one of
these things we are seeing. But God saying when I take you
into the land of exile, if you can keep your eyes on me, that's
what Jeremiah says. If you read from the 25 verses
12 onwards, he says when you are there, if you can choose to obey
God, if you can choose to love God, if you can choose to be
there for the next 70 years, he's saying he will come through
even in that land, he will bless that land.
It's, it's a God saying, even in your exile, I'm willing to
listen to you. It's interesting that the love
of God is so far. It's, it's, it's much it's,
it's, it's far beyond what we can comprehense, far beyond what
we can understand. It also talks about where he
says I will punish the king who's actually coming to take
over you. And you read from worse to and
onwards. So I pray and ask today as we
look into the scripture, which Daniel is setting context into,
maybe always not look at the fact that, OK, Daniel found
favour in the kings, but you'll also have to look into the
context of what he was presented with.
He was presented with only this one way you go in there.
You're only allowed to do that. You know, I've been seeing so
many, so many people move into different spaces of work.
And as they move, they have only that one option, but it's in
that one option when they do it with union with God, when they
say, God, I thank you for this. When they take that kind of a
step and they take that kind of an approach, or when they go to
university or when they go to a college which is in another
city, and yet they are in union with God, saying, God, you're
taking me there. Let your will come through.
Let your plan come through. We see God's grace come upon
them. And there are some lessons which
I wanted to point out from, Daniel said.
Because as I was meditating, I really sensed God was asking,
would you be willing to allow to, Would you be willing to seek
my face in the land that I've placed you in, the land that
I've placed here? You know, today we, we may not
be in exact, but we might be stuck in certain places.
A lot of us today are in a place, especially with the
current debt trap that a lot of us have been caught into because
we've taken debt beyond what we can actually afford.
We are, we are, we are called to be in certain places because of
that income. But God's saying even in that,
if you're faithful in that, if you seek me in that, I can still
bless you. I can still be with you.
So even if you're at a place without your liking, but God has
allowed it, Would you allow God's word to permeate into you?
My circumstances has brought me here, but I invite you in to my
circumstance right now. If you've moved because of a
fresh start, because something bad happened in that previous
season and you're like, you know what I want?
I want a fresh start. God saying, would you invite?
And I'll be able to see you through that successfully
because when you look into the life of Daniel, you can be like
a Daniel who's mood of being displaced from being a somebody
to now becoming a nobody. Daniel is going into a court
where he's no one anymore. He's asked to compete against
others. That's in this.
God is saying I have something to work and do so that my
children will be glorified. Can we read from Daniel one
versus one to four? And this is what it says.
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah,
Nebukad Nessa king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged
it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim
king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles
from the temple of God. Then he carried off to the
temple of his God in Babylonia and put in the treasure House of
his God. Then the king ordered Ashwin, as
the chief of his court officials, to bring into the
King's service some of the Israelites from the royal family
and the nobility. Young men without any physically
defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of
learning, well informed, quick to understand, qualified to
serve in the King's palace. He was to teach them the
language and the literature of the Babylonians.
And the scene is set where your freedom you've lost, where your
failure to abide in Yahweh is gone completely.
The temple no more it's it's completely crushed.
An entire nation is brought down.
You don't have a physical identity anymore.
The one of physical identity is of failure.
God set you apart as a nation, but today the nation doesn't
even exist. And as we look into that, there
are some things that Daniel did which I wanted to point out
because if we can keep those things central in our heart, I
believe God is wanting to work in and through US.
The first thing that we see is Daniel resolved in his heart.
And so today you and I get to resolve in our hearts.
What do we get to resolve? We get to resolve who we choose
to follow because we've left, because we've left home, because
we've left the God that we had known into a place where people
don't know our God. We can still choose in quietness
to follow Him because it's a heart issue more than an
external issue. It's that heart.
When you resolve in our hearts, everything we do externally will
match to what we've resolved in our hearts.
And so I want to ask you today, can we be like a Daniel today,
wherever God's placed us? Daniel 1 verses 3 to 5.
Then the king ordered as well as king of his courts official to
bring it to King's service. Some of the Israelites from the
royal family and nobility, young men without any physical defect,
handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well
informed, quick to understand and qualify to serve in the
King's palace. He was to teach them the
language and the literature of the Babylonians.
The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the
King's table. They were to be trained for
three years and after that they were to enter the King's
service. Here what we see is Daniel and
his friends are being asked to partake of the King's table and
show all of themselves to a place of where they will be able
to do things right. And this is where Daniel is
resolving in his heart to follow what God's asked him to do.
There are certain foods that they are not allowed to partake
of. And he challenges the very
person who's been put in command to say, can you give us these
foods which we are permitted to eat?
And Daniel, when we read and Daniel one, it says, but Daniel
resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.
And he asked the chief official for permission not to defile
himself this way today. Just because we moved to a place
doesn't mean we can partake, doesn't mean we can, you know,
take on certain cultural norms which may not be right for us.
We are quick to adopt other people's culture where God's
asking, would you stick with what I've asked you to stick
with? You know, a lot of times God
takes us to places, but probably some of the things that we are
not, we are not required to even partake of because God's
impressed on our heart is so that our addictions are
patterns, things that may not suit us will will we?
We don't have to even get into that enemy territory at all.
And I pray and ask today that wherever you're at, wherever
you're listening or watching, I pray and ask that you'll be
sensitive to what God is asking you to take a resolve in your
heart. There's there's so many things
that you don't have to partake off just because it's the
culture of the land. As long as God is glorified,
that's what it says here. Why did Daniel resolve?
Because God had worked and he was very clear.
He knew there was something in him.
He knew that you know what my country gave up on our God
doesn't mean that I have to give up on my God.
He knew who he belonged to. Yes, he was under captivity,
yes, he was under a king, but he still knew who he belonged to.
And I pray that kind of a discernment will come into our
hearts. I pray if you're struggling
today, I pray that if you've already partook of certain
things, come to a place of resolving in your heart.
Let God work today. We have the word of God, we have
His scriptures, we have a method of praying and asking God to
intervene. Let us partake of that.
Let us allow God to work in and when we can resolve in our
heart, God is faithful enough. He's faithful enough to work in
and through us. What we see happened here in Two
Corinthians chapter 4 verses 16 to 18 and says, so we are not
giving up. How could we?
Even though on the outside it often looks like things are
falling apart on us, on the inside where God is making new
life, not a day goes by without us.
His unfolding grace. These hard times are small
potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish
celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets
the eye. The things we see now are here
today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now
will last forever. What is Daniel doing here when
he resolved in his heart? He's saying, you know what?
I don't need to partake of this table.
I can partake and ask for permission for something else.
Favour comes when we resolve in our heart God works on our
behalf because you're honoring him and he won't allow our head
to be put down. We also see today when you look
into this, what happens when he grants us favour, he moves
before us. And so when you read in Daniel
one, what we see is now God had caused the official to show
favour and compassion to Daniel. When you read in verse 15, it
says at the end of the 10 days they looked healthier and better
nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.
So the God took away their choice food and wine they were
to drink and gave them vegetables.
And today it might seem like a small thing, but I believe today
a lot of us have a resolving to do in our hearts.
A lot of us have been have have have spoken to ourselves and
have given us clearance and we've, you know, we've self
talked to us saying, you know, I think this can work culturally,
this works all that. But is it something God wants us
to partake of today? It could be externally with
something with regard to food. For some of us, we've probably
dabbling still with alcohol and other things.
For some of us, it could be internal with the lust of the
flesh, with things that we've allowed our mind and our hearts
to find affections in other places.
But God's saying, can you resolve your hearts today?
Because when you dissolve your hearts towards me, towards the
one who created you, towards the one who saved you, to the one
who's given you grace, I can do things far beyond.
I can do things far beyond. Favour and compassion will be
ours. The second thing we see from
Daniel's life is revelation comes from God alone and no one
else. Revelation comes from God alone.
When you look at Daniel, he was learnt, but there was a
beautiful thing where he brought his learning under the
submission of God, which brought revelation.
He brought his learning under the authority of God, which
brought about revelation, which brought in deep insight and set
him apart from others who were there who didn't know God.
And so one of the key principles that we see is he didn't allow
the circumstances to actually shake his understanding of God.
He didn't allow, he already knew that if he was alive in the
King's palace, if he was here today, right here in exile, it's
already by his grace. And so he relied heavily on God.
And so today, if you and I can look at a circumstance like
that, Lord, today, if you've placed me here in the city, if
you've placed me here in the situation, in this work, it's
purely by your grace because I could have been in a place where
I didn't have this opportunity. So what are you wanting to
reveal yourself to Lord, to me today?
What are you wanting me to see today?
And God is asking us that same question, us that same question.
He didn't get enamoured with a level of riches in the pomp.
In fact, Babylon in that time was like the top one, the first
city to live in Hanging Gardens. It was more beautiful.
He was exposed to extreme wealth, yet the affections of
his heart didn't change. It was stuck on God.
He was very clear from where he came from.
He was very clear what brought his country down and he had
resolved in his heart, and because of that he knew who God
was. Daniel lived out what Peter
emphasized in the New Testament, the wisdom of Babylon versus the
wisdom of God. The wisdom of Babylon, where a
bunch of wise men with the wisdom of God was unlimited
because the God was the revealer of everything.
Daniel brought everything into the submission of God.
And what happens? King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream
and then he tells his people, you need to tell me what I
dreamt and also interpret. And he said, if you can't, if
you aren't making an effort, you all are going to have your lives
taken away. And this news reaches Daniel and
it's it's his first response here is interesting.
He knew this was beyond him that they said we need to go to God.
We need to go to God. Daniel chapter 2, verses 17 to
23. Then Daniel returned to his
house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Michel,
and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy
from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that
he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the
wise men of Babylon. During the night.
The mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.
Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said, Praise be to
the name of God forever and ever.
Wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons.
He disposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things.
He knows what lies in the darkness, and light dwells with
him. I thank and praise you, God of
my ancestors. You have given me wisdom and
power. You have made known to me what
we asked of you. You have made known to us the
dream of the king, the dream of the king.
What Daniel has done here is he has gone.
He's gotten people who can rally around him, the very other three
who were taken from his own land, and they call him the name
of Yahweh. And I love what they did because
it is a representation of what we experienced in the New
Testament. Wherever two or three are
gathered in my name, I am there. And he reveals himself in a
vision. God will not allow your foot to
be moved if you seek Him with all of your heart.
What Daniel did with his friends is a glimpse what we all get to
do today. That's why community is
important, that's why church is important.
That's why prayer is important. That's why we come here saying
God. We don't know what's happening.
And it's interesting. The dream that Nebuchadnezzar
has is 1 where it talks about him.
The statue is half filled with gold, then the silver, then an
alloy, and then we have bronze, and then an alloy of iron and
then baked clay. And there's this rock that's cut
out, which talks about Jesus who comes, and it denotes Jesus, and
he's the king, unshakable Kingdom.
And on that rock, his body, his church, will be built.
And you see what's happening here is he's telling Daniel that
you have to tell Nebuchadnezzar about this, that there is a king
that will come. And it's interesting that in all
of this, it's like, you know, Nebuchadnezzar was just waiting
to hear from Daniel does this cues is waiting to hear.
And I love what his response is. Daniel didn't take the credit
for himself. He said, I know that there is a
person above me who can reveal this thing to you.
In Daniel chapter 2 verses 28 to 2027 to 29, this is what it
says. Daniel replied.
No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the
king the mystery he has asked about.
But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.
He has shown what will happen in the days to come.
Your dreams and visions that pass through your mind as you
are lying in bed are these. And Daniel goes on to explain.
It's interesting now because it listens to this.
But when you read the next chapter, he's gone ahead and
made a big statue. And then the story of Shadrach,
Meshach and Abedneko being thrown into the fire happens.
It's in this that we see that we can go to God in all
circumstances today. I don't know what confusion
you're having what, what dilemma you're stuck in.
You know, many a times we, we struggle to take things back to
God. And I pray and ask that we'll be
able to take everything to God, be it a doubt in terms of God.
What is our career step looking like for the next next year?
Because there's so much of panic outside here.
What do I do Lord next or if it's even God, what do my what
should my children do? I'm so confused.
We were told in here to to prepare ourselves in this
particular order, but today it's completely disruptive.
And mind you, this is what every culture has gone through.
Every, every, every generation has gone through this.
And so we always go back. We pivot back to what we know as
Jesus followers. That is go back into times of
prayer and say, God, we need your grace.
We need your, we need your understanding and it's in this
we see from James chapter one verse 5.
It says if anyone of you lacks wisdom to guide him through a
decision or circumstance, he is to ask a benevolent God who
gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, but it
will be given to him. But he must ask for wisdom in
faith without doubting God's willingness to help.
For the one who doubts is like a billowing surge of the sea that
is blown about and tossed by the wind.
So I pray and ask today, if Daniel knew not to panic and
take things into his own hands, he was able to submit it to the
God of all creation. Can we also do the same?
Can we move and pivot and take
it back to seeing God? I want you to speak into the
situation. I want you to speak into my
marriage. I want you to speak into my
parenting. I want you to speak into my
singleness. I don't know what to do.
Lord, for those of you who are struggling with trauma, with
with abuse, for with, with things that have happened in
your child which are resurfacing, don't allow it to
eat you. Take it to God.
Ask God for wisdom because He is a revealer, but he's also a
healer. He's the revealer and he's the
healer. So today you don't have to do
anything against what God's asking you to.
All you have to do is saying, God, I'm here.
The pain is real, the marks are real, the suffering is real.
But I pray and ask God, I want wholeness from you.
I want to go back to original design.
God, if your word says that you knit me in my mother's womb,
which means you are the master crafter, if you can move things
back or to what you originally intended.
Lord, I want to experience healing in Your hand.
My spirit, my emotion, my will, my mind, my body, everything can
experience that healing. And so today I want to ask you,
would you allow God's wisdom to be the topmost thing in your
life? Not your understanding, not your
interpretation, but God's wisdom.
It's in submission to his earthly ruler.
Daniel could actually go and stand in the gap and say, God,
would you come through? And you'll realize sooner or
later God's calling us to really stand in the gap for others.
And when God causes us to stand in the gap, he will reveal
things to us. He will reveal things to us.
And it'll be, it'll be magnificent in the way he
reveals because you'll, you'll also tell the person that this
is only from God, no one else. I If in my earthly wisdom this
wouldn't have happened, why was Daniel favored to Nebuchadnezzar
even when he was giving a message which was of no hope?
You know, no king would like to hear that his Kingdom is going
to be torn and, you know, broken because he spoke God's truth.
The messenger had favour because he spoke truth entirely as to
what God said. He didn't add his sword, but he
didn't add a line that will enable him to get more wealth.
No, nothing. There was no intention from
Daniel's side. And when that happens, God opens
doors. And so today I want to ask you,
would you and me be willing to submit to the people God has put
above us? They might be young in age, they
might be hard to love. They might be people who look
down on us. But God is asking, would you be
willing to submit in one Peter chapter 2 verses 11 to 17, when
you read it says here you put out these sinful desires.
But Peter goes on to say, Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake
to every human authority, whether to the emperor as a
supreme authority or to governors who are sent by him to
punish those who do wrong and to come in those who do right.
For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence
the ignorant talk of foolish people.
Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover up
for evil. Live as God's slaves.
Show proper respect to everyone. Love the family of believers,
fear God, honor the emperor. And I believe that what Daniel
saw of Jesus being the firm foundation, that rock that came
of whose Kingdom will be no end, that will last to eternity.
I love how God uses people like this to have a glimpse of what
the future will hold, of what his people will look like, of
what the church will look like. And so today, as we look into
all of this, God is asking us again, can I be the one who
brings revelation? Revelation is not going to come
from our earthly wisdom, from our pursuit of everything.
We can choose to know everything.
We can spend time, we can have the right aids, we can have
everything at our fingertips. But revelation comes from God,
and with that revelation comes restoration.
Also with that revelation comes favour and grace.
With that revelation comes. With that revelation comes a
direct link to say who the source of that revelation is so
that God alone gets the glory. The third thing that we see is
from Daniel's life, in fact, which as I was reading through
was renowns to be restored. King Nebuchadnezzar has this
dream of this huge tree. You know, it's going all the way
up. And then there's a person who
comes down from heaven and chops it off.
And this entire dream requires an interpretation.
And Daniel is called and Daniel gives this interpretation again
because he gets a revelation from God.
And as he gives his interpretation, he also tells,
because of the pride that you have, you will be sent out.
You will be like with the animals.
That's what will happen. And yet in all of this thing,
pride comes in. Pride comes in and so that's why
I put this up as renowns to be restored because Daniel gave the
message clearly which was revealed to him.
But it's until Nebuchadnezzar's response to his prideful
statement, he wasn't restored. He was still moving around like
a wild animal. If you read that, it says here
in Daniel forces 28 to 32. All this happened to King
Nebuchadnezzar 12 months later, as the king was walking on the
roof of the royal palace of Babylon.
He said, Is not this the great Babylon I have built as a royal
residence by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?
Even as the words were on his lips, a voice from heaven.
This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar.
Your royal authority has been taken away from you.
You will be driven away from the people and live with the wild
animals. You will eat grass like the ox.
7 times will pass for you until you acknowledge that the Most
High is the Sovereign over all kingdoms on the earth and gives
them to anyone He wishes. And when you read at verse 34,
it talks about how his sanity was restored.
And so one of the key things that we can see here is nothing
is about us when we are here on this earth.
Nothing. The the illusion that the enemy
brings many at times is it has to do everything about us or
your marriage. It's because of you or your
children. It's because of you.
Oh, this, it's because of you. But the more we renounce, the
more we will move to a place of actually being restored.
What are we being restored? Restored back to who God wants
us to be. Humility and pride cannot exist.
It's like sufficiency and insufficiency existing.
It's in my insufficiency and it's in my humility to say God I
renounce all this is look. These are all that don't define
me. You are more than enough.
And So what happens eventually is when you look at everything,
you look at everything knowing that this is purely by God's
grace, this is purely by God giving his hand over to me.
This is purely God leading me and positioning me and causing
me to have certain things. So I won't build a dependency on
this. Today I've come to a realization
as a parent, God won't give me so much that my children have
too much that they forget God. My prayer is that God will give
us enough so that our kids will have enough so that they will
also depend on God because they've seen their parents
depend on God. And so today, you and I, what
are our pursuits looking like? What are our pursuits looking
like? Yes.
So which means are you saying guess we don't have to work?
No, we have to work. Yes, we do everything well, but
we also renounce what everything comes back because somewhere
down the line in this earthly Kingdom which bows down to Satan
always, we need to renounce it, just like Jesus did when Satan
was tempting Jesus right on that mountaintop saying bow down and
I'll give you the whole earth. Which means every aspect of the
world that we are pursuing here is already bowing down to Satan.
So which means we are at war, which means we constantly got.
With this I give you the glory. With this I give you the glory.
When I look at anything that's being accomplished, anything
that's taken shape, I give him the glory because he deserves
the glory. He deserves the glory.
And as Daniel is talking about this, he wasn't in a place to
receive it. Nebuchadnezzar, when you read
verse 36, it says here at the same time that my sanity was
restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the
glory of my Kingdom. My advisors and nobles sought me
out and I was restored to my throne and became even greater
than before. Now why Nebuchadnezzar praise
and exalt and glorify the King of heaven?
Because everything He does is right and all His ways are just
and those who walk in pride, He is able to humble.
God works on every human being. The beauty is, are we willing to
respond? The beauty is, are we willing to
renounce so that we can be restored?
And so today I want us to look back into our very own lives is
the other things that require restoration in our lives.
Are we prideful of what God's done so much that we are not We
are unwilling to say God. I'm these are things that I'm
struggling with God's saying no, I'm ready to work in and through
you. I'm ready to work in and through
you. Would you be willing?
When we read from 1 John one
verse 9, it says, but if you freely admit our sins when his
light uncovers them, he'll be faithful to forgive us every
time. God is just to forgive us our
sins because of Christ and he will continue to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. I love how it says here we
freely admit our sins when his light uncovers them.
So I pray and ask that His light will uncover us.
Which means I need to move to where the light is.
The light is his word, the light is his presence, The light is
his beds. People are I move towards that
that shines a light. So today I want to ask you, what
is the word of God shining a light in the dark areas of your
life? Are you willing to renounce it?
What light is the community of believers shining on you that
you are you willing to renounce it?
What light is the global church shining a light, the need and
the prayer of the global church that you're willing to renounce
it. Because that's where restoration
will come. That's where restoration will
come. The fourth thing that we see
from Daniel's life is we learn to rest in God's protection.
You know by now Daniel is seen Kingdom after Kingdom, kings
after kings, right after Nebuchadnezzar, his son comes
into power, his son steers away. He brings these the vessels that
were kept in the House of the Lord.
He brings them out. He's they all are having a big
festivities by drinking out of those cups where God comes and
gives them a warning and says the Kingdom has been taken of
you. And so the Medes and the
Persians come. And so we see here Darius is now
king, and it's interesting that the people around Daniel.
Are insecure. The people around Daniel start
devising a plan to pull him down.
The people around Daniel, like this guy who's not even part of
us, has found favor and is right on top.
But they didn't realize that there was a God behind Daniel.
And I'm wondering, even as we have, even as I'm speaking about
this point, resting in God's protection, is do people who
mean harm for us, are they able to see the God behind us when we
do things excellently, when we do things well, when God raises
a head up in front of others, there is a God behind.
And the one thing that they knew they wanted to pull down was the
fact that they wanted to pull down who he was worshipping.
And so they devised a plan where they had Darius sign a petition
saying everyone has to worship Darius.
And Darius knew that Daniel worshiped the living God and he
boldly opened and I love even last year, as we saw this entire
team of being positioned to possess a promise, there was
something about positioning that Daniel knew.
He was again a very intelligent, he was among the wise.
And so he knew which direction to look at.
And so probably when he opened the windows, he was looking
towards the city that he longed for, where the temple of God
was, and he was praying to the God of Yahweh, to the God of all
creation. And it's interesting that as
Darius came and as he's thrown into the lion's pit, little do
the people who devised the plan knew that where Daniel goes, his
God also goes. And even as we saw two weeks
back, if God could bring in all the animals, male and female,
into the ark, wouldn't his presence go into a den?
It's already what God has done. And So what we see happened here
in Daniel chapter 6 is where he shows up and closes the mouth of
the lion. And so today I want to
encourage, especially for those of you who are shining in places
of work and you have people who are not happy for you.
Be rested knowing that God is going to work things out.
Be rested knowing that God will protect you.
Be rested knowing God does all things for His glory.
Be rested knowing that in everything God alone has to be
glorified. Daniel chapter 6 was 4 to 5.
This is what it says. At this, the administrators in
the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against
Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they
were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in
him because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor
negligent. Finally, these men said we will
never find any basis for charges against his Daniel, this man
Daniel, unless it has something to do with the law of his God.
So clearly Daniel was good at what he did.
He wasn't negligent, he was on top of it.
The only fault they could have was the God that he worshipped.
And so I pray and ask, may our testimony be 1 like that, one
like that, where even when the king is sending him, it's like
the king also knew that he would be protected because in verse
16, this is what it says. So the king gave the order and
they brought Daniel and threw him into a lion's den.
The king said to Daniel, may your God, whom you serve,
continually rescue you. The king knew who will rescue
Daniel. The king knew who will rescue
Daniel, and I pray and ask that may we be known who will rescue
us. May it not be our uncle or our
influence or the person or the friend of that person who we
don't know. May it be God who will rescue
us. I pray and ask that we will be
people who will, who will have God as a protector.
May it be in our lips to testify that it is God who has protected
us. Daniel was moved across regimes,
which means there was a God who was above him, who kept him
safe, who kept him safe, who kept him seen to the right eyes.
And I pray for those of us who are having that doubt that we
will realize we need to be like Daniel.
There are battles we don't have to stand and justify.
Silence will be a weapon because we are of God.
God will fight for us because we are of his, because we are his
chosen 1, He will step in for us.
So who we are anchored in will show in times like this.
You don't see Daniel actually saying don't throw me in, I'll
do this, I'll do that. No, he's not.
He's not finding an alternate way out.
He's saying I am ready to face this, even if it's to my death.
I know God will be glorified. He knew where he was going.
And I pray that will be a posture in which we will be able
to stand and take a step of faith today.
Romans chapter 8 talks about this.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall trouble, or hardship, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or danger, or sword, for your sake?
We face death all day long. We are considered the sheep to
be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
For I'm convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels
nor demons, neither the present nor the future nor any powers,
neither the height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So today I pray that we'll find rest in God's protection.
God's going to protect us today because you're bombarded.
There's so much things around us.
People may not like us because of who we worship.
People may not like us by the way we are.
People may not like us because of our countenance.
Whatever reason that they have. Maybe be reminded that God is
the one who protects us. God is the one who will rescue
us and keep us in the center of His will.
The last thing that we read and I wanted to highlight from
Daniel's life is Daniel knew that he was going to restore
God's people and he knew which part of the equation he played.
And when we read, it was not only to influence courtrooms,
but he also got to sit and lament for his people.
And I pray that we will also have that kind of an attitude
that as we pursue, as God gives us favour, we won't forget God's
also calling us to lament for our people.
God is also calling us to put our hand in and stand in the gap
for our people. Daniel 628 says so Daniel
prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus by
the Persian. And in fact, it's in the reign
of Cyrus that we see, you know, God sending Ezra and a whole
bunch of the Jewish people back to go and build the temple of
God. And I pray and ask that we will
learn to stand in the gap so that his people will be
restored, so that salvation will come.
What Daniel did way back is something for us to follow his
examples so that we'll be able to stand in the gap.
Ezra 1 verses 123 says is it was the first year of the rule of
Cyrus. He was the king of Persia.
The Lord inspired him to send a message all through the Kingdom.
It happened so that through his Kingdom it happened so that the
Lord had spoken through Jeremiah would come through the message
was written down. It said Cyrus, the king of
Persia says the Lord is the God of heaven.
He has given me all the kingdoms on earth.
He has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in
Judah. Any of his people among you may
go up to Jerusalem and build the Lord's temple.
He is the God of Israel. He is the God who is in
Jerusalem. And may their God be with them,
kings who Daniel got to be in the midst of, from
Nebuchadnezzar, Belsazzar, Cyrus.
His influence would have been made known to the others who
came after this from Darius 1. Xerxes and Arthur.
Xerxes. And what we see happen here is
the position that he held did not cause him to take a step
back, but rather take a step forward.
It says when you read through, you know, was chapter 10/11/12,
it talks about Daniel actually putting on sackcloth and
lamenting, fasting, weeping and praying.
And he gets to see visions. And some of the visions that he
sees are very prophetically aligned to what's happening
today in the world. And I believe many others would
have felt it happening across through centuries.
But one of the things that we get to see is will we be able to
stand in the gap so that the people that we are called to be
part of will be restored? What are we called?
So that his church will prevail, so that his church will preach
right, So that his church will be able to stand in the gap.
His church will be the hands and feet of Jesus so that the church
will be able to do bring heaven down to earth.
We'll start permeating the Kingdom of heaven, the Kingdom
of earth. It says here in Daniel Chapter 9
verses one to three in the first year of Darius, son of Zerkses
was made ruler over the Babylonian Kingdom in the first
year of his reign. I Daniel understood from the
Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to
Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would
last 70 years. So it's turned to the Lord God
and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in
sackcloth and ashes. And here's the same thing that
Paul writes to the Ephesians. What does he write in chapter 4?
He says so Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the
evangelist, pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of
service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.
Until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of
the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole
measure of the fullness of Christ, Then we will no longer
be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown
here and there by every kind of teaching and by the cunning and
craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in
every respect the mature body of Him who is the head that is
Christ. From Him the whole body, joined
and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and
builds itself up in love as each part does it's work.
And the reason why I wanted to end with this is you and I have
a call that is far bigger. You and I have a lifelong call
today. The command that Jesus gave was
to go and take His gospel, make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy
Spirit. It goes on to say in Mark that
you will be able to cast out demons and see the blind eyes
open, sickness flee. All that will happen.
We need to see those things happening.
Restoration of people has to happen here, this earth.
And so as much as we live to see him face to face, maybe not sit
back saying that is enough, no, But maybe turn to a time such as
this as we read where Paul says that we will take up the mantle
God's given us so that we'll be able to fulfill what he's
calling us to do so that the body of Christ may be built up
until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of
the Son of God, we become mature.
So I pray today that as we as we've just gone through some of
the key things in Daniel's life, it's interesting that he thrived
in exile only because he knew who's God was.
There was not even a single doubt that he had.
So today, if anything you're taking from the sermon, maybe
take that out wherever God places us.
If we know who our God is, if we know who our source is, if we
know who gets all the glory, if we know who our protector is, if
we know who our restorer is, we will be able to live the life
the dad, we'll be able to live the life that Daniel was called
to live. So even as I close, even as the
collective country fails, it rests on each of everyone of us
to really fear God, to really stand in the gap, to really do
what we are called to do. Maybe resolve in our hearts in
the midst of others who might not believe in God, so that
we'll be able to live the life that God wants us to live where
he's placed us. Our revelation comes only from
God. Maybe we never put people in
pedestals, or maybe never seek anything else to reveal God to
us, but may we personally go because the Holy Spirit has been
given to each and everyone of us, and He's the revealer of
everything for us. May we renounce everything which
has I attached to it, so that we'll bring glory and honour to
Him alone. We stand only by His grace.
May we rest in God's protection, knowing that, Lord, if I close
my eyes here, I will meet with you, but you will protect me
because you are with me. You are with me.
We are assured that in the midst of every hardship, He will work
it out for us and maybe stand in the gap like how Daniel did,
where we'll be able to stand for others.
So that till everyone hears, till everyone hears, we get to
partake of the mission. Whatever life stage we are in,
whatever life stage you are in, we get to partake it.
Don't discount yourself. God can use you any place, any
stage for His glory alone. Yeah.
So I pray and ask that this essential of the fear of God
will work in and through us. How it exhibited in Daniel's
life will start working in and through us and we'll be able to
live it out to its fullest. Can I pray and close?
Lord? We thank you, Lord, for this
beautiful time. Thank you for your word, which
is Kamalai. Lord, I pray we'll put it into
practice that Lord, we'll be able to resolve.
We'll be able to find revelation from you.
We'll be able to renounce everything, Lord Jesus, and that
we'll be restored. Lord Jesus, I pray we'll find
rest in the protection that comes only through you, Lord
Jesus, and I pray we'll be able to see you bring people into
your salvation. Grace, Lord, hearts will be
melted as we present, as we, as we intercede, as we stand in the
gap, as we testify. I pray even right now, Lord, for
those who are having doubt. Like Lord, even as I concluded
earlier, I say that, Lord, we will hold on to you alone and
nothing else. You alone are enough.
You alone are our strength, our shield.
To you alone may our spirits yield right now.
Lord, be glorified. Work in and through US.
Go before us. Help us to be a Daniel in the
place that your placed is to be. Lord, bringing you alone the
glory. I pray that you would use us,
Lord. I pray, Lord, like Daniel was
able to see those visions. We will have visions for our own
lives. We will have revelation from
you, direction from you, strength from you.
Lord, be glorified and honored. Your mostly name we pray, Amen,
Amen, Amen. I pray that even as you step out
this week that you'll walk out in assurance knowing that God is
with you. God is your strength, God is
your portion. God is enough for us.
Pray that you have a blessed week.
Remember this, that whoever finds Jesus finds life.
God bless you all. We hope you enjoyed today's
message and we're blessed. If you liked what you heard and
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