1 00:00:06,930 --> 00:00:10,090 The title of this morning's message is God is in control. 2 00:00:10,090 --> 00:00:13,010 You're probably thinking, Oh well, I can't see that. 3 00:00:13,010 --> 00:00:16,610 Well, actually you will. God is in control. 4 00:00:17,570 --> 00:00:24,330 Daniel chapter 2, we find God's word very powerful. 5 00:00:25,490 --> 00:00:29,330 We're in Daniel and for the first six chapters we will learn 6 00:00:29,930 --> 00:00:36,120 from Daniel and from three of Daniel's friends how to live for 7 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:40,040 God in a fallen sinful world. Our Babylon, our Babylon. 8 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,880 You know, it's nice to find a Christian. 9 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,080 You, I don't know if you've ever travelled and you travel and you 10 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,200 can find someone who is a Christian, You go, oh, I'm a 11 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,520 Christian and straightaway you, you're able to communicate, talk 12 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:54,520 and, and, but it's hard to find another believer, isn't it? 13 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:57,840 I look at the AFL. I'm with the Fremantle Football 14 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:02,840 Club as a chaplain, have been since about 2000 and we've had 15 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:07,880 one, one player that I remember 2, two players become Christians 16 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:13,800 in that period of time and the through the AFL there's a lack 17 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,960 of Christians as one who play Ollie, Ollie Dempsey I think his 18 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:20,480 name is, he plays for Geelong. He's a devout believer, a solid 19 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:25,560 follower of Christ, but we just lack role models, athletes. 20 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:29,560 Whereas in America, you know, you get a quarterback, the 21 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,400 champion quarterbacks, Mahones or whatever they call or someone 22 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:34,040 else and they'll just tell you straight out. 23 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:36,800 First thing I want to say, I want to thank the Lord Jesus 24 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:38,880 Christ. And we, we see that. 25 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:44,360 And so we're, we're really behind the 8 ball in, in, in 26 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:50,160 our, in our land as far as can I see a Christian, can I see, will 27 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:52,720 the Christians stand up? Because we don't see any 28 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,600 standing up. Well, we're going to learn how 29 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:58,720 to stand up. God wants us to stand up. 30 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,920 And so we find out in the first six chapters just how to do 31 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,240 that. In chapter 1, we learned how God 32 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:12,600 was faithful to Daniel and his three friends, how to live 33 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:14,880 faithful to the Lord even under great pressure. 34 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:16,640 They were told you got to eat this, you got to drink. 35 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:19,440 This is what you got to do. This is the God you got to 36 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:20,480 worship. And they went, hang on. 37 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,760 No, no, wait, wait, wait, wait. They did it politely and they 38 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,320 said we'll eat what the food that we eat back back home, the 39 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:29,880 proper food. We're not going to eat food 40 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,000 that's been offered to idols. We're not going to drink this 41 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,680 and do that. And after 10 days, they were the 42 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:40,480 they were the most graciously good looking, healthy looking of 43 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:45,200 of all the captives that have been taken into Babylon in 44 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:50,120 chapter 2. We're going to see, We saw how 45 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:54,960 God taught four young Hebrews that God is in control because 46 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,880 Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and he called all the wise men, 47 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:02,920 supposed wise men that came in, all the con men said, tell me my 48 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:05,080 dream and then tell me the interpretation. 49 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,320 They said that's too hard. And he said, no, that's what you 50 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:12,400 got to do, otherwise you'll die. Daniel hears about that, goes 51 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,320 home to the house where his three other young Hebrew friends 52 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,520 are, and they seek the Lord and they pray and God gives him the 53 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,960 dream and the interpretation. And we're going to see that and 54 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:25,640 we're going to see how that unfails. 55 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,920 And Daniel goes back to Nebuchadnezzar, says, here's the 56 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:32,120 dream and here's the interpretation. 57 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:34,640 Nebuchadnezzar's, wow, this is amazing. 58 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:39,280 Only God could do that. And so in chapter 3 now we're 59 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:44,000 going to see how to stand for God when everyone else false. 60 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:50,720 Let's read the interpretation of the dream chapter 2 verse 36 on 61 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:53,480 follow along with me in your Bible. 62 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:56,160 This is the dream. Now we'll tell you the 63 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,960 interpretation of it before the king you were king because 64 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:03,000 Daniel told him there was a a great image. 65 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,520 Sorry, back in the first couple of verses 31 on there was this 66 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:13,080 image, huge image in the dream. The head was gold, the chest and 67 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,720 arms with silver. The stomach and thighs were were 68 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:22,520 bronze and the feet and and the toes were clay and iron, iron. 69 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:24,680 And then the toes were clay and iron. 70 00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:29,360 And Daniel said, this is the great image. 71 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:31,360 This is the image that you saw. And the king says, yeah, that's 72 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,320 what I saw. And he says, well, this image 73 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,800 what what's going to happen is at the end, it's going to become 74 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,400 like chaff because these are going to be all the empires of 75 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:42,920 the world. And a great stone will come, a 76 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:46,920 stone that's not cut out of a mountain and like a great 77 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:49,480 mountain. And and it will this, this, this 78 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,400 coming thing that will wipe out all these other empires. 79 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:56,600 That image that that stone and that empire will fool the earth 80 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:59,360 forever and ever and ever. So let's pick up the 81 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,240 interpretation. This, this, this is the dream. 82 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:03,880 Now I will tell you the interpretation of it. 83 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:07,240 You, O King, our King of kings. For the God of heaven has given 84 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:09,600 you a Kingdom. Notice God's given 85 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:14,960 Nebuchadnezzar the power. He's given him the Kingdom for 86 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:16,760 purpose. Wherever the children of men 87 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:18,920 dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the 88 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:20,720 heaven, he has given them into your hand. 89 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:25,080 He has made you ruler over them. You are his head of gold. 90 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:29,720 OK, but after you shall arise another Kingdom inferior, and 91 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,920 it's going to go down, gold, silver, bronze, iron. 92 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:36,920 But after you shall arise another Kingdom inferior to 93 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,560 yours, then another 1/3 Kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over 94 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:42,320 the earth. And a fourth Kingdom shall be as 95 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:46,000 strong as iron in as much as iron breaks in pieces and 96 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,280 shatters everything. And like iron that crushes, that 97 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:51,520 Kingdom will break in pieces and crush all others. 98 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:54,840 Also. You saw the feet and the toes 99 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,200 partly of Potter's clay and partly of iron. 100 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,720 That's Speaking of a future Kingdom, a Kingdom where in the 101 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,800 time that we're now living, the Kingdom shall be divided, yet 102 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:08,640 the strength of the iron shall be in it. 103 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:13,240 Just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay, and as the 104 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,720 toes of the feet were partly of iron, partly of clay, so the 105 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,680 Kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragment or fragile. 106 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,000 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay. 107 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,840 They all mingle with the seed of men, but they will not adhere to 108 00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:29,240 one another. Just as iron does not mix with 109 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,840 clay. And in the days of these kings, 110 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,760 so in the, in the final king, which is going to be the New 111 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:40,920 World Empire, it's currently the United Nations or the EU 112 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:49,360 European Union started in 1950 and, and called themselves the 113 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:52,640 the big 10, even though there wasn't 10 at the time. 114 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:54,960 And now there's more than 10, but it's going to end up it's 115 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:58,120 10. And that will be the European 116 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:02,400 Union, of which the Antichrist, who will come after the church 117 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:06,880 is raptured. And he'll head this, this union, 118 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:12,760 the toes and the clay. And then in that time, as the 119 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:19,800 Antichrist is ruling during the Tribulation period, God of 120 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,760 heaven will set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed. 121 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,400 Jesus Christ will return. He'll wipe out the Antichrist. 122 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,840 The the rule and reign of men governing the world will be 123 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:33,840 over. The Kingdom shall not be left to 124 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,280 other people. It shall break in pieces and 125 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,680 consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever. 126 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,880 This is the Millennium, the thousand year reign, beginning 127 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:47,200 with Christ at the end of the seven year tribulation, the 128 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,400 second coming of Jesus. In as much as you saw that the 129 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:53,320 stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, the 130 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,920 stone is Christ. Then it broke in pieces. 131 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,600 The iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold. 132 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:00,920 The great God has made known to the king. 133 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,720 What will come to pass? King, this is what's happening. 134 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:07,120 You're the you're the gold empire now you're Babylon. 135 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,240 And he doesn't even know about the Medes and the Persians and 136 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:15,040 and the Grecians and who had to come and the Romans, They're not 137 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,880 even on the on the scene yet. And God lays out this dream to 138 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:23,200 Nebuchadnezzar of the future world empires yet become 139 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:25,000 amazing. That's why people say, well, 140 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,520 Daniel cannot have written this. It's too prescriptive. 141 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:31,560 It's too detailed. How could this happen when all 142 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:32,960 these kingdoms weren't even around? 143 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:36,919 Well, it's the word of God because Daniel says the dream is 144 00:08:36,919 --> 00:08:40,320 certain and its interpretation is sure. 145 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,720 You can bank on it. And King Nebuchadnezzar fell on 146 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,360 his face prostate before Daniel and went, wow man, this is 147 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:48,120 awesome. Truly. 148 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,320 Your God is the God of gods, Lord of kings, revealer of 149 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:53,960 secrets. And he said Shadrach, Meshach 150 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,600 and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. 151 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:58,880 Daniel sat in the gate of the king. 152 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,040 That means Daniel was given a higher order. 153 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,120 He was like a magistrate over the rule of Babylon. 154 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,160 So we pick up. So the dream has been revealed 155 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,080 and Daniel gives the interpretation. 156 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:17,120 So the entire head of gold, the Kingdom of Babylon or the empire 157 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:21,080 of Babylon, of which Nebuchadnezzar was the first and 158 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:28,600 only ruler since to have been the only real world dictator, he 159 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:35,040 was in charge of the whole world and he ruled or sorry, Babylon 160 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:37,920 ruled, but only for about 87 years. 161 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:43,280 Head of gold, the chest and arms of of silver. 162 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:46,560 They were the Medes and the Persians. 163 00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:49,840 That's why this too, the Medes and the Persians combined and 164 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:53,200 they conquered the Babylonians in 539 BC. 165 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:59,680 And the valley and the thighs of bronze, The Greeks under 166 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,120 Alexander the Great. And they conquered the Medes and 167 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:09,080 the Persians in 334 to 330 BC. And who conquered the Greeks? 168 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:16,240 Romans iron, Roman Empire conquered the Greeks in 63 BC. 169 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:21,000 Jesus said in Matthew chapter 21. 170 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,440 Did you never read in the Scriptures the stone which the 171 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:29,320 builders rejected? The stone, the same has become 172 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:32,400 the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and it 173 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:36,400 is marvellous in our eyes. Jesus went on to say, therefore 174 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:39,200 I sound to you, the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, 175 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:42,080 given to a nation, bring forth the fruits thereof. 176 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:46,560 Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on 177 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:50,000 whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 178 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,960 The stone is none other than the Messiah, Jesus Christ. 179 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:56,520 The stone shall become a mountain. 180 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:00,760 Jesus, when he returns at the second coming, will set up his 181 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,520 millennial reign, and he will rule and reign from Jerusalem 182 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,720 for 1000 years, then a new heaven and a new earth. 183 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,440 After the great White Throne judgement, when all the unsaved 184 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:15,480 are resurrected, all those who have died without Christ are 185 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:19,560 resurrected, will be judged, cast into the Lake of fire, and 186 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:22,240 then a new heaven and a new earth. 187 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:28,320 Revelation 21 And Christ will rule, and we will rule and reign 188 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:34,800 with him during that time, and there'll be no end to that, to 189 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:39,600 the Kingdom. The image that Nebuchadnezzar 190 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:45,840 saw, this statue, we see Heaven's viewpoint had a gold 191 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:52,280 chest and arms of silver stomach, thighs, bronze legs, 192 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:55,040 iron feet, iron clay toes, etcetera. 193 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:57,600 That's God's view. This is what's going to happen. 194 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:03,040 But Nebuchadnezzar had a different viewpoint and we're 195 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:05,840 going to see a difference because in chapter 3, 196 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:10,240 Nebuchadnezzar, the king verse one made an image of gold, all 197 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:18,360 gold, 60 cubits and it was width was 6 cubits, cubit was between 198 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,560 18 for those in the old imperial, 18 to 2021 inches. 199 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:25,480 It was the measurement from the elbow to the tip of the finger. 200 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:32,840 So Nebuchadnezzar, he says, you know what, I'll build an image. 201 00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:35,800 It's going to be all gold, all gold. 202 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:41,000 The king did not build the image according to the dream. 203 00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:47,600 Why did he do it his way? Because he said my empire. 204 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,840 I run the show. I'm the most powerful man on the 205 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:52,400 earth. I'm the most powerful king. 206 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:55,400 What empire is never going to run out? 207 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,240 I'm always going to rule. It's always going to be Babylon. 208 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:03,520 No one will defeat us. In Proverbs 14, verse 12, it's 209 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,160 one of my favourite proverbs, it says there is a way that seems 210 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:09,720 right to a man. I've got an idea. 211 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:12,840 But it's end is the way of death. 212 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:17,080 Why shouldn't Babylon continue in its power? 213 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:20,120 Nebuchadnezzar thinking I'm the most powerful man on the earth, 214 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,560 biggest army. I rule and reign, I do what I 215 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:24,360 like, no one tells me what to do. 216 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,080 Why shouldn't whole image be of gold? 217 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,680 Why didn't Nebuchadnezzar go and build this image and change what 218 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:34,480 he had dreamed? We're not told, but actually 219 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:40,920 chapter 3 is some 18 to 23 years later after the dream. 220 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:42,600 So it's kind of like not overnight. 221 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:44,240 He wakes up and says this is what I'm going to do. 222 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:50,800 It's 18 to 23 years after Daniel has given him the dream and the 223 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:58,040 interpretation and he builds this image on the plain of 224 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:03,880 Juror. 20 odd years for Nebuchadnezzar to muse to, to 225 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,600 plan against the change his mind on what should happen. 226 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:10,880 And as he's gone on, he's began to think he's got proud. 227 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:14,200 He's like, I know what I'm going to do. 228 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,960 This is what I'm going to do. Oh God says, but this is what 229 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:22,520 I'm going to do. Did he fear the downfall of his 230 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:25,160 empire and therefore try to strengthen his position? 231 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:27,440 Well, I'll sort this out. Isn't that what we say in 232 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,400 Australia? I'll sort it out, I'll fix this. 233 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:34,240 I used to do that and it always broke. 234 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,800 It always got worse. You know when you go, I'll fix 235 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:40,960 this, I'll sort this out. Don't. 236 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:44,560 Your first reaction is the worst reaction. 237 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:48,680 It's usually the flesh reaction. It's like when you write emails. 238 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:52,320 Don't write emails. You ever write an email, say oh 239 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:57,920 I'll send this away, leave it and read it again the next day 240 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:08,160 and burn it? Did Nebuchadnezzar begin to 241 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:12,120 doubt Daniel's prophetic interpretation of the future 242 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:15,440 events revealed by God? Well, he heard them, he said, 243 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:17,640 But I'm not going to pay attention to that. 244 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:20,240 You can pay. You can do the same about the 245 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:21,480 things of the Book of Revelation. 246 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:22,920 Well, is the church going to be raptured? 247 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:24,880 Is is there going to be a tribulation? 248 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:29,520 I don't believe any of that man. If I said to my dad, he's been 249 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:32,160 passed away for a number of years now, Dad, there will come 250 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:35,000 a day that on Friday you won't get paid in cash. 251 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:40,080 He said, Oh my dead body. I want my pounds, shillings and 252 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:44,000 pence in my hands on Friday. There's no way I'm going to get 253 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:50,360 this a thing going somewhere that I can't identify how we've 254 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:54,920 changed. So what's the lesson? 255 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,320 Well, many Christians. The first lesson is many 256 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:03,320 Christians have the same thought pattern as Nebuchadnezzar today. 257 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:08,480 You see, none of us are immune from the temptation to cling 258 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:14,240 tenaciously to our little earthly possessions unless we've 259 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,360 truly seen them as they really are. 260 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:21,800 Unless God has brought you to a place where they are now of 261 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:24,920 little value. I tell you when all the times 262 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:31,720 that I visited Murdoch Hospice or or intensive care units, I 263 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:40,240 never had anyone talk to me about cars, boats, houses, never 264 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:43,680 we we never discussed bank books. 265 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:51,240 How I, you know, miss work. But the trouble is for you and 266 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:55,640 I, and so many of us sitting here today, many of you are, are 267 00:16:56,040 --> 00:17:02,080 under the control of idols. The bank tells you what to do. 268 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,839 Your house mortgage tells you what to do, your job, the way 269 00:17:05,839 --> 00:17:09,200 you structure it, the things that you're involved in. 270 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:13,240 You're so choked up with the affairs of the world, you don't 271 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:16,079 control anything. Your week is laid out by 272 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:22,359 everybody else. Why does it take for a doctor to 273 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:26,040 tell us we've got three months to live before we finally 274 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,280 realise what truly are the most valuable things in the world to 275 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:31,640 us? Why does it have to come to 276 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,880 that? Don't let it in your life come 277 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,560 to that. Many Christians, sadly, have 278 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:42,240 lost sight of the prize at the end of the race and many have 279 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:44,480 veered off course into the ways of the world. 280 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:46,360 Demas did. He left Paul. 281 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:49,440 They have lost sight of the brevity of life. 282 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:51,400 Because I tell you, my heart beats. 283 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,960 Your heart beats today. It's a red involuntary muscle. 284 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,080 Your lungs are moving. You have no control over them. 285 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,360 There's someone else who holds your very breath in his hands. 286 00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:11,800 We'll get to that in chapter 5. And tomorrow, 40 people who are 287 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:14,840 living today in WA won't be living tomorrow. 288 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:17,400 They'll die between now and tomorrow. 289 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:23,760 Not planned, not organised, just didn't wake up. 290 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:25,960 Popped in a car, never came back. 291 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:35,240 The brevity of life. Life is it's a fragile many 292 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:37,960 churchgoers hold to their earthly possessions with a a 293 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:46,560 tight fist, falsely, falsely imagining in a falsetto, falsely 294 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:48,920 imagining that we shall have them forever. 295 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:50,640 You will remember that point forever now, won't you? 296 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:52,960 That'll be the only thing you'll remember this morning. 297 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:54,440 It was funny. Yeah, I can't. 298 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,240 I know what he said for 45 minutes, but I remember when his 299 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:58,640 voice went up. I remember that. 300 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:00,720 Yeah. Good on you. 301 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,320 Jesus said in Matthew 6 verse 19. 302 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:08,480 Hear what Jesus says, not what I say. 303 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:17,320 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth 304 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:23,160 and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but lay up 305 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:29,000 for yourselves treasures in heaven when neither moth nor 306 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:33,440 rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal. 307 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:39,360 Jesus words, you know, it's usually in the time of of when 308 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:43,000 we're at our healthiest, when we're at our strongest, when our 309 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:47,120 finances are doing so well that we forget God. 310 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:52,280 That's Australia in a nutshell. We're so blessed in this nation, 311 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:57,440 we're so wealthy in this nation, we're in the top 3% of the 312 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:00,400 wealthiest people in the world, and we've forgotten all about 313 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:06,040 God completely. Looking back to Daniels time 314 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:11,200 from here in 2025, with perfect hindsight, who was right? 315 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:15,480 Nebuchadnezzar or God battle on last. 316 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:22,520 So Daniel chapter 3 verse 1, he builds this image in today's 317 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:27,200 language it's 27.432 metres high. 318 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:31,800 Now this building is, I think it's 9 metres, so it's 27 metres 319 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:36,920 high, it's 2.7 metres wide. There you go. 320 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:45,040 It's the same Chrysler Redeemer statue is 30 metres, the Tower 321 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:47,640 of London, 27 metres, there you go. 322 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:58,960 Gives an idea how big it is. It weighed some 3730 kilos. 323 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,080 It was a cost. Some estimate the cost depending 324 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:09,000 on if it was solid gold or stone or wood overlay with gold, some 325 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:15,240 $200 billion. Or if you're the wealthiest man 326 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:16,880 in the world, that's nothing. It's not your money. 327 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:20,320 Just get money, gold, wherever. King Nebuchadnezzar made an 328 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:24,120 image of gold, 60 cubits high, 6 cubits wide. 329 00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:27,200 Set it up on the plain of Jura in the province of Babylon. 330 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:32,640 Archaeologists have found the pedestal on which the the image 331 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,880 sits. He builds it on a plane. 332 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:39,880 Why does he build on a plane? So it's even more imposing a 333 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:44,760 structure. It's 9 storeys high, 9 stories. 334 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:50,240 Everyone could not help see this massive image, including three 335 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:52,240 young Hebrew men. Verse 2. 336 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:56,400 King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the SAT traps. 337 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:59,880 That's just another term for administrators as well. 338 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:06,120 Pin pushes the governors, the councillors, the treasurers, the 339 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:09,080 judges, the magistrates and all the officials of the province to 340 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:12,520 come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar 341 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:16,000 had set up. So they, the administrators, the 342 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,960 governors, all of them, again came judges, magistrates, they 343 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:23,960 gathered for the dedication of the image, and they stood before 344 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:25,840 the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 345 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:30,200 Then a herald cried out to you. It is commanded. 346 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:31,800 So there's no choice in the matter. 347 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:34,440 O peoples, nations and languages. 348 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,080 So people from all over the world are invited. 349 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:42,680 This is a gala event that all at the time you hear the sound of 350 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,280 the horn, the flute, the heart, the lion, the sultry in 351 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,120 Symphony. Notice the word Symphony with 352 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,480 all kinds of music. This is a full Symphony 353 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:57,000 Orchestra. You shall fall down and worship 354 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,360 the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 355 00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:02,800 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast 356 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:08,440 immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace, a brick 357 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:12,280 kiln, basically. So at that time when all the 358 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,800 people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, so on the 359 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:20,400 Symphony with all kinds of music, all the people fell down 360 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,720 worship. Now, the dedication of the image 361 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:29,200 was not political or patriotic. It was religious. 362 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,480 Look at the crowd. It was politicians. 363 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,520 Everyone from Hollywood was there, the who's who. 364 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,760 All the rock stars were there. It's funny how rock stars and 365 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:42,640 people in Hollywood always tell us about politics. 366 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:47,040 Paul Hogan, an Australian actor, some of you remember him, said 367 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:52,480 this about being an actor. I get paid to pretend to be 368 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:58,720 people and I I really it's just a pet peeve when someone who 369 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:03,760 makes a movie gets up, you know, Free Palestine, Leonardo Capra, 370 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:06,160 free Palestine, Madonna, free Palestine. 371 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:11,080 All they write. I'm leaving this country. 372 00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:14,160 I feel like writing. I'll help pack your bag. 373 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:22,400 This was a religious gathering. So all the pomp you just it's 374 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,720 just everyone's turning up in their in their camels. 375 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,400 Big limos pulled up, you know, the donkey, 100 donkeys in 376 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,120 front, all getting out. Who you dressed by? 377 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:34,280 I'm dressed by so and so of Babylon. 378 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:36,880 I'm wearing this is either jewels from the Nile and all 379 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:37,920 this. So they're getting out. 380 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:45,960 One law, one religion for all peoples, the nations and 381 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:49,000 languages. Notice it's a snapshot of what's 382 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:51,880 coming with the Antichrist who will set up his image. 383 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:55,200 And if you don't bow down and worship his image and receive 384 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:59,280 his mark on your right hand or your forehead, you'll die. 385 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:04,040 You'll die. The music is important. 386 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:08,720 Notice this. It's to arouse the emotions or 387 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,560 and also the threat of being thrown into the furnace. 388 00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:16,560 Picture the scene. The Babylonian Philharmonic 389 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:20,640 Orchestra full kit starts playing. 390 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:27,040 The Herald cries out down on the knees, the noise. 391 00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:30,520 It's thousands and thousands, hundreds of thousands of people 392 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:38,520 get down on their knees worshipping the golden image. 393 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:43,280 What a religious experience. Wow, how powerful can the 394 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:47,800 influence and emotionally persuade persuasive pulse music 395 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:50,600 can provide? You know who knows a lot about 396 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:55,480 music? So if you read he's actually 397 00:25:56,320 --> 00:26:01,920 built, has inbuilt music into him, read of what the Bible says 398 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,480 of what he looks like. He was in charge of music in 399 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:09,120 heaven. He uses music massively. 400 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:17,160 It was designed to have you. Oh, wow, bow down the pomp, the 401 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,640 ceremony. You know, we Helen and I went to 402 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:21,560 Nuremberg. I specifically wanted to go to 403 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:26,760 Germany to try and understand how such a nation could be the 404 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:28,920 cause of the Holocaust. How could this happen? 405 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:32,680 So we went to Nuremberg. They call it Nuremberg. 406 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:38,280 We went out to the place where Hitler held in Nuremberg. 407 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:39,880 How? That's why they had the trials 408 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:44,760 they're numbering how these great events from 1932 to 1938, 409 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:52,200 The Nuremberg rallies, though the largest scale theatrical 410 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,520 events that you could you could imagine, only those who are 411 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:58,120 blonde and blue eyed were filmed at the front. 412 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:03,840 Any true Bavarians who are a bit pudgy and like eating pork and 413 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:05,600 drinking beer. They had to go over there. 414 00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:08,160 They weren't going to be in the in the filming. 415 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:13,000 So all the blondes to the front, blue eyes to the front because 416 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:19,000 they all look like Hitler. As the evening came and the 417 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:23,360 darkness came, up would go searchlights all the way around 418 00:27:23,360 --> 00:27:26,000 the whole area where hundreds of thousands of people are gathered 419 00:27:27,120 --> 00:27:30,720 like a cathedral wall. It was so powerful that they 420 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,600 built had to build their own powerhouse. 421 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,400 Down the road we saw the powerhouse to run just the 422 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,240 service, the worship service in Nuremberg. 423 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,240 The rallies would last for up to 8 days. 424 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:48,840 The religious fervour was frenetic and the Fuhrer and I 425 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:52,480 stood where Hitler stood in the very place would stand there 426 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:55,920 above all the people, and there he would be worshipped. 427 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:01,520 You know, sadly, many churches are falling for a religious 428 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:03,360 persuasion. What do I mean by that? 429 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:06,840 Music. We got to manage music very 430 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:08,800 carefully. I thank, I'm so thankful for our 431 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:11,720 worship team and those who run our worship services here. 432 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:17,600 They're pastors because there's a danger in in church services 433 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:19,720 and music and how it's how it operates. 434 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,800 This is swing to to which way you're going to have a song and 435 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,240 it's a hit parade now and and you can have songs and you could 436 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,160 be singing to a a girlfriend or a boyfriend. 437 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:31,440 That's not the words of the song. 438 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:37,400 It's such an emotive and so many Christian singers sadly move out 439 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:41,600 of, I mean many of the black African American singers move 440 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:44,960 learnt to sing out in church with their heart and soul. 441 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:48,760 Then they moved out and ended up tragically in the ways of the 442 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:52,960 world. What does God have pleasure in? 443 00:28:54,400 --> 00:29:00,400 A soul filled experience. Wow, that just wow. 444 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:06,880 It was just all the music. Wow, or a spiritual experience. 445 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,480 John chapter 4 verse 24. Jesus said to the woman of the 446 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:16,120 world, God is spirit and these that worship him must worship 447 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:23,440 him in spirits truth. Let us remember today that it is 448 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:28,440 the preaching of the word of God that is actually and essentially 449 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:31,920 an act of worship. Did you know worship is not just 450 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,480 singing that each as I'm now preaching the word of God. 451 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,880 This is worship. You are worshipping the Lord. 452 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:43,520 This is worship, AW Tozer writes on this. 453 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:47,560 He says it is now a common practise in most evangelical 454 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:51,040 churches to offer the people, especially the young people, a 455 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:56,200 maximum of entertainment and a minimum of serious instruction. 456 00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:00,640 It is scarcely possible to get anyone to attend a meeting where 457 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:06,000 the only attraction is God. One can only conclude that God's 458 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:09,560 professed children are bored with him, for they must be wooed 459 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:12,720 to meeting with a stick of striped candy in the form of 460 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:17,240 religious movies, games and refreshments designed to house 461 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:22,280 the golden calf. The three young figures, as all 462 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:25,840 the people are bowed down, and the music and the emotion, Oh 463 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:30,800 wow, and Nebuchadnezzar, how good is this image tell you? 464 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:36,440 Oh, I know what's going on. And three figures are standing. 465 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:40,720 You can see them from miles away because everyone else is on 466 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:46,320 their face. Three figures stand out against 467 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:49,600 the masses, standing upright together, not bowing down. 468 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,640 They were making the most courageous choice in standing 469 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:58,440 when all around them was a sea of backs bowed low to the 470 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:03,200 ground. If you do not worship what the 471 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:05,880 world worships, you will stand out. 472 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:11,240 Therefore, verse 8. At that time, Chaldeans came 473 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:14,000 forward. These are the guys that Daniel 474 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:19,320 and the three others saved their lives by giving the dream in the 475 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:21,440 interpretation, because they were being executed. 476 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:24,440 The guys that were being executed because they're jealous 477 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:28,400 of what's happened with these other 4 Hebrews came forward and 478 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:32,080 accused the Jews. We're all Jews, they're in it 479 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,680 again. They spoke and said to King 480 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:37,160 Nebuchadnezzar, Old king, live forever. 481 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,000 You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who hears the 482 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:45,480 sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and sultry in Symphony 483 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:48,760 with all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the golden 484 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:50,680 image. And whoever does not fall down 485 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,640 and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery 486 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:57,600 furnace. Yes, there are certain Jews whom 487 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,280 you have said over the affairs. Notice this is where it's 488 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:05,480 coming, of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach and 489 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,840 Abednego. These men, O king, have not paid 490 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:14,080 you regard to you. They do not serve your gods or 491 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:16,280 worship. The gold image which you set up 492 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:18,960 is a great thing. Isn't it good to have someone 493 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:21,640 who's not a Christian tell you that you're a Christian by the 494 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:24,880 way that you're living? You must be a follower of 495 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:28,600 Christ, because I can see by the way you it's when a non believer 496 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:33,480 picks you out means it's good. The king on hearing this news 497 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:37,840 about the three young Hebrew men flies into a rage, takes this as 498 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:41,680 a personal affront demands then be brought before him so he can 499 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:45,880 interrogate them himself. You see, we can bow down. 500 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:48,640 This is could be going on the three of them standing there and 501 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:51,760 everyone's you know, they could have said we just got to bow 502 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:53,320 down. I mean, we can just go about our 503 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:54,760 business. We can still worship God. 504 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:57,520 They're allowed to worship the God of Israel, but they have to 505 00:32:57,520 --> 00:32:59,800 just bow down and worship the other gods, but they can still 506 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,120 worship their own God. That's what a lot of people do. 507 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:05,080 They worship all their gods through the week and they bow 508 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:06,920 down and then they come to church on Sunday. 509 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,840 They could have said we can bow down, we can keep our jobs, we 510 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:20,800 can live and not get killed, or we can stand or we can stand. 511 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:28,160 Romans 125 Those who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and 512 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:31,200 worshipped and served the creature, because all these 513 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:36,880 people are worshipping an image made by man and God made man, 514 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,800 they won't worship God, they worship an image made by man 515 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:45,120 It's foolish. The Nebuchadnezzar Enrage and 516 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:49,080 Fury, verse 13 gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach and 517 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,360 Abednego. So they brought these men before 518 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:53,720 the king Nebuchadnezzar spoke to them. 519 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:58,760 Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, you do not serve 520 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:02,800 my gods or worship the gold image which I've set up. 521 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,600 Now notice this because he likes these guys. 522 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:11,719 They're good value. Verse 15, the compromise. 523 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:15,880 Here's where it happens at work. This is what they tried to do to 524 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:19,679 Eric Little when he wouldn't run on the Sabbath day. 525 00:34:19,679 --> 00:34:23,199 He says I can't run on the 7th. I'm going to church the Sabbath. 526 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:27,360 I don't run. And they got the Prince royalty 527 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:29,960 to come and say, look, we know you stand. 528 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:32,600 Maybe we can just sort something out here. 529 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,280 Here's the next step. Here's what happens in your 530 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:37,280 workplace. Here's the compromise. 531 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:41,480 Now look, if you're ready at the time, you hear the sound of the 532 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:46,800 horn, flute, harp, lyre and sultry and you fall down, no big 533 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:48,760 deal. Just worship, which I've made. 534 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:51,760 Hey, it's all good. Like I say, anymore, it's all 535 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:53,800 good. I know you're a Christian, I 536 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:56,320 know you're going to, but if you could just, you know, just go 537 00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,240 along with everybody else, it's all good. 538 00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:03,840 It's just a smooth voice of compromise. 539 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:07,800 Be reasonable. Isn't that what the world tells 540 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:09,440 you and I to do When we make a stand? 541 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:14,880 It does just bow down. But if you do not worship, 542 00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:19,480 you'll be cast immediately into the midst of a burning, fiery 543 00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:22,480 furnace and hear what Nebuchadnezzar says. 544 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:28,000 And who is the God who would deliver you from my hands? 545 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:31,200 I run the show. I'm in charge of your life. 546 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:34,680 I dictate whether you live or die. 547 00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:41,160 God cannot overrule me. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 548 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:44,360 answered and said to the king. Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no 549 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:45,960 need to answer you in this matter. 550 00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:49,920 So with calmness and courage, they don't go, Oh, you're, 551 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:51,960 you're, you're a pink king. We don't like you. 552 00:35:52,240 --> 00:35:54,160 You know, I didn't do anything stupid. 553 00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:58,680 This is where this is where you've got to be wise as 554 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:01,560 serpents, as general as doves, when you're dealing with, with 555 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:05,080 fractures and situations in your workplace, in your school, in 556 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:09,280 your situations, in your family, where don't, don't be arrogant. 557 00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:13,000 Learn from the guy who's just been killed. 558 00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,480 Assassinated. What was his name again? 559 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:21,360 Charlie. Yeah. 560 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:26,720 Always, always said. Oh, hi. 561 00:36:26,720 --> 00:36:28,080 What's your name? Good to hear your point. 562 00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:33,520 Oh, Kim Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this 563 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:36,680 matter. So with calmness and courage, 564 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:41,360 they offered no alibis. They were not arrogant, but they 565 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:45,720 were firm and resolute in their choice to not bow with everybody 566 00:36:45,720 --> 00:36:47,640 else. And here's what you can do in 567 00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:49,760 your workplace in your situation. 568 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:52,360 Exactly. I'm not sure if you're aware, 569 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:57,600 but I am a Christian. I'm, I'm a devout follower of 570 00:36:57,600 --> 00:36:59,800 Jesus Christ. I believe he is my Lord and 571 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:02,280 Saviour. What you're asking me to do is 572 00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:08,040 against my faith. And you know, by law, by law 573 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:10,880 they have to give you room because they do it. 574 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:13,800 Everybody else just that we don't speak up enough. 575 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:18,520 That's all. By law they have to give you 576 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:24,280 room in what you're saying. Their reply was to the point, no 577 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:27,240 waffling. We need no need to answer you in 578 00:37:27,240 --> 00:37:31,400 this matter. Psalm 119, verse 11 says thy 579 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:35,200 word, have I hidden my heart that I might not sin against 580 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:36,680 you. They knew they couldn't do this. 581 00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:42,880 Verse 17 If that is the case, our God, whom we serve, is able 582 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:46,400 to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will 583 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:48,920 deliver us from your hand, O King. 584 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:57,320 Well, but if not, verse 18, let it be known, O King, that we do 585 00:37:57,320 --> 00:38:01,960 not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which 586 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:05,240 you've set up. In other words, our God is still 587 00:38:05,240 --> 00:38:08,840 God will be delivered either way. 588 00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:13,640 Jesus prayed the same, didn't he, in the Garden of Gethsemane? 589 00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:16,000 Not my will, but Lord, your will. 590 00:38:16,240 --> 00:38:19,040 That's your prayer. Please add that at the end of 591 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:20,800 each time you pray about something. 592 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:22,920 Not my will, but your will, Lord. 593 00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:28,280 Sadly, some people will serve God only as long as He does what 594 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:31,920 they tell Him to. Every one of us will face a 595 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:35,920 furnace of sorts sometime. It could be a literal one, as 596 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:40,120 Polycarp did in Turkey and 155 AD, where they burned him at the 597 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:45,840 stake because he wouldn't go Caesar's Lord and put the 598 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:47,520 incense down. That's all he had to do. 599 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:49,520 Caesar's Lord, sprinkle some incense. 600 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:51,720 He would have lived. The Roman guard said, just old 601 00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:54,880 man, you're a lovely old man. Because he fed them, fed the 602 00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:57,560 soldiers came to us. Just just just say Caesar's 603 00:38:57,560 --> 00:38:59,280 Lord, sprinkle a bit. What's what's the deal? 604 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:03,880 He says, I can't do that. It might be a furnace of 605 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:08,360 mocking, being laughed at in your school, by your own family, 606 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:10,480 your workplace, or your sporting team. 607 00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:14,000 You know you can be laughed into hell, but you can't be laughed 608 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:19,120 out of hell. The ifs in verse 17 and 18 were 609 00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:21,720 strong, clear, with no questioning of God's ability, 610 00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:24,320 His omnipotent power. God will deliver. 611 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:27,880 They each believe that God was able to deliver them alive. 612 00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:31,880 Their response was strong, but they did not know the mind of 613 00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:33,200 God. They didn't know what God was 614 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:36,880 going to do, whether his plans included their deliverance. 615 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:41,200 If they died, well, God would still be vindicated like Job. 616 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:45,760 Job says Job 13 verse 15. Though he slay me, yet I will 617 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:50,360 trust him, Even so, I will defend my own ways before him. 618 00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:53,360 Nothing would change their convictions. 619 00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:56,320 They chose God's will above their own. 620 00:39:56,440 --> 00:40:01,040 If only you and I would do that. If you left today and you chose 621 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:05,760 God's will above your own, your life will change dramatically. 622 00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:10,360 Why? The Word of God was clear. 623 00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:13,680 Exodus 20, verse 4. You shall not make for yourself 624 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:16,800 a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven 625 00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:20,040 above, was on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under 626 00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:23,120 the earth. You shall not bow down to them 627 00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:25,760 nor serve them. It's pretty clear for I, the 628 00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:33,480 Lord your God am a jealous God. Nebuchadnezzar goes off, throw 629 00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:36,920 them in the furnace. Verse 20 So he commanded the 630 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:39,320 mightiest men of his army to come forward. 631 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:42,040 They grab Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. 632 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:44,440 They stoked the the brick kiln furnace. 633 00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:47,960 It's just glowing. And as they throw these guys in, 634 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:51,280 the fire is so bad that the men who grabbed them and arrest them 635 00:40:51,400 --> 00:40:55,000 are burnt. As the three fall into the fire, 636 00:40:56,800 --> 00:41:00,720 it says verse 23, these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and 637 00:41:00,720 --> 00:41:05,000 Abednego, fouled down, tied up into the midst of the burning 638 00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:09,960 fiery furnace. But here's the greater miracle. 639 00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:15,840 The three young men were seen not laying on the ground being 640 00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:20,200 cooked. Now they've seen walking around 641 00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:26,520 calmly, around and around in the flames, no longer tied up, 642 00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:28,920 unaffected by the flames of the furnace. 643 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:31,440 They're not screaming help Get Me Out, Get Me Out. 644 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:33,120 They're just walking around calmly. 645 00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:37,640 The king then sees something even more amazing. 646 00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:41,280 Verse 24, he said, can we cast in how many? 647 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:43,800 We cast in three, three men, right? 648 00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:49,480 Yes, true old king. He says, look, I see four men 649 00:41:50,240 --> 00:41:53,160 loose walking in the middle of the fire. 650 00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:59,240 They're not hurt and in the form of the 4th is like the Son of 651 00:41:59,240 --> 00:42:01,560 God. Wow. 652 00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:07,320 There was a fourth person in the furnace walking with them who 653 00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:13,680 wasn't It was the Lord in Isaiah 43 verse 2 before this event 654 00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:16,560 happened. Isaiah wrote when you pass 655 00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:20,280 through the waters, I'll be with you through the rivers. 656 00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:25,600 They shall not overflow you. The Jordan, remember sea, Red 657 00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:30,960 Sea, when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned. 658 00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:36,040 How can he say that? Nor shall the flames scorch you. 659 00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:40,040 That's specific. I am with you always until the 660 00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:41,480 end of the age. Jesus said. 661 00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:45,080 John 1633. These things I spoken to you, 662 00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:49,200 that in me you may have peace in the world you will have 663 00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:51,240 tribulation. But be of good cheer. 664 00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:57,120 I've overcome the world now some and I've heard teach incorrectly 665 00:42:57,120 --> 00:43:00,120 stated well these men when they said well we're not sure what 666 00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:06,240 God's going to do lacked faith. It's a good Hebrew Australian. 667 00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:11,720 They're buffets that say that because in Hebrews Chapter 11 668 00:43:11,720 --> 00:43:16,480 verse 32, the writer of Hebrews says, what more shall I say? 669 00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:21,000 For the time would fail to tell of Gideon and Barack and Samson, 670 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:24,880 Jephthah, also David and Samuel and the prophets who through 671 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:29,880 faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained 672 00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:33,240 promises, stopped the mouths of lions that's going to come 673 00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:40,040 quench the violence fire. Nothing could be further from 674 00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:43,160 the truth of the faith of these three young men. 675 00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:47,960 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were only in the fire. 676 00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:52,640 Why? You know, it was God's will for 677 00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:56,680 them to be in the fire, to be thrown into the fire. 678 00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:01,520 Because they chose God's will, ended up in the fire. 679 00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:04,720 They put God's will above their own. 680 00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:12,040 But because of their decision, because of their stand, the 681 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:16,360 following blessings, which we miss out on so much because we 682 00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:18,360 won't, we won't go that but why? What? 683 00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:20,720 No, it's too risky. I'm not doing I'll just I'll 684 00:44:20,720 --> 00:44:24,680 just keep quiet about it. I won't say so we miss out on 685 00:44:24,680 --> 00:44:27,880 the blessings and we we, you know, we sing, we come to oh, 686 00:44:27,960 --> 00:44:31,720 God would bless me and bless me. Well, the blessings come, but 687 00:44:31,720 --> 00:44:33,600 they only come to those who stand up. 688 00:44:35,400 --> 00:44:37,800 You can't get the blessings if you're bowed down like everybody 689 00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:41,520 else. What were the blessings they 690 00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:44,760 received in the fire? They were aware of God's 691 00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:48,080 presence. They experienced God's 692 00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:51,640 protection. They saw God's power. 693 00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:54,160 They did not try to leave the furnace. 694 00:44:54,320 --> 00:44:56,360 They didn't say like, OK, we're walking out, we're not giving, 695 00:44:56,360 --> 00:44:58,040 let's get out of here. They stayed. 696 00:44:58,520 --> 00:45:01,480 You know why they stayed? Because Christ was with them. 697 00:45:01,640 --> 00:45:05,000 It was better in the fire with Christ than outside of the fire. 698 00:45:06,520 --> 00:45:09,720 The only reason they came out of the fire is Nebuchadnezzar 699 00:45:09,720 --> 00:45:12,160 called them out. Otherwise they would have stayed 700 00:45:12,160 --> 00:45:16,880 in there. They had fellowship with God in 701 00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:18,640 the trial. Many of you going through 702 00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:23,280 trials, let me tell you, you grow closer and stronger in your 703 00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:26,240 relationship with the Lord because of the trial. 704 00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:30,680 Look at the trial, the trials. God is allowed to come down and 705 00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:33,160 upon your life you go. Keith, I'm not enjoying it. 706 00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:36,920 No, we're not here to have a happy life, people. 707 00:45:37,120 --> 00:45:39,040 That's why people got well, I want to go to church to have a 708 00:45:39,040 --> 00:45:40,880 happy life. That's not what church is about. 709 00:45:41,600 --> 00:45:46,120 Our role is to grow into a, an understanding and knowledge and 710 00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:52,400 closeness of who God is. And the way that that happens is 711 00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:56,320 God says we're going to go through some fires, but then 712 00:45:56,320 --> 00:45:58,160 you're going to see how great and mighty I am. 713 00:45:58,400 --> 00:46:02,640 Then you're going to experience my closeness and then you'll see 714 00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:06,200 how much I love you. You'll understand who I am. 715 00:46:07,280 --> 00:46:10,120 So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came from the midst of 716 00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:12,720 the fire. Everyone stand around. 717 00:46:12,720 --> 00:46:14,760 They're all gathering. They're gaping, their mouths 718 00:46:14,760 --> 00:46:16,440 open. They saw these men on whose 719 00:46:16,440 --> 00:46:20,280 bodies the fire had no power. The hair of their head was not 720 00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:21,720 cinched. I know all about that. 721 00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:24,320 I'm good at barbecues. I've blown myself up several 722 00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:26,960 times. Nor were there garments 723 00:46:26,960 --> 00:46:29,840 affected, and the smell of fire was not on them. 724 00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:32,680 I love this because I can imagine all these other dudes 725 00:46:32,680 --> 00:46:40,560 going and Shadrach, Meshach just stand there, go sniff away. 726 00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:47,440 It's the smell of fire. Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying. 727 00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:51,760 Blessed be the God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego who said 728 00:46:53,240 --> 00:46:56,000 his Angel delivered his servants who notice. 729 00:46:56,040 --> 00:46:59,720 He said notice. Why, even Nebuchadnezzar, who 730 00:46:59,720 --> 00:47:03,680 trusted in him? That's what God says. 731 00:47:05,280 --> 00:47:08,400 And they are frustrated. The King's word, they have 732 00:47:08,720 --> 00:47:12,320 noticed he's picking out all the points. 733 00:47:12,720 --> 00:47:18,280 They have yielded their bodies. They they should not serve nor 734 00:47:18,280 --> 00:47:20,560 worship any God except their own. 735 00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:25,440 This is the second time the three young men have been 736 00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:28,160 identified as godly by the ungodly. 737 00:47:29,400 --> 00:47:32,360 Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, language, 738 00:47:32,360 --> 00:47:37,000 whatever that speaks against the God of Shadrach and and Meshach, 739 00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:38,840 and he says all this shall be cut in pieces. 740 00:47:40,080 --> 00:47:42,960 There is no other God who can deliver like this. 741 00:47:44,200 --> 00:47:47,120 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the 742 00:47:47,120 --> 00:47:49,600 province of Babylon. So where does promotion come 743 00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:52,600 from? Bible tells us it's from the 744 00:47:52,600 --> 00:47:55,360 Lord. Promotion only comes from the 745 00:47:55,360 --> 00:47:59,120 Lord. If they aren't standing up, 746 00:47:59,200 --> 00:48:01,480 there's no promotion. Do you get that? 747 00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:03,160 We often go. Why can't where come? 748 00:48:03,600 --> 00:48:05,640 Well, God's going well. Because you won't even stand up 749 00:48:05,640 --> 00:48:06,960 for me. Why should I promote you 750 00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:11,360 anywhere over here? As they stepped out of the 751 00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:13,160 furnace, there was no smell of smoke. 752 00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:17,240 No hair is singed. And because these three young 753 00:48:17,240 --> 00:48:20,760 men chose God's will above their own, the king saw the power and 754 00:48:20,760 --> 00:48:24,880 presence of God in their lives because of their obedience. 755 00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:26,440 You know, do you have unsaved loved ones? 756 00:48:27,640 --> 00:48:32,440 Yeah, we all do. Can they see because of the way 757 00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:36,560 that you stand up for God? Can they see the presence and 758 00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:40,000 power of God in your life because of your obedience to 759 00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:43,800 Him? Were the King's own proud words 760 00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:46,560 now ringing in his ears? And who is the God who will 761 00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:48,400 deliver you from my hands? Verse 15. 762 00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:51,880 Are you in a fiery furnace this morning? 763 00:48:53,120 --> 00:48:57,120 A fiery trial? At the moment we each experience 764 00:48:57,120 --> 00:49:03,640 them, but we must not bow down. We won't worship what everyone 765 00:49:03,640 --> 00:49:09,520 else worships. I won't worship what the world 766 00:49:09,520 --> 00:49:11,440 worships. You should say that I won't 767 00:49:11,440 --> 00:49:16,760 worship what the world worships. Jesus says in Acts 18. 768 00:49:16,760 --> 00:49:20,320 But you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come 769 00:49:20,320 --> 00:49:21,320 upon you. Why? 770 00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:25,080 You shall be witnesses. You testify of how great I am. 771 00:49:26,280 --> 00:49:29,760 God delivered his servants who trusted in Him, and they 772 00:49:29,760 --> 00:49:35,440 frustrated the King's word. They yielded their bodies that 773 00:49:35,440 --> 00:49:38,800 they should not serve nor worship any God except their own 774 00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:42,240 God. They yielded their bodies not 775 00:49:42,240 --> 00:49:44,920 merely the risking of their lives, but the giving of 776 00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:47,320 themselves. What does Romans chapter 12 777 00:49:47,320 --> 00:49:51,640 verse one say to you? And IA letter written by Paul to 778 00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:53,480 Christians and it's written to you. 779 00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:59,280 I pray you hear what it says. Verse one, Romans 12 and so dear 780 00:49:59,280 --> 00:50:03,840 brothers and sisters, I plead some of the Bible say, I beg you 781 00:50:05,680 --> 00:50:13,480 to give what your bodies to God because why of all that he's 782 00:50:13,480 --> 00:50:16,120 done for you? You think they stood up because 783 00:50:16,120 --> 00:50:18,280 what God has done for them already. 784 00:50:19,640 --> 00:50:21,320 So what has God done anything for you? 785 00:50:21,320 --> 00:50:30,920 Has He done anything for you? Let your body be a living and 786 00:50:30,920 --> 00:50:34,360 holy sacrifice. What is a sacrifice? 787 00:50:36,680 --> 00:50:38,440 It's something that you give up, isn't it? 788 00:50:40,400 --> 00:50:42,600 The kind he will find acceptable? 789 00:50:43,880 --> 00:50:49,920 And then it says, this is truly the way to worship Him. 790 00:50:52,520 --> 00:50:55,560 These three young men were honoured by the king, and God 791 00:50:55,560 --> 00:50:57,480 gave them protection and prosperity. 792 00:50:59,600 --> 00:51:02,000 Jesus said Matthew chapter 10 verse 32. 793 00:51:03,080 --> 00:51:07,320 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men him, I 794 00:51:07,320 --> 00:51:10,000 will confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 795 00:51:10,920 --> 00:51:15,400 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him also I will deny 796 00:51:15,400 --> 00:51:17,040 before my Father, which is in heaven. 797 00:51:18,360 --> 00:51:22,000 As we look back. All the things in the dream, did 798 00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:24,400 they happen? Babylon fell, didn't it? 799 00:51:24,400 --> 00:51:27,760 Read your history. Babylon fell to the Medes and 800 00:51:27,760 --> 00:51:29,480 the Persians. Who beat them? 801 00:51:30,120 --> 00:51:32,160 Greeks. And then who? 802 00:51:32,320 --> 00:51:34,160 Who beat the Greeks? The Romans. 803 00:51:34,640 --> 00:51:38,160 What's yet to come? Feet and toes. 804 00:51:39,320 --> 00:51:43,640 A10 world union. A union led by an antique. 805 00:51:43,800 --> 00:51:47,720 It's coming, these things have happened, so the word of God is 806 00:51:47,720 --> 00:51:50,400 going to happen. You and I are going to see, and 807 00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:54,200 we see it in Europe already. Everyone is arming up. 808 00:51:54,680 --> 00:52:01,200 Mr Trump has got that organised. You can live and stand for God 809 00:52:01,480 --> 00:52:06,320 in a lost world. Stop blaming everybody else and 810 00:52:06,320 --> 00:52:11,080 God for your situation. It's time to not be a victim. 811 00:52:11,720 --> 00:52:14,920 It's time to stand up and be a living sacrifice. 812 00:52:16,160 --> 00:52:21,400 In spite of separation from their parents, living under the 813 00:52:21,400 --> 00:52:25,640 pressure influences of the Babylonian religion, political 814 00:52:25,640 --> 00:52:31,800 pressure, immorality, the threat of death, these three young men 815 00:52:31,800 --> 00:52:36,160 did not waver. Paul says in One Corinthians 816 00:52:36,160 --> 00:52:39,560 1557. Thanks be to God who gives us 817 00:52:39,560 --> 00:52:41,600 the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 818 00:52:42,200 --> 00:52:46,040 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always 819 00:52:46,040 --> 00:52:49,160 abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour 820 00:52:49,160 --> 00:52:52,240 is not in vain in the Lord. Do you pray? 821 00:52:52,280 --> 00:52:54,880 Oh God, I'd love to see you. I'd love to experience you. 822 00:52:54,920 --> 00:53:00,040 Do you pray that I do, You know, for Stephen to experience seeing 823 00:53:00,040 --> 00:53:02,920 the Lord, you know, what it took, and being stoned to death 824 00:53:03,520 --> 00:53:07,440 and then as he was dying, he saw heaven open and the Lord Jesus 825 00:53:07,440 --> 00:53:11,400 welcoming him home For the apostle John, when did he, yes, 826 00:53:11,400 --> 00:53:15,120 he walked with Christ, but when did he see Christ in all his 827 00:53:15,120 --> 00:53:19,360 glory on the island of Patmos? Exiled. 828 00:53:20,120 --> 00:53:24,800 When Paul, when did Paul get a glimpse of heaven and all its 829 00:53:24,800 --> 00:53:27,760 wonders? When Paul was stoned and left 830 00:53:27,760 --> 00:53:30,120 the dead in Lystra, he was caught up into heaven. 831 00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:35,080 This morning as I close and the worship team comes forward, God 832 00:53:35,080 --> 00:53:41,600 invites you today you can do it in your seat where you are to 833 00:53:41,600 --> 00:53:44,920 sacrifice your life to serve him. 834 00:53:46,200 --> 00:53:49,240 You can make a statement in your seat where you are. 835 00:53:49,240 --> 00:53:53,800 You can say today, God, I'm going to be like those three. 836 00:53:54,200 --> 00:53:57,600 I will stand as the forest in the furnace. 837 00:53:57,600 --> 00:53:59,120 I come through the fiery furnace. 838 00:53:59,360 --> 00:54:03,240 I will stand. I won't be arrogant, I'll be 839 00:54:03,240 --> 00:54:09,760 gracious. I'll stand because Jesus says if 840 00:54:09,760 --> 00:54:12,360 you want to follow me, what do you have to do? 841 00:54:12,960 --> 00:54:16,160 Deny yourself? Take up the cross? 842 00:54:16,160 --> 00:54:19,800 What does that do That kills you, Kills your old ways, your 843 00:54:19,800 --> 00:54:22,600 old plans, the old self. Follow me. 844 00:54:23,680 --> 00:54:26,400 God invites you. Everyone of you seated here 845 00:54:26,400 --> 00:54:30,840 today, those of you listening online to today, make a stand 846 00:54:30,840 --> 00:54:34,760 and say, today I will not worship what the world worships. 847 00:54:35,080 --> 00:54:38,040 Today I will lift you. I will stand for you.