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Collierville First Baptist Church
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Good evening.
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I suppose that you enjoyed your meal and your ice cream.
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(Audience Laughing)
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I come before you tonight with a mix of emotions.
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I'm angry, saddened,
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but I'm not surprised.
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Charlie Kurt was 31 years old. Got a young wife and two little girls.
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Charlie Kirk is one of the finest Christians you'll ever meet.
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He stands for his faith boldly.
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He knows the truth.
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And now he's with Jesus. (Audience Member Speaking Faintly) I'm gonna tell you why I'm not surprised
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because I believe the Bible.
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The Bible prophesies
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that as we near the end of the world,
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the coming of Christ, things are gonna get worse and worse and worse. (Audience Member Chuckling)
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I know you've seen
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the video of the young lady from Ukraine.
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Just a senseless murder
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of an innocent girl
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and not one person on that train did anything to help her.
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Now they may not have been able to stop the actual stabbing because it happened so quick,
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but even after it happened,
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nobody went to hell. Nobody took a rag and tried to stop the bleeding.
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Nobody comforted that girl.
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I'm telling you, it's amazing.
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I'm telling you,
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how fast things are going downhill.
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I had somebody ask me, what are you gonna teach tonight? Well, I'm in the right chapter for tonight.
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I am.
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You know, Charlie Kirk was like a Daniel.
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Like a Daniel.
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(Audience Member Chuckling)
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You know what makes me matter in anything is the liberal media.
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One pencil neck media person got on and said, well, it was probably a magga person with a gun. It just went off. And the crowd.
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Now that's stupid.
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Excuse me, I shouldn't say that.
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I told brother Bob, pray for me.
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I don't wanna say anything I shouldn't say, but I don't wanna miss saying something I should say.
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But I believe this is a wake up call. It's a wake up call for Christians in America. (Audience Member Speaking Faintly)
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What happened to him is gonna happen to more bold, defiant, truth speaking Christians in the future.
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And last week we talked about, we got a dare to be a Daniel.
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And it may cost you.
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It may cost you your life. (Audience Member Speaking Faintly)
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I mean, we live in a nation
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where the president of the United States
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an attempt to assassinate him happened two times.
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We live in a nation
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where the justice system seems to be more concerned about the victims, excuse me.
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Did I say that right?
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About the, you know what I'm saying.
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About the criminal, then they are the victims. That's what I'm trying to say.
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And it's sick.
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All right, now that I got that out of my system.
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I do want us to get into Daniel chapter two.
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And I think gonna find that is so relevant for what's happening.
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So let's pray.
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Heavenly Father, thank you so much
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that we can come tonight in the midst of a tragedy.
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And we can feast on the Word of God.
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And we can know that you're sovereign.
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And we can know based on this chapter, Lord, that we win in the end. I praise God for that.
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Lord, I pray for our teenagers.
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Some of them were calling today about this situation. I pray you give will and the team wisdom and discernment
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as they speak to our teenagers tonight.
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Lord, we love you. We thank you for your grace and your mercy.
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Open up the Word of God, open up our hearts. Let us receive what you have for us tonight, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.
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At the end of Daniel chapter one,
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we're told that God blessed Daniel
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and his three friends.
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These blessings included in verse nine, he gave them favor with Ashpenaz who was over them. And he gave them knowledge and intelligence in verse 17 of chapter one. He gave them wisdom in verse 17 of chapter one. He gave Daniel the ability to understand visions and dreams, chapter 17 of chapter one. And he gave Daniel great influence for a long time.
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Verse 21.
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Now, why did God do that? Why did God bless these four young Jewish guys who were teenagers? Why did he bless them so much?
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Because they had convictions
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and because they were committed to Christ.
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Do you realize that what happened in chapter two
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could very well have cost these four young Jewish teenagers? They may have been 19 at the time.
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It could have cost them their lives.
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They could have been torn asunder
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if they didn't do what Nebuchadnezzar asked them to do.
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So at the end of this three year training period, Daniel and his friends were included in Nebuchadnezzar's cabinet, we'll say.
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His spiritual advisors.
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But I'm sure they came into this group low on the totem pole. They didn't come in at the top. Now they rose to the top, but they didn't come in at the top, I guarantee you.
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So Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle and Azariah, I like their Jewish names better than I do their Babylonian names.
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Because I can pronounce them better.
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And because the Jewish names have meaning.
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It's a reference to God.
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Now, some people read the words of the prophets and consider their writings to be a leap into the dark. I'm gonna be very honest with you. I am absolutely amazed at how few Christians have any concern about biblical prophecy.
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It's like they want to avoid it.
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Do you realize that about one third of the Bible is biblical prophecy?
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So are we gonna say, well, I'll tell you what, I'll study two thirds of the Bible, but I'm not gonna study that third,
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that one third, 33 and one third percent of the Bible.
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And to me, that is insane. How could we just avoid, you know what I'm gonna do after I get through preaching on the family?
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I'm gonna preach the Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24 and 25, and we're gonna look at what Jesus said about the last days.
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It'll be several weeks,
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but we're gonna do that on Sunday morning.
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So we're gonna look at Daniel on Wednesday night
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and the Olivet Discourse on Sunday morning.
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Please don't run from that.
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I never will forget when I preached through Revelation, we had people leave the church.
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Yes, I am not exaggerating.
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People left the church, and one family told me they left because they got tired of hearing about judgment. (Congregation Chattering) So some people read the words of prophets and consider the writings to be a leap into the dark.
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Not so. Others mock and sneer at what they consider to be sheer nonsense.
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However, there are true believers who take God's word seriously because it is truth without any mixture of error.
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I trust that as we get into our text,
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you will approach it with a desire to understand what God has ordained concerning the future.
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H.A. Ironside, the great preacher of Moody Bible Church, highlighted the importance of Daniel chapter two. He said, "Daniel chapter two contains the most complete
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and yet the most simple prophetic picture that we have in all the word of God."
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Another writer commented and said, "This chapter two is the backbone of biblical prophecy."
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I love what O.S. Hawkins wrote in his book, entitled "Culture Shock Advice from Daniel for Addressing Today's Culture."
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He said, "Here's a man by the name of Daniel
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who lived 2,500 years ago,
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and he not only tells us in detail what has ensued in world history over the last 2,500 years,
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but what is happening in our world today."
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The key to understanding this chapter is found in a few key phrases in Daniel chapter two, verse 28 and 29 and verse 45. Let's just look at those just quickly.
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Look at Daniel chapter two, verses 28 and 29.
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Now we know in this chapter,
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Nebuchadnezzar's cabinet, his spiritual advisors
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who were conjurers and sorcerers and wizards, and they were involved in the occult,
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they couldn't deliver.
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They were worshiping false gods, demons,
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and when push came to shove,
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they couldn't deliver what Nebuchadnezzar was asking for
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because he asked him to do two things.
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He asked him to tell him the dream he had and to tell him the interpretation of the dream he had.
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And as we go through the text now, you'll notice that they went a little bonkers on that idea of having to tell him the dream he had.
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Now they had ways, if he had told them the dream, they had ways that they could have connived an interpretation that would have seemed somewhat plausible,
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but it wouldn't have been the truth.
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And Nebuchadnezzar knew that. He knew that. They had played him before and he was not gonna be played again.
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But there were four other guys, Daniel in particular,
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who would be able to deliver what Nebuchadnezzar asked for.
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So in Daniel 2, verses 28 and 29, look at it. However, this is what Daniel says to Nebuchadnezzar.
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"There is a God in heaven."
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Hey, repeat that with me. "There is a God in heaven." And there is.
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There's only one God in heaven
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who reveals mysteries and has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the, look at it, latter days.
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"This was your dream and the visions in your mind "while on your bed.
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"As for you, O King, while on your bed, "your thoughts turned to what would take place "in the future." Notice, latter days and in the future.
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And he reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. Look at verse 45.
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"In the days of those Kings, the God of heaven "will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed.
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"And that kingdom will not be left for another people. "It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms "but it itself will endure forever." You know what gave me hope today?
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Looking at chapter two of Daniel.
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Because chapter two of Daniel is a panoramic view of world history.
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It tells about the major kingdoms in world history.
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This chapter talks about the Babylon, the first major kingdom. It talks about the Medo-Persian Empire. It talks about Greece, the Grecian Empire. It talks about Rome.
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And it talks about the revived Roman Empire.
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And then it talks about the Kingdom of Messiah.
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A kingdom that will last forever.
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That's what we're shooting for, right?
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A perfect kingdom where this nonsense is not going on. A kingdom where he rules the entire world.
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He rules all of creation.
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Now the book of Daniel is all about the sovereignty of God.
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But right now it's the sovereignty of God over a fallen world.
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I'm telling you, in this kingdom that Daniel's talking about, that Daniel's talking about his last kingdom, the Messianic Kingdom, it's the sovereignty of God over a perfect world.
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Is that not amazing?
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That 2,500 years ago,
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the God of heaven revealed to Daniel
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the kingdoms of world history.
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Hey, how would you like this?
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How would you like this coming Super Bowl? The Super Bowl in February.
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How would you like if you had a video
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of the Super Bowl before it was played?
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And you could look the video
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and before the game ever started, you would be able to see all the major plays.
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You would know the two teams who were playing.
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You would know when there was a fumble, whether you should get upset or not, because you know the outcome of the game before the game is ever played.
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That's where we are.
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It's like we have a video of the Super Bowl before it's ever played. We've got a video of world history before it's ever played out.
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That's what makes this chapter so important.
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Let's go back to O.S. Hawkins' statement.
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About midway, O.S. Hawkins said, he begins by informing us that there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets.
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He goes on to say that this God has made known what will be in the latter days, what will come to pass after this, what will be in the future. It's like what he says, it's like watching Super Bowl video before the game has been played.
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This chapter is prophetic in nature.
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Daniel tells us how world history will end.
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You know, sometimes I get so,
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what's the word?
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Confused.
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When people talk, these so-called experts talk about how the world's gonna end.
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I know how the world's gonna end.
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We've seen the video, it's right here in the prophetic scriptures.
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You can go over to Revelation, you can really see some close-ups of world history. So Daniel tells us how world history will end.
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He reminds us in verse 45 that the dream is certain and its interpretation is sure.
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All right, enough. Let's get into the chapter, all right? Let's look first at the dream, the dream.
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Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar,
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Nebuchadnezzar had dreams and his spirit was troubled
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and his sleep left him.
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Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans
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to tell the king his dreams.
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So they came in and stood before the king. Nebuchadnezzar in his second year of his reign had a very disturbing dream, a dream that he couldn't figure out. You ever had one of those dreams?
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You know, you wake up, you're in a cold sweat
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and you don't know whether it's real or whether it's not. You know what I'm talking about?
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According to the Eastern mindset,
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it was a bad omen to forget a dream.
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So he would deeply trouble and the root word for this word trouble means to like strike as with a hammer on an anvil.
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So he issues a call for all of his spiritual advisors,
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the magicians.
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These guys recorded the materials used in the Babylonian religion.
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They employed spells and rights to heal, to exercise evil spirits and to counter evil spirits.
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Well, that would be like a demon casting out a demon, wouldn't it?
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Conjurers, these guys use magic spells and incantations to communicate with the spirit world.
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We call them today channelers.
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You realize all this stuff is still around?
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I mean, the occult in the world today is absolutely off the charts
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and too many people play around with it without ever knowing it.
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Do you realize that if you get up and you look at your horoscope, you're playing around with the occult?
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You are, quit it, don't do it. Don't dabble in this stuff.
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And then sorcerers, these were wizards
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who practiced witchcraft.
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We had a, do you remember Yale Wall
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that we had a church planter in Indianapolis that we support, you were there Jamie.
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And Yale Wall was talking about how there is a witch's coven in that community where he's planted the church.
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And the leader of that coven has been coming to his church.
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Amazing, isn't it?
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It's everywhere.
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And then the Chaldeans,
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they seem to be the spokesman for this group.
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They were experts in astrology.
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So these were elite leaders of the godless demonic false religion of Babylon.
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And Nebuchadnezzar had bought into this locked stock and barrel, but things would change as we'll see later. As we'll see later.
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So occult practices, gotta stay away from. Number two, the demand.
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First the dream, then the demand. Look at verse three to six.
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The king said to them, so Nebuchadnezzar said to them, to these, his spiritual advisors, he says to them, I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.
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Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic.
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Now here's an interesting thing I want you to see. From chapter two, verse four,
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to the end of chapter seven,
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Daniel is written in Aramaic, not Hebrew.
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You say, well, why would this part of Daniel's prophecy be written in Aramaic and not Hebrew?
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The language of the Jews.
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I'm gonna get to that in just a second.
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Let's keep reading here.
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Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, O king, live forever.
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Tell the dream to your servants
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and we will declare the interpretation. Boy, they felt good about themselves. You tell us a dream, we'll give you the interpretation. No sweat.
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The king replied to the Chaldeans.
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The command for me is firm.
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If you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made of rubbish heap.
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And a cold sweat broke out on his spiritual advisors.
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But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor. Therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.
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So why did the Holy Spirit inspire Daniel
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beginning with chapter two, verse four through chapter seven
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to use the language of Aramaic?
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Well, you know, for the most part,
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the Old Testament is written in Hebrew
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and the New Testament is written in Greek.
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But here's a section that's Aramaic. Now think about this.
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In chapters two to seven, the concern is Babylon. That's the emphasis, Babylon.
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So this section of Daniel was recorded in Aramaic so that the Babylonians could understand it and they could understand the truth about God.
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But the latter portion of the book, chapters eight through 12,
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concerns the future of the Jewish people.
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And it was written in Hebrew.
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Do you know what that tells me?
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God was the God of heaven. The true God was concerned about Babylonians coming to truth to the truth. And he was concerned about Jews coming to the truth.
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Amazing, that little insight just thrilled me when I saw it.
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Okay, now the decision, look at verse seven to 13.
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They answered a second time and said,
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let the king tell the dream to his servants
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and we will declare the interpretation. Now they've already tried that one time.
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I guess they thought they could wear King Nebuchadnezzar down.
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Did your kids ever do that growing up?
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They just keep coming back, keep coming back, think they can wear you down.
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The king replied in verse eight, "I know for certain that you're bargaining for time."
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Did your kids ever bargain for time?
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And as much as you have seen that the command for me is firm, that if you do not make known the dream to me, there's only one decree for you.
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For you've agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation has changed. Therefore, tell me the dream that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation.
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King Nebuchadnezzar didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday, did he?
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He knew these guys.
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The Chaldeans answered the king and said, "There's not a man on earth who could declare "the matter for the king." And as much as no king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean. Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult
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and there's no one else who could declare it to the king except gods whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.
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You see where this is headed, don't you?
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Verse 12, "Because of this, the king became indignant
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"and very furious and gave orders to destroy "all the wise men of Babylon.
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"So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain
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"look at this last part, and they look for Daniel "and his friends to kill them."
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Now remember, they're part of this group now.
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They're part of Nebuchadnezzar's spiritual advisor cabinet.
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Low on the totem pole, but they're still a part of it.
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So now there's a manhunt going on looking for Daniel,
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Hana'ni, Michelle and Azariah,
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along with the rest of the spiritual advisors.
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And they weren't looking for them to carry them out to lunch. They were looking for them to kill them.
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Why?
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Because Nebuchadnezzar wanted somebody
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who could tell him his dream and the interpretation of the dream.
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(Congregation Chattering)
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The Babylonians were famous for their astrology,
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but it couldn't help those astrologers this time, could it?
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Over a hundred years earlier, the God of Israel had challenged the wise men of Babylon to deliver their nation from his power by their sorceries, spells and counsel from the stars. Look at Isaiah 47, 12 and 13. Just flip back to your left.
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Isaiah 47, 12 and 13.
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And God is speaking to the Babylonians.
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God says to them, "Stand fast now in your spells
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and in your many sorceries
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with which you have labored from your youth.
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Perhaps you will be able to profit.
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Perhaps you may cause trembling.
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You are wearied with your many counsels. Let now the astrologers, those who prophesy by the stars, those who predict by the new moons, stand up and save you from what will come upon you.
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Behold, they have become like stubble.
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Fire burns and they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame.
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There will be no cold to warm by nor fire to sip before.
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So have those become to you with whom you have labored who have trafficked with you from your youth. Each has wondered his own way. There is none to save you."
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God challenged the nation of Babylon
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and their spiritual professionals.
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Only God possesses wisdom, power and salvation,
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gifts granted to all who call upon his name only. (Congregation Applauding)
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So the stage is now set for the first great revelation to Nebuchadnezzar of the reality, wisdom and power of the one true God, the stage is set.
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Now look at the defense.
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Look at verses 14 to 18.
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Then Daniel replied with discretion. So they've come looking for Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle and Azariah.
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And Daniel replies to Ariok, the king's commander. Look at it. Then Daniel replied, notice this, you ought to underline this, with discretion and discernment.
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I'll tell you, Daniel and his three friends,
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they were amazing.
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You remember when Ashburnaz told them that they would have to eat the king's food and drink the king's wine?
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They didn't bow up and become a smart aleck.
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They knew how to handle people.
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They knew how to talk to people.
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They knew how to influence people.
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So they not only knew how to influence Ashburnaz, they also knew how to influence Ariok.
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So they talked to him, notice,
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with discretion and discernment. Well, we can learn a lot from these guys.
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About how to talk to people, how to treat people,
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how to influence people. How to influence people.
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And verse 15, he said to Ariok, the king's commander,
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for what reason is the decree from the king so urgent?
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Why is it so urgent?
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Then Ariok informed Daniel about the matter. I'm not sure that Daniel and his three friends knew about what had taken place between Nebuchadnezzar
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and his spiritual advisors.
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So Daniel went in, look at verse 16, this is amazing.
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So Daniel went in and requested of the who? The king.
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Ariok got Daniel an appointment with the king.
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An appointment with the king.
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So he went in and requested of the king that he would give him time in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king.
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Notice what Daniel did.
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Evidently Nebuchadnezzar gave him time, maybe 24 hours, I don't know.
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But then Daniel went to his house
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and informed his friends Hananiah, Michelle, and Azariah about the matter.
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Verse 18, so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that Daniel and his friends will not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
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So you might call this the first student prayer meeting.
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Okay, remember these guys are 18, 19 years old.
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And Daniel goes to his three friends and he said, guys, we gotta pray.
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What faith these young men had.
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What boldness to go before the God of heaven. See, they believed that nothing was impossible with God.
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They believed, you know what they believe? They believed that God knew the dream he had given to Nebuchadnezzar.
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And they believed that God not only knew the dream, but he knew the proper interpretation.
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So they went to the only source they could go to to find an adequate answer for their dilemma.
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It's interesting that they call God the God of heaven.
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Now, I want you to notice verse 19. Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision.
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So Daniel did not get up and walk the floor in a sleepless stupor.
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Daniel went to sleep.
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He went to sleep. That reminds me of Peter.
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You know, in Acts chapter, I think it's 12 maybe.
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Peter's in prison.
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He's chained. They've said, hey, we're gonna execute you in the morning.
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We're gonna execute you. And you know what Peter D went to sleep?
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He went to sleep.
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And an angel came in the middle of the night,
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freed him from the shackles,
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led him out of the jail, out of the city gate
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to the house where the church was meeting.
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And here's Daniel.
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He and his three friends were in danger of being torn from limb to limb, sound asleep.
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It's a good thing.
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Because he'd been up walking in a sleepy stupor.
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A sleepy stupor, he would have missed the dream where he got the vision of the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had and the interpretation.
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The Bible says, be anxious for nothing.
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But in everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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And that New Testament passage
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was working in Daniel, Michelle,
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Hennoniah and Azariah's life, 2,500 years ago. Hey, when you have a big thing going on in your life,
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what's the first thing you do?
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Is the first thing you do? Prayer?
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Or is God a last resort?
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Can I suggest something to you?
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Make God your first resort.
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Your first one.
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Gather some people, pray about it, trust God.
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Trust God.
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He's got your best interest in heart, I promise you.
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So what a contrast we see here between Daniel and his friends
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and the demonic side of Nebuchadnezzar's spiritual advisors.
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Now look at verse 19-23, then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision.
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Now remember in chapter one,
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one of the things that God blessed Daniel with was the ability to interpret dreams and visions, right?
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Came in real handy in the next chapter.
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Daniel said, "Let the name of God be blessed for ever and ever."
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So they prayed and their prayer morphed into praise.
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Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel said, "Let the name of God be blessed for ever and ever for wisdom and power belong to him.
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It is he who changes the times and the epics.
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He removes kings and establishes kings.
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He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding.
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It is he who reveals the profound and hidden things.
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He knows what is in the darkness." I like that.
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God knows what's in the darkness.
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God knows all the mysteries of the universe
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and the light dwells with him.
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To you, O God of my fathers,
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I give thanks and praise
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for you have given me wisdom and power.
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Even now you have made known to me
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what we requested of you, for you have made known to us the kings matter.
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I'm telling you, this is a model prayer for us to study.
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You know what I like to do? I like to take the prayers of the Bible and pray them back to God.
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Have you ever done that before?
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It's a great way to pray.
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You just take this prayer
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and you make it your own, but you pray it back to God.
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You've made known to us the kings matter.
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I tell you that sets up the rest of this chapter
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and hopefully, hopefully we'll get to the rest of this chapter later, okay?
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Thank you for being here tonight.
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I would encourage you,
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pray for Charlie Kirk's family.
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I saw a picture of his wife and the two little girls. Goodness, those little girls about that tall.
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So sad.
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Pray for our nation.
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Let's close with a prayer.
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Heavenly Father,
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from the bottom of my heart,
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I thank you that you're the God of heaven.
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I thank you, Heavenly Father, that you put rulers into position and you take them out.
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I thank you, Heavenly Father,
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that you gave wisdom and discernment to Daniel, to record Daniel chapter two and a story of world history right before our very eyes.
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Thank you.
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Lord, we get so burdened
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with the fallenness of our world. When we read what happened to that young lady on that train,
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we read what happened, we hear about what happened to Charlie Kirk.
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Lord, Charlie Kirk was not assassinated, he was martyred.
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And I thank you that he's with you.
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And Heavenly Father, I do pray for his wife
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as she holds those two little girls in her arms tonight.
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As crocodile tears come down her face, Lord, I pray that you would meet every physical, spiritual and emotional need she has in her life according to your riches and glory in Christ Jesus.
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I pray for those little girls who are gonna grow up without their daddy.
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And I pray you'd be with them, Lord.
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I pray that you would give those little girls anything you want to give them. I pray that you would give those little girls everything they need to grow up healthy and whole and to love you like their daddy loves you.
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And Lord, I pray that you would take what the enemy meant for evil.
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And I pray you would turn it into something that would ultimately bring honoring glory to you.
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Lord, we thank you that there was a Babylonian kingdom.
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There was a Medo-Persian kingdom. There was a kingdom of Greece.
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There was a kingdom of Rome. There will be a revived Roman empire maybe very soon.
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But Lord, one thing we know for sure,
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the Messianic kingdom is coming.
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And I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you're gonna sit on the throne and you're gonna rule all of creation.
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And every knee will bow and every knee will bow. Those who are in heaven on earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that you are Lord to the glory of God the Father. And I praise you, Lord, that every born again believer will win in the end.
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Thank you, Lord.
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Thank you for giving this vision
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and this revelation to Daniel.
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Thank you that the spirit of God
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inspired him to record it in Aramaic so that the Babylonians could understand it and understand that there's a true God, one true God.
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Thank you that you love Babylonians and Gentiles and you love Jews and you want all to be saved and come to repentance.
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Lord, you're such a gracious God.
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We love you and thank you. We bless you.
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We thank you that your power is unrivaled, that your glory is beyond anything we could dream, think, or imagine.
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We thank you, Lord, that you've gone to prepare a place for us and if you go to prepare a place for us, you will come again and receive us to yourself that where you are will be also.
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Lord, thank you.
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So Lord, be with us. Help us to be light in the midst of darkness.
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Help us to keep our eyes on you, abide in you, Lord Jesus. And I pray you produce much fruit through our lives.
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In Jesus name, amen. Thank you.
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