SPEAKER_01: This podcast is brought to you by Grant Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_01: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandHarkway.org.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_00: God, when we say simple statements like, God is so good, we are declaring both your name and your nature.
SPEAKER_00: So when we speak the name of Jesus, we are saying to everybody and everything around us that not only is Jesus real, but he is Lord.
SPEAKER_00: He rules over the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of men.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, we've come to submit to you today.
SPEAKER_00: Not a word that our culture likes to use a lot, but when you're the king and we are your subjects, that's what we do.
SPEAKER_00: We submit to you.
SPEAKER_00: And that's not some beat-down existence, that is a flourishing that we were created for.
SPEAKER_00: So, Holy Spirit, open our eyes to the flourishing that we were created for, regardless of environment.
SPEAKER_00: We are the people of God, and so we flourish because God is good.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, increase our capacity to do that today.
SPEAKER_00: We pray from your word and by your spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And we pray it in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: And everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: You can have a C.
SPEAKER_00: If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Daniel chapter 6.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're our guest today, we're preaching to the book of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: It's called Expository Preaching, verse by verse, which is not a license to bore people and blame it on the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, the Bible is just, you know, it is what it is.
SPEAKER_00: I tell you what it is.
SPEAKER_00: It is the living, active, quick, and powerful word of God.
SPEAKER_00: It's sharper than any two-edged sword.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says of itself that it pierces down to the dividing asunder of joints and marrow and becomes a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
SPEAKER_00: That's not always comfortable.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's comforting, and sometimes it is very dysregulating.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're not afraid of either one of those because when the Bible convicts us, listen to me.
SPEAKER_00: When the Bible convicts you, it's really inviting you to rethink the way you are in a certain area of your life.
SPEAKER_00: And it invites you towards the better and the good.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: Say amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so today, what the Bible's going to do is it's going to invite you and I towards the better and the good.
SPEAKER_00: And so if it's if it's inviting us towards the better and the good, it's inviting us away from some things, towards that which is better and that which is good.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm going to read the entire chapter, uh, Daniel chapter six, because it's one incredible story about a man named Daniel who gets put in a cave with a bunch of lions because he will not bow down to the people around him.
SPEAKER_00: And so I want to just talk to you today about what we can expect.
SPEAKER_00: What can we expect in 2020 and going forward?
SPEAKER_00: I got a lot of phone calls, a lot of emails since the election, a lot of people freaking out.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, what are you going to do?
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm like, relax, take a breath.
SPEAKER_00: Uh by the way, let me just go on record.
SPEAKER_00: Um, somebody got a little upset in the first service and got up and walked out.
SPEAKER_00: I I'm not Democrat, I'm not Republican, I'm kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so if I make you mad, don't leave.
SPEAKER_00: Come up and tell me, hey, you jerk, you made me mad, and this is why.
SPEAKER_00: I might want to buy you lunch and hear more about it.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all are like, you don't mean that.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I do.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but I my job is not to tell you what I think, my job is to tell you what the Bible says, and that's what I'm going to do, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so if it rubs you a little bit, that's okay.
SPEAKER_00: Rubbin's racing.
SPEAKER_00: It just happens, amen.
SPEAKER_00: No NASCAR fans in the crowd.
SPEAKER_00: Back to the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Daniel chapter 6, starting verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps to be throughout the whole kingdom, and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give an account, so that the king might suffer no loss.
SPEAKER_00: Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him.
SPEAKER_00: Mark that phrase there.
SPEAKER_00: And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could not find any ground for complaint or any fault because he was faithful and no error or fault was found in him.
SPEAKER_00: Then these men said, We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection to the law of his God.
SPEAKER_00: And these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, O King Darius, live forever.
SPEAKER_00: All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction that whoever makes petition to any God or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into a den of lions.
SPEAKER_00: Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, King Darius signed the document and injunction.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: He got down on his knees three times a day, and he prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
SPEAKER_00: Then these men came to agreement and found Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh, they came by agreement, and they found Daniel, making petition and plea before his God.
SPEAKER_00: Then they came near and said before the king, Concerning the injunction, O king, did you not sign an injunction that anyone who makes a petition to any God or man within thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into a den of lions?
SPEAKER_00: The king answered and said, The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.
SPEAKER_00: Then they answered and said before the king, Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.
SPEAKER_00: Then the king, when he had heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel, and he labored till the sun went down to rescue him.
SPEAKER_00: Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and the Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.
SPEAKER_00: And then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions.
SPEAKER_00: The king declared to Daniel, May your God, whom you serve, continually deliver you.
SPEAKER_00: And a stone was brought and laid at the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet, with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: Then the king went to his palace and he spent the night fasting.
SPEAKER_00: No diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
SPEAKER_00: Then at break of day the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions.
SPEAKER_00: As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish.
SPEAKER_00: The king declared to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel said to the king, O king, live forever.
SPEAKER_00: My God has sent his angel and shut the lion's mouths, and they have not harmed me because I was found blameless before him, and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.
SPEAKER_00: Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den.
SPEAKER_00: So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he was trusted in his God, and the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions, they, their children, and their wives.
SPEAKER_00: And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.
SPEAKER_00: Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied to you.
SPEAKER_00: I made I make a decree that in all my role dominion, people are to tremble and fear the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever.
SPEAKER_00: His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.
SPEAKER_00: He delivers and rescues, he works signs and wonders in heaven and on the earth.
SPEAKER_00: He who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.
SPEAKER_00: So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
SPEAKER_00: What can we expect in 2020?
SPEAKER_00: What do we see in the text?
SPEAKER_00: First of all, it's an indication of what we can expect.
SPEAKER_00: And the first thing is simply this we we can expect people to see that the Holy Spirit is excellent.
SPEAKER_00: That the Holy Spirit is excellent.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: It says, then this Daniel, by the way, did you notice that all through the chapter they referred to him as this Daniel, this Daniel, this Daniel?
SPEAKER_00: Because he's distinguished.
SPEAKER_00: They're like, hey, we don't want to confuse him with any other people that have the name Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: This Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: But it says in verse 3, this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because an excellent spirit was in him.
SPEAKER_00: Now, now why why do I say that?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's not like Daniel was a good public speaker and he was good looking and he did keto and he was six foot three with a chiseled chin and weighed 200 pounds and he only ate healthy, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_00: No, no.
SPEAKER_00: What the Bible says when it says the an excellent spirit was found in him, that's a reference to the Holy Spirit, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Because they earlier chapters, these unbelievers would say the spirit, uh, uh, uh a spirit like the gods is inside of him.
SPEAKER_00: They did not have language for it, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Now, when we say the Holy Spirit, let me tell you what I mean because you've ever heard anybody talk about God, they say refer to the Trinity, or they say God the Father, God the Son, the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: God is three in one, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And and so when the Holy Spirit is God, it's not like the Holy Spirit is like the substitute teacher for Jesus who's gonna watch the class because Jesus is gone, and then when Jesus gets back, let me just ask you, did you ever have a substitute teacher in high school?
SPEAKER_00: Pity those people.
SPEAKER_00: They're in therapy right now, just twitching, like, what's the matter with you?
SPEAKER_00: I was a sub.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, someone stopped me in the hall the other day and said, Hey, our school is looking for subs.
SPEAKER_00: Would you be interested?
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Oh man, would I be interested?
SPEAKER_00: What grade is it?
SPEAKER_00: And she said, seventh.
SPEAKER_00: Whoa! I would I would take my belt off and whip everyone on day one.
SPEAKER_00: This is just for all the things you've gotten away with, and I want you to know there's a new sheriff in town, and I got a gun.
SPEAKER_00: And she said, Oh, you can't whip kids nowadays.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not interested then.
SPEAKER_00: I want them to know from day one, listen, you better take small breaths because Mr.
SPEAKER_00: Neal is your sub.
SPEAKER_00: I want them in the cafeteria trembling.
SPEAKER_00: What happened?
SPEAKER_00: We got a sub.
SPEAKER_00: We would get a sub.
SPEAKER_00: We'd go to the ag building and dip snuff for the whole hour and come back right before the bell rang.
SPEAKER_00: Where you been?
SPEAKER_00: Bathroom.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, have a seat.
SPEAKER_00: Bell's fixed to ring.
SPEAKER_00: But most people think about the Holy Spirit that way, like he's kind of like some substitute teacher.
SPEAKER_00: We really don't talk about him a whole lot, especially in the Baptist church, because the Trinity in the Baptist church is God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Bible.
SPEAKER_00: We're more comfortable with information than we are with intimacy.
SPEAKER_00: And the Holy Spirit's about intimacy.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to say this: the Holy Spirit's always existed.
SPEAKER_00: And I say that people to see that the Holy Spirit is excellent.
SPEAKER_00: I remember years ago, somebody gave me a certificate to get a massage, a 90-minute deep tissue massage.
SPEAKER_00: And my first thought was, that is creepy.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not letting anybody put stuff like their hands on me.
SPEAKER_00: And a friend of mine said, Dude, I have a massage.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, no.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a reason.
SPEAKER_00: He goes, Oh, it is incredible.
SPEAKER_00: You go in there, you lay on this specialized table with a hole where your face goes.
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, and I he said, they put the stuff on their hands, and when they rub you mass you, you it turns hot.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, that's called gasoline, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Uh and I'm like, and finally he said, I'm just telling you, just go.
SPEAKER_00: It will be.
SPEAKER_00: I went, oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00: It was phenomenal.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: They put hot stones on your back and they put a towel on your face.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh yes.
SPEAKER_00: Can you shave me while I'm here?
SPEAKER_00: And we got done.
SPEAKER_00: And I come out, and the lady goes, here's a glass of water.
SPEAKER_00: Drink a lot of water because it flushes the toxins out of your system.
SPEAKER_00: And she said, You said you're a pastor, right?
SPEAKER_00: I said, Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: And she goes, Huh, I never would have guessed that.
SPEAKER_00: I said, Why is that?
SPEAKER_00: She's holding the bottle of water in her hand.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Why is that?
SPEAKER_00: She goes, Because you carry no stress in your shoulders and in the place people carry stress.
SPEAKER_00: And I've never like given a massage to a pastor that they just weren't just a ball of stress.
SPEAKER_00: She goes, Can I ask you why that is?
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Because I have a person living inside of me.
SPEAKER_00: And she dropped the bottle of water.
SPEAKER_00: She went, Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, That's okay.
SPEAKER_00: He's really good.
SPEAKER_00: I said, The Spirit of God lives inside of me.
SPEAKER_00: And she goes, Are you serious?
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Yes, I'm serious.
SPEAKER_00: I said, You good, because see, if the Spirit of God did not live inside of me, I could never do what the Bible says.
SPEAKER_00: I said, You ever read the Bible and just think, there's no way I can do that?
SPEAKER_00: She goes, Yes, that's why I don't read it.
SPEAKER_00: It makes me feel guilty.
SPEAKER_00: I said, Exactly.
SPEAKER_00: Apart from the Spirit of God living inside of me, I couldn't do it either.
SPEAKER_00: But when I became a Christian, I didn't just get forgiveness in heaven, I got the presence of God inside of me.
SPEAKER_00: And she's like, No, wait, and by this time, people are cutting hair and they're like, Whoa, whoa, what God, Jesus, what's going on over here?
SPEAKER_00: And I said, uh, I just to summarize it real simple.
SPEAKER_00: I said, long time ago, God dwelt in what's called a tabernacle, like a portable tent, and then they built a temple for him.
SPEAKER_00: But but but the progression went from the tabernacle to the temple to the body.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: So when you give somebody a massage, you are putting your hands on the house that God dwells in.
SPEAKER_00: So conduct yourself appropriately.
SPEAKER_00: And she said, I didn't do anything.
SPEAKER_00: I no, no, you're very professional.
SPEAKER_00: This was incredible.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna I'm gonna try to figure this out away to get my wife to give me this for Christmas every year.
SPEAKER_00: This is awesome.
SPEAKER_00: And she said, We we have a program where you can get one a month.
SPEAKER_00: I went, Don't say that.
SPEAKER_00: Do not, I will not be worth shooting.
SPEAKER_00: Now, why do I tell you that?
SPEAKER_00: Because I walked out of there and this lady was by the door, and she went, That was the funniest thing I think I've heard in a long time.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, What was funny about that?
SPEAKER_00: And she goes, You said you have a person living inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: I have the spirit of God.
SPEAKER_00: It's really not a person, it's a spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And she went, Oh.
SPEAKER_00: And I just thought, What?
SPEAKER_00: What?
SPEAKER_00: You see, because we think Old Testament, no, no, no, Jesus, the Holy Spirit started at Pentecost.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Acts chapter two.
SPEAKER_00: No, because God's always existed and the Holy Spirit is God, the Holy Spirit has always existed.
SPEAKER_00: You say, uh, what do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: You you just go back to Genesis 1, verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what the Bible says in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
SPEAKER_00: The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
SPEAKER_00: Before anything had been created, the Holy Spirit was just kind of brooding over, like, God, you just speak it into existence because we're gonna make it happen.
SPEAKER_00: David was brokenhearted over his sin.
SPEAKER_00: And his great Psalm of Confession in Psalm 51, 11, he said this to God.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
SPEAKER_00: That's not possible, by the way, just in case you're wondering.
SPEAKER_00: But David is so broken that he's just like, Ah, when you're really convicted over sin, sometimes your mind goes to places that aren't even possible.
SPEAKER_00: It's not like God's gonna take his spirit out of David.
SPEAKER_00: It's that David's like, I am such a sinful person.
SPEAKER_00: God, how could you want to hang out with me?
SPEAKER_00: And God says, Hey, I'm not taking my spirit away from you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna renew in you a steadfast spirit, okay?
SPEAKER_00: But I'm not taking it away.
SPEAKER_00: But David is saying, Hey, I got the Holy Spirit living inside of me.
SPEAKER_00: Uh here's another thing the Holy Spirit does in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: He empowers people to speak the truth.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever been in situations where you have lunch with somebody and you think, I'm gonna bring this up and I'm gonna talk to them?
SPEAKER_00: Or if they bring this up, I'm gonna talk to them, and they don't bring it up, and the whole lunch plays out, and you walk to your car going, Oh, I wish I would have said something.
SPEAKER_00: Before you get to that lunch, you should just pray and just say, Holy Spirit, would you empower me to say everything I need to say in this lunch meeting?
SPEAKER_00: Because in the Old Testament, little book of Micah, uh, chapter three, verse eight, Micah says this, but as for me, I'm filled with power, with the spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
SPEAKER_00: He's not talking about a person, he's talking about a nation.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Hey, listen, the spirit of the Lord he says, I'm filled with power, with the spirit of the Lord and with justice and might.
SPEAKER_00: And so when you pray to the Holy Spirit, this is a great prayer, Lord, just fill me with power and with justice and might.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, being filled with power and justice and might, it doesn't make you mean, it makes you merciful.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about I'm gonna get filled, I'm gonna go in there and tear it.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: You you begin to see people the way God sees people, and your heart is tender towards them.
SPEAKER_00: Now, why do I go into all this detail?
SPEAKER_00: Here's why, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Because if you're a Christian, the same Holy Spirit is living inside of you that lived inside of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: And the people said of Daniel, hey, he has an excellent spirit inside of him.
SPEAKER_00: We don't agree with him what he believes or how he votes or whatever, but I'm telling you, there's something about this guy that is excellent.
SPEAKER_00: And all through the book of Daniel, what Daniel demonstrates is it's not me, it's God.
SPEAKER_00: Because the theme of Daniel is, regardless of circumstances, God is still sovereign, God is still in control.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: And so that's the first thing we see in Daniel chapter six.
SPEAKER_00: What can we expect?
SPEAKER_00: We live in a day and age where the culture is getting more hostile to believers.
SPEAKER_00: And it's okay if you're like, hey, what's gonna happen?
SPEAKER_00: Are they gonna come, come, just relax?
SPEAKER_00: They're gonna discover that inside of you is this excellent spirit called the Holy Spirit, and it's gonna make them want what you have, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Uh, here's the second thing we see: if not you, then it's your Bible.
SPEAKER_00: If not you, then it's your Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Then the high officials and the traps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault because he was faithful and no error or fault was found in him.
SPEAKER_00: Now just stop right there because he is faithful to his God, he's faultless in the workplace, and therefore they have to turn and attack the law of his God, which we'll get to that part in a minute.
SPEAKER_00: But I want you to hear this part that Daniel, they did a social media search and they didn't find one tweet that he regretted.
SPEAKER_00: He could never be their president.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, too too soon.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no social media, no Facebook posts, no anything, no video.
SPEAKER_00: They find nothing, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And so so the people are gonna come after you because that they don't want to get you.
SPEAKER_00: They just want to see, are you people really, you really believe all this?
SPEAKER_00: And and let me just say this, let me make this statement.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of fear going around about what's gonna happen if we have a Democratic president and the Democrats control the House and the Senate.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just say this.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure that there's a whole lot of this kind of Christian like Daniel in America today, those that kind of rise to the level that they're gonna come after us.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I mean, think about it.
SPEAKER_00: Why should they come after us when at our core we love what they love, we fear what they fear, and we pursue what they pursue.
SPEAKER_00: Why in the world will they waste any time coming after us?
SPEAKER_00: Because our fears are based on this unrealistic estimation of ourself and the integration of our faith.
SPEAKER_00: Now stay with me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not mad at anybody, okay?
SPEAKER_00: But just stay with me.
SPEAKER_00: Our fears, because I've heard this grandiose over the past week, oh, oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like doomsday preppers.
SPEAKER_00: Let's get the chip, chip beef and the AR-15, they're coming.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, dude, just take off the denim prairie skirt and keep living your life, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Uh I just said to somebody, they're like, well, that just sounds kind of harsh.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I don't think there's many believers in America.
SPEAKER_00: We may say it, but when push comes to shove, and you may think, oh, that's kind of harsh.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just take you back uh this to this past summer when a global pandemic was rocking the world.
SPEAKER_00: People took vacations all over our country.
SPEAKER_00: We went to kids' baseball tournaments, swim lessons, horseback riding.
SPEAKER_00: We ate out.
SPEAKER_00: And then here's my favorite part: you turned around and said, Oh, I'm not comfortable coming to church yet.
SPEAKER_00: You don't think the world looks at that and says, Oh, really?
SPEAKER_00: You're just like us.
SPEAKER_00: We're not gonna come after you, we're not gonna pass laws to persecute you.
SPEAKER_00: We don't take you that seriously.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the world looks around and kind of says, Oh, you guys will go.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you'll go to Disney World, you'll go to Colorado, you'll go to California.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, I'm not saying don't go.
SPEAKER_00: Go, go see the world.
SPEAKER_00: At some point, half our church was in Colorado this summer.
SPEAKER_00: My wife said, What's going on?
SPEAKER_00: I said, Weed.
SPEAKER_00: She's like, Neil McClendon.
SPEAKER_00: I said, These people are stressed, they need comfort.
SPEAKER_00: That's not even funny.
SPEAKER_00: You shouldn't joke about that.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying Bob Razicka's up there, you never know.
SPEAKER_00: There's probably a Grateful Dead tour going on up there.
SPEAKER_00: Stop joking.
SPEAKER_00: I said, She goes, What do you?
SPEAKER_00: I said, I love when people go and travel.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not so I'm not against travel, travel everything, but just know that the world looks at us and they see, oh, and then, oh well, but I'm I'm really not comfortable coming to church yet.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not a backhand statement coming to church.
SPEAKER_00: It's just, hey, stop worrying.
SPEAKER_00: And then, and then after we, you know, we get the global pandemic kind of figured out, we're losing an election and it you act like God died because now who are we gonna trust?
SPEAKER_00: And now it's like, oh my gosh, can you believe this?
SPEAKER_00: What are we gonna do?
SPEAKER_00: What does it say to the world about the sufficiency of God and the resilient nature of his people?
SPEAKER_00: If all of a sudden we are dysregulated.
SPEAKER_00: So they come after Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think we have to fear that, and they don't find anything, and so they turn and then they said, right here, he says, he said, we shall, verse five, then these men said, We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God, which is what they do, they'll come after you, and then they'll try to attack the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: You say, I don't know what you mean.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, just the past month, three these three things have been said to me.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, you believe all that stuff in the Bible?
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's kind of outdated, don't you think?
SPEAKER_00: I said, No, it's so irrelevant.
SPEAKER_00: I right now I said, I'm preaching through the book of Daniel, and the guy, what's that about?
SPEAKER_00: It's about how a culture gets hostile to Christians, and Christians stand up, and God rescues and reveals and redeems and gets all the glory because all the kingdoms of this world are gonna fade, and only the kingdom of God is gonna remain.
SPEAKER_00: That's in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: I said, Yeah, and why do you talk like that?
SPEAKER_00: Like your Yosemite Sam, back off.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, relax, dude.
SPEAKER_00: Smile a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: Here's another thing, and this is my favorite one.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody said to me, Doesn't the Bible teach you to hate the LGBTQ community?
SPEAKER_00: Learn to ask this question.
SPEAKER_00: When people say dumb stuff, I said, What's your source for that?
SPEAKER_00: And the lady said, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: What's my source?
SPEAKER_00: I said, What is your source?
SPEAKER_00: You just said to me, it wasn't a question, it was an assumption.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't the Bible?
SPEAKER_00: So you have to have some familiarity with the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: And she said, Well, to be honest, I've never really read the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: I said, Would you ever say that about the Quran?
SPEAKER_00: Nobody makes assumptive statements about the Quran.
SPEAKER_00: It's always about the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't the Bible teach you?
SPEAKER_00: No, actually, the Bible doesn't teach me to hate the LGBTQ community because the God of the Bible does not hate the LGBTQ community.
SPEAKER_00: And then she's like, What'd you just say?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, could you lose your job for that?
SPEAKER_00: It's like, clearly, you've never.
SPEAKER_00: I said, here's the thing: the Bible is against sin and all its manifestations.
SPEAKER_00: So the heterosexual man and woman that have sex outside the context of marriage, that is just as sinful as the homosexual couple that gets together.
SPEAKER_00: Are you serious?
SPEAKER_00: I said, Oh, it's worse than that, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Any kind of sexual behavior that takes place outside the confines of a monogamous marriage or relationship is sin, was sin, and will always be sin.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, our culture is changing.
SPEAKER_00: Culture doesn't define sin.
SPEAKER_00: God does.
SPEAKER_00: And this person looked at me and she said, You know, I think you're right.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, it's not me.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible's right.
SPEAKER_00: Something is wrong because God is a moral being and it offends his moral nature.
SPEAKER_00: So when you say God is good, that's that's a great course that we sing, but it is name and nature.
SPEAKER_00: Things are wrong.
SPEAKER_00: Sin is sin because it falls short, it misses the mark of what God intended.
SPEAKER_00: So the Bible's not against the LGBTQ community, the Bible is against sin because the wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_00: And how much do you have to hate somebody to watch them die and not speak out?
SPEAKER_00: This is all in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what page?
SPEAKER_00: Every one of them.
SPEAKER_00: But I mean, like what page?
SPEAKER_00: All that stuff you just said, is that on a certain page?
SPEAKER_00: It's on every one of them.
SPEAKER_00: It's all in there.
SPEAKER_00: Huh.
SPEAKER_00: I may have to read it sometime.
SPEAKER_00: Here's another one.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't the Bible divisive at a time when our whole nation needs unity?
SPEAKER_00: And again, I just asked the question what do you what is your source for that?
SPEAKER_00: Because the Bible says in Philippians 2, it says that, excuse me, Ephesians 2, of Jesus that he is our peace that it's broken down every wall.
SPEAKER_00: So instead of dividing, religion divides, God comes along and abolishes all these walls between races and religions and whatever.
SPEAKER_00: It says he is our peace that is broken down every wall.
SPEAKER_00: And he's made of the two, Jew and Gentile.
SPEAKER_00: You're talking about race relations.
SPEAKER_00: He's made of these two people that hate each other, one new man.
SPEAKER_00: It's called a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: So the Bible's not actually divisive, it's very unifying.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought this was funny, but it wasn't.
SPEAKER_00: I said, like George, like George Bush, the father, he's a uniter, not a divider.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, don't bring up the Bush family.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, sorry about that.
SPEAKER_00: Too soon.
SPEAKER_00: All right, whatever.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone who's not in your political affiliation is of the devil.
SPEAKER_00: And the person said, pretty much.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, that's a really small world to live in.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go back to talking about unite and dividing.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, the Bible's not divisive.
SPEAKER_00: It's not.
SPEAKER_00: The overarching, here's why I say all that, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Because they're going to come at you and hopefully you're blameless, okay?
SPEAKER_00: You're just like, hey, I'm living an integrated faith.
SPEAKER_00: Then they're going to attack the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: And because of that, the overarching need of Christians today is not just to defend yourself, but the inspiration and the authority of the Bible you believe in.
SPEAKER_00: But before you do any of that, you have to ask yourself, is the Bible authoritative over my life?
SPEAKER_00: Said differently, does the Bible have the authority, the right, the power to tell me what to do and what not to do?
SPEAKER_00: It comes down to that.
SPEAKER_00: Because if it doesn't, then you're never going to defend the Bible as authoritative or inspired by God.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the third thing we can expect.
SPEAKER_00: Weak leadership leads to bad decisions.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: Now y'all think, oh, you're getting after the Republicans.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's time for the other people.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 6 then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, Oh, King Darius, live forever.
SPEAKER_00: All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects, the satraps, the counselors, the governors, are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction that whoever makes a petition to any God or a man for 30 days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.
SPEAKER_00: So let me reframe it for you.
SPEAKER_00: Basically, a weak leader listens to bad counsel because he believes if he lets these people decide, then they'll let him stay in power a little bit longer.
SPEAKER_00: But enough about Joe Biden.
SPEAKER_00: It's a weak leader.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not just taking a swing at that.
SPEAKER_00: You got to think bigger, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Uh let me just say it again.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just chum the water here with some fresh red meat.
SPEAKER_00: A weak leader lets people convince and make a decision.
SPEAKER_00: There's 122 of them, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Where do you get that?
SPEAKER_00: There's 120 traps, kind of these little people are in charge of little counties.
SPEAKER_00: And then there's three people, and Daniel's one of the three, they all conspire against Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: So it's 122 people meet three different times in chapter six to say, we got to find a way to stick it to this guy.
SPEAKER_00: Because weak leadership leads to bad decisions.
SPEAKER_00: And can you expect that?
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: And in case you're wondering, yes, Donald Trump made bad decisions too.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the fourth thing: faithful people being consistent.
SPEAKER_00: This is what you can expect.
SPEAKER_00: Faithful people being consistent.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 10, when Daniel knew that the document had been signed, mark that in your Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel knew that the document had been signed.
SPEAKER_00: He went, watch this.
SPEAKER_00: He went, he's 72 years old, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: Best we can tell in this chapter.
SPEAKER_00: 72.
SPEAKER_00: And this brother's still bringing it.
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine a major league pitcher being 72 years old in the bullpen?
SPEAKER_00: He's now a relief pitcher, and they play Inter Sandman, and out comes Mariano Rivera at 72, and they're just like, Are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_00: And all of a sudden, that brother throws that cutter and just breaks people's bats, and you're like, shut up.
SPEAKER_00: This is what happens.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 10 when Daniel knew that the document had been signed.
SPEAKER_00: He went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber opening that were open towards Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: He closed the windows, took the fish off the back of the family's minivan, got down on his knees, crawled under the bed, and whispered his prayers so his neighbors wouldn't hear.
SPEAKER_00: No, no.
SPEAKER_00: He got off Facebook and got on parlor because he's going to show them.
SPEAKER_00: I love everybody if you're missing today.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, this is free.
SPEAKER_00: Mark Zuckerberg doesn't know Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can't expect him to do the right thing or the moral thing.
SPEAKER_00: He's a man who's got just gobs of money and he throws it around like power.
SPEAKER_00: He needs to meet, we'll get this a minute.
SPEAKER_00: He's a person of power.
SPEAKER_00: He needs to meet authority.
SPEAKER_00: And he's not going to meet authority if everyone, oh, we're going to show you.
SPEAKER_00: We're not showing anything.
SPEAKER_00: All we're showing is that we do not know how to occupy our space out of our identity and with authority.
SPEAKER_00: No, Daniel knew the document inside.
SPEAKER_00: He went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: He got down on his knees three times a day and he prayed and he gave thanks before his God.
SPEAKER_00: Here are these next five words.
SPEAKER_00: As he had done previously.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel says, I don't care who's in Washington.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care what Mickey Mouse laws you guys make.
SPEAKER_00: You're a bunch of morons.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to worship my God, come what may.
SPEAKER_00: These men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God.
SPEAKER_00: When your enemies come for you, what are they going to find you doing?
SPEAKER_00: You're going to be the doomsday prepper?
SPEAKER_00: Just it's just jitting up fear in your kids.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, I got kids.
SPEAKER_00: One of mine asked me, hey dad, what does this mean?
SPEAKER_00: It means that God is sovereignly ruling over the affairs of the world, and we got the president we deserve.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if that's good or bad, but that's, see, God rules the affairs of heaven, the kingdom of heaven, and the kingdom of men.
SPEAKER_00: And he sets over it whoever he wants.
SPEAKER_00: But the fix was in.
SPEAKER_00: If you go back to the Democratic primary, and I said this to my 17-year-old, she said, Yeah, I said, now the fix was in.
SPEAKER_00: They were all fighting, Kamala Harris was all emotional.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I was that little girl that was bust the next day.
SPEAKER_00: I'm riding with Biden.
SPEAKER_00: No, Silicon Valley, Media Center of New York, all got together and said, Hey, we got to do something about this.
SPEAKER_00: You get a cabinet position, you get a cabinet.
SPEAKER_00: He was like Oprah, you get a cabinet position, you get a cabinet position.
SPEAKER_00: And let me say this: who cares?
SPEAKER_00: Who cares?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying let's just abandon the political sphere.
SPEAKER_00: I'm saying let's not let what they do affect what we do.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Daniel does.
SPEAKER_00: They come and they find him, make him petition and plead before his God.
SPEAKER_00: Then they come near to the king and basically said, Hey, you sign the injunction.
SPEAKER_00: This is the law of the Medes and Persians.
SPEAKER_00: We passed a bill in the house.
SPEAKER_00: It was agreed upon in the Senate.
SPEAKER_00: Now you got to apply it.
SPEAKER_00: Great.
SPEAKER_00: Faithful people are going to be consistent.
SPEAKER_00: The government always insists upon separation of church and state, and except in circumstances like this, then they want to change the law so the state has authority over the church.
SPEAKER_00: Look at me, it never has and it never will have authority over the church.
SPEAKER_00: God has authority over the church.
SPEAKER_00: But I also need to say this that eventually this has to cost us something to prove to ourselves and demonstrate to everyone else that we actually believe the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, why should they even consider the gospel?
SPEAKER_00: If it's not worth living for and suffering for if need be.
SPEAKER_00: See, this is what makes people considerate.
SPEAKER_00: Which brings me to the next point.
SPEAKER_00: The fifth thing we see is that power recognizes authority.
SPEAKER_00: Power recognizes authority.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: The king, when he heard these words, he was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: And he labored until the sun went down to rescue him.
SPEAKER_00: Then these men came by agreement.
SPEAKER_00: There's another agreement, came by agreement to the king and said to the king, Know, O king, that is it is a law of the Medes and Persian, that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.
SPEAKER_00: Then the king commanded Daniel to be brought and cast into the den of lions.
SPEAKER_00: The king declared to Daniel, May your God, whom you serve, continually deliver you.
SPEAKER_00: And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den.
SPEAKER_00: And the king sealed it with his own signet, with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 18.
SPEAKER_00: Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting.
SPEAKER_00: No diversions were brought to him.
SPEAKER_00: You know what that means?
SPEAKER_00: No diversions were brought to him.
SPEAKER_00: No wine, no dancing girls, no movies, no, no, no court gesture.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to be entertained, the king says, because I'm kind of sick to my stomach.
SPEAKER_00: Because I have I've I've been duped by these people around me.
SPEAKER_00: And now a good man is being put to death.
SPEAKER_00: And sleep fled from him.
SPEAKER_00: What do I mean when I say power recognizes authority?
SPEAKER_00: Uh power, the king, recognizes authority, Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a country where we've confused the authority of power with the power of authority.
SPEAKER_00: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a country where we have confused the authority of power with the power of authority.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just take you back.
SPEAKER_00: When I was in the third grade, I rode the bus because we lived in the country and we were kind of white trash, and you rode the bus back then.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying if you ride the bus, you're white trash.
SPEAKER_00: Just stay, stay, stay, stay in what in my words, not yours.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm riding the bus and we get to the school and then we stop, and they're on the corner, these people walk out and have this white canvas belt with a white sash on that said safety patrol, and they had a sign that said stop.
SPEAKER_00: And these were sixth graders.
SPEAKER_00: And you could only be a safety patrol person if you were in the sixth grade and you had to fill out an application and you had to be approved.
SPEAKER_00: And so in the third grade, riding bus number five that Mr.
SPEAKER_00: Johns drove, I looked out and I was like, that is awesome.
SPEAKER_00: They got like a sash and it's safety patrol.
SPEAKER_00: I want to be safety patrol.
SPEAKER_00: So in the sixth grade, I filled out the application to be on safety patrol.
SPEAKER_00: Apparently, being on probation is a big deal.
SPEAKER_00: And you can't be on safety patrol if you're on probation.
SPEAKER_00: Had I known that, I wouldn't have broken into that place, but I was hungry.
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, and so they called me to the office and they said, Neil, you can't be on safety patrol because you're kind of a thug.
SPEAKER_00: Now they said, because you're on probation.
SPEAKER_00: And I went, Yeah, but it's not going on my record.
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be expunged when I'm 18.
SPEAKER_00: And the lady goes, How do you know so much about the law?
SPEAKER_00: We've talked a lot recently.
SPEAKER_00: And the guy said, if you keep your nose clean, this will go away.
SPEAKER_00: So no safety patrol.
SPEAKER_00: Here's why I want to be on safety patrol, because they had a sash.
SPEAKER_00: Did I tell you they had a sash and it said it was white with blue letters, safety patrol, and they had a sign.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what blew my mind in the third in the third grade.
SPEAKER_00: And so the third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, I was like, that is awesome.
SPEAKER_00: Because a sixth-grade kid would be on the corner and people would get a little gaggle of people, and then he would walk out and hold up a sign that said stop, and dump trucks would stop.
SPEAKER_00: And he would just stand there like halt, and then he would do this.
SPEAKER_00: And people would walk behind him, and then all he would just do like this.
SPEAKER_00: Buicks would stop, Cadillacs would stop, some lady wheeled up in a Buick Electro 225.
SPEAKER_00: It was 26 feet long.
SPEAKER_00: Sea foam green.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, that's a Loch Ness monster.
SPEAKER_00: What is that?
SPEAKER_00: And the brother just put the stop on her, and she's like and everybody crossed, and then he'd swish hands and walk back to the corner.
SPEAKER_00: See, the Buick and the dump truck had power, but the safety patrol had authority.
SPEAKER_00: Power recognizes authority.
SPEAKER_00: I said earlier that our lives are intended to be to live in such a way to make a statement about God.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody around you may have power, but God created you to live in authority.
SPEAKER_00: That's why Jesus says in Matthew 28, when he sent out his disciples to change the world, he says, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, in light of this fact that I've got all authority in heaven and on earth, where there is no other authority.
SPEAKER_00: What you're supposed to do and how you're supposed to live is predicated on this simple reality.
SPEAKER_00: It pains the king.
SPEAKER_00: That's why the king doesn't sleep.
SPEAKER_00: He goes, No, I don't want any, I don't want red wine and a Prozac and a dancing girl.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want any of this stuff.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to troll Netflix until I find something that makes me that scratches where I'm itching.
SPEAKER_00: I am bothered because I'm a part of the wrong thing and the right man is suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Deep inside, people realize that what they believe is insufficient.
SPEAKER_00: And they're kind of enamored with people like Daniel who believe in something that is sufficient and sustaining.
SPEAKER_00: And just ask yourself today, what if your biggest enemy is this close to believe in?
SPEAKER_00: But they're just simply waiting to see you and I live out our faith in the midst of a difficult situation.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the last thing we can expect: just Jesus, deliverance, and declaration.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, deliverance, and declaration.
SPEAKER_00: You say, Well, what do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: I don't see that.
SPEAKER_00: Where do you see Jesus here?
SPEAKER_00: I said this to you in the email yesterday that the way your mind is oriented towards the truth determines how you see the world, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And so you got to train your eye to see that on the page right here.
SPEAKER_00: Well, there's no mention of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: There's Daniel, there's a guy named Darius, a bunch of guys with D names, but ain't no J names in there.
SPEAKER_00: It's all over that.
SPEAKER_00: You say, What where do you see Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Remember a few minutes ago when I was talking about a weak leader who let these people lead him into a bad decision?
SPEAKER_00: Remember that?
SPEAKER_00: And some of y'all are like, oh, you're talking about Joe Biden.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: Beaker.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, I said, pan the camera back?
SPEAKER_00: Let me summarize what all we've read so far.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel was falsely accused by jealous men.
SPEAKER_00: A weak leader let people make the decision for him, Pilate.
SPEAKER_00: Then they placed him in a cave and placed a stone over it.
SPEAKER_00: And when the morning came, someone gets up at first light and runs to the cave.
SPEAKER_00: Remind you of anybody?
SPEAKER_00: See, the Bible is just kind of winking at it, kind of saying, Hey, I got this, and when the time comes, I'm gonna have that as well.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because regardless of circumstance, God is in control, God is sovereign, God has all power.
SPEAKER_00: So there's Jesus, then there's deliverance, there's deliverance, and by the way, he's delivered, and it's connected.
SPEAKER_00: There's a connection between salvation and righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: It's verses 21 to 23, where they basically say of Daniel, I'll just read it to you.
SPEAKER_00: Then Daniel said to the king, verse 21, Oh, king, live forever.
SPEAKER_00: My God sent now, notice what the king says.
SPEAKER_00: Let's back up a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 19, at the break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions.
SPEAKER_00: As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish.
SPEAKER_00: And the king declared to Daniel, Oh Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't ask about Daniel, he asked about God.
SPEAKER_00: We are to live our lives in such a way that people don't ask us who we voted for, they ask about our God.
SPEAKER_00: Has your God been able to deliver you?
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel says, Oh man, oh king, live forever.
SPEAKER_00: God sent his angel and shut the mouth of lions, and they've not harmed me because I was found blameless before him.
SPEAKER_00: And also before you, O King, I have no harm.
SPEAKER_00: Then the king was exceedingly glad.
SPEAKER_00: Does your life make people exceedingly glad?
SPEAKER_00: Do your neighbors ever say to you in the driveway, hey man, I don't agree with you about anything.
SPEAKER_00: I hate the bumper stickers you got on the back of your truck, but I'm so glad that I live next to you, and I don't know why.
SPEAKER_00: The king is just saying, Oh man, I'm so glad that your God is greater than me.
SPEAKER_00: Finally, there's this declaration about his enemies and about his God.
SPEAKER_00: He basically about his enemies, he says, Hey, we're gonna put you and your wives and your children in here, and before they hit the bottom of the cave, the lions tore them to pieces.
SPEAKER_00: And then he makes this great declaration, verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: He says, All the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth.
SPEAKER_00: I want everybody to know this.
SPEAKER_00: And just as you think the Bible's kind of letting us off, get look at verse 28 and we're done.
SPEAKER_00: It says, So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
SPEAKER_00: Think about it.
SPEAKER_00: So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
SPEAKER_00: People today act like they can't prosper under a different party being in the White House.
SPEAKER_00: That makes you more of a Republican than a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: And I and I'm not taking a cheap shot at you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying, see how relevant the Bible is?
SPEAKER_00: This Daniel, the 72-year-old cat, prospered.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't survive, he didn't hunker down, hold his breath for four years.
SPEAKER_00: He prospered during the reign of this pagan named Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
SPEAKER_00: Basically, he says, it doesn't matter who's king, who's ruling, who's in the White House.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel says, I'm gonna prosper.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because my God is great.
SPEAKER_00: That's why.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says the same thing to you and I today.
SPEAKER_00: That does not mean that we do not engage in the political process.
SPEAKER_00: Not at all.
SPEAKER_00: I think I think Christians have abandoned that too much.
SPEAKER_00: But we do not have our faith in people or politicians.
SPEAKER_00: Our faith is in this God that Darius said, He's the living God, enduring forever.
SPEAKER_00: His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, there will never be a time where God doesn't reign and rule on the earth.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel prospered.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's what the Bible says to you and I today.
SPEAKER_00: And say, hey, by the way, it don't matter who's on the throne.
SPEAKER_00: God intends for you to prosper and your faith to flourish.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a guest, we'd like to teach the Bible and give you some spaces to think about it.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'll just voice a prayer and we'll just linger just for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, just brood over us while we think about these questions.
SPEAKER_00: While we ask ourselves everything the Bible asks us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh Lord, deliver us from uh small, insufficient skirmishes.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible tells us to fight the good fight, and so deliver us from all the bad fights that are taking place on Facebook and wherever else we're on.
SPEAKER_00: It just we want to fight the good fight.
SPEAKER_00: We want to be the people that flourish.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody looks at us and says, Man, there's something amazingly consistent about you.
SPEAKER_00: And we just say, It's my God, it's it's the Spirit of God that lives inside of me.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Holy Spirit, let us think now to the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: God, because you're fighting for us, we don't have to be obnoxious or mean.
SPEAKER_00: We can be winsome and free because we're the delivered people of God.
SPEAKER_00: There's never been a moment or circumstance that we've gotten ourselves into that you're not aware of.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, remind us to prosper and to flourish.
SPEAKER_00: But we don't want to waste our life protecting our stuff and what we have.
SPEAKER_00: We want to invest our life in demonstrating to the world who you are.
SPEAKER_00: Because that's what they need to know.
SPEAKER_00: And so we give ourselves to that in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: And everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for your presence today.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for your appetite for God and His Word.
SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions about anything you heard today, we'll be available down front.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, if you're our guest, hopefully you've had an opportunity to pull one of those guest cards in your seatback pocket in your road in just a minute when you're dismissed.
SPEAKER_00: If you would just drop it in the wooden box by the door.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you'll also see people dropping other things in there.
SPEAKER_00: That's where we receive our offering.
SPEAKER_00: So if today's the day you worship God when it comes to stewardship, that's where you take care of that.
SPEAKER_00: Just a couple things we want to make you aware of by way of announcement.
SPEAKER_00: So give your attention to the screen.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a look at what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_01: Advent and Christmas are right around the corner.
SPEAKER_01: And here are two great ways families can be involved.
SPEAKER_01: Our family Christmas party is Saturday, December 5th at 9 a.m.
SPEAKER_01: in the Kids Building.
SPEAKER_01: Our Kids Advent Choir is happening December 13th.
SPEAKER_01: To register for both of these events, head to Grandparkway.org slash events.
SPEAKER_01: Men's Breakfast is this Tuesday at 6 a.m.
SPEAKER_01: in the warehouse.
SPEAKER_01: Men, we look forward to seeing you there.
SPEAKER_01: If you're new or would like prayer or have any questions, come find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.
SPEAKER_00: We'd like to close our service with spoken blessings.
SPEAKER_00: So if you would stand to your feet, hold your hands out.
SPEAKER_00: He is faithful, and he will always be faithful.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, depart now and be the faithful people of God.
SPEAKER_00: In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Bless you.