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I'm going to start out by giving you an overview of the book of Daniel in general. Now Daniel is the most important book of the Old Testament when it comes to Bible prophecy and the second coming of Jesus Christ. It's like the book of Revelation of the Old Testament. And it covers a lot of subjects like the tribulation, the Antichrist, the abomination of desolation, the millennial reign, Mystery Babylon, and a lot of other things that we read about in Revelation. And one of the main features of the book of Daniel is that it's actually split in half right down the middle. Chapters 1 through 6 are a lot different than chapters 7 through 12. And the book of Revelation is the same way. The best way to understand the book of Revelation is to take chapters 1 through 11 and realize that they're in chronological order. And then when you get to chapter 12, what happens? We back up to the birth of Christ. And then we go through all the same things that we saw in the first half of Revelation. We go through them again from another angle. We see the tribulation again, the rapture again, the wrath of God being poured out again. Well Daniel is like that too where it's cut in half right down the middle. Now flip over if you would to chapter 7 of Daniel. Because if you remember, Daniel chapters 1 through 4 deal with the reign of Nebuchadnezzar And then chapter 5 deals with the reign of his son Belshazzar. And the story actually takes place at the very end of his reign when he sees the handwriting on the wall. And then in Daniel chapter 6, it's King Darius. So it's all in chronological order there up to that point. But then if you look at Daniel chapter 7 verse 1, the Bible says in the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed. Then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matter. So now we've backed up in time to Belshazzar's reign. Look at chapter 8 verse 1 and it says in the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar. So in chapter 7, we were in the first year. In chapter 8, we were in the third year. Go to Daniel chapter 9 verse 1 and the Bible says in the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. So here, this would be parallel with what we saw in Daniel chapter 6 where Darius is be forced to put Daniel into the lion's den and so forth. And then if we flip over to chapter 10 verse 1, the Bible says in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel. And Daniel 10, 11 and 12, they all go together. It's one vision that just goes over the course of three chapters. So the point is that chapters 1 through 6 are in chronological order and then chapter 7 through 12 are in chronological order. Now the two halves of the book of Revelation are also very different from one another just like the two halves of Daniel are different from one another. The second half of Revelation is harder to understand. It's more cryptic and figurative. The first half of Revelation is pretty easy to understand. Well Daniel is similar to that in the sense that chapters 1 through 6 are very easy to understand. I remember when I was a child, I loved reading Daniel 1 through 6. That was one of my favorite portions of the Bible because we love the stories about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego going to the fiery furnace. We all know the story of Daniel in the lion's den, the handwriting on the wall, all these great stories from the first half. But I remember when I would get to chapter 7 and then especially when I got into chapters 8 and 9, I started to get lost a little bit as a kid because the second half is a lot harder to understand. The second half is all of the deep Bible prophecy stuff. So chapters 1 through 6 are the stories. Chapters 7 through 12 are the deep Bible prophecy stuff. So when it comes to understanding the second coming of Christ and understanding the book of Revelation at an even deeper level, you know the second half is just a gold mine of information on that subject. Even though it's a little tougher, hopefully as we go through it verse by verse, we're going to be able to make it a lot easier by just breaking it down and comparing scripture with scripture. So let me just give you a quick overview of what the various chapters in Daniel are about. Daniel chapter 1 is going to cover the story about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they're first taken captive by the Babylonians, how they don't eat the king's meat and they will not drink the wine that he drinks and how God blessed them for that and how they excelled. That's what we're going to be talking about in tonight's sermon on chapter 1. Chapter 2 is where Nebuchadnezzar dreams the dream and it's of a giant image that's in four sections and those four sections represent the four kingdoms of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and the Roman Empire. Then in chapter 3, we have the famous story about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Chapter 4 is where Nebuchadnezzar loses his mind and is given the heart of a beast and has his fingernails grow like bird claws and his hair becomes like bird feathers, like he gets the dreadlocks going on, and he's out eating grass in the field for seven years. Then in chapter 5, we get to the story about his grandson, Belshazzar, and he sees the fingers of a man's hand writing on the wall. Then of course Daniel chapter 6 is about Daniel and the lion's den. Those are the familiar chapters. Then in chapter 7, we get into something that's pretty similar to chapter 2 because in chapter 7, we have these four beasts that represent the same four kingdoms from chapter 2. We have that great vision of the Ancient of Days and then we have even the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. It's a wonderful prophecy of the second coming of Jesus Christ, very graphic in fact for being an Old Testament passage. It's a really interesting chapter, Daniel chapter 7. Then in chapter 8, we have the vision of the ram and the goat, the ram representing the Medo-Persians, the goat representing Greece. Then in chapter 9, we have the chapter where Daniel prays and confesses the sins of his people and then where we get into the famous 70 weeks of Daniel. Anybody who's heard a lot of preaching on Bible prophecy is of course familiar with the term Daniel's 70th week. Well that comes from Daniel chapter 9. Then in Daniel chapter 10, we get into that final trilogy of chapters 10 through 12 which is a very in-depth complicated prophecy. Chapter 11 is probably the hardest chapter in the whole book of Daniel by far. Chapter 10 sort of just introduces that subject where the angel comes and talks to Daniel and everything is set up. Chapter 11 is the meat of that prophecy and let me emphasize the word meat because that's a very deep, heavy chapter, Daniel chapter 11. Then chapter 12 is the wrap-up chapter and again chapter 12 is very relevant to end times. It gets very explicit about the resurrection of the dead and about the second coming of Christ, the tribulation, the millennium, things like that and it even gets into some really specific numbers of the 1290 days and the 1335 days. That's a great chapter as well. That gives you a basic overview of the book of Daniel. Before I get into chapter 1 also, I just want to give you an important principle for studying the book of Daniel. Go to Daniel chapter 12 and this is a great principle for studying the Old Testament in general but this is specifically said of the book of Daniel itself and this is where a lot of people go wrong when they study Bible prophecy. They don't understand this principle that I'm about to show you here and that is that the New Testament is clearer than the Old Testament. The New Testament is more explicit. The Old Testament is darker and more difficult to understand. Therefore, we should always take the clear teachings of the New Testament and use them to interpret the Old Testament. Now a lot of Bible teachers who teach false doctrine, they would do the opposite. They'll ignore clear teachings in the New Testament and then they'll try to take things from Daniel and twist them around to try to somehow trump Revelation and they'll basically say, oh Daniel's the main book. No the main book is Revelation. The clear book is Revelation. Even its very name, Revelation, should show how it's making things clear. It's exposing the truth. So anything that we see in Daniel, we should look through the lens of Revelation. We have the privilege of sitting here thousands of years later with the whole Bible in our hands and we've already read the whole book of Revelation. So when we take that knowledge back to the book of Daniel, we can understand the book of Daniel very well. We don't want to read Daniel pretending like we don't know what Revelation says. Why not? Well because Daniel himself didn't even understand the book of Daniel because he never read Revelation. Look what the Bible says in Daniel chapter 12 verse number 8. And I heard, and what did he hear? The vision that he received over chapters 10, 11, and 12. And I heard but I understood not. Then said I, oh my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, go thy way Daniel for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. So notice he doesn't explain it to him. Daniel says, I don't understand what I've just heard. I mean I'm writing it down in the book of Daniel but I don't understand it. And instead of being given an explanation, he's told, well just seal it up because it's not going to be for a long time. So don't worry about it. Some of these things are over your head because they're way off in the future and they're not for you. They're for people that will later get these prophecies. People like us. They were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come as it says in 1 Corinthians 10. The Bible says in verse 10 there, chapter 12, many shall be purified and made white and tried but the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand. But watch this, but the wise shall understand. Now Daniel didn't understand but God's saying that in the future the wise will understand. That's what we want to be. We want to be the wise people in the 21st century that have the Bible. We have revelation. We have the four gospels. We can put it all together and we can understand what Daniel didn't understand. Now compare what we just read with Revelation 22 10. Flip over to Revelation chapter 22 verse 10. In Daniel he said I heard but I understood not and he was told seal up the sayings. He said Daniel the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Revelation says the exact opposite. Look at chapter 22 verse 10. And he saith unto me seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book for the time is at hand. So Daniel was told well this is for the time of the end. It's sealed up. It's closed. Revelation says the opposite. Seal it not. The time is at hand. So that proves that Revelation is the clear book. Daniel is the more difficult, darker, obscure book. But with the flashlight of Revelation we can illuminate everything in the book of Daniel and understand it very well. So let's dig into Daniel chapter 1 now with all that in mind. Let's go to Daniel chapter 1 verse 1. The Bible reads in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his God. And he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs that he should bring certain of the children of Israel and of the king's seed and of the princes. So this is where Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army take over. They defeat Jerusalem. They take over the kingdom of Judah. They rule over them. And they take the people into captivity. This is one of those waves of captivity where the people are transported into a far land. This is what God had prophesied would happen to them over and over again in the book of Jeremiah. He told them that this was coming. That the king of Babylon was going to come and wipe them out and that they were going to be scattered into all nations and carried away captive into Babylon. This is the fulfillment of that. And in verse 3, the master of the eunuchs, Ashpenaz, is to bring certain of the children of Israel and of the king's seed and of the princes. So get the picture here. The children of Judah are going into captivity. And this specific man, Ashpenaz, who is the master of the eunuchs, is supposed to select certain people for a certain task. Now what kind of people is he looking for? Look at verse 4, children. So not adults, not old men, but children. Children in whom was no blemish but well favored and skillful in all wisdom and cunning in knowledge and understanding science and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. So what kind of young people is he looking for? He's looking for the ones that are the children of the princes, the children of the king. He's looking for the ones that are the smartest, the ones who understand science, the ones who are skillful and knowledgeable. Basically they want the best and the brightest so that they can indoctrinate them in the language and the learning of the Chaldeans, the heathen. They're false gods. They're wicked ideology. So they're taking God's people and they want to take the children and specifically they want to take the most promising children and they want to indoctrinate them in the ways of the heathen. Now this is the devil's plan even in 2018. He would love to get our children. He would love to get the best and the brightest and the smartest and the most godly and the most righteous and the ones with the best work ethic and the ones with the most character and he would love to use them for his purposes. Not to serve the Lord but to serve his agenda. And not only that but this is the prince of the eunuchs. What is a eunuch? A eunuch is a man who is emasculated, who is castrated, who is neutered. And so the devil would love nothing more than to take our Christian young man and not only to make them worldly, not only to brainwash them with his ideology and his wicked mentality but he would love to also feminize them and emasculate them and castrate them and we see that going on today in the United States of America. He would love to get us to drop our kids off at the public school system where Nebuchadnezzar could educate them and where he could teach them his learning and his tongue instead of them being reared by God's people and trained in the Bible. Now look what the Bible says in verse 5, and the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, this is their school lunch program, and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them three years that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So remember, all the children of Judah end up eventually going captive. They all end up being removed. But this is one wave of that removal and then among those who are removed, they take the children and they specifically take the best and the brightest and the most skillful and we don't know how many were in that group. But we know that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are just part of that group. They're not the whole group. So there are a whole bunch of other young people from Judah and among this great crowd that Ashpenaz sets aside, there are four in particular whose names are Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The verse 7 says, unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names, for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar, and to Hananiah of Shadrach, and to Mishael of Meshach, and to Azariah of Abednego. Now we know Daniel by his Hebrew name of Daniel. That's how he's referred to throughout this book and that's the name that we tend to know him by. We don't often talk about him as Belteshazzar. But for some reason, we tend to know Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego by their Babylonian names. That's how we're going to refer to them tonight and in the future just because that's the common way of referring to them. We've got Daniel, which is the Hebrew name, and then we've got Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which are the names that they're given. But their real names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Those are the names that were given them by the prince of the eunuchs. And then it says in the next verse, verse 8, but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat nor with the wine which he drank. Now notice, it doesn't say that the four of them made that decision. It says that Daniel singular purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's meat. You see, when it comes to taking a stand for God, it starts with one person. It starts with one guy. Everybody else is just going with the flow. Everybody else is just doing what's popular. Everybody else is just compromising their beliefs and not following the word of God. But one guy decides in his heart. And before anything is ever said, before any action takes place, there's a purposing in the heart where one man decides, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. And that's Daniel. And then when that one person takes a stand, the result of that is that three other people say, we're not going to do it either. But it takes that one person to break the ice and then three more will pop up. But notice, not everybody got on board with their program. Out of all the captives, and we can assume that it was a lot more than four people if we read the story, but four of them decide that they're going to take a stand through Daniel's leadership. They're not going to defile themselves with the king's meat and with the wine which he drank. Now you say, well, what's wrong with the king's meat? Well, it's possible that it could have been an unclean meat because of the fact that this is when the children of Israel and Judah are under the old covenant and they have dietary restrictions and they're not supposed to be eating things like pork, et cetera. But probably a more likely explanation is that it was meat offered and sacrificed unto idols. Because if you remember, all the way back to when the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt and were in the wilderness, they were tempted to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols through Balaam, the false prophet. And so that was a problem for them back then. And then even in the New Testament, we see multiple scriptures, especially in Revelation chapter 2, about the sin of eating meat sacrificed unto idols. So that's probably what this was. But either way, it was some kind of a sinful meat. And then they also were abstaining from the wine which he drank. So we can assume that that's probably an alcoholic beverage would be the reason why they wouldn't drink the wine that he drank because it's alcoholic. And so the Bible says in verse number 8, but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now notice the difference there. It starts out very strong saying he purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's meat. But then in the second half of the verse, it says he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now this has nothing to do with Daniel's resolve. I mean, the first verse is clear. He'd already made the decision that he was not going to do it. And we know from the rest of the book of Daniel that when Daniel says he's going to do something and when Daniel takes a stand for God, he's willing to follow it through all the way unto death. And so are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They're willing to follow through unto death. So why did he then request? And why did he say that he might not? I'll tell you why. Because when you go to an authority figure in your life, when you go to your boss at work or when you go to someone else who's a legitimate authority, you don't want to just go in there guns ablazen and rudely demand that they allow you to follow your conscience. It's better to be polite, respectful. In your heart, you know you're not going to do it. But you don't have to go in there and say, I'm not going to eat this meat. I'm not going to drink this. There's no way. You're just going to have to kill me. Instead, he just said, hey, is there any way that we could not do this? Is there some way around this? See, we're supposed to try to live peaceably with all men if we can. When we have a legitimate authority over us, whether it's our parents, whether it's a wife with her husband, whether it's an employee with his boss at work, we need to try to obey the authorities in our life that are God-given legitimate authorities. This is a good lesson in how to be tactful and respectful and to still get what you want. The Bible says that he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Verse 9 is key. Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. This will help you when you're trying to take a stand for what's right on the job or taking a stand for what's right at school or taking a stand with other authorities in your life like your parents or whatever is that you have a good rapport with those people beforehand. You see, if you're a lazy worker and you're one of the worst workers on the job and now all of a sudden you want to take this big stand for God and you have to have time off for church and you're not going to lie and you're not going to serve alcohol and everything like that, your boss might not be willing to bend any rules or make exceptions for you because of the fact that you're not worth it. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were worth it. And so therefore, Melzar, Ashpenaz he's also called, was willing to bend the rules for them and help them out. And you know what, if you're a great worker on the job, if you're giving it 110%, that's going to help you get the Sundays off. That's going to help you get Wednesday night off. That's going to help you be able to follow your conscience and not have your boss trying to pressure you to do things that are wrong. You've got to have a boss that loves you because you're a great worker. You know what bosses love? To make money. That's what the owner of the company started the company for. To make money. Unless you're working for some kind of a non-profit organization, then chances are your boss is in it to make money. And so if you work hard and make him money, he likes you. He doesn't care what color you are. He doesn't care what your personality is like if you're making him money. That's the way most bosses work. So you know what, if you work hard and you do your job and you're a diligent worker, you'll find that your boss is willing to work with you on these issues of the conscience. The Bible says in verse 10, and the prince of the eunuch said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king who hath appointed your meat and your drink. For why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? Then shall you make me endanger my head to the king. Now when he talks about his head being in danger to the king, he means like being removed from his body kind of danger. He's not saying I'm worried I'm going to get fired. He's talking about I'm worried I'm going to get my head chopped off for doing a bad job. Because these kings of the east at this time, they were pretty serious. In the next chapter, he's going to talk about just killing all kinds of his employees and making their houses into dung hills. And so this is a boss that doesn't just fire you, he kills you. He cuts off your head and destroys your home. So he said, I'm just afraid. So basically the supervisor at work wants to help out Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, but he's just afraid that he's going to get in trouble. But he wants to help him. So Daniel makes the suggestion, verse 11. And said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had said over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, prove thy servants, that means test us, I beseech thee 10 days, and let them give us pulse to eat and water to drink. Pulse is like beans, lentils, legumes, other sources of protein other than meat. So he says, give us pulse to eat and water to drink. Then let our countenances, or our faces is what that means, be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat. And as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter and proved them 10 days. And at the end of 10 days, their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat and the wine that they should drink and gave them pulse. So they said, give us a 10 day trial period, we'll show that we'll be healthier and we'll look better so that the king won't look at us and say, what's wrong with these bunch of soy boys, you know, give these guys some meat, for crying out loud, who's been feeding these guys? Now I personally believe that this is a miracle. I think that God stepped in and allowed it to be a miracle. Now some people have made the case that, you know, it's just that that's what we should be eating anyway. You know, we should all be vegetarians, we should all be eating pulse, we should all get rid of meat. Well first of all, there's a lot in the Bible that that doesn't jive with, and in fact, you can even prove from the book of Daniel, later in the book of Daniel, that Daniel didn't eat this way for the rest of his life. He ended up later on talking about fast in chapter 10, where he fasted for three days, or excuse me, he ends up talking about later in the book of Daniel in chapter 10, a time when he fasted for three weeks, and he says, during that time, I didn't eat any flesh during that time. I didn't eat any pleasant bread. Well he wouldn't even be bringing that up if he'd been vegan since chapter one. He obviously went back to eating meat later on, and only during a fasting period, he went on like a bread and water type fast in Daniel chapter 10, leading up to that great prophecy that he gets at the end of the book of Daniel. But either way, if he did just get great nutrition from the lentils and beans, because lentils and beans and pulse are good for you, and so maybe he just got the right mix of protein and just naturally looked fine, or God stepped in. But either way, after 10 days, he came out looking better. I believe it was the blessing of God. I believe it was a miracle of God. That makes a lot more sense. So then in verse 16, Melzar took away the portion of their meat and the wine that they should drink and gave them pulse. So again, this is a great lesson on how to deal with authorities in your life that are trying to get you to do something that's wrong. First of all, you could be polite, be respectful, and then come up with a solution that makes sense where everybody comes out okay. Hey, I want to be off on Wednesday night, but here's where I'm willing to work extra over here. Here's where I'm willing to give you something, a quid pro quo, where I'll do a little extra over here, and then you help me out over here. And that's what I used to do through the years when I had a secular boss, and he would try to get me to work on Wednesday night. I would just get it all done before then and tell him, hey, I already took care of that. I don't need to do that on Wednesday night because I took care of it by working late Tuesday night or whatever the case may be. So Daniel finds a solution where everybody comes out okay. Now, there's a little bit of symbolism here with the tribulation as well because of the fact that they're tested for how long, 10 days. And when we get to Revelation chapter 2 verse 10, what does it say? He shall have tribulation 10 days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I'll give thee a crown of life. Why does Daniel start out with this story about taking a stand for what's right and refusing to give in to the devil's requirements or refusing to do things that are wicked when you're being forced to? I'll tell you why. Because Daniel's a book that's all about Bible prophecy. And when we think about the second coming of Christ, when we think about the events leading up to it known as the tribulation, it's going to be a time of trials and testing for God's people because there will be persecution unlike anything that the world has ever seen. So what more fitting to have in chapter 1 of Daniel than a test of the resolve of God's people to not defile themselves. Why? Because in the end times, there's going to be pressure to stop preaching the Word of God, to stop preaching hard on sin, to stop preaching the whole Bible because it'll be called hate speech and it'll become illegal and you could be fined or imprisoned for just preaching what the Word of God says. There's going to be persecution that intensifies. And once we get into the great tribulation itself, there will be people who are beheaded for the cause of Christ. And so in Daniel chapter 1, we have an example of God's people refusing to bow down, refusing to give in, refusing to defile themselves. And then we're going to see another example of this in chapter 3 where they refuse to bow down to the great image which pictures what? The anti-Christ's great image, the image to the beast in Revelation 13 where the whole world is going to be required to bow down and worship that image and God's people are going to have to be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and refuse to bow down. So this story in the book of Daniel itself is very relevant to end times. But here's my question. If you can't take a stand now when things are easy, when we're not even in the tribulation, when you haven't even been kidnapped and taken to a foreign country, how are you going to take a stand when things really get difficult? Now I've preached the Word of God for 12 years now, completely uncensored, completely unfiltered, and I've suffered persecution very lightly, a very light affliction. I have not had to endure any serious persecution or affliction over the last 12 years. It's very light relatively to what people went through in the Bible and what other people have gone through throughout history or even right now in other parts of the world as we speak. But yet today there are many, many Baptist preachers who believe exactly like I believe on certain issues, but they will not speak up because they're afraid of the persecution. They're scared to take a stand. And if they can't take a stand now, how in the world could they ever take a stand during the tribulation? Oh, but I forgot, they made up their fake pre-tribulation doctrine that gives them a get out of tribulation free card, get out of persecution free card, get out of all the trials free. No, the Bible says ye and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. It doesn't say they might suffer persecution. They shall suffer persecution. But this doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture is a convenient doctrine for people who don't take a stand now and certainly won't take a stand then. You see the Bible tells us in Jeremiah 12 five, if thou is run with the footman and they have wearied thee, then how can thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustest, they wearied thee, then how will thou do in the swelling of Jordan? I mean if people can't take a stand for God right now, if preachers can't get up, in the United States of America where we have the first amendment protecting our freedom of speech and our freedom of religion, if they won't get up now and preach boldly the word of God and not care what the outcome is, not care what the persecutions are, how in the world are they going to do it when it's illegal? You say well some day in America it might become illegal to preach against the sodomites or to preach this or to preach that. Well you know what, most pastors won't have to change a thing. Most pastors won't even have to change a thing, it won't even affect them. They're not even preaching it now while it's legal. You think they're going to preach it when it's not legal? No way. They won't even risk offending people. They won't even risk a little dent in their 401k. You think they're going to risk going to prison? You think they're going to risk having the church shut down and the IRS putting a padlock on the front door or whatever the case may be. I mean now the biggest persecution is what? Oh, our YouTube channel is shut down. Well you know what, I can handle that. That's easy, right? And I can handle more than that. And you know what? We as God's people are supposed to be faithful to what point? What point? Death! He said be faithful unto death and I'll give thee a crown of life. Death! These people aren't even to first base when it comes to persecution, but they talk big like they're going to make it all the way to home. Oh yeah, I'm willing to die for Christ. Look, if you're not willing to live for Christ, you're not willing to die for Christ. I mean it's easier to live for him than it is to die for him. Oh yeah, you know, I'm ready to die on that hill. I'm ready to be beheaded for Christ. But they can't even preach the whole Bible now because they're a coward. It doesn't make any sense, folks. Now the Bible tells us in the end times that there's going to be intense persecution. And it talks about how people will betray one another and cause people to be put to death even. Mark chapter 13 is one of the most famous passages on the second coming of Jesus Christ that covers the rapture, it covers the tribulation, it covers those events. Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 are the three big ones in the four gospels there. And in Mark 13, verse 12, it says, now the brother shall betray the brother to death and the father, the son, and children shall rise up against their parents and shall cause them to be put to death. That's pretty chilling that the Bible tells us that children would rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death. How could that happen? How could a child cause their own parents to be put to death? I'll tell you how, because someone else must have raised them. Because if a child was raised up by his parents and loved his parents and had a right relationship with his parents, you think he's going to betray his parents even unto death? But when a child is indoctrinated in a government institution for seven, eight hours a day getting a completely different ideology than what their parents believe, you could see that child being brainwashed and indoctrinated to the point where they would think that their parents are the enemy. Their parents just aren't progressive enough. Their parents just don't understand the new world order and they don't understand the way things are going and so I have to do my civil duty, my patriotic duty, and turn in my own parents that they might be put to death. Think about that. And so isn't it fitting that Daniel chapter 1, a story about persecution, about trials, about people standing up for the things of God even when their own life is on the line, it's also a story about children being indoctrinated in beliefs other than what their parents have. Now notice what the Bible says in verse number 16. It says, then Melzar took away the portion of their meat and the wine that they should drink and gave them pulse. As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar and the king communed with them and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Among whom all? Among all of the captives from Judah, right, they all came from homes that supposedly worshiped the Lord, they're all put into the government indoctrination camp here, and among them all there were none like these four. You know what that tells me? That most children who are put into the government's indoctrination are not going to turn out right. Four of them will. You know, I don't know what the number was that turned out wrong, but there were none other that were like them. And when it came down to bow down to the great image in chapter three, it's only these godly young people that are standing. It's not a whole bunch of the children of Judah. No, because most of your public school kids are going to get indoctrinated to that ideology to some degree. You say, well, you know, I went to public school and I turned out great or, you know, I know children who go there and they turn out fine. Well, you know what? That's true. Daniel was like that. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were like that. But you know what? That's not what I want to bank on. Those kind of odds, that kind of a percentage where a small minority can turn out right in spite of being in the public fool system. And listen, if your kids are in public school, you better make sure to do everything that you can to build a relationship with those kids and to teach them the Bible and to get them in church as much as you can and to try to counteract the teachings that they're getting down there at the public school system. But I strongly believe that your children should be homeschooled simply because they need to be raised by God's people, not by an atheistic institution. You know, I was listening to an old sermon from back when I used to actually vote. And I talked about in that sermon how when I saw the ballot and I saw the part that said superintendent of schools, I never really knew who to vote for. And you see the signs up all around town, right? This person for superintendent of public schools. And I'm thinking to myself, I don't believe in the public school system. I'm not going to put my kids in public school. And so I don't really have a dog in this fight. And I don't really know who these people are or what sets them apart. So I decided to not vote for any of them, but to do a write in candidate. And I decided to write in Satan for the superintendent of public schools. And you say, well what if he gets elected? Well then nothing's going to change. In fact, I was saying we should put up a sign that says re-elect Satan for superintendent of public schools. Experience you can trust. He's got the experience. Why? Because he's been running it for decades. And so we as Christians, we don't want to just willingly put our kids in a situation where they're being indoctrinated into the devil's ways. Now these people in Daniel chapter one, they didn't have a choice, they're kidnapped. And there are some countries in this world, Germany comes to mind, where children will literally be kidnapped and taken to the public school. Our homeschoolers have the police come and take the kids to school at gunpoint, but thank God we're not there in America, we're not there in Arizona, California's not there. They have the freedom, we have the freedom to homeschool our children. Let's take advantage of that and make sure that we can raise up a godly generation. You say, oh man, that's hard work, but I'd hate for you to have to do anything hard. But the Bible says that God gave these young people knowledge. You know where real knowledge comes from? God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. You say, well, I just want them to go to the public school to get a great education and then I want them to go to devil state university so they can further their education. Well, you know what? These young people who were brainwashed into what the Chaldeans had to offer, they were already understanding science, they were already the best and the brightest, and they were trained full-time in this boarding school of the Chaldeans. They were the top of their class, they got all the training that the world had to offer, they got all the education, but you know who was smarter? Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, why? Because the Bible says that God gave them knowledge. See, God-given knowledge will allow you to excel beyond what the world can do mentally. You see, the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. God can give you knowledge. You say, well, I just, I need knowledge, I need wisdom, I need skills. God can give you those things. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. The Bible says in verse 17, as for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of the days that the king had said that he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar and the king communed with them and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore, they stood before the king. These are the top students. These are the top workers. And the Bible says in verse 20, in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm. So all of the devil's crowd had less wisdom than God's people. Why? Because the word of God and training in the things of God is the ultimate in education. And it will allow you to even excel in science and English and history and all the other disciplines of learning. Why? Because God's word makes wise the simple. Takes the simple one and it gives him knowledge and understanding. I've noticed that people who I've seen get saved who weren't very intellectual, weren't that bright, as they begin to read the Bible over and over again, I've just watched that person get smarter in all areas of life. Understanding the word of God, listening to Bible preaching, understanding the doctrines of the word of God actually makes you a smarter person in all areas of life. It can actually help you succeed at your job if you're a doer of the word and not a hearer only. And the Bible says in verse 21, and Daniel continued even under the first year of King Cyrus. And we know that he even continued beyond that because at the beginning of chapter 10, it talks about him receiving a vision in the third year of Cyrus. So what the Bible's saying when it says that he continued under the first year of King Cyrus, it's saying he continued working for the King of Babylon until what? Till there was no more King of Babylon because Cyrus the Persian came in. He continued all the way. Basically he worked for the company until the company got bought out in a hostile takeover. And after that hostile takeover, he was kept on. The new management kept him on. Now you know how long that is? Seventy years. Seventy years later when Cyrus takes over, Daniel is still working the same job and he gets taken on by the new king and he continues in that position. So he was an old man at that point. We don't know how young he is here but he must have been an 80 some year old man at that point. Still serving God, still praying, still preaching, still a prophet unto the Lord. And so Daniel's a great example of what we need to be like if we end up being the generation that goes into the great tribulation itself. If we are the generation that's living in the very last days, we better be like Daniel. We better be like his three friends here. We better decide right now not to compromise, not to give in, not to bow down to whatever the devil demands of us even now. You say, well, when it comes to the mark of the beast and the anti-Christ, that's a no brainer. Okay, well you know what, there are a lot of things that are a no brainer right now but yet we see churches giving in, compromising, and not standing up for what's right because they're nothing like these people. They're cowards. And we need to pray for boldness today. You say, I can't help it, I'm scared, I'm a coward. God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. The apostle Paul kept praying for boldness and we ought to pray for boldness. Oh God, give me the boldness to stand for you at all times. Give me the boldness to do what's right no matter what happens. And so this is a great chapter to start out the book of Daniel. Yeah, we're going to get into the heavier Bible prophecy stuff but before we get in to the heavier Bible prophecy stuff in chapters seven through twelve, you know what we need to get is some character. We need to start out in chapter one and learn how to be the best worker on the job, how to stay with the company, how to be brought into tender love with the supervisor where he wants to help us serve God and serve the company and we need to get some backbone to stand up to the devil and his minions when they want us to compromise our beliefs. That's where it begins. It's all fine and dandy to have your doctrine all straight on when the tribulation happens. How about actually being ready for the tribulation instead of just knowing the doctrine? How about practicing it and being a doer of the word? Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this great chapter, Lord, and we thank you for this great example of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Give us knowledge and wisdom and understanding as we go further into this great book, Lord. Open our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of thy law and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.