394: Andrew Johns – Daniel’s Friends: Resisting the World’s Pressures in Youth

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Welcome to good Christadelphian
talks.

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Thank you for joining us this
week on this podcast.

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We select one talk a week to
help us get the Bible in our

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Daily News feed.
Each week we post a talk that we

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previewed from suggestions sent
in by listeners from around the

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world.
Then we record a short intro

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beforehand as a personalized
recommendation to you on why we

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are sharing the talk.
And now let’s talk more about

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this week’s talk.
Hello everyone, this is Simon.

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Back in episode 388, we had a
talk by our brother Andrew Johns

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on Joseph.
And I’ve since found out that

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this is actually part of a
series that was done in 1994

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with the main theme to be
examples of youth in service and

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action.
I found all these talks to be

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very challenging but very
encouraging and very

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exhortational as well.
Brother Andrew covered Joseph,

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Sampson, Jeremiah, Daniel’s
friends Mary and Timothy.

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This full series will be on the
extended podcast and I strongly

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encourage you to go listen to
them all.

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So I chose for this week’s talk
the 4th study on Daniel’s

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friends resisting the world’s
pressures in youth.

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I find the story of Daniel and
his friends to be so relevant to

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us today as the world around
just changes and can demand us

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to conform to it.
It’s a reminder that we need to

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continually study and read God,
read God’s Word and to help each

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other on our walk to the Kingdom
and to keep God’s truth close to

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our hearts.
To be ready to make a stand for

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what is right whenever we need
to.

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So here is our brother Andrew on
Daniel’s friends resisting the

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world’s pressures in youth.
My dearly beloved brethren and

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sisters and my dear young
people, in our last, last study

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we saw that tragic figure of
Jeremiah who experienced so much

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sorrow and anguish in his life,
but who around him and and

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around Josiah, his great friend
and confident, there accumulated

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a number of younger men who were
on fire with the word of Yahweh.

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And three years after the death
of Josiah, when Jeremiah was

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about 40, his word was
vindicated as being right,

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despite all the cries around him
that Babylon would never come

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down and never touch that city.
But the mighty Babylonian war

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machine was on the move three
years after Josiah died and

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Nebuchadnezzar moved in and at
the battle of Khakimish head on

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hit Egypt and defeated Pharaoh
Nico and moved straight down

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into the coastal plain heading
for Jerusalem and sieged it.

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Jehoiakim at the time was a
puppet to Egypt, and very

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quickly he changed allegiance
and was put under tribute to

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Babylon.
But that was not where it ended.

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The temple was ransacked by
Nebuchadnezzar’s offices.

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They took everything of value.
All the vessels of the House of

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Yahweh were carted off to
Babylon and placed in the houses

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of the gods of the Babylonians,
but they also hand picked the

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cream of Judah’s young men.
Come to Daniel chapter one,

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verse 3.
And the king Nebuchadnezzar,

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that is, spake unto Ashpinaz,
the master of his eunuchs, that

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he should bring certain of the
children of Israel, and of the

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King’s seed, and of the
Princess.

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Children in whom was no blemish,
but well favoured, and skillful

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in wisdom, and cunning, and
knowledge and understanding

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science, and such as had the
ability in them to stand in the

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King’s palace, and whom they
might teach the learning and the

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tongue of the Chaldeans.
There must young people and

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brethren and sisters.
There must have been in that

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cohort.
They were handpicked at that

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time from, did you notice the
King’s seed and the Princess?

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There must have been some who
were very strongly influenced by

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Josiah.
Josiah had only been dead for

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three years, and in his court in
Jerusalem there was growing up a

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youth group who were alive with
the word of Yahweh.

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Jeremiah and other prophets had
stirred them up, and with the

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example of Josiah before them,
they were enthused to try and

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turn that nation around.
But as soon as Josiah died, as

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we saw the other night, all hope
of that ever happening was lost.

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The breath of the nation, as
Jeremiah called him, was gone.

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The nation was a corpse, just
rotting and rotting and rotting

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until Nebuchadnezzar finally
finished it off a few years

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later.
But here we find Nebuchadnezzar

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hand picking individual young
men.

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Look at how they’re described in
verse four.

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Well favoured, intelligent, able
to stand in the King’s palace,

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he was after the cream of that
nation.

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And these are called in verse 4,
the start of verse four,

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children.
The word is used in the

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scriptures of anything from
children to youths to young men,

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and it probably refers to
teenagers, those in their late

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teens.
And so these children, whom he

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picked in the prime of their
life at around 18 or 19, were

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carted off into Babylon.
Babylon had a very clearly

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enunciated policy of integration
and assimilation.

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They were very, very cunning
psychologists, and they figured

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that if you were ever going to
keep nations under subjection,

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what you had to do when you took
them over is to mix up their

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people with yours, Mix them and
have a good influence of

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Babylonian ways in there, so
that they forgot about their

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gods, they forgot about their
culture, and they became

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Babylonians, whether they were
in the lands that had been taken

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over captive or whatever.
And he put Babylonians into the

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lands that he took captive, and
he brought some of them into

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Babylon.
That was only part of his

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policy.
The second part of his policy

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was to hand pick the
intelligentsia of a nation and

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to train them in the ways of
Babylon so that they might then

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influence their own people both
in the land of their captivity

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and back in their own national
place of origin.

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And so we find that this method
that Nebuchadnezzar was skilled

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at using throughout his
campaigns and throughout his

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time as king was based on 2
fundamental principles.

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They tried to make those who
were taken captive conform to

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Babylonian thinking and
Babylonian behaviour.

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And we’ve we know exactly what
happens here in verse 5.

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The king at once those young
captives were brought into the

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realm.
The king appointed them a daily

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provision of the King’s meats
and of the wine which he drank

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so nourishing them three years
at the end thereof, they might

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stand before the king.
It was his clear intention to

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have these as the the prime
young councillors around him

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that had been so indoctrinated
by Babylonian ways.

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They’d been given absolutely
everything they could ever want.

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They’d come from a from a
country that just did not have

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everything that it wanted
because it was in, in tribute to

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other countries, to Egypt at the
time, in case of Judah.

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But they were given the very,
very best, the most appealing

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food, drink, access to Babylon’s
universities and all the wisdom

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and learning was at their feet.
All they had to do was to soak

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it up.
But that wasn’t all.

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They not only had their diet
changed, they had their dress

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changed, they had their language
changed, they had their

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environment changed, they had
the source of their education

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changed, and to top it all off,
they even changed their names in

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order that their personalities
might never be the same as they

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were before.
And it’s very interesting to

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see.
While there is some some dispute

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about the actual meaning of some
of their Babylonian names, it’s

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very interesting to see.
That’s every one of the four

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friends that we find mentioned
here in verses 6 and seven of

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Daniel.
One, that is Daniel, Hannan, I,

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Mishael, and Azariah all have as
part of the meaning of their

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name Yahweh or Ail.
They had come from godly

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families who had so named their
children to reflect their godly

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thinking.
But the Babylonians named them.

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And if you have a look at the
names that are there on the

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overhead at the moment, every
single name that they gave for

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those 4 lands involved the name
of one of Babylon’s gods.

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There was a distinct and
deliberate policy here to wipe

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out any cultural link, any link
at all with the religion and

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life and behaviour of the
nations from which these men

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came.
They, they were put in a

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exceedingly difficult situation.
I, I don’t think that just

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reading Daniel chapter one, we,
we perhaps at times understand

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quite how dangerous and
difficult that was.

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Daniel certainly understood, and
so did his friends come to

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understand that just how
dangerous it was.

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You see, everything that was
being done for them, they were.

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They were being being given
everything on a plate.

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They were being treated like
great Lords walking in as

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Princess of a realm that just
had absolutely anything they

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wanted at the click of their
fingers.

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If they said they wanted this
food or that they wanted this

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Tudor or that they got it.
And everything that was being

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done to them appealed to their
own pride.

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They were being told that all
they had to do was put their

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mind to things and they would go
a very long way up the hierarchy

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of the greatest nation on earth.
They could be rulers.

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They could be second in the in
the realm of the great and

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mighty Babylon.
They could easily have deceived

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themselves into thinking young
people that, well, it wasn’t of

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their making that got them
there.

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They’ve been taken into
captivity.

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They were put here by God.
Surely they should make the best

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of the situation and just do
whatever that was asked of them.

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You know, our young people today
are under exactly that same

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pressure.
There’s an attempt to change

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personality.
It is an attempt, a very strong

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attempt, to make our young
people conform to Babylon’s

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lifestyle.
The world around us is

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encouraging by its environment
and by its education and the two

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things that never could, never
used.

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It’s encouraging a broad,
rounded, balanced education.

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Oh, it sounds very nice, doesn’t
it?

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Better than sisters, but
underpinning whole of our

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education scheme at the moment
and for some years has it has

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been the same, is a humanistic
base where God has removed from

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the realm of rational discussion
and other gods in fact are

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substituted for the one true God
who created all other gods like

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success, achievement, sport.
All substituted in place of the

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one true God who is the source
of all intellectual reasoning

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and wisdom and moral might.
And the whole of our education

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system that our children are
immersed in day by day is man

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centred, not God centred.
And especially is that true in

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the realm of the social areas,
the social sciences.

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And there’s many things that our
children come up against every

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day of their lives when they’re
5678910.

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And it sounds to them all very
plausible, all very reasonable.

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That isn’t anything wrong with
what’s been told them.

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It just seems to make sense.
But it seems to make sense

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because we’re all made of flesh
and so are they, and without

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some godly external influence in
their minds, it just all makes

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sense.
You know, the consequences of of

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the underpinning of humanism in
all of our education.

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Society is bringing the whole of
the Western world to its knees.

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There is no question of that.
The consequences of this form of

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thinking, brethren and sisters
and young people, and take note

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of this, is a push for personal
rights.

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That’s where that’s coming from.
The importance of the individual

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and what they themselves think.
The equality of opportunity for

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women with men.
Everybody’s opinion is just as

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important as everybody else’s.
Our children at 456 are having

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that drummed into their heads.
And if you can’t see that coming

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out in your children at school,
be thankful because there’s an

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awful lot of our children in our
young people’s groups and in our

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Sunday schools are already
reflecting their thinking.

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Make no mistake.
And democracy is supreme.

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The God of this world,
everything relies on democracy.

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It’s the be all and end all, the
voice of the people.

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But there’s this, this spirit of
madness, as it’s termed in

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Revelation 16, that’s driving
the nations and bringing them to

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Armageddon.
And one day that spirit is going

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to be on the opposite side to
Christ.

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There is a very deliberate
design, very deliberate design

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in the education system of this
world that is challenging with

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an attempt to eradicate biblical
morality.

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00:16:41,520 –> 00:16:43,640
You might think that’s an
overstatement.

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There are writers around and
educators who are alive in this

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00:16:50,520 –> 00:16:54,600
state who will openly state
that.

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00:16:57,120 –> 00:17:00,880
And it’s in our workplaces, it’s
in our schools, it’s in our

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00:17:00,880 –> 00:17:05,400
universities.
And it’s incredibly important

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00:17:05,400 –> 00:17:09,680
for our young people, incredibly
important for our young people

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00:17:10,160 –> 00:17:14,960
that are going off to a
university in these days to know

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00:17:14,960 –> 00:17:19,960
where they’re going before they
go, to have sorted out their

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00:17:19,960 –> 00:17:25,160
lives and set a direction so
that they clearly understand the

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00:17:25,160 –> 00:17:30,720
issues of life before they’re
thrown in to that evil

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00:17:30,720 –> 00:17:34,000
environment.
There may be, it may be

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00:17:34,000 –> 00:17:38,080
necessary for some of our young
people in terms of their jobs or

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00:17:38,080 –> 00:17:40,120
whatever to go on to tertiary
study.

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00:17:40,120 –> 00:17:44,040
And perhaps what’s happening in
society is becoming increasingly

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00:17:44,040 –> 00:17:48,520
so for some of our young people.
But it’s also becoming

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00:17:48,720 –> 00:17:53,600
increasingly important that our
young people think seriously

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00:17:53,600 –> 00:17:56,560
younger and younger about the
issues of life.

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Look at verse 8.
But Daniel in this circumstance,

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purposed in his heart that he
would not defile himself with a

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portion of the King’s meat, nor
with the wine which he drank.

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Therefore he made a request to
the Prince of eunuch, the

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eunuchs, that he might not
defile himself.

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That word purpose there is
translated elsewhere as

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00:18:18,480 –> 00:18:23,640
rehearsed.
He rehearsed in his heart that

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00:18:23,640 –> 00:18:25,400
he would not defile himself with
the King’s meat.

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He told himself over and over
again and reinforced in his own

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00:18:28,640 –> 00:18:33,840
mind what was right and that he
couldn’t be defiled with the

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King’s mate.
He wasn’t going to partake of

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00:18:36,400 –> 00:18:40,600
all that this society that he’d
just been lobbed into was there

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00:18:40,600 –> 00:18:43,480
to offer, you know, brilliant
sisters and young people.

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00:18:43,480 –> 00:18:45,800
What he didn’t say isn’t that
interesting to notice.

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00:18:45,800 –> 00:18:48,920
What he didn’t say as well as
what he did, he didn’t say.

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00:18:49,080 –> 00:18:52,000
Oh well, I’ll give it a go,
can’t really.

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00:18:52,080 –> 00:18:56,280
And we’ll have a look at and
compare at the end what

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00:18:56,560 –> 00:18:58,520
absolutely folly that would have
been.

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00:18:59,320 –> 00:19:04,040
He purposed in his heart when he
saw the policy, he saw what

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00:19:04,120 –> 00:19:07,920
Babylon was out to do.
And he said, I am not going to

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00:19:07,920 –> 00:19:09,720
do it.
And he made requests

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00:19:09,720 –> 00:19:13,280
respectfully to the Prince of
the eunuchs, who in fact, as we

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00:19:13,280 –> 00:19:18,640
know, accepted his request and
turned out that he proved

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00:19:18,640 –> 00:19:23,960
himself and his friends to be 10
times better than all of those

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00:19:24,240 –> 00:19:27,600
that have been on the official
diet of the king.

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00:19:28,480 –> 00:19:32,560
You know, it’s never, ever wise
counsel to Taste of Babylon’s

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00:19:32,560 –> 00:19:37,480
food in order to make a choice
between Babylon and the truth.

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00:19:37,800 –> 00:19:39,840
Never is it a wise choice to do
that.

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00:19:40,080 –> 00:19:43,680
Because young people, as soon as
we’ve tasted of what Babylon has

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00:19:43,680 –> 00:19:48,840
to offer, we’ve already in a
position where we won’t be able

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00:19:48,840 –> 00:19:52,400
to make a choice anymore.
Already things will become

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00:19:52,400 –> 00:19:57,880
crowded.
It’s never ever a good idea to

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00:19:57,880 –> 00:20:01,320
taste of Babylon first in order
that we might make a choice, But

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00:20:02,360 –> 00:20:05,160
I wonder whether you’ve ever
noticed in Daniel, as we read

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00:20:05,160 –> 00:20:09,440
through Daniel chapter one, that
Daniel himself as an individual,

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00:20:09,440 –> 00:20:12,840
Though we know that it talks
about Hananiah, Mishael, and

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00:20:12,840 –> 00:20:17,080
Azariah as well in that chapter.
How many of you have noticed

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00:20:17,080 –> 00:20:20,800
that Daniel is very dominant in
that chapter?

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00:20:21,920 –> 00:20:24,480
In fact, that verse we just
read, verse 8, it’s talking

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00:20:24,480 –> 00:20:27,160
about Daniel himself.
He purposed in his heart that he

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00:20:27,160 –> 00:20:30,240
would not defile, and he goes to
the Prince of the eunuchs and

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00:20:30,240 –> 00:20:32,120
asked that he might not defile
himself.

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00:20:32,560 –> 00:20:35,480
He, he, he.
Now we know that the other

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00:20:35,480 –> 00:20:40,320
friends of Daniel were likewise
right behind Daniel and

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00:20:40,320 –> 00:20:44,040
supporting everything he did.
But it was just like that with

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00:20:44,040 –> 00:20:47,280
Daniel out the front and his
friends supporting him.

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00:20:47,520 –> 00:20:50,080
And you read through all of
Daniel chapter 1 and you’ll find

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00:20:50,080 –> 00:20:52,040
that that’s in fact the picture
that we get.

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00:20:52,400 –> 00:20:57,920
Daniel is obviously a leader, a
very intelligent and capable

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00:20:57,920 –> 00:21:00,720
young man who knew exactly where
he was going.

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00:21:00,960 –> 00:21:04,040
Now, it’s not to not to deny
that the other three friends who

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00:21:04,040 –> 00:21:07,520
were around him and supported
him were not also faithful young

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00:21:07,520 –> 00:21:08,760
men.
Of course they were.

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00:21:08,760 –> 00:21:12,880
We know that and it’s proved a
little later on, but he was the

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00:21:12,880 –> 00:21:16,440
spokesman.
In fact, in verse 8, verse 9,

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00:21:16,440 –> 00:21:22,280
verse 10, verse 11, verse 17,
and verse 21, Daniel stands out

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00:21:22,280 –> 00:21:26,080
in front of all the others.
And the other thing to notice

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00:21:26,080 –> 00:21:31,000
before we move on is that Daniel
chapter one really concentrates

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00:21:31,000 –> 00:21:36,240
on all of these four young men
and only calls them by their

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00:21:36,240 –> 00:21:41,000
Hebrew names, apart from telling
us that they had their names

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00:21:41,000 –> 00:21:45,720
changed by the Babylonians.
On all other occasions it uses

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00:21:45,720 –> 00:21:49,040
their Hebrew names.
And then we come to chapter 2

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00:21:49,040 –> 00:21:53,960
with the dream of
Nebuchadnezzar, and we know that

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00:21:53,960 –> 00:21:55,600
very well.
And what happened.

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00:21:56,440 –> 00:22:00,240
And Daniel as a result was
elevated because of his

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00:22:00,240 –> 00:22:04,280
interpretation of that dream.
And again, it’s Daniel, not the

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00:22:04,280 –> 00:22:06,480
others.
It’s Daniel who was in that

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00:22:06,480 –> 00:22:07,960
position.
I’d like you to come to the end

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00:22:07,960 –> 00:22:13,200
of Daniel chapter 2, verse 48
and read this very carefully.

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00:22:15,200 –> 00:22:19,160
Then the king made Daniel a
great man and gave him many

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00:22:19,160 –> 00:22:22,240
gifts and made him rule over the
whole province of Babylon and

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00:22:22,240 –> 00:22:25,200
chief of the governors over all
the wise men of Babylon.

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00:22:26,160 –> 00:22:30,760
Then Daniel requested of the
king and he set set Shadrach,

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00:22:30,760 –> 00:22:33,160
Meshach and Abednego over the
affairs of the province of

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00:22:33,160 –> 00:22:36,200
Babylon.
But Daniel sat in the gate of

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00:22:36,200 –> 00:22:38,920
the king.
If you read that quickly, you

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00:22:38,920 –> 00:22:44,240
missed the point.
Did you notice Daniel still

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00:22:44,240 –> 00:22:48,920
called by his Hebrew name?
But Shadrach, Meshach, and

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00:22:48,920 –> 00:22:53,080
Abednego have got their
Babylonian names.

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00:22:53,680 –> 00:22:57,200
They were not called by their
Babylonian names in chapter 1,

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00:22:57,920 –> 00:23:03,120
but now they are, and all the
way through chapter 3 they have

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00:23:03,120 –> 00:23:06,160
Babylonian names without
exception.

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00:23:07,080 –> 00:23:11,560
What’s that saying?
Well, it appears that Daniel had

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00:23:11,560 –> 00:23:17,440
risen to such an important post
that no one could tell him what

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00:23:17,440 –> 00:23:22,320
his name was going to be, and he
retained his name as his

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00:23:22,320 –> 00:23:27,720
original Hebrew name.
But the other three friends,

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00:23:27,720 –> 00:23:30,680
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
even though they were raised to

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00:23:30,680 –> 00:23:36,440
a position of importance, were
still subordinate and were still

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00:23:36,440 –> 00:23:40,760
being called Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego by Nebuchadnezzar

326
00:23:40,760 –> 00:23:44,120
himself.
That’s interesting to notice.

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00:23:44,800 –> 00:23:50,040
We we come to chapter 3 and at
this stage those three men,

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00:23:50,040 –> 00:23:54,680
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,
were probably in their early 20s

329
00:23:54,680 –> 00:23:58,920
at this stage.
And Daniel is not even mentioned

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00:23:59,120 –> 00:24:03,320
in Daniel chapter 3.
They are always, as we said,

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00:24:03,320 –> 00:24:05,680
mentioned by their Babylonian
names.

332
00:24:06,840 –> 00:24:13,400
Nebuchadnezzar clearly had not
given up on his original policy

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00:24:13,640 –> 00:24:18,720
of integration and conformity.
You see, the changing of those

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00:24:18,720 –> 00:24:23,480
names were meant to reflect a
different personality and but

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00:24:23,480 –> 00:24:27,000
Nebuchadnezzar was not going to
give up easily on that.

336
00:24:27,120 –> 00:24:31,320
He hadn’t even tried to to
persist with that with Daniel.

337
00:24:31,480 –> 00:24:34,320
But now there’s psychological
warfare.

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00:24:35,000 –> 00:24:38,160
Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t have to
go browbeating them all the

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00:24:38,160 –> 00:24:40,120
time.
All he has to do is keep on

340
00:24:40,120 –> 00:24:46,400
calling them by their Babylonian
names as a part as opposed to

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00:24:46,400 –> 00:24:51,240
their Hebrew names.
And really what Babylon was

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00:24:51,240 –> 00:24:55,240
doing, and Nebuchadnezzar in
particular, young people, he was

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00:24:55,240 –> 00:25:01,800
taking another tack.
They had been proved in their

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00:25:01,800 –> 00:25:05,960
integrity in chapter 1 to be 10
times better than anything else,

345
00:25:06,240 –> 00:25:08,440
any of the others that had been
under that test.

346
00:25:10,520 –> 00:25:15,800
But the world doesn’t give up
that easily in trying to make

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00:25:16,840 –> 00:25:22,280
the young intellectuals conform
to it’s thinking and it’s

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00:25:22,280 –> 00:25:26,320
behaviour.
You know, I believe young people

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00:25:26,320 –> 00:25:31,960
that the events of Chapter 3 of
Daniel are even more relevant,

350
00:25:32,680 –> 00:25:36,000
and it’s the reason that we’ve
chosen tonight to concentrate on

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00:25:36,000 –> 00:25:39,080
Chapter 3 as opposed to Chapter
1.

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00:25:39,520 –> 00:25:42,040
It’s not that there are no
lessons in Chapter 1 for young

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00:25:42,040 –> 00:25:43,200
people.
There certainly are.

354
00:25:43,200 –> 00:25:47,520
There’s lessons for us all.
But Chapter 3, I believe, is

355
00:25:47,520 –> 00:25:51,200
even more relevant to young
people generally.

356
00:25:51,200 –> 00:25:56,280
I’ll tell you why.
We find in Chapter 3 that Daniel

357
00:25:56,280 –> 00:26:00,160
is not there.
In other words, the leader is

358
00:26:00,160 –> 00:26:03,040
not present.
Now that’s important.

359
00:26:03,880 –> 00:26:08,120
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
are always mentioned together in

360
00:26:08,120 –> 00:26:10,800
Chapter 3.
Always, without exception.

361
00:26:10,800 –> 00:26:14,960
They are never, ever separated.
There is no clear leader amongst

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00:26:15,160 –> 00:26:18,000
any of those 3.
Apart from that, they’re named

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00:26:18,000 –> 00:26:21,520
the same way each time, but
they’re always kept together.

364
00:26:22,040 –> 00:26:25,920
And here are here we’re
presented with three ordinary

365
00:26:26,560 –> 00:26:30,880
Christadelphian young people.
Now, I think that’s very

366
00:26:30,880 –> 00:26:33,880
important.
They had grown up in the truth.

367
00:26:34,600 –> 00:26:37,600
They’re in a strange land where
they didn’t really belong, and

368
00:26:37,600 –> 00:26:39,800
there’s enormous pressures to
conform.

369
00:26:40,080 –> 00:26:43,160
And when they first got there,
there was a strong character

370
00:26:43,160 –> 00:26:47,080
like Daniel who influenced them
and and encouraged them to stand

371
00:26:47,080 –> 00:26:50,640
up for what was right and talked
about the Bible and Jeremiah’s

372
00:26:50,640 –> 00:26:56,960
prophecies with Daniel.
And now Daniel’s not there and

373
00:26:56,960 –> 00:27:00,960
they’re, in their own eyes, just
ordinary young people.

374
00:27:05,120 –> 00:27:09,400
What are they going to do?
They’re without the support of a

375
00:27:09,400 –> 00:27:12,840
leader.
They’re without the support of

376
00:27:12,840 –> 00:27:15,960
their family.
They’re without the support of

377
00:27:15,960 –> 00:27:20,280
the ecclesia.
They’re just three young people

378
00:27:20,720 –> 00:27:23,760
who have to make a decision
themselves.

379
00:27:25,440 –> 00:27:30,200
And young people, that’s the
situation that you and I find

380
00:27:30,200 –> 00:27:35,560
ourselves in almost every day of
our lives, living in the middle

381
00:27:36,240 –> 00:27:39,760
of Babylon.
And we don’t always have a

382
00:27:39,760 –> 00:27:45,360
Daniel standing alongside us.
And we don’t always have our

383
00:27:45,360 –> 00:27:50,520
fathers or mothers or support
standing alongside us every time

384
00:27:51,080 –> 00:27:53,560
a test comes upon it.
And I believe, young people,

385
00:27:53,560 –> 00:27:58,040
that Daniel chapter 3 is an
essential chapter of the Bible

386
00:27:58,040 –> 00:28:01,120
for every young teenager to come
to grips with.

387
00:28:01,840 –> 00:28:04,080
If you don’t know anything much
about this and you haven’t

388
00:28:04,080 –> 00:28:07,760
marked up some of the principles
out of Daniel chapter 3, make it

389
00:28:07,760 –> 00:28:13,040
a determination after tonight to
do it because you are fighting

390
00:28:13,280 –> 00:28:15,880
the exact issues that are in
this chapter.

391
00:28:16,680 –> 00:28:21,160
There is a king out there who is
determined to make you bow the

392
00:28:21,160 –> 00:28:25,360
knee, just as determined as
Nebuchadnezzar was in the days

393
00:28:25,360 –> 00:28:28,040
when Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego stood.

394
00:28:28,360 –> 00:28:31,400
And this chapter is an amazing
piece of scripture.

395
00:28:31,960 –> 00:28:35,200
It is so different from anything
else that appears in the book of

396
00:28:35,200 –> 00:28:38,000
Daniel.
If you, I guarantee that if I

397
00:28:38,000 –> 00:28:40,720
asked everyone in this hall
tonight just to get a piece of

398
00:28:40,720 –> 00:28:45,160
paper and for you to write down
the story that’s contained in

399
00:28:45,160 –> 00:28:47,520
Daniel Chapter 3, because we’ve
just read it and we’ve all known

400
00:28:47,520 –> 00:28:50,520
it since we were this high.
If we grew up in the truth.

401
00:28:50,520 –> 00:28:53,680
We’ve all heard the story at
Sunday school and we all know

402
00:28:53,680 –> 00:28:56,160
our children love the story.
It’s a dramatic story.

403
00:28:56,320 –> 00:29:02,040
I guarantee that if I asked you
to write down on paper the story

404
00:29:02,040 –> 00:29:05,280
of this chapter of Daniel and
his three friends in the fiery

405
00:29:05,280 –> 00:29:12,680
furnace, there wouldn’t be one
single person in this hall who

406
00:29:12,680 –> 00:29:17,280
wrote it down like this.
Not one.

407
00:29:21,360 –> 00:29:26,360
I wouldn’t write it like this.
The repetition in this chapter

408
00:29:26,480 –> 00:29:31,040
is absolutely astounding.
And on the Bible marking sheet,

409
00:29:31,040 –> 00:29:33,320
there’s a list of some of those
things that you can follow

410
00:29:33,360 –> 00:29:35,840
through.
But we’re going to have to read

411
00:29:35,840 –> 00:29:37,480
carefully.
You know, we might must have

412
00:29:37,480 –> 00:29:39,520
read Daniel chapter 3 so many
times.

413
00:29:39,520 –> 00:29:40,760
We’re so familiar with the
story.

414
00:29:41,000 –> 00:29:44,480
But when we are familiar with
things, we read straight over

415
00:29:44,480 –> 00:29:47,560
very important principles.
And whenever the Scripture

416
00:29:47,800 –> 00:29:51,760
repeats and continually repeats
over and over and over again,

417
00:29:51,760 –> 00:29:55,320
something in very short
succession, we’ve got to sit up

418
00:29:55,320 –> 00:29:59,080
and listen.
And the divined mind has

419
00:29:59,080 –> 00:30:03,120
recorded something in here
that’s attempting to make us sit

420
00:30:03,120 –> 00:30:08,920
up and listen very carefully
because there’s some essential

421
00:30:08,920 –> 00:30:13,440
issues of life contained here.
Let’s come to verse one.

422
00:30:14,120 –> 00:30:17,680
Nebuchadnezzar, the king, made
an image of gold whose height

423
00:30:17,680 –> 00:30:20,440
was 3 score cubits and the
breadth thereof was 6 cubits.

424
00:30:21,320 –> 00:30:26,200
And he set it up in the plain of
Jura in the province of Babylon.

425
00:30:27,080 –> 00:30:31,400
All very interesting.
And so we start the story, but

426
00:30:31,400 –> 00:30:35,280
there are at least three very
clear connections back to

427
00:30:35,280 –> 00:30:37,760
chapter 1.
One of them is very obvious on

428
00:30:37,760 –> 00:30:40,240
the surface.
The other two may not be quite

429
00:30:40,240 –> 00:30:42,240
so obvious.
The one that’s very obvious is

430
00:30:42,240 –> 00:30:45,040
the made an image of gold.
The word image there is exactly

431
00:30:45,040 –> 00:30:48,360
the same word that’s used for
image in chapter 2 of the image

432
00:30:48,360 –> 00:30:51,320
that Nebuchadnezzar saw.
But this time it’s all of gold.

433
00:30:51,440 –> 00:30:53,360
And that has to be a challenge,
doesn’t it?

434
00:30:53,520 –> 00:30:56,120
Because the image that
Nebuchadnezzar of all people

435
00:30:56,120 –> 00:30:59,000
saw, and now it’s Nebuchadnezzar
setting up this new one, the one

436
00:30:59,000 –> 00:31:01,360
that Nebuchadnezzar saw only had
a head of gold.

437
00:31:01,560 –> 00:31:04,920
And he was told what that meant.
Nebuchadnezzar, you are the head

438
00:31:04,920 –> 00:31:08,760
of gold.
You are the, the, the crowning

439
00:31:08,760 –> 00:31:13,280
pinnacle of the kingdoms of men.
But under you there’s an

440
00:31:13,280 –> 00:31:16,040
inferior Kingdom that’s going to
take over for you, and you are

441
00:31:16,040 –> 00:31:17,880
not going to keep on going
forever.

442
00:31:17,880 –> 00:31:21,200
That was a clear message which
was given to him by Daniel.

443
00:31:21,440 –> 00:31:24,520
And now straight after that,
Nebuchadnezzar sets up an image

444
00:31:24,560 –> 00:31:29,200
of pure gold from head to foot.
Now, if that wasn’t an open and

445
00:31:29,200 –> 00:31:32,800
direct challenge to the vision
which he’d already seen and had

446
00:31:32,800 –> 00:31:35,440
interpreted for him, I don’t
know what was.

447
00:31:36,280 –> 00:31:41,280
So it’s set in that setting, but
there’s more to it than that.

448
00:31:41,840 –> 00:31:45,440
It tells us that Nebuchadnezzar
set it up.

449
00:31:45,600 –> 00:31:48,480
It wasn’t just his counsellors
or Princess.

450
00:31:48,640 –> 00:31:51,840
He didn’t go and get those who
were over this province of

451
00:31:51,840 –> 00:31:53,800
Babylon to do it.
Do you know who was over the

452
00:31:53,800 –> 00:31:57,720
province of Babylon?
Well, the end of chapter 2 says

453
00:31:57,840 –> 00:32:00,760
that Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego were over the province

454
00:32:00,760 –> 00:32:03,880
of Babylon.
And now he goes straight over

455
00:32:03,880 –> 00:32:08,000
their heads and sets up in the
province that he’s given them to

456
00:32:08,000 –> 00:32:11,280
rule over.
He sets up this image without

457
00:32:11,280 –> 00:32:14,640
their knowledge.
Why did he do it?

458
00:32:14,760 –> 00:32:18,360
Obviously he knew what they’d
think of because they were

459
00:32:18,360 –> 00:32:21,520
friends of Daniel.
And that is repeated.

460
00:32:21,520 –> 00:32:26,120
If you think that’s unimportant,
that phrase, he Nebuchadnezzar,

461
00:32:26,120 –> 00:32:30,960
that is, he set it up, occurs 9
times in this chapter.

462
00:32:31,600 –> 00:32:33,720
Now if we didn’t know after
verse one that it was

463
00:32:33,720 –> 00:32:37,440
Nebuchadnezzar that set up, we’d
be rather dull.

464
00:32:37,840 –> 00:32:41,760
But we’re told time and time
again every time we meet that

465
00:32:41,760 –> 00:32:45,960
image that it was the image that
Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

466
00:32:46,640 –> 00:32:48,320
And it’s repeated over and over
again.

467
00:32:48,480 –> 00:32:54,040
This is quite clearly a very
direct challenge in the face of

468
00:32:54,040 –> 00:32:57,680
that image, which he’d seen.
But there’s something else that

469
00:32:57,680 –> 00:33:00,560
might not be on the surface so
amazing.

470
00:33:02,200 –> 00:33:06,440
The chapter starts,
Nebuchadnezzar the King.

471
00:33:08,520 –> 00:33:13,920
Do you know that title
Nebuchadnezzar the King doesn’t

472
00:33:13,920 –> 00:33:20,000
occur outside of this chapter
apart from verse 1 of chapter 4

473
00:33:21,240 –> 00:33:24,320
and between verse 1 of chapter 3
and verse 1 of chapter 4?

474
00:33:24,320 –> 00:33:30,000
It occurs 9 times.
It never occurs outside there.

475
00:33:30,280 –> 00:33:34,440
Never have we got Nebuchadnezzar
and the King put together as a

476
00:33:34,440 –> 00:33:37,720
formal, pompous, official,
powerful title.

477
00:33:38,600 –> 00:33:44,440
But now, as if to to emphasize
that it’s Nebuchadnezzar, the

478
00:33:44,440 –> 00:33:51,240
supreme king of the world, it’s
repeated over over ad nauseam

479
00:33:52,280 –> 00:33:56,800
with deliberate intent.
That’s how this how this starts.

480
00:33:57,120 –> 00:33:59,760
And if you don’t think that
that’s the intention of that

481
00:33:59,760 –> 00:34:02,960
title, you’re going to chapter 4
and verse one, the only other

482
00:34:02,960 –> 00:34:04,880
place outside this chapter that
it occurs.

483
00:34:05,160 –> 00:34:09,719
And we read Nebuchadnezzar, the
king, and to all people,

484
00:34:09,840 –> 00:34:13,239
nations, languages that dwell on
the face of the earth, or in all

485
00:34:13,239 –> 00:34:14,760
the earth, peace be multiplied
unto you.

486
00:34:14,760 –> 00:34:18,840
And so he goes on and say, so
he’s commanding the attention of

487
00:34:18,840 –> 00:34:24,199
the then known world and drawing
attention to himself as the

488
00:34:24,199 –> 00:34:28,960
supreme might.
That’s exactly what that image

489
00:34:28,960 –> 00:34:32,520
was meant to portray.
He had that intention to draw

490
00:34:32,560 –> 00:34:38,440
the attention of all the world
to his might and his supremacy

491
00:34:38,679 –> 00:34:40,159
and get all the world to bow
down.

492
00:34:40,840 –> 00:34:43,280
So it’s a testimony to his
arrogance and to his self

493
00:34:43,280 –> 00:34:46,360
importance.
But we just read, read straight

494
00:34:46,400 –> 00:34:49,239
over a number of other things in
chapter, in verse one there, for

495
00:34:49,239 –> 00:34:53,120
example, the dimensions of the
image and its location.

496
00:34:53,920 –> 00:34:58,480
You see, it was 60 cubits by 6
cubits.

497
00:34:58,760 –> 00:35:02,960
Anyone that identity about the
Bible would have to immediately

498
00:35:02,960 –> 00:35:06,560
see the connection with flesh
there, 6 being the number of

499
00:35:06,560 –> 00:35:09,600
flesh.
But it’s an impressive image, a

500
00:35:09,600 –> 00:35:14,520
very impressive image.
And this image was 9 stories

501
00:35:14,520 –> 00:35:17,040
high.
And where did he set it?

502
00:35:17,280 –> 00:35:19,480
In the middle.
Middle of all Babylon’s high

503
00:35:19,480 –> 00:35:25,440
rise buildings?
No, out on the plain of Jura,

504
00:35:25,640 –> 00:35:30,440
where a nine Storey image would
look amazingly impressive when

505
00:35:30,440 –> 00:35:33,600
you walked into it from miles
away you would see this

506
00:35:33,600 –> 00:35:38,640
glistening in the sun, this
gigantic image when everyone

507
00:35:38,640 –> 00:35:40,800
from all over his province was
drawn there.

508
00:35:40,960 –> 00:35:45,560
It was there to impress.
Impress the ice.

509
00:35:47,360 –> 00:35:51,400
Nebuchadnezzar was no fool.
He might have been a selfish

510
00:35:51,400 –> 00:35:53,440
self-centered man, but he was no
fool.

511
00:35:54,440 –> 00:36:00,080
And there was the symbol of
flesh to be glorified and

512
00:36:00,080 –> 00:36:03,080
worshipped.
And what a challenge that was to

513
00:36:03,600 –> 00:36:06,520
the might of Yahweh said in the
plain of Jura.

514
00:36:06,760 –> 00:36:09,960
The word Jura means a circle
which really has the idea of

515
00:36:09,960 –> 00:36:13,800
eternity.
And there he thought he was

516
00:36:13,800 –> 00:36:17,200
going to set up his Kingdom for
eternity.

517
00:36:17,560 –> 00:36:18,920
And look who he called.
Verse 2.

518
00:36:18,920 –> 00:36:22,080
Nebuchadnezzar the king sent
together together the Princess,

519
00:36:22,080 –> 00:36:25,320
the governors, the captains, the
judges, the treasurers, the

520
00:36:25,320 –> 00:36:28,160
counselors, sheriffs, and all
the provinces, rules of the

521
00:36:28,160 –> 00:36:30,800
provinces, to come to the
dedication of the image which

522
00:36:31,240 –> 00:36:33,760
Nebuchadnezzar the king had set
up.

523
00:36:35,000 –> 00:36:38,880
Repetitious, isn’t it?
Why didn’t he say he gathered

524
00:36:38,880 –> 00:36:42,440
together all the intelligentsia
and all the rulers from all over

525
00:36:42,560 –> 00:36:44,440
them, all over his realm?
Why didn’t he say that?

526
00:36:45,960 –> 00:36:51,240
Well, he mentions them everyone
by name, to impress us with just

527
00:36:51,240 –> 00:36:55,520
how many there were and how
important were all their titles,

528
00:36:55,720 –> 00:36:58,520
and that from the highest to the
lowest of all his rulers were

529
00:36:58,520 –> 00:37:00,480
there.
And verse 3 repeats all that

530
00:37:00,480 –> 00:37:06,040
same list again and tells us
that they all, without

531
00:37:06,040 –> 00:37:12,240
exception, came.
This is very impressive.

532
00:37:13,280 –> 00:37:18,920
Everybody was coming and
prepared to conform to the

533
00:37:18,920 –> 00:37:23,200
invitation of this great king
where the emphasis was on

534
00:37:23,200 –> 00:37:26,760
grandeur and pomp and ceremony
to impress the flesh.

535
00:37:27,360 –> 00:37:30,480
And they all stood in front
verse 3, right at the end of

536
00:37:30,480 –> 00:37:32,760
verse 3, we find and they stood
before the image that

537
00:37:32,760 –> 00:37:35,840
Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
The word stood before means to

538
00:37:35,840 –> 00:37:39,480
stand in front of.
And this is where all of these

539
00:37:39,800 –> 00:37:44,600
these captains and judges and
treasurers stood right down the

540
00:37:44,640 –> 00:37:46,840
front, right at the foot of this
image.

541
00:37:47,120 –> 00:37:53,440
So they’re staring up at this
nine story high image, a massive

542
00:37:53,760 –> 00:37:57,920
structure.
And behind them are countless

543
00:37:58,240 –> 00:38:00,720
millions of people.
There are hundreds of thousands,

544
00:38:00,720 –> 00:38:04,600
probably of people that had been
gathered and called to witness

545
00:38:05,000 –> 00:38:11,640
this inaugural ceremony where
Nebuchadnezzar himself was going

546
00:38:11,640 –> 00:38:14,360
to be worshipped in the image
that he’d made.

547
00:38:16,400 –> 00:38:22,920
And just think, Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego are right

548
00:38:23,120 –> 00:38:30,120
down the front with all of those
captains and judges and

549
00:38:30,120 –> 00:38:39,960
treasurers right in the front
row where everybody, no matter

550
00:38:39,960 –> 00:38:41,920
where they stood, could see
them.

551
00:38:41,920 –> 00:38:47,280
And we find in verse 4 and
Harold cried aloud or as the

552
00:38:47,280 –> 00:38:51,320
margin says with might do you,
it’s commanded O people, nations

553
00:38:51,320 –> 00:38:53,800
and languages.
And so he goes on to tell them

554
00:38:53,800 –> 00:38:58,400
all of the the details of what
they had to do when they heard

555
00:38:58,400 –> 00:39:00,320
the sound of all of these
instruments.

556
00:39:00,320 –> 00:39:02,360
They had to fall down and
worship the golden image that

557
00:39:02,360 –> 00:39:06,600
Nebuchadnezzar had made.
But it was a command.

558
00:39:06,600 –> 00:39:10,560
Did you notice in verse 4?
And you, it’s commanded.

559
00:39:11,800 –> 00:39:15,560
There wasn’t any option.
There wasn’t any opportunity for

560
00:39:15,560 –> 00:39:19,400
conscientious objection.
And I’d like you to notice just

561
00:39:19,400 –> 00:39:23,640
in passing, and we’ll come back
to this in a moment, who he

562
00:39:23,640 –> 00:39:31,880
commanded that law to says, O
people, nations and languages.

563
00:39:31,880 –> 00:39:34,640
Just make a mental note of that
for the moment.

564
00:39:36,000 –> 00:39:38,560
And then we find in verse 5 that
this was with the command that

565
00:39:38,560 –> 00:39:42,680
at what time you hear the sound
of a cornet, flute, harp,

566
00:39:42,680 –> 00:39:47,160
sackbuck, sultry dulcimer, and
all kinds of music, you fall

567
00:39:47,160 –> 00:39:51,440
down and worship the golden
image that Nebuchadnezzar had

568
00:39:51,440 –> 00:39:55,360
set up.
That goes on and on, repeats.

569
00:39:56,520 –> 00:40:00,080
And if they don’t fall down,
whoseover falleth not down, and

570
00:40:00,080 –> 00:40:03,240
worship the same hour shall be
cast in the midst of a burning

571
00:40:03,240 –> 00:40:06,640
fiery furnace.
So it’s not only a command,

572
00:40:06,640 –> 00:40:11,280
there’s also real might to this
law that’s going out.

573
00:40:12,080 –> 00:40:16,000
And so there was a signal when
they were to worship the flesh,

574
00:40:16,240 –> 00:40:19,960
there was a signal, and that
signal was music, 6 instruments.

575
00:40:20,120 –> 00:40:22,080
So you can imagine what kind of
music it was.

576
00:40:22,240 –> 00:40:25,560
It was there to arouse the
flesh, to incite the flesh to

577
00:40:25,560 –> 00:40:31,520
bow down, and to glorify an
image of a man who thought he’d

578
00:40:31,520 –> 00:40:36,320
been elevated into heaven above
Yahweh in the heavens.

579
00:40:36,600 –> 00:40:39,920
That’s what it was all about.
And music is a very, very

580
00:40:39,920 –> 00:40:42,840
powerful medium, a very powerful
medium.

581
00:40:43,080 –> 00:40:47,280
And it was used on this occasion
by Nebuchadnezzar to make all

582
00:40:47,280 –> 00:40:51,920
peoples of his realm to fall
down on their knees and worship

583
00:40:52,000 –> 00:41:00,880
the flesh.
And if they didn’t, if there was

584
00:41:00,880 –> 00:41:07,560
no voluntary response, then they
would get a little help, a

585
00:41:07,560 –> 00:41:12,320
little taste of the fiery
furnace, and perhaps that might

586
00:41:12,320 –> 00:41:16,080
convince them to drop onto their
knees.

587
00:41:16,560 –> 00:41:19,400
And for the majority, if any had
stood up, it certainly would

588
00:41:19,400 –> 00:41:22,440
have helped.
And did you notice that that

589
00:41:22,440 –> 00:41:27,960
furnace is not just called a
furnace, It’s called a burning

590
00:41:28,560 –> 00:41:33,600
fiery furnace.
This was no ordinary furnace.

591
00:41:34,320 –> 00:41:37,920
And did you notice in the record
it’s mentioned 8 times.

592
00:41:39,000 –> 00:41:41,920
That’s very significant.
We’ll come back to that later.

593
00:41:42,480 –> 00:41:46,320
But it’s mentioned 8 times.
And so if a person refused to

594
00:41:46,320 –> 00:41:49,440
bow down and worship the flesh,
what was going to happen?

595
00:41:49,760 –> 00:41:56,080
They would be sacrificed to
Babylon’s God of the fire, and

596
00:41:56,080 –> 00:42:00,520
Nebuchadnezzar would still be
supreme.

597
00:42:02,280 –> 00:42:09,480
He would not allow any challenge
he had within his hand the power

598
00:42:09,480 –> 00:42:13,800
to do anything he wanted.
Men’s lives danced on his palm.

599
00:42:14,000 –> 00:42:20,800
If he said that’s the end of
you, that was the end, or so he

600
00:42:20,800 –> 00:42:24,440
thought.
And we find in verse 7,

601
00:42:24,720 –> 00:42:29,000
therefore, at that time when all
the people heard the sound of

602
00:42:29,000 –> 00:42:31,360
the quornet, the flute, the
heart, the sackpot, the sultry,

603
00:42:31,360 –> 00:42:33,840
and all kinds of music, see,
they’re all repeated, all six of

604
00:42:33,840 –> 00:42:39,760
them repeated again, all
underline it, Young people, all

605
00:42:39,760 –> 00:42:43,520
the people, the nations and the
languages.

606
00:42:43,520 –> 00:42:48,200
There’s that same phrase fell
down and worshipped the golden

607
00:42:48,200 –> 00:42:52,040
image that Nebuchadnezzar the
king had set up.

608
00:42:52,400 –> 00:42:57,400
All his policies are are working
100%.

609
00:42:58,920 –> 00:43:04,520
Debbie could never.
The thing has now got everyone

610
00:43:04,520 –> 00:43:07,640
on their knees just where he
wanted them.

611
00:43:09,200 –> 00:43:12,440
Or so he thought.
I want you to think young people

612
00:43:12,680 –> 00:43:18,440
of Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego, they’re in the front

613
00:43:18,520 –> 00:43:24,640
row and they’re standing there
with everyone else.

614
00:43:26,680 –> 00:43:35,360
And the music starts and they
see all around them people

615
00:43:35,360 –> 00:43:38,840
starting to go down.
And the music reaches A

616
00:43:38,840 –> 00:43:43,080
crescendo and it’s getting
louder and louder.

617
00:43:44,400 –> 00:43:47,720
And they look at the corner of
their eye and they can’t see

618
00:43:47,720 –> 00:43:51,600
anyone else standing.
And they look around and there’s

619
00:43:51,600 –> 00:43:57,520
no one else anywhere standing.
What do you think their knees

620
00:43:57,520 –> 00:44:02,800
were feeling like?
Ever felt weak in the knees?

621
00:44:04,880 –> 00:44:08,880
I guarantee that day they were.
They could have easily

622
00:44:08,880 –> 00:44:11,080
rationalized that.
Easily rationalized.

623
00:44:13,200 –> 00:44:19,040
They could have said in their
minds, well, really we’ve only

624
00:44:19,040 –> 00:44:22,200
just been honoured by
Nebuchadnezzar and we probably

625
00:44:22,200 –> 00:44:25,000
should be thankful for that.
We ought to offend him, of

626
00:44:25,440 –> 00:44:28,520
course, if we do, if we do bow
down at this case, it wouldn’t

627
00:44:28,520 –> 00:44:32,680
really mean that that we were
worshipping his gods.

628
00:44:32,680 –> 00:44:35,800
And we could explain that to him
afterwards so that he understood

629
00:44:35,800 –> 00:44:37,280
that we weren’t worshiping his
gods.

630
00:44:37,640 –> 00:44:41,080
And and anyway, what’s the use
of really just sacrificing our

631
00:44:41,080 –> 00:44:43,000
lives for such a pointless
exercise?

632
00:44:44,120 –> 00:44:45,720
I mean, after all, what would
that really achieve?

633
00:44:45,720 –> 00:44:48,280
Surely we’ve got a greater work
to do here in Babylon.

634
00:44:48,400 –> 00:44:50,280
Surely we can encourage the
young captives.

635
00:44:50,280 –> 00:44:51,920
We know something about what
Daniel said.

636
00:44:52,320 –> 00:44:57,480
Surely Let’s just go down and
we’ll explain them.

637
00:44:57,560 –> 00:45:02,720
Everything.
Sounds plausible, doesn’t it?

638
00:45:05,200 –> 00:45:07,120
I wonder how many of us would
have taken that line.

639
00:45:08,800 –> 00:45:15,640
They knew that to go to stand
upright young people, they knew

640
00:45:16,800 –> 00:45:24,320
it meant certain death.
And remember this, that they

641
00:45:24,320 –> 00:45:27,920
didn’t know the end of this
story like we do.

642
00:45:29,160 –> 00:45:33,920
All they knew was that
Babylonians were awfully

643
00:45:33,920 –> 00:45:38,960
ruthless, Whatever they said
they meant.

644
00:45:40,040 –> 00:45:42,560
And it didn’t matter about men’s
lives.

645
00:45:44,120 –> 00:45:49,040
Life was awfully cheap in the
hands of a potentate like

646
00:45:49,040 –> 00:45:53,040
Nebuchadnezzar, and they’d seen
that happen in their own

647
00:45:53,040 –> 00:45:57,000
country.
And with that knowledge, it was

648
00:45:57,000 –> 00:46:00,120
not easy to stand up and be
counted.

649
00:46:00,120 –> 00:46:02,360
And they counted the cost, young
people.

650
00:46:02,400 –> 00:46:07,920
They counted the cost.
And the cost was their lives,

651
00:46:10,080 –> 00:46:13,720
nothing less.
It was their lives.

652
00:46:14,600 –> 00:46:16,920
And there are many other
faithfuls through many

653
00:46:16,920 –> 00:46:20,600
generations who’ve faced exactly
that same situation.

654
00:46:21,360 –> 00:46:25,400
They’ve counted the cough and
have lost their lives.

655
00:46:29,520 –> 00:46:31,760
Yeah.
They knew that Babylon’s days

656
00:46:31,760 –> 00:46:35,280
were numbered.
They knew that because they’d

657
00:46:35,280 –> 00:46:38,600
been in touch with Jeremiah
before they left, and they knew

658
00:46:38,600 –> 00:46:41,360
that Jeremiah had prophesied in
70 years and they would come out

659
00:46:41,360 –> 00:46:43,640
of the land.
They knew Babylon’s days were

660
00:46:43,640 –> 00:46:51,360
numbered, and they based their
decision to stand up straight on

661
00:46:51,360 –> 00:46:57,400
what they knew Jeremiah by the
word of Yahweh had said, and not

662
00:46:57,720 –> 00:47:01,840
on what they saw with their eyes
and heard with their ears.

663
00:47:02,800 –> 00:47:10,280
Young people, that’s what faith
is all about, to make decisions

664
00:47:10,440 –> 00:47:15,520
in everyday life that are based
on what we know and believe are

665
00:47:15,520 –> 00:47:20,360
right, despite what our ears and
our eyes are telling us.

666
00:47:21,080 –> 00:47:25,840
Because very often what we see
and we hear are very, very

667
00:47:25,840 –> 00:47:30,960
deceiving signals.
Now we’re faced and young

668
00:47:30,960 –> 00:47:34,480
people, you know that you’re
faced with some very difficult

669
00:47:34,480 –> 00:47:40,000
situations at school, at
universities and sometimes in

670
00:47:40,000 –> 00:47:43,360
the workplace.
You’re faced with the pressure

671
00:47:43,680 –> 00:47:50,480
almost daily to conform, to
conform to this age or not.

672
00:47:51,280 –> 00:47:54,320
There’s a decision and you’re
asked to stand up or drop onto

673
00:47:54,320 –> 00:47:58,440
your knees.
You’re asked sometimes and have

674
00:47:58,440 –> 00:48:02,160
pressure put on you to go to
worldly parties.

675
00:48:02,160 –> 00:48:06,200
What do you do?
Do you say no or say yes?

676
00:48:06,880 –> 00:48:09,080
Do you stand up or do you get on
your knees?

677
00:48:10,040 –> 00:48:12,600
You’re faced with the city in
the schoolyard to join in with

678
00:48:12,600 –> 00:48:15,880
all the crude jokes that are
going around and have a snigger.

679
00:48:18,200 –> 00:48:20,280
Have a snigger.
Do you stay there?

680
00:48:21,720 –> 00:48:23,720
Do you stand up or go on your
knees?

681
00:48:25,120 –> 00:48:29,000
Well, learn to stand up and
think of Shadrach, Meshach and

682
00:48:29,000 –> 00:48:33,040
Abednego before that image with
hundreds of thousands of people

683
00:48:33,040 –> 00:48:36,840
behind watching them.
And you know, we we mentioned a

684
00:48:36,840 –> 00:48:40,920
moment ago this little phrase, O
people, nations and languages.

685
00:48:40,920 –> 00:48:45,120
And it was all the people,
nations and languages in verse 7

686
00:48:45,280 –> 00:48:49,400
that had fallen down onto their
knees.

687
00:48:50,600 –> 00:48:53,920
Yeah, that phrase is used in
Revelation to describe all the

688
00:48:53,920 –> 00:48:57,880
world Revelation 5 without
turning to it.

689
00:48:57,880 –> 00:49:00,440
And in verse 8 and 9 says and we
would.

690
00:49:00,880 –> 00:49:07,160
And that has redeemed us out of
every kindred and tongue and

691
00:49:07,160 –> 00:49:10,480
people and nation.
And now we’ve got all the

692
00:49:10,480 –> 00:49:14,760
people’s nations tongues bowing
down and they’re going to have

693
00:49:14,760 –> 00:49:18,480
to stand out of that.
And that who’s that’s who’s

694
00:49:18,480 –> 00:49:21,680
God’s looking at?
Because in the end, I counted

695
00:49:21,680 –> 00:49:26,240
amongst the redeemed are those
who’ve come out of all peoples,

696
00:49:26,280 –> 00:49:32,200
nations and tongues who didn’t
fit and didn’t conform to all

697
00:49:32,200 –> 00:49:36,800
their ways because they belong
to a society that was very

698
00:49:36,800 –> 00:49:39,480
different.
And when they were in the midst

699
00:49:39,480 –> 00:49:43,520
of a situation that they were
very uncomfortable with, they

700
00:49:43,520 –> 00:49:47,440
stood upright.
Verse 8.

701
00:49:48,800 –> 00:49:51,640
Wherefore at that time certain
called ines came near and

702
00:49:51,640 –> 00:49:56,680
accused the Jews.
Notice the term, The word accuse

703
00:49:56,680 –> 00:50:00,760
in the Septuagint is diabolo,
from which we get to the Greek

704
00:50:00,760 –> 00:50:08,600
Diabolos falsely accuse and out
of jealousy they they accused

705
00:50:08,600 –> 00:50:10,840
these Jews before
Nebuchadnezzar.

706
00:50:11,040 –> 00:50:15,400
Nebuchadnezzar may not have even
known with such a vast crowd,

707
00:50:15,640 –> 00:50:18,880
but who did notice were all of
those who were standing

708
00:50:18,880 –> 00:50:21,920
alongside and all around.
And that seemed these three men

709
00:50:21,920 –> 00:50:25,080
just raised to great prominence
overnight.

710
00:50:26,680 –> 00:50:30,800
And I hated them and what they
stood for and the fact that they

711
00:50:30,800 –> 00:50:34,320
didn’t really conform to
Babylonian ways.

712
00:50:34,560 –> 00:50:36,920
Look at the accusations.
You would expect them to go to

713
00:50:36,920 –> 00:50:40,720
Nebuchadnezzar and say, oh,
Nebuchadnezzar, there are three

714
00:50:40,720 –> 00:50:44,880
men who are Jews who didn’t bow
down to your image.

715
00:50:45,160 –> 00:50:47,480
You know, they said two other
things before they said that.

716
00:50:48,160 –> 00:50:50,680
Notice what they said in verse
12.

717
00:50:51,280 –> 00:50:55,960
The three things are these, that
they haven’t regarded the king,

718
00:50:57,720 –> 00:51:00,520
that they have not served the
King’s gods.

719
00:51:01,840 –> 00:51:04,720
So they’re introducing all these
other things and then that they

720
00:51:04,720 –> 00:51:08,480
worship not the golden image.
And it’s very interesting that

721
00:51:08,480 –> 00:51:11,680
their contemporaries very
clearly knew a lot more about

722
00:51:11,680 –> 00:51:14,080
them than what they saw on that
day.

723
00:51:14,440 –> 00:51:18,480
They knew that they did not
serve Babylonian gods.

724
00:51:18,560 –> 00:51:22,520
Now, how did they know that?
Because just them bowing down

725
00:51:22,520 –> 00:51:28,000
there on that day to that image
of Nebuchadnezzar was not going

726
00:51:28,000 –> 00:51:34,760
to merely tell them that clearly
they had spoken to these others

727
00:51:34,960 –> 00:51:37,120
before.
And verse 13 goes on to say,

728
00:51:38,040 –> 00:51:40,680
then Nebuchadnezzar and his rage
and fury commanded to bring

729
00:51:40,680 –> 00:51:42,720
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
and they were.

730
00:51:42,920 –> 00:51:44,440
And they brought these men
before the king.

731
00:51:44,440 –> 00:51:46,360
Now why did Nebuchadnezzar even
get it?

732
00:51:46,480 –> 00:51:50,160
Why didn’t he say no, type them
in the furnaces?

733
00:51:51,320 –> 00:51:57,240
Don’t you understand?
Didn’t say that said bring him

734
00:51:57,240 –> 00:52:01,080
here even though he is furious
that anyone should possibly

735
00:52:01,080 –> 00:52:05,600
stand up against him.
And so we find that before this

736
00:52:05,600 –> 00:52:11,960
enraged king we find these three
godly young men Nebuchadnezzar

737
00:52:11,960 –> 00:52:13,400
verse 14 spake and said under
them.

738
00:52:14,160 –> 00:52:17,840
Is it true or is it probably
more carefully should be

739
00:52:17,840 –> 00:52:19,640
rendered?
Is it with design or is it with

740
00:52:19,640 –> 00:52:23,320
purpose?
Oh, Shadrach, Meshach and

741
00:52:23,320 –> 00:52:28,960
Abednego, do you do not ye serve
my gods, nor worship the golden

742
00:52:28,960 –> 00:52:33,200
image which I have set up.
But he doesn’t wait for an

743
00:52:33,200 –> 00:52:35,920
answer.
He just assumes that it was not

744
00:52:35,920 –> 00:52:37,960
on purpose.
And there in itself is

745
00:52:37,960 –> 00:52:40,680
psychological pressure that’s
very difficult to resist.

746
00:52:41,120 –> 00:52:43,760
And young people, we are faced
with that sort of psychological

747
00:52:43,760 –> 00:52:48,320
pressure all the time, where
people might throw us a question

748
00:52:48,320 –> 00:52:50,920
and not wait for an answer and
just go on assuming that we’re

749
00:52:50,920 –> 00:52:53,920
going to conform.
And that’s what Nebuchadnezzar

750
00:52:53,920 –> 00:52:57,640
did.
Verse 15 Pressure is building.

751
00:52:58,960 –> 00:53:01,480
Now if you be ready at that time
you hear the sound of the

752
00:53:01,480 –> 00:53:04,400
cornet, flute and harp sack.
But sultry dolphin was 6 again,

753
00:53:04,400 –> 00:53:08,440
and all kinds of music.
And ye fall down and worship the

754
00:53:08,440 –> 00:53:11,920
image which I’ve made Well.
But if not, ye shall we cast the

755
00:53:11,920 –> 00:53:14,600
same arrow into the midst of the
burning fiery furnace?

756
00:53:17,800 –> 00:53:20,800
They knew all that.
Why was he giving them a second

757
00:53:20,800 –> 00:53:26,880
chance?
Well, I believe he feared them

758
00:53:28,600 –> 00:53:34,160
and he knew in the back of his
mind that what he was doing was

759
00:53:34,160 –> 00:53:39,360
a challenge to Yahweh and that
these men truly were friends of

760
00:53:39,360 –> 00:53:42,880
Daniel and servants of the true
God.

761
00:53:44,160 –> 00:53:49,920
And as perhaps a sign of a a
guilty conscience on the part of

762
00:53:49,920 –> 00:53:53,200
Nebuchadnezzar starting to
emerge then, but he rides

763
00:53:53,200 –> 00:53:56,840
roughshods straight over that
and he doesn’t stop with just

764
00:53:57,160 –> 00:54:00,080
giving the previous command.
He continues and says the end of

765
00:54:00,080 –> 00:54:06,400
verse 15 and who is that God
that shall deliver you out of my

766
00:54:06,400 –> 00:54:08,840
hands.
End of story.

767
00:54:09,400 –> 00:54:16,160
Get back in front of the image.
And now they’ve been graciously

768
00:54:16,160 –> 00:54:19,760
given another chance, another
opportunity.

769
00:54:19,920 –> 00:54:25,280
But all it turned out to be
young people was another real

770
00:54:25,280 –> 00:54:28,640
pressure.
Because now Nebuchadnezzar looks

771
00:54:28,640 –> 00:54:31,600
like he’s the good guy.
He’s the one that’s that’s

772
00:54:31,600 –> 00:54:34,280
virtually saved their lives from
the furnace and said, well, I’m

773
00:54:34,280 –> 00:54:36,040
going to give you another
chance.

774
00:54:36,040 –> 00:54:39,240
Don’t you understand, my mercy
as such that I’m going to give

775
00:54:39,240 –> 00:54:41,760
you another chance.
Now let’s not have any more of

776
00:54:41,760 –> 00:54:45,520
this nonsense right back, and
we’ll try again.

777
00:54:48,240 –> 00:54:52,240
How would you go opening your
mouth in the face of that?

778
00:54:53,320 –> 00:54:56,840
But you see, they’d been
encouraged because

779
00:54:56,840 –> 00:55:01,080
Nebuchadnezzar himself had
raised the contest to the level

780
00:55:01,080 –> 00:55:06,920
of Yahweh versus the gods of
Babylon, and there was a

781
00:55:06,920 –> 00:55:12,320
stimulus to the faith.
Were they going to worry about

782
00:55:13,080 –> 00:55:20,360
Nebuchadnezzar’s fire God, or
Yahweh, the maker of heaven and

783
00:55:20,360 –> 00:55:23,120
earth?
And in their mind there was no

784
00:55:23,120 –> 00:55:27,440
doubt.
And so in verse 16, Shadrach,

785
00:55:27,520 –> 00:55:32,840
Meshach, and Abednego answered
and said unto the king, O

786
00:55:32,840 –> 00:55:36,320
Nebuchadnezzar, we are not
careful to answer thee in this

787
00:55:36,320 –> 00:55:37,960
matter.
It’s a poor translation.

788
00:55:38,280 –> 00:55:43,520
It really means we need not say
a word in answer to that

789
00:55:43,520 –> 00:55:48,640
question, as another translation
has it verse 17.

790
00:55:49,760 –> 00:55:55,320
If it be so, our God, whom we
serve, is able to deliver us

791
00:55:55,320 –> 00:56:00,040
from the burning fiery furnace,
and he will deliver us out of

792
00:56:00,040 –> 00:56:03,760
thine hand, O King.
But if not, be it known unto

793
00:56:03,760 –> 00:56:08,560
thee, O King, that we will not
serve thy gods, nor worship the

794
00:56:08,560 –> 00:56:14,240
golden image which thou has set
up, that we’re being arrogant or

795
00:56:14,240 –> 00:56:18,920
rude.
Young people, they just had

796
00:56:18,920 –> 00:56:26,280
tremendous faith to stand up and
to say that they believed that

797
00:56:26,280 –> 00:56:28,760
there was a God who could
deliver.

798
00:56:28,760 –> 00:56:30,880
And did you notice?
They didn’t say he would.

799
00:56:32,400 –> 00:56:38,520
They have a God whom they serve
who is able to deliver.

800
00:56:39,200 –> 00:56:44,400
And if it was his will, he
could, but if it wasn’t, then

801
00:56:44,400 –> 00:56:48,160
let him clearly know that they
were not under any

802
00:56:48,160 –> 00:56:52,800
circumstances, going to still
bow down and worship that image

803
00:56:53,600 –> 00:56:59,800
or his gods.
Now, I believe it’s almost

804
00:57:00,280 –> 00:57:04,520
written into the record here
that Shadrach, Meshach and

805
00:57:04,520 –> 00:57:10,440
Abednego had discussed that
situation amongst themselves

806
00:57:10,440 –> 00:57:14,080
before that moment.
Did you notice in verse 4, verse

807
00:57:14,080 –> 00:57:17,720
7, Sorry.
After we read from verse 4

808
00:57:17,720 –> 00:57:21,960
onwards about what the command
was in verse 7, it says

809
00:57:22,120 –> 00:57:25,720
therefore at that time when all
the people heard the sound.

810
00:57:25,880 –> 00:57:30,200
So there was clearly a time lag
between when the Herald came

811
00:57:30,200 –> 00:57:33,240
around and told everyone what
they had to do and when the

812
00:57:33,240 –> 00:57:36,200
music actually started, when the
ceremony began.

813
00:57:37,880 –> 00:57:41,800
And those three faithful young
men would have been very

814
00:57:41,800 –> 00:57:44,120
concerned about the situation
they were in.

815
00:57:44,280 –> 00:57:47,600
And no doubt had talked
carefully and quickly together

816
00:57:48,120 –> 00:57:51,800
and had discussed all the issues
involved and had got on their

817
00:57:51,800 –> 00:57:55,800
knees and prayed to the God of
heaven and earth and assort his

818
00:57:55,800 –> 00:57:58,680
guidance in this very difficult
situation.

819
00:58:00,240 –> 00:58:03,680
And stuck together and
determined amongst themselves

820
00:58:03,680 –> 00:58:06,840
that they would stay together
because they knew it was right.

821
00:58:06,840 –> 00:58:11,520
They’d made-up their minds
before the situation happened.

822
00:58:14,160 –> 00:58:17,840
Now, I believe if they hadn’t
made-up their minds very clearly

823
00:58:17,840 –> 00:58:23,160
amongst themselves that when it
came and that music began, the

824
00:58:23,160 –> 00:58:25,800
whole emotion of that
circumstance would have weakened

825
00:58:25,800 –> 00:58:28,240
their knees to such a point
where they looked around and saw

826
00:58:28,240 –> 00:58:30,320
that everyone else was down.
They too would have gone to

827
00:58:30,320 –> 00:58:34,360
their knees.
You know, there’s a very

828
00:58:34,360 –> 00:58:39,640
powerful lesson in that, young
people, if we allow ourselves to

829
00:58:39,640 –> 00:58:44,600
walk out onto the plain of Jura
in full sight of the glory of

830
00:58:44,600 –> 00:58:49,280
the flesh of Babylon and all its
might and all its gods, and we

831
00:58:49,280 –> 00:58:52,840
think that on the spur of the
moment we’re just going to be

832
00:58:52,840 –> 00:58:55,040
able to make the right decision.
It’s going to be the godly one

833
00:58:55,040 –> 00:58:59,080
every time.
We are fooling ourselves if we

834
00:58:59,080 –> 00:59:02,320
walk out onto that plane of
Jira, if we have not prayerfully

835
00:59:02,320 –> 00:59:06,280
and carefully considered the
dangers there and what we might

836
00:59:06,280 –> 00:59:10,280
do if we’re caught in this
situation or that, or what we

837
00:59:10,280 –> 00:59:13,480
might do to flee from this or
that or how we react to this or

838
00:59:13,480 –> 00:59:15,680
that.
Young people will be on our

839
00:59:15,680 –> 00:59:18,960
knees before we can, before I
can answer, think about it.

840
00:59:19,680 –> 00:59:26,400
The power in Babylon’s
psychological techniques will

841
00:59:26,400 –> 00:59:29,800
have us on our knees unless we
very carefully prepare.

842
00:59:30,080 –> 00:59:32,680
Now what I believe we have to
do, young people with the depth

843
00:59:32,680 –> 00:59:36,160
of wickedness that’s in this
world, is to think carefully

844
00:59:36,160 –> 00:59:40,600
about situations and issues,
weigh it up and talk about it

845
00:59:40,680 –> 00:59:42,680
with our friends.
Our friends who are godly, who

846
00:59:42,720 –> 00:59:47,600
know their Bibles and open them
together and talk about things,

847
00:59:47,800 –> 00:59:50,800
ask each other, What do you
think God thinks about this?

848
00:59:51,400 –> 00:59:52,600
How do you think I should handle
this?

849
00:59:52,720 –> 00:59:54,480
I came across this situation the
other day.

850
00:59:54,480 –> 00:59:58,640
I didn’t know what to do, and I
said yes to this, and afterwards

851
00:59:58,640 –> 01:00:00,920
I thought wretched about it.
What do you think I should do?

852
01:00:01,240 –> 01:00:03,720
Ask older brethren, Talk to your
peers.

853
01:00:04,600 –> 01:00:08,960
Open your Bibles on your knees
in prayer to the Father.

854
01:00:09,720 –> 01:00:13,040
That’s what they did, I believe,
out on the plain of Jira when

855
01:00:13,040 –> 01:00:15,680
they had very little time.
It’s no good.

856
01:00:15,680 –> 01:00:22,640
Our Bible’s being shut in nice
cases when we’re out standing in

857
01:00:22,640 –> 01:00:25,120
front of that image and the
music starts.

858
01:00:25,400 –> 01:00:33,000
A Bible is no good then.
The Bible is only any good if

859
01:00:33,000 –> 01:00:36,000
it’s affected our minds before
that time.

860
01:00:37,880 –> 01:00:41,120
No, never, ever.
Young people never, ever

861
01:00:41,120 –> 01:00:46,280
underestimate the value of good,
godly minded friends.

862
01:00:49,280 –> 01:00:53,560
These three are never separated
in this record, if you notice

863
01:00:53,560 –> 01:00:54,800
that.
Never separate.

864
01:00:56,360 –> 01:01:00,480
When they say something, it says
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

865
01:01:00,480 –> 01:01:03,560
said.
Does that mean that they sighted

866
01:01:03,560 –> 01:01:06,360
in unison?
I don’t think so.

867
01:01:06,960 –> 01:01:10,680
But what it means is that there
was no leader among them.

868
01:01:11,320 –> 01:01:15,280
They were all terrified of that
situation, but they were godly

869
01:01:15,280 –> 01:01:17,440
enough to have worked out
between them what they should

870
01:01:17,440 –> 01:01:25,720
do, and they encouraged each
other and stood together upright

871
01:01:28,720 –> 01:01:31,120
because they had good companions
alongside them.

872
01:01:33,120 –> 01:01:37,040
You know, use your companions,
those young people who come from

873
01:01:37,040 –> 01:01:41,240
a situation where there are
other young people in your

874
01:01:41,240 –> 01:01:45,800
ecclesia or in your surrounding.
Thank God for that.

875
01:01:48,400 –> 01:01:50,800
Never underestimate the
privilege and the blessing of

876
01:01:50,800 –> 01:01:58,080
that, and use it.
Verse 19 with Nebuchadnezzar

877
01:01:58,640 –> 01:02:03,440
full of fury.
Then was Nebuchadnezzar sorry,

878
01:02:03,440 –> 01:02:09,280
full of fury, and the form of
his visage was changed against

879
01:02:09,280 –> 01:02:13,360
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Therefore he spake and commanded

880
01:02:13,360 –> 01:02:16,080
that they should heat the
furnace 1/7 times more than it

881
01:02:16,080 –> 01:02:19,760
was want to be heated. 7 times
hotter than we’ve ever seen

882
01:02:19,760 –> 01:02:24,240
heated before, Rotherham says.
And now they had a chance to

883
01:02:24,240 –> 01:02:26,520
change their minds if they were
quick.

884
01:02:26,520 –> 01:02:31,360
If they were quick because the
King’s face was distorted with

885
01:02:31,360 –> 01:02:33,480
rage, as the Hebrew actually
means.

886
01:02:34,040 –> 01:02:39,000
And tragically, that last
heating of the furnace makes

887
01:02:39,000 –> 01:02:44,760
many young people buckle.
That last seven times heating,

888
01:02:44,920 –> 01:02:49,080
the visual impact of that as the
pressure really comes on from a

889
01:02:49,080 –> 01:02:52,560
world who wants to make them
conform, often just makes the

890
01:02:52,560 –> 01:02:55,440
little bit of difference that
crumples their knees and takes

891
01:02:55,440 –> 01:02:58,280
them to the ground.
Verse 20.

892
01:02:58,280 –> 01:03:01,680
And he commanded the most mighty
men that were in his army to

893
01:03:01,680 –> 01:03:04,120
bind Shadrach, Meshach and the
Bendigo, and it cast them into

894
01:03:04,120 –> 01:03:08,800
the very burning fiery furnace.
Then these men were bound in

895
01:03:08,800 –> 01:03:11,120
their coats, their hose, and in
their hats, and their other

896
01:03:11,120 –> 01:03:13,680
garments were cast in the midst
of the burning fiery furnace.

897
01:03:14,840 –> 01:03:18,680
Therefore, because of the King’s
command, because of the King’s

898
01:03:18,680 –> 01:03:22,520
command was urgent and the
furnace exceeding hot, the flame

899
01:03:22,520 –> 01:03:25,960
of the fire slew those men that
took up Shadrach, Meshach and

900
01:03:25,960 –> 01:03:31,360
the Bendigo.
And these three men, Shadrach,

901
01:03:31,520 –> 01:03:41,280
Meshach and the Bendigo, fell
down not voluntarily.

902
01:03:42,440 –> 01:03:47,480
They fell down, bound into the
midst of the burning, fiery

903
01:03:47,480 –> 01:03:50,120
furnace.
What a frightening spectacle.

904
01:03:50,880 –> 01:03:53,200
You put your yourselves in that
situation.

905
01:03:53,200 –> 01:03:55,560
Young people, they didn’t know
what was going to happen when

906
01:03:55,560 –> 01:03:58,480
they got in there.
It was certain death for them.

907
01:03:59,000 –> 01:04:03,560
They were powerless, helpless,
and all they could do was pray

908
01:04:03,560 –> 01:04:08,440
to the God of heaven.
Verse 24 and 25 tells us that

909
01:04:08,960 –> 01:04:15,960
when they looked in, they saw
that there was four men walking

910
01:04:15,960 –> 01:04:21,240
loose, and they’d thrown in
three men that were bound.

911
01:04:21,520 –> 01:04:25,560
And there was a great enigma
here. 3 Bound had gone into the

912
01:04:25,560 –> 01:04:28,240
furnace, and now as they peered
through the flames, from a

913
01:04:28,240 –> 01:04:33,000
distance, Nebuchadnezzar could
see four men who were loose, and

914
01:04:33,000 –> 01:04:36,560
they didn’t expect, let alone
Nebuchadnezzar.

915
01:04:36,680 –> 01:04:40,520
But the three friends never ever
in their wildest dreams expected

916
01:04:40,520 –> 01:04:42,080
an Angel to appear in that
furnace.

917
01:04:42,760 –> 01:04:46,160
They knew, as David had written
many years before in Psalm 34,

918
01:04:46,320 –> 01:04:49,720
that the Angel of Yahweh encamps
around them that fears him and

919
01:04:49,720 –> 01:04:52,200
delivers them.
But they didn’t expect that God

920
01:04:52,200 –> 01:04:54,960
had to do a miraculous
deliverance on that day.

921
01:04:55,400 –> 01:04:59,000
They understood by deliverance
that in the end, when it came to

922
01:04:59,000 –> 01:05:01,640
the time of the Kingdom, He
would raise them again and they

923
01:05:01,640 –> 01:05:04,120
would stand with the faithful of
all ages.

924
01:05:04,240 –> 01:05:08,200
But now, very literally, the the
Angel of Yahweh was camping with

925
01:05:08,200 –> 01:05:11,720
them in the midst of that fire
because they believed that

926
01:05:11,720 –> 01:05:15,880
Yahweh could deliver.
And because they believed that

927
01:05:15,880 –> 01:05:20,920
He could, He did.
Young people, that’s a powerful

928
01:05:20,960 –> 01:05:24,600
lesson because they believed
Yahweh could deliver.

929
01:05:25,040 –> 01:05:29,680
He actually did.
And Yahweh doesn’t change.

930
01:05:29,920 –> 01:05:32,800
It doesn’t mean that you might
get into a situation tomorrow or

931
01:05:32,800 –> 01:05:35,800
the day after and expect some
miraculous deliverance.

932
01:05:35,800 –> 01:05:38,880
God won’t necessarily work like
work like that, but if you

933
01:05:38,880 –> 01:05:43,120
believe this can deliver you out
of circumstances and out of the

934
01:05:43,120 –> 01:05:47,320
grip of Babylon, He will.
He will deliver.

935
01:05:48,400 –> 01:05:54,000
He is able, these friends told
Nebuchadnezzar, and they came

936
01:05:54,000 –> 01:05:57,040
forth.
They came forth at the beckon of

937
01:05:57,040 –> 01:06:00,120
Nebuchadnezzar out of that fire.
And notice how he addressed them

938
01:06:00,120 –> 01:06:04,120
in verse 26.
He said to them, Shadrach,

939
01:06:04,120 –> 01:06:08,760
Meshach, and Abednego, ye
servants of the Most High God,

940
01:06:09,520 –> 01:06:13,880
come forth and come hit her.
And he acknowledges in verse 28

941
01:06:13,880 –> 01:06:16,920
the God of heaven and earth and
promoted Shadrach, Meshach and

942
01:06:16,920 –> 01:06:22,360
Abednego to be seen and rulers
over all of the province of

943
01:06:22,360 –> 01:06:27,160
Babylon.
Well, that’s a very interesting

944
01:06:27,160 –> 01:06:31,720
story, isn’t it?
But it’s not the end

945
01:06:43,040 –> 01:06:45,720
fact.
There’s much, much more in

946
01:06:45,720 –> 01:06:49,880
Daniel chapter 3 we’re not going
to spend a lot of time on, but

947
01:06:49,880 –> 01:06:56,600
there is a marvellous paragraph
in this chapter about whose

948
01:06:56,600 –> 01:07:00,800
servants we really are.
Verse 28 holds the key.

949
01:07:02,120 –> 01:07:05,320
Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and
said, blessed be the God of

950
01:07:05,320 –> 01:07:08,080
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who hath sent his Angel and

951
01:07:08,080 –> 01:07:14,040
delivered his servants that
trusted in him, and have changed

952
01:07:14,040 –> 01:07:18,760
the King’s word and yielded
their bodies, that they might

953
01:07:18,760 –> 01:07:23,400
not serve nor worship any God
except their own God.

954
01:07:23,880 –> 01:07:25,720
You know, there’s the issue
there.

955
01:07:25,720 –> 01:07:27,400
It is in a nutshell, young
people.

956
01:07:27,680 –> 01:07:30,920
And the issue is this.
And I don’t believe there is a

957
01:07:30,960 –> 01:07:37,040
more important issue for you as
young people to come to grips

958
01:07:37,040 –> 01:07:43,760
with in your youth.
Who are you going to serve?

959
01:07:45,240 –> 01:07:46,960
That was the issue that they
were faced with.

960
01:07:47,280 –> 01:07:52,320
It’s the issue that
Nebuchadnezzar understood was

961
01:07:52,320 –> 01:07:54,680
being played out in that whole
incident.

962
01:07:55,080 –> 01:07:58,800
You see the word servant or
service occurs in verse 12,

963
01:07:58,800 –> 01:08:02,200
verse 14, verse 17, verse 18,
verse 26, two, verse 28.

964
01:08:02,400 –> 01:08:04,480
They’re all on the sheet.
Check them out later.

965
01:08:05,360 –> 01:08:08,000
But Jesus said you cannot serve
2 masters.

966
01:08:08,320 –> 01:08:09,800
You’re either hold of the one
who love the other.

967
01:08:09,880 –> 01:08:11,520
What will be vice versa?
You cannot.

968
01:08:11,520 –> 01:08:16,000
It doesn’t matter who you are,
you can’t serve 2 masters and

969
01:08:16,000 –> 01:08:18,479
you have to make a choice.
And if you don’t make a choice,

970
01:08:18,479 –> 01:08:20,880
it would be made certain.
It’s as simple as that.

971
01:08:21,200 –> 01:08:24,600
In life you refuse to make a
choice, and the choice is

972
01:08:24,640 –> 01:08:30,680
already made, but you have a
choice if you want to make it.

973
01:08:31,640 –> 01:08:34,200
I’d like you to hold your hand
in Daniel chapter 3 and come

974
01:08:34,200 –> 01:08:38,399
across to Romans 6 because the
issue of Romans 6 is whose

975
01:08:38,479 –> 01:08:42,399
servants are we going to be?
And we know that Romans 6 speaks

976
01:08:42,399 –> 01:08:47,439
predominantly of baptism.
But in Romans chapter 6 and at

977
01:08:47,439 –> 01:08:57,560
verse 12 here, the apostle Paul
tells us very clearly to let not

978
01:08:58,439 –> 01:09:04,479
king sin paralleled to King
Nebuchadnezzar.

979
01:09:05,279 –> 01:09:09,680
Let not King Sin therefore reign
in your mortal body, that you

980
01:09:09,680 –> 01:09:15,200
should obey it in the lusts
thereof, obeying it in the lusts

981
01:09:15,200 –> 01:09:17,000
thereof.
Young people is falling to our

982
01:09:17,000 –> 01:09:21,680
knees and doing what it says,
just as just as Babylon in

983
01:09:21,680 –> 01:09:24,359
Babylon that friends were asked
to fall to their knees and to

984
01:09:24,359 –> 01:09:26,399
worship the image of Nick King
Nebuchadnezzar.

985
01:09:26,640 –> 01:09:31,120
Don’t let King Sin reign.
He will try all sorts of devious

986
01:09:31,120 –> 01:09:35,399
persuasions, all sorts of
tricks, all sorts of things to

987
01:09:35,399 –> 01:09:40,240
try and get you to obey him,
just like Nebuchadnezzar tried

988
01:09:40,240 –> 01:09:43,000
to get those friends to obey
him.

989
01:09:43,439 –> 01:09:47,120
But verse 13 and 14 are even
more interesting.

990
01:09:48,120 –> 01:09:52,600
Neither yield ye your members as
instruments of unrighteousness

991
01:09:52,600 –> 01:09:57,160
under king sin, but yield
yourself under God as those that

992
01:09:57,160 –> 01:10:01,400
are alive from the dead.
Now look at the look at the

993
01:10:01,400 –> 01:10:03,520
allusions here.
There are back to this incident

994
01:10:03,520 –> 01:10:06,680
in Daniel chapter 3 and your
members as instruments of

995
01:10:06,680 –> 01:10:11,880
righteousness under God for king
sin shall not have dominion over

996
01:10:11,880 –> 01:10:14,040
you.
He won’t.

997
01:10:14,880 –> 01:10:17,240
He doesn’t have to have dominion
over you.

998
01:10:17,720 –> 01:10:21,320
It’s your choice and you just
see the similarity of language.

999
01:10:21,440 –> 01:10:24,480
Hold your hand in in Romans and
just turn back to Daniel, which

1000
01:10:24,480 –> 01:10:28,880
I still hope you’ve got.
And look at verse 28 again.

1001
01:10:29,760 –> 01:10:34,880
It says that in Nebuchadnezzar’s
words here.

1002
01:10:34,880 –> 01:10:37,160
And he delivered his servants
that trusted in him have changed

1003
01:10:37,160 –> 01:10:42,000
the King’s word and yielded
their bodies that they might not

1004
01:10:42,000 –> 01:10:44,840
serve nor worship any God except
their own God.

1005
01:10:44,840 –> 01:10:47,800
It’s the same language that Paul
takes up about you’re about

1006
01:10:47,800 –> 01:10:52,920
yielding ourselves, our members
of instruments of righteousness

1007
01:10:52,920 –> 01:10:56,200
or unrighteousness to God.
And then look at verse 16 back

1008
01:10:56,200 –> 01:10:58,160
in Romans.
We are now verse 16.

1009
01:10:58,320 –> 01:11:04,960
He says, no, you’re not that to
whom ye you yourselves servants

1010
01:11:04,960 –> 01:11:09,360
to obey.
His servants ye are to whom ye

1011
01:11:09,360 –> 01:11:12,800
obey, whether sin under death or
obedience under righteousness,

1012
01:11:13,120 –> 01:11:18,560
But it’s whom you yield yourself
to that you’re under the

1013
01:11:18,560 –> 01:11:21,120
dominion of.
And that’s very interesting.

1014
01:11:21,120 –> 01:11:24,360
It’s not who we say is our
master, young people, that’s

1015
01:11:24,360 –> 01:11:27,560
what Paul is saying here.
It’s not whom we say our master

1016
01:11:27,560 –> 01:11:28,880
is.
That’s our true master.

1017
01:11:29,160 –> 01:11:34,600
It’s to whom we yield ourselves
and our lives.

1018
01:11:34,840 –> 01:11:36,680
That’s the one.
That’s our master.

1019
01:11:36,680 –> 01:11:38,880
And it’s either sin or it’s
gone.

1020
01:11:39,760 –> 01:11:41,840
It’s as simple as that.
There is no black and white.

1021
01:11:42,000 –> 01:11:44,360
We can’t try and Gray it out in
the middle.

1022
01:11:44,720 –> 01:11:48,680
We are either servants of God or
we are servants to King Sin.

1023
01:11:48,680 –> 01:11:53,400
It’s as simple as that.
And King Sin is a very, very

1024
01:11:53,400 –> 01:11:57,360
powerful monarch.
What more powerful parallel

1025
01:11:57,360 –> 01:11:58,880
could you ever have found in
scripture?

1026
01:11:59,080 –> 01:12:03,800
Because Nebuchadnezzar was
supreme monarch of the world.

1027
01:12:04,840 –> 01:12:09,280
Everything he said went and he
did noise have to use might.

1028
01:12:09,280 –> 01:12:12,040
He used a lot of cunning and
subtle means.

1029
01:12:12,520 –> 01:12:17,000
His policy forced everyone to
bow down and worship the flesh.

1030
01:12:17,080 –> 01:12:18,440
That was Nebuchadnezzar’s
policy.

1031
01:12:18,560 –> 01:12:21,840
And King Sin has exactly the
same policy.

1032
01:12:22,240 –> 01:12:26,320
And what was his strategy?
Nebuchadnezzar used grandeur and

1033
01:12:26,320 –> 01:12:31,240
size and impressive things.
All the majority, the mighty

1034
01:12:31,240 –> 01:12:33,280
men, all came and they all bowed
down.

1035
01:12:33,440 –> 01:12:35,520
That’s a powerful, powerful
tool.

1036
01:12:36,920 –> 01:12:40,560
Peer pressure.
The majority is a powerful tool

1037
01:12:40,560 –> 01:12:42,560
used by King Sin to make us bow
down.

1038
01:12:43,160 –> 01:12:47,640
And so all the impressive,
apparently permanent things we

1039
01:12:47,640 –> 01:12:52,240
see around us all, they look so,
so permanent that we think King

1040
01:12:52,240 –> 01:12:59,120
Sin is enthroned here forever.
But it’s all it’s all just in

1041
01:12:59,120 –> 01:13:01,840
the appearances.
But you know, there was another

1042
01:13:01,840 –> 01:13:05,200
tool that Kings, King
Nebuchadnezzar used, that King

1043
01:13:05,200 –> 01:13:09,960
Sin also uses young people.
And it was the music of the

1044
01:13:09,960 –> 01:13:11,720
flesh.
Remember, there were six

1045
01:13:11,720 –> 01:13:16,440
instruments.
A music has a very powerful

1046
01:13:16,440 –> 01:13:21,400
emotional pull.
And today’s depraved pop culture

1047
01:13:21,960 –> 01:13:26,440
that has corrupted millions upon
millions of young minds around

1048
01:13:26,440 –> 01:13:31,720
the world continues in exactly
the same strategy of King

1049
01:13:31,720 –> 01:13:36,760
Nebuchadnezzar evolved.
Today’s pop culture ridicules

1050
01:13:36,800 –> 01:13:41,360
anything that’s decent, holy,
good and rights and more than

1051
01:13:41,400 –> 01:13:44,680
virtues, those things that are
absolutely abhorrent and

1052
01:13:44,680 –> 01:13:47,800
despicable.
I would never counsel you better

1053
01:13:47,800 –> 01:13:51,440
than sisters to go and listen to
pop music that this world’s

1054
01:13:51,440 –> 01:13:56,440
children are listening to.
It is horrific to say the least.

1055
01:13:56,960 –> 01:14:00,640
I’ve picked up at school
cassettes and looked at the

1056
01:14:00,640 –> 01:14:03,840
labels and my eyes have fallen
out of my head.

1057
01:14:04,600 –> 01:14:11,200
I couldn’t even rid the labels
here tonight have made me to see

1058
01:14:11,240 –> 01:14:15,800
what the titles of the songs
are, let alone the content.

1059
01:14:17,800 –> 01:14:22,800
And that’s not an isolated piece
of music in today’s younger

1060
01:14:22,800 –> 01:14:30,040
generation pop culture.
It’s intended to excite, to

1061
01:14:30,280 –> 01:14:36,160
incite the flesh to rebellion
and free lust.

1062
01:14:37,480 –> 01:14:43,200
End of story.
And this world’s advertisers and

1063
01:14:43,200 –> 01:14:47,840
promoters know exactly that and
they’re riding on a multi

1064
01:14:48,200 –> 01:14:53,080
billion dollar wage out of the
lives of individual young people

1065
01:14:53,080 –> 01:14:57,600
around this world who’ve become
addicted to this filthy rubbish.

1066
01:14:58,800 –> 01:15:01,400
Maybe could never try exactly
the same things.

1067
01:15:01,680 –> 01:15:06,760
No, Brother John Carter once
said, the mind is insensibly

1068
01:15:06,840 –> 01:15:10,680
affected by the stream of
thoughts passing through it.

1069
01:15:11,680 –> 01:15:15,680
You imagine what this filthy
rubbish is doing to the minds of

1070
01:15:15,680 –> 01:15:19,840
this generation’s young people
who have the plug in drug in

1071
01:15:19,840 –> 01:15:27,920
their ears round mesmerized of
every day.

1072
01:15:28,600 –> 01:15:33,360
We have children in their teens
coming to school plugged in.

1073
01:15:33,560 –> 01:15:36,960
They have pulled out when they
get it, when they get to school.

1074
01:15:37,120 –> 01:15:40,960
If it’s not confiscated, it’s
plugged back in at recess time

1075
01:15:41,200 –> 01:15:43,640
and then it’s pulled out again
and plugged back in at

1076
01:15:43,640 –> 01:15:45,280
lunchtime.
It’s pulled out.

1077
01:15:45,280 –> 01:15:48,360
It’s plugged back in in lessons.
It goes on and on.

1078
01:15:48,880 –> 01:15:53,520
It’s addictive.
Young people, don’t touch it.

1079
01:15:55,880 –> 01:15:59,960
It will corrupt your minds.
It’s dulling the intelligence

1080
01:16:00,040 –> 01:16:05,800
and sensitivity and moral power
of a whole generation that is

1081
01:16:05,800 –> 01:16:09,240
getting themselves ready to be
destroyed by Christ and the

1082
01:16:09,240 –> 01:16:11,880
Saints.
It’s that serious.

1083
01:16:12,400 –> 01:16:14,760
Never could, never knew what
music can do.

1084
01:16:15,040 –> 01:16:18,880
The music of the flesh has to be
avoided.

1085
01:16:20,120 –> 01:16:24,480
It prevents thinking.
Ah, it’s a terrible thing.

1086
01:16:25,600 –> 01:16:29,680
You know, I’ve had young people
tell me both at school and

1087
01:16:29,680 –> 01:16:35,240
within the ecclesia that they’ve
tried to get off some of that

1088
01:16:35,240 –> 01:16:39,640
stuff.
I had a young lad at school tell

1089
01:16:39,640 –> 01:16:45,920
me it was three years since he
stopped listening to some

1090
01:16:47,040 –> 01:16:53,440
horrendous heavy metal music.
But he said with almost tears in

1091
01:16:53,440 –> 01:16:56,080
his eyes.
It keeps coming back.

1092
01:16:57,360 –> 01:16:59,200
I just see all these images all
the time.

1093
01:16:59,800 –> 01:17:01,800
I just keep thinking the words
all the time.

1094
01:17:02,240 –> 01:17:05,120
I just can’t get rid of it.
It just keeps coming back.

1095
01:17:07,000 –> 01:17:11,800
Her music’s like that, isn’t it?
We teach our little children the

1096
01:17:11,800 –> 01:17:16,080
books of the Bible to song
because it’s easy to learn and

1097
01:17:16,080 –> 01:17:18,600
they can just remember the tune
and it all comes back.

1098
01:17:20,680 –> 01:17:25,880
And this world’s filth is being
fed into the minds of a

1099
01:17:25,880 –> 01:17:30,320
generation of young people and
corrupting their intelligence

1100
01:17:30,960 –> 01:17:34,360
and their moral faculties to the
point where they won’t be able

1101
01:17:34,360 –> 01:17:37,160
to respond.
What a tragedy.

1102
01:17:37,520 –> 01:17:43,600
A tragedy of the 1st order.
Young people avoid it like the

1103
01:17:43,600 –> 01:17:53,480
plague.
Music changes not only our

1104
01:17:53,480 –> 01:17:59,600
ability to think, but with
corrupting and degrading

1105
01:17:59,600 –> 01:18:03,080
sentiments will change our
behaviour.

1106
01:18:05,400 –> 01:18:07,520
How do we get rid of it?
I know this.

1107
01:18:08,440 –> 01:18:11,760
I know this from talking to some
of our young people, some of

1108
01:18:11,760 –> 01:18:16,040
whom are here tonight.
I know that some of them don’t

1109
01:18:16,040 –> 01:18:21,560
know how to get off it.
They want to, but they don’t

1110
01:18:21,560 –> 01:18:27,280
know how.
I wonder sometimes how, after

1111
01:18:27,280 –> 01:18:31,760
going to a a young people’s
class and being uplifted by

1112
01:18:31,920 –> 01:18:35,120
consideration of some part of
the Word of God and thrilling to

1113
01:18:35,120 –> 01:18:38,520
that, and talking amongst
themselves afterwards, can jump

1114
01:18:38,520 –> 01:18:42,880
into their car and turn on the
filth of the world.

1115
01:18:44,800 –> 01:18:47,360
Leave it off, young people,
leave it off.

1116
01:18:48,760 –> 01:18:52,920
Make a determination to change
and replace it with something.

1117
01:18:53,400 –> 01:18:58,160
Replace it with something that’s
a bit more elevated, a bit more

1118
01:18:59,040 –> 01:19:01,560
God centered.
Just try.

1119
01:19:01,760 –> 01:19:07,600
Even if you don’t like listening
to something like the massage or

1120
01:19:07,600 –> 01:19:13,440
Mendelssohn’s Elijah, just try.
Just try for 15 minutes a day.

1121
01:19:13,600 –> 01:19:18,880
Just try it and do it every day
for a fortnight.

1122
01:19:18,880 –> 01:19:25,040
Just try it, and it just might
surprise you that you actually

1123
01:19:25,240 –> 01:19:30,360
can respond to that and it
actually is likeable and it is

1124
01:19:30,360 –> 01:19:36,280
actually elevating as opposed to
the degrading sentiments of most

1125
01:19:36,280 –> 01:19:42,360
of today’s pop music.
But that wasn’t the only other

1126
01:19:42,560 –> 01:19:48,120
form of strategy that Kings,
Nebuchadnezzar and Kingston

1127
01:19:48,120 –> 01:19:51,400
uses.
There was a herald crying with

1128
01:19:51,400 –> 01:19:55,360
might, with might.
Oh, and there’s a mighty strong

1129
01:19:55,360 –> 01:19:57,800
voice around that’s not going to
give up.

1130
01:19:58,160 –> 01:20:00,920
It’s not going to give up.
Young people don’t think it

1131
01:20:00,920 –> 01:20:05,040
will.
Saying to you every day, Maybe

1132
01:20:05,040 –> 01:20:09,240
not in these words, but in
action, in attitude, it’s saying

1133
01:20:09,240 –> 01:20:13,880
to you.
You decide what you want to do

1134
01:20:14,120 –> 01:20:19,240
for yourself, and if you want to
bow down, you bow down.

1135
01:20:20,720 –> 01:20:25,880
And you stick up for your rights
and don’t let some airy fairy

1136
01:20:25,880 –> 01:20:32,040
God in the sky, some concept,
get in the way of what your body

1137
01:20:32,040 –> 01:20:38,880
is telling you you should do.
You know, there’s young people

1138
01:20:38,880 –> 01:20:42,880
within our young people’s
circle, brethren and sisters,

1139
01:20:43,800 –> 01:20:48,880
who are talking now about their
rights.

1140
01:20:50,760 –> 01:20:54,800
Why haven’t I got the right to
do this or that?

1141
01:20:57,040 –> 01:21:00,320
That should ring bells in our
minds, warning bells.

1142
01:21:01,120 –> 01:21:05,600
Why can’t I?
Surely it’s my life and I can

1143
01:21:05,600 –> 01:21:09,600
decide for myself what I want to
do with my life.

1144
01:21:12,080 –> 01:21:13,960
Now, if you open your ears,
you’ll hear that around the

1145
01:21:13,960 –> 01:21:16,240
place.
Not perhaps quite as in

1146
01:21:16,240 –> 01:21:21,600
exaggerated form as I just said
then, but you’ll also hear my

1147
01:21:21,600 –> 01:21:24,600
opinion is just as important as
you, yours anyway.

1148
01:21:25,120 –> 01:21:30,720
What you’re saying is only an
opinion anyway, to a brother who

1149
01:21:30,720 –> 01:21:35,680
might have been 60 years in the
truth and has borne the heat and

1150
01:21:35,680 –> 01:21:41,200
burden of the day.
All around us there are people

1151
01:21:41,200 –> 01:21:44,880
on their knees.
Their plans, their ambitions,

1152
01:21:44,920 –> 01:21:50,840
their activities are all centred
around satisfying the flesh and

1153
01:21:50,840 –> 01:21:57,200
the worship and elevation of it.
And the King’s command is ever

1154
01:21:57,200 –> 01:22:04,560
so simple, ever so simple.
All the king said was just let

1155
01:22:04,920 –> 01:22:08,520
go, just relax.
Can’t hurt you.

1156
01:22:08,520 –> 01:22:10,560
You can’t study the Bible all
the time.

1157
01:22:11,680 –> 01:22:16,280
Just why don’t we just go out
for pictures just one night in

1158
01:22:16,280 –> 01:22:18,800
the week?
Surely that can’t hurt.

1159
01:22:22,400 –> 01:22:26,560
Don’t be deceived.
It’s not easy to do what’s right

1160
01:22:26,560 –> 01:22:29,480
when others are doing wrong.
And it’s even harder young

1161
01:22:29,480 –> 01:22:33,840
people to do what’s right when
other other young people are

1162
01:22:33,840 –> 01:22:39,400
doing wrong.
But stand up straight, you can

1163
01:22:39,400 –> 01:22:43,600
as easily, brethren and sisters
as well, assess the effects that

1164
01:22:43,600 –> 01:22:47,640
King’s seen as having on us by
what we do with our time, what

1165
01:22:47,640 –> 01:22:52,040
we do with our money, what we do
with our where we go.

1166
01:22:56,200 –> 01:22:58,720
I’m not trying to underestimate
the pressures that are falling

1167
01:22:58,720 –> 01:23:01,120
on our young people today.
They’re they’re quite enormous.

1168
01:23:01,120 –> 01:23:04,120
And the whole of the advertising
industry is focusing on young,

1169
01:23:04,320 –> 01:23:08,040
on youth, because they have
disposable income and they’ll

1170
01:23:08,040 –> 01:23:10,960
target them for dress.
And, and young people feel as

1171
01:23:10,960 –> 01:23:16,160
though they have to have brand
names and particular trendy

1172
01:23:16,160 –> 01:23:21,600
hairstyles that they have to see
this movie or go there or try

1173
01:23:21,600 –> 01:23:25,480
this or experiment with drugs or
experiment with sex.

1174
01:23:26,240 –> 01:23:28,840
We’ve got to make up our minds,
young people, before we go out

1175
01:23:28,840 –> 01:23:31,680
on the plane of Urah, whose
servants are we?

1176
01:23:31,680 –> 01:23:35,120
That’s the issue.
And young people, I can tell you

1177
01:23:35,120 –> 01:23:39,160
this, that decision has to be
made very often before you’re

1178
01:23:39,160 –> 01:23:45,920
baptized because at 1314 you’re
going to be expected to know

1179
01:23:46,040 –> 01:23:50,360
whose servants you are.
And that’s an awful

1180
01:23:50,360 –> 01:23:53,440
responsibility that’s falling on
the shoulders of our children

1181
01:23:53,640 –> 01:23:55,960
and parents help them to bear
that.

1182
01:23:57,240 –> 01:23:59,600
But we have this assurance,
Young people, I’d like you to

1183
01:23:59,600 –> 01:24:04,480
come to 1st of Peter chapter 3,
first Peter chapter 3.

1184
01:24:05,040 –> 01:24:14,640
And at verse 12 we have this
assurance, for the eyes of the

1185
01:24:14,640 –> 01:24:18,880
Lord are over the righteous.
It is ears are open under their

1186
01:24:18,880 –> 01:24:21,920
prayers, but in the face of the
Lord.

1187
01:24:22,000 –> 01:24:24,080
But the face of the Lord is
against them that do evil.

1188
01:24:24,360 –> 01:24:26,480
And who is he that will harm
you?

1189
01:24:27,320 –> 01:24:30,800
If you be followers of that
which is good, who is there?

1190
01:24:31,760 –> 01:24:33,880
And if you suffer for
righteousness sake, happy are

1191
01:24:33,880 –> 01:24:35,440
you.
But be not afraid of their

1192
01:24:35,440 –> 01:24:40,400
terror, neither be troubled, but
sanctify the Lord God in your

1193
01:24:40,400 –> 01:24:41,760
hearts.
Let me reach you, that to you

1194
01:24:41,760 –> 01:24:46,120
from the RSV it says.
But sanctify the Lord as Christ,

1195
01:24:46,400 –> 01:24:51,640
Christ as Lord in your hearts.
And be ready to give an answer

1196
01:24:51,640 –> 01:24:54,000
to every man that asketh you a
reason of the hope that is

1197
01:24:54,000 –> 01:24:57,760
within you, with meekness and
fear, having a good conscience,

1198
01:24:57,760 –> 01:25:02,160
that whereas they speak evil of
you as evil doers, they may be

1199
01:25:02,160 –> 01:25:06,120
ashamed that falsely accuse your
good conversation in Christ.

1200
01:25:06,360 –> 01:25:10,080
You see, the key is this, young
people, to sanctify Christ as

1201
01:25:10,080 –> 01:25:14,320
Lord, not king sin.
To sanctify in your heart Christ

1202
01:25:14,520 –> 01:25:20,640
as Lord, and let not king sin
reign.

1203
01:25:21,160 –> 01:25:26,040
And prepare for the day that you
go out into the into the plain

1204
01:25:26,040 –> 01:25:29,120
of Jura, and be ready with a
hope that’s within you, not in

1205
01:25:29,120 –> 01:25:31,800
your Bible.
It’s in there for sure, but it’s

1206
01:25:31,800 –> 01:25:35,320
not going to do any good unless
it’s in you and you’ll be able

1207
01:25:35,320 –> 01:25:37,920
to stand.
But when you make a stand, young

1208
01:25:37,920 –> 01:25:41,840
people, brethren and sisters of
age and experience know this

1209
01:25:41,920 –> 01:25:46,920
only too well, that when we make
a stand, the pressure won’t

1210
01:25:47,000 –> 01:25:50,320
decrease.
It will often increase just as

1211
01:25:50,320 –> 01:25:53,320
it did in those days when
Nebuchadnezzar stirred up that

1212
01:25:53,320 –> 01:25:56,520
furnace until it was 7 times
hotter than it had ever been

1213
01:25:56,520 –> 01:26:00,000
before.
You know what the apostle Paul

1214
01:26:00,000 –> 01:26:03,000
said?
He said let all that all that

1215
01:26:03,000 –> 01:26:07,760
live godly, that live godly, not
profess, but live godly in

1216
01:26:07,760 –> 01:26:09,760
Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution.

1217
01:26:10,400 –> 01:26:12,560
And it’s a lot of all the
faithful, as we’ve seen from a

1218
01:26:12,560 –> 01:26:17,000
couple of other studies, the lot
of all God’s faithful servants

1219
01:26:17,000 –> 01:26:19,520
are going to have to walk this
path where there’s pressure.

1220
01:26:19,720 –> 01:26:21,240
But, you know, pressure has a
purpose.

1221
01:26:22,160 –> 01:26:24,800
And here it’s so beautifully
explained.

1222
01:26:25,160 –> 01:26:26,360
We’re going to finish on this
tonight.

1223
01:26:27,520 –> 01:26:31,200
It is absolutely beautifully
illustrated in this little

1224
01:26:31,200 –> 01:26:36,760
parable.
You see those three young men

1225
01:26:37,240 –> 01:26:47,080
were bound by King Sin and
thrown into a furnace, and when

1226
01:26:47,080 –> 01:26:51,720
they came and when they came,
when they got into that furnace,

1227
01:26:51,960 –> 01:26:54,880
you know what happened?
The ropes burnt off.

1228
01:26:56,040 –> 01:27:00,720
They were freed and they came
out and were elevated to the top

1229
01:27:01,240 –> 01:27:04,880
of the Kingdom.
Now we’re in First of Peter.

1230
01:27:04,880 –> 01:27:10,560
You turn back a page the First
of Peter Chapter 1, and these

1231
01:27:10,560 –> 01:27:14,120
are words we must have read
hundreds of times, but you think

1232
01:27:14,120 –> 01:27:18,960
of them in this context.
First of Peter one talking about

1233
01:27:18,960 –> 01:27:22,360
our lively hope in verse 3,
verse 6, wherein you greatly

1234
01:27:22,360 –> 01:27:24,040
rejoice, though now for a
season.

1235
01:27:24,040 –> 01:27:26,840
If need be your inhibitors
through manifold temptations,

1236
01:27:27,720 –> 01:27:33,120
that the tribe trial of your
fame, being much more precious

1237
01:27:33,120 –> 01:27:39,920
than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire,

1238
01:27:40,600 –> 01:27:46,120
might be found unto praise and
honour at the appearing of Jesus

1239
01:27:46,120 –> 01:27:50,360
Christ.
What interesting words here.

1240
01:27:50,480 –> 01:27:55,680
Faith and gold are put alongside
each other and it’s gold which

1241
01:27:55,680 –> 01:28:00,600
perishes and there is a golden
image on the plane of juror and

1242
01:28:00,600 –> 01:28:05,960
it’s matched against faith.
And he says the trial of your

1243
01:28:05,960 –> 01:28:09,320
faith is much more precious than
gold that’s going to perish,

1244
01:28:09,600 –> 01:28:13,440
even though that faith is going
to be tried in the fire and that

1245
01:28:13,440 –> 01:28:16,800
faith is going to go into the
fire and what’s going to happen

1246
01:28:16,800 –> 01:28:18,240
to it when it comes into the
fire?

1247
01:28:18,480 –> 01:28:22,200
It’s going to be found under
praise and honour at the hearing

1248
01:28:22,200 –> 01:28:26,080
of our Lord Jesus Christ and
it’s going to have its bounds

1249
01:28:26,080 –> 01:28:29,440
freed and it’s going to be
elevated into glory.

1250
01:28:30,200 –> 01:28:33,680
Faith is going to do that and in
that little parable, that’s

1251
01:28:33,680 –> 01:28:38,240
exactly what it saw it.
It says the fire of trial is

1252
01:28:38,240 –> 01:28:42,480
going to free us residents,
sisters and young people of the

1253
01:28:42,520 –> 01:28:47,880
bondage of King sin.
Think of that verse 8 whom he

1254
01:28:47,880 –> 01:28:52,120
says, talking of Christ, having
not seen ye love, and in whom,

1255
01:28:52,120 –> 01:28:56,080
though ye now see him not yet
believing, ye rejoice with joy

1256
01:28:56,080 –> 01:28:59,360
unspeakable and full of glory,
receiving the end of your faith,

1257
01:28:59,560 –> 01:29:01,520
even the salvation of your
souls.

1258
01:29:01,800 –> 01:29:05,280
And so that really is the
essence of faith, isn’t not

1259
01:29:05,520 –> 01:29:11,360
seeing the unseen, though we
don’t see now, yet believing and

1260
01:29:11,360 –> 01:29:15,440
rejoicing with full of glory
that one day we’ll stand

1261
01:29:15,640 –> 01:29:23,360
delivered, freed, saved through
the power of a tried faith.

1262
01:29:23,360 –> 01:29:41,950
What have we seen?
That the world will always try

1263
01:29:41,950 –> 01:29:45,910
to force conformity in its
thinking, in its ways and

1264
01:29:45,910 –> 01:29:49,790
behaviour.
Whilst we’re in Babylon, We’re

1265
01:29:49,790 –> 01:29:52,270
godly.
Trial will always be inevitable,

1266
01:29:53,200 –> 01:29:57,520
but we’ve got to learn to stand
up and do what’s right despite

1267
01:29:57,520 –> 01:30:01,600
what the majority are doing.
We are His servants to whom we

1268
01:30:01,600 –> 01:30:05,640
obey.
We have the choice and God is

1269
01:30:05,640 –> 01:30:09,800
able to deliver.
If we believe He can, He will.

1270
01:30:11,160 –> 01:30:14,480
Deliverance requires faith,
courage and determination by

1271
01:30:14,480 –> 01:30:18,400
soul.
Let’s always be be ready to give

1272
01:30:18,400 –> 01:30:22,800
an answer of the hope that’s
within us and to make good use

1273
01:30:23,680 –> 01:30:27,480
and thank God for the companions
that He has given us.

1274
01:30:42,680 –> 01:30:44,800
Thank you for listening to the
Good Christadelphian Talks

1275
01:30:44,800 –> 01:30:47,400
podcast.
We hope this talk helped you in

1276
01:30:47,400 –> 01:30:48,920
your walk and brightened your
day.

1277
01:30:50,120 –> 01:30:52,160
If you would like to hear more,
please subscribe for new

1278
01:30:52,160 –> 01:30:54,640
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1279
01:30:54,640 –> 01:30:58,760
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1280
01:30:58,760 –> 01:31:01,240
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1281
01:31:01,240 –> 01:31:04,000
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1282
01:31:04,000 –> 01:31:08,080
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1283
01:31:08,360 –> 01:31:10,880
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1284
01:31:12,160 –> 01:31:14,640
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1285
01:31:14,640 –> 01:31:17,120
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1286
01:31:17,120 –> 01:31:20,600
Christadelphian Talks or leave a
comment on our YouTube channel

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01:31:20,600 –> 01:31:22,200
where these talks are posted as
well.

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01:31:22,560 –> 01:31:25,160
If you enjoy listening to the
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that you think we should share,
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You can send us a suggestion
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website or message us on any of
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01:31:34,640 –> 01:31:37,520
Thank you for listening.
God bless and talk to you next

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01:31:37,520 –> 01:31:37,760
week.