394: Andrew Johns - Daniel's Friends: Resisting the World's Pressures in Youth

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:03

   Welcome to good Christadelphian talks. Thank you for joining us this week on this podcast. We select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our Daily News feed. Each week we post a talk that we previewed from suggestions sent in by listeners from around the world. Then we record a short intro beforehand as a personalized recommendation to you on why we are sharing the talk. And now let’s talk more about this week’s talk. Hello everyone, this is Simon.

2. 0:35

   Back in episode 388, we had a talk by our brother Andrew Johns on Joseph. And I’ve since found out that this is actually part of a series that was done in 1994 with the main theme to be examples of youth in service and action. I found all these talks to be very challenging but very encouraging and very exhortational as well. Brother Andrew covered Joseph, Sampson, Jeremiah, Daniel’s friends Mary and Timothy.

3. 1:07

   This full series will be on the extended podcast and I strongly encourage you to go listen to them all. So I chose for this week’s talk the 4th study on Daniel’s friends resisting the world’s pressures in youth. I find the story of Daniel and his friends to be so relevant to us today as the world around just changes and can demand us to conform to it. It’s a reminder that we need to continually study and read God, read God’s Word and to help each other on our walk to the Kingdom and to keep God’s truth close to our hearts. To be ready to make a stand for what is right whenever we need to.

4. 1:50

   So here is our brother Andrew on Daniel’s friends resisting the world’s pressures in youth. My dearly beloved brethren and sisters and my dear young people, in our last, last study we saw that tragic figure of Jeremiah who experienced so much sorrow and anguish in his life, but who around him and and around Josiah, his great friend and confident, there accumulated a number of younger men who were on fire with the word of Yahweh.

5. 2:32

   And three years after the death of Josiah, when Jeremiah was about 40, his word was vindicated as being right, despite all the cries around him that Babylon would never come down and never touch that city. But the mighty Babylonian war machine was on the move three years after Josiah died and Nebuchadnezzar moved in and at the battle of Khakimish head on hit Egypt and defeated Pharaoh Nico and moved straight down into the coastal plain heading for Jerusalem and sieged it.

6. 3:12

   Jehoiakim at the time was a puppet to Egypt, and very quickly he changed allegiance and was put under tribute to Babylon. But that was not where it ended. The temple was ransacked by Nebuchadnezzar’s offices. They took everything of value. All the vessels of the House of Yahweh were carted off to Babylon and placed in the houses of the gods of the Babylonians, but they also hand picked the cream of Judah’s young men. Come to Daniel chapter one, verse 3. And the king Nebuchadnezzar, that is, spake unto Ashpinaz, the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the King’s seed, and of the Princess.

7. 4:11

   Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skillful in wisdom, and cunning, and knowledge and understanding science, and such as had the ability in them to stand in the King’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. There must young people and brethren and sisters. There must have been in that cohort. They were handpicked at that time from, did you notice the King’s seed and the Princess?

8. 4:45

   There must have been some who were very strongly influenced by Josiah. Josiah had only been dead for three years, and in his court in Jerusalem there was growing up a youth group who were alive with the word of Yahweh. Jeremiah and other prophets had stirred them up, and with the example of Josiah before them, they were enthused to try and turn that nation around. But as soon as Josiah died, as we saw the other night, all hope of that ever happening was lost.

9. 5:24

   The breath of the nation, as Jeremiah called him, was gone. The nation was a corpse, just rotting and rotting and rotting until Nebuchadnezzar finally finished it off a few years later. But here we find Nebuchadnezzar hand picking individual young men. Look at how they’re described in verse four. Well favoured, intelligent, able to stand in the King’s palace,

10. 5:58

    he was after the cream of that nation. And these are called in verse 4, the start of verse four, children. The word is used in the scriptures of anything from children to youths to young men, and it probably refers to teenagers, those in their late teens. And so these children, whom he picked in the prime of their life at around 18 or 19, were carted off into Babylon. Babylon had a very clearly enunciated policy of integration and assimilation.

11. 6:38

    They were very, very cunning psychologists, and they figured that if you were ever going to keep nations under subjection, what you had to do when you took them over is to mix up their people with yours, Mix them and have a good influence of Babylonian ways in there, so that they forgot about their gods, they forgot about their culture, and they became Babylonians, whether they were in the lands that had been taken over captive or whatever. And he put Babylonians into the lands that he took captive, and he brought some of them into Babylon. That was only part of his policy. The second part of his policy was to hand pick the intelligentsia of a nation and to train them in the ways of Babylon so that they might then influence their own people both in the land of their captivity and back in their own national place of origin.

12. 7:42

    And so we find that this method that Nebuchadnezzar was skilled at using throughout his campaigns and throughout his time as king was based on 2 fundamental principles.

13. 7:58

    They tried to make those who were taken captive conform to Babylonian thinking and Babylonian behaviour. And we’ve we know exactly what happens here in verse 5. The king at once those young captives were brought into the realm. The king appointed them a daily provision of the King’s meats and of the wine which he drank so nourishing them three years at the end thereof, they might stand before the king. It was his clear intention to have these as the the prime young councillors around him that had been so indoctrinated by Babylonian ways.

14. 8:38

    They’d been given absolutely everything they could ever want. They’d come from a from a country that just did not have everything that it wanted because it was in, in tribute to other countries, to Egypt at the time, in case of Judah. But they were given the very, very best, the most appealing food, drink, access to Babylon’s universities and all the wisdom and learning was at their feet. All they had to do was to soak it up. But that wasn’t all.

15. 9:09

    They not only had their diet changed, they had their dress changed, they had their language changed, they had their environment changed, they had the source of their education changed, and to top it all off, they even changed their names in order that their personalities might never be the same as they were before. And it’s very interesting to see. While there is some some dispute about the actual meaning of some of their Babylonian names, it’s very interesting to see. That’s every one of the four friends that we find mentioned here in verses 6 and seven of Daniel. One, that is Daniel, Hannan, I, Mishael, and Azariah all have as part of the meaning of their name Yahweh or Ail. They had come from godly families who had so named their children to reflect their godly thinking. But the Babylonians named them.

16. 10:38

    And if you have a look at the names that are there on the overhead at the moment, every single name that they gave for those 4 lands involved the name of one of Babylon’s gods. There was a distinct and deliberate policy here to wipe out any cultural link, any link at all with the religion and life and behaviour of the nations from which these men came. They, they were put in a exceedingly difficult situation. I, I don’t think that just reading Daniel chapter one, we, we perhaps at times understand quite how dangerous and difficult that was.

17. 11:24

    Daniel certainly understood, and so did his friends come to understand that just how dangerous it was. You see, everything that was being done for them, they were. They were being being given everything on a plate. They were being treated like great Lords walking in as Princess of a realm that just had absolutely anything they wanted at the click of their fingers.

18. 11:47

    If they said they wanted this food or that they wanted this Tudor or that they got it. And everything that was being done to them appealed to their own pride. They were being told that all they had to do was put their mind to things and they would go a very long way up the hierarchy of the greatest nation on earth. They could be rulers.

19. 12:11

    They could be second in the in the realm of the great and mighty Babylon. They could easily have deceived themselves into thinking young people that, well, it wasn’t of their making that got them there. They’ve been taken into captivity. They were put here by God. Surely they should make the best of the situation and just do whatever that was asked of them.

20. 12:37

    You know, our young people today are under exactly that same pressure. There’s an attempt to change personality. It is an attempt, a very strong attempt, to make our young people conform to Babylon’s lifestyle. The world around us is encouraging by its environment and by its education and the two things that never could, never used.

21. 13:05

    It’s encouraging a broad, rounded, balanced education. Oh, it sounds very nice, doesn’t it? Better than sisters, but underpinning whole of our education scheme at the moment and for some years has it has been the same, is a humanistic base where God has removed from the realm of rational discussion and other gods in fact are substituted for the one true God who created all other gods like success, achievement, sport. All substituted in place of the one true God who is the source of all intellectual reasoning and wisdom and moral might. And the whole of our education system that our children are immersed in day by day is man centred, not God centred. And especially is that true in the realm of the social areas, the social sciences.

22. 14:13

    And there’s many things that our children come up against every day of their lives when they’re 5678910. And it sounds to them all very plausible, all very reasonable. That isn’t anything wrong with what’s been told them. It just seems to make sense. But it seems to make sense because we’re all made of flesh and so are they, and without some godly external influence in their minds, it just all makes sense. You know, the consequences of of the underpinning of humanism in all of our education.

23. 14:51

    Society is bringing the whole of the Western world to its knees. There is no question of that. The consequences of this form of thinking, brethren and sisters and young people, and take note of this, is a push for personal rights. That’s where that’s coming from. The importance of the individual and what they themselves think. The equality of opportunity for women with men. Everybody’s opinion is just as important as everybody else’s. Our children at 456 are having that drummed into their heads. And if you can’t see that coming out in your children at school, be thankful because there’s an awful lot of our children in our young people’s groups and in our Sunday schools are already reflecting their thinking.

24. 15:42

    Make no mistake. And democracy is supreme. The God of this world, everything relies on democracy. It’s the be all and end all, the voice of the people.

25. 16:01

    But there’s this, this spirit of madness, as it’s termed in Revelation 16, that’s driving the nations and bringing them to Armageddon. And one day that spirit is going to be on the opposite side to Christ.

26. 16:23

    There is a very deliberate design, very deliberate design in the education system of this world that is challenging with an attempt to eradicate biblical morality. You might think that’s an overstatement. There are writers around and educators who are alive in this state who will openly state that.

27. 16:57

    And it’s in our workplaces, it’s in our schools, it’s in our universities. And it’s incredibly important for our young people, incredibly important for our young people that are going off to a university in these days to know where they’re going before they go, to have sorted out their lives and set a direction so that they clearly understand the issues of life before they’re thrown in to that evil environment. There may be, it may be necessary for some of our young people in terms of their jobs or whatever to go on to tertiary study.

28. 17:40

    And perhaps what’s happening in society is becoming increasingly so for some of our young people. But it’s also becoming increasingly important that our young people think seriously younger and younger about the issues of life. Look at verse 8. But Daniel in this circumstance, purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the King’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank.

29. 18:10

    Therefore he made a request to the Prince of eunuch, the eunuchs, that he might not defile himself. That word purpose there is translated elsewhere as rehearsed. He rehearsed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the King’s meat. He told himself over and over again and reinforced in his own mind what was right and that he couldn’t be defiled with the King’s mate. He wasn’t going to partake of all that this society that he’d just been lobbed into was there to offer, you know, brilliant sisters and young people.

30. 18:43

    What he didn’t say isn’t that interesting to notice. What he didn’t say as well as what he did, he didn’t say. Oh well, I’ll give it a go, can’t really. And we’ll have a look at and compare at the end what absolutely folly that would have been. He purposed in his heart when he saw the policy, he saw what Babylon was out to do. And he said, I am not going to do it. And he made requests respectfully to the Prince of the eunuchs, who in fact, as we know, accepted his request and turned out that he proved himself and his friends to be 10 times better than all of those that have been on the official diet of the king.

31. 19:28

    You know, it’s never, ever wise counsel to Taste of Babylon’s food in order to make a choice between Babylon and the truth. Never is it a wise choice to do that. Because young people, as soon as we’ve tasted of what Babylon has to offer, we’ve already in a position where we won’t be able to make a choice anymore. Already things will become crowded. It’s never ever a good idea to taste of Babylon first in order that we might make a choice, But I wonder whether you’ve ever noticed in Daniel, as we read through Daniel chapter one, that Daniel himself as an individual, Though we know that it talks about Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah as well in that chapter. How many of you have noticed that Daniel is very dominant in that chapter?

32. 20:21

    In fact, that verse we just read, verse 8, it’s talking about Daniel himself. He purposed in his heart that he would not defile, and he goes to the Prince of the eunuchs and asked that he might not defile himself. He, he, he. Now we know that the other friends of Daniel were likewise right behind Daniel and supporting everything he did. But it was just like that with Daniel out the front and his friends supporting him.

33. 20:47

    And you read through all of Daniel chapter 1 and you’ll find that that’s in fact the picture that we get. Daniel is obviously a leader, a very intelligent and capable young man who knew exactly where he was going. Now, it’s not to not to deny that the other three friends who were around him and supported him were not also faithful young men. Of course they were.

34. 21:08

    We know that and it’s proved a little later on, but he was the spokesman. In fact, in verse 8, verse 9, verse 10, verse 11, verse 17, and verse 21, Daniel stands out in front of all the others. And the other thing to notice before we move on is that Daniel chapter one really concentrates on all of these four young men and only calls them by their Hebrew names, apart from telling us that they had their names changed by the Babylonians. On all other occasions it uses their Hebrew names. And then we come to chapter 2 with the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and we know that very well. And what happened.

35. 21:56

    And Daniel as a result was elevated because of his interpretation of that dream. And again, it’s Daniel, not the others. It’s Daniel who was in that position. I’d like you to come to the end of Daniel chapter 2, verse 48 and read this very carefully.

36. 22:15

    Then the king made Daniel a great man and gave him many gifts and made him rule over the whole province of Babylon and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. Then Daniel requested of the king and he set set Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel sat in the gate of the king. If you read that quickly, you missed the point. Did you notice Daniel still called by his Hebrew name? But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have got their Babylonian names.

37. 22:53

    They were not called by their Babylonian names in chapter 1, but now they are, and all the way through chapter 3 they have Babylonian names without exception. What’s that saying? Well, it appears that Daniel had risen to such an important post that no one could tell him what his name was going to be, and he retained his name as his original Hebrew name. But the other three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, even though they were raised to a position of importance, were still subordinate and were still being called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego by Nebuchadnezzar himself. That’s interesting to notice.

38. 23:44

    We we come to chapter 3 and at this stage those three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, were probably in their early 20s at this stage. And Daniel is not even mentioned in Daniel chapter 3. They are always, as we said, mentioned by their Babylonian names. Nebuchadnezzar clearly had not given up on his original policy of integration and conformity. You see, the changing of those names were meant to reflect a different personality and but Nebuchadnezzar was not going to give up easily on that.

39. 24:27

    He hadn’t even tried to to persist with that with Daniel. But now there’s psychological warfare. Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t have to go browbeating them all the time. All he has to do is keep on calling them by their Babylonian names as a part as opposed to their Hebrew names. And really what Babylon was doing, and Nebuchadnezzar in particular, young people, he was taking another tack. They had been proved in their integrity in chapter 1 to be 10 times better than anything else, any of the others that had been under that test.

40. 25:10

    But the world doesn’t give up that easily in trying to make the young intellectuals conform to it’s thinking and it’s behaviour. You know, I believe young people that the events of Chapter 3 of Daniel are even more relevant, and it’s the reason that we’ve chosen tonight to concentrate on Chapter 3 as opposed to Chapter 1.

41. 25:39

    It’s not that there are no lessons in Chapter 1 for young people. There certainly are. There’s lessons for us all. But Chapter 3, I believe, is even more relevant to young people generally. I’ll tell you why. We find in Chapter 3 that Daniel is not there. In other words, the leader is not present. Now that’s important.

42. 26:03

    Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are always mentioned together in Chapter 3. Always, without exception. They are never, ever separated. There is no clear leader amongst any of those 3. Apart from that, they’re named the same way each time, but they’re always kept together. And here are here we’re presented with three ordinary Christadelphian young people. Now, I think that’s very important. They had grown up in the truth.

43. 26:34

    They’re in a strange land where they didn’t really belong, and there’s enormous pressures to conform. And when they first got there, there was a strong character like Daniel who influenced them and and encouraged them to stand up for what was right and talked about the Bible and Jeremiah’s prophecies with Daniel. And now Daniel’s not there and they’re, in their own eyes, just ordinary young people.

44. 27:05

    What are they going to do? They’re without the support of a leader. They’re without the support of their family. They’re without the support of the ecclesia. They’re just three young people who have to make a decision themselves. And young people, that’s the situation that you and I find ourselves in almost every day of our lives, living in the middle of Babylon. And we don’t always have a Daniel standing alongside us. And we don’t always have our fathers or mothers or support standing alongside us every time a test comes upon it. And I believe, young people, that Daniel chapter 3 is an essential chapter of the Bible for every young teenager to come to grips with.

45. 28:01

    If you don’t know anything much about this and you haven’t marked up some of the principles out of Daniel chapter 3, make it a determination after tonight to do it because you are fighting the exact issues that are in this chapter. There is a king out there who is determined to make you bow the knee, just as determined as Nebuchadnezzar was in the days when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood.

46. 28:28

    And this chapter is an amazing piece of scripture. It is so different from anything else that appears in the book of Daniel. If you, I guarantee that if I asked everyone in this hall tonight just to get a piece of paper and for you to write down the story that’s contained in Daniel Chapter 3, because we’ve just read it and we’ve all known it since we were this high. If we grew up in the truth.

47. 28:50

    We’ve all heard the story at Sunday school and we all know our children love the story. It’s a dramatic story. I guarantee that if I asked you to write down on paper the story of this chapter of Daniel and his three friends in the fiery furnace, there wouldn’t be one single person in this hall who wrote it down like this. Not one.

48. 29:21

    I wouldn’t write it like this. The repetition in this chapter is absolutely astounding. And on the Bible marking sheet, there’s a list of some of those things that you can follow through. But we’re going to have to read carefully. You know, we might must have read Daniel chapter 3 so many times. We’re so familiar with the story.

49. 29:41

    But when we are familiar with things, we read straight over very important principles. And whenever the Scripture repeats and continually repeats over and over and over again, something in very short succession, we’ve got to sit up and listen. And the divined mind has recorded something in here that’s attempting to make us sit up and listen very carefully because there’s some essential issues of life contained here. Let’s come to verse one.

50. 30:14

    Nebuchadnezzar, the king, made an image of gold whose height was 3 score cubits and the breadth thereof was 6 cubits. And he set it up in the plain of Jura in the province of Babylon. All very interesting. And so we start the story, but there are at least three very clear connections back to chapter 1. One of them is very obvious on the surface. The other two may not be quite so obvious. The one that’s very obvious is the made an image of gold. The word image there is exactly the same word that’s used for image in chapter 2 of the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw. But this time it’s all of gold.

51. 30:51

    And that has to be a challenge, doesn’t it? Because the image that Nebuchadnezzar of all people saw, and now it’s Nebuchadnezzar setting up this new one, the one that Nebuchadnezzar saw only had a head of gold. And he was told what that meant. Nebuchadnezzar, you are the head of gold. You are the, the, the crowning pinnacle of the kingdoms of men. But under you there’s an inferior Kingdom that’s going to take over for you, and you are not going to keep on going forever.

52. 31:17

    That was a clear message which was given to him by Daniel. And now straight after that, Nebuchadnezzar sets up an image of pure gold from head to foot. Now, if that wasn’t an open and direct challenge to the vision which he’d already seen and had interpreted for him, I don’t know what was.

53. 31:36

    So it’s set in that setting, but there’s more to it than that. It tells us that Nebuchadnezzar set it up. It wasn’t just his counsellors or Princess. He didn’t go and get those who were over this province of Babylon to do it. Do you know who was over the province of Babylon? Well, the end of chapter 2 says that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were over the province of Babylon. And now he goes straight over their heads and sets up in the province that he’s given them to rule over. He sets up this image without their knowledge. Why did he do it?

54. 32:14

    Obviously he knew what they’d think of because they were friends of Daniel. And that is repeated. If you think that’s unimportant, that phrase, he Nebuchadnezzar, that is, he set it up, occurs 9 times in this chapter. Now if we didn’t know after verse one that it was Nebuchadnezzar that set up, we’d be rather dull.

55. 32:37

    But we’re told time and time again every time we meet that image that it was the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And it’s repeated over and over again. This is quite clearly a very direct challenge in the face of that image, which he’d seen. But there’s something else that might not be on the surface so amazing.

56. 33:02

    The chapter starts, Nebuchadnezzar the King. Do you know that title Nebuchadnezzar the King doesn’t occur outside of this chapter apart from verse 1 of chapter 4 and between verse 1 of chapter 3 and verse 1 of chapter 4? It occurs 9 times. It never occurs outside there. Never have we got Nebuchadnezzar and the King put together as a formal, pompous, official, powerful title.

57. 33:38

    But now, as if to to emphasize that it’s Nebuchadnezzar, the supreme king of the world, it’s repeated over over ad nauseam with deliberate intent. That’s how this how this starts. And if you don’t think that that’s the intention of that title, you’re going to chapter 4 and verse one, the only other place outside this chapter that it occurs.

58. 34:05

    And we read Nebuchadnezzar, the king, and to all people, nations, languages that dwell on the face of the earth, or in all the earth, peace be multiplied unto you. And so he goes on and say, so he’s commanding the attention of the then known world and drawing attention to himself as the supreme might. That’s exactly what that image was meant to portray. He had that intention to draw the attention of all the world to his might and his supremacy and get all the world to bow down.

59. 34:40

    So it’s a testimony to his arrogance and to his self importance. But we just read, read straight over a number of other things in chapter, in verse one there, for example, the dimensions of the image and its location. You see, it was 60 cubits by 6 cubits. Anyone that identity about the Bible would have to immediately see the connection with flesh there, 6 being the number of flesh. But it’s an impressive image, a very impressive image. And this image was 9 stories high. And where did he set it?

60. 35:17

    In the middle. Middle of all Babylon’s high rise buildings? No, out on the plain of Jura, where a nine Storey image would look amazingly impressive when you walked into it from miles away you would see this glistening in the sun, this gigantic image when everyone from all over his province was drawn there.

61. 35:40

    It was there to impress. Impress the ice. Nebuchadnezzar was no fool. He might have been a selfish self-centered man, but he was no fool. And there was the symbol of flesh to be glorified and worshipped. And what a challenge that was to the might of Yahweh said in the plain of Jura. The word Jura means a circle which really has the idea of eternity. And there he thought he was going to set up his Kingdom for eternity.

62. 36:17

    And look who he called. Verse 2. Nebuchadnezzar the king sent together together the Princess, the governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, sheriffs, and all the provinces, rules of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Repetitious, isn’t it? Why didn’t he say he gathered together all the intelligentsia and all the rulers from all over them, all over his realm? Why didn’t he say that?

63. 36:45

    Well, he mentions them everyone by name, to impress us with just how many there were and how important were all their titles, and that from the highest to the lowest of all his rulers were there. And verse 3 repeats all that same list again and tells us that they all, without exception, came. This is very impressive.

64. 37:13

    Everybody was coming and prepared to conform to the invitation of this great king where the emphasis was on grandeur and pomp and ceremony to impress the flesh. And they all stood in front verse 3, right at the end of verse 3, we find and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. The word stood before means to stand in front of. And this is where all of these these captains and judges and treasurers stood right down the front, right at the foot of this image.

65. 37:47

    So they’re staring up at this nine story high image, a massive structure. And behind them are countless millions of people. There are hundreds of thousands, probably of people that had been gathered and called to witness this inaugural ceremony where Nebuchadnezzar himself was going to be worshipped in the image that he’d made.

66. 38:16

    And just think, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are right down the front with all of those captains and judges and treasurers right in the front row where everybody, no matter where they stood, could see them. And we find in verse 4 and Harold cried aloud or as the margin says with might do you, it’s commanded O people, nations and languages. And so he goes on to tell them all of the the details of what they had to do when they heard the sound of all of these instruments.

67. 39:00

    They had to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had made. But it was a command. Did you notice in verse 4? And you, it’s commanded. There wasn’t any option. There wasn’t any opportunity for conscientious objection. And I’d like you to notice just in passing, and we’ll come back to this in a moment, who he commanded that law to says, O people, nations and languages.

68. 39:31

    Just make a mental note of that for the moment. And then we find in verse 5 that this was with the command that at what time you hear the sound of a cornet, flute, harp, sackbuck, sultry dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. That goes on and on, repeats.

69. 39:56

    And if they don’t fall down, whoseover falleth not down, and worship the same hour shall be cast in the midst of a burning fiery furnace. So it’s not only a command, there’s also real might to this law that’s going out. And so there was a signal when they were to worship the flesh, there was a signal, and that signal was music, 6 instruments.

70. 40:20

    So you can imagine what kind of music it was. It was there to arouse the flesh, to incite the flesh to bow down, and to glorify an image of a man who thought he’d been elevated into heaven above Yahweh in the heavens. That’s what it was all about. And music is a very, very powerful medium, a very powerful medium.

71. 40:43

    And it was used on this occasion by Nebuchadnezzar to make all peoples of his realm to fall down on their knees and worship the flesh. And if they didn’t, if there was no voluntary response, then they would get a little help, a little taste of the fiery furnace, and perhaps that might convince them to drop onto their knees.

72. 41:16

    And for the majority, if any had stood up, it certainly would have helped. And did you notice that that furnace is not just called a furnace, It’s called a burning fiery furnace. This was no ordinary furnace. And did you notice in the record it’s mentioned 8 times. That’s very significant. We’ll come back to that later.

73. 41:42

    But it’s mentioned 8 times. And so if a person refused to bow down and worship the flesh, what was going to happen? They would be sacrificed to Babylon’s God of the fire, and Nebuchadnezzar would still be supreme. He would not allow any challenge he had within his hand the power to do anything he wanted. Men’s lives danced on his palm.

74. 42:14

    If he said that’s the end of you, that was the end, or so he thought. And we find in verse 7, therefore, at that time when all the people heard the sound of the quornet, the flute, the heart, the sackpot, the sultry, and all kinds of music, see, they’re all repeated, all six of them repeated again, all underline it, Young people, all the people, the nations and the languages.

75. 42:43

    There’s that same phrase fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. All his policies are are working 100%. Debbie could never. The thing has now got everyone on their knees just where he wanted them. Or so he thought. I want you to think young people of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they’re in the front row and they’re standing there with everyone else.

76. 43:26

    And the music starts and they see all around them people starting to go down. And the music reaches A crescendo and it’s getting louder and louder. And they look at the corner of their eye and they can’t see anyone else standing. And they look around and there’s no one else anywhere standing. What do you think their knees were feeling like? Ever felt weak in the knees?

77. 44:04

    I guarantee that day they were. They could have easily rationalized that. Easily rationalized. They could have said in their minds, well, really we’ve only just been honoured by Nebuchadnezzar and we probably should be thankful for that. We ought to offend him, of course, if we do, if we do bow down at this case, it wouldn’t really mean that that we were worshipping his gods.

78. 44:32

    And we could explain that to him afterwards so that he understood that we weren’t worshiping his gods. And and anyway, what’s the use of really just sacrificing our lives for such a pointless exercise? I mean, after all, what would that really achieve? Surely we’ve got a greater work to do here in Babylon.

79. 44:48

    Surely we can encourage the young captives. We know something about what Daniel said. Surely Let’s just go down and we’ll explain them. Everything. Sounds plausible, doesn’t it?

80. 45:05

    I wonder how many of us would have taken that line. They knew that to go to stand upright young people, they knew it meant certain death. And remember this, that they didn’t know the end of this story like we do. All they knew was that Babylonians were awfully ruthless, Whatever they said they meant.

81. 45:40

    And it didn’t matter about men’s lives. Life was awfully cheap in the hands of a potentate like Nebuchadnezzar, and they’d seen that happen in their own country. And with that knowledge, it was not easy to stand up and be counted. And they counted the cost, young people. They counted the cost. And the cost was their lives,

82. 46:10

    nothing less. It was their lives. And there are many other faithfuls through many generations who’ve faced exactly that same situation. They’ve counted the cough and have lost their lives.

83. 46:29

    Yeah. They knew that Babylon’s days were numbered. They knew that because they’d been in touch with Jeremiah before they left, and they knew that Jeremiah had prophesied in 70 years and they would come out of the land. They knew Babylon’s days were numbered, and they based their decision to stand up straight on what they knew Jeremiah by the word of Yahweh had said, and not on what they saw with their eyes and heard with their ears.

84. 47:02

    Young people, that’s what faith is all about, to make decisions in everyday life that are based on what we know and believe are right, despite what our ears and our eyes are telling us. Because very often what we see and we hear are very, very deceiving signals. Now we’re faced and young people, you know that you’re faced with some very difficult situations at school, at universities and sometimes in the workplace. You’re faced with the pressure almost daily to conform, to conform to this age or not.

85. 47:51

    There’s a decision and you’re asked to stand up or drop onto your knees. You’re asked sometimes and have pressure put on you to go to worldly parties. What do you do? Do you say no or say yes? Do you stand up or do you get on your knees? You’re faced with the city in the schoolyard to join in with all the crude jokes that are going around and have a snigger.

86. 48:18

    Have a snigger. Do you stay there? Do you stand up or go on your knees? Well, learn to stand up and think of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego before that image with hundreds of thousands of people behind watching them. And you know, we we mentioned a moment ago this little phrase, O people, nations and languages.

87. 48:40

    And it was all the people, nations and languages in verse 7 that had fallen down onto their knees. Yeah, that phrase is used in Revelation to describe all the world Revelation 5 without turning to it. And in verse 8 and 9 says and we would. And that has redeemed us out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. And now we’ve got all the people’s nations tongues bowing down and they’re going to have to stand out of that. And that who’s that’s who’s God’s looking at? Because in the end, I counted amongst the redeemed are those who’ve come out of all peoples, nations and tongues who didn’t fit and didn’t conform to all their ways because they belong to a society that was very different. And when they were in the midst of a situation that they were very uncomfortable with, they stood upright. Verse 8.

88. 49:48

    Wherefore at that time certain called ines came near and accused the Jews. Notice the term, The word accuse in the Septuagint is diabolo, from which we get to the Greek Diabolos falsely accuse and out of jealousy they they accused these Jews before Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar may not have even known with such a vast crowd, but who did notice were all of those who were standing alongside and all around. And that seemed these three men just raised to great prominence overnight.

89. 50:26

    And I hated them and what they stood for and the fact that they didn’t really conform to Babylonian ways. Look at the accusations. You would expect them to go to Nebuchadnezzar and say, oh, Nebuchadnezzar, there are three men who are Jews who didn’t bow down to your image. You know, they said two other things before they said that.

90. 50:48

    Notice what they said in verse 12. The three things are these, that they haven’t regarded the king, that they have not served the King’s gods. So they’re introducing all these other things and then that they worship not the golden image. And it’s very interesting that their contemporaries very clearly knew a lot more about them than what they saw on that day.

91. 51:14

    They knew that they did not serve Babylonian gods. Now, how did they know that? Because just them bowing down there on that day to that image of Nebuchadnezzar was not going to merely tell them that clearly they had spoken to these others before. And verse 13 goes on to say, then Nebuchadnezzar and his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and they were.

92. 51:42

    And they brought these men before the king. Now why did Nebuchadnezzar even get it? Why didn’t he say no, type them in the furnaces? Don’t you understand? Didn’t say that said bring him here even though he is furious that anyone should possibly stand up against him. And so we find that before this enraged king we find these three godly young men Nebuchadnezzar verse 14 spake and said under them.

93. 52:14

    Is it true or is it probably more carefully should be rendered? Is it with design or is it with purpose? Oh, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, do you do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up. But he doesn’t wait for an answer. He just assumes that it was not on purpose. And there in itself is psychological pressure that’s very difficult to resist.

94. 52:41

    And young people, we are faced with that sort of psychological pressure all the time, where people might throw us a question and not wait for an answer and just go on assuming that we’re going to conform. And that’s what Nebuchadnezzar did. Verse 15 Pressure is building. Now if you be ready at that time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute and harp sack. But sultry dolphin was 6 again, and all kinds of music. And ye fall down and worship the image which I’ve made Well. But if not, ye shall we cast the same arrow into the midst of the burning fiery furnace?

95. 53:17

    They knew all that. Why was he giving them a second chance? Well, I believe he feared them and he knew in the back of his mind that what he was doing was a challenge to Yahweh and that these men truly were friends of Daniel and servants of the true God. And as perhaps a sign of a a guilty conscience on the part of Nebuchadnezzar starting to emerge then, but he rides roughshods straight over that and he doesn’t stop with just giving the previous command. He continues and says the end of verse 15 and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands. End of story.

96. 54:09

    Get back in front of the image. And now they’ve been graciously given another chance, another opportunity. But all it turned out to be young people was another real pressure. Because now Nebuchadnezzar looks like he’s the good guy. He’s the one that’s that’s virtually saved their lives from the furnace and said, well, I’m going to give you another chance.

97. 54:36

    Don’t you understand, my mercy as such that I’m going to give you another chance. Now let’s not have any more of this nonsense right back, and we’ll try again.

98. 54:48

    How would you go opening your mouth in the face of that? But you see, they’d been encouraged because Nebuchadnezzar himself had raised the contest to the level of Yahweh versus the gods of Babylon, and there was a stimulus to the faith. Were they going to worry about Nebuchadnezzar’s fire God, or Yahweh, the maker of heaven and earth? And in their mind there was no doubt. And so in verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said unto the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. It’s a poor translation.

99. 55:38

    It really means we need not say a word in answer to that question, as another translation has it verse 17. If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou has set up, that we’re being arrogant or rude. Young people, they just had tremendous faith to stand up and to say that they believed that there was a God who could deliver.

100. 56:28

     And did you notice? They didn’t say he would. They have a God whom they serve who is able to deliver. And if it was his will, he could, but if it wasn’t, then let him clearly know that they were not under any circumstances, going to still bow down and worship that image or his gods. Now, I believe it’s almost written into the record here that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had discussed that situation amongst themselves before that moment. Did you notice in verse 4, verse 7, Sorry. After we read from verse 4 onwards about what the command was in verse 7, it says therefore at that time when all the people heard the sound.

101. 57:25

     So there was clearly a time lag between when the Herald came around and told everyone what they had to do and when the music actually started, when the ceremony began. And those three faithful young men would have been very concerned about the situation they were in. And no doubt had talked carefully and quickly together and had discussed all the issues involved and had got on their knees and prayed to the God of heaven and earth and assort his guidance in this very difficult situation.

102. 58:00

     And stuck together and determined amongst themselves that they would stay together because they knew it was right. They’d made-up their minds before the situation happened.

103. 58:14

     Now, I believe if they hadn’t made-up their minds very clearly amongst themselves that when it came and that music began, the whole emotion of that circumstance would have weakened their knees to such a point where they looked around and saw that everyone else was down. They too would have gone to their knees. You know, there’s a very powerful lesson in that, young people, if we allow ourselves to walk out onto the plain of Jura in full sight of the glory of the flesh of Babylon and all its might and all its gods, and we think that on the spur of the moment we’re just going to be able to make the right decision. It’s going to be the godly one every time. We are fooling ourselves if we walk out onto that plane of Jira, if we have not prayerfully and carefully considered the dangers there and what we might do if we’re caught in this situation or that, or what we might do to flee from this or that or how we react to this or that. Young people will be on our knees before we can, before I can answer, think about it.

104. 59:19

     The power in Babylon’s psychological techniques will have us on our knees unless we very carefully prepare. Now what I believe we have to do, young people with the depth of wickedness that’s in this world, is to think carefully about situations and issues, weigh it up and talk about it with our friends. Our friends who are godly, who know their Bibles and open them together and talk about things, ask each other, What do you think God thinks about this?

105. 59:51

     How do you think I should handle this? I came across this situation the other day. I didn’t know what to do, and I said yes to this, and afterwards I thought wretched about it. What do you think I should do? Ask older brethren, Talk to your peers. Open your Bibles on your knees in prayer to the Father.

106. 1:00:09

     That’s what they did, I believe, out on the plain of Jira when they had very little time. It’s no good. Our Bible’s being shut in nice cases when we’re out standing in front of that image and the music starts. A Bible is no good then. The Bible is only any good if it’s affected our minds before that time.

107. 1:00:37

     No, never, ever. Young people never, ever underestimate the value of good, godly minded friends. These three are never separated in this record, if you notice that. Never separate. When they say something, it says Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said. Does that mean that they sighted in unison? I don’t think so. But what it means is that there was no leader among them.

108. 1:01:11

     They were all terrified of that situation, but they were godly enough to have worked out between them what they should do, and they encouraged each other and stood together upright

109. 1:01:28

     because they had good companions alongside them. You know, use your companions, those young people who come from a situation where there are other young people in your ecclesia or in your surrounding. Thank God for that.

110. 1:01:48

     Never underestimate the privilege and the blessing of that, and use it. Verse 19 with Nebuchadnezzar full of fury. Then was Nebuchadnezzar sorry, full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Therefore he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace 1/7 times more than it was want to be heated. 7 times hotter than we’ve ever seen heated before, Rotherham says. And now they had a chance to change their minds if they were quick.

111. 1:02:26

     If they were quick because the King’s face was distorted with rage, as the Hebrew actually means. And tragically, that last heating of the furnace makes many young people buckle. That last seven times heating, the visual impact of that as the pressure really comes on from a world who wants to make them conform, often just makes the little bit of difference that crumples their knees and takes them to the ground. Verse 20.

112. 1:02:58

     And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach and the Bendigo, and it cast them into the very burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hose, and in their hats, and their other garments were cast in the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

113. 1:03:14

     Therefore, because of the King’s command, because of the King’s command was urgent and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach and the Bendigo. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and the Bendigo, fell down not voluntarily. They fell down, bound into the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. What a frightening spectacle.

114. 1:03:50

     You put your yourselves in that situation. Young people, they didn’t know what was going to happen when they got in there. It was certain death for them. They were powerless, helpless, and all they could do was pray to the God of heaven. Verse 24 and 25 tells us that when they looked in, they saw that there was four men walking loose, and they’d thrown in three men that were bound.

115. 1:04:21

     And there was a great enigma here. 3 Bound had gone into the furnace, and now as they peered through the flames, from a distance, Nebuchadnezzar could see four men who were loose, and they didn’t expect, let alone Nebuchadnezzar. But the three friends never ever in their wildest dreams expected an Angel to appear in that furnace.

116. 1:04:42

     They knew, as David had written many years before in Psalm 34, that the Angel of Yahweh encamps around them that fears him and delivers them. But they didn’t expect that God had to do a miraculous deliverance on that day. They understood by deliverance that in the end, when it came to the time of the Kingdom, He would raise them again and they would stand with the faithful of all ages.

117. 1:05:04

     But now, very literally, the the Angel of Yahweh was camping with them in the midst of that fire because they believed that Yahweh could deliver. And because they believed that He could, He did. Young people, that’s a powerful lesson because they believed Yahweh could deliver. He actually did. And Yahweh doesn’t change. It doesn’t mean that you might get into a situation tomorrow or the day after and expect some miraculous deliverance.

118. 1:05:35

     God won’t necessarily work like work like that, but if you believe this can deliver you out of circumstances and out of the grip of Babylon, He will. He will deliver. He is able, these friends told Nebuchadnezzar, and they came forth. They came forth at the beckon of Nebuchadnezzar out of that fire. And notice how he addressed them in verse 26. He said to them, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the Most High God, come forth and come hit her. And he acknowledges in verse 28 the God of heaven and earth and promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to be seen and rulers over all of the province of Babylon. Well, that’s a very interesting story, isn’t it? But it’s not the end

119. 1:06:43

     fact. There’s much, much more in Daniel chapter 3 we’re not going to spend a lot of time on, but there is a marvellous paragraph in this chapter about whose servants we really are. Verse 28 holds the key. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his Angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the King’s word and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any God except their own God.

120. 1:07:23

     You know, there’s the issue there. It is in a nutshell, young people. And the issue is this. And I don’t believe there is a more important issue for you as young people to come to grips with in your youth. Who are you going to serve? That was the issue that they were faced with.

121. 1:07:47

     It’s the issue that Nebuchadnezzar understood was being played out in that whole incident. You see the word servant or service occurs in verse 12, verse 14, verse 17, verse 18, verse 26, two, verse 28. They’re all on the sheet. Check them out later. But Jesus said you cannot serve 2 masters. You’re either hold of the one who love the other.

122. 1:08:09

     What will be vice versa? You cannot. It doesn’t matter who you are, you can’t serve 2 masters and you have to make a choice. And if you don’t make a choice, it would be made certain. It’s as simple as that. In life you refuse to make a choice, and the choice is already made, but you have a choice if you want to make it.

123. 1:08:31

     I’d like you to hold your hand in Daniel chapter 3 and come across to Romans 6 because the issue of Romans 6 is whose servants are we going to be? And we know that Romans 6 speaks predominantly of baptism. But in Romans chapter 6 and at verse 12 here, the apostle Paul tells us very clearly to let not king sin paralleled to King Nebuchadnezzar.

124. 1:09:05

     Let not King Sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof, obeying it in the lusts thereof. Young people is falling to our knees and doing what it says, just as just as Babylon in Babylon that friends were asked to fall to their knees and to worship the image of Nick King Nebuchadnezzar.

125. 1:09:26

     Don’t let King Sin reign. He will try all sorts of devious persuasions, all sorts of tricks, all sorts of things to try and get you to obey him, just like Nebuchadnezzar tried to get those friends to obey him. But verse 13 and 14 are even more interesting. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness under king sin, but yield yourself under God as those that are alive from the dead. Now look at the look at the allusions here. There are back to this incident in Daniel chapter 3 and your members as instruments of righteousness under God for king sin shall not have dominion over you. He won’t.

126. 1:10:14

     He doesn’t have to have dominion over you. It’s your choice and you just see the similarity of language. Hold your hand in in Romans and just turn back to Daniel, which I still hope you’ve got. And look at verse 28 again. It says that in Nebuchadnezzar’s words here. And he delivered his servants that trusted in him have changed the King’s word and yielded their bodies that they might not serve nor worship any God except their own God.

127. 1:10:44

     It’s the same language that Paul takes up about you’re about yielding ourselves, our members of instruments of righteousness or unrighteousness to God. And then look at verse 16 back in Romans. We are now verse 16. He says, no, you’re not that to whom ye you yourselves servants to obey. His servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether sin under death or obedience under righteousness, But it’s whom you yield yourself to that you’re under the dominion of. And that’s very interesting.

128. 1:11:21

     It’s not who we say is our master, young people, that’s what Paul is saying here. It’s not whom we say our master is. That’s our true master. It’s to whom we yield ourselves and our lives. That’s the one. That’s our master. And it’s either sin or it’s gone. It’s as simple as that. There is no black and white.

129. 1:11:42

     We can’t try and Gray it out in the middle. We are either servants of God or we are servants to King Sin. It’s as simple as that. And King Sin is a very, very powerful monarch. What more powerful parallel could you ever have found in scripture? Because Nebuchadnezzar was supreme monarch of the world.

130. 1:12:04

     Everything he said went and he did noise have to use might. He used a lot of cunning and subtle means. His policy forced everyone to bow down and worship the flesh. That was Nebuchadnezzar’s policy. And King Sin has exactly the same policy. And what was his strategy? Nebuchadnezzar used grandeur and size and impressive things. All the majority, the mighty men, all came and they all bowed down.

131. 1:12:33

     That’s a powerful, powerful tool. Peer pressure. The majority is a powerful tool used by King Sin to make us bow down. And so all the impressive, apparently permanent things we see around us all, they look so, so permanent that we think King Sin is enthroned here forever. But it’s all it’s all just in the appearances. But you know, there was another tool that Kings, King Nebuchadnezzar used, that King Sin also uses young people. And it was the music of the flesh. Remember, there were six instruments. A music has a very powerful emotional pull. And today’s depraved pop culture that has corrupted millions upon millions of young minds around the world continues in exactly the same strategy of King Nebuchadnezzar evolved. Today’s pop culture ridicules anything that’s decent, holy, good and rights and more than virtues, those things that are absolutely abhorrent and despicable. I would never counsel you better than sisters to go and listen to pop music that this world’s children are listening to. It is horrific to say the least.

132. 1:13:56

     I’ve picked up at school cassettes and looked at the labels and my eyes have fallen out of my head. I couldn’t even rid the labels here tonight have made me to see what the titles of the songs are, let alone the content.

133. 1:14:17

     And that’s not an isolated piece of music in today’s younger generation pop culture. It’s intended to excite, to incite the flesh to rebellion and free lust. End of story. And this world’s advertisers and promoters know exactly that and they’re riding on a multi billion dollar wage out of the lives of individual young people around this world who’ve become addicted to this filthy rubbish.

134. 1:14:58

     Maybe could never try exactly the same things. No, Brother John Carter once said, the mind is insensibly affected by the stream of thoughts passing through it. You imagine what this filthy rubbish is doing to the minds of this generation’s young people who have the plug in drug in their ears round mesmerized of every day.

135. 1:15:28

     We have children in their teens coming to school plugged in. They have pulled out when they get it, when they get to school. If it’s not confiscated, it’s plugged back in at recess time and then it’s pulled out again and plugged back in at lunchtime. It’s pulled out. It’s plugged back in in lessons. It goes on and on.

136. 1:15:48

     It’s addictive. Young people, don’t touch it. It will corrupt your minds. It’s dulling the intelligence and sensitivity and moral power of a whole generation that is getting themselves ready to be destroyed by Christ and the Saints. It’s that serious. Never could, never knew what music can do. The music of the flesh has to be avoided.

137. 1:16:20

     It prevents thinking. Ah, it’s a terrible thing. You know, I’ve had young people tell me both at school and within the ecclesia that they’ve tried to get off some of that stuff. I had a young lad at school tell me it was three years since he stopped listening to some horrendous heavy metal music. But he said with almost tears in his eyes. It keeps coming back.

138. 1:16:57

     I just see all these images all the time. I just keep thinking the words all the time. I just can’t get rid of it. It just keeps coming back. Her music’s like that, isn’t it? We teach our little children the books of the Bible to song because it’s easy to learn and they can just remember the tune and it all comes back.

139. 1:17:20

     And this world’s filth is being fed into the minds of a generation of young people and corrupting their intelligence and their moral faculties to the point where they won’t be able to respond. What a tragedy. A tragedy of the 1st order. Young people avoid it like the plague. Music changes not only our ability to think, but with corrupting and degrading sentiments will change our behaviour.

140. 1:18:05

     How do we get rid of it? I know this. I know this from talking to some of our young people, some of whom are here tonight. I know that some of them don’t know how to get off it. They want to, but they don’t know how. I wonder sometimes how, after going to a a young people’s class and being uplifted by consideration of some part of the Word of God and thrilling to that, and talking amongst themselves afterwards, can jump into their car and turn on the filth of the world.

141. 1:18:44

     Leave it off, young people, leave it off. Make a determination to change and replace it with something. Replace it with something that’s a bit more elevated, a bit more God centered. Just try. Even if you don’t like listening to something like the massage or Mendelssohn’s Elijah, just try. Just try for 15 minutes a day.

142. 1:19:13

     Just try it and do it every day for a fortnight. Just try it, and it just might surprise you that you actually can respond to that and it actually is likeable and it is actually elevating as opposed to the degrading sentiments of most of today’s pop music. But that wasn’t the only other form of strategy that Kings, Nebuchadnezzar and Kingston uses. There was a herald crying with might, with might. Oh, and there’s a mighty strong voice around that’s not going to give up.

143. 1:19:58

     It’s not going to give up. Young people don’t think it will. Saying to you every day, Maybe not in these words, but in action, in attitude, it’s saying to you. You decide what you want to do for yourself, and if you want to bow down, you bow down. And you stick up for your rights and don’t let some airy fairy God in the sky, some concept, get in the way of what your body is telling you you should do. You know, there’s young people within our young people’s circle, brethren and sisters, who are talking now about their rights.

144. 1:20:50

     Why haven’t I got the right to do this or that? That should ring bells in our minds, warning bells. Why can’t I? Surely it’s my life and I can decide for myself what I want to do with my life.

145. 1:21:12

     Now, if you open your ears, you’ll hear that around the place. Not perhaps quite as in exaggerated form as I just said then, but you’ll also hear my opinion is just as important as you, yours anyway. What you’re saying is only an opinion anyway, to a brother who might have been 60 years in the truth and has borne the heat and burden of the day. All around us there are people on their knees. Their plans, their ambitions, their activities are all centred around satisfying the flesh and the worship and elevation of it. And the King’s command is ever so simple, ever so simple. All the king said was just let go, just relax. Can’t hurt you.

146. 1:22:08

     You can’t study the Bible all the time. Just why don’t we just go out for pictures just one night in the week? Surely that can’t hurt.

147. 1:22:22

     Don’t be deceived. It’s not easy to do what’s right when others are doing wrong. And it’s even harder young people to do what’s right when other other young people are doing wrong. But stand up straight, you can as easily, brethren and sisters as well, assess the effects that King’s seen as having on us by what we do with our time, what we do with our money, what we do with our where we go.

148. 1:22:56

     I’m not trying to underestimate the pressures that are falling on our young people today. They’re they’re quite enormous. And the whole of the advertising industry is focusing on young, on youth, because they have disposable income and they’ll target them for dress. And, and young people feel as though they have to have brand names and particular trendy hairstyles that they have to see this movie or go there or try this or experiment with drugs or experiment with sex.

149. 1:23:26

     We’ve got to make up our minds, young people, before we go out on the plane of Urah, whose servants are we? That’s the issue. And young people, I can tell you this, that decision has to be made very often before you’re baptized because at 1314 you’re going to be expected to know whose servants you are. And that’s an awful responsibility that’s falling on the shoulders of our children and parents help them to bear that.

150. 1:23:57

     But we have this assurance, Young people, I’d like you to come to 1st of Peter chapter 3, first Peter chapter 3. And at verse 12 we have this assurance, for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous. It is ears are open under their prayers, but in the face of the Lord.

151. 1:24:22

     But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you? If you be followers of that which is good, who is there? And if you suffer for righteousness sake, happy are you. But be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Let me reach you, that to you from the RSV it says. But sanctify the Lord as Christ, Christ as Lord in your hearts. And be ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is within you, with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you as evil doers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

152. 1:25:06

     You see, the key is this, young people, to sanctify Christ as Lord, not king sin. To sanctify in your heart Christ as Lord, and let not king sin reign. And prepare for the day that you go out into the into the plain of Jura, and be ready with a hope that’s within you, not in your Bible. It’s in there for sure, but it’s not going to do any good unless it’s in you and you’ll be able to stand. But when you make a stand, young people, brethren and sisters of age and experience know this only too well, that when we make a stand, the pressure won’t decrease. It will often increase just as it did in those days when Nebuchadnezzar stirred up that furnace until it was 7 times hotter than it had ever been before. You know what the apostle Paul said? He said let all that all that live godly, that live godly, not profess, but live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

153. 1:26:10

     And it’s a lot of all the faithful, as we’ve seen from a couple of other studies, the lot of all God’s faithful servants are going to have to walk this path where there’s pressure. But, you know, pressure has a purpose. And here it’s so beautifully explained. We’re going to finish on this tonight.

154. 1:26:27

     It is absolutely beautifully illustrated in this little parable. You see those three young men were bound by King Sin and thrown into a furnace, and when they came and when they came, when they got into that furnace, you know what happened? The ropes burnt off. They were freed and they came out and were elevated to the top of the Kingdom. Now we’re in First of Peter.

155. 1:27:04

     You turn back a page the First of Peter Chapter 1, and these are words we must have read hundreds of times, but you think of them in this context. First of Peter one talking about our lively hope in verse 3, verse 6, wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season. If need be your inhibitors through manifold temptations, that the tribe trial of your fame, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour at the appearing of Jesus Christ. What interesting words here.

156. 1:27:50

     Faith and gold are put alongside each other and it’s gold which perishes and there is a golden image on the plane of juror and it’s matched against faith. And he says the trial of your faith is much more precious than gold that’s going to perish, even though that faith is going to be tried in the fire and that faith is going to go into the fire and what’s going to happen to it when it comes into the fire?

157. 1:28:18

     It’s going to be found under praise and honour at the hearing of our Lord Jesus Christ and it’s going to have its bounds freed and it’s going to be elevated into glory. Faith is going to do that and in that little parable, that’s exactly what it saw it. It says the fire of trial is going to free us residents, sisters and young people of the bondage of King sin. Think of that verse 8 whom he says, talking of Christ, having not seen ye love, and in whom, though ye now see him not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

158. 1:29:01

     And so that really is the essence of faith, isn’t not seeing the unseen, though we don’t see now, yet believing and rejoicing with full of glory that one day we’ll stand delivered, freed, saved through the power of a tried faith. What have we seen? That the world will always try to force conformity in its thinking, in its ways and behaviour. Whilst we’re in Babylon, We’re godly. Trial will always be inevitable, but we’ve got to learn to stand up and do what’s right despite what the majority are doing. We are His servants to whom we obey. We have the choice and God is able to deliver. If we believe He can, He will.

159. 1:30:11

     Deliverance requires faith, courage and determination by soul. Let’s always be be ready to give an answer of the hope that’s within us and to make good use and thank God for the companions that He has given us.

160. 1:30:42

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161. 1:31:12

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162. 1:31:27

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