Daniel’s King or Man’s Choice? A Theological Review

[00:00:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Let's all pray.
[00:00:04] Lord, your name will be holy forever.
[00:00:06] We stand in awe of you.
[00:00:08] You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
[00:00:10] All creation, all of heaven proclaims this, Lord, and we look forward to the day when we will all be able to do it in unison before your feet, Lord.
[00:00:20] What a marvelous thought.
[00:00:22] What an amazing, encouraging thing as we're all going through different things this week, this year.
[00:00:27] Lord, You meet us right where we are at.
[00:00:29] And we can all say truly, no matter what we're going through, You are holy.
[00:00:34] You are good.
[00:00:35] You are sovereign.
[00:00:36] You are in control.
[00:00:37] And Father, as Your children, we rest in that.
[00:00:40] God, you are our Father.
[00:00:42] You care for us.
[00:00:43] You know what's best for us more than we do.
[00:00:45] You know the future as clearly as we know the past.
[00:00:49] Actually, more clearly than we know the past, Lord.
[00:00:51] And we are thankful for that.
[00:00:53] We can rest in that.
[00:00:54] And so today, we proclaim again, you are holy.
[00:00:58] You are worthy of our worship.
[00:01:00] And we pray that you would bless us now
[00:01:02] As we open up your word, we ask that you would speak to us, Lord.
[00:01:06] I pray you would speak through me as I've prepared and studied, Lord, that you would have the right words for people that are here coming from all kinds of different places, different things going on, Lord, that you would minister to their hearts.
[00:01:17] And it wouldn't be a work of Jonathan, but a work of your Holy Spirit.
[00:01:21] So I surrender that, and I pray that you would
[00:01:24] Bless this time.
[00:01:24] Now bless our church.
[00:01:25] We thank you for all of our campuses.
[00:01:28] Harvest Orange County, Harvest Riverside, Harvest Maui.
[00:01:31] Lord, we're just thankful for the work you are doing there in the people, through the pastors, through the staff, in the communities, Lord.
[00:01:37] Use us, we pray.
[00:01:38] In Jesus' name we ask.
[00:01:40] Amen.
[00:01:40] Amen.
[00:01:41] You guys can have a seat.
[00:01:42] Welcome to church, everybody.
[00:01:43] Good to see you all.
[00:01:44] Can we thank our worship team one more time for leading us on all our campuses?
[00:01:48] Awesome.
[00:01:51] Hey, quick note to the AV team.
[00:01:52] Can we bring the key light down just a little bit?
[00:01:54] Thank you.
[00:01:56] Well, hey, pretty awesome thing happening in one week from today.
[00:02:00] I can't believe it's already here.
[00:02:02] November 16th, we are going to be at Utah Valley University in the great state of Utah, and we are going to be having our Hope for America Crusade.
[00:02:11] This is going to be incredible.
[00:02:12] You guys know about this.
[00:02:13] You've heard about what's going to be happening there.
[00:02:15] We've got music from Phil Wickham and Chris Tomlin, but we are going there
[00:02:20] As all of you know, because this is the location where Charlie Kirk lost his life.
[00:02:25] Just moments before his life was taken from him and he was murdered in cold blood, he was preaching the gospel.
[00:02:32] He was talking about Jesus.
[00:02:33] And so we want to go to a dark place and preach the light that Charlie was preaching and proclaim it there and invite people into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
[00:02:44] And so be praying for us.
[00:02:46] If you've looked at the weather and you're going with us, you've probably noticed it's a little bit schizophrenic over in Utah right now.
[00:02:53] It's said it was going to be a snowstorm yesterday.
[00:02:56] Today it says it's going to be nice and sunny.
[00:02:58] And so we're praying for good weather.
[00:03:00] So if you could, please pray for good weather because that will have an effect on people coming in.
[00:03:05] Well, hey, you know, it's officially Christmas time now, in case you didn't know.
[00:03:08] Halloween is over.
[00:03:10] Yes, I like Christmas time.
[00:03:13] I like all the Christmas decorations.
[00:03:15] My neighbor, literally, we went to bed and there was all the crazy Halloween stuff out, and he goes pretty hardcore for Halloween, and woke up the next morning and it was like full Christmas.
[00:03:26] Like, when did you have time to do this?
[00:03:28] From the time I went to bed to the time I woke up, it had completely transformed.
[00:03:31] But it's Christmas time.
[00:03:33] It's Christmas time, and we have a lot going on here at Harvest, a lot of amazing things.
[00:03:37] And I want to invite my mom, Kathy Laurie, to come out for a moment and speak to you ladies and talk about some things that are happening here at Harvest.
[00:03:43] So let's welcome her.
[00:03:44] Welcome, mom.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Good morning, everyone.
[00:03:46] Is this on?
[00:03:48] Can you hear me?
[00:03:49] Oh, good!
[00:03:49] Hi!
[00:03:51] It's been a while.
[00:03:52] It feels like it's been a long time, but just like Jonathan said, the holiday season is right on us right now, right?
[00:04:00] The decorations are up and the commercials are going and all the catalogs start arriving in your mailbox.
[00:04:06] All the family traditions and all the events and parties and cheer.
[00:04:12] And we have some really fun things coming up.
[00:04:14] We have tree lightings at all our campuses.
[00:04:17] We have a women's event coming up that we're calling Virtue Christmas.
[00:04:23] And it's going to be great.
[00:04:24] It's going to be wonderful.
[00:04:25] All three campuses.
[00:04:26] You can find out more details at your Connect table.
[00:04:31] The one thing I want to talk to you about today is a brand new launching of a ministry that's very near and dear to my heart.
[00:04:40] As Jonathan and Greg and I and many of you out there can attest to, the holidays with all the events can be wonderful.
[00:04:49] They're great.
[00:04:50] unless you've lost a loved one.
[00:04:53] And then all of a sudden there's so many pitfalls and so many things to navigate.
[00:04:58] It's all uncharted territory.
[00:05:01] And whether you've lost a loved one this year or two years ago or even 10 years ago, many of us have places in our heart that on this uncharted journey we call grief,
[00:05:15] will hit speed bumps and will hit curves in the road and will hit things that are like triggers for us.
[00:05:24] And they bring back a lot of emotions.
[00:05:28] And for those of you that are experiencing that,
[00:05:32] and I know that there are a lot of us out there that have experienced that or are experiencing that and there isn't a real space to process all of it amid all the parties and events and how do you navigate the holidays.
[00:05:48] So this event that's coming up
[00:05:51] The week before Thanksgiving, it's the weekend before Thanksgiving in Riverside and Orange County, we're calling Hope for the Holidays.
[00:05:59] And I'm hoping that if you are a person who is experiencing grief, whether it's fresh or whether it's been a few years,
[00:06:07] Or maybe you know somebody who is experiencing grief that really could use the encouragement right now.
[00:06:15] I want to tell you that we have a special event with worship, with a message, with testimonies that are going to really help you.
[00:06:24] Just like road signs help us when we're going and driving through a new territory, pointing out curves or dead ends or whatever, those of us that have traveled this road would love to be able to encourage you and walk alongside you.
[00:06:40] So all of these events, the tree lighting and the virtue event and this hope for the holidays is free.
[00:06:46] There's something for everyone this season.
[00:06:49] But I really want to encourage those of you, maybe you've never been around other people who are grieving and would like to be a part of something like this, would you register?
[00:07:00] We have a QR code on the back of this little invite, but if you have any questions at all, it's the Friday before Thanksgiving, and that's in Riverside here in the evening, and Saturday morning in OC, the weekend before Thanksgiving as well.
[00:07:19] So it's free.
[00:07:20] Just register.
[00:07:21] We'd love to see you there.
[00:07:23] God bless you.

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Amen.
[00:07:30] Thanks mom.
[00:07:32] Alright, well let's turn in our Bibles to Daniel chapter 7.
[00:07:35] Daniel chapter 7.
[00:07:36] My message title is The King Who Stands Above It All.
[00:07:41] This is a part of our series Jesus and You Too.
[00:07:45] which has been a lot of fun.
[00:07:47] We're going to be bringing it to a close pretty soon here.
[00:07:51] Well, speaking of schizophrenic weather today, in Southern California, it's a little bit schizophrenic.
[00:07:57] As I was driving in, there's like a thick marine layer, thick fog.
[00:08:00] I actually had to slow down quite a bit, and it was so thick that I couldn't see really, you know, maybe two car lengths in front of me, and so pretty crazy.
[00:08:08] Thick fog, but then it's supposed to get 90 degrees here in Riverside later today, so I don't know why I'm wearing a beanie and a sweater.
[00:08:15] I'm going to be needing to wear a tank top and shorts.
[00:08:18] And then over in Maui, you guys are dealing with some pretty serious weather too, some wind and some rain, so I think we all have an idea of what fog and storms look like.
[00:08:26] It reminded me of when I was in high school and I paddled out for a surf with some friends at a spot in Huntington, right south of the Huntington Beach Pier.
[00:08:34] and the the fog was so thick we knew that there was a swell a lot of times when there's a good size swell especially in the winter it brings with it a little bit of a weather front and so we showed up we knew the swell was going to be big we saw the forecast and so we got there and it was so foggy we actually couldn't see the waves at all we were standing on the shoreline as close as we could without going all the way in the water trying to see how big it was figuring out our equipment and everything
[00:09:00] and all we could hear were the waves crashing and we couldn't even see people in the water and so okay no big deal I mean it wasn't that big and so we got our equipment we paddled out and we made our way out to what we thought was the lineup and we got out there pretty quick thankfully we didn't have to punch through very many waves as we got out
[00:09:18] And as we're sitting there, we realize that we are not in the lineup, and the waves are actually breaking much further out.
[00:09:25] And so now we see a set come in, and we're all scrambling to get underneath it.
[00:09:29] And after duck diving, what I think was like 12 waves it felt like, now I've got an ice cream headache.
[00:09:35] It was cold.
[00:09:35] The water was cold.
[00:09:37] Not a fun thing.
[00:09:38] but we got out there and it was just big and when the waves are big in Huntington especially there is a serious current like nothing you've experienced before and it just rips from north to south so pushes you south so basically if you wanted to stay in position
[00:09:54] You had to just constantly be paddling, just a constant paddle, just a constant paddle.
[00:09:59] Now, you can do this for 30 minutes or an hour, but after a while, you just get over it, and you just let the current take you.
[00:10:05] So after sitting out for a little while, I just gave up.
[00:10:08] I lost my friends.
[00:10:09] We had all caught waves.
[00:10:10] We kind of split up, which often happens when you paddle out with friends.
[00:10:13] And I just thought, I'm just going to let the current take me, and I'm going to catch waves.
[00:10:17] Couldn't see anything.
[00:10:18] It was just foggy, so I just let the current kind of pull me down.
[00:10:20] Caught waves as I went along.
[00:10:22] Well, from the time we paddled out to the time I pretty much got out of the water, it was two hours.
[00:10:27] And, you know, got a lot of waves.
[00:10:29] It was actually a lot of fun.
[00:10:30] But I decided to finally paddle in.
[00:10:32] I'd had enough.
[00:10:33] I was tired.
[00:10:34] And I caught a wave in, and I walked up on shore.
[00:10:36] And again, it was so foggy, I couldn't see the beach.
[00:10:39] So I didn't really know where I was.
[00:10:41] So I walk up to the sand.
[00:10:43] I get to the sand, and I'm looking for, you know, some marker, something to get my bearings.
[00:10:48] And I look, and it says, Tower 15.
[00:10:51] Tower 15.
[00:10:52] That's pretty far.
[00:10:55] And so I start walking back north towards the pier and I'm walking and I'm walking.
[00:10:59] I drifted over a mile south from where I first started off.
[00:11:03] That's a pretty good current right there.
[00:11:05] It was so foggy I had no idea where I was.
[00:11:08] I completely lost my bearings.
[00:11:12] It just reminded me of how sometimes we can lose our bearings, how we feel when we get caught in the fog of things, the fog of emotion.
[00:11:21] Soldiers talk about being in the fog of war.
[00:11:24] Oftentimes they'll land, they have an objective, and then so many things are happening, their heads are spinning, and they kind of lose sight of what they're supposed to do.
[00:11:32] Or sometimes they get separated from the rest of their platoon, the rest of their group, and they're unable to complete their objective.
[00:11:38] They call that the fog of war.
[00:11:40] In our study together, we're going through the book of Hebrews, our small groups are, and it's been a great study.
[00:11:46] How many of you are going through Hebrews in your small groups?
[00:11:48] Awesome.
[00:11:49] It's been great.
[00:11:49] We talked this week about how Jesus is the anchor for the soul.
[00:11:53] I love that.
[00:11:55] I love that.
[00:11:55] I could have used an anchor that day in the Huntington Beach Pier just to hold myself in place, but I love that picture.
[00:12:01] Jesus is an anchor for the soul.
[00:12:02] He is something that we can hold onto that keeps us in place.
[00:12:06] He keeps us from drifting.
[00:12:08] We all know what it's like to spiritually drift.
[00:12:12] We fall away.
[00:12:13] We lose sight of what we're supposed to be doing.
[00:12:15] We get caught up in the fog and life can feel like that.
[00:12:18] Those things can happen to us.
[00:12:20] A kind of marine layer settles in.
[00:12:21] We don't know what is coming next.
[00:12:23] We don't know what's going to happen.
[00:12:24] We don't know what's going on.
[00:12:26] Who's really in control?
[00:12:27] We turn on the news and we see corruption and we hear about these assassinations and different things that are happening and it can feel like your head is spinning while you try and figure out what is really going on.
[00:12:38] Everybody wants clarity.
[00:12:40] Everybody wants to know what is coming next.
[00:12:43] Whether you're a politician or a parent, you're a pundit or an investor, whatever you are, you want to know what is coming next.
[00:12:51] Well, fortunately for us as believers, we have a spiritual compass that always points true north and can direct us through the fog, through the uncertainty, through the chaos and storms, and that is our Heavenly Father.
[00:13:05] Our Heavenly Father gives us everything we need.
[00:13:08] He gives us His Word.
[00:13:09] He gives us His Son and the sacrifice that He accomplished on our behalf so we could be made right with God.
[00:13:16] He gives us His Holy Spirit to equip us.
[00:13:18] He gives us fellowship to have community and to encourage one another in these seasons especially.
[00:13:24] And ultimately, He does this so we can help know what is the right way to go.
[00:13:29] We know the right direction when we feel lost.
[00:13:33] Well, as we continue in this series, Jesus and You Too, where we explored together the many different encounters Jesus had with people in the pages of Scripture, we finished that in the New Testament, and then we thought, why don't we go to the Old Testament and look at the Old Testament appearances of Jesus?
[00:13:51] That's right.
[00:13:52] Jesus before He walked on water.
[00:13:54] Jesus before He was born in the little town of Bethlehem.
[00:13:58] Jesus before He raised Lazarus from the dead.
[00:14:02] All of these things, before Mary, before the Nativity, and we're going to be looking at some of those stories, or rather we're wrapping up this second part of Jesus and You, and we're looking at what are called Christophanies.
[00:14:14] That's right, it's important that we know that Jesus is
[00:14:19] He was not created by God when He was born to the Virgin Mary.
[00:14:24] When He was born to the Virgin Mary, that's what marked His worldly ministry, the beginning of His earthly ministry.
[00:14:30] No, Jesus existed before the foundations of the world.
[00:14:34] He is co-equal and co-eternal member of the Trinity along with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
[00:14:45] He is eternal.
[00:14:46] And so it's important that we know that He was not created.
[00:14:49] And we see this evident in the pages of the Old Testament before He was born again.
[00:14:53] And so today we're looking at an appearance of Jesus, a Christophany to a young man that Jesus appeared to named Daniel.
[00:15:02] During a particularly foggy time for God's chosen people.
[00:15:06] At this point in the Israelites' history, they had been exiled to Babylon.
[00:15:11] God had warned them many times that they needed to repent, that they needed to turn from their idolatry, and finally He delivered them to their captors, ultimately to those that worshiped the gods that they were worshiping.
[00:15:22] Talk about a fog.
[00:15:23] Now they're living in a pagan nation called Babylon.
[00:15:26] Their values were foreign to their way of living, their ways of worshiping, the food, everything.
[00:15:31] And many Hebrews, many people that were exiled from Jerusalem, from Judah, had now been brought into Babylon, and ultimately, many of them abandoned their identities.
[00:15:43] They completely gave up on who they were.
[00:15:45] They forgot all about how God brought them out of captivity in Egypt.
[00:15:49] They forgot how He sustained them in the wilderness.
[00:15:52] They forgot all about that, gave up on all of that.
[00:15:54] And when they were brought to this new place, they said, hey, I'm just going to embrace the values of these people.
[00:16:00] And they completely abandoned the Lord.
[00:16:02] But not everybody did that.
[00:16:03] Not everybody did.
[00:16:05] A young man named Daniel purposed in his heart, the Bible says, that he would still worship the God of his ancestors, the one true God.
[00:16:14] He purposed in his heart he wasn't going to blend in, he wasn't going to drift, and he wasn't going to go along in the fog.
[00:16:20] And so Daniel stands firm in Babylon when everybody else seems to have lost their bearings.
[00:16:26] And right in the middle of exile, in the middle of confusion and persecution,
[00:16:31] In spiritual darkness, Jesus appears to Daniel.
[00:16:35] Again, not in Bethlehem, not in the Sea of Galilee, not on a dusty road in Judea, but in Babylon.
[00:16:44] In a vision during the night, Jesus steps in and cuts through the darkness and right through the fog.
[00:16:49] And Daniel records exactly what he saw.
[00:16:53] Let's read about this Christophany now in Daniel chapter 7, starting in verse 1.
[00:16:57] It says this,
[00:17:00] Earlier during the first year of King Belshazzar's reign in Babylon, Daniel had a dream and saw visions as he lay in his bed.
[00:17:08] He wrote down the dream, and this is what he saw.
[00:17:12] In my vision that night, I, Daniel, saw a great storm churning the surface of a great sea, with strong winds blowing from every direction.
[00:17:21] Then four huge beasts came up out of the water, each different from the others.
[00:17:26] Verse 4, the first beast was like a lion with eagle's wings and as I watched its wings were pulled off and it was left standing with its hind two feet on the ground like a human being and it was given a human mind.
[00:17:39] Then I saw a second beast and it looked like a bear.
[00:17:42] It was rearing up on one side and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth and I heard a voice saying, get up, devour the flesh of many people.
[00:17:51] Then the third of these strange beasts appeared, and it looked like a leopard.
[00:17:55] It had four bird's wings on its back, and it had four heads.
[00:17:58] Great authority was given to this beast.
[00:18:01] Then, in my vision that night, I saw a fourth beast, terrifying, dreadful, and very strong.
[00:18:07] It devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath its feet.
[00:18:13] It was different from any of the other beasts, and it had ten horns.
[00:18:16] and I was looking at the horns and suddenly another small horn appeared among them.
[00:18:20] Three of the first horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it.
[00:18:24] This little horn had eyes like a human and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly.
[00:18:29] I watched as thrones were put in place and the ancient one sat down to judge.
[00:18:35] His clothing was as white as snow.
[00:18:37] His hair like purest wool.
[00:18:39] He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire and a river of fire was pouring out, flowing from His presence.
[00:18:47] Millions of angels ministered to Him and many millions stood to attend Him.
[00:18:51] Then the court began its session and the books were opened.
[00:18:55] Let's pause there.
[00:18:56] That brings us to point number one, Daniel's fear.
[00:18:59] Daniel's fear is our first point.
[00:19:01] Could you imagine?
[00:19:02] Imagine seeing this vision as you lay in bed.
[00:19:05] Some of you, after you eat pizza, you see things like this, but there's usually no meaning to them.
[00:19:11] Daniel's just laying in his bed at night, and he's getting visions of Godzilla rising out of the sea, these beasts, and it's crazy.
[00:19:18] Daniel's terrified, deeply frightened, trying to make sense of it all.
[00:19:23] And in a moment, we'll see what each of these beasts actually symbolize, but does this sound familiar to you?
[00:19:29] You're laying in bed, everything's going okay, maybe you're sleeping peacefully and you have a dream that wakes you up in a cold sweat.
[00:19:36] Or you have a thought that enters into your mind in the middle of the night and it strikes fear into your heart and you can't get it out of your mind.
[00:19:44] Oftentimes we go to the worst place, worst case scenario when we have nothing that we can do about it while we're laying in bed, right?
[00:19:51] Our minds like to do that, don't they?
[00:19:52] They process things and we think, worst case scenario.
[00:19:55] I think this starts to happen especially as you get older.
[00:19:58] You think about worst case scenario, things that could happen to your family, things that could happen to your health, and it's a scary thought.
[00:20:04] It's a scary thought.
[00:20:05] Probably this happens as you get older because that sense of invincibility starts to wear off and you see how fragile life is and how easily things can change in the blink of an eye.
[00:20:15] Again, sometimes I involuntarily play the game of worst case scenario with myself when I'm afraid, and I'll tell you this, there are no winners in that game.
[00:20:23] It's not a fun game to play.
[00:20:25] And I have found that when you have that fear in the middle of the night, when you have that sense of terror, the best thing I can do in that moment is counterintuitive.
[00:20:36] It's to thank God, to thank God in that moment that He is in control and that I'm not.
[00:20:43] It's perspective.
[00:20:46] It's to actually thank the Lord that He is in control.
[00:20:49] To thank Him that He cares more than I do.
[00:20:53] Even in that moment, I think nobody cares as much as I do.
[00:20:55] Nobody's as concerned about this as I am.
[00:20:57] God cares.
[00:20:58] God cares more.
[00:20:59] God loves your family more.
[00:21:01] God wants to work all things together for good more than even you could comprehend.
[00:21:05] God
[00:21:07] And we give thanks to Him that He loves our kids and our grandchildren and is more concerned than we could be, so much so that He sent His Son to die for them.
[00:21:15] We give thanks in those moments, in those moments of fear, in those moments of terror.
[00:21:19] Paul says in Philippians chapter 4, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.
[00:21:28] Let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.
[00:21:37] I love that.
[00:21:38] I love that.
[00:21:39] In those moments, it's important that we, like Daniel, remember
[00:21:43] The Lord, the Ancient of Days, the Bible calls him.
[00:21:46] But let's look at this vision now, all right?
[00:21:48] Let's look back at this vision that Daniel has.
[00:21:50] This isn't a random occurrence of characters and events.
[00:21:54] No, there is some serious prophecy going on here.
[00:21:57] Now, it seems like chaos.
[00:21:59] The sea is churning, the wind is whipping, Godzilla's rising out of the sea.
[00:22:03] Daniel sees something he can't begin to wrap his mind around, and it grips him with fear.
[00:22:08] He sees four beasts, and on the fourth beast he sees that it has ten horns, and then he sees three of the horns being ripped out, and a larger horn emerging from it.
[00:22:16] What in the world is happening?
[00:22:19] Later in the chapter, it's revealed to Daniel that each of these beasts actually represent four specific nations, three of which haven't even begun to exist yet.
[00:22:30] Now, commentators have agreed what nations Daniel sees in this vision.
[00:22:35] The first one is Babylon, and then Medo-Persia, and then Greece, and then Rome.
[00:22:39] These are the
[00:22:41] The ancient superpowers that basically took place.
[00:22:44] Babylon was the first one.
[00:22:45] They conquered Israel.
[00:22:46] They conquered much of the ancient world and settled it.
[00:22:49] Then the Medo-Persians conquered the Babylonians.
[00:22:53] Then the Greeks conquered the Medo-Persians.
[00:22:56] And then finally, Rome came and conquered
[00:22:59] Greeks.
[00:23:00] And then lastly, we see with the ten horns, the three that are ripped out, the one small horn we know is the Antichrist.
[00:23:08] Now what are the ten horns?
[00:23:10] A lot of people have speculated what the ten horns are emerging from the Roman beast's head.
[00:23:17] and some have speculated this may be the European Union because when the European Union was founded basically there was 10 nations that helped form that we can speculate all we want but no self-respecting pastor or commentator will actually definitively say that it is the European Union or whatever it might be but ultimately there's going to be a regathering of Rome we see in the end times and there's going to be those 10 kings that rise up and then from one of them or rather from three of them
[00:23:45] The Antichrist will emerge.
[00:23:46] We don't know exactly.
[00:23:48] That is prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled.
[00:23:50] We will know when we see it.
[00:23:51] But Daniel, he was given a front row seat to thousands of years of world history.
[00:23:56] Things that had not yet even happened and things that have not yet happened today.
[00:24:01] And we were reminded what God says in Isaiah 46, Prophecy is no big deal to God.
[00:24:17] He is outside of time and space and He is able to declare these things.
[00:24:21] And this is a huge reason why we can trust the Bible.
[00:24:25] The Bible is the book that not only dares to predict the future, but does so thousands of times and accurately, with 100% accuracy.
[00:24:33] It's incredible, especially as you read this book, Daniel, which is really the revelation of the Old Testament.
[00:24:39] It is incredible.
[00:24:39] There's a lot of parallels actually with Revelation.
[00:24:42] We'll get to that in a moment.
[00:24:43] But God here
[00:24:44] He is rewarding Daniel for his faithfulness.
[00:24:47] Daniel was a young man living in captivity, living in exile in a foreign nation, and really he held on to his values.
[00:24:55] He remembered who he was.
[00:24:57] He was a young man and he said, I'm not going to eat the food of the Babylonians.
[00:25:00] I'm not going to worship in the way of the Babylonians.
[00:25:03] I'm going to stand true.
[00:25:04] And another Christophany that we saw is when his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we learned about that a few weeks ago that my dad taught.
[00:25:11] They were cast into the fiery furnace because they wouldn't bow before that image.
[00:25:15] Remember that?
[00:25:16] And there was a fourth one in the fire with them, one that looked like the Son of God.
[00:25:19] That was a Christophany.
[00:25:21] Jesus was meeting these young boys.
[00:25:22] He was preserving them.
[00:25:23] He was taking care of them.
[00:25:25] And so Daniel, this young man,
[00:25:27] He is living completely contrary to the culture.
[00:25:30] And this is what we need today.
[00:25:31] We need young men and young women who will say, I am going to stand like Daniel.
[00:25:36] I am not going to fall to the pressures of society.
[00:25:40] I'm not going to cave to what everybody else is doing because that's what's easy.
[00:25:44] No, my identity is in Christ.
[00:25:46] He has a plan for my life.
[00:25:48] He has a purpose for my life.
[00:25:49] We need more young people to do this, and we need more old people to do this as well.
[00:25:53] We all need to.
[00:25:54] We all need to do this.
[00:25:56] And so God is rewarding Daniel for his obedience and his faithfulness while living in exile by giving him a sneak preview of things to come.
[00:26:05] You can imagine Daniel felt like everything was over.
[00:26:08] God, all the prophecies.
[00:26:10] All the promises.
[00:26:11] You brought us into the promised land.
[00:26:12] And now what?
[00:26:13] We're in exile?
[00:26:14] Everything is done?
[00:26:16] Is this over?
[00:26:17] Is this the end of your people?
[00:26:19] What of the promises to Abraham, our father Abraham?
[00:26:22] What about this?
[00:26:23] God is saying, don't worry, Daniel.
[00:26:25] Everything is going according to plan.
[00:26:26] In fact, here's what's going to happen in a few thousand years.
[00:26:29] Check this out.
[00:26:30] And he shows him a sneak preview of things to come.
[00:26:33] Nations rising and falling, superpowers dominating, destroying and being destroyed, and the Antichrist ultimately rising to power, blaspheming God.
[00:26:44] But then Daniel sees the big picture.
[00:26:46] In verse 9, it says that the beasts were put in place.
[00:26:52] And the Ancient of Days comes and sits down to judge.
[00:26:56] Millions of angels were surrounding him, millions stood to attend him, and books were opened.
[00:27:02] What Daniel is seeing here now and witnessing is the great white throne judgment.
[00:27:08] The books that are opened are likely the Lamb's Book of Life, which every believer's name is going to be written in, and there's also going to be other books that are open.
[00:27:16] We don't know what's in those books, but we can speculate it's probably everything wrong that we've ever done.
[00:27:22] Everything wrong, including all of these superpowers, all of these people who have rejected God and rejected His Son.
[00:27:29] This is the most terrifying moment in all of creation.
[00:27:33] You do not want to be at the great white throne judgment.
[00:27:36] It's a courtroom, and this is judgment.
[00:27:39] It is true judgment, and it's a direct parallel to John's vision in Revelation 20.
[00:27:43] It seems as though these two men, Daniel and John, are seeing the same scene separated by half a millennia, and they're seeing that there's no corruption in this courtroom.
[00:27:56] There's no bribes.
[00:27:57] There's no more chances.
[00:27:59] This is the moment when the living and the dead who have rebelled against God and rejected God and His Son will be judged and sentenced by a consuming, devastating, flaming judgment fire.
[00:28:12] That's a scary thought.
[00:28:13] And Daniel's response is understandable.
[00:28:16] He was terrified.
[00:28:17] He was fearful.
[00:28:18] He was pale with fear.
[00:28:20] We need to know as believers, we will not be at this judgment.
[00:28:24] We will not be at the Great White Throne Judgment.
[00:28:26] There will be a different judgment for us.
[00:28:27] That's called the Bema Seat Judgment.
[00:28:29] That's going to be an award ceremony that is going to give us different crowns and awards for how faithful we were to the Lord.
[00:28:37] Ultimately, it's not about what you have done that gets you into heaven.
[00:28:40] It's about putting your faith in Jesus who accomplished it all for you, that is going to preserve you from being at this Great White Throne Judgment.
[00:28:49] But it's a scary scene and Daniel is understandably terrified.
[00:28:52] Well, as my dad has said before, prophecy is not given to scare us but to
[00:28:57] Prepare us, very good.
[00:28:59] Prophecy is not given to scare us, but to prepare us.
[00:29:02] We know how our story ends.
[00:29:05] If we knew how things were going to end, we would just live our lives differently, wouldn't we?
[00:29:10] If we knew that the Dodgers were going to win game seven in the latest inning, talk about a World Series.
[00:29:17] If we knew that was going to happen, we'd be spectating very differently.
[00:29:20] We wouldn't be on the edge of our seats, but that's what keeps it fun.
[00:29:24] The reason we don't have to be afraid as believers is because all biblical prophecy, ultimately all Scripture, points to Jesus Christ.
[00:29:33] And we see that now in our next point.
[00:29:35] Number two, Daniel's king.
[00:29:38] Daniel's king.
[00:29:38] Let's look together now at verse 13 as we continue the story.
[00:29:43] As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven.
[00:29:48] He approached the ancient one and was led into his presence.
[00:29:53] The Son of Man, He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world so that the people of every race and nation and kingdom would obey Him.
[00:30:05] His rule is eternal.
[00:30:07] It will never end.
[00:30:08] His kingdom will never be destroyed.
[00:30:11] I love that.
[00:30:11] Praise the Lord for that right there.
[00:30:13] Jesus' rule is going to be eternal.
[00:30:15] It will never end.
[00:30:16] His kingdom will never be destroyed.
[00:30:19] Now we know this is a Christophany because here it's referred to as the Son of Man.
[00:30:25] The Son of Man comes on the scene.
[00:30:26] Now the Son of Man, in case you didn't know, is Jesus' favorite designation for Himself.
[00:30:32] He repeatedly, in the Gospels, refers to Himself as
[00:30:36] The Son of Man.
[00:30:37] Actually, over 80 times he calls himself the Son of Man.
[00:30:41] He repeatedly ties his identity to this very specific vision from Daniel.
[00:30:46] Another reason we know that this is a Christophany is because this figure, the Son of Man here in Daniel 7, is given authority and honor and sovereignty over all the nations of the world.
[00:30:58] His rule is eternal.
[00:31:00] It will never end.
[00:31:01] He will never be defeated.
[00:31:02] His kingdom will never be destroyed.
[00:31:04] And we definitely know that he is not talking about the Toronto Blue Jays here because, well, we saw how that went.
[00:31:10] No.
[00:31:13] We know it's Jesus because He's also, He's coming on the clouds.
[00:31:17] He's riding on the clouds.
[00:31:18] What a cool picture is that?
[00:31:20] That is imagery specifically reserved for a deity, for God in the pages of Scripture.
[00:31:26] Nobody else is riding on the clouds, only God.
[00:31:28] And we see that as the Son of Man as well, riding on the clouds.
[00:31:32] So talk about a perspective shift for Daniel.
[00:31:36] Trembling.
[00:31:37] Anxious, pale with fear, and then he sees Jesus.
[00:31:42] He sees this judgment.
[00:31:43] He sees Jesus.
[00:31:44] It reminds us of when the disciples were on the Sea of Galilee, and they were terrified, and they were tossed around in that storm.
[00:31:50] Talk about being in a fog, just twirling around in a little boat.
[00:31:54] and thinking they're ultimately going to die and then in the midst of it as they're struggling to make it towards shore they see Jesus walking on the water just casually walking by leisurely walking by almost as though he would have walked right by them unless they called out to him but imagine their perspective shifting when they're in you know this frame of mind of fear and and terror thinking they're going to die and then they see Jesus just walking on the water casually everything would change in that moment wouldn't it you would see Jesus and go
[00:32:24] Is that Jesus?
[00:32:25] Is He walking on the water?
[00:32:27] Okay guys, I don't think we need to panic anymore.
[00:32:29] Let's just call on the guy who's walking on water.
[00:32:31] He should be able to resolve this problem for us.
[00:32:35] Being with Jesus would immediately transform your fear into faith and your concern into confidence.
[00:32:42] It would change everything.
[00:32:43] And that's the point.
[00:32:44] That's the point.
[00:32:45] Jesus comes to us in our storms.
[00:32:48] He comes to us in the fog.
[00:32:50] He cuts right through.
[00:32:51] And Daniel, as he's in this fog of fear and future prophecy showing destruction and death and corruption and rebellion against God,
[00:33:01] Jesus comes through and He pierces through the darkness.
[00:33:05] Is this not what Jesus does for us?
[00:33:08] The Prince of Peace.
[00:33:09] He comes to us in our storms of sickness, in our storms of financial hardship, in our storms of prodigal children, in our storms of marital conflict, in loneliness, in grief, in despair.
[00:33:22] These things consume our attention and our energy, but Jesus stands above it all.
[00:33:27] He is the King who stands above it all.
[00:33:30] The fog of war, of politics, of power, of culture, none of it surprises Him.
[00:33:35] The beasts, they don't threaten Him.
[00:33:37] The horns don't intimidate Him no matter how much blasphemy they speak.
[00:33:41] The Antichrist will not overthrow Him, and Jesus is the King who stands above it all.
[00:33:46] And this King cares for you, and He cares for me.
[00:33:52] And Jesus is aware of our sufferings because at the center of Daniel 7 is not the beasts, it's not the horns, it's not the terror, it's the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man.
[00:34:05] And when the story ends, you don't see Babylon, you don't see Persia or Greece or Rome, you see Jesus Christ receiving all dominion, all authority, all glory.
[00:34:15] And when we finally see Jesus for who He really is, the storms don't seem so big anymore.
[00:34:21] The beast don't seem so threatening or powerful, and the future doesn't seem so frightening.
[00:34:26] The fog of fear lifts, and you see the King who stands above it all.
[00:34:31] That brings us to point number three, Daniel's hope.
[00:34:33] Daniel's hope.
[00:34:34] Let's look now at verse 18.
[00:34:37] Verse 18, But in the end the holy people of the Most High will be given the kingdom, and they will rule forever and ever.
[00:34:46] Then skip down to verse 26.
[00:34:49] But then the court will pass judgment, and all his power will be taken away, speaking of the Antichrist, and completely be destroyed.
[00:34:56] Then the sovereignty, power, and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the holy people of the Most High.
[00:35:04] His kingdom will last forever, and all rulers will serve and obey him.
[00:35:08] That was the end of the vision.
[00:35:10] I, Daniel, was terrified by these thoughts, and my face was pale with fear.
[00:35:15] But I kept these things to myself.
[00:35:18] Well, Daniel, he's seen enough to ruin a good night's sleep for the rest of his life, right?
[00:35:24] Crazy scenes.
[00:35:25] Nations rising and falling.
[00:35:28] Antichrist emerging.
[00:35:29] Fire.
[00:35:30] Judgment.
[00:35:30] The end of human history.
[00:35:31] The great white throne.
[00:35:33] Judgment.
[00:35:34] And after all of the chaos, all of the fog and the swirling storm, God gives Daniel one more vision.
[00:35:41] One more vision.
[00:35:42] But not of a bear or a lion or wings being plucked off or little horns emerging, but of a future secured by Jesus.
[00:35:51] A future secured by the King who stands above it all.
[00:35:54] A future where the saints are not crushed by the kings of this world any longer, but who inherit the kingdom of God.
[00:36:01] And actually, Daniel sees us in this vision.
[00:36:04] He sees us in this vision.
[00:36:05] That's right.
[00:36:05] He sees us.
[00:36:06] He sees our future secured by Jesus.
[00:36:09] It's been said that all history is actually His story.
[00:36:14] Nothing catches God by surprise.
[00:36:17] Nothing catches Him by surprise.
[00:36:18] And so when we feel overwhelmed,
[00:36:21] When we feel discouraged, when we turn on the news and we see something terrifying, maybe turn off the news, but when you see something on the news that's terrifying and when you get bad news, when things don't seem to be going in a good direction and you're frightened, when you don't know what the future holds, look to the one who holds the future.
[00:36:39] Fall back on what you do know that God is in control.
[00:36:44] He is going to take care of us.
[00:36:46] Daniel sees us in this vision.
[00:36:48] He says,
[00:36:50] The sovereignty, the power, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the holy people of the Most High.
[00:36:58] That's us.
[00:36:59] You've heard about how we're going to rule and reign on the new earth, right?
[00:37:03] Here's a picture of that right here.
[00:37:05] We are going to rule and reign with Jesus Himself.
[00:37:09] So we need to fall back on what we do know.
[00:37:12] We need to have perspective.
[00:37:13] We know how our story ends.
[00:37:15] I know it can feel like we're in a fog.
[00:37:17] We can lose our bearings if you're not tied to the anchor of Jesus Christ, and that's why it's so important that we remember, like Daniel, we are not living in God's kingdom.
[00:37:26] We live in a fallen earth, and we, like Daniel, are exiles.
[00:37:30] This world is not our home.
[00:37:32] We are citizens of another kingdom with another king, another way of worshiping, a different language, different values, and different culture.
[00:37:41] And as easy as it is to just default into the way that the world wants us to live, we must remember our identity is in Christ.
[00:37:49] He has a different way of living.
[00:37:50] Paul says this in Philippians 3 on this topic.
[00:37:53] Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.
[00:37:59] For I have told you often before, and I say it with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct actually shows they are enemies of the cross of Christ.
[00:38:08] They are headed for destruction.
[00:38:09] Their God is their appetite.
[00:38:11] They brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.
[00:38:17] But we, in contrast, but we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and we are eagerly awaiting for Him to return as our Savior.
[00:38:28] He will take our weak and mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same power in which He will bring everything under His control.
[00:38:38] That gives us some perspective, doesn't it?
[00:38:40] Even if we get everything, all the trappings of life, all the comforts, what's going to happen to our bodies?
[00:38:45] I hate to break it to you, they're going to break down, right?
[00:38:48] Some of you know this intimately.
[00:38:50] Your body's breaking down.
[00:38:51] You can't do what you used to be able to do.
[00:38:53] Our bodies deteriorate.
[00:38:55] They're not going to last forever.
[00:38:57] Well, the good news is Jesus will not only reward us,
[00:39:02] For our obedience and for following Him, He is going to give us a new body and He's going to transform it and it's going to be like His body, perfect, without sin, without sickness, without disease, without cancer, without breakdown of our bones and different things.
[00:39:19] He is going to give us glorious new bodies like His own.
[00:39:22] And so,
[00:39:23] In closing, while we, like Daniel, live in exile, we must remember our true identities.
[00:39:31] We must remember our true identities.
[00:39:32] Babylon tried to rename and redefine Daniel, but Daniel knew who he belonged to.
[00:39:38] We must remember who we are and whose we are.
[00:39:42] We were created by God for a purpose.
[00:39:44] We were created on purpose, and He has a purpose for us.
[00:39:48] I ask you today, what is your true identity?
[00:39:51] What do you find your identity in?
[00:39:54] Another thing we must do as we live in exile like Daniel is remind ourselves that Daniel succeeded.
[00:40:01] He followed God.
[00:40:03] He was obedient because he purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.
[00:40:08] He purposed in his heart.
[00:40:09] He would have nothing to do with the things that would cause him to sin.
[00:40:12] Are you defiling yourself with the things this culture pressures you to?
[00:40:18] Are you tolerating things that you know aren't good for you?
[00:40:21] Are you listening to music, watching television programs, consuming things that are tearing you down spiritually?
[00:40:28] If you can't say to God, God, bless this time that I blank as I go out and drink with my friends.
[00:40:34] No, God's not going to bless that.
[00:40:36] If you can't say, God, bless this time as I engage in premarital sex with my girlfriend, then you shouldn't do it.
[00:40:42] Then you shouldn't do it.
[00:40:43] That's a good way to know if it's a good thing and if it's going to encourage you or build you up spiritually or tear you down, then don't do it.
[00:40:50] The other thing that Daniel did was he sought the welfare of the nation and the salvation of the nation.
[00:40:57] Daniel sought the welfare of the nation and the salvation of the nation.
[00:41:01] Because of his hard work and his integrity, he was recognized and elevated to areas of prominence.
[00:41:06] Daniel worked hard for Babylon.
[00:41:08] Daniel was a Christian nationalist.
[00:41:10] That's right.
[00:41:11] He sought to revise the values and culture of Babylon.
[00:41:15] He lived in a pagan country.
[00:41:16] He spoke truth to power.
[00:41:18] He interpreted dreams and visions of the king that God equipped him to.
[00:41:21] And guess what?
[00:41:22] He succeeded.
[00:41:23] The kings and people of Babylon worshiped the God of Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
[00:41:29] He helped bring about true Christian reform.
[00:41:33] The other thing that Daniel did is that, and we too, we must not retreat from culture, we must infiltrate the culture.
[00:41:41] We must not retreat from culture, we must infiltrate.
[00:41:44] We should not isolate, we should infiltrate.
[00:41:47] The Bible says we shouldn't hide our light under a basket, but let it so shine that people may see your good works and glorify your God in heaven.
[00:41:56] And to summarize all of this,
[00:41:59] What Daniel did that caused him to succeed was he lived holy in a godless culture.
[00:42:05] He lived holy in a godless culture.
[00:42:07] He didn't embrace the values of Babylon, though many of his friends did.
[00:42:11] Many other Hebrews and Israelites did.
[00:42:14] They embraced the values of Babylon, completely forgot all about the Lord, but Daniel
[00:42:19] He did not do that.
[00:42:20] He infiltrated.
[00:42:21] He didn't isolate himself from these things.
[00:42:24] He didn't sit in his holy huddle with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and say, we're never going outside of these walls.
[00:42:29] We're never going to do anything.
[00:42:30] We're never going to go to the festivals.
[00:42:31] We're never going to do this stuff.
[00:42:32] No.
[00:42:33] He infiltrated.
[00:42:34] He infiltrated.
[00:42:36] And I think the way that he was able to infiltrate is because, in a word, I think Daniel had been insulated from these things.
[00:42:43] Daniel was in the world, but not of the world, which is what Jesus commands his followers to be.
[00:42:50] In the world, but not of the world.
[00:42:52] Daniel was able to do this.
[00:42:54] I don't know if you've ever seen race car drivers, but they wear those suits.
[00:42:57] They have some kind of flame retardant stuff inside of them.
[00:43:00] They used to put asbestos inside of them, right?
[00:43:03] That wasn't good.
[00:43:03] That caused mesothelioma.
[00:43:04] Don't wear asbestos.
[00:43:07] But basically, these guys, they would be driving their race cars to get into a fiery collision, and the way they're able to be preserved from being burned to death, fires right here, they're right here, this thin little layer of material, it had insulation that protected them.
[00:43:23] How can we as believers be surrounded by the things of this culture that are constantly trying to tear us down, constantly trying to influence?
[00:43:31] Satan is trying to throw everything he can at us to distract us from the Lord.
[00:43:35] We need to insulate ourselves.
[00:43:39] with the Word of God.
[00:43:40] We need to insulate ourselves with prayer.
[00:43:43] We need to insulate ourselves by spending time with other believers and we need to share our faith confidently.
[00:43:50] That's the way we can live in society with all of the pressures, with all the different things that pull us in these directions and stand strong like Daniel.
[00:43:59] We know how our story ends so we should stand boldly like Daniel did because ultimately we belong to the King who stands above it all.
[00:44:08] Amen?
[00:44:10] Amen.
[00:44:17] And so in closing, there may be some of you here today who haven't put your faith in Jesus Christ.
[00:44:24] You don't know where you will stand on Judgment Day.
[00:44:27] Will you be present at the Great White Throne Judgment?
[00:44:31] If you reject Jesus, you will be.
[00:44:33] And that's a terrifying thought.
[00:44:35] Hell is a real place.
[00:44:37] And you know what?
[00:44:38] God's done everything that He can to keep you from going there.
[00:44:43] The decision
[00:44:44] is in your hands.
[00:44:46] Will you reject God?
[00:44:47] Will you reject the sacrifice of His Son?
[00:44:49] Or will you put your faith in Him and be forgiven and be given a new identity?
[00:44:55] And not just a new identity, oh man, this is so hard and I've got to make sure that I hold all of these things and make sure that I'm obedient and I don't sin or else I'm going to cancel it all out.
[00:45:06] Jesus came to give you life and life more abundantly.
[00:45:09] Christians are the happiest people alive.
[00:45:11] You may not know that, but we actually have the deepest joy that anybody in this world should have because we have perspective.
[00:45:19] We know we win in the end.
[00:45:21] We know that God is going to take care of all things for us.
[00:45:23] You can have that hope today.
[00:45:25] You can have a happy Thanksgiving.
[00:45:26] You can have a happy Christmas because you know that God is going to make all things right for you.
[00:45:32] But if you reject Him,
[00:45:33] and you turn from Him and you follow what you think is right and you really fall into that first sin of pride saying, I know what's better even more so than God and you reject Him.
[00:45:45] then you will be present at the great white throne judgment and God will judge you and there is a very real reality if you do that that that could be your future and that's a scary thing but again God loves you and he's done everything he can to get you into heaven but he doesn't want to make you into a little robot and make the decision on your behalf he wants you to choose the Bible says choose you this day whom you will serve
[00:46:10] Today is the day of decision.
[00:46:12] Let's pray.
[00:46:13] Father, we thank You that You have given us Your Word.
[00:46:15] We thank You for giving us Your Holy Spirit.
[00:46:18] We thank You for the church that You have given to us to equip us, to give us community, to encourage us when we're going through grief and hardship, to point us in the right direction.
[00:46:27] Lord, help us all to be like Daniel, men and women who know what our identity is, that we stand true even in the face of adversity, even in the face of peer pressure, Lord, that we would remember who we are and whose we are.
[00:46:46] Well, our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying together.
[00:46:48] I know that there may be some who, again, have not put their faith in Jesus, who don't know that they're going to heaven when they die, who don't have this new identity, who haven't been made new creations.
[00:46:59] Lord, speak to their heart.
[00:47:03] Help them to know how much you love them.
[00:47:05] Help them to see how far you have gone to bring them into your family.
[00:47:10] We thank you, Lord, that you made a way when there was no way.
[00:47:14] Lord, that you sent your own son Jesus to die in our place to pay for our sin because you love us.
[00:47:21] Lord, I don't think we'll ever be able to fully comprehend how great a sacrifice that was until we see Jesus in this moment that we read in Daniel 7 ruling and reigning his kingdom.
[00:47:32] There will be no end.
[00:47:33] It will last forever.
[00:47:35] It will never be destroyed.
[00:47:38] Thank you, Lord, for sending Jesus to die in our place.
[00:47:42] If you would like to know that you'll go to heaven when you die, if you'd like to have that hope today, if you'd like to put your faith in Jesus Christ, pray this prayer out loud after me.
[00:47:53] Wherever you are, pray this now.
[00:47:55] Why don't we all pray this in support of those as well that are going to be praying this for the first time.
[00:47:59] Let's pray this.
[00:48:00] Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that Jesus is the Savior who died on the cross for my sin.
[00:48:11] And I turn from my sin today from this moment forward.
[00:48:18] I make you the Lord of my life.
[00:48:22] I confess Jesus as Savior and Lord.
[00:48:27] Fill me with your Holy Spirit.
[00:48:30] In Jesus' name I pray.
[00:48:33] Amen.
[00:48:34] Amen.
[00:48:34] God bless you.
[00:48:35] Congratulations.
[00:48:36] That's amazing.