DANIEL STUDY THREE

                                           DANIEL STUDY THREE

                                                            Prologue

    In the previous two studies of Daniel, we have followed the Jewish captives
to Babylon and through the first two chapters of that book. As we continue,
we'll see how God works to bring His glory and power to the understanding
of Nebuchadnezzar. We will also see how difficult it is for a man or woman
blessed with talent to keep from being overpowered by pride. That is Satan's
final point of attack to destroy the work possible through God's gifts. In this
study, we will also see a major and vital response that comes naturally to
all of us. See if you pick up this flaw in our understanding before I point it out.

                                                    Daniel Three

    Although the king now realizes and understands the power and glory of the
God in Heaven, he is, after all, human, and, like most successful people, takes
pride in his accomplishments. After all, Daniel's interpretation of the image
revealed that the king has the greatest kingdom ever on earth. How much better
can it get? While the king can accept the sovereignty of God over all, he still
needs to have the glory of his feat. Pride takes over, and he sets about making
a giant human image to represent him and impress the people. Although the
king recognizes the God in Heaven, the millions of people scattered in the
dozens of provinces still worship all kinds of gods and idols. This idol, because
of its size and structure of gold, will represent the greatness of the king and the
peoples' association of him as the idol.

     This idol was really impressive. It was from 90 to 100 feet tall, and composed
of gold. Think how much that would represent in dollars. It was likely on a pedestal,
making it even more impressive. The idol was placed in the midst of a vast, level
plain about six miles southeast of Babylon. There was lots of room for viewers, and
it was needed because the king made the unveiling of it a holiday with mandatory
attendance and worship. Follow along with me in chapter three.

    Called to the event were all the chief officials of all the kingdom's provinces, 
including governors, administrators, judges and counselors. There was an
organized musical program which included all types of instruments. The people
were commanded to fall down and worship the image upon hearing the music.
Anyone who failed to worship the image would be cast into a burning fiery
furnace.

    This was an opportunity for those displaced by the Jewish boys as leaders of
the king's council to get rid of these upstarts. The Chaldeans watched Daniel's
three friends, certain they would not bow to an idol. For some reason, Daniel was
not at the big event. In 3:8-12, these Chaldeans tattled to Nebuchadnezzar that
the Jewish boys didn't bow down. With the absolute power the king had, he was
not accustomed to having an order disobeyed, and he flew into a rage. The king
had the three boys brought to him and gave them a final chance to obey the
order of worship. Daniel 3:14-18 gives us the perfect example of being true to
God in the face of a horrible death. All they had to do was bow down. Would you 
defy the order? I frequently see Christians breaking God's directions and excusing
their actions because of self righteousness. 

    Up to this point in our study, we have seen Nebuchadnezzar become a believer
in the true God in Heaven because of description and interpretation of dreams. Now 
he will continue his education through physical belief. He orders the furnace fire to
be heated seven times hotter than usual. The boys told the king their God could not
only deliver them from harm, but He could also deliver them from the hand of the
king. Study Dan. 3:15-16 to see total faith at work. Oh, if only we all could count
on faith this strong! Of course, this only increased the rage of the king, if that were
possible.

    The king had mighty men of valour from his army bind the three Jews and throw
them into he furnace. The flames of the furnace were so fierce these soldiers were
burned to death. The Jews, bound, were thrown into the furnace.  Now the king
was introduced into the second phase of his learning about the God in Heaven.
Nebuchadnezzar saw four people moving about within the furnace and the flames.
He was astonished, because the three boys should have been burned alive. All
the fire did was burn off the bonds. There was no smell of smoke on the boys, and
not a hair on their head was singed.

    In dealing with non believers and lukewarm Christians, the most difficult task for
a committed Christian is to explain the power of God. The "how do you know"
question is a tough one. For almost everyone, "seeing is believing" is a sort of
human law. We accept the "magic" of television transmission though we don't see
the waves; the same is true of radio and the internet. Yet, somehow (the Devil
knows) we have difficulty accepting spiritual movements. Even when we see
a spiritual miracle with our own eyes, we have skepticism. What's worse. we have
to deal with the doubts expressed by others who didn't see the activity. As time 
passes, more doubt seeps into our mind, and eventually we won't believe the
action we saw.

    That happened frequently to people in scripture, especially before Christ
arrived on the scene. It is happening today. I've had people who say they are
Christians tell me they don't believe in the Immaculate Conception or in the
resurrection. Yet, they claim they are Christians. God knew that Nebuchadnezzar
needed another lesson in His power, and this fiery furnace was the setting.
Required, besides the furnace, were three people with an unending belief in
God. With Daniel's three friends, He had the believers. These three relied
completely and totally on God's power and protection.

    Now the king saw the three Jews walking about in the furnace, paying no
heed to the flames or heat. He also saw a fourth figure. In Daniel 3:25. the king
exclaims, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not
hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." This is an amazing comment
from the king because we are generations away from Christ's birth. Because he
is a man of superior intelligence and study, he may be referring to Isaiah 9:6. The
writing of the prophets was history, not only of Jews, but of kingdoms. Or, he
could be referring to an angel of the Lord. 

    He knew what he and others saw, and it was a miracle that clearly showed the
supreme power of the God of Israel. To him, this WAS seeing is believing. Yet, as
we shall see a bit later, he still needed to be reassured. This miracle caused the
king to make a decree (Daniel 3:29) to forbid anyone in the kingdom to speak
anything amiss against the God of the Jews. The three fire survivors were
promoted on the spot. How wonderful to have the strength of conviction Daniel
and his friends had. They had absolutely no doubt. They lived and placed their
lives in the hand of God.

    Friends, I pray you never have to be tested as these Jewish boys were. If you
are, how do you think you will fare? There is only one way to be prepared for
such a test, and that is by the study and complete acceptance of the Word of
God and enduring life through Christ's shed blood. You must devote your life
to Him. Christ devoted His life for us. We can do no less. In the next study, we
meet some of Daniel's friends in their home.

Rev. Walbear

SEAT AT THE GATE

                                                           SEAT AT THE GATE

    When  I heard the voice call out, "Hey, there, sinner!", I didn't have to look
around to see who he was talking to. I was the only person in earshot, so there
was no doubt about it. My ears perked up, because here was somebody
talking to me who obviously knew a great deal about me. He didn't know my
name, but he knew most of everything else. It was amazing I knew who the
voice was, because it was not familiar to me.

    Like Samuel, I responded because it was a voice you didn't ignore. There
was authority and strength in it. "You know full well I don't have much tolerance
and patience, but I'm a much gentler soul now," The voice continued. "I am
disturbed by the things I see people doing who claim they are followers of
my Master. The end times are approaching, and I see mostly failures by large
numbers who are recognized by my Master's Name. You know I was called the  son of thunder because I did have a troublesome temper. I was also known as "the Hammer". Christ was known as the Carpenter, but they called me the "hammer", behind my back, of course."

    "I've been "retired" for many years, but I believe there are some "hammers"
down there in Christianity who can contribute to the Gospel. You're one of the
blessed ones I have appointed to the Hammer Club. You adhere to scripture
and preach or write it as led by the Holy Spirit. You have my encouragement
to proceed to "nail" those that are transforming the very Word of God and the
Master's teaching from His shed blood, to weak wine. So... get at it. Time is
short and the cause is great. God bless!"

    Okay. You heard my marching orders. Usually the Holy Spirit leads me, and
I don't believe that will change. However, after listening to (you know who the son of thunder was, right?) I've been energized to go after the church leaders and others who are slowly taking Christians down the road of apostasy. Friends, this is one of the Devil's insidious strategies. By making only a slight change, and by justifying it through man's reasoning, we make a terrible mistake.

    I could begin my reviewing the comments of several people who were interviewed by a newspaper. Asked about their feelings about Christmas, not one of them said a word about the birth of Christ. They talked about being with family, holiday feasts,  gifts and traveling. Not a single mention of Christ by any of them. I could sort of excuse them because they are excited about holiday and some things they look forward to all year. But, I won't!

    Now I get to the insidious strategy of the Devil accepted and passed on by the very people who are recognized and supposed to be leaders in the Christian church. They have used the Devil's careful packaging. They also are happy and think they are accomplishing a secondary goal. I'm talking about the Devil's assault on Christmas Several years ago my wife worked out of state,, so the farm and ministry was mostly my responsibility. I spent many hours working alone, with the radio as company. When the local Christian radio station played Christmas carols and music during the Christmas season, it was most welcome.

    Today this station continues playing Christmas music during the period leading up  to Christmas Day. There has been a subtle change, however. Now some segments of the musical selections have acquired a "sponsor". It is not hard core advertising, usually just a mention or credit that programing is being presented through the sponsorship of ABC furniture company or Harry's equipment repair. It's just the use of the commercial name and they don't entice you with a sales pitch. Sounds innocent enough until you carefully consider the Word of God and Christ's teaching.

    Where in scripture--either the Old or New Testament--can you find any type of example of "sponsorship" or advertising? Did Christ ever teach about commercial success or advertising? Oh, I hear the protests about teaching "abundant life", and that God wants us to have our wishes and prayers fulfilled. Christ taught that abundant life was obtained in heaven, not on earth. So, I ask again...where in scripture did Christ instruct us about sponsorship or advertising? I understand the church leaders stating it is a means to pay for the programming. But... must everything depend on a source of money? Of course, they say. It takes money to run every part of a ministry,  and use of money is a responsibility of a good Christian.

    On earth, money is a necessary commodity. I can't disagree with that. But, I don't believe in commercializing any aspect of Christianity. Christmas and Easter are so important to Christianity, they should stand alone. We've become so accepting of any type of commercialism that what it represents has become the driving force in our lives. For example, look at the replacement of the traditional holiday football bowl names from Orange, Rose or Sugar to XYZ Orange Bowl or QTU Sugar Bowl. Everything has to have a commercial sponsor.

     So what's the harm? The harm is that the Devil now has an inside track into the very heart of Christianity. If man can extract money for the simple repetition of any name--commercial or not--to justify Christianity, it will eventually be a necessity. It may take a while, but the money trail is never ending. Extracting money is humanistic, it is secular. Churches and ministries need to raise money. They need to be very careful how they go about it.

    Consider the numerous "big" ministries that found themselves in both money and leadership problems. These organizations realized great growth and had wide ranging outreaches for funds. People recognize money success, and when that can be coupled with America's obsession with growth, the formula for growth is being realized.

    A sponsor probably feels pretty good about helping to finance something like Christmas music. That's fine. But he could understand the real joy and contentment of a Christian by giving the sponsorship money anonymously. After all, God knows where the money comes from and heart of the giver.
    
    Church leaders bear the burden of placing sponsors for basic Christian worship activities into an enticement coupling giving with recognition. We see much teaching in the New Testament concerning the desire by those who are community and church leaders to have a special (or higher) standing due to financial standing or gain. 

    The "nail" for this hammer is that Christmas music, if it must be sponsored, should be sponsored anonymously, and both the sponsors and amount of donation should  be kept very private. The most important Christian dates are the target by church leaders and misled donors. You can't lower God, Christ and the Holy Spirit to the level of money.

    If you are a serious reader of the Old Testament, you know that a "seat at the gate" was a position for a community leader, usually a judge. Matters, both domestic and civil, were brought to these people for consideration. I will take this seat at the gate very seriously.

Rev. Walbear

DANIEL--STUDY TWO

                                               DANIEL--STUDY TWO

                                                          Prologue
    Before moving into the second message in the study of prophecy as given
us in Daniel and the New Testament, we need to review some ground rules.
As a Christian minister-teacher I base these messages on scripture, usually
giving several verses as background. Too many times I read or hear someone
stating a point of view based on a single verse of scripture. Usually the meaning
they convey is far from accurate. When God or Christ tells us something
extremely important, the message can be found in several places of scripture.
You need to cross reference. When information concerning subjects such as
history and culture is given, that information comes from history and reference
material. The cultures of the past, such as Babylon, kept very accurate and
complete histories.
    We see some amazing things happening in Daniel, and of course, in the
experiences in the New Testament. We call them miracles because they often
defy science and can only be explained as spiritual. If you cannot accept these
miracles, your Christian commitment is not solid. I'm not judging your salvation
or degree of commitment, because I'm not a judge. That is up to you and God.
I will only say that you either believe all, or you do not have a firm commitment.
If you have access to a Catholic bible, I urge you to read the books not included
in our Protestant bibles. Of special interest are the Books of Maccabees, which
covered an important period of the Chosen's history.
    As you read and study Daniel, remember there is usually more to the story of
a miracle than clearly appears at first reading.

                                     DANIEL II

    As we noted in the first study, God is accomplishing two major things with this
captivity of the Jews. He is judging their nation which has wandered away from
God's direction. The first wave of captives taken to Babylon includes the Jewish
cream of the crop--princes, leaders and learned teachers. Many of these were
not backsliders, but devout followers of God and the Law. Nebuchadnezzar was
a very intelligent man and wanted to gain knowledge and fruit of experience from
these gifted Jews. He was the leader of the greatest empire in the world, both then
and now. There was a time of peace while he reigned as God's anointed.

    Daniel and his three friends arranged a deal with the king about eating Jewish
food rather than Babylon food. It was a defiance of the king's directive, and could 
have meant death. This was a test of faith. Could you do this? The Jewish young
men were in better condition at the completion of this test, and thus found favor
with the king. This period of captivity was a major part of God's long range plan
to offer salvation to mankind, while at the same time starting the clock to measure
days until the rapture and end time. There is actually not one whit of reason to
try and arrive at a specific date for the "end" because Christ tells us in Matt. 24:36,
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My
Father only." Makes you wonder why all these biblical scholars and "teachers" try
to predict a day, doesn't it? In the New Testament, Christ tells us to look at the
conditions in the world to get an idea of the end times. If He doesn't know, how can
we even think we can figure out the answer?

    Now God's plan to bring the king into an understanding that God rules the world
and our universe continues. We come to the first test of God's ability to solve a
life or death problem with a miracle. This is the actual beginning of the king's
religious education. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that none of his wise men or
magicians could solve. The king made it impossible for them because he wouldn't
disclose the dream, and wanted both the dream and interpretation. This they could
not do. When they tell the king (Dan. 2:11) "It is a difficult thing that the king requests,
and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is
not with flesh." The king was infuriated and decreed that all wise men and magicians
should be slain. This group now included Daniel and his three friends. I pray you are
following along with me by reading scripture as we proceed. This is where  the king
gets his first understanding that the God of the Jews is the supreme being and
the God in Heaven.

    It wasn't any easier for God to convince Nebuchadnezzar that the Jewish God is
the supreme being than it is today, even with professing Christians. I have heard some
good teachers and pastors say the days of miracles and visions has ended. That is not
true, and neither has the day of prophecy ended. If you look at prophecy, you will see
that the prophets usually had bad news for the people because of their conduct. The
exception was the forecast of Christ's birth. I know of churches where people are giving
prophecies every week. God does not mass produce prophecies, and this is another
example of Satan being allowed into worship. I have also had teachers tell me nobody
has visions any more. I direct you to Acts 2:17, "And it shall come to pass in the last
days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your
daughters shall prophecy; Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall
dream dreams." If you want more of a guarantee, check out 2 Cor. 12:1, and Joel 2:28.
God does not make isolated statements. This is why I warn you not to accept single
verses of scripture from anyone who has a personal agenda. Always ask for other
scripture to back up the isolated claim.

    Daniel is the key person in God's plan for the future of earth, and he is given the
dream and interpretation after telling the king nobody has to be slain (Dan 2:14-19).
I'm going to quote Daniels' prayer of Thanksgiving here, even though it takes up
quite a bit of space. When we seek answers and receive them, we need to give
proper thanks. (Dan. 2:20-23) "Daniel answered and said: 'Blessed be the name
of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His, and He changes the times
and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the
wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret
things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him.'" The key of this
prayer for you is "knowledge to those who have understanding". My messages on
"Understanding" may be helpful to you.

    Now to this dream, which is the foundation of all prophecy. It is interesting to note
that all except the last part of the dream has become history. The last part, however,
is God's way of telling us something without us really understanding what He is saying.
This dream, plus the Words of Christ and the Apostles in the New Testament complete
prophecy. Consider the chaos if we did understand this prophecy down to the day and
hour. The period between now and then is our time to prepare and answer to His
directions. We need to study because we face His judgment and will either fail or
pass. For those who don't pass this test--and this is for Christians because we know
the unsaved can't be marked "pass"--there will be extra homework during the tribulation.

    Nebuchadnezzar's dream was of an image. The head was of gold and represented
the "king of kings", a king with the greatest empire on earth. (Follow along with your bible
as we go through Dan. 2:31-45). This was Nebuchadnezzar. His kingdom would be
followed by another great kingdom, represented by chest and arms of silver. This referred
to the Media-Persian Empire, which was similar in size to Babylon, but was not governed
as smoothly. As Daniel tells the king about his dream, Daniel is careful to make certain
the interpretation comes from the God in Heaven, not Daniel or man. The second great
kingdom is followed by a third, represented by belly and thighs of bronze. This was the
era of world control by Greece. The fourth great kingdom is represented by legs of iron,
and feet partly of iron and partly of clay. Note that the first three metals are considered for
their value, Iron is measured by its strength, and clay, fashioned into objects, also may
be measured by strength.

    We next see a stone cut out without hands which strikes the feet of iron and clay,
breaking them into pieces. Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver and gold are crushed
together and become like chaff from the threshing floor, and the wind carries them
away. No further trace of them is found, and the stone that broke the image becomes
a great mountain and fills the whole earth. It is not difficult to understand that the stone
that destroyed the image is Jesus Christ, and the mountain that fills the entire earth is
Christ's kingdom. The problem biblical scholars have had is understanding the full
meaning of the feet and toes. There has been much speculation, but that's all it is--
speculation. The toes could represent former nations of the Holy Roman Empire,
but that at best is only a guess. God intends to keep the final details His secret.

    The important thing to remember from this dream is that the king finally gets an
understanding of the supreme power of the God in Heaven. This is the completion
of the first step in bringing the entire world the Word of God. This is also a major
step ti bringing all of Babylon under the leadership of Daniel and his three friends.
The king is so impressed, the Jewish boys are given control of government. Note
this is the second time God has used a Jewish boy to preserve people--Joseph was
the dream interpreter in Egypt. I could give examples of God's use of dreams and
visions apart from scripture, but this would be of little value. You already are either
interested in these spiritual happenings or you don't believe in them. There have
always been fakes, and there are many, many fakes and apostates today. One of my
messages titled "How Do You Know" deals with your relationship with the Holy Spirit.

    Dreams and visions are alive today--refer to the scripture quoted herein. Scripture
is not hit or miss. It is forever. I still hear leaders and church people lamenting they lost
the election and we are doomed. I gave God's direction about submitting to government
from Romans 13 in the New Testament, and now we'll see the same directive in Daniel,
4:17. It is the God in Heaven who rules and places His choice at the head of nations
and governments. Until people understand and accept God's directive, they will continue
to bring judgment on us. We are told in both the Old and New Testaments, mankind is
stubborn and selfish for his own ways. In the next message we'll see another test and
perhaps discover another way God gives us answers.

Rev. Walbear

DANIEL and PROPHECY

                                       DANIEL and PROPHECY

    We are about to study the most interesting book of the Old Testament, and
its companion, the entire New Testament. God is telling us not only about the
end time, but reveals His long range plan for making believers out of Gentile
nations. If you have a good study bible, you will find reference notes in the
margin, referring you to many of the books in the Old Testament. This is what
the people of that day had to go by--the New Testament wasn't written yet.

    Before we start, I want to take you to some specific scripture and ask you to
contemplate your reception and understanding of God's inspired Word. When
you read and study scripture, do you carefully weigh the written Word and
consider the teaching of the New Testament to be the actual instruction of what
God expects from you? If you are a Christian, these directives are the biggest 
deal you will ever be a part of.

    Some Christians were really upset with my quotes of scripture dealing with
God's instructions about following leadership. They didn't like the fact that I
referred to our president as God's anointed and provided the scripture verses
from Romans (13:1-7). None of that was political. It is God's directive. God and
Christ do not want us individually or collectively to fail. When we protest that
now we will fail because we don't accept our leader, we are contributing to
failure and actually hastening our judgment. God is merciful, and gives us an
opportunity to realize He is omnipotent and always in control. If we plead
failure and a personal agenda opposing the very Word of scripture, we can
expect an equivalent of Israel's captivity, although not necessarily a physical
movement to another nation. While you study along with me, ponder these
vital words of scripture directly from the Apostle to the Gentiles (us).

    When Nebuchadnezzar captured Judah, the lone remaining Jewish state, he
brought many captives back to Babylon. He was a very intelligent man, and
wanted to gain knowledge, not just slave labor. Among the first captives taken
to Babylon were the Jewish princes, the cream of the crop, members of the
palace court, well educated and experienced. We tend to think people of that
time were primitive and unlearned, but that is not true. While they didn't have
the knowledge or capabilities of today, they were highly knowledgeable and
skilled in many areas. For example, they forged a type of super steel that we
have not been able to duplicate. The king's wise men (the president's cabinet
of that day) were well educated, although many were superstitious--some of us
are today as well.

    Nebuchadnezzar was the first ruler of a massive kingdom, and is represented
as the head of that figure in his dream. He had a strong temper, as you would
expect from someone that was virtually a human god over millions of people and
dozens of nations. Daniel and his three friends were indoctrinated into the Babylon
culture, but were first castrated. They were then apportioned food from the king's
table. The four Jewish boys (probably late teens) refused the unclean Babylon
food and asked to eat Jewish fare. This was a bold move, considering they could
be slain for refusing the king's food. Daniel, already in good standing with the
chief guard of the prisoners, arranged a deal with the king, permitting them their
food and a comparison with those who ate the king's food.  This was a test of their
commitment to God. Would you dare, as a Christian, to do this? Remember, you
can make a deal with mankind, but never with God. (Read my message on "Making
a Deal).

    Since I see many Christians not paying attention to Christ's teaching, I seriously
doubt many would take this chance. God honored their risk and belief, and the four
Jewish boys turned out to be in superior condition after following the Jewish diet.
As we saw in Genesis and Joseph, those who stand up for God can and may be
used by God. You have to have plenty of "umph" to carry out God's work. You also
must expect some pretty tough trials. The glory goes to God, and if you are obedient,
some may brush off on you. See 1 Sam. 15:22, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt
offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better
than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams."

    Daniel and his friends are fast becoming accustomed to the Babylon culture, and
their progress and abilities are recognized. I repeat my question: Would you have a
strong enough commitment to Christ to challenge the king's diet? Do you believe the
Word of God in scripture to the point of being obedient to Christ's teaching? I fear
many are Christians in name only. These four boys (young men) put their life on the
line for FOOD. They knew the consequences. Is your acceptance of salvation through
Christ's shed blood really a full commitment? Do you agree to follow His teaching in
scripture? Examine your commitment and don't excuse your personal agenda, political
or otherwise.

    We will move on to Nebuchadnezzar at his feast and his dream, but first we need to
understand we are at the point where God begins his "campaign" to bring the Gentile
world into His realm. Most nations at that time had their own idols and gods. Only
Israel (now represented by Judah) followed and worshipped the true God in Heaven.
You may note in this Book that God is referred to by Gentiles as "God in Heaven" to
distinguish the Jewish God from all the others. Through the faithfulness of these four
Jewish young men, the God in Heaven will be recognized and given His rightful place
as the One God of all. That is a step towards the coming of Christ and the offer of eternal
life. It also starts the clock running toward the end time. God is merciful, and He is giving
people plenty of time to come to Him. 

     He gave you Christ and scripture as well as a group of people to begin the worship 
and study to prepare for Christ's better place. The people who worked for and with
Christ were willing to follow His instruction to the death. When you fail to heed His Word,
you are failing as a real Christian. You have accepted your free gift, but can't bring
yourself to follow the Father's direction. It's a good thing God is merciful, because we
are sinful wretches. He does have limited patience, however, and our continued
ignorance of His teaching will bring the end time.

    If you believe in the tribulation prior to the "end", you have the "hope" to be a faithful
Christian and thus qualify to be raptured. Those who are wishy-washy on following
scripture will have to remain and suffer the tribulation. There are two reasons to believe
in the rapture. Christ spoke of it and described the marriage feast with the church (us).
See Matt. 25:1-13. You will note in Revelation there is no further mention of the church
after the "record" of the existing seven churches is given in the first three chapters. In
telling us about the marriage feast, He warns us to keep oil in our lamps because we
won't know when He returns. The oil represents the lifeblood and Word of God--the
light of the world and our scripture. After studying Daniel and Revelation, we know the 
world as we know it will end. Christians only have the hope of avoiding the terror when
God "pulls the plug." If you believe Christians can save the world, you'd better actually
study scripture to learn the truth.

    The Book of Daniel shows us how far reaching God's plan is for His creation. Through
Daniel's dreams, the future history of our universe is revealed. There were virtually 
hundreds of gods among the many nations at that time, and the miracles were God's
way of separating the "God of heaven" from these heathen gods. This new location of
God is because He left the earthly home when the temple was destroyed. Under God's
plan, it will take many years and several major empires to reach the final days. The
captivity of Daniel, and the miracles, open the window of God's outreach to the entire
world and all peoples.

    The length of time and the many generations work both ways to accomplish His
goal. There is time for people to learn about Him and try to adapt their lives to His
teaching, and there is time for people to consider scripture and Christ's teaching to
be only a book. Unfortunately, many people who profess to accept salvation consider
that the final necessary act in the plan of salvation. Friends, it isn't. You have accepted
the "freebie'--full pay in advance. With the acceptance of this gift, you are obligated to
commit yourself to the Word of God as represented in scripture--the very teaching of
God through the New Testament. Your work as a Christian only began when you
accepted the gift. If you do not pursue His Word, you are not doing your job, and fit
the popular current designation as an "entitlement" recipient. I am sad to see so many
"believers" who do good works, but think scripture study is too time consuming, boring,
or not REQUIRED. That is why the church today is full of Christians in name only. It is
also why the apostate movement has become so successful.

    For many, scripture study is much like regular school study was during the grade 
school and high school years. Many subjects appeared boring, and there were lots
of other ways to spend your time. If you haven't realized the value of history, economics
and government by now, you have a problem. Even so, that pales compared to the
lack of scripture study. If you have trouble with reading comprehension, you have a
major problem. Watching television, listening to tapes or the radio is helpful, but you
really learn the most from reading. You need to have an inquiring mind as you read,
seeking more understanding than the mere words. Scripture tells us that if we sincerely
seek, we will find. If reading is too difficult, you need to secure CD's or tapes, because often
it is necessary to go over passages several times.

    In our next message of Daniel, we shall see the second major test of faith and a
miracle. I keep warning you about God's testing of each of us right now to see if we
qualify to escape the tribulation. This testing includes us as a people to determine
our national future. The faith of Daniel's three friends and the omnipotent power and
control of God guarantees that every leader in the world cannot cause success or
failure of people or nations. We are all part of God's plan, and our attitude is our
thermometer. We shall see that the plot is heating up in our next message. This message
only reviewed the first chapter of Daniel and gives you some background.

Rev. Walbear