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Hillside O’Malley SDA Church

David Shin

Dying for Devotions

Jesus is giving signs of the end of the world.

This is known as the great end time chapter in the Gospels.

He's giving indicators of the second coming of Jesus.

And in Matthew chapter 24, verse 15, Jesus gives a book endorsement.

I love to read, and when someone gives me a book endorsement, I perk up, and I go on Amazon and I put it on my wish list many times.

You have to have it here in Alaska, it seems like, to get anything shipped up here.

But when Jesus gives you a book endorsement, we should pay attention.

This is the only book endorsement that I know of that Jesus ever gave.

Read this book, especially if you're going to be alive right before the second coming of Jesus.

Matthew 24, verse 15, therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken up by Daniel the prophet, Standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand." There you have it.

Jesus says, if there's 1 book in particular that we need to be reading in the final moments of our history, it is the book of Daniel.

3 observations I want to make about Jesus' endorsement.

Notice that Jesus says that Daniel is a prophet.

There are some individuals that are skeptical of the authenticity or the veracity of the book of Daniel, but here you have Jesus saying, look, he's a prophet, he's trustworthy, he's reliable, we should be reading him.

And secondly, Jesus points out that the book of Daniel is relevant to God's last day people.

Some people are like, why do we always study Daniel and Revelation?

And number 3, Jesus gives a divine endorsement that we should study the book of Daniel.

So with this divine endorsement given by Jesus Christ, here's a few background facts about the book of Daniel.

The book of Daniel is divided into 2 main genres.

The Messianic prophecy relating to Jesus Christ is found in the book of Daniel.

In addition to that, we have stories, 8 stories in the book of Daniel that are woven in with these prophecies that are given.

You have prophecies and you have narratives, and there's actually 8 stories in the book of Daniel.

6 of the stories are characteristics that we are to have as the prophecies are being fulfilled.

Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, are stories that we are to avoid or characteristics that we are to avoid as these prophecies are being fulfilled.

And the very name Daniel means God is my judge.

Daniel, L is where we get the name Elohim.

God is my judge is the literal meaning of Daniel.

And we know that Laodicea means, not lukewarm, that's a characteristic of Laodicea, Laodicea literally means a people judged.

We know that Laodicea is describing God's last day people before he comes a second time.

So, scholars believe that Daniel is a type of God's people that are to be living right before the second coming of Jesus.

We know that there is a tremendous benefit from reading the books of Daniel and Revelation.

Here it is from Testimonies to Ministers, page 114.

When the books of Daniel and Revelation are better understood, believers will have an entirely different religious experience.

They will be given glimpses of the open gates of heaven that heart and mind will be impressed with the character that all must develop in order to realize the blessedness, which is to be the reward of the pure in heart." How many of you want a deeper experience?

Well, we can gain that benefit from the book of Daniel.

So let's open our Bibles to Daniel chapter 6 and go to the story found there.

This is the focus of our today, Daniel chapter 6.

And as we mentioned in our story, this is a story of Daniel and the lion's den.

While you're turning there, Daniel chapter 6 is a direct parallel to Daniel chapter 3.

Daniel chapter 3 talks about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace.

There was an image that was set up and those that did not worship the image would be killed, placed in a fiery furnace.

And some scholars believe that Daniel was sent off on official business.

But just in case you're wondering if Daniel kneeled on the plain of Dura, they have Daniel chapter 6 that clarifies that Daniel was faithful to God, particularly in this realm of worship.

At the time of Daniel chapter 6, Daniel is not a teenager.

Daniel was taken to Babylon around 16-17 years of age, people estimate, but this is near the end of his life.

This is at the twilight years of his life And we know the story.

Daniel knows that there's a decree that's been signed that those that do not worship the king for 30 days will be cast into a den of lions and Daniel still prays to only God and he's cast into the den of lions, and the Lord delivers him.

That's the story of Daniel in a nutshell.

Now, there's many lessons that we can draw from this very quickly before we get to the thesis of today's message, And the lessons that I draw from it is best summarized by these 2 quotes.

We should choose right because it is right and leave the consequences with God.

We should choose right Because it is right and leave the consequences with God Daniel could have said you know what I Can serve God a lot better in My position rather than in the stomach of some lion He could have rationalized and said today.

I think I'm gonna close my windows I'm gonna pray to God in my heart.

You know we as human beings are good with rationalization aren't we?

I'm just gonna just say, oh, I have a cold today.

But that day, Daniel, in the twilight years of his life, knew exactly what it meant to pray.

He knew that the moment he kneeled down with his open windows toward Jerusalem, that he was literally signing his death sentence.

We as human beings, we focus so much on the consequences that it muddles our vision of what we should do in the present.

Here it is, another quotation, it is better to die than to sin, better to want than to defraud, better to hunger than to lie.

The example of Daniel down through history is a stunning testimony of faithfulness.

In 1 of my favorite quotations from the book Education, The greatest want of the world is the want of men Men who will not be bought or sold Men who in their inmost souls are true and honest Men who do not fear to call sin by its right name men whose conscience is as true to duty as the compass needle is to the North Pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall." The example of Daniel.

There's a parallel between Daniel and the book of Revelation.

Revelation chapter 13 says that in the end of time there is going to be a decree of worship, and those that do not worship the image of the beast will be killed.

The same stage as Daniel chapter 3, the fiery furnace and the lion's den are examples of what will take place in the end of time.

Here we have church and state uniting to enforce worship and those that do not comply will be killed.

Here are some quick parallels from each of those chapters.

Revelation chapter 13, an end time prophecy, and Daniel chapter 6.

Daniel was persecuted because he chose to obey God's law.

The remnant will be persecuted for keeping God's law as Christ did.

We know that this is only through the power of Christ that we're able to keep the law, but we're told, Revelation 12, verse 17, here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.

Parallel number 2, the king of Persia made a law which commanded false worship.

The Beast power will lead the world to make a law that commands false worship as well.

In the end of time, worship will be a key issue, a prominent issue.

Prominent Issue number 3 or parallel number 3 the Persian law led people to worship a man Darius the Mede and Revelation chapter 13 the mark of the beast issue brings the world to worship a man with the number 666 So this is not just a cute bedtime story.

I don't know if you want to read this bedtime story to your kids before bed, but you get the point.

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Dying for Devotions

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