21, the book of Acts, verses one through three, and we'll get into our study. I am intending to teach the entire chapter tonight. Let's see what happens. Now, it came to pass that when we had departed from them and set sail running a straight course, we came to Koss the following day to Rhodes and from there to Petaro. And finding a ship sailing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. When we had sighted Cyprus, we passed it on the left, sailed to Syria, landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload her cargo. Let's begin there by setting up the context and then move on into the chapter. We know that Paul had been in Miletus and while he was there in the city of Miletus as it's recorded in chapter 20, he had met with the elders of the church of Ephesus. And so when we pick up here in chapter 21, he has concluded his meeting with the elders and he's now proceeding south. From Miletus, he went south to a place called Koss, passed by Rhodes, Petaro. And this is all located on the western shoreline of modern Turkey. And they were port cities and so each port Paul stopped in represents a day's journey. So it tells you how long it's taking him to get from point A to point B. Now, Petaro was a large and a very busy port city. From there, he went south to the island of Cyprus to Tyre and this would have been a journey of some five days. And so what we read here in a few verses is actually several days journey in the life of the apostle Paul. Now as this is happening, verse three again, it says we sighted Cyprus, passed it on the left, sailed to Syria, landed at Tyre and there the ship was to unload her cargo. Finding disciples, we stayed there seven days and they told Paul through the spirit not to go to Jerusalem. So we'll look at that for a few minutes because I wanna develop something with you here in verse four. Notice again, finding disciples, we stayed there seven days but it continues to say they told Paul through the spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. Interestingly enough, and this is just a sidelight, when you see going to Jerusalem, you'll always see it saying going up to Jerusalem. Now we know that he is traveling south and so we Americans wouldn't be thinking in terms of saying going up to Jerusalem because basically what we'd be saying is going down to Jerusalem because he's going south. But when you see Jerusalem being described in scripture, it is going up to Jerusalem. And the reason it's always saying going up to Jerusalem is because Jerusalem is higher in elevation. And so it's simply speaking about the fact that it's a city that is higher in elevation. So you always go up to Jerusalem. But with that said, he finds these certain disciples. Now, Tire's church was founded by Christians who had fled persecution that had taken place in Jerusalem. We saw that in chapter 11, verse 19 in the book of Acts. It says, those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Venetia, Cyprus and Antioch preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. So Venetia is in the region of Tire. And again, it's located on the southwest border of Lebanon. Now, as he's there, notice in verse four that they told Paul through the spirit not to go to Jerusalem. So what's going on? What does it mean when they said they told Paul through the spirit? What does that phrase mean? Well, that phrase would be speaking of a prophetic word that had come to Paul. We've seen that already in chapter 13 verses one through three how it says in the church that was at Antioch, there were certain prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manan who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch and Saul as they ministered to the Lord and fasted. The Holy Spirit said, now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them then having fasted and prayed, laid hands on them, they sent them away. So this is speaking of a prophetic word that is being given to the Apostle Paul. And again in verse four it says they told Paul through the spirit not to go to Jerusalem. Now, I want to develop this because it's important. It gives us some very basic insight into the movement of the Holy Spirit and how the work of the spirit is. The question would be, was this a prophecy to discourage him or to strengthen his resolve? Because he had, well, I'm getting ahead of myself but he had already received encouragement concerning what would take place. So is the Holy Spirit saying to him two different things? Don't go and yet warning him simultaneously. You see, Paul's very sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We saw that in Acts 16 as an example verses six and seven where it says when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Missia, they tried to go into Bithynia but the Spirit didn't permit them. Paul was very sensitive to the Holy Spirit. And so how is this working out and what are we looking at here when it says he was forbidden by the Holy Spirit? We know that he was prepared for what would already happen there. We saw that in chapter 20 in verses 22 through 24 where Paul had said in Acts 20, 22 through 24 now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem not knowing the things that will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me but none of these things move me nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. He's been prepared and he's actually already been dissuaded in one form or another from going but this time here that people are saying you're not to go, don't be going but Paul was prepared for what would happen because as he had said in verse 24 of chapter 20 this is a ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus so the question has got to be asked why would the Holy Spirit seem to counter the orders Paul had already received? He already knew that he was supposed to go into that area he says I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem he already knew he was supposed to be going there and he also knew that the Spirit was warning him verse 23 again this Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me he's already been hearing that chains and tribulations await him he's also bound in the Spirit to go and fulfill this ministry so what has taken place? Well when the gifts of the Holy Spirit are in operation there is the element of humanity that's involved there are times when the gifts are in operation when a gift is in operation when we can for a variety of reasons think that the Spirit is saying to do a certain thing when in reality what it is is that we are thinking if this is going to happen then we ought to warn them against it because the Spirit is testifying that chains and tribulation await him he is bound in the Spirit to go but when these who love him are receiving from the Lord these prophetic impulses, these words of the Spirit their response is don't go don't go how do we, how can we make that something that we would understand in the 21st century? My son Joseph before he got married was given an opportunity to go to another state to Missouri and he was participating in a kind of a retreat for several churches that had joined together there in Missouri and he told me at this time this is many years ago now he said well perhaps the Holy Spirit is leading me to Missouri and I said no maybe Missouri but not to Missouri I think that there are times when we don't want someone to go where God is calling them I think that's very possible what's happened to me where you know the Spirit is leading but you want to resist that because you just don't want to see that happen there's a human element when you're exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit these individuals are being told by the Spirit prompted by the Spirit that chains and tribulation are awaiting this great man of God and so their immediate human is don't go don't go and that's what they're trying to do they're trying to tell them not to go and it says here in verse four that they told Paul through the Spirit not to go to Jerusalem so there's an impulse where the Spirit is revealing to them that chains and tribulation await him their response to that is because of their love for him is don't go why? because we don't want you to go through pain we don't want you to suffer and you're going to see some things in a moment but that's just an introduction to that thought you see the Holy Spirit is preparing Paul for what is about to take place and out of loving concern they're warning him they're even trying to dissuade him from going well in verse five when we had come to the end of those days we departed, went on our way they all accompanied us with wives and children till we were out of the city we knelt down on the shore and prayed when we had taken our leave of one another we boarded the ship and they returned home and so neither the persecution nor the pleadings of well-meaning believers could deter Paul Paul knew that the tribulations and the pain that he would be going through was simply part of what he would endure as a follower of Christ in Acts 9 remember in verses 15 and 16 how the Lord God was speaking to a man by the name of Ananias and the Lord said to him go for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake so Paul knew that what was awaiting him was actually part of what the Lord had designed for him and so thus he's going to embrace that and he's going to go verse 7 when we had finished our voyage from Tyre we came to Tomeas greeted the brethren and stayed with them one day on the next day we who were Paul's companions departed and came to Caesarea and entered the house of Philip the Evangelist who was one of the seven and stayed with him now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied we stayed many days as we stayed many days a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea when he had come to us he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet and said thus says the Holy Spirit so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles now when we heard these things both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go to Jerusalem Paul answered what do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart for I am ready not only to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus so when he would not be persuaded we see saying the will of the Lord be done and so it says in verse 7 and I'll just touch in a few things but I want to move into something in a moment and make some practical application it says in verse 7 that they finished their voyage from Tyre came to Ptolemyas Paul was seeking opportunity to minister to believers the next day verses 8 and 9 we were Paul's companions departed came to Caesarea and as that happens we're introduced or reintroduced to someone by the name of Philip and I want you to see this and if you take notes you probably already have because I believe I already mentioned this to you but I want you to notice again in verse 8 it says we came to Caesarea came to Caesarea entered the house of Philip the evangelist in scripture Philip is the only one who's ever called an evangelist isn't that interesting he's the only one mentioned as by that name the evangelist when you look in the book of Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 following in verse 11 it says he gave some to be prophets evangelists apostles prophets evangelists pastors and teachers and so what you have is you have the office of evangelist not every person is an evangelist but every person is a witness and every person is one are supposed to do the work of an evangelist but there is an office of evangelist and the evangelist was one who had the ministry of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ Philip was the only one mentioned as an evangelist and when you look in his life remember with me chapter 8 of the book of Acts because in chapter 8 of the book of Acts it speaks concerning him going to the city of Samaria he's in the region of Samaria preaching the gospel and he's speaking to many people there but later on we see him encountering a single individual who's an Ethiopian eunuch and so that shows us that as an evangelist he was concerned not only with cities but he was also interested in individuals so an evangelist is somebody who has a ministry office whereby they take the gospel and proclaim it with the intent for someone to come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that's what Philip is he's an evangelist he's an individual who goes out and shares the gospel in such a way that people will hear a clear message of the gospel and come to faith in the Lord interesting thing about the Calvary Chapel movement is that Pastor Chuck Smith was a teacher of the word but he was in his heart an evangelist as a matter of fact in my pastor's early days Chuck was an evangelist he was a traveling evangelist and he and his brother Paul used to go as the Smith brothers and they would sing songs and then Pastor Chuck would evangelize that's what he did for a long time and so Mike Pastor always had a heart for evangelism he always had a desire to see people saved there were things that God had to do in his life and his story is well known and I'm not here to repeat all of it but he did have a heart to see people saved but God had to work in my pastor in such a way that he became more open and gracious towards people and less legalistic and restrictive because he's the one as mentioned before that would go with his wife Kay to Huntington Beach and look at the hippie kids as the kids would walk by aimlessly and they represented everything bad to his generation my father and Chuck were the same age and so when I would hear Pastor Chuck I would hear my father and I used to tell my wife Marie if my dad was a pastor he probably would be like Chuck because he identified with Chuck because they came from the same cut of cloth and so when my dad would be with me and he'd hear Pastor Chuck he loved him why because he really identified and understood him and my dad hated hippies too and he had a hippie son on top of that but Chuck had gotten to this point where he said you know these lost kids something has to be done he was an evangelist and he would be there by Huntington Beach and the kids would come walking by and who knows it's very possible that he may have hated me too because I hung around at Huntington that's where I hung around and so I never wore shoes either I had long hair you know we'd be there partying and things like that I mean that's what we did and it is very possible that we wandered past them before but he said that he would be seated there and he would see these hippies come by and he'd be disgusted with them and he'd say they need to take a bath they need to cut their hair they need to put shoes on they need to get a job and he would just sit there grousing you know angry and he'd go and he'd turn to his... he'd say you'd look at Kay and he'd want to say these kids are... and when he'd look at Kay Kay would be crying and praying because she saw the lostness of that generation you see Chuck being a evangelist a man who had a heart to see the lost saved he was extremely convicted by his attitude towards the lost and that's when he began to say God I want to meet a hippie and his daughter brought one home and he was all excited about that he got a chance to meet a hippie a real hippie and the rest is history because ultimately he met a man by the name of Lonnie Frisbee and Lonnie had a charismatic kind of personality he was the epitome of a hippie he had the long hair, long flowing beard robes, long kind of shirts that he wore very typical hippie and talked a lot about love and community and Jesus and Chuck saw in him that he had an ability to communicate to young people gave him an opportunity to do a study young people started coming the young people would come to the study end up going to Sunday services with Chuck and midweek services with Chuck and the Jesus movement took off and it all began because Pastor Chuck and men like him and others like him had a heart for evangelism you know we look at Greg Laurie's ministry and just this weekend you had the summer harvest with so many people showing up and so many things occur through that ministry and Greg would be the first to tell you that it began because Pastor Chuck had a heart for Greg Laurie and evangelism and Greg was doing a Monday night study there in Costa Mesa and many kids were coming many people were showing up for a long time and finally Pastor Chuck said I'm gonna bankroll something I wanna as a church rent the Pacific Amphitheater and I want to have you just give it just a you know an evangelistic message let's see what God does because Pastor Chuck was really big on ventures of faith so let's see what God may want to do today was his attitude and the rest is history the rest is history just taking an opportunity to preach the gospel to reach the lost it's interesting to note that the only person once again in scripture referred to as an evangelist is Philip but that doesn't mean that you and I don't do the work of evangelism because you see when I got saved I was told by the follow up minister that I was to read the Bible I was told that I was to learn to pray I was told that you need to have a communion or community with fellow believers and I was told to tell somebody so we were all all of us from the Jesus movement were encouraged to be evangelists we were taught that the most selfish person on the face of the earth is the Christian who goes to heaven alone and so what you ought to do is tell somebody and so in the life of Philip this evangelist you see that he's called by God to go out and do the work of ministry and thus he's an evangelist and so it says again in verse eight on the next day, we who were Paul's companions departed and came to Caesarea which is a city there on the coast of Israel we go there we've been there many times and entered the house of Philip the evangelist who is one of the seven so that tells us he's all the way back first mentioned in chapter six is one of the seven who ministered to the widows and it goes on to say in verse nine and I'll give you some more insight into this this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied now that's interesting in this way when it says who prophesied it obviously is they were those who spoke forth the mind of God to people there are those who say that that could also be a way of referring to them as being like what we today would refer to in the church as a deaconess somebody who has ministry responsibilities that are spiritual in nature now it's interesting how it says he had four virgin daughters there's a reason why he would say he had four virgin daughters it wasn't simply to applaud their virtue but it was giving us some insight because when it says he had four virgin daughters who prophesied he's pointing out that they were those who were set apart for service to God by referring to them in this way it's a way of saying they are set apart individuals for total service you see being unmarried was to be preferred over being married because marriage brings with it care some of you say oh I'm married I don't have any care so you're lying you're a big liar no marriage brings cares with it the apostle Paul was an unmarried man and in 1 Corinthians chapter seven verse eight he said this he said I say to the unmarried and to the widows it's good for them if they remain even as I am it's good to be unmarried is what he's saying he goes on in the same chapter 1 Corinthians seven verse 26 and he says because of the present crisis I think it is best to remain as you are which is unmarried and then in verses 34 and 35 he said there's a difference between a wife and a virgin the unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord that she may be holy both in body and in spirit but she who is married cares about the things of the world how she may please her husband and this I say for your own profit not that I may put a leash on you but for what is proper and that you may serve the Lord without distraction and so and it's right up that these were four virgin daughters that's another way of saying that they are set apart for service to the Lord they're unmarried and thus they're undistracted and these four virgin daughters that are mentioned here as being the daughters of Philip are simply being spoken of as those who are servants of Lord and thus they can travel with their father and they can minister to the women that they encounter by bringing words of encouragement to them they were not pastors but they had the ability and anointing to speak for the Lord they weren't pastors but they did have the capacity to be moved by the Spirit to communicate the ways of God to people someone said it is perfectly possible that they may have confined their ministrations to those of their own sex and accompanying their father in his missionary journeys gained access to women both among Jews and Gentiles and brought them to the knowledge of the truth and so today and I'll just say this briefly because that's not here in the passage and I don't need to run down this rabbit trail very long but today there is quite a bit of argument related to women preachers the Bible doesn't teach that women can be pastors because when you read Titus chapter one and 1st Timothy chapter three it's very clear that the office of pastor is held by men but that doesn't mean that women do not have the capacity to communicate the gospel when people to Jesus Christ and do a variety of other ministries they are restricted from being a pastor so you're never gonna see pastor Marie here as long as I'm alive because she's not called to nor qualified to hold the office of pastor but women have other roles and offices that they do hold and they're able to communicate by the spirit to people and encourage them but in terms of being a teacher of the whole church as a pastor that's not for them and in 1st Timothy chapter two verse 12 Paul said it like this I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man and he goes on to say in a beautiful way she must be quiet oh I love it in 1st Corinthians 1434 he said women should remain silent in the churches they are not allowed to speak must be in submission as the law says and so there is a right and a wrong way to be in a church service and the male the man was the one who was as the pastor had the role of pastor and he would communicate from the pulpit as I am that doesn't mean that a woman couldn't assume a pulpit under the relationship she has with the pastor and communicate certain things she can't but she can't hold the office or the title of pastor these were young women who ministered who prophesied spoke the word of God and they were set apart to do that verse 10 as we stayed many days a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea and when he had come to us he took Paul's belt bound his own hands and feet and said thus says the Holy Spirit so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles now when we heard these things both we and those from the place pleaded with him not to go to Jerusalem and Paul answered what do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart for I am ready not only to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus so Agabus we've seen him before he had spoken concerning a famine we saw that in chapter 11 verse 28 but here a specific prophecy is given again the Holy Spirit prepares Paul and again people want to dissuade him they're actually asking Paul to compromise what he knew God was leading him to do and the problem is as Paul knows that the cost of discipleship is not what has been called a low cost affair because following Jesus isn't an easy path when you read your scriptures you see that over and over again it's something by the way that I think the church needs to awaken to once again we need to be aware of the fact that there is a cost of following Christ like Jesus said in Luke 9.23 you pick up your cross daily and you follow him there is a cost to that Matthew 10.22 says you'll be hated by all for my name's sake he who endures to the end will be saved 2 Timothy 3.12 says yes and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution and Philippians 1.29 says 40 you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake and so that was part and parcel of the gospel so when you go through tough times when people say things against you maybe even physically attack you be aware of the fact that is part of being a Christian you've been prepared by the word of God and so as they're saying no don't do this Paul it's already been prepared and he's willing to do exactly what God told him to do Paul wouldn't be turned aside from his goal in Philippians 3 verses 13 and 14 he said this he said I do not count myself to have apprehended but one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind reaching forward to those things which are ahead I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus I'm not going to be deterred I'm going to go forward no matter what the cost may be and that's what Paul did and so they're trying to persuade him but he will not be dissuaded it's interesting when you look at verse 14 how it says when he would not be persuaded we ceased which tells me that Luke was involved also and attempting to change the mind of Paul well Paul wouldn't have his plans changed so they resigned themselves to God's will for Paul and what did they do they committed him into the hands of the Lord verse 15 and after those days we packed and went up to Jerusalem also some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and brought with them a certain I don't know how to say that menacin of Cyprus an early disciple with whom we were to lodge and when we had come to Jerusalem the brethren received us gladly and so he yields to the Lord his determination to obey the Lord motivates him and I didn't point this out but I want to say it again when he said what do you mean in verse 13 by weeping and breaking my heart can you imagine that I mean what Paul was going through at that time was I don't need your discouragement I need your encouragement he already had gone through an emotional time with the Ephesian elders who were weeping because he said that they would see his face no more and it kind of washed everything else away that he had been saying because just the thought that they would no they would no longer see him broke their heart when you when you go through experiences with people in ministry let me share something that won't make sense to many of you because it just won't but when you pour your heart into people when you minister to people and you're vulnerable to people as a minister like Paul you become very tender to them you become tender to their tears you become very open to their heart for you and when they're saying Paul please don't go it it touched him to the core when when I began as an assisting pastor my children were very small my daughter Corinne was three years old about three years old or four years old when this happened no she was three she was three years old when this happened I was leaving on a men's retreat for a weekend it was a Friday and my ride had arrived and I was about to leave to go to the mountains for a retreat and I was busy serving the Lord as an assisting pastor and I put a lot of hours into my time in the office and in Corinne's life the first year of her life because I was going to school and as working a job I was doing a lot my baby didn't see me because I would work full-time then I would drive to school then I would end up going to board meetings every week I was busy and so when she was born her first year of her life little over the first year of her life was spent sleeping between her mother and me because I didn't see her very much I would come home and it would be 10 or 11 at night very often and I'd been gone all day I was working I was going to school I was doing ministry and my baby didn't see me much then I got ordained into ministry and I started doing retreats and doing Bible studies and doing counseling and coming home and spending 8 hours 10 hours and sometimes 12 hours a day in the office and my baby didn't see me that much and so I still remember it was a Friday and I was going to go to a retreat and as I was about to go to the retreat my daughter Corinne was standing at the door and as she was standing at our front door and I was about to walk out I looked down at my three-year-old and I said to her I love you baby I'll be back soon she didn't have any concept of time she's only three and she looks at me and I still remember this she looks at me and she kind of straightens up and she says I've got to pray and she runs away she runs away and I watch her as she runs through the front room and runs around a corner and so I opened the door and I came back into the house and I followed to see where she went and she was in the hallway with her little fat hands on her eyes weeping, weeping and I broke my heart and out down I held her what do you mean breaking my heart like this on our screen door in the same house David had been born David was born actually we moved into our house the day my David was born and there was a screen door that my children would climb on David and Corinne would climb on the screen door and they'd put their feet at the bottom where the screen connected with the rest of the door and their little toes had pressed the screen itself out and I never repaired that because they would hold on to the door crying as I left both of them they would be there holding on to the screen door crying as I went to the car to take off for the weekend do my ministry they did that for a long time a long time so when Paul is saying why are you breaking my heart I understand that I understand you're wanting me not to do what God has called me to do it's hard enough to be obedient but when you weep and you and you cry like this it makes it even harder and that's what was taking place these people say don't do it Paul don't do it you're going to suffer we can't stand the idea of you hurting don't do it what do you mean by breaking my heart like this was his response I'm willing not only to go to Jerusalem but to die for Jesus Christ that was his resolve and that's one of the reasons why God used him in such a mighty way as he kept the kingdom in front even when his heart was broken by those who would say please don't go he yielded to the Lord his determination to obey is what motivated them verse 18 on the following day Paul went in with us to James and all the elders were present when he had greeted them he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry and when they heard it they glorified the Lord they said to him you see brother how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed and they are all zealous for the law but they have they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs what then the assembly must certainly meet for they will hear that you've come therefore do what we tell you we have four men who have taken a vow take them be purified with them pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing but that you yourself also walk orderly keep the law but concerning the Gentiles who believe we've written and decided that they should observe no such thing except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols from blood from things strangled and from sexual immorality so the church in Jerusalem has received Paul with love hospitality and he gives an account of what the Lord has been doing amongst the Gentiles and as he does so he's revealing his accountability to the leadership he's a vessel being used by the Lord verse 19 says he tells in detail those things that God had done through and he's not boasting he's simply sharing about what God has done when it says they heard it they glorified the Lord and said to him now they're going to begin to give him some advice and instruction you see many of the Jews who were believers in Jesus had remained devoted to certain aspects of the law and so even though they were believers they were observing feasts and and Sabbaths and dietary laws and even ritual vows they saw these as being established by God so they honored God by observing them but it's creating a real tension and so James has to deal with a problem that's going on now because in verse 21 he's they're they're saying that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses saying that they ought not to circumcise the children nor to walk according to the customs so there's a problem that's being created right now and people think that you are not valuing the traditions that have been given to us and thus that he's saying we've got to find a solution to this he says these things these accusations have been drilled into the hearts of Jewish believers and they think that you're trying to undermine the faith that was delivered to us by Moses now these who are spreading these things are opponents to the gospel they're opponents to Paul and they're saying that that Paul is teaching the Jews to forsake Moses and abandon their heritage now here's the question did Paul teach Jews to forsake the law and the answer is actually no what he did is he taught them to properly interpret it because if you properly interpret the law Paul would teach they would come to faith in Messiah he had said to the Romans in chapter 10 verse 4 Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes what that means is the law points to Jesus Christ so if you look at the law that was delivered to Moses it's going to point to Messiah to the Galatians in chapter 3 verses 24 through 26 he said the law was putting charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith now that faith has come we are no longer into the supervision of the law you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus you see what happens is when you would become aware of the law you'd become aware of the fact that you're a sinner through the law you'd also become aware of the fact that you have you have a judgment awaiting you and so Jesus Christ was intended Jesus Christ actually drew you through the law to see the freedom that you have in him and so Paul would preach that you could have a relationship with God through Christ to fulfill all the requirements of the law and so as for Paul teaching them to cease following Jewish customs that wasn't true you see as long as they didn't violate the spirit of grace those things were acceptable in Romans chapter 14 verses 5 and 6 it says one person esteems one day above another another esteems every day alike let each be fully convinced in his own mind he observes the day observes it to the Lord he who does not observe the day to the Lord he does not observe it he who eats eats to the Lord he gives God thanks he does not eat to the Lord he does not eat gives God thanks there's a lot of freedom that we have under the grace of God and so the law for those who wanted to participate in it he's not saying that it's going to save them he's simply saying I understand you have certain scruples pertaining to that but they're saying that he's saying for sake Moses and it's an accusation so what do they want to do well what they want is they want him to go and to pay for a certain a certain I don't know what the word would be well it says it here pay their expenses so they may share their head there are some who had taken what is called the a vow of a levite and it was a temporary vow a vow that would that they would observe which meant that they were being separated for a time unto the Lord in order for Paul to be able to deal with the accusation they said why don't you go with them enter into the temple pay their pay the fee that you have and thus they'll see that you're not opposing they'll see that in reality that you're harmless as pertaining to their particular accusations that they're making so he says take them and be purified with them and pay their expenses now in verse 25 and 26 concerning the Gentiles who believe we've written and decided that they should observe no such thing except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols from blood from things strangled in sexual immorality and so the Gentiles aren't under the law and so keep that in mind verse 27 now when the seven days were almost ended the Jews from Asia seeing him in the temple stirred up the whole crowd laid hands on him crying out men of Israel how this is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people the law and this place and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and as defiled this holy place for they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple and all the city was disturbed and the people ran together seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple and immediately the doors were shut now this is interesting how he phrases this as they were seeking to kill him that's kind of casual isn't it as they were seeking to kill him news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar immediately he immediately took soldiers and centurions ran down to them when they saw the commander and the soldiers they stopped beating Paul the commander came near and took him commanded him to be bound with two chains he asked what he had who he was and what he had done some among the multitude cried one thing some another so when he couldn't ascertain the truth because of the tumult he commanded him to be taken into the barracks when he reached the stairs he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob for the multitude of the people followed after crying out away with him this convicts me I mean this is a man who's out there in front of all these people and there's a riot occurring and sometimes I especially in my early days walking with the Lord I was intimidated to speak to one person and this is somebody who says I'm willing not only go to Jerusalem but to die and that's what's taking place they're beating him and they're wanting to kill him and as this is taking place you can almost hear the uproar you can almost hear the noise the tumult there's so much yelling there's so much anger that's taking place that the authorities are drawn in and they come and they actually are rescuing him and pulling him away and as this is taking place there's all these charges that are being cried out that are being cried out you know this is Paul he's trying to destroy all the law and everything and what is happening is this has really been stated as the beginning of the end for Paul but you know what else it is it's an opportunity he's going to have the opportunity to speak to his Jewish brethren he had been prepared Agabus had prepared him for the upcoming arrest and now Paul is going to fulfill what he had said it's going to he wants to go and he wants to speak to them and yes he said I am prepared to die so as this is taking place verse 37 as Paul was about to be led into the barracks he said to the commander I love Paul he's amazing may I speak to you he replied can you speak Greek are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the 4 000 assassins out into the wilderness Paul said I'm a Jew from Tarsus in Solicia a citizen of no mean city no insignificant city I implore you permit me to speak to the people so when he had given him permission Paul stood on the stairs motioned with his hand to the people and when there was a great silence he spoke to them in the Hebrew language saying and that's where we're going to stop one last thought we'll wrap up and we'll look at this next time we're together you're not the Egyptian guy who was a false prophet who recently had led a rebellion brought thousands of people into the Mount of Olives and tried to riot against Roman authorities you're not that man because that had happened Josephus, a Jewish historian writes concerning this particular event and the Egyptian who had led this particular rebellion against Rome actually escaped arrest there were those who who were part of the riot and trying to overthrow Rome and 400 of them got killed and 200 of those who had rebelled against Rome were incarcerated so this commander thinks that Paul is the Egyptian who led that insurrection and that's why he asks them that are you not the Egyptian who sometime ago stirred up the rebellion so he thought this must be a rabble rouser because of all that's going on when in fact Paul is saying no I'm not an Egyptian I'm actually a Roman citizen and the reason I can speak Greek is because I'm an educated individual capable of communicating in many languages and so he established himself and his authority even in his communication to this commander he says what I really want to do is I want to speak to these people and the commander gives him the opportunity and next time we're together we get a chance to see what he said


Anyway, we're in chapter five, we're going to be looking at the chapter today, it's very famous chapter. As a matter of fact, it's a place where we have a saying that has been used for many years, it's the handwriting on the wall. And so we're going to be seeing chapter five and I chose to entitle this study simply the handwriting on the wall, and we'll be seeing that in just a moment as we go through this passage together. I'm going to read verses one through four, but let me share before I begin to do that, that I'm going to give you some information. Some of you are interested in history and you probably will benefit from hearing some of the things that I prepared to share with you. Those of you who are not interested in history, anyway, we'll begin. So we'll begin reading here at verse one, and I will give you some background history, just a bit of it, and then we'll move into our study. So Daniel chapter five, beginning at verse one, reading to verse four, While he tasted the wine, while Shazer gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple, which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink from them. Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God, which had been in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. And so here's some background in order for us to be able to get a good understanding of chapter five. The events of this chapter take place around 23 years after the close of chapter four. Now almost 70 years have transpired since Daniel originally had been taken captive and brought to Babylon, which was around 539 before Christ. And so as we look at this now, Daniel is an older man. He's somewhere between the ages of 85 and 90 years. Now we know that King Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 BC, and now a man by the name of Bal Shazer is in Babylon. So the question has to be asked, seeing that we're being introduced to a new character, who is Bal Shazer, and how is it that he came to reign over Babylon? And that's where historical scholarship comes to our aid. You see, the historians record that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had died shortly after fortifying Babylon. His son, Evil Meridoc, ruled for two years, but he was assassinated by his brother-in-law, Narraglycer. Now Narraglycer, you want to know how to spell that? No, you don't. Okay, Narraglycer ruled for four years and he died. Now at his death, his son, Leboros Soracod, also known as Ben, began to rule. But because he was mentally diminished, he only ruled for nine months and ultimately was beaten to death. The conspirators then appointed Nabonidus to reign. And he reigned for 17 years before being defeated in battle by Cyrus the Persian and had been exiled from Babylon. Now, a little more information. Nabonidus married either the wife, historians differ on this, either the wife or the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. And he assumed the throne in 556 BC and ruled until his defeat by Cyrus in 539 BC. Balchisar was his son and was ruling as what would be called a co-regent at this time because his father was exiled. And so you'll see why that makes some sense when we get to verse 7. You'll see that in a few minutes. And so many years before, Daniel had interpreted a dream for Nebuchadnezzar. And he had said, as he interpreted that dream, that an inferior kingdom would arise after Babylon. In Daniel 2 verse 39, Daniel had said, after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours. So in this chapter, this prophecy is fulfilled because we see the fall of Babylon. Now various portions of scripture prophesy about the fall of Babylon. I'll give you just two. I'm not going to read them, but Jeremiah chapter 50 verses 23 through 25, Jeremiah chapter 51 verses 54 through 58, speak of the fall of Babylon prophetically. Isaiah 13 verses 17 and 18 says, Behold, I will stir up the meads against them who will not regard silver. And as for gold, they will not delight in it. Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces. They will have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eye will not spare children. And so Isaiah had prophesied concerning the fall of Babylon along with Jeremiah. Now what we have here taking place is going to be the fulfillment of that prophecy. Belshazzar, as look at this, has made a great feast for a thousand of his chief men called his lords. He threw a party even though the meads and Persians were overrunning the country. Now the reason he was having this party is he had a false security because he believed that his fortress that he lived in was impregnable. When you look at history and history's account of Babylon, you'll find this interesting perhaps Babylon was six miles square. It had great outer walls of incredible thickness. The top of the wall was brought enough for four chariots to raise side by side. It also had a system of inner and outer walls with a water moat separating the walls. The Euphrates River flowed from north to south through its center and was bordered by walls. A bridge connected the eastern and western gates and there was a tunnel that led into the city. Now inside the city were provisions that could last for several years because they were aware that they were going to be sieged. During the ancient days they would lay siege to a city and sometimes it would last for years. They would just have an army encamped as they waded out the inhabitants of the city that they were laying siege to and then ultimately what would happen.  And so they were very famous during that day for just laying siege and just waiting. They would wait them out. But these people in Babylon weren't concerned because there had already been a series of campaigns and wars that were going on and so they had been for some time laying hold of stocks. They had been stocking up and so they were laying hold of food and everything in preparation so they're not concerned at all. They know that the fortress that they're in is impregnable. There's no way they're going to be able to break through those walls. And so they decide to party. That's what they're doing. And so what you see here even in the introduction is the king who is trusting in his fortress. He's trusting in the fortress that he's hiding in. He had thought that the preparation made for his security was going to keep him safe and that's obviously proved to be a very foolish thing to trust in. In the Psalms in Psalm 20 verse 7 it reads, Some trust in chariots and some in horses. But we trust in the name of the Lord our God. It is never wise to put your trust in man or the fortifications that you yourself have been part of building up. You have to trust in the Lord and this man doesn't know the Lord and therefore he doesn't trust in him. Now as this is taking place, he's most likely on a platform and he's drinking toast to the gods of Babylon. And under the stimulus of the wine he makes a very rash, rash decision. Any time you're under the influence of alcohol you are prone to make bad decisions. In the Proverbs 23 verses 31 through 33 it says it like this. It says, Do not gaze at the wine when it's red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a snake, poisons like a viper.   And so he's having a party. He's got a thousand of the lords and wives. So there's quite a large group of people as they're just partying in the midst of all of the tension that's taking place. And so in verses 2 it says, in verse 2 following it says, While he tasted the wine, Balshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels, which his father, speaking of his grandfather, by the way, and I'll share a couple thoughts about that in a moment, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine, praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. And so when you look in 2 Kings you see that Nebuchadnezzar actually, Babylon actually had three incursions against the nation of Israel. In the third incursion they pillaged the temple. And in 2 Kings 24 verse 13 it says, As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace and cut up the gold articles that Solomon, king of Israel, had made for the temple of the Lord. So they pillaged the temple and they took out the utensils and things that had been dedicated to the service of the Lord. And we saw as we'd gone through the first few chapters of Daniel that Nebuchadnezzar had grown to respect the God of Israel. And so the utensils that were pillaged were held in storage. Well, Belshazzar, his grandson, doesn't regard Israel's God. So what he decides to do is he decides to desecrate the holy vessels that had been set apart for the service of God. It says in verse 4 that they drank wine, praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and all of these descending in value articles, wood and stone. And so what he's doing is he's praising his gods. And when you look at this, and you might find this interesting, notice that the value of the materials that are being referred to, the gold, the silver, bronze, iron, wood, stone, they're in descending value. Which means it's simply another way of saying that he praised the gods that were the highest in his pantheon of deities, all the way down to the things that really didn't matter that much would be the stone and all of that. But he's praising these gods. He's an idolater. And so while drunk, he committed an act of sacrilege because he drank from the sacred vessels. Now, when he does this, verse 5, in the same hour, the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. The king's countenance changed. His thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, the Seussayers. The king spoke saying to the wise men of Babylon, whoever reads this writing and tells me its interpretation shall be clothed the purple and have a chain of gold around his neck, and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Now, all the king's wise men came, but they couldn't read the writing or make known to the king its interpretation. Then king Balsh's hour was greatly troubled. His countenance was changed and his lords were astonished. Well, I would be too. If I was sitting the booze in and up with some good wine, and then I see this just a hand tag in my wall, I'd be wondering about that myself. Now, do you know this is interesting? Again, archaeologists have discovered Nebuchadnezzar's palace. It's 56 feet wide, 173 feet long. Midway in the long wall opposite the entrance was a hollowed out portion where the king would have sat. And that wall was covered with white plaster. And so that hall would have been illuminated with candles and torches or lamps. And it would have been dimly lit. There would have been smoke, some haze in the room. And so the finger wrote next to a lamp stand so that it was visible for everyone to see. And when this happened, he sees this part of the hand that was writing. It says in verse six that king's countenance changed. It literally says he lost all the blood in his face. He grew pale. His thoughts troubled him. He was anxious, obviously. The joints of his hips were loosened. He could hardly stand. And his knees knocked against each other. And so he had kind of an interesting response to that. You see, his drunken courage is now gone. Sometimes when people are drinking, they get real courageous. I've seen men who are 5'6", 130 pounds suddenly gain a foot and two gain 100 pounds. They just become brave because the alcohol helps them to feel that they are. But this man was there praising his idols and the Lord broke in. And when the Lord broke in through this writing on the wall, all of his bravado is gone. His drunken courage is no longer with him. He sobers up. And so what he has to do while verse seven says, he cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, Caldean, soothsayers. He called the religious leaders. And as he brought them in, he's needing help from them. And so it says in verse seven, the king spoke saying to the wise men of Babylon, whoever reads this writing and tells me its interpretation shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck. And he'll be the third ruler of the kingdom. See, his father was the first ruler who is in exile. He's what is called the second ruler. He's the co-regent. So he's promising a third position which would be one of high honor. He speaks of scarlet clothing and the chain of gold. These would be special tokens of honor and authority. So he's terrified. But notice his lords that he has, these chieftains and all their perplexed. They have no answer. And nobody has them. The soothsayers, Caldeans, the rest, nobody can answer what's going on. And so in verse eight, all the king's wise men came, but they couldn't read the writing or make known to the king its interpretation. There was no way that they could explain what was taking place. And so verse nine, King Balchazer was greatly troubled. His countenance was changed. His lords were astonished. They were perplexed. They were questioning what's going on here. And naturally, you should do that. Well, as this is taking place, verse 10, the queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came to the banquet hall. The queen spoke saying, Oh, King, live forever. Do not let your thoughts trouble you nor let your countenance change. Well, who is this woman who is speaking to him in this way? Some believe that it is what would be called the queen mother and meaning it's his mama. So mama comes in and says, son, grow up, shut up, because that's what she's saying here. First, she speaks with respect. Oh, King, live forever. But then she gives mama's advice. Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance change. Son, be a man is what she's saying. Be a man.  And then gives her advice. Verse 11, there's a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy God. And in the days of your father, speaking of his grandfather, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father, the king, made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans and soothsayers. In as much as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Beltiches are. Now let Daniel be called and he'll give the interpretation. So she gives to him her queenly advice. Now it's interesting how she actually uses the words of Nebuchadnezzar, the words that Nebuchadnezzar had used to describe Daniel in chapter 4. So when she says your father, there is no word for grandfather, so they will speak of your father in that way. It speaks of an ancestor, but he's speaking, she's speaking really of his grandfather. And she's saying Nebuchadnezzar trusted him and gave him a very high position in the kingdom. Notice in verse 11 how she speaks of the span and says, as Daniel, there's a man in your kingdom in whom the spirit of the holy God is. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father, the king, made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans and soothsayers. So she recognizes that he had special enlightenment. And so what she's basically saying is this, she's saying seek help from this godly man. And we can speak about that for just a moment because that's a key. If you want proper direction when you're having a problem, it's always wise to seek help from those who are godly. You never want to seek out the ungodly for life changing decisions that have spiritual or spiritual import. I'm not saying that you should never listen to a non-believing doctor or whatever. No, that's not the point I'm making. What I'm saying is when you're making life choices, it's always wise to seek out someone, especially as a believer, to seek out someone who has a relationship with the Lord, who can direct you through experience but especially by the Holy Spirit and his word, God's word, can direct you to the answer that is found within the confines of Scripture. When you read the Psalms in Psalm 1, remember verses 1 through 3 how it says, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper. It's always wise to seek out advice and direction to be of help to you from those who are godly. I can't tell you over the years how I've heard stories that have caused me to have sorrow for those who took advice from those who didn't have their best interests in heart or really didn't have a spiritual sense of what is right or what is wrong. I remember a young lady many years ago now, so I'll use this as an illustration, a young lady that we knew fairly well who was in our fellowship. She actually had grown up from being a little girl to becoming a young woman, and this is many years ago now, over 20 years, so I can say it. And, you know, she was having her time of rebellion and she didn't like what mom and dad were teaching her and all. And she started dating and when she was dating she wasn't real selective with who she was going out with. And she finally got hooked up with a guy, a guy who was not after her best interests.  That's what he was after her for. And instead of going to mom and dad and saying, you know, I'm going through tough times, mama, dad, can you help me? I'm being tempted she didn't do that. What she did is she went to one of her girlfriends and she spoke to one of her girlfriends who had yielded herself up to a boyfriend and she asked advice from this girl. And the girlfriend of her said, look, I've been sleeping with my boyfriend. I'm no different now than I was before. Go ahead. And the young lady decided that she would do just that. And you reap consequences every time you do something like that. She listened to the advice of an ungodly person and it always hurts because what you give up, you don't get back. There was a young woman who was being pressured to have sexual relationships and her best friend was saying to her, go ahead, it won't hurt you.  So you have to have wisdom when you listen to people for advice. You have to take the advice from those who have your best interest, especially those who love the Lord, especially those who know God's word. And so he's asking for advice from those who don't know God, but they can't give him what he needs. And so the queen mother says, there's a man in the kingdom that your grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, had valued greatly, honored greatly. He's someone who knows how to do these things, interpret these things. The spirit of the Holy God is in him. You need to speak to him and ask him and he can give you direction. His name is Daniel. Though he's been called Balteshezar. Well, in verse 13, Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, are you that Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, whom my father, the king, brought from Judah? I've heard of you, that the spirit of God is in you and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. Now, the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not give the interpretation of the thing. And I've heard of you, that you can give interpretations and explain enigma. So word enigma speaks of mysteries. Now, if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. And so he makes the same promise to him that he had made to his own advisors. Under Nebuchadnezzar, and we've been reading this, remember Daniel became a man of high authority. He'd been ruler over the whole province of Babylon. He was the chief of the wise men. And he obviously had been demoted or removed when Belshazzar took over. Now, Belshazzar, as we read this, obviously knew some of the history. He knew that Daniel was Jewish. He knew that he was a captive. So when the times got tough, he was willing to hear from this Jewish man. Notice how he says in verse 14 and 15, I've heard that the Spirit of God's in you. You have light and understanding. In other words, up to this point, I've ignored your existence. But now I'm ready to listen. You see, before you weren't worth my time. My religion was fine with me, but it's left me without an answer. I haven't been in need before, but now I am. Can you help me? I think a lot of people understand that kind of sentiment because maybe you were raised in a religious environment. I was raised in a somewhat religious environment, and my dad wasn't a religious man by any means. My mother was. And so I was raised in that environment, and I had a history of strong religious relatives. One of my uncles was, I think it was, it's called either a bishop or an arch deacon in the Catholic Church. And he was from Jalisco. And when my aunt, my aunt was born, my grandparents actually took my aunt to Jalisco to my uncle, my great uncle, who was a very religious man. He was high up in the Catholic Church in Mexico and all of that. So I came from a religious background. When I was born, my mom took me to a small church in Los Angeles, the Plaza Church there by Alvera Street. A lot of people have been baptized there. If I asked how many of you were, every Mexican in California was baptized at that place. That's where I was baptized. You know, mama took me there when I was four months old. And I have my baptismal certificate at home that she had gotten when I was just a baby, you know. And so mama was religious, but at a certain point in her life, her religion didn't satisfy her questions. And at a certain point in her life, it just fell short of meeting her needs. And that's what happens sometimes when you're holding on to the wrong kind of faith. In this particular case, this man here did not regard the God of Daniel, the way his grandfather had. And we already saw what his grandfather had said concerning, what Nebuchadnezzar had said concerning the God of Israel. There is no God like this God. And so Nebuchadnezzar, we saw last time together what many scholars believe was his conversion to faith in the God of Israel. But his grandson did not have that same kind of faith. And so he's ignored Daniel up to this point. More than likely he was demoted under this man because he regarded his own gods. The gods that he worshipped and praised when he was drunk. So he's basically saying, I have never needed you before, but now I do. Can you be of help to me? Notice he said in verse 16, I've heard that you can give interpretations and explain enigmas, explain mysteries. And listen, if you can, I'll make you very influential. If you can, I'm going to make you very powerful. I can make you a very rich man. If you can help me. Well, verse 17, Daniel answered and said before the king, let your gifts be for yourself and give your rewards to another. Yet I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. And what he's about to do, by the way, is he's going to give the king a sermon. He more than likely is upset over the desecration of the vessels from the temple. And zeal for the Lord and God's righteousness is going to provide fuel for his message. Daniel isn't a prophet for hire. So any gifts that the king offers are not desired. And he's saying this, you can keep your gifts because my interpretation cannot be bought. They're not for sale. Don't we need more of that today? Don't we need more of that today? I can't be bought. I don't need a position in your government. I don't need to be regarded by you. You see, I have a king that's greater than any earthly king. The king he's saying that I worship is the king of the universe and what you are is an earthly king about to be dethroned. So why would I want to sell my ministry for profit? We have to be very aware of that because sometimes within religion and religious practitioners, there can be a hunger for position and power that clouds them in terms of their holy calling. And so he says, you can keep the money. I don't want it because the zeal for the Lord is what's going to be fueling my message. In 1 Thessalonians in the New Testament, Paul says it well in verse 4 of chapter 2, 1 Thessalonians 2-4 when he says, But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, the God who tests our hearts. We don't say things to tickle the ears of the listener. A minister worth their salt, a Bible teacher worth the calling, has one fear and the fear is not of man. The fear is of the Lord. And when you have a zeal for God and a fear of the Lord, you cannot help but speak the things that God puts on your heart, regardless of how you may be feeling at that moment. You know, when Jeremiah was called, God was speaking Jeremiah, Jeremiah is just a youth. He's just a young man. And when the Lord calls him, the Lord says to him, that he's not to be afraid of their faces. And what that means is, it's not that it's a group of ugly people. It means they're not going to like what you're saying. They're not going to like how you say it. I can tell you, I can tell you as a person who's spoken for a long time in front of people, that there are times when you're speaking and you can see the people's faces are not happy. They don't like what they're hearing. So instead of shutting my mouth, I just look to somebody who smiles. I just keep talking. Because I have been entrusted and approved by God. And that's what Daniel is. That's what Daniel is. And so he speaks in verse 18, O King, the Most High God, gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor. And because of the majesty that he gave him, all peoples, nations and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed. Whomever he wished, he kept alive. Whomever he wished, he set up. And whomever he wished, he put down. So he says that the God of heaven is the one who has given the nation its glory. In Daniel 4.17, we read the most high rules in the kingdom of men, and it gives it to whomever he will and sets over it the lowest of men. And so God is the God of heaven. You have nothing to do with the excellence and glory of Babylon. You need to know first and foremost something that your grandfather was taught by God, and that is that God puts whomever he wants into position of authority. So for you to be offering me a position of authority is useless, because it's the Lord who puts people in that position. And so when government is attempting to come between you and your faith in God, you always choose God. You choose God and you honor him. And so he's beginning to give him a message. One is God is the one who puts a person in a position of authority. So your promise to give me that authority really isn't something I'm concerned with. And then in verse 20, he goes on to say when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne. And they took his glory from him. Then he was driven from the sons of men. His heart was made like the beasts. His dwelling was with the wild donkeys.  His body was wet with the dew of heaven till he knew that the most high God rules in the kingdom of men and appoints over it whomever he chooses. And he's giving him a message. And he points out that Nebuchadnezzar had absolute power. But he also was accountable to God. And when his heart was lifted up by pride, God brought him low. Proverbs 29-23 says a man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor. So he's saying, God is greater than any earthly king. This is something that Nebuchadnezzar knew. But he goes on in verse 22, but you, his son, Palshazar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven.  And you've praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know.  You know, there's an interesting psalm that speaks concerning the man who fashions the idol. Eyes they have, but they do not see. Ears they have, but they cannot hear. Mouths they have, but they cannot utter words. Hands they have, but they cannot reach. Legs they have and feet, but they cannot walk. And in other words, they are useless. They cannot help you. So that's why we stay away from those things that are useless. My Marie, when she was a young lady, being very devoted in her Catholic upbringing, her patron saint, the one that she looked to, was Joseph. And a lot of people understand what I just said in Catholic Church, you have patron saints. Mine was St. Anthony. St. Anthony, please come around, for there is something that cannot be found. I used to say that prayer, my mom taught me that because she said, whenever you lose anything, you talk to Anthony and he'll help you find it. So I was taught that way. When I was a doper, I prayed that every day. Because I couldn't find my keys. I couldn't find my way home. I mean, I prayed that a lot. And as a Jew, there's something that can't be found. I can't find my mind. Well, my girl was, you know, she was raised in that way and so she liked Joseph. And she used to have a little statue, you know, that she had taken to the priest and he had blessed it. And she put it on her dashboard, on her car. And facing traffic to help her drive. And his hands were over his eyes. And what had happened is the sun melted him. And so he was kind of twekle. He was just bent over, twisted.  And then, you know, she gave her heart to the Lord and when she got saved, I was doing what a lot of boyfriends do. I was going through her wallet while she was in the other room. And I really was. And I found a picture and she came walking in and I said, Marie, I thought I was your boyfriend. She goes, you are. And I said, no, I'm not. I'm not your boyfriend. Yes, you are. What are you talking about? Yes, you are. No, I'm not. Why do you say that? I said, because I found out you're dating Joe. And she said, Joe. And she had a little card, a prayer to St. Joseph in her wallet. And I pulled it out and I said, you're going out on me, huh? With Joe Joe. And she says, oh, and she used to have a little brown scapular. She had all of those things that a lot of us who were raised in certain ways that we carried. And all of that. But once again, what you discover is that there's only one king of heaven. There's only one who answers your prayers. There's only one who strengthens you. And that's God. And that's something that Bal Shazzar had never learned. But that's something that Nebuchadnezzar had learned. And so he had learned the lesson. And the lesson of who God is had completely changed his life. It says again in Daniel 4, verse 35, all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain his hand or say to him, what have you done? Now, Bal Shazzar, you knew all of this.  You knew that your grandfather had been humbled.  It says in verse 23, it says, you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven.   You praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood and stone, which don't see. They don't hear. They don't know.  You have not glorified. You have made a God and you're like that God. Can't see, can't hear, can't feel, can't walk. You have praised your idols, but you've rejected the God of the universe in your pride.   This is the God you have not glorified. Now, we've already seen that Daniel didn't mince words when he spoke to Bal Shazzar. Well, one other thing to consider. He most likely was saying this before all of the guests. He wasn't just speaking in private. There were a thousand lords and wives. There were concubines. There was a large group of people. And Daniel didn't hold back. Even though there were many listening to what was being said as he is speaking to the king. And what he was doing was taking his very life into his own hands, knowing that he could die for what he was saying. Isaiah 50 verse 7 reads, The Lord God helps me. Therefore I'm not disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint. And I know that I will not be ashamed. I'm not afraid. I'm not ashamed. I'll speak the truth. Doesn't matter how many people are there who don't agree with it. This is the truth. Listen, if you grab hold of that one thing I just shared with you, God's going to use you mightily. If you hold fast to that and know that, and I mean this sincerely, God will use you. You know, people see me now at my age and they say, oh, you've known the Lord for a long time. What you need to know is, maybe I should say some wouldn't know this is that I got saved at 20. I'd never read the Bible in my life. I began to read and study the Bible after being saved. I began teaching Bible studies at 23, but that doesn't make you a Bible scholar. That simply makes you someone learning. But at 23, I went to Biola College, Christian College. But at 24, I went to secular schools, non-Christian colleges. I didn't know very much. All I knew was I was blind. Now I see. I was deaf. Now I hear. I was crippled. Now I walk. I was a doper. Now I'm free. I'm drunk. Now I've got the Holy Spirit. That's basically what I knew. But I had made a determination. I'm encouraging you to do the same. Here are my Lord. Use me. You know, I don't know much, but I know you. That was really the truth. And I've been that way for many years. And so from an early age in Christ, I just made a determination. And I'm going to follow Him the best that I can. And I want to be used by God. I want Him to use me. I don't want to be a pew potato, you know, just sitting in the pew, getting in Bible study, and then going home and doing something else. No, I want to be used by God. Because what is greater? What is greater than being used by the Lord to reach somebody's life? To change. To see the miracle of transformation. To see somebody who was a drunk suddenly, because God moves, gets sober in such a way that they themselves also begin to share the gospel with other people. To see people who at one time were promiscuous, who become the lover of one person, a great wife, a great husband, because God changed them and made them brand new. And now they live for Christ. Become a great mom, great dad. I've seen a lot of that. I've seen so many transformations. People say, have you ever seen a miracle? Yes, every time someone gets saved. That's a miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ. It changed lives. And that matters. That really matters. Don't be cruel and mean and argumentative and pushy and belligerent. It's not good. Be loving, compassionate, honest and courageous and tell the truth. Tell the truth. And you don't always get rewarded for doing that. I've been mocked more than once. And you say, yeah, that's when you're like, yeah, it's just last year. I was preaching in church here in my own fellowship. And I made a statement and I said this. Let's see if this happens again. I was talking about the Kavanaugh confirmation and I was trying to make a simple point. When accusations are made, they're not always true. You have to investigate. I was speaking about being fair, be fair. Christians are supposed to be fair. We judge righteous judgment, don't we? We're not told to make a discernment or make a judgment. We judge righteously. That means that we look for what the truth is and embrace that. That's what I was saying. But I had written in my notes and I was reading my notes and I said what my note said was women lie, men lie, children lie, people lie. That was my line of notes.  You lie. I looked down there and I said John, that's not nice. I'll buy you a burrito, all right? No, he yelled that out. So people don't always listen to you or respect you or think that you're telling the truth.  I don't care because I want to tell the truth before the Lord because that's what sets people free. And if somebody says something to you that hurts your feelings, guess what? What went to you when all men speak good concerning you? Because so they spoke concerning the false prophets. When you begin to make a difference, there will be opposition. Always be aware of that. That's just the truth. Anytime you want the light to shine, someone's going to throw shade. That's how it works. They're going to want to quiet you. But Daniel wasn't the one that you could quiet. And so he said, nope, God's going to help me. And so all you need to know is know the Lord. Believe his word. Act upon it. You have an opportunity to share. You can share in your home. You can share in your neighborhood, in a school. You can share before mockers. But share. Well, as this is taking place, verse 24, the fingers of the hand were sent from him and this writing was written. This is the inscription that was written. Many, many tecalupartsin. This is the interpretation of each word. Many, God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. Tecal, you have been weighed in the balances found wanting. Harris, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Balchazzar gave the command they clothe Daniel with purple put a chain of gold around his neck, made the proclamation concerning him that he should be third ruler in the kingdom. Balchazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain. Darius the Mede received the kingdom being about 62 years old. And so many, many tecalupartsin. Your kingdom has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. Well, he gives him that interpretation. That's what you asked and this is what's going to take place. So what happens is Balchazzar verse 29 Well, he fulfilled his promise and they clothe Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck and I put a note to myself, disco Daniel and gave him a corvette. All of those honors didn't last. You see, Daniel didn't desire nor seek the honor that came from the king. His desire was to be honorable before the lord and to serve him faithfully. You see, in the New Testament that's what believers are encouraged to. In 1 Corinthians 9 24 through 27, Paul said it like this Do you not know that in a race all the runners run? But only one receives a prize. So run, that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath but we, an imperishable. So I don't run aimlessly. I don't box as one beating the air but I discipline my body and keep it under control. Last after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. You have to have a vision to do one thing and that is to glorify the lord. And so this happened overnight. I mean it was what was given to him was immediately taken. So what good is the honor of the world anyway? Because that very night Balshazzar king of the Caldians was slain and the city was taken. What happened? Well the invading army had stationed military at two ends of the walls and there was a river that ran through the city and what they did is they blocked the river. They damned it. And the water that had at one time been flowing freely and they couldn't have really crossed through and the water was damned and the water began to recede until it was waist high and when the water got to waist high the invading military came straight through that tunnel and took this impregnable citadel. They took it. And so in one night the city fell and Balshazzar died. And all of these promises that he was making and all of this that he said would be for Daniel ended in one night. That's what happens when you pursue, if you were to pursue the glory of this world it ends quickly. But if you pursue the glory that comes from God alone that's eternal glory. That's a weight of glory. It's an everlasting glory. So all we need to do as believers is make sure that we know who we worship and to worship with all of our heart. Father we ask that even as we've looked at this the story, this historical story Lord we would ask that that we would have hearts like Daniel. That we would be not afraid of speaking the truth not only to those in power but in front of those who would uphold that power. I ask that we the church would speak may we speak the truth in love Lord and it's really time for the church to awaken out of its slumber anyway for Lord we have been in some ways it seems like we've been asleep at the wheel and Lord it's time for us to wake up. May we remember who is the king of the universe. May we remember Jesus who puts people in power but in the midst of all that we know about that may we make decisions Lord that line up with what your word teaches. May we have the courage and the willingness to speak that we saw in Daniel and Lord I ask that you would bless our lives even as you bless that great man. And so Lord we lift up to you right now our entire ministries our entire lives ask Lord that you would use us and may we have courage to speak the truth when given opportunity and even as our eyes are closed and our heads are bowed perhaps there are some in this room right now the only spirit is speaking to and you need to get right with the Lord you may be watching online you may be in our overflow right now I can't see you online obviously in the overflow but I can see any in this room and if you need to be right with the Lord speaking to you right now I want to pray for you and as our eyes are closed our heads are bowed if you need to get right with God right now would you raise your hand let me pray for you right where you're at Father you see these hands you know the reason why they're being raised to you in Jesus name I ask that you would reach down and touch each person whose hand is raised and Father that you would make yourself known in such a special and beautiful way that from this point on their lives will be forever changed I ask that as they confess and say God be of my be helped to me forgive me that you would fill them with your presence the Holy Spirit work within them from this point on in a new and fresh way and Lord I just ask that you would have your way in them that you would use them and by faith that we receive from you Lord and we trust you thank you Lord you can put your hands down in Jesus I ask that you keep moving in all of us and I ask these things in your name Amen


my top five products from one single brand under $10. Let's do this. Hello my friends we're doing Maybelline today. I am so excited because I love Maybelline's products and I love their price point. This is all under $10 and we're going to be talking about my five favorites from Maybelline. But before we do that I am going to put a timestamp right here so that you can skip ahead if you want to skip over the intro of my video. I'm going to show you what I have on and we're going to talk a little bit about a couple other things. So if you're not interested in that I don't blame you just skip ahead right here to this timestamp. So I have on today a really beautiful blue jersey knit long sleeve t-shirt. I also really like this shirt because of its neckline with the squared off neckline and the puff sleeve with the band right there. You can pull these up if you want to you know while we're still dealing with a little bit of the heat the shirt is very long so you could wear it pulled completely down over your rear if you need to or you can just kind of rush it like I did up around my belly which kind of helps hide the belly just a little bit.  I really love that they were a bold statement earring just a really lightweight resin earring that I'm really in love with and they just they went perfect with this shirt and I just really liked them. Also I have a pretty new watch to me I've been wearing it for about a week now. It is rose gold and it has the black detailing. Now last week I did bring you one that was silver and it had a little bit of rhinestones on it I still have that one I still love it think it's so pretty. But this is just a nice change and then also my rings my fingernail polish all of that will be listed and linked below. And speaking of links I always make sure that I link everything below for you and to make it even easier for you I will put up a number here on the screen and that number will correspond to whatever product that I'm talking about at the moment. Today we're only talking about five so one through five products will be down below with the corresponding number next to it. So just remember the number of the product that you liked you don't have to remember the color or anything that I showed you just have to remember the number. Go into the description box open it up and next to that number will be that product with its link and any color or anything like that that I have talked about. Okay that's the introduction let's get into it right now and you can see what my top five Maybelline products are. Alright before we get started I do want to say that most of you are going to expect me to put Maybelline lipsticks in here and yes Maybelline lipsticks are like up here on my list of lipsticks they're like as good as or better than so many high-end luxury lipsticks. So I'm not going to talk about those today because I'm always talking about those but let's talk about the Lifter glosses. I love these so much they are pillowy and they feel fantastic on your lips and they are just they're some of my very favorite glosses I've ever run across. The other thing I love the little shimmers that they put in some of them they're just a micro fine shimmer they're not really like a glitter there might be teeny tiny bit of glitter in there but not really the other thing I love about them is that they last a while on your lips they're not like a normal gloss it just seems to disappear so quickly so I have this one in pearl which I love and all of these will have a little bit of the shine in them or the glitter in them not glitter it's the shimmer it's not glitter but I do want to tell you that they also have ones that are very much like Fenty's gloss bombs and they don't really have any sort of a reflect in them they just have the cream color to them so if you're interested in that they have lots of those this one is moon one of my favorites as well kind of like a pinkish color with a little bit of the reflect in it and then I recently just found this one which I'm so in love with whoops this one so you can see what the color is you don't need to see the barcode all right this one is called crystal I have found recently that I'm in love with gold or peach or any color like that on top of my pink lipsticks because it just makes them just really grab and makes them just look so good and I've been absolutely loving that look just some sort of a pink lipstick or a nude lipstick and then pop a gold on top of it or some sort of a apricot or or peach or something like that they look fantastic so these are probably in my top five favorite glosses of all time I really love them foundation oh my word if you haven't tried the Maybelline fit me matte and poreless you really need to now I know a lot of the craze right now is the dewy skin even though this says it's matte it's really not matte it does not make your face look flat when you wear it it's just beautiful you just have this youthful looking skin that's perfected this is absolutely 100% a high-end foundation and a little bitty drugstore bottle and I love this stuff now they do have the dewy one also and I found that in the wintertime if I'm feeling a little bit more dry if I mix the dewy with the matte and poreless it's just gorgeous on my skin it's one of those foundations that I have not heard feedback from too many people that they absolutely couldn't wear it if you're an oily skin person you're gonna like it if you're a dry skin person I think you're gonna like it if you really don't like it if you're super dry and you put it on I would just say you know put a couple drops of a hydrating primer in it put one drop of an oil in it you're gonna love it if you want that more glowy finish same thing with the oil that's really how they achieve that really glowy look of most of these foundations that last a long time and only costs like five dollars in change I think is what I got this particular bottle for so that's just so good and you just can't beat the cost on that Maybelline makes some of the best ever mascaras they are so good now I have two here and they're in my top five mascaras of all time probably too that's probably not too broad like top 10 because I really like mascara a lot but the Maybelline sky high this is one that so many people love some people don't because it does have a bendy wand like that but I find that that bendy wand actually works in my favor because if my hands shake a little bit then I can still get right down there at that base and pull that wand out and it's not going to like stick me if I just get out of control so love this one separates lengthens really gives me a lot of definition to my lashes it really does come off at night beautifully with just water and a little bit of cleanser but it doesn't smudge during the day and it doesn't give me raccoon eyes I really like it but it does come in a waterproof formula if you're interested both of these actually do this one I think actually might be the waterproof formula so this one is the falsies lash lift now while the sky high has the silicone brush with it doesn't have the natural bristles this one from fault the falsies lash lift does have the natural bristles and I really like this one too I love how this one gives volume and actually pairing these two together that's why I chose them today pairing them together for volume and definition and length it works so well the other thing that is if I use this waterproof formula in this tube to give that volume it's also going to keep my lashes curled all day and then go ahead and define them with this one the two of these together is really good and yes I know that's extra but I think that it just works out so good and I love them both now the Maybelline master chromes these came out such a long time ago but they are still they're probably one of the first ones that actually were on that highlight bandwagon just so quickly this one I think is molten ivory or something like that anyway I think it's like 240 or two I'll make sure I link that below otherwise I'm going to confuse you guys and confuse myself the same time this does come in a rose gold and this ivory color and it comes in the regular gold color and I think it even comes in a little bit deeper of a color so this is like your high beam beautiful gorgeousness ever of a highlight it's just one of those highlights that it feels buttery soft as you're working with it you can really just share it out like on my finger it's pretty shared out right there so you could just have a glow or if you like that high beam look to it use it on your eyelids wherever you want to it's beautiful you know what I like actually doing with some of these highlighters is I like lining my lips and then using a little bit of gloss and then dabbing just in the center a little bit of this highlight and then pressing my lips together it works so good to really give that middle of your lips that pouty look to them so good lastly but definitely not least is the Maybelline uh color sensational lip liners these are amazing lip liners and I really fell in love with this color which is called gone gray this is my color that I outlined my lips with to give a more pouty look and uh you know outside the look the natural lip line just a little bit there on the bottom it looks so good that one's gone gray this next one is called almond rose this is my rose color that I wear with so many things now if you wanted to you could wear almond rose with gone gray you know this one just as your lipstick color would be so pretty and then this nude color that I have right here is beige babe this is for all of my gals that loves the very nude look to their lips just your basic nude color the beige color that goes so good with so many different nude lip looks and then lastly I have this one that is called raw chocolate this one I actually have kind of gotten into lately I've almost been rebelling and doing like the 90s grunge lip lately with the really light inner color with just this you know chocolate liner on there I don't know I kind of missed that a little bit I just think it's so pretty so I've been doing that a little bit so these are amazing I love that they are an automatic that you can twist up and then I believe that they have yes they have the sharpener on the other end so if you're somebody that likes a really crisp sharp line you can do that as well so for the price on these these are amazing and they are a really beautiful liner it doesn't tug on your lips it's kind of creamy just so you know that so it's not a really dry formula like some formulas can be so these can easily go for the lip liner or the lip color either one they're just so pretty so that's my top five picks from Maybelline I hope that you did enjoy seeing these in rapid fire because this is going to be a new series on my channel where I just go from brand to brand to brand and I pick out the top five of that brand that I absolutely love and I think this is going to work out so good because there are so many beautiful drugstore brands out there and I love shopping drugstore so I think you're going to love this I might occasionally throw in maybe some rare beauty or something like that that is lys that kind of thing something that's a little bit more affordable so that you guys can see those as well Sephora collection Ulta collection that kind of thing let me know below what you think of that idea I hope that you did enjoy today's video and we're going to go out today and I'm going to put a video right up here I did a series a while ago that was called my top 10 under 10 at the drugstore I'll pop one of those videos right here if you want to go take a look at that you can go see that thanks guys so much love you to bits and I'll talk to you very soon bye bye