True Knowledge of Self

Babylon Is Fallen, Part 3

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Dwayne Lemon, Lance Wilbur

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Series Code: TKS

Program Code: TKS000011


00:30 Hello, my name is Dwayne Lemon. And I'm Lance Wilbur.
00:34 And we'd like to welcome you to another program on TKS,
00:37 a True Knowledge of Self, Where we get to know
00:41 ourselves from a biblical perspective.
00:44 We want to thank you for joining us.
00:45 We've been studying so much
00:47 as we have gone through the word of God.
00:49 And we have watched how the Lord has been leading
00:52 as we were studying history, but at the same time
00:54 we realized that history is not necessarily always history.
00:58 Because we saw that the thing that hath been
01:00 is that which shall be.
01:02 We read that from Ecclesiastes 1:9.
01:05 We saw that history has a tendency to repeat itself
01:08 and as we look at the condition of Israel as a nation.
01:12 And we saw the challenges that they went through
01:14 as a result of not being content with what God had given
01:18 and of course desiring the things that were around them.
01:21 They were not content with the culture
01:23 and the lifestyle that God wanted to give.
01:25 So they started to look at the culture and lifestyle
01:27 of the nations around them.
01:28 This of course created a major problem to the point
01:31 that God's blessings was not able to be
01:33 poured out upon them, and as a result of them
01:36 choosing sin and going deeper into a life of rebellion,
01:39 it brought them to a point where they be--
01:41 they were now found in bondage,
01:43 and so it is that we look at our own lives.
01:44 We look at our lives today and we know that God has created us
01:48 with purpose but we know that there are elements out there.
01:50 There are distractions and when we are not content
01:53 with God or do not know God,
01:55 we become subject to our surroundings.
01:58 Yeah, we'll even choose our surroundings
02:00 and in our case we're talking about what happens specifically
02:02 in the urban community dealing with
02:04 the hip-hop and R&B culture.
02:05 Not just the music but the culture,
02:07 the whole entire lifestyle package that deals with
02:10 eating, drinking, dressing, the way you talk,
02:12 walking and live and so on.
02:14 And we see that many individuals in urban youth
02:16 today are being plagued by the influences
02:20 that are connected to hip-hop and R&B culture.
02:23 And as a result of that we see a parallel taking place
02:26 in the Bible that God really, really wants to clear up.
02:29 And I'm thankful that God gives counsel
02:31 to help us know how to do this.
02:33 Lance, once again we're here... we're getting ready to go
02:37 deeper into the word of God and to understand
02:39 some things on how, you know, the Bible gives us
02:42 pictures of things that has happened in the past
02:45 and how they play a role in our future today.
02:48 And you know there's one thing that I think
02:49 would be very necessary for us to qualify.
02:52 And I want to know if you are in agreement with this
02:53 that when we talk about Babylon,
02:56 obviously when we look at Israel,
02:57 we're looking at a Babylon, which is an actual location--
03:01 You know, in the past but today we know
03:02 that there's a spiritual application to Babylon.
03:06 Are we saying that the hip-hop and R&B culture
03:10 is the spiritual application of Babylon?
03:12 No.
03:13 Okay, therefore we are in agreement and so viewers,
03:16 we want to make it very clear that we are not
03:19 by any means saying that the institution known as
03:22 Babylon that we read about in Revelation 14:8
03:25 as well Revelation 18:1-5, we are not saying that
03:30 the hip-hop and R&B culture is Babylon.
03:34 We believe that Babylon is a different institution
03:36 that we would love to talk about in future programs.
03:39 But what we do want to make clear is that
03:41 some of the influences and effects of spiritual Babylon,
03:44 we can see manifested through hip-hop and R&B culture
03:49 and it's very, very important so that we understand
03:51 that's why we wanted to take a moment to make that point.
03:54 Lance, you know there's one thing I was thinking about.
03:57 Sometimes people will think, you know,
04:00 especially if we have-- we have several viewers,
04:02 I'm sure that are looking.
04:03 Some of them have Christian backgrounds,
04:05 some of them don't.
04:06 There is an opinion in Christianity
04:08 that many say which is you know what?
04:11 Why do you spend time exposing or under--
04:15 or talking about the devices of the devil.
04:17 Why is that we're exposing some of these challenges
04:21 and problems that come through hip-hop culture.
04:23 Why can't we just talk about Jesus and only Jesus? Yeah.
04:26 And you know some times people think things like that
04:28 and I just wanted to know, do you have a thought
04:30 just to share in reference to--
04:33 why do we talk about some of these things?
04:34 What's the point of bringing out some of these negatives,
04:37 these dangers that are out there?
04:39 I think it's our duty to give justice to the truth
04:44 you have to highlight the risk.
04:46 We looked at for example Samuel and we saw
04:49 that God's people asked for a king. Right.
04:52 And Samuel he-- you know it literally
04:56 the Bible says that it upset him.
04:58 But he spent time warning and giving a clear
05:02 practical you know, unadulterated warning of what
05:07 would be the result if God's people
05:10 went through with their inclination.
05:11 So as people of God and God himself would not be God,
05:17 if He didn't give us a clear choice and say,
05:19 if you choose this way, this is what will happen.
05:23 If you choose the other way however,
05:25 this is what will happen.
05:26 And not only saying this is what will happen but saying
05:30 this is why it will happen and this is how it will happen.
05:34 So I think it's not just enough to say,
05:37 well, we're just gonna speak about "Jesus"
05:41 and not talk about any of these things.
05:44 When you're then removing the ability of people
05:49 to deal with the problems practically,
05:52 because if you just talk about an abstract concept of Christ
05:55 and God and truth and righteousness
05:58 and never able to apply it to real everyday practical life
06:03 then how can that individual listening to that
06:06 have any of the tools needed to live successfully--
06:10 And from a biblical perspective,
06:12 it's virtually impossible.
06:14 Now, it's interesting that the points that you are making,
06:18 I see them come out very forcefully
06:19 in two passages of scripture.
06:21 I want to share those because I believe
06:22 that it's not just to edify you and I.
06:25 But it's also to edify our viewers that you know
06:28 we consider the-- what the Bible says
06:30 even about dealing with the devices of the enemy.
06:33 You know, in the Book of 2 Corinthians 2, Paul,
06:37 he knows that there's a lot of problems
06:38 in the Church of Corinth.
06:39 If anybody studies the first and second Corinthians,
06:42 you can't help but to notice
06:43 that there's lots of problems in the church.
06:45 Well, here it is that Paul is talking about a brother
06:48 who fell into sin and he's counseling the people
06:51 in the Church of Corinth to try to win this person back.
06:54 You know, not to just let him go astray,
06:56 just walking in his guilt and so on.
06:59 And Paul gives specific counsel in verses 10 and 11
07:02 that I believe is very, very key as he's encouraging
07:05 the people in the Church of Corinth to forgive his brother.
07:08 Notice what it says this is in 2 Corinthians 2
07:11 and we're looking at verses 10, 11.
07:12 And it's building on this point.
07:14 It says, "To whom ye forgive any thing,
07:16 I forgive also, for if I forgave any thing,
07:20 to whom I forgave it, for your sakes
07:22 forgave I it in the person of Christ,
07:25 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us,
07:29 for we are not ignorant of his devices."
07:34 Notice that Paul literally is talking about forgiving
07:38 and he encourages them to forgive.
07:40 After he encourages them to forgive,
07:42 he talks about the importance of how he has also done this
07:45 even though he's not present.
07:47 And he talks about what would happen if he didn't do it.
07:50 He says lest, he says lest Satan
07:53 would unfortunately get an advantage over them
07:56 and then he concludes the statement by saying,
07:58 for we are not ignorant of his devices.
08:03 It's interesting that Paul who was a very successful preacher.
08:06 Paul was somebody who was not ignorant of Satan's devices
08:10 and he shows us in this verse that,
08:11 if he was Satan would have had an advantage over him.
08:15 Right. So yeah--
08:16 And sorry, but if we're in a war and the enemy is Satan
08:19 and he's constantly attacking us and attacking God
08:22 through us if you will, then would it not be an
08:26 advantage or benefit for us to know his strategy,
08:28 his plan of attack.
08:30 You know if you are fighting a literal war,
08:32 you know we spend more money probably on intelligence
08:37 and the gathering of intelligence to avoid war
08:39 or to gain an upper hand in the war than we do
08:43 in the actual fighting of the war.
08:45 So intelligence gathering is the paramount
08:49 and people are willing to, you know,
08:51 put morals and ethics aside in order to gather intelligence
08:54 to avoid a conflict or avoid hazard.
08:56 Now, Brother Lance, I got to let you know something.
09:00 Flesh and blood hath not revealed that unto thee.
09:03 And the reason why I say that, do you know that you just
09:05 literally spoke the words of Jesus in Luke 14.
09:09 Oh, we got to go there-- look at this,
09:10 Luke 14 watch this.
09:12 It's amazing that you used the parallel of warfare
09:14 because look at what Jesus did in Luke 14,
09:17 talking about warfare and look at the words.
09:19 And you're gonna notice that-- like I said,
09:20 flesh and blood have revealed it to you.
09:22 Watch this-- Yes.
09:23 In Luke 14, the Bible shows us an example of Christ
09:27 giving counsel to those who dare to be His disciples
09:31 and He says in Luke 14:31, notice this,
09:36 "Or what king, going to make war against another king,
09:42 sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether
09:46 he be able with ten thousand to meet him
09:49 that cometh against him with twenty thousand?"
09:53 Here it is that Jesus literally is using warfare
09:56 as an example to bring out the same point.
09:58 We would dare not go into a natural war,
10:02 if we don't understand some things about our opponents.
10:06 And Jesus shows that it's not wise to do that
10:08 and so it is that we're in a warfare,
10:10 but this warfare is not against flesh and blood,
10:11 it's against principalities and powers
10:13 and spiritual wickedness in high places.
10:15 So as a result of that crisis, you need to understand
10:17 your enemy, you need to understand him.
10:19 Not that we give him glory but that his methodologies
10:23 and his principles would become expose so that
10:26 when it comes in front of us,
10:28 we'll be able to call the counterfeit.
10:30 And be able to say, this is not the genuine.
10:31 Let me go ahead and follow the truth.
10:33 So this is why we talk about these things.
10:36 This is why there are times we have to, you know,
10:38 highlight specific danger points
10:40 as it relates to the urban issues in the cities
10:44 and hip-hop and R&B culture.
10:46 Right. This is why we're doing.
10:48 Because it has become a force that is literally universal
10:52 that has broken every language barrier
10:53 every race and creed and color.
10:55 I mean, I literally saw a video of individuals
10:58 who are break dancing before the pope.
11:00 I mean, they were literally six feet away
11:02 before Pope John Paul II.
11:04 I mean, to watch a video like that and to see that
11:06 this is how far hip-hop has gone.
11:08 And he is there blessing, giving--
11:09 Yeah, and Pope John Paul he's literally blessing
11:12 these break dancers.
11:13 I mean, it has broken every barrier.
11:15 So obviously this is why we're talking about these things
11:18 because it is a counterfeit force against the truth of God.
11:22 It is a counterfeit knowledge of self
11:24 in comparison to the true knowledge of self.
11:27 Now here it is that Israel is in bondage. Yeah.
11:30 We're learning some lessons from this whole experience.
11:33 Daniel is there now and we're in Daniel 1,
11:36 we reviewed from our last program that
11:39 Daniel and his fellows, the fellow Israelites
11:42 and the children of Judah.
11:43 They are all captives now and Nebuchadnezzar is trying
11:48 to introduce a three fold means of breakdowns,
11:51 specifically in Daniel 1.
11:53 It's talking about change their education,
11:56 change their names, change their diet.
11:59 And I know we're gonna have some programs,
12:01 where we're gonna specifically deal with these things
12:02 because we're gonna see a parallel again of how
12:05 Satan is trying to unfit us for the final conflicts,
12:08 that we're getting ready to face and of course
12:09 how to be prepared to meet Jesus.
12:11 So why don't you build with us and bring us to Daniel
12:13 and help us see some things that come out of this,
12:15 so that we can again look at it
12:16 and know how to apply it practically.
12:18 All right, we're just gonna take a snapshot
12:21 where we're looking at Daniel 1 and to kind of bring us up
12:27 to speed if you want a little background.
12:30 There were three campaigns that Nebuchadnezzar levied
12:36 against the Southern Kingdom of Judah,
12:38 which Israel have been fractured into two kingdoms
12:41 and now the northern kingdom had already been besieged
12:44 by Syria and now fast 40 years later
12:48 the Southern Kingdom of Judah is present and Nebuchadnezzar
12:51 is expanding his territory as a faithful general.
12:55 And as Nebuchadnezzar, the first time as it was
12:58 his common practice, he took the royalty.
13:03 He took the royal seed if you will and he--
13:05 he took the intelligence of Israel
13:09 that the cream of the crop and brought them back to Egypt.
13:12 This was the first campaign, this is roughly 605, 606 BC.
13:17 Nebuchadnezzar's first campaign
13:19 against the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
13:21 So this royalty and this intelligence now
13:26 that's brought to Babylon, Daniel is a part of that.
13:29 And his three-- as referred to as
13:31 a three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Hannaniah,
13:34 Mishael, and Azariah, with their Hebrew names
13:37 and so they find themselves in a foreign land
13:41 literally 1,500 miles, perhaps on foot
13:45 but they're trudging though, perhaps they cut through
13:48 the desert or they went around the fertile crescent
13:50 but nevertheless they find themselves coming
13:52 into a foreign land as we looked at Deuteronomy 28
13:56 would be the result if God's people continued in rebellion.
13:59 So in Daniel 1, we're just going to kind of
14:01 look at how the Bible approaches this experience,
14:07 this first experience of Daniel
14:10 and his associates in this foreign land.
14:13 We talked about the changes that were forced against
14:17 the Israelites and we see how Daniel gained the victory.
14:25 He did not compromise although individuals
14:28 were apparently forced, they still had a choice
14:31 and in standing for God, Daniel gained the victory.
14:36 So we're looking at Daniel 1 and we're looking at verse 17
14:40 and we're looking at verses 17 all the way through verse 20.
14:45 So it says in Daniel 1:17, " As for these four children,
14:50 God gave them knowledge and skill
14:54 in all learning and wisdom, and Daniel had
14:57 understanding in all visions and dreams.
15:01 Now at the end of the days that the king had said
15:04 he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs
15:08 brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.
15:11 And the king communed with them,
15:13 and among them all was found none like Daniel,
15:17 Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
15:20 therefore stood they before the king.
15:23 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding,
15:26 that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times
15:30 better than all the magicians and astrologers
15:33 that were in all his realm."
15:37 Now it shows us in summary at the very end of the chapter
15:41 that the Israelites were preparing
15:44 for a special examination that was to be done
15:46 by the king himself to see, if they were ready,
15:51 if they were competent enough to serve in his realm.
15:55 Because again the king wanted to take the best of the nations
15:58 that he conquered and he wanted to then trained them
16:00 and employee them in his service.
16:02 So he could have the best of the best from all nations.
16:05 So Nebuchadnezzar was very intelligent man
16:07 and he had a system and a schooling system,
16:10 a university if you will that was designed to do this.
16:13 However he thought that he was giving them an advantage
16:17 by offering them his own food, from his own table,
16:20 his own drink from his own table to them.
16:22 So that they could excel and be prepared
16:26 in the best shape to learn and be educated
16:29 in Babylonian alliance.
16:31 Because they thought themselves to be
16:32 at the height of civilization, the leaders of existence.
16:36 Daniel and his Hebrew friend saw that the food
16:40 offered by the king, the drink offered by the king
16:44 was not according to the will of God.
16:47 It was not in line with God's instruction
16:50 and as we talk about this.
16:53 It was very interesting is that they chose to honor God
16:58 and obey their conscience rather than eat the meat
17:02 and eat the food from the king's table.
17:04 It seems simple and it seems trivial but this very act,
17:08 the proposal that Daniel then made.
17:10 Said, listen, we're going to eat just pulse and water.
17:14 And they were considering this in the light of risking
17:18 their very lives, if they were doing something
17:21 outside of the authorization of the king not only were
17:24 Daniel and his friends at risk but the administrators at risk,
17:27 the overseers, the supervisors, the instructors,
17:29 everybody is at risk, if this doesn't work out.
17:32 If they are willing to sacrifice these
17:35 Hebrew prospects for the sake of their own, you know,
17:41 their won preference if you will in their eyes.
17:44 Yeah. So they took a stand.
17:47 They obeyed their conscience, they chose to serve God
17:50 over the offerings of a foreign king
17:54 and at the end of this process.
17:57 After the 10 days they were examined,
17:58 they were found on a healthier condition
18:00 than all of their peers.
18:01 At the end of their training, they were examined
18:04 by the king himself and he found them to be
18:05 10 times wiser than the entire university and he exalted them
18:10 to the highest offices if you will
18:13 especially for a foreign group and we're talking about
18:16 Daniel and his friends under 25,
18:19 maybe under 21 at this time.
18:22 Young people taking stands for God
18:24 in the midst of overwhelming circumstances.
18:27 Now you see that's the very point
18:29 that I wanted to build on.
18:30 Because I'm looking at again these parallels,
18:33 here goes a group of youth that were slaves.
18:37 They were in captivity, what we know that
18:39 hip-hop culture teaches many people that
18:42 they are slaves and that we're in a world
18:44 that's not our own and this where they get into
18:46 the whole planets and this is where we're gonna
18:48 supposedly ascend to and have control
18:50 and have our own government, but nevertheless we see
18:53 that Daniel, he's a young person and his comrades.
18:57 They're young but they're captives but nevertheless,
19:00 they didn't allow the captivity to become an excuse to blend
19:04 with what was around them.
19:06 Another thing, Daniel and his friends
19:08 saw the majority of their people.
19:12 There's a reason why the Bible says,
19:13 there was none but Daniel and the other friends
19:17 who were the ones that were faithful.
19:18 So that indicates that the rest were not.
19:21 So here it is that we find young men,
19:24 who were men of principle and standard
19:26 that were not influenced even by the crowd
19:29 and everybody else that was around them.
19:31 Daniel had every reason to compromise based on
19:34 the " peer pressures" of society.
19:36 Yet Daniel did not give in to that. Right.
19:38 That's a lesson to our urban youth to let them notice,
19:40 say listen, just because you are surrounded
19:43 by certain influences, things that tempt you
19:47 and pull at you, does not mean that
19:49 you have to be part of it.
19:50 Right. It doesn't mean that you--
19:51 you can still stand for God and you can still lift up
19:54 standard and truth, and you can definitely
19:57 not violate your conscience even as a young person.
20:00 Daniel had temperance, Daniel had self control.
20:03 I mean, come on, now you know to watch a bunch of the kings
20:06 meet and I guarantee you this was not
20:08 the worst of the distributions of food.
20:11 This was the best, this was the highest quality
20:14 of the meat, of the highest quality of the wines.
20:16 The highest quality of all sorts of food items
20:18 and yet Daniel could look at that attractive
20:20 thought it may have been.
20:21 And say give me a simple diet
20:23 because Daniel had a higher standard.
20:25 I don't want to defile my body.
20:26 I don't want to do anything that's gonna debilitate my mind
20:29 from clearly understanding God and His will for me.
20:31 That's another lesson that we can see that we can
20:34 pass on to our youth in, you know, the urban cities
20:37 and to let them know you don't have
20:40 to give into your surroundings.
20:42 If hip-hop culture pulls at you and says come on man,
20:44 you got to do this, everybody else is doing it.
20:46 We have a lesson from Daniel that says,
20:48 I don't have to do it. Right.
20:49 When hip-hop culture begins to impress upon
20:51 the hearts and minds of our youth to say,
20:53 it's all right after all it contains wisdom.
20:56 Nebuchadnezzar's educational system contained wisdom,
20:59 but the wisdom was designed to steal away God's truth.
21:02 The same way that so called wisdom that is given
21:05 in hip-hop culture is designed to steal away God's truth.
21:08 The youth can say no, as Daniel said no.
21:11 And when they were under the pressures of life,
21:14 Daniel and his fellows understood
21:16 that I can go to God.
21:18 I can go to somebody outside of me that has power
21:22 and that has resources to give me so that I can stand against
21:26 this incredible world power like Babylon.
21:29 So it is with our youth today that they can access God,
21:31 when the temptation come, when the weaknesses come,
21:34 they can go to God and say Lord,
21:36 I want to come to you and access in
21:38 and step into your power source of your spirit
21:41 to give me power to resist that which is evil
21:44 and to embrace that which is good.
21:46 Right and God rewarded their efforts.
21:48 And God rewarded.
21:49 That's another thing, serving God has practical benefits.
21:53 It's not just future benefits.
21:55 They are real life, real time benefits
21:58 that we obtain from serving God.
22:00 So God honor-- they honored God,
22:02 God honored them and exalted them
22:04 above their brethren that were compromisers.
22:07 Exactly. So we're looking now to see that Daniel,
22:11 you know, he access the wisdom of Go7d
22:13 and as a result of this God rewarded him.
22:16 God blessed him, and God did amazing things
22:18 in him and through him that not only,
22:21 you know the practical benefits, you know,
22:22 we can look at how Daniel was strong and Daniel was powerful.
22:27 And you know his physical stature was good
22:30 but in addition to that, God also demonstrated
22:33 his favor to him through his influence for God's glory.
22:37 And that's what God wants to do with all of our youth.
22:38 That's what God wants to do with us even as adult.
22:41 He wants to demonstrate His power and His character,
22:44 so that we can have a holy influence
22:47 on those we come in contact with.
22:48 That's right. So when we're talking about wisdom,
22:51 whether we're talking about in regards to the word wisdom.
22:54 You know, what do we mean, when we say
22:55 what's the difference between knowledge and wisdom?
22:58 Okay, now in a previous program,
22:59 remember we talked about knowledge and the difference
23:02 is Nebuchadnezzar was willing to teach Daniel
23:04 all sorts of amazing things, you know.
23:06 Learning great things about history,
23:08 learning great things, even perhaps about
23:10 spirituality to a very large degree.
23:12 But we learned that the chief knowledge that God
23:15 wants to give is a knowledge of Himself and Jesus Christ,
23:19 whom He has sent in John 17:3 we saw that.
23:22 So the first aspect of this wonderful blessing of God
23:26 is that we're to gain knowledge but that true knowledge
23:30 to understand who God is and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
23:35 This is where you get the quotation in Jude verse 24.
23:37 Jude only has one book so therefore it's just Jude.
23:40 And verse 24 and it says, "Now unto him that is able
23:43 to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless
23:45 before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy."
23:48 Verse 25, "To the only wise God."
23:54 In other words this is the one that we want access to.
23:57 We want the one who only is wise
23:59 and then what we do is we go to him
24:01 and say give me this wisdom Lord.
24:03 I don't have any in and of myself.
24:05 The wisdom of the world is foolishness
24:07 but the wisdom of God is almighty indeed.
24:09 So therefore the first aspect is I must recognize who God is,
24:14 and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
24:16 And then the wisdom connected to it is that
24:19 whatever God instructs me to do, I will do.
24:24 Yes, so it's the application of the knowledge.
24:26 It's the application of the knowledge
24:28 but watch this regardless of how you feel.
24:31 I mean, how many times have we been told
24:32 to do certain things but we don't feel to do it.
24:34 So therefore feelings is not in the equation.
24:37 When we know something is right,
24:38 God calls us to do it because think about it.
24:40 When I was pulled out of hip-hop and R&B culture,
24:42 I'm gonna tell you right now,
24:44 my feelings were not in harmony with it.
24:45 Yeah. I knew what God said.
24:47 God said, this music does not draw you keep your mind on me.
24:50 This culture does not make you reflect my image.
24:54 It makes you reflect the image
24:55 of the rebellious one Lucifer, Satan.
24:57 So therefore God had to pull me out of these things
25:01 but in my feelings quite honestly,
25:04 I didn't want to do it.
25:06 And this is a powerful lesson because we are told
25:08 to walk by faith and not by sight,
25:11 and faith is demonstrated through works.
25:13 It's something that I do because I understand
25:16 this is what God has called me to do
25:18 even though I don't feel it.
25:20 And there's a wonderful book that I read sometime ago
25:23 but it's powerful, it's written by Ellen White
25:25 and the book is called Early Writings.
25:28 It is in page 72 under the chapter called
25:30 Prayer and Faith and what it says
25:32 in that chapter is it says, Faith is ours to exercise
25:38 but joyful feeling and the blessing is Gods to give to us.
25:44 Now that's powerful-- Yeah.
25:45 Faith is mine to exercise.
25:47 I don't-- I may not feel it but God says do it.
25:49 When I do it, God says very good,
25:52 I will now reward you by giving you joyful feeling
25:56 and the blessing for the choice you made.
25:59 And I believe that Daniel may have been tempted.
26:02 Daniel may very much he said, man that food looks good.
26:04 You know the majority of my people
26:05 are bowing and giving in, why can't I do it
26:07 for the purpose of safety.
26:08 I believe that temptation hidden.
26:10 But Daniel was a man of principle
26:12 and he did not allow his surroundings to take him over.
26:16 So it is with God.
26:17 God expects us regardless of the influences
26:20 of the urban lifestyle,
26:21 the influences of hip-hop culture.
26:23 When we know this thing is not leading me towards God
26:26 and towards His word, it's taken me away from it.
26:28 And when we can understand that this is bad and not good,
26:31 it is at that time that God says,
26:33 choose this day whom you will serve.
26:34 He didn't say feel this day whom you will serve.
26:36 He says chose it and then when we choose it
26:40 then God says, very good
26:41 and he rewards us with joyful feeling
26:45 and the blessings for the choice we made.
26:47 That's absolutely amazing and when we think
26:52 of the blessings that God wants to provide us with,
26:56 when we think of the relationship
26:58 and the right way that God wants to restore to us
27:04 in the sense that we're fallen away but
27:05 God wants to bring us back and reinstate us
27:07 as His children, as His sons and daughters.
27:10 We have to consider these things and way them out.
27:12 Despite the fact that I might have disadvantages,
27:15 I might have been reared in poverty.
27:17 I might have-- or had a single parent home.
27:20 I might have had this happened or that happened
27:22 of these bad things happened.
27:24 Nothing is an excuse to go against God.
27:27 He gives us every possible opportunity and the power
27:33 to choose him no matter what happens around us
27:36 and no matter what anybody does,
27:38 so we want to continue to encourage you
27:41 to follow along with us in this series
27:43 and we thank you for watching TKS,
27:45 a True Knowledge of Self.
27:47 We ask that you come again, join us again,
27:50 invite a friend and remember in Proverbs 2:6
27:54 "It is the Lord that gives wisdom,
27:56 out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding."
28:00 God bless you.


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Revised 2015-05-28