 family summer celebration. Join us on June 4th from 5 to 8 p.m. for the Super Summer Sunday. We're firing up the grill and serving up everything from juicy hot dogs and sizzling hamburgers to refreshing ice cream and sweet, juicy watermelon. But that's not all. There will be music and games for the whole family. Join in the fun as we organize kickball and volleyball games for all ages. It's an opportunity to bond, laugh, and create lasting memories. Remember, the Super Summer Sunday will take place on June 4th at 5 p.m. right here on Mitchell Field at our church. Don't forget to bring your favorite lawn chair for your comfort and relaxation. So mark your calendars, spread the word, and get ready for an unforgettable summer experience with your church family. We can't wait to see you at the Super Summer Sunday Cookout. Subscribe to our channel for more updates and exciting announcements, and share this video with your friends and family. Let's make this the best cookout yet. My name is Ben Martin. My wife, Shari, and I would like to invite you out to the Sixth Annual Family Beach Fest. You don't want to miss this year's special guest, Sean Foyt, of the Lettuce Worship Movement. Your guests include Freedom Church Worship Team, Christian Artist Brother Bo, Evangelist Adam Field, and our keynote speaker this year is my very own Pastor Joey Rogers of Pace Assembly Ministries. Come on out to this free concert starting at noon Saturday, May 27th at the Pensacola Beach Pavilion. As we honor God, family, and our military on Memorial Day weekend. See you there. Ready for a fun family summer celebration. Join us on June 4th from 5 to 8 p.m. for the Super Summer Sunday. We're firing up the grill and serving up everything from juicy hot dogs and sizzling hamburgers to refreshing ice cream and sweet, juicy watermelon. But that's not all. There will be music and games for the whole family. Join in the fun as we organize kickball and volleyball games for all ages. It's an opportunity to bond, laugh, and create lasting memories. Remember, the Super Summer Sunday will take place on June 4th at 5 p.m. right here on Mitchell Field at our church. Don't forget to bring your favorite lawn chair for your comfort and relaxation. So mark your calendars, spread the word, and get ready for an unforgettable summer experience with your church family. We can't wait to see you at the Super Summer Sunday Cookout. Subscribe to our channel for more updates and exciting announcements, and share this video with your friends and family. Let's make this the best cookout yet. My name is Ben Martin. My wife, Shari, and I would like to invite you out to the Sixth Annual Family Beach Fest. You don't want to miss this year's special guest, Sean Foyt of the Lettuce Worship Movement. Additional guests include Freedom Church Worship Team, Christian Artist Brother Bo, Evangelist Adam Field, and our keynote speaker this year is my very own Pastor Joey Rogers of PACE Assembly Ministries. Come on out to this free concert starting at noon Saturday, May 27th at the Pinskull of Eats Pavilion as we honor God, family, and our military on Memorial Day weekend. See you there. Get up and make some noise in the house of the Lord. On special day, we're gonna honor graduates, but more than anything else, we've come to lift up the Lord, right? I say we've come to lift up the Lord. Anybody gonna lift up the Lord with me? Come on, let's magnify the Lord. Let us exalt his name together. Would you lift your hands towards heaven? Let's cry out to God this morning for the Holy Ghost outpouring. Father, we come before you in the name of Jesus Christ. We believe right now, Lord, that you are the same yesterday, today, and forever, and nothing is too hard for you. So as we gather together and we bring our faith together and we link arms with one another in faith, let it grow up, I pray, right now to the degree that people will be saved, healed, delivered, and set free by the power of an awesome God we serve. We pray today, God, that you would let the wind blow so hard through this house in the Holy Ghost that you'd push back every part of the gates of hell that will not prevail against your church today. Give us a moment in this place today where the presence of God falls like fire and rain at the same time, and we give you the glory, we give you the honor, and we give you the praise in Jesus' mighty name. And everybody believes it, shout a great big amen. Look at your neighbor and tell him, come on, let's worship together. Come on, let's glorify the Lord today. I'm in for Jesus, come and dine on him. Come on, shake somebody's hand. I know God is gonna bless your life for you this morning. Thank you so very much for watching. Just out of somebody, let them know to click on this morning to pay us a simple. To give Jesus one more handclap of praise this morning. We're so glad that you've joined us this morning. We're so glad that you are here. And again, if this is your first time here, whether it's you or with your family, at the end of service today, if you'll walk out into the four year over to the left-hand side, we have a place called Guest Central. We'd like for you to step in there, get some information about you, whether it's you and with your family, let you know how you stay connected with us and with the church at Pastor Ms. Rita have a special gift just for you. So please do that today so we can get to know you, get to meet you. Also, we have a Bible giveaway this morning. This whole month, if you're brand new this morning, let me let you know, we've been doing this whole year, it's called Back to the Bible, letting you have a physical Bible in your hand this morning. You can, you got it on your phone and everything, but there's nothing about having the word of God in your hand everywhere you go. So I wanna bless somebody this morning by giving a Bible this morning. So if you reach underneath your seat right now, you might have that lucky ticket, reach really far if under there, feel the middle part of that seat and we'll give the Bible away to somebody who has that. If you have it, just hold it up in the air and I'll give it to you. Ha, ha, ha, you all give her a great big, she found it under there, so she didn't even know it was there. It's okay, there we are. Ha, ha, ha, amen, amen. Make sure you bring your Bible every, every time you come to service, it's back to the Bible. Make sure you bring yours with you. How many glad givers were in the house this morning? How many of God has blessed your life you'd be ready to give this morning? God requires us to give 10% because you know, we can never give back to God how much he's giving us and it's not about the amount, it's not about God's not worried about the amount, God just wants to see where your heart is at. So that's why we're giving. And another part of worship, you know, we sing songs and everything which is worship but also another part of worship is by giving. Telling God, I'm so grateful, I wanna give back to you. So there's ways you can give, if you're watching via live on your screen right now, there's a place right there at the bottom that you can click to give, you can give in the envelope or give on the app. If you are giving cash in an envelope, you can drop into the buckets as you leave this morning. So I know God will bless you and whatever you have to give this morning. But this morning I'm very excited that we get to the time of the year here in May, it's all about graduation and all kinds of stuff like that. So I'm super excited about what we're gonna do is we're gonna honor all the graduates this morning that are gonna be here this morning. And I'm super excited about them, I'm super excited about what their accomplishments and I know what God is gonna do, whether they're going off to college, whether they're staying in town, I know God's gonna bless their life and do great things in their life. But we're gonna honor them this morning. So Michael, if you will please read the names of the graduates that are coming this morning. Pastry and congregation, I present to you the graduating class of 2023. From Baker High School, Stevie Mason Jr. From Milton High School, Seth Wilson. From Pace High School, Heaven Brander. Heaven was not able to be with us this morning. Also from Pace High School, Taylor Marie Elliott. Also from Pace High School, David Caden Hand. Also graduating from Pace High School, Anthony Moore. Graduating from Pace High School, Melody Shields. Also graduating from Pace High School, Carly Rose Warrington. Carly was not able to be with us this morning. Graduating from Pensacola State College, Ajaesia Cristiana Poe. Ajaesia was not able to make it this morning. And finally, graduating from the University of West Florida, Jessica Lewis. What a blessing to have these incredible graduates that are now taking the next step. And what we would like to do, and in fact, I think that this may have been a subliminal thought, not necessarily a real email. What they would like for you to do is pick them up as sponsors for the rest of their life. Some that are going off to college, some that are going to Votek, whatever it may be, today we're gonna pray God's hand upon them and God's favor and anointing upon their life. And I believe that God is able to use their life all the days of their life. And I pray that the cycle of what takes place in the life of an individual, some of you know what I'm talking about. So many times the cycle happens where students go off to college, they've had a Christian upbringing, they've had the word of God put in them and then they go off to college and then somehow it gets expunged and then years later they turn around and find out, you know what that was was real. My goal, my prayer this morning for them is that they'll stay strong in their faith in the face of all that's taking place and be what God's called them to be all the days of their life, amen? Would you stand with me? Because the image that I want them to be able to see in their mind and in their heart all their days is your hand stretched out toward them and praying for them and that's what we're gonna do now. Pastor T. and Lauren are gonna come behind them and I want you to join me in prayer today. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we thank you for every life that is represented here. Lord, we recognize that all the education and all the things that they've accomplished and your spirit that has led them and guided them even through some difficult places, Lord, early in their life and dreams and things that they've had that the Lord may seem to allude them. I pray even now that you would bring a fresh purpose and a fresh anointing upon their life. May your spirit, God, just guide them and direct them in every decision that is made and for all that they have already accomplished and all the things that you have done inside of their life. I pray that the most important and the preeminence of your presence in their life would be the one thing that they would constantly remember, value, celebrate, and worship is what you've done. All wisdom and all knowledge comes from you and we pray, God, that you would bestow that upon them in their future. We pray for it because according to your word, Lord, you're thinking of thought about them, a thought of an expected end and a future, Lord, that you have already outlined from the dawn of time. We give you praise for it right now in the mighty name of Jesus and everybody believes it, shout a great big amen. Would you let these graduates know how much you appreciate and love them today? Come on, give it up for them, amen. Don't let them know it, amen. Hey, turn around to somebody and tell them, I'm glad you graduated. There you go, just tell them. And you can be seated for just a moment. We're so glad that you're here this morning and I just wanna mention a couple, two, three things and if they'll be ready in the back if they need to put this up. One thing, I want you to know that this church, your church, Pace Assembly, both here and those of you who watch online, your regular attenders here, I want you to know something. Your church is here for you and doing everything we can to reach out to touch your life, help you to pray for you, pray with you to be a vehicle of God's blessing and I pray that this church is a blessing to you every time that you think of it. But I want you to know this, we're not mind readers. As much as we would like to be able to minister to you unless we know what your need is if you've gone to the hospital or you may have had someone who's passed in your family or whatever it may be, we need you to let us know that. So whatever you do and many of you may be brand new to this congregation, you don't know that. There are prayer request forms that are in the back. You can write that down. We'll add that to our prayer list. We are confidential in that so you don't have to worry about telling everything or us being able to disclose any of that information. We wanna agree with you in prayer. I believe that God answers prayer and just in fact this past week as we were visiting in the hospital and touching the lives of people in the hospital, God has already worked on their behalf. The report came back. There was no cancer whatsoever and God is already working. Come on somebody. How many of you know prayer changes things? God changes things. So we need to hear from you. If you have a need, don't hesitate to use that as an opportunity of connection. We just wanted to let you know that or you could call the office, put it on prayer request form, whatever that may be. Also wanna mention to you that this will probably be over the next couple of weeks perhaps. The last time you'll be able to put your sign up in for the Israel trip. I will tell you that we are very, very close to the closing of that and you'll be getting a letter all of you that have already signed up to let you know more of the details because there may be some things and dates and so forth that you need to be aware of so that you can make a decision on whether or not you can or whether or not we will have enough facility and room for you to be able to go. And so there's information in the four year of that. Also wanna mention to you real quick and you heard it on the announcements about this coming super, I gotta say this slow or I'm really gonna mess it up. Super Summer Sunday, is it there? Yes, Super Summer Sunday is coming on the first weekend in June on that Sunday afternoon at five from five until eight. I wanna tell you if COVID and the pandemic did anything, it caused people to be isolated and in many cases lonely and left alone, all that kind of stuff. Well, this will probably be the first time, I think it is, that we will have done this. We're calling the entirety of this church and even if you're watching online, you wanna drive in from out of town, out on the ball field, out on Mitchell Field as we call it at five o'clock on that Sunday afternoon, we're gonna have free hamburgers and hot dogs, stuff for the kids, blow-ups for the kids. What else are we gonna have? Volleyball, we're gonna have some music out there, we're gonna have hot dogs and hamburgers and all that kind of thing. And just a time of fellowship and enjoying, being able to be around folks that are of like precious faith and bring your unsaved loved ones. There's no telling what God will do. We want you to make plans to be with us. It's a church-wide event all ages and everybody's welcome and we'll look forward to you being there. It will cost you nothing. All you gotta do is just show up and we do need you, though, however, to register. And there is a QR code that's right there and if you'll take your phone out and just hit that button on the QR code, it'll take you to the registration so we can know how many hamburgers and such to be able to put together. We need you to register so we can get that information. So please do that here or you can do it in the foyer. There's information out there as well. Also, this coming weekend is Memorial Weekend. Next weekend is Memorial Weekend. It's also Pentecost Sunday. And so we're gonna do what the Bible says. Amen, give the Lord praise for the outpouring of the spirit. We're gonna do what the Bible says and we're gonna get out of the church. And next Sunday, or next Saturday is Family Beach Fest. And I want Ben and Cherie to come up here on this platform. We're gonna pray for the Family Beach Fest that's gonna be going on this coming Memorial Weekend. On Saturday, the 27th, you've seen the advertisement. Sean Foyt's gonna be their worship leader out there. I'm gonna have the privilege this year to be able to go out and speak and preach the gospel. I don't want you to, I need you to be praying that God would give us a great harvest of soul. Pastor, how are you gonna get a harvest of soul out on the beach? Let me tell you, when the gospel is preached, somebody is gonna change their life. And the one thing you know about me is I'm not gonna bring them some milk toast. I believe God's already given me the message. And here's the title, so you can be praying with me about it. Your appointment with God. How many of you know you got an appointment with God? Let me just tell you, everybody's going to heaven. This may rock your theology. Everybody's going to heaven, but not everybody's gonna stay. You got an appointment with God. So next weekend on Saturday, about midday, I'm gonna be preaching. If you don't pray for nobody else, you better pray for me. But Ben and Cherie have invited me to come out, participate in this year's Family Beach Fest. He's been doing this now for how many years? You all been doing it? Six years, this is the sixth year. And it happens to be on the same weekend as the Great Big Pride Festival that goes out there on the beach as well. What a better time to be able to get out there and preach the gospel. It's all about God, country, and celebrating our military. It was a brainchild that they had many years ago and right out there in the middle of all that's going on. The gospel's gonna be preached. There's gonna be worship music going up in the air. Sean Foyd, if you haven't heard of him before, he's been on the cutting edge of what's been going on even during COVID. They were ready to arrest him and put him in jail for having outdoor services in the middle of COVID. You know what he did? He kept right on worshiping Jesus. He's their special guest. So they're inviting all of you that wanna be able to come out there, come and join them at any time during the day. It will be happening from noon to five on Saturday the 27th. Would you do me one more thing and stand to your feet, stretch your hand this direction? I want you to pray that God would just anoint this couple and all that takes place on the Family Beach Fest this coming weekend so that God can get the glory. Did you hear what I said? Nobody else but the Lord gets the glory and when that takes place, if he is lifted up, he'll do the drawing of all men. Can you say amen to that? Come on, pray out loud with me. Father, in the name of Jesus, we praise you for giving the seed of this thought and this ministry into their hearts and we pray God that you would cause it to prosper. Pray that you would cause it this coming weekend, next weekend to already set the course of what takes place. All of the paperwork that needs to be finalized, everything that needs to be done. May your hand of favor and glory be upon it. Let I pray on that day, the glory of God just come down in that place in such a powerful way. Lord, that lives will be chained with hangout happening this weekend on the far side and Alabama and Florida line and all kinds of debauchery taking place right in the middle of it. Lord, let us lift the cross of Jesus Christ that all men would be drawn under you and we give you the glory, the honor and the praise in Jesus mighty name. Everybody believes it, shout a great big amen. Amen, God bless y'all. Praise God, turn around to your neighbor this morning and tell them I've come to worship the Lord. They had no idea, they had no idea what I was gonna be preaching on. It's not often that I'm able to give them that before Saturday night at about 11 o'clock. The anointing comes at Saturday night at 11 o'clock. But they're going to, I want you to stand and worship with them as they come. They're not here to be cheerleaders to you and they're not here for you to be a spectator. Come on, look at your neighbor, tell them I'm not a spectator, I'm gonna participate. In a few moments, I'm gonna bring you a message about courage to stand. They're about to sing this song standing. I want you to make up your mind this morning that no matter what's going on in the world, I've come to stand for Jesus Christ and open my mouth and glorify him. Let's worship the Lord this morning. Come on some more. The voice of the Father, inviting you to walk on the water, risk it on the call and into it. Lord, let your healing flow this morning. In this atmosphere of worship, let your touch be manifest in the life of every person. I want you to know what God's not just for you, it's for the person that I have a hold of person here and those that are watching online. We believe God to cause an anxious mind to be settled to be prayed from a friend, right? Making it manifest, oh, God, heaven turns around and reciprocates that. From heaven today, God, raise the best praise. Clap your hands, let's see what God is gonna speak to our hearts about today. If you take your Bibles and go with me to the first chapter, worship is meant to get the seed of the word into your heart. It breaks up the fallow ground. How many of you understand what I'm talking about? The presence of God breaks up hard places, so the seed of the word. Why do I need the seed, pastor? Because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I don't wanna just, I don't wanna fly on fumes. I wanna be propelled by the power of the word, don't you? Daniel chapter number one, this message for all of you seniors that are out there, I'm talking about graduating seniors, it's not just for graduating seniors. This word is for every one of us today, but I specifically wanna make sure that our graduating seniors and those that are in the class of 23 or subsequent years get ahold of this because I believe it's a picture of where we are right now. And there's just a few principles, a few points that I wanna give to you today. There's much more than what I'll ever get to in this story, but in the book of Daniel, chapter number one, I'm just gonna, the whole chapter is, well, the whole book is incredible. Chapter number one gives us the basis that is carried on throughout the rest of the book. In the third year of the reign of Jehoachim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, into Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoachim, king of Judah, into his hands with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his God, and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God. He brought God's holy vessels into his demonic temple. And the king spake unto Ashvanez, the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel and of the king's seed and of the princes, children in whom was no blemish but well-favored. Notice this criteria, this character, this character study in verse four, no blemish, they were well-favored, they were good-looking. All of them standing on this platform were good-looking, amen? They were skillful in all wisdom and cunning in knowledge and understanding science, and such as had ability in them, this is what I want you to underline, to stand in the king's palace. Before they even got to Babylon, they were already qualified to stand in the king's palace. Before you ever face the trial, before you ever get in their presence, God has been preparing you to take a stand in the king's palace. We read on, and the Bible says, and the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them three years that at the end thereof, they might stand before the king. Here's another standing. Now, among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle, and Azariah. You don't know them by those names. Verse seven, under whom the princes of the eunuchs gave names, for he gave unto Daniel the name built the chaser, and unto Hananiah of Shadrach, and unto Michelle, Meshach, and to Azariah a bendigo. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not, he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank, therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Verse 15, and at the end of 10 days, their countenance appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Thus, Melzar took away the portion of their meat and the wine which they should drink and gave them pulse. He gave them bean soup and water. As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding of all visions and dreams. Look what happens when you honor God. Now at the end of the days that the king had said that he should bring them in, then the princes of the eunuchs brought them before Nebuchadnezzar, and the king communed with them and among them all was found none, none. None like Daniel, Hananiah, Meshach, Azariah, therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them, he found them 10 times, 10 times better. Look at your neighbor and tell them, God said you're 10 times better. Not one time, not five times, but 10 times better. 10 times better than who? Than all the magicians, astrologers, politicians, potentates, princes, presidents, and anybody else in the land. That's what it says that we're in all his realm. And Daniel continued even under the first year of King Cyrus. This is a powerful passage of scripture for us today. It is where we are right now. I'm looking for a church full of Daniels. I said I'm looking for a church full of Daniels. I'm looking for somebody who's been brought to the kingdom for such a time as this, anointed for such a time as this, all those trials, my God, I feel my health coming in the room. All those trials and all those tribulations and all that persecution and all them yapping against you and all the attacks coming from outside and everything written about you on Facebook, all of that was to prime you and prepare you to stand in the presence of even an evil king and give a good report that our God reigns. If that's your desire to be used to the Lord lift your hands and let's ask God to do his thing today. Father, in the name of Jesus, anoint this place in this preacher and all of those watching around the world to become of the spirit of excellence like that one called Daniel and we give you glory for it in Jesus' mighty name. Everybody believes it, say a good amen. Turn to your neighbor and tell him, take courage to stand. This study or studying even the whole book of Daniel and his story is a devotion to the Lord that will help us learn how to be God's people, God's servants and live boldly and graciously even and godly in an ungodly culture. I was on the phone with a preacher last night and even another this morning as we were discussing the culture that we're living in. And I wanna let you know, my friends, that our discussion surrounded not us, not the old guys, but the little tykes that are coming behind us. And they will never know a world where they're not faced with an anti-God, godless culture. It will be a time that they will have to take a stand like Daniel and his friends like never before. Earthly kingdoms, if Daniel's book tells us anything, earthly kingdoms will come and go. But what you and I as the believers and the church do for the kingdom will endure throughout eternity. That's Daniel's lesson to us. Daniel and his courageous friends that you know and I know most of the time we call them by their, we call them by their Babylonian names but that was not who they were. We call them, you know, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego but in actuality that was not what they're supposed to be called. I think it's easier than saying Hannah and I, Azariah, and Michelle. The point is, is that Daniel and his courageous friends did not prevent the fall of Babylon. That was already in the mind of God. As you look at this statue that's on this screen, up at the top was a representation of the head of gold that was Nebuchadnezzar. But there were several other subsequent kingdoms, the Medes and the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans that would follow after them. And ultimately in the book of Daniel, we see the forerunning of the time of the Antichrist that we're in right now, the 10 nation toad kingdom that is even coming upon us with great power and fervency in the land that we're living. But one thing we know is that Babylon fell just like Daniel prophesied that God already spoke about. It was not their purpose to come alongside as Jewish boys from the land of Judah to come in and stand up and prop up Babylon. That was not their purpose. But involved in their captivity would be them preventing themselves, hear me, from falling into the culture to compromise in the city and in the country of Babylon. I submit to you today that America and around the world are embracing the spirit of Babylon like we never have before. And standing up for God in a Babylonian culture is not gonna be easy in the days that are ahead. Encourage and in conviction, having faith and endurance and then coupling it all together with the assurance of prayer like Daniel taught us how to pray. That's what it's gonna take today, hear me. That's what it's gonna take today to save us, to save this country and the world from an increasing godless generation that is bent on following the ways of Babylon. So the question is, what do we do? What action should we be taking? How do we stand up today in our own Babylonian-like culture? And I can tell you it starts with someone of character. Character is not something, ladies and gentlemen, that is passed over in the Scripture. In fact, if you want a character profile, you're looking at the one in Daniel that's one you can model your life after. Character is only mentioned a few times in the Bible, but it is always something that is sought after and it is always something that is coupled together with the word that I give you this morning and that is courage. Courage, courage in godly men and women always inspires us to live godly lives and persevere through the influences of a world that we're living in right now. Someone who's a hero to us in a military rank. And I'm not talking about these fake heroes from Hollywood. I'm talking about somebody who actually faced the trial and came out on the other end and shows us what real courage looks like. Courage is bravery. It is the quality of mind which enables us to encounter danger and difficulties with a firmness of faith without fear or even a depression in our spirit. It is courage is defined as valor, boldness and resolution. The opposite of courage is cowardice. And everybody here and all of you watching are in one of these two camps. And in the past few years, the button has been pushed and many people have defaulted to a cowardice spirit. Romans chapter five, verse three and four says, and not only so, but we glory, listen to Paul, we glory in tribulation. Knowing that tribulation work of patience and patience, experience, that word experience is actually character and experience leads us to hope. This is, ladies and gentlemen, the trying of our faith. We are in that hour right now. Open your mouth of Jesus and take this Bible that soon and very soon will be classified as hate speech. In fact, it is being rewritten. I was sharing with somebody before the service. It's been rewritten now. Everybody seems to want to adjust the scripture. Make God's word relevant to the time we're living in. Well, I don't need somebody else's rewrite. I need what does sayeth the Lord, a straight download. Did you hear what I said? PETA is now PETA, if you're not familiar with it, they're taking care of protecting animals and environment they say and their agenda is is that they're gonna rewrite the Bible. They've already rewritten Genesis where Isaac is no longer sacrificed on the altar and get this, the lamb is not either. There's an alternative where Isaac and the lamb are friends and Abraham makes a friend of the lamb, but the lamb is not slain. My friends, the Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no remission of our sins. And that started with an innocent lamb up on the top of Mount Moriah. So I say to all the adjusters of history and all the rewriters of the Bible, you better read it for what it is because you'll be judged by what it is as well. Tribulation will produce perseverance. If you can't make it through this trial, you won't make it through the next. I was talking to my friend late last night who has been in authority in our denomination for quite some time and he was sharing with me about churches around the globe and especially in the United States where now after COVID he said the phenomenon has been amazing how that people have simply not come back to church that he would have expected. If you can't make it through that trial and still say, my God reigns over COVID, pandemics and everything else, then how will you make it in seven years of tribulation that is quickly coming upon this earth? Pastor, you don't understand, I'm concerned about sickness, so am I. And I got a solution, buy his stripes. Now if we don't believe the book, then let's quit worshiping and singing songs about it and hearing preaching about it and let's just go do what the Bible says that they will do in the days of Noah. Let's live it up, let's eat, drink and marry for tomorrow we die or you take everything of your faith and place it securely at the cross of Jesus and say Lord by this word I live and by this word I will die. There are some things that I submit to you my friends. I don't know when the rapture is gonna take place. I'm living every day like it could happen at any moment because that's the way we should but I just wanna let you know. I don't know in my heart of hearts how much that we may have to endure between now and then. If Daniel had to endure the outlawing of prayer, the incarceration because of prayer, thrown into the lion's den because he prayed to his God. What in the world are we going to deal with when the pressure is applied to us and we try to say the name of Jesus and suddenly we are rejected because of that because it's swiftly coming. Babylon, that spirit of Babylon will come back from the dead, the Bible says. So tribulation will produce perseverance if you courageously endure the trial. Character, here's some things you need to know. Character is the will to do right as defined by God regardless of personal cost. What's it gonna cost me to serve the Lord? Well I can answer it for you. You ready? Everything. What did heaven hold back in reserve just in case plan B with death, the death of Jesus? What did he hold back just in case that plan didn't work? Nothing. He emptied heaven in Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross, gave his life. The very darling of heaven, Jesus Christ gave his own life or ransom. And when he sat down at the right end of the Father, ladies and gentlemen, he sent the Holy Ghost back to us to help us in the world that we would be in to come and walk alongside us. And I tell you today, it's gonna cost you to serve the Lord in the days ahead. But as I read to you from the book of Daniel, you better know the payoff at the end of the day is going to be everything that heaven has for every believer that will trust him that far. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved, the Bible says. Perseverance is something we do. Character is something we are. Character is what fuels the courage to stand in the evil day. And I'm not standing in this pulpit this morning to tell you that I've got such confidence that no matter what takes place, because I can tell you that there are things I believe that are on the horizon that we're gonna have to give an account for. But the Bible says in 1 Peter, be ready to give a defense for the gospel's sake. In other words, if you call yourself a Christian, the character of Christ on the inside of you should give you the courage to be able to stand. And you don't have to fuss. You understand what I'm saying? You don't hear me fussing to be the pastor this church. I wanna let everybody know here, I am the pastor. Don't you ever forget I'm pastor. You don't do that at your house. My name is Daddy. Don't you forget I'm the father of this house. You don't do that. When you know who you are, I said when you know who you are, if you call yourself a Christian, ladies and gentlemen, I don't have to send out all my credentials for that or argue with fuss with somebody. I stand in the character of Christ and let the consequences go to the people who are looking. We're living in a time of cultural changes and I wanna say to every senior that's in this room and every student we're living in such a time of cultural changes and trends that are changing every moment. I heard one report this past week that every six months knowledge is changing. Every six months. Today is not unlike Daniel's day and Daniel speaks of a man of such character that though his world was changing all around him, he was a man who held true to his character in the middle of total adversity. There were no synagogues for him to go to. There were no churches to get together. They weren't having camp meetings and revivals and all that kind of stuff. They were living in Babylonian captivity. They were outlawed to serve Jehovah God. Daniel gives us a pattern on how to live godly in an ungodly world. Hey, if you don't get anything else this morning I want you to get this. Daniel lets us know and always recognizes, get this, that God is always in control. I know that people in the authorities and positions think that they're the ones pulling the string. What's he gonna do in Russia? What's he gonna do over here? Ladies and gentlemen, God, the Bible says, boy, I feel my help now. You know what that means when the quarterback lifts his leg, the ball's about to be hiked. Somebody's fixing to get the ball. I'm just telling you right now, God sits in the heavenlies and laughs them to scorn to think that they are somehow going to make a play that he's not already aware of. I feel mine, no one ain't coming on now. Oh, you can punch Israel in the eye with your little Katusha rockets, but he that looks over Israel will keep them day and night. You better rest assure that if you're in the hands of the Almighty, God has much power to keep you against that day. Even in adverse situation, Daniel made sure to let us know God is always in control. I want you to declare that in the heavenlies right now. Come on, God is always, don't you ever let that leave your mind. Pastor, I lost my job yesterday because I was working at Babylonian Inc. They wanted me to do something that I shouldn't and didn't want to do, so I left or they fired me or like some men in the military and women in the military who are sitting in this building who said I refused to allow an outside source to get into my arm, I'm gonna stand for what my convictions and beliefs are and they booted them out of the military. Keep your integrity, God will take care of your reputation. I'm so afraid to lose faith or face. I want you to know something, you're probably gonna lose face and people are gonna accuse you and they're gonna point fingers at you just like they did Daniel. But you know what Daniel said? Not only is God always in control, he's always in control in my land that I came from in Judah and he's also in control in the land of Babylon where I currently have an apartment. Let me give you a little backstory here very quickly. After the reign of Solomon, the Jewish nation split in two kingdoms, the northern kingdom of Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah. That split came, listen now, and I know we wanna regulate this, this is just the Bible and this is just Israel. Well let me say spiritually speaking, we're reading about what's happening in America right now. The split came as a result of sin, not economic pressure, not domestic pressure, not this and that and how we did in the stock market. It came as a result of sin. Why did God judge them? Because God said I will not have a people who are gonna keep running after sin and refuse me as their God. So God said, listen, this is what's happening and this is what concerns me, Pastor Rob, this is what concerns me whenever I see prophets dying and preachers and individuals who have a spiritual voice that they're dying and going off the gods taking them out. You know why? Because God sent prophet after prophet to warn the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom that if you don't repent and return back to me, this nation is gonna be destroyed. Watch this by a foreign nation. So what happens? God sends to them, you read it in your Bible, there they are, right there. He sends to them Isaiah and Hosea and Micah and Amos and Joel and they all pour out their soul, Jeremiah and others. They all pour out their soul to the northern kingdom and said, if you don't, God's gonna allow the invasion of Assyria. You know, that's what's crazy to me when I say to this congregation and those of you watching, if we don't repent and seek the face of God and turn from our wicked ways, then ladies and gentlemen, everything that's happened as judgment in the Bible will fall upon America, regardless of whether you're a believer or not. It rains on the just and the unjust. So if my people will do something about it, then God will hear us from heaven. But if we don't, we can rest assure that the judgments that God sent upon the nation of Israel and Judah will surely fall upon us. So Israel was finally taken captive by the Assyrians, the northern kingdom. Watch this, and 136 years later, after Israel, the northern kingdom fell, after 136 years of prophets and preachers telling them, Judah, if you don't get your heart right with God and repent, the Babylonians are gonna come and take over the southern kingdom. And exactly what took place, Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. Otherwise you read about them as called the Chaldeans. Well, today it's modern day Iraq. And the collapse of Judah did not come by surprise to them, just like it won't come to surprise upon the United States of America. Years of warning, years of judgment that was coming. And I know people wanna ride off storms and they wanna ride off blood moons and they wanna ride off all this stuff. Ladies and gentlemen, people of God sending sign after sign after sign after sign to tell you get your house in order, get your family and get in the ark because I'm about to shut the door. And all the while we're performing just like the days of Noah, we're saying we're rich and increased with goods. We have need of nothing. Let's party, let's keep on doing this. Let's build houses, let's give in marriage and let's do whatever we wanna do. Ladies and gentlemen, there is coming a day and I warn you from this pulpit, it will not come, ladies and gentlemen, on a slow ride. One day you're gonna wake up and everything is gonna be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. I just wanna know is there enough people in here to make up the bride of Christ from Pace, Florida that are ready right now? You don't have to wait, you're ready right now. Let me give you some more backstory. The attitude of the people of days in Judah was the same as it was in Noah's day. The king of Judah was a wimpy king named Jehoakim. He was the son of Josiah, now watch this. The son of Josiah, he lived underneath the revival time of Josiah. If you're not familiar with it, go back and read the story of Josiah. They got sick and tired of being sick and tired and they hid the little king inside of a closet. And when everything else was coming out of the closet, they said it's time for Josiah to come out at eight years old and an eight year old boy brought revival to the land. Y'all ain't talking to me right now. I submit to you today, they're after the children and they're after the seed because in one of them, in one of these kids, in multiple of them, there is a revival that is waiting to happen because that generation is sick and tired of being told I'm this and I'm that. They wanna see a demonstration of God's power. I say let a Josiah generation raise up in this hour. So he lived underneath the revival of Josiah, Jehoakim did, but it had no effect on him. I don't know what happened. It may have been that the parents dropped him off at children's church and then went and did their own thing. Maybe when it was time for them to get some Bible instruction, they were too busy doing something else. It's up to you, you know what God does. He'll give you a free choice, but the consequences could be difficult. Come on somebody. So he lived up underneath this revival, but it had no effect on Jehoakim. And then he heard. Now see, listen, when you grow up, whatever was put in you as a child is gonna manifest itself. So he grew up, became the king, and he hears about a Babylonian invasion through the prophet, and he goes down to Egypt and tries to make an alliance with Russia, and y'all don't want me to make it plain. But the prophet Jeremiah, now if you want some good reading, read Jeremiah. Jeremiah will, and as soon as you get done with that, go over to the Proverbs, by that time you will be thoroughly purged of your sins. Because Jeremiah opens up his mouth and prophesies to the king, how dare a preacher of the gospel open his mouth and point his finger at the president, I mean the king. And say, if you make this alliance and you join up with something that's ungodly, it's gonna pull the nation of Judah down. We need to repent. Y'all just sit there, I'll preach to myself. I know what I'm saying is true. And all of a sudden when he got that word, he threw the preacher in jail. Look for preachers to go to jail in the days that are ahead. Y'all better bail me out, it's all I'm saying. If you don't show up, you weren't mine. I have a feeling if I go in there, they probably tossed me out just because. I'll bring my own baloney, come on somebody. But a good preacher won't give up. Jeremiah said, bring me a scribe. Jeremiah wrote a letter to him. Said, if you don't repent, do what's right. And he wrote it all the way down and he sent it to the king, Jehoi-chem. And Jehoi-chem takes it, rips it into shreds and throws it into the fire and rejects the word of the Lord. So you're gonna go ahead and authorize this and you're gonna go ahead and say that this is okay, even though God's word said no. Ladies and gentlemen, hear me and hear me good. I don't care whether they call themselves conservatives, liberals, Republicans or Democrats. The moment that you start voting and judging against the word of God, the consequences of this book shall fall upon the people of that nation. If we don't learn anything else, you can see that over and over again in the scripture and how arrogant it is for America to think that we will be excused from the judgment of God when we're doing the same things today. So he threw it in the fire and he ignored it. And what happened next? Nebuchadnezzar came knocking on his door. Y'all still with me? Nebuchadnezzar came knocking on his door and they invaded the southern kingdom of Judah. And what happens? Nebuchadnezzar takes 70 of the brightest and the smartest teenagers, 14 to 17 years old. Why do you think the attack of fentanyl is coming against our kids to kill them before they can hear the word of God? He stole them. He stole their babies, the infants so that there would not be a seed that would grow up afterward were thrown against the wall and their heads crushed. But the 14 to 17 year olds that were well-skilled in science and knowledge, he took them back to Babylon with him. And he took a few of the holy things out of the temple, the Bible says. And just like Hitler had Hitler's youth, Nebuchadnezzar took the youth as POWs to train them in Babylonian ways. Babylon was the center of learning in the world in that time and he trained them in Babylonian ways and the Babylonian language and the Babylonian culture. Hear me church, Satan doesn't care if you look like a Christian on the outside. As long as your heart remains godless on the inside. Now you can fool me and you can fool a lot of people around you but I just came to tell you, you better hear it if you don't hear nothing else, you're never gonna fool God. You can lift your hands and say amen all in the right places but if your heart's not right with God, he already read you email, you better not even worry about AI, he's already got you down x-rayed and knows exactly what's going on. Best thing you can do is throw your hands up and surrender to the God who knows everything and will deliver everything. So King Nebuchadnezzar has a strategy, it's three pronged, here it is. First strategy is he changes their appetite with food from the king's table and he offers them the food off the king's table and the wine, the nice stuff, the good stuff. You don't have to eat that, you don't have to eat that cheese sandwich in the prison. Here's some quail and some steak and some fruit and some of the best wine. What was he doing? Hear me now. He was getting them so accustomed to the good life that they wouldn't wanna go back to the ways of God, to a godly lifestyle. Please don't think that sin is not attractive. Somehow we have in our mind that sin is some kind of cancerous boil with pus coming out of it. But it's the beautiful girl on the billboard with the martini glass in her hand. It's the hunky joe with a stogie and a jet behind him. Come on somebody, talk to me somebody and a Bentley right behind that. And we say, oh, look how successful they are. Can I tell you ladies and gentlemen, when sin gets ahold of your life, Satan will bind you and blind you and grind you. So Nebuchadnezzar said, we're gonna use a little reverse psychology, we're gonna treat them so good that they'll forget all about going to church after this pandemic. We're gonna let them taste everything out here. We're gonna let them be convinced. Thank you for listening to me and not playing on your phone. Thank you for hearing the word of the Lord because we're gonna convince them so well that they'll lose, listen, they'll lose their appetite for the things of God. And we start shopping for churches like we shop for clothes because we can find one that will fit what you wanna hear today. You better hear me. That preacher last night on the phone who was in the know what's going on, he flat out told me. He said, do you know that from our Pentecostal colleges and one particular college, we only graduated out of that entire class, 13 preachers out of there? Are you hearing me? He said in another one, there was absolutely no preachers that graduated. It was all secular graduation. What's the big deal about that? The big deal about that is, is that if we don't raise up another generation to know the God of their fathers, then when they taste of the things of the world and they taste of the things out there, believe me, sin is extremely attractive until the snake venom gets in you. You better hear me. The Bible says first he strikes and then the death is injected. Come on now. So he changes their appetite. He says, come on, eat some of this. And then he says, by the way, we're gonna change your name. You're no longer gonna be called Joe, you're gonna be called Slick Willie, Dapper Dan, Freakin' Freddy. Change your name. That's exactly what they did. Daniel's name means God is my judge, but they changed it to Belteshizer, which means the keeper of the treasures of Baal. There is power in a name. You better keep your name clean. Come on, somebody. Hananiah in Hebrew means God. Jehovah is gracious. They changed it to Shadrach, it means command of the moon God. Michiel means who is like God. They changed it to Meshach, which is the goddess Venus. Azariah means in Hebrew Jehovah is my helper. They changed it to Abednego, the fire God. They said, we're gonna change your name because when your name is in there, if you keep being reminded that you are Daniel, then that will remind you of your God back in Judah. We wanna change your name so you're one of us. Come on, somebody. I wanna say to all the moms and dads, grandparents, aunts and uncles and everybody else, you get your children and those that are influenced by you that are running into your yard, playing ball with your kids, gathering them up and tell them who they are. You are male, you are female. Your name is this and your name is that. You're a boy and you're a girl and according to the word of God, all of you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Now let's go drink some Kool-Aid. Come on, somebody. If you don't tell them who they are, that world is gonna tell them who they are. And I came to tell you, ain't no world or devil gonna tell me who my children are. I'm gonna let them know you're the prize of all of heaven. You are the apple of the eye of God. You are created in the image and in the likeness of God. You're not what that world tells you. The third thing they did was this. They tried changing their thinking by changing their convictions and their beliefs. They tried to make them forget about their homes and their families and their lifestyles and their God. They brainwashed them in the education system of Babylon. If you haven't seen it, it might offend you, but you need to go watch it. There's a preacher that came into the school board meeting in North Carolina, it's on YouTube. He took the book that had been in the library with pornographic pictures and descriptions that would make an adult blush and started reading it in the school board meeting. How many of you've seen that video? If you haven't, you need to go see it. Thank God we've got a group of people that are on the school board and our superintendent who's cleaning out the libraries of the trash and the nonsense and the pornography. And don't stand up and tell me you're a book burner or a book banner preacher. I've already had that years ago. I stood up by myself at that school board meeting when they tried to put that kind of trash in my kid's head and I said it's over right here. They wheeled out carts of books from the library and my name went up in the newspaper as the preacher who wanted to ban books. I said from that day forward, I will never go to another meeting without the army of my church. The next time there needs to be a stand, you better get ready to stand in the presence of the king. Come on somebody. They shamed me right out of the meeting and when this preacher started reading that trash inside of the school board meeting, he was interrupted by the superintendent who called him down. He said, excuse me, excuse me. And the preacher said, I'm sorry, was it something I said? Cause if you won't tolerate it in this room with the school board, then you're not gonna let it get into that seven year old classroom over there and let my kid read about the pornography that's in this book. Come on church. This is what I'm talking about. These are the days ahead. We are the salt and the light of the earth. And if we lose our savor, if we lose our saltiness, it's not gonna be about me and about you. It's gonna be about our children and our children's children to the third and fourth generation. And I'm not just about ready to lay my children down on an altar to the devil. I will fight. Come on somebody. I will fight like Abraham to keep the vultures off of the sacrifice. I wish I had a few more in here. I think I need to preach somewhere else. Some of you are so scared about what somebody's gonna say. You're afraid to say amen right now. But I came to tell you, you better take a stand while you got enough guts to do it. Otherwise you'll watch your children hauled off by a pornographic predator. They tried to brainwash them. They tried to put CRT in there so we'd hate the races. The devil is a liar. We love everybody. Don't care what your skin color is. I've never cared. I never will. This church will always welcome everybody and anybody. That'd be a good place for you. If not, then I will tell you right now the door is open on the way out. Cause I can tell you in the last days God's gonna pour out his spirit upon all flesh and I don't care what skin color it is. If that's not it, then this is not the church. But I declare to you as long as I pastor here there will not be a prejudice spirit that will bump his head up out of the grave. I'll slap it right down to the bottom. You know why? Cause in the authority of Jesus Christ, we are one. Change my mind. Equity. You're not gonna take the A that I worked hard. Let me help y'all. You're not gonna take the science fair project that I worked on all night long, not my kid. And give my A to somebody else who didn't do nothing to earn it. Oh, the devil is a lot. I will make volcanoes blow up right here in the room in a science fair project. Come on, somebody. They wanted to change their mentality. So Daniel didn't argue with them when they changed his name. And there's nothing in the scripture that says that you can't enroll in this Babylonian college and learn about other religions. But when they tried to feed him the king's meat, he said, that's where, I'm drawing a line in the sand right here. Cause my God said, I am not to eat the meat offered to idols and consume it into my body. Pastor, come on. You mean that's all that Daniel was fussing about? He wasn't fussing. He just drew a line in the sand and said, my God said, don't eat it. And I don't care if I'm in Babylon, Judah, or Pace, Florida, I will not be defiled in my spirit. Come on, somebody. Has anybody got some convictions and character in here? There was no Old Testament command about taking another name or even learning about another religion or a culture. But God prohibited eating meat offered to idols. And listen to me, when God says no to something in society, in the church, then your answer is no. Now I know some of you have never told your children no in your life, but we're gonna practice something right now. On the count of three, everybody say no, one, two, three. If God says yes to something, then I say yes. But if God says no, then that is my answer. And wait, wait, wait. The devil is a liar and so are you. Thou shalt not lie. I don't have to pray about that. Thou shalt not bear false witness. I don't have to pray about that, even if the FBI and the CIA are doing it. I don't have to pray about it. It is my character and conviction. I've got to live in this society and hold the standard of God. I'm not perfect, but the one who is lives on the inside of me. So when God said no, Daniel said no. He said, I will not defile myself. I will not contaminate, I will not pollute myself. And you know when all that preparation for that answer happened, way back in Judah, he was already in the king's court. He and the others were in the king's court. And they were already serving the king. They were already in a place of authority. They already knew how to operate in that area. Why do you think that Moses was taught 40 years in Pharaoh's house, 40 years on the backside of the desert and then 40 years to lead the children of Israel? Because he had been prepared for this moment. I say to you this morning, as sure as Mordecai said it to Esther, to everybody here and all of you watching, I can tell you the Jews are gonna be taking care of. But what about if you have been brought to the kingdom at this time in 2023 for such a time as this? You have not been staying alive just so that you can breathe air. You have been called, you have been chosen, you have been selected, you have been sanctified and God said, I need you in this hour to arise to the occasion and don't let your voices not be heard. I'm hurrying to the end. Daniel made an officer, he was made an officer of four kings and this is important. Nebuchadnezzar comes in. Bell Shazer comes in. Behind him comes Darius. Behind him comes Cyrus and for more than 70 years through four different administrations, Daniel is still there. Nebuchadnezzar eats grass like a cow and Daniel's still there. Bell Shazer is judged and killed and Daniel is still there. Come on, Darius is biting his fingernails while he's spending the night in the den of lions down there and Daniel is still there. Cyrus comes along and God gets to give Daniel the vision that he had that Jerusalem would be built and they go back in the book of Ezra to rebuild the walls and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Ladies and gentlemen, God will keep his hand upon you in the middle of Babylon. You will serve he that endure it to the end. The same shall be saved. And then, ladies and gentlemen, this is the reason why I brought this message to you. I said all that to say this. Daniel is not just reading and writing about the kingdoms he's serving. God because he could, God could trust Daniel because he was a man of character, conviction and courage. He gives him visions for the days we're living in right now and beyond. There is more insight to the spirit, the operation, the system and the profile of the Antichrist found in the book of Daniel than there even is in the book of Revelation. Thousands of years ago to a teenage boy, are you available? If you're available, God will show you things to come. Daniel was captured as a young man by Nebuchadnezzar but he lived beyond 70 years to see the return of his people back to Jerusalem. We don't have any record of Daniel even ever going back to Judah. Think about it. His influence was so powerful. His words were taken with such authority that he garnered respect from evil people. Listen to me young people. Your gift will make room for you and set you before mighty men. In other words, don't do what somebody else is doing just to do it. You do what God has called you to do and serve it with gladness and God will set you up before mighty men. Are you hearing what I'm saying? If you're writing some things down, write this down and I'm out of your way. This is the Daniel standard. First, Daniel maintained godly character in every area of his life. Verse eight, and Daniel purpidus in his heart that he would not defile himself for the portion of the king's meat nor with the wine which he drank, therefore he requested. Don't you love Daniel? He didn't argue, he requested. He requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. What'd he do? He was faithful to God, faithful to his convictions. God give us people today who have convictions. He was faithful in integrity, in his life, his word was his bond. The second thing, this is the Daniel standard. He chose, this is probably one of the most important for every young person and every person in this building and those watching. He chose uncompromising Christian friends. I'm just telling you who you hang with is who you're gonna hang with. And I'm telling you most of the problems that young people are having today. We've even had some students right here that have gotten into some bad places because friends around them, they called them friends but they weren't there. Come on somebody, they called them friends but they weren't friends around them. They were pitching stuff into their life that they knew that they didn't need to have and the next thing you know they're in a place where they don't wanna be and they're praying, God get me out of it and thank God by His grace. There are some that are in this building right now that God has touched with their life and they're able to stand up for the cause of Christ right now and say, God does deliver. I just wanna let you know there was no promise of the prodigal getting back to the house but God was watching over his life and made sure that the prayers of the Father kept going out there. Ladies and gentlemen, listen to what I'm telling you. If you don't pray for anything, pray that God's holy and righteous and godly people will be around your children so that they won't be caught up in the vortex of what's going on today. Uncompromising friends. I was gonna say this but I'm not gonna use that dialect. Yeah, I am. Choose wisely, my friends. You better choose your friends wisely. Hold it, wait a minute. Where did those kids get the idea that they could hang around those friends anyway? Could it be that mom and daddy and them were hanging around people that they didn't need to hang around? Come on, somebody. I won't hurt you any more than that. Choose your friends wisely. Look at your neighbor and tell them, you better choose your friends wisely. You better choose your friends wisely. Who are you hanging out with? I'll tell you what your future looks like is who you hang out with. The Bible says if you hang out with a fool, you will become one. You hang out with an angry man, the Bible says. You're gonna become angry. Come on, somebody. Well, pastor, I love them. In fact, we're gonna get married. Don't be an equally yoked with somebody. If they ain't saved before you date them, you better drop them like a rock and find the one who is. I know it's tough. I know it's tough. And you know, dating today, I pray for y'all. I'm glad I'm married. God gave me the one, the only one I needed. I'm glad I'm married. She's the one for me. I hate to be some of y'all today. I know it's tough. You wanna carry a blood test with you. Say, excuse me, before we even communicate, would you just, come on, where am I? Where am I helping here? Oh, spitting this little vow right here. I gotta send that off before we go out to eat. Come on, son. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know who you were. I didn't need, I didn't know that I was supposed to be talking to you. I didn't know. I thought you was a he, I didn't know. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me, I got to go. I'm tipping out, I'm gone. I'm, ooh, date over, dates over. Stop the car, I'm out. Here, here's $10 to repay you for the meal. Thanks for the Sonic burger, you're a big spender. Choose your friends wisely, look at your neighbor and tell them, choose your friends wisely. Here's the third Daniel standard. Stay faithful to God in his word. The Bible says at the end of chapter one, verse 20, and all the matters of wisdom and understanding that the King inquired of them, he found them 10 times better than all the magicians and astrologers. Is he listening to what we see as experts? When God, the God of all wisdom, the God of all knowledge, the God of all understanding is at our fingertips to inquire of the Lord. God, give me wisdom. See, most of the time the students in here know exactly what I'm talking about. Their most critical time of prayer was right before the test that they didn't study for. Come on, say amen. You heard your mama say, if you come home with that D one more time, minus D. D minus F plus, come on somebody. You know what I'm talking about? I bring them 69s home and I said, mama, I did really good. She said, what's the rest of the class done? It was great travailing in prayer at my house. Just before the test, oh Jesus, Jesus, I didn't even speak in tongues. Jesus, Jesus, you gotta help me. But I want you to know God don't work in a vacuum. You gotta study to show yourself, approve a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. If you want understanding, you gotta read the book of understanding and then what happens? The Holy Spirit will be the divine reminder and bring it back to your understanding, all things that you've learned. Here's the fourth and final. Where's my singers, come on. Daniel knew his God and he knew his purpose. Here's a line for you. Adapt in Babylon, but don't adopt Babylon. We're gonna have to adapt in the days that are ahead. Ain't no question. Things are changing so fast you don't know when you wake up tomorrow morning what it's gonna be. So what have I gotta do? I gotta be willing, I gotta be willing, Holy Spirit, lead me today. Cause courage begins with a conviction based on the confidence I have in what Christ has done at the cross. And I'm just gonna tell you my friends and listen to me, students. Everywhere there's a compromise in the Bible, there's a loss. Adam compromised with sin in the garden and he lost paradise. Esau for a meal and he lost his birthright. Samson with a woman and he lost his eyes, he lost his hair, his strength and his life. David compromised with Bathsheba, killed a man named Uriah and lost a child. Judas sold Jesus out and lost his soul. A man can gain the whole world and compromise and lose his soul. I just wanna say to everybody in this building and all of you watching, hear me. God, if there's anything Daniel teaches us, and I conclude right here, if there's anything that Daniel teaches us, he teaches us this, that no matter what happens in the culture, there will be a remnant of people that are still gonna be serving God when all the world is on fire. Now I'm gonna tell you where I'm gonna make up my mind at. I've already made up my mind. As for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord. I've already made up my mind as a pastor of this house. As for me and my church, we're gonna serve the Lord. If that's who you are, I want you to get up on your feet and give God the glory of the morning, will you do it? Come on, give him glory and praise this morning. I want everybody in this building. I know what time it is. I want everybody in this building to come crowd around this altar. I wanna have a word of prayer with you right now. Come on quickly. I'm gonna tell you what we need today. I need some people in this building and some young people in this building that are gonna hear the call of God and get up on your life to go into ministry. I know you're going to college. I know you're going to Votek. I know you're doing whatever, but I need some people in this room and some parents in this room that will train them up in the way that they should go. Not the way you want them to go, the way they should go, and they will not depart. You know what we need a good case of? Wimp-free Christianity. We need a good case of wimp-free Christianity where people are not gonna stand around knowing that, here's what the Bible says. This is one of the troubles that happens. This is one of the troubles that happens in the first chapter of the book of Romans. This is what the Bible says. That they hold the truth, listen, in unrighteousness. You know what that means? They knew what the truth was, but they're not willing to open up their mouth and take a stand for my business sake. I'm telling you, you mark this day. Mark this day. In the very near future, your faith is gonna be put on trial like you have never had in your life. You thought that COVID and all that was something and oh, I've gotta keep the faith through that, no. What is on the horizon is gonna press your faith and that moment, you're not gonna be able to wait to that moment and go, okay, God, help me out, help me out, no, no, no. You gotta prepare right now what you're, see, I told young people when I was a youth pastor, you better go ahead and have your answer before you find the back seat of that car. Because it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. The temptation is going to come, but the question is, what's your answer? Now, my answer was always a little bit more violent than others, but I'm such a peaceful guy. But I said, if he touches you, you ball your little bony fist up and pop him right in the mouth and tell him that's from my preacher right there. That's where that's from. Why is this so important? Because Daniel's giving us an example. And let me tell you this before we pray. Out of all the prophets, out of all the preachers, out of all the individuals that are found in the Bible, Jesus Christ himself in Matthew 24 speaks of Daniel the prophet as a blessed man. Now, if Jesus is speaking it, then we better follow his example. And my question to you is because where we are now, Christianity in the days ahead will not be politically correct, but it is biblically sound. And you gotta make up your mind now. Am I gonna stand for the Lord? When my time comes, when I'm put on trial, when friends around me start doing things that I don't approve of, I don't have to get mad. I don't have to fuss and holler and scream. I just need to state where I'm at and leave the consequences to him. That's one of the greatest statements that I've ever heard from Dr. Charles Stanley. Obey God and leave the consequences to him. Obey God and leave the consequences. Oh, what if I lose my job? Obey God and leave the consequences. Oh, what if I lose my money in the contract? Obey God. I feel something coming down my right arm right now. Oh, what if I lose my friends? What if they don't like me on Facebook? Obey God and leave the consequences to him. Make your choice now. I promise you, what you wanna hear from God are these words that Jude gives us. Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of his glory and exceeding joy to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory, majesty, power, and dominion, both now and forever. Amen. I want you to know you've chosen the right God. And if God be for you, who can be against you? Slip your hands in the air and make your fresh commitment to God and ask him for a fresh anointing in this hour right now to keep you father in the name of Jesus Christ across this auditorium and around the world for people. Come on, lift your voice and pray for people that are watching right now. We make our commitment before you. We stand in this auditorium and we let heaven mark and record this day that as for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord. No matter what may be coming, no matter what device may be trying to distract, no matter what good temptation that it may be that entices me away from you, I have made up my mind. I'm gonna serve the Lord and I'm gonna influence others to serve the Lord. My heart is fixed. My mind is made up. My eyes are on you. My heart is towards heaven and my ears are hearing the voice of the Almighty. Say, come up hither. Come on, lift those hands and begin to praise him all over this place. Woo-hoo! Can God trust you? Can God trust you? Can God trust you not to cheat on your taxes? Can God trust you to be a person of your word? Can God trust you that whenever you speak to somebody that you're gonna give them the gospel and not some other person? If God can trust you right now. And this is the time to make your commitment sure. I will trust in you all. Come on, let it be a commitment vow. Oh, agent, hush in you. Isolate you to think that you are doomed but the devil messed up real bad because there is a rise that is happening in our nation of the remnant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Squeeze that hand just gently and let him know I'm gonna be standing with you. I'm standing with you. I gotta hold on your hand because I'm gonna be standing with you through thick and thin, through trials and temptation, through every struggle and every pain when there's more that are around him this week in the very center of the will of God. Father, in the name of Jesus right now, I pray for this congregation and those that are watching Jesus, we believe it right now.