Spirit of Excellence 2: Life of Daniel Part 4 – Lawson Perdue – 11/18/2024

Praise the Lord, friend, and welcome to the broadcast. I am so glad that you have tuned in today. We’ve been sharing about the life of Daniel. And today we’re gonna be talking about how Daniel surrounded himself with great people. You know what? The people that you surround yourself with says a lot about you, and it also helps you make a difference in this world. So open your heart and receive the word today. Open your Bible to the book of Daniel. We’ve been talking about a spirit of excellence. And we talked about in Daniel 1, 2 and 3 that Daniel had the testimony of Jesus. The Bible actually says in Revelation 19:10 that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And we talked about how that was manifest. He lived his life with purpose, in chapter one. In chapter two, did you know what, he constantly told the king, Nebuchadnezzar. He said, “Nebuchadnezzar, the God of heaven.” The God of heaven. He had the test. He’s telling him about God, telling him about Jesus. Praise God. And then in Daniel 3, he had friends of faith. You could tell a lot about somebody by who they hang around. Dr. Sumrall said you could discern somebody’s spirit by two things, by the people they hang around, and by what they desire to read. You can tell where they’re going. Amen. So you wanna have some good friends of faith. And he had some friends that would not bow, praise God. And because of that, they did not burn. Amen. Jesus showed up for them. If you’ll stand up for Jesus, he’ll show up for you. And then we talked about not only that, we talked about how Daniel knew how to stand, and how he spoke the word boldly in chapter four to Nebuchadnezzar. He spoke the word boldly in chapter five to his son. He told him praise. He just laid it out there. This is how it is. And then in Daniel 6, when people came against him and they said, well, only way we can find something against Daniel is through the law of his God. So we’re gonna have the king sign a law. They thought they’d use deception. Anybody prays to anybody but him for 30 days will be thrown into the den of lions. Well, guess what? They threw Daniel into the den of lions, because did you know what? He was not going to stop praying to his God? He praying to God three times a day, just like he did before, he kept praying to God. They threw him in the den of lions, God sent his angel and shut the lion’s mouths. The king fasted and prayed all night while Daniel was resting peacefully. The next day they got Daniel out, and they threw his enemies in the lions den, and the lions broke their bones before they hit the bottom of the pit. Now we’re gonna talk another thing that really I believe that set Daniel apart, was he was a man who had tremendous revelation, supernatural revelation. Revelation that came from God. You know the Bible says in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keeps the law, happy is he.” When you study that out in the Hebrew, it says something like this, where there is no prophetic enlightenment and insight, the people are casting off restraint. But he that keeps the word of God, happy is he. The number one place that you get vision is from the word of God. The number two place that you get vision is from people of vision. Praise God. And from the spirit of God. Hallelujah. So thank God we’ve got revelation that comes from God. Daniel had amazing, amazing revelation. So we’re gonna jump into chapter seven. We’re gonna read the first few verses. Before I do that, I want to go to verse nine and verse 10 of Daniel 7. He said, “I beheld till the thrones were cast down and the Ancient of Days sat whose garments were white of snow. His hair and head were like pure wool. His throne was like the fiery flame and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream came from before him, and thousand thousands ministered unto him and 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him, and the judgment was set and the books were opened.” He saw the Great White Throne Judgment of God. Now Daniel had revelation, but specifically he had a revelation of who God is, and who Jesus Christ is. He saw a lot of other things. But did you know what? If you don’t have a revelation of who God is, and who Christ is, it could cause you to worry. It could cause you to fear. But when you know who God is and you know who Jesus Christ is, you don’t have to worry and you don’t have to fear, because our future is secure in and through Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. So let’s begin in verse one, and we’ll read on down through here a little ways in Daniel 7. “In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions upon his bed. And he wrote upon the dream and told the sum of the matter.” So Daniel, if my math is right, if he was 15 when Babylon took over Jerusalem, and he was brought, right, as a foreign exchange student or a slave, you know, when he was 15, then he would’ve been about 73-years-old at this point in time. “Daniel spoke and he said, ‘I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea.'” Now when you see the sea in Bible prophecy, the sea speaks of the Gentile empires of the world. In Revelation 13, the author of Revelation said he saw a beast rise from the sea, from the Gentile nations of the world. “And four great beasts came up out of the sea,” these are the gentile empires, “one from another.” This vision that Daniel had in Daniel 7 correlates with the dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had in Daniel 2. And then God revealed to Daniel, and Daniel interpreted it for Nebuchadnezzar. He says in verse four, “The first was like a lion, and had eagles wings. I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked and lifted up from the earth, and made to stand on a feet as a man and a man’s heart was given to it.” This represents the Babylonian empire in which Daniel was living. He says in verse five, “I beheld another beast, a second like a bear. And it raised itself on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said to another, ‘Arise and devour much flesh.'” This corresponds to Daniel 2, the breast and the arms of silver, which the king had a dream about. And then Daniel got revelation, not only about the dream, but also the interpretation and it represents Media, Persia. Notice he said he had three ribs. He said, “Arise, devour much flesh.” The Media Persian Empire was the largest empire to ever rule on planet earth, over 127 different nations or kingdoms, that arise, devour much flesh. He says in verse six, “After this I beheld another like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a fowl, and the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it.” This represents the belly and thighs of brass. Also the Grecian Empire. Notice it was like a leopard and it had four wings of a fowl. It came into power very quickly. Alexander the Great came into power very quickly. And notice it says, “And he had four heads, and dominion was given to it.” Alexander the Great had four generals, and when he died, he died at a young age, the kingdom was given to these four generals. Notice he said this, “After this I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly. It had great iron teeth devoured and broke in pieces, stamped like the residue that’s feet of it, and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and it had 10 horns.” Now this represents, right, if you see Daniel’s dream that he interpreted for the king and that he had also in Daniel 2, the Roman Empire, and specifically the revised Roman Empire, right. And when the king had this dream, he dreamed and when he saw the legs of iron and the feet of iron and clay, he beheld till a stone cut without hands fell from heaven and hit the image, not in the head, but in the feet. The stone is Jesus who was cut without hands. Hallelujah. He’s the stone that the builders rejected, that became the headstone of the corner. And it hits the image in the feet, and the image fell to the ground and the stone became a great mountain that filled the whole earth. It represents this last kingdom. And so this last beast, dreadful and terrible, strong exceedingly that had great iron teeth, devoured and broke in pieces, stamped the residue of its feet. It was diverse from all the beasts that were before it and it had 10 horns. This represents the revised Roman Empire in the antichrist kingdom that is coming. He said, “I considered the horns and beheld, and there came up among them another little horn,” in verse eight, “before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. And behold, in the first horn, there were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.” Did you know we live in this time of the revised Roman Empire? In fact, in recent years, they made a statue and they put it in the front of the UN in New York. They’ve taken it down, because they had so many complaints by Christian people. But what they are doing, I want you to put up that picture of that statue that they had in front of the UN. They are mocking God. Did you know the United Nations as a whole, the United States of America has stood with Israel, but recently, in the battle with Hamas, the United Nations stood against Israel, the US abstained from voting but did not, they could have stopped it, but did not condemn the United Nations. They are mocking God, and we live in this time. Hi friends. We’ve been sharing on the goodness of God and we’ve got these teachings, and many others like them, absolutely free of charge on our website at charischristiancenter.com. Their downloadable audio, downloadable video. And we also have a great kids curriculum free of charge. Thanks so much. We’re back to the word. Blessings. You helped single moms and orphan children in Congo, Africa.

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We support Julie. We helped her last year to build a new feeding center. Now he says, “I beheld,” in verse nine and 10, “till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit.” How many of you are glad that Jesus is coming, and our Father God is gonna reign forever and ever. He said, “His garment was white as snow, the hairs of his head were like pure wool. His throne was like a fiery flame. His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. Thousands thousands ministered to him, and 10,000 times, 10,000 stood before him. And the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then, because the voice of the great words, which the horn spoke, I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame.” What’s gonna happen to the antichrist? What’s gonna happen to the dragon, the beast, the false prophet, and the dragon? The dragon is the devil. Just like there’s a holy trinity in the scripture of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. In the book of Revelation, there’s a unholy trinity, the beast, who is the antichrist. The false prophet, right. And dragon, who is the devil. They’re gonna be cast into the lake of fire. “And concerning the rest of the beast, they had dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.” He says in verse 13, “I saw in the night visions and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven. He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought near before him, and there was given to him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, and nations and languages should serve him. And his dominion was an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. And his kingdom, which shall not be destroyed.” I’m here to tell you that Jesus Christ is the eternal King of kings and Lord of lords, and he shall reign forever. So I’m not so worried about who the antichrist is, but I’m focused on who Jesus Christ is. You see, I have some friends, is this one the antichrist, is that one the antichrist? Had one tell me the other day, I know who the antichrist is. I said, listen, I don’t think you’re right. I’m not looking for the antichrist. I’m looking for the Christ. I’m keeping my eyes on Jesus. And if you’re all worried about the antichrist, you’re gonna live in fear, fear, fear. But I’m not gonna live in fear, I’m gonna live by faith. By the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Now notice what he says in verse 18. He says, “The saints of the Most High God will take the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever and ever.” Then he goes on down and he talks about this antichrist, in verse 24 through the end of the chapter. We’ll read this, Daniel 7:24, “The 10 horns out of his kingdom are 10 kings that will rise, another will rise after them. He will be diverse from the first, he will subdue three kings. He will speak great words against the Most High and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws. And they will be given to his hand for a time and times, and the dividing of time.” That’s one year, two years, three years and a half a year, three and a half years. The antichrist is really only gonna reign for about seven years. He’s gonna promise peace, but after three and a half years, he’s gonna break his covenant. He says this in verse 26, “But the judgment shall sit, and they will take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it to the end. And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominion will serve and obey him. Hereto is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my cogitations troubled me, and my countenance changed in me, but I kept the matter in my heart.” Praise God. Sometimes you don’t know all the answers, but you know some of the answers. So you keep it in your heart till you get clarity. Now he says in chapter eight, beginning in verse one, he had another vision. “In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar, the vision appeared to me, even to Daniel.” He’s about 75, if my calculations are true. And again this is guessing that he was about 15 when Babylon took over Israel. “After the vision which appeared to me at first. And I saw in a vision, it came to pass when I saw I was in Shushan, the palace, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in a vision I was by the river of Ulai. Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and there stood before the river a ram which had two horns. And the two horns were high, but one was higher than the other. But the higher one came up last. And I saw the ram pushing westward and northward, and southward so that no beast might stand before him. Neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.” What he saw was the Media Persian Empire. Two horns, right. Now when you read in verse 20, the Lord speaks to him. Gabriel spoke and gave him revelation. “And said, ‘The ram, which you saw having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.” Then we go back to verse five, “As I was considering, behold a he goat came up from the west on the face of the whole earth, and did not touch the ground.” In other words, he was moving very quickly. “And the goat had a notable horn between his eyes, and he came to the ram that had two horns and had been standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with great anger against him and smote the ram and broke his two horns, and there was no power in the ram to stand before him. And he cast him down to the ground, and stamped until there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore, the he goat waxed very great, and when he was strong, the great horn was broken, for it came up four notable ones towards the four winds of heaven.” Again, in verse 21 he says, “This is the king of Greece.” Alexander the Great came into power very quickly. He had four generals. He died really quickly after he was taken all this territory. And then these four generals took over his kingdom. He says, “The he goat is the king of Greece, the great horn between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas,” in verse 22, “four stood up for it, for the kingdom shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.” So what did Daniel see? Daniel saw a transition of authority. He saw a transition of power. I tell you what I believe, I believe that there is a transition of authority coming. I believe that there is a transition of power that is coming. I believe that things are changing. Daniel saw this before it happened. Hallelujah. Did you know in France, they just elected a conservative leader. And you know why they elected a conservative leader? Realize, this is in France, because of the same problems that we are having here in the United States of America, because of the infiltration of their borders with terrorists, because of sexual trafficking. And these same problems, they are tired of it. I believe the people of America are smarter than the liberal nuts have made them out to be. And I believe that they’re tired of it, and I believe that a change is coming in the United States of America. I could be wrong, I have been wrong before, but I don’t believe that I am. In August of last year, I sat in a meeting, when the liberals were at the height of their power, and Andrew Wommack was speaking and he said that he believed that the Lord had spoken to him, and that by 2026 there would be a total change in the United States of America. When he said it, it almost seemed like it almost couldn’t be. But I remembered in 1987, November, that I sat in a meeting with Dr. Lester Sumrall, and he said two things. He said, number one in 1988, the high are gonna be brought low, and the low are gonna be exalted. He said, it will happen in the government, and it will happen in the church. And then I watched it happen, just as he said. But he said one other thing, he said the Iron Curtain is gonna fall. November, 1987, we were at the height of the Cold War. When he said that it’s like he poured ice water on 2,500 or 3000 people. You get it, like they sucked all the air out of the room in disbelief. And did you know what? We watched that happen in a very short time. It was so real to Dr. Sumrall when he said it. He said, “What is wrong with you?” And he began to talk about how fascism fell and he began to talk. It was so real to him what the Lord was gonna do. I read a book in, it was written in 1964. I read it, you know, in about 1984/5. It was written by Finis Dake. It was called “God’s Plan For Man.” And Finis Dake wrote before he died in 1964 that the Iron Curtain would have to come down. And he said if the Iron Curtain did not come down, then those nations that were once part of the Roman Empire could not come into a common, under a common leader. And he said, “For Bible prophecy to be fulfilled, that would happen.” He thought it would happen by a war, but he wrote this in 1964 and then he died. I read it in 1984, and then I saw it happen, just like Dr. Sumrall said and prophesied about. And listen, when Andrew Wommack spoke last year in August, I thought, could this thing be? Could this thing be? And I remembered the word of the Lord and how it came to pass. Hallelujah. And I thought, it could be. Hallelujah. Daniel saw a transition of power. Hallelujah. He saw it shortly before it came, and then he was there when it came. Friend, I’m so glad that you’ve been watching this broadcast today. You know what? I believe that God has divine connections for each and every one of us. He has people that He has appointed for our life to help us accomplish what He’s called us to do. And if you need prayer today, I want to invite you personally to give us a call here at the church so we can pray for you. Thanks so much and God bless you today. Blessings.

Faith isn’t complicated. It’s simply trusting God by knowing who he truly is. God is absolutely good. Like Daniel did, who stood strong against the odds, you can live in victory no matter the challenge. God’s goodness is running after you. Discover these life-changing truths in Pastor Lawson’s teachings, “Spirit of Excellence, lessons from Daniel,” and “The Goodness of God,” both $20 values, yours free today. Download them now at charischristiancenter.com.

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