Today to redo yesterday's lesson, learning humility from never to never. Because the Old Testament was written for our admonition. In other words, that's our launching pad in which we should learn for how God dealt with the people during that time. It's the same God that's dealing with us, and Jesus Christ had came to often finish our faith, to enlighten us, and he chooses some of those of us who he's gonna bring out of darkness into the light and allow the light to shine upon us. I contrasted Sarede, Nebuchadnezzar versus son of Cherub, and showed you the contrast of where God's wrath was upon the son of Jericho. His sons killed him in his temple while worshiping his God because what he did to the children of Israel, what he did to the people was because of his wickedness, his evilness, and he was a proud, arrogant, high-minded king. We need to take note of that today because we have a leadership, we have a world, we have people that's prideful. This is a prideful world and it's all the characteristics of Satan that's trying to bring into bondage and captivity. and calls the people of God to be carried away also. But God's released us from bondage. He calls us out of light. Senator Cherub, I told you, was an awful king and he was doing it as he was an instrument, a tool that God used to chastise people and carry them captivity into, he kept it captive, the Northern tribe that they went out of existence. That was the lost tribe as he translated them and translated other people into the Northern territory. They lost their inheritance from God, whereby Nebuchadnezzar was commissioned to conquer all of the bordering nations, to conquer all of the nations. He was king of kings and he did a work in capturing Tyre for God. And as he destroyed Tyre and bring it down, God said it wasn't enough of a reward, a bounty, the spoil in which he gotten for such hard work for those 13 years. So he gave him Egypt as plunder. He gave Egypt to him as a reward in the spoil of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar was commissioned then to take the children of Judah captive into Babylon for rejecting God's truth, defiling his Sabbaths was the last straw. They rebellion and rejection of God's Sabbaths and for the sins of Josiah's son, trying to think of his name, I forgot his name, but he was one of the worst kings of all. for Israel and he lasted a long time on the throne. But they were carried away into captivity and God calls Nebuchadnezzar a servant of God. We see some of the activity that Nebuchadnezzar had with Daniel and with the Hebrew boys and all of these was things going on in Nebuchadnezzar's life, pointing him to God, showing the sovereignty of God, the absolute omnipotence of God, and the Most High God. He called him the Most High God. And after the episode with the dream that anybody interpretation of after the fiery furnace this last episode we hear of is a chapter Nebuchadnezzar wrote himself and it's glorifying and acknowledging that's what the chapter about acknowledging God as the most high that he ruled it on earth and in heaven and and he exalt who he want to exalt and he make the most basis of men and set them on the kingdom but he lowers the proud that he rejects and hate the prideful. Nebuchadnezzar had another dream and that dream The interpretation, you know, it was just an application of what had happened. It was about a tree being cut down. But what it actually was when Daniel told him, because Daniel said he wished it was his enemy that he was talking about, but it was about Nebuchadnezzar, God shewing the tree down, God bringing Nebuchadnezzar down. humbling Nebuchadnezzar, and that's what the problem was. Daniel told him, you know, but he didn't have a lot of preaching to him, but Daniel told him that if he would repent and turn from his evil ways, perhaps God would change. The Watcher had decreed that this was something to happen. So I brought that analogy all the way up, and I told y'all as I was teaching that we should see ourselves as Nebuchadnezzars. working some of us for God, toward thinking and hopes of doing what's right. But we don't actually have a working knowledge or intimate relationship with God. That's why Jesus said we must be born again. I tell you, God brings circumstances, situations, marriages, divorce, loss of jobs, all kinds of calamity and situations into your life to humble you, to bring you down to the point where you no longer can depend upon yourself. You see your depravity, your worthlessness, and without God you can't do anything and that you're dependent on him and it brings you to a sorrowful repentance under God. That's what happened to Nebuchadnezzar for seven years. His understanding was gone away from him. He had this Boanthropy, they call it. Doctors call it. It's a psychiatric condition. But what it was, God turns you over and darkens your understanding. The God of this world blinds your understanding because that's what sin is. That's what sin does to you. Pride gets you to where you can't see, that you can't function, And his understanding left him as a man, as a king, and he grew hair and his claws and things, and he just was unkept. He was driven out into the wilderness away from people. And I tell you, that's our lifestyle away from God. We've been working and laboring. Some of the things is for good or whatever, but it's without an intimate knowledge of God. And he sends a preacher that would be like Daniel, someone to bring the good news of the gospel and tell us to turn us away from our evil ways and turn to God. Where it took seven years or seven seasons or seven times to pass over Nebuchadnezzar for him to know and come to this testimony that the most high God ruled in heaven and earth and he could start to begin to glorify God. Once we are born again and start to testify and glorify God, then God can lift us up. As children of God, he can restore the years that the canker worm and the palmer worm had taken away. He can restore the fortunes and the blessings and the inheritance of the children of God. we see what he restored Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom back to him. The miraculous part of it, what Nebuchadnezzar realized, and a lot of us today realize, during that time, someone else would have filled the vacuum, but no one else filled the vacuum. He was restored to his kingship, ruling and honor and his majesty, all of these things returned. God had said, hew down the tree, didn't say chop up the tree. Now like Sennacherib, Sennacherib was wicked and evil like a lot of the people today. And every tree that the father had not planted shall be hewn down at the root of the tree. So Sennacherib was rooted out, he was grounded out. Whereas Nebuchadnezzar had time to be fertilized and watered. And I can imagine during that time to come to this analogy. They don't say anything about preaching or teaching or whatever, but the light came to him to where he realized who ruled the earth and all that there is. And that's what we do in the light. When Jesus Christ come, when he come unto us and bring those circumstances in which we turn and repent, like on the day of Pentecost, when Peter convicted the people with his preaching, that they said, what must we do to be saved? And Peter says, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus. So that's a process we begin when we turn to God. In other words, our will has to be broken because we're in bondage to Satan, who's the father of pride, who's the father of all sin and all rejection against the government of God. So we must be broken in whatever circumstances, situations, as it was in Job's life, cause us to be broken and to resort to turn to God and look unto God. That's how we begin to grow. That's how we begin to receive our blessings. Isaiah 66 1 through 2 says this is what the Lord says heaven and earth is my throne and the earth is my footstool Where then is a house that you could build for me and where will my rest in place be? For all these things my hand has made So all these things my are mine and came into being by me and for me declares the Lord But to this one I will look graciously to him who is humble and contrite in spirit, who reverently trembles at my word and honors my command." So it's not very, you know, we may realize it may be hard to do, but if we want to impress God, it's certainly not hard to understand. He says that he would look to the person that's of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. In other words, not with a hearty, a high-minded spirit that he can pull himself up by his own bootstrap and he's not depending on anyone to help him or whatever, but he realizes he's but a child and he needs guidance and leading through this world, through this life, that he needs God. He needs the Savior, Jesus Christ, to design his life, give him a purpose and give him hope And to lead him into eternal life. That's why he says if you want to be my disciple Take up your cross and follow after me Learn of me continue in my word. So that word is what washes and cleanses us No, but you never died shortly after this It probably wasn't but a few years after this. Hold on just a second these people Soon as I get to do something, I got the phone on, well, the answering machine pick up, but the doctor's calling me about an appointment or something here. They could leave a voicemail. But what happens here is that God looks for us in our brokenness. This is taking me off again. But in our brokenness, in our humbleness, God, that's what impresses God. 1 Peter 5, 5-7, in James, the fourth chapter, 17th to the 10th verse. Likewise, Peter said, you younger men of lesser rank and experience, Be subject to your elders, seek their counsel, and all of you clothe yourself with humility toward one another. The other, put on the servant's apron, in other words, minister to one another. And it says, for God is opposed to the proud, that is, the presumptuous, and he defeats them. He's against the proud in the prideful and haughty look. but he gives grace to the humble therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of god set aside your righteous pride and all of this self-ambition and all of these and look to god as jesus christ as the scripture says lo i've come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will oh god That's what we're here to do, the will of God. It's not our will, but his will be done. We are following his word and helping establish his kingdom. That's why we pray, thy kingdom come. And the world has to line up on him, line up on the word of God with his character, with his traits, because he said, let us make man in our image. Now the wicked and the evil doers, it is a day of vengeance and judgment to where God removes all of the wicked, especially in this end time. And these closing times in the days of the Gentile, he's bringing forth his judgment upon the world. So he says, as you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God at the appropriate time, If we cast out all of our cares and anxieties and worries upon him and all of our concerns. and affections, He watches over us and in due time, He would exalt us. He'll bring us to where we should be because God had designed a place in the body of Christ for each and every one of us to fit into that place. We must make a sure hope of our calling of the vocation wherewith God had called us for. if it's being a deacon, a usher, a singer, a pastor, a teacher, whatever position, whatever place in the body of Christ, we were just talking about the ants and that ant's path. On the outer perimeter, a lot of those ants is a worker ants, and they bring what's on the outside into the queen, into the colony for everybody to enjoy, for everybody, they're constantly working. So all of the work is not in the church. The greatest amount of the work is in the world. That's why Proverbs says, take a look at the ant, go look at the ant, observe the ant. They're constantly working, and that's what we should be doing. Spiritual beings should continue to work for the Lord, his spirit, do it yet work. The flesh is weak, but the spirit is willing, and those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength in doing that. But in this struggle, it says, Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh unto you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep, and let your laughter be turned to mourning. your joy to heaviness Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up. So here it is again as the world throws things at you as Nebuchadnezzar toiling and tiring and Capturing as we do the will of God. That's gonna be a lot of disappointment Looks like the world is winning and it's for dark or whatever but God comes through and After Job suffered a while, God replaced him double to what he had lost. He gives us the double. Nebuchadnezzar, after he toiled and tired, doing what God wanted him to do for 13 long years, God rewarded him with Egypt, with the spoils of Egypt. Just as with Abraham, Abraham for 30 some years toiled with learning to have faith in God and act upon the faith of God. what God's word, it says Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. That, in other words, it was imputed to him and he became the father of faith. So it's the same as I tried to get to that scripture yesterday about with Mary at the wedding feast. Humbly, she came to Jesus at the wedding feast and said that they were out of wine, that the wine was out and that she was there and it posed a problem and a shame to the people that had the wedding feast were married, seeing that this was a function of something that should happen. And she said to his servants, he says, She says they were out of wine and he says what is that to verse 4 says he said hurt woman What is that to you and me my time to act to be revealed has not yet come So this was a Hebrew idiom. In other words, he was saying we have no part in that. That's that's not our problem What is it our concern to meld in other people's business or whatever? and But she seen and humbly came to him in this way, and it demonstrates meekness and faith by expressing a humble attitude. Notice in the way she came to Jesus, this is what service to Christ is all about, living in obedience to his every word. So being his mother, he had said this, but we're to take and analyze those words that it is to us when people are trying to do the right thing. Marriage is honorable before God and they should have marriages. As a mother, as a concerned person, empathetic, we don't know how young the couple was, anything about the couple, but she was concerned with everything proceeding as it should proceed. In other words, we should do good works. We should humbly do good works, do good, have mercy and compassion and run the judgment. So Christ here looks at her and she's talking to his disciples then, and she bids them, says, whatever he tell you to do, do it. Whatever he tells you to do, do it. So that goes back to what I was saying that Christ tells us things and we have to do his will, we have to accept his will. Well, they fill the water pots up, they fill the water pots up and they change the water into wine. It changed the water into wine. It changed the relationship between him and his mother at that time because he went on into the ministry at that time. Because changing water into wine, that first miracle, that was an act of deity. You couldn't, you know, that's impossible for a man to do but with a reliance upon God. The disciples learning to whatever Jesus they do so in his word, whatever he tells us to do we do it just like Abraham instead of questioning God and trying to Manipulate you remember he had went with Hagar his wife Sarah suggested he go with Hagar But he was trying to fix that instead of because God says Sarah shall have a son and We have to stop doing things our way and struggling and toiling and do as God says do. God told him to sacrifice Isaac. He didn't bring his wife and nobody into the picture did. He just took Isaac up to Mount Moriah and he was beginning to sacrifice Isaac when God says, now I know you believe and trust me. and God intervened, he became the father of faith. So when we start doing what he tells us, the doers of his word, we have to be doers of his word, not just hearers of his word. We can't stumble at their actions or whatever, but whatever the Word of God tells us to do, if we fear and tremble God and plead to God and ask Him for directions and everything, He's gonna present that way out. He's gonna present what to do. And so if he's trembling, he says, you want to impress me? The impress me is to have to him who is humble and contrite and tremors at my word and honors my command. So whatever he says, do it. That's why we have the petitions. That's why we can pray to God. And we know he'll deliver to us because why? We keep his commandments. We keep his word and he's gonna bless us. And that's what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. During that time, he learned that God rules and that we have to follow his commandments and things. So if he lived a number of years, it didn't tell us much more after then or whatever, but we see what Nebuchadnezzar was a servant of God. As it says, Cyrus was a servant of God. So we shouldn't take that differently than what the Bible has given us, because we see Cornelius was exalted, that Peter was sent to Cornelius' house, Gentiles or whatever. So God calls us into church and it's about humbling ourselves wherever we at, whatever we doing, we have to humble ourselves under God's hand. Jesus was this perfect example of submission and coming to do the will of God, Philippians 2 and 8 said, and being found in a fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He followed the Father's will. He followed all of his designs instead of being disobedient as Adam was and getting kicked out the garden. He, when tested, when tempted by Satan, he says, man shall live by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. Well, as reading and studying the scriptures, we know that we shouldn't tempt the Lord thy God. We know that that's the scripture. We know that we shouldn't worship other men or other things, possessions, all of those idols. And we become prideful for those things. Nebuchadnezzar was crowd. He went out on the balcony and overlooked. He was a great builder. If you look back in the Babylonian culture about the buildings and the building programs Nebuchadnezzar had, he was another Solomon in his building. Babylon was very extraordinary. But he says, look at this great Babylon that I have built. See, he didn't realize that God had given him that God built the house. Unless Jesus built the house, we labor in vain. For all the magnificence and glory that Solomon put together the temple of God, God destroyed that temple because of Solomon's and the children of Israel disobedience unto him. There was disobedience to him, just like during the time of Jesus Christ, they destroyed Herod's temple that he had rebuilt the temple site from. But the people didn't realize the time of their visitation to turn to God, just like this nation right now. This is Babylon. Babylon has fallen. We're in the worst time period We can see immorality, injustice. We can see laws being changed, laws and seasons and things. The worst government fall corruption and we can't trust. We can only trust in God to bring us through this. We're in perilous times here. So he's calling us out of Babylon. Babylon has fallen. All we're seeing is a shadow or a remnant of what's going, falling down. But he's calling us out before it completely falls down. We don't want to be like Samson. We don't want to push the house down upon us and commit suicide and die with the enemies. We want to be left as inheritors as Nebuchadnezzar came through and the rest of his people were destroyed. It was not too long after this, I guess, to where his son was destroyed, Belchazar. He was destroyed because the 70 years was about up. Nebuchadnezzar lasted 30 or 40, probably almost 50 of those years. And it was time for God to come in and let Cyrus take over. It's time for this nation. It's time for all of the nations of the world to fall because the kingdoms of the world is going to be one kingdom governed by Jesus Christ. His government is coming in. All of the nations shall fall and we can see wickedness in all over the world. Autocracies, plutocracies, oligarchies, all of these things are arising. None of them are godly. they have a form of godliness, but the apostate church, the false prophet, the beast world system, it's falling. And we have to flee. We have to flee to a refuge, and he's that refuge. So we have to humble ourselves under God's hand during this time, and he'll give us victory, just like he gave Nebuchadnezzar victory, just like he gave Daniel victory. He gave all of his people to be victorious. Job came through victorious. It seems as though his friends misunderstood him and talked about him and criticized him to where Job says, miserable comforters are you. He had to end up praying for those friends or God would have destroyed them. So we have to pray for people or whatever, but we have to make sure we make it out. We see the whole congregation together. Not all of the people, just a remnant of the people came back from Babylon captivity when Cyrus came in and told the people to go back and build and worship at the temple. And during Nehemiah's time, that they were there and they re, we see where they're rebuilding the walls and it was a scene in which him and Ezra and the priest was doing that time and it says now in the seventh on the 24th day of this month the Israelites are similar together that was two days the 24th day of the seventh month is two days after the last great day the Israelites were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth and with dirt on their heads. In other words, they were humbling themselves before God for God to do something. And that's why I say we must pray and fast as a church during this time, as a people, as God's people. He says in 2 Chronicles 7 and 14, if my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. So we have to do something also. Humbling is a process that we have to do. It's a deliberate turning to God. It's a deliberate forsaking yourself. It's a deliberate forsaking of the world, the things of the world, the love of the world. It's a deliberate turn to God, becoming his bondservant, voluntarily taking on the yoke. He says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. So we turn to Christ at this time. We turn to the lead shepherd, the head shepherd, the chief shepherd, and his other under-shepherds that would guide us along in the way because he had left a five-fold ministry in the church for the edifying of the church that it would be without a spot or a blemish. but it takes listening to the word of God. It takes counseling, whereas we don't see where they were sent on a reconnaissance mission or anything into Babylon. We know Ezekiel was the prophet during the time of the captivity in Babylon, but Daniel, he was a prophet, but we don't see them trying to convert Babylon. Babylon is fallen. Babylon is symbolic of the world and representative of Babel, where they built that tower to reach to the skies, but it was self-centeredness that's built at that. And that's what's building in the world today, Babel. It's a Babylon of the end time. And God says, let's go down and confuse the language because they becoming self-centered. And that's what the people are today. This is the most self-centered, covetous, disrespectful, unthankful nation, ungrateful. The people, we have a problem here. But we as God's people, his witnesses has to be Lil Nebuchadnezzar's and witness of the most high God and preach the gospel that's commissioned to do the work of evangelism. He commissioned us, he says, go into all of the world preaching the gospel, making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Now, in the book of Daniel, the seventh chapter, in the 27th verse, which we will address when we get to that chapter, verse 25 says, he will try to change all laws, morals, and customs. Then the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the most high. This kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom and all the dominion will serve and obey God. So right now, it looks like evil is winning, but this wickedness is going to take a fall. God's people will rise up, but the characteristics of it, you'll know by the word of God. A tree is known by the fruited bear. So Nebuchadnezzar was getting all of the fowl of the heavens. Everything started to abide under that tree, under the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of kings. But Jesus Christ, when he comes, he has a highway of holiness. No unclean thing, he's gonna purge away all what's not right. All of that was in the government that's, when he come to punish the government because of their corruption, he's gonna remove all obstacles. Anything that's not like him, he's gonna lay the ax to the root of the tree. there'll be a purging of God's people. Now, we have to learn that we will be purged, but that's to remove all of the infirmities. That's what Peter said in the book of, I mean, that's what James said in the book of James, where I read that chapter that, in that chapter of James, where it said, draw nigh to God, cleanse your hands, ye sinners, purify your hearts, ye double-minded, be afflicted and mourn in weep. let your laughter be turned to mourning and humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. So we see a shaking going on here. But as the foundations be destroyed, what's the end gonna be like here? So we will see the world as it is removed in the kingdom of God coming forth. The government of God arises up in that book of Daniel, the seventh chapter. Daniel promises rulership of the Saints to go to God's government Which is why it's essential a central decision in our lives in and around revolves around government You remember Adam and Eve they revolted against the government of God God's rulership and that's why he says your enemies shall be those of your own household and Because the whole household has to fall in line with God's word. God's word doesn't fall in line with anything. There's a plumb line. We must measure up to that plumb line, the uprightness. And that's why he's gonna make a correction in the church. He's gonna make corrections everywhere. And that's why I told you about God's word. It's God's wrath or God's punishment and correction. But he's going to have a church without a spot of blemish. There won't be any rebels in the church. It won't be any that's against the authority of God. Government is the overriding issue throughout the Bible. It is who will rule our lives and who will not. You remember in the book of Samuel where they rejected Samuel, they rejected, God says, they not rejected you, Samuel, they rejected me. But you remember Samuel's children wasn't living under God's law. They wasn't living the right way. The people were corrupt, but the children was corrupt also. But they asked for a king and they rejected Jesus. That's the same way they rejected God and they asked for a king. So Samuel gave him a king, which was Saul. But when Jesus came, the people rejected Jesus and said crucify him. We have no king but Caesar. So God's people have a history of rejecting God. rejecting the things of God. So when we see the church in rejection of God, we see why he says in Revelation that he'll have to fight against some particular churches. That's within the churches because it's the evangelical arm, it's the Christians, this Christian nationalism that's giving us a false Christianity. a government that's godless, but it's the Antichrist. In other words, it's in place of God instead of God. In other words, it's this little lamb that has this power to act like this thing, but it's wickedness. It is wickedness. It's a apostate church, a fallen church. It says Jezebel, that spirit is in the church, a spirit of seduction. Balaam, the false prophet, Balaam signals three different teachings that's erroneous teachings. Jezebel, he says, he's gonna cast her and her children into a bed of death. We see Jezebel rise up in the book of Revelations. We see the Nicolations. We see all of these false prophets. And Jesus told us there'd be many antichrists and false spirits arising that last day. So we're in a battle here, just like Nebuchadnezzar was cast out because his whole administration was corrupt. That's why he never did trust his soothsayers as an astrologist. But notice he gave them first chance, the first opportunity to interpret the dreams that he called them first. Well, we see here now that the Gentiles, the people that are so-called God's people, are given an opportunity. But we see the wickedness. We see that God has to hew down this tree. We see as a nation we're divided to where there's no reunion. This nation can't be united under secularism. And that's what's arising, secularism. It's divided because I couldn't, there's nothing we could go along with, with the government or the nations or whatever, because it's a false Christ. It's not true love. It's not a spiritual, have a form of godliness, but the spiritual power, the spiritual love of God, the born again, this is not there. So as we put ourselves, not God, at the forefront of the battles we fight every day is a troublesome thing. We must realize that the battle is the Lord and we must be led by the spirit of the Lord. We simply do not allow him to be our king and our commander. And we're trying to fight. I see where the Democrats are ready to unload Schumer because We're in a time where the secular world's gonna have to fight fire with fire. And Jesus says, if this be already kindled, he would rather it already be kindled when he comes. So this pot has to be cooking now. It has to be cooking now. There has to be a revolt in the world. God has to come and put out all disputes. The Armageddon is civil war that's arising, and we're going with the wrong crowds and wrong people, but we're not a part of the world. We don't love the world and other things of the world. We just are, what, ambassadors of Christ. Notice that when God accomplished what he had to accomplish, then he put Nebuchadnezzar back on the throne. So we don't know if it was a lot of fighting for the throne and what was going on, but we do know one thing, without the God of this nation, the people that worship the leader of this nation, when he leaves, when he dies, he's a pretty old fella now, and he's losing his mind. So what happens, it's gonna be like when Alexander captured the known world at that time and had conquered the known world. Well, when he died, his kingdom was divided up with his four different generals. Well, we see things going on in the world in a wicked way today. So we then have to pass the same test as they did. To which government will we submit ourselves to? Because they're talking about prosecuting the people that prosecuted him or whatever. They're talking about vengeance or whatever. But will you stand for the truth now? Will you capitulate? Because Jesus says, unless that time is shortened for the likes sake, So we know it's time for him to come back because they're about to start prosecuting people that stand for the truth and live for the truth and do right. And we're seeing this, but the world doesn't see it because they're in darkness. See now, but Sheneza couldn't see it when he was in darkness. So God took him beyond the horizon so he can see into the light. And those of us, if we come out of Babylon, we can see the light. We can't see the light in Babylon. The whole world lies in darkness because they're being deceived by the wicked one. The Corinthian says they've been blinded by the God of this world. There's a direct connection between prayer and submission to God's government. And we see Daniel, that's one of the things that throwed him in the lines then because he was praying to his God. And they say, don't pray to your God. You need to pray to our God. They worship this man that's in there now. But it's a lot of them won't bow down to him. It's a lot that won't bow their knee to him. It's a lot that don't bow the knee to Putin and Russia. He poisons them and kills his people. They has the guy in Turkey, Orban or whatever his name, nothing but dictators and bad regimes have arisen around the world. So just like Xi Jinping or whatever his name is in China, God has to overthrow the whole world government, all of the nations because the whole world has followed after the big sister. When we pray, we are prostrating ourselves before God, calling on His great name and recognizing His power, His omnipotence, His omniscience, His immunity. Those are the things that Nebuchadnezzar realized Like I said, I don't know what type of teaching or meditation or what he was going through to realize all of these things about God, but we must learn of him. And that's why we are here. That's the church's job, is to train us up to be rulers in the reign and the kingdom of God. But we must study the word of God. He says it's a time of our ignorance he went. But I wouldn't, I'm looking for people from other churches or other places that come in and learn the word of God. I'm not gonna trust someone that I, that God hadn't cleared before me that don't have any fruit. You see, because it's a lot of people out there calling on the name of God. And I was telling someone the other day, it has a lot of people preaching and teaching or whatever, but you be very careful. You have to be very circumspect. I don't just go sit up in anybody's church and follow and looking at anybody's preaching. There's a many false prophet out there. Prayer is a spiritual blessing God gives us as a major tool for growth. Prayer at any time is an exercise in humbling ourselves as it forces us to admit our humanity, our inadequacy, our dependence and need upon God and that we are not self-sufficient. That's why he says praying always. and pray in supplication, let your request be known to God. So we should be consistent and say, cease not to pray. Praying always because why? We want what comes from God, not just from man. We're not gonna start depending on man. Would you trust this government? Would you trust anything? They're turning on everything. You wouldn't trust them. When we trust God and we see that if God doesn't do something, we're in a heck of a mess. But we know he will according to his word. But he says we're going to have to induce suffering, affliction. We will have to go through a whole lot, but we will have to be submitted to God. We can't fight this battle. This is not a carnal battle. We're not fighting against flesh and blood, but we're fighting against powers and principalities. And that's why I say we must study the word of God. We must become spiritual as Jesus was spiritual. This is our sword. The word of God is our sword and it's our rod. It's our shield and buckler. Everything's in the word. By prayer, and especially by striving to pray always, we are submitting every thought, word, and action to the scrutiny and governments of the great God that he pulled down the strongholds that has us bound, that we bring into captivity every thought, because we noticed that Nebuchadnezzar was walking along thoughtfully in his mind. We're responsible for those thoughts. We have to bring those thoughts into captivity. We have to cast them out. We have to have a transformed mind, a renewed mind, that same mind that was in Christ Jesus. So we have to bring every thought into the captivity of Jesus because even the lust after a moment to think after evil things, those things that we dwell on, we soon become. That's why he tells us to meditate on the word. Whatever is lovely, whatever is pure, meditate on these things. Think on those things. Remember the thoughts of man was evil continually is the reason he destroyed the old world. There are people and wicked people devising ways. They stand up, stay up late at night. They got playbooks. They got all of this of the evilness and the wickedness that they will do. But God's going to have them in the rich and he's going to laugh at them. He's going to scold from that. Why would anyone, why would God want anyone in his eternal family who demonstrates an unwillingness to submit to his governments on every occasion? I have a rebellious child. If anyone in the church, a young lady, we was talking about coming to church and I was asking, is God with you? Why do you want to come to the church or whatever? Because this is a serious family you're getting into. You don't just get in. This is a commitment. The church is the most exclusive organization it is. He has to bring you in. You're birthed in the church by the Spirit. So there'll be a many of people in the building that come into the church. They will become divisive because now you want to blame it on the preacher. You want to argue with the people in church or whatever because you're not born again. You here and you don't fit in because you're carnal. You're not repenting and turning from self. You're not hating self or whatever. So you become disruptive. I told her, I said, well, why you left your other church? She said, well, they changed the day, the day of whatever. They stopped wanting to do it on Sunday and they do it on Saturday. I said, oh, by the way, we do it on Saturday. That's the correct date. They changed it for a reason. So you have the same problem with us because I believe Saturday is the right day. That humble attitude. You remember I told you God blesses you or he moves some things away? You remember he was gonna kill Ahab and Jezebel? And when Isaiah came and told Ahab he was gonna kill Ahab, Ahab humbled himself. And God said, you see how Ahab humbled himself? I'm not gonna do it in his day, I'm gonna do it in his son's day. He caused Jehu to come in and destroy Ahab's household. But he says since Ahab had humbled himself, he wasn't gonna do it in Ahab's day. Leviticus 26, 40 through 42, saying, and I told y'all this yesterday, it says, but at last they shall confess their sins and their father's sins of treachery against me, because they were against me and I was against them and brought them into the land of their enemies. When at last their evil hearts Humble and they accept the punishment I send for their sin Then I will remember again my promises to Abraham Isaac and Jacob Jacob and I will remember the land In other words, you will recant, you will realize that your parents were sinners, that your grandparents were sinners, that y'all sinned against me, and you will accept the punishment because I tell people, every sin and transgression you will receive is just recompense of reward. So he's going to chasten his children, correction comes. A child that can't be corrected, that can't be chastened, the Bible says that you would take him out and stone him to death. You have to. He says, this is my son. He's a drunkard, a disobedient, and the whole village stoned him because he could be a problem later on. You don't let wickedness grow up. We must turn our guilt into responsibility, first by acknowledging and admitting we have committed sin, and then by repenting and changing and overcoming our wrong ways. I tell you, it's a battle. Now we're in a battle to do right, because the old man used to doing wrong, and when you attempt to do good, evil is right there trying to get you to do the wrong thing. trying to have the wrong thoughts. It's a battle, like I say, when people say this is so easy and everything, they don't know much about God. We enter into a battle here. Paul say he had to buffet the flesh, he had to put up under the flesh because he's gonna keep rising up and you're dragging that old man around. And Paul say, I see another law within my members. See, we flush, we are carnal, and it's gonna seek for self-pleasure, self-desires, and everything. Job saw that and said, no, you don't talk like my wife. Something's wrong here. We have to not be a vacant house, you know, because when you cast an evil spirit out of someone, if that someone doesn't go to church and get preaching and get the right things put back in there, they have to furnish that house. They have to find a house because those demons come back and see no furniture nothing in the house. They say come on over here We got plenty of room and they gonna bring seven worse than them in there get back in there You will be in worse shape to you when you started you know, if you turn again, if you once knew this and you had repented and gotten straight, you could be in worse shape than you was when you first began. The initial step to overcoming sin is to humble our hearts and accept our guilt. That's what I say, see our depravity, see our sinfulness and see the sinfulness that's around us and be ready to make a covenant with God that you will change your ways and accept his way and that you will die to self, you become his bond servant. And in this I had given you what a bond servant was and we'll go over that Wednesday. Because we've closed a lot of territory today, it might not be identical to yesterday. But I thank God for you that you allowed me to help close this loophole that we left yesterday. Overcoming, that is, our struggle after righteousness is evidence of our admission of personal guilt. By striving to rid ourselves of sin and living in accordance with God's standards, we admit to God that we are guilty of sin. And he says, well, there's no condemnation in me, so we have to put on Christ and pull off the old man. We have to be clothed with his righteousness. because if he justified us and he put us in right standing with him, he's trying to cleanse and wash us and purify us, and we're going back out getting muddy. We're like a dog that returned to the vomit, a hog that returned to the pigsty. We keep wallowing in it, and he told Peter, unless I wash thee, you have no part with me. We're washed by the word of God. It was the sprinkling of the word of God. We have to have that work. We have to have that hunger. It creates a hunger and a desire. And so a lot of times you come in saying, you're ready to eat, pastor. I'm ready to eat. I'm ready to be fed. Because it's such a challenge out there. And without eating, without assimilating God's word, we see we're in a losing battle. We must have our strength. It gives us rest. And He's our Sabbath. He's our rest. The Apostle James writes in the second changed eight to ten first if i have what you are really fulfilling the role of law according to scripture you shall love your neighbor as you said that he is if you have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit you are doing well but if you show partiality that is prejudice it favoritism you're committing sin in a convicted by the law as a offender as for whoever keeps the whole world but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty in breaking all of it. They're oppressing the foreigners. We've become oppressing the foreigners. We're oppressing the widows. We're an oppressive nation. We've become oppressive people. We've become greedy and covetousness. Justice is not found in the land. God has to intervene in those things. Those are things that we can't rectify because if it's the government that's doing those things, it's not individuals who make up the government. Well, let me not even call this guy's name or whatever, but it's foolishness out there. When guilty of sin, we have bound ourselves by relinquishing our liberty. When guilty of sin, we have bound ourselves by relinquishing our liberty because Christ had set us free. The truth makes us free. He had released us from bondage, so why would we go back into bondage again? Why would you go back up under the yoke? That's what Paul was telling the Galatians. He said, oh foolish Galatians, who had bewitched you? You're going back under the law? You're going back under these things? Christ had died to set you free. He had set you at liberty. By grace are you safe through faith. So by faith, we help establish the law, but we don't put ourselves back under the law. Peter said, we couldn't keep the law. Why would we put them back under a law that we couldn't keep? So I'll start Wednesday with the parable of the unprofitable servant. I'll leave this right here. I've already given you a copy of what we did the other day, a copy of this actually.