Daniel 12:5-13 Thriving in Babylon

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God has promised Everlasting life to everyone who believes in Christ and perseveres to the end.

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Transcript

Intro

How do you thrive in Babylon?

As we close out the book of Daniel, I want to answer that very important question.
We need to know because just like Daniel, we live in Babylon now.
How do we persevere? How do we stay faithful? How do we glorify God to the very end?
That’s what thriving means.
Not just that we make it to the end, but that we overcome the world.
1 John 5:4 Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
I don’t know about you, but as the world grows dark, blasphemes the name of God and pushes back against the church, I don’t want to just roll over.
I want to overcome and live for Christ to the very end.
Calvin called it an invincible fortitude (Daniel, 387)
That’s what the church needs today.
How?
Well like all things, faith. Faith in God’s promise.
Daniel 12:5-13 ends the book of Daniel with a promise and a commission.
The Big Idea is that...

God has promised Everlasting life to everyone who believes in Christ and perseveres to the end.

That’s the promise.
So how do you thrive in Babylon? How do you follow Christ with an invincible fortitude?
There’s going to be two points today.
First, We must rest in God’s promise of Everlasting Life.
And second, We must live for God’s promise of Everlasting Life.
Let’s start with point number 1...

I. Rest in God’s Promise of Everlasting Life

Daniel 12:5-7 Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?”
Remember where we are.
Daniel was standing on banks of the Tigris River when God sent an angel, this man clothed in linen, to give Daniel a great vision.
To tell him about the times of trouble that were ahead for God’s people.
The exile was over, Cyrus king of Persia had sent the people of Israel back to the Promise Land to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, but there was still going to be close to 500 years of trials, hardship, and persecution the people of God would have to endure.
And God gave the vision, this detailed vision of history and world events, to encourage His people to stand firm and persevere.
To keep going when times got hard knowing that even the hard times were not an accident.
They were the Sovereign will of God. Nothing was happening outside of His plan to glorify His Name and save His people.
God gave this prophecy to shine as a light for His people in their darkest days that God had not forgotten them and He was still faithful to His promise.
Their job was to persevere, hold fast, and live for His glory alone.
And after this vision, Daniel sees two more angels, one on either side of the river, and one of them asked the man clothed in linen standing above the waters, How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?
How long will these days of trouble be? How long will the people of God have to endure?
This is the first of two questions that give shape organize this passage.
These two questions are crucial for understanding this passage as a whole?
How long shall these things be?
And then just a few verses later Daniel will ask What shall be the outcome of these things? (Dan. 12:8).
How long and what is the outcome?
And the answer to these two questions tell us what God wants us to hear today.
Verse 7...
And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished.
Now don’t skip over what the angel does to just get to the answer.
He raises his right hand and his left and swears an oath.
Specifically, he swears by him who lives forever, God himself.
When you take an oath you raise your right hand.
Well this angel raises both hands to double the oath, he doesn’t just raise one hand he raises two.
And then he swears by God’s own Name.
Now remember, this is an angel.
He is a servant of God, speaking on behalf of God.
So when the angel raises both hands and swears by Him who lives forever, its as if God Himself is making the promise and guaranteeing that promise.
In other words, you can take whatever this promise is to the bank.
God is not a man that He should lie, so when He makes a promise He keeps it (Num. 23:19).
Titus 1:2 even says God never lies.
Well what does God promise?
It would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished, or fulfilled.
A time, times, and half a time.
This is a difficult phrase. The question is, is this a theological number or a chronological number?
Some take it to be chronological.
Time = 1 year. Times: 2. Half a time obviously half so three and a half years.
Others, like Calvin, take it to be theological.
Literally in Hebrew there’s nothing to say we are talking about a literal number of years.
Instead this would be describing a prolonged period of time that would push the people of God to their very limit, time and times, until finally God would intervene on their behalf: half a time.
Considering the vision spans around 500 years and even jumps ahead to the Resurrection and Final Judgment it seems reasonable to take the angel’s answer that way.
So how long till the end of these wonders?
Until God’s appointed time. He is Sovereign over history and will intervene at the precise moment to accomplish His perfect will.
But either way, whether you take it theological or chronological, it doesn’t really matter.
Even Daniel in verse 8 says I heard, but I did not understand.
Not knowing precisely what times, time, and half a time means does not keep us from knowing what God is saying in this passage.
The angel says it will be this long, a time, times, and half a time, and during this time, whatever that is, the power of the holy people will be shattered.
They will be broken.
So whatever time, times, and half a time is, God is saying His people will need to endure to the very end.
They will need to stand fast and persevere.
So the answer to this first question is really an encouragement from God to His people.
The times of trouble have an appointed end. God is sovereign over all of them.
Their job is to endure to the very end, even when they are broken and shattered, by faith in Him.
And that’s God’s answer to us who are living in Babylon right now.
How long? Its in His hands. None of it is by accident.
Our job is to endure to the end, and persevere no matter how hard it gets.
Then we come to the second question that really brings what God has promised into focus.
Daniel 12:8-11 I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?”
What’s the purpose? God what are you doing in all of this?
He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. [NOT NECESSARILY THE END OF THE WORLD, BUT THE END OF THE PROPHECY WHEN IT WOULD BE FULFILLED. AND HERE’S WHAT GOD PROMISES] Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.”
So what does God promise?…Salvation and Everlasting Life…Salvation and Everlasting Life.

Salvation

First, salvation.
Now what we have here isn’t necessarily the best translation.
Daniel says many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined.
But its better to translate these words as passive verbs.
Listen to the Legacy Standard Bible: Many will be purged, purified, and refined.
The emphasis here is on God. God is the one who purifies, makes white and refines.
The reason it gets translated this way is because the context here is on perseverance which is something we do through faith and dependence on God.
But the overall idea here is God will save his people.

Purify

First He will purify them.
The word purify can be translated as sift or purge as in you sift the wheat from the chaff.
This is God removing all sin and love for the world from us.

Make White

The next word is make white. This would be cleanse or make clean.
This is forgiveness and purity.
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18).

Refine

Finally refine.
This is separating the metal from the dross.
This is God using trials and tribulations, the times of trouble prophesied in the vision, to purify His people and bring them out pure as gold.
This is what God promises His people.
God is promising to save and sanctify His people and see them all the way through to the end.
In contrast God says the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand.
The word understand is the word for see or pay attention to.
The wicked shall act wickedly because they are blind.
They are dead in their trespasses and sins and God has given them over to a reprobate mind.
Ephesians 4:18 says They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
The wise, on the other hand, do understand. They do see and they live in light of God’s light.
They worship God, hold fast to Him, and through faith they are purified, made white, and refined.
They are saved by God’s grace.
Now this brings us to a very important question.
Who are the wise? Who are those saved by God’s grace?
And who are the wicked? Who are those who are blind in their sin and go on acting wickedly?
For that answer, we need to go to Daniel chapter 11.
Daniel 11:32-35 He [THAT’S ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES] shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.
So right there, we have the wicked.
They are those who are seduced with flattery and violate the covenant of God.
Remember the context.
Antiochus was a tyrant who tried to abolish Judaism and the true worship of God and force everyone to adopt the Greek way of life.
To adopt, Greek food, culture, philosophy, ways of thinking, and even religion.
So the wicked are those who don’t worship God and conform to the world.
They violate God’s covenant. They don’t listen or pay attention to Him.
They live in sin and disobedience.
The wise, on the other hand, know their God, stand firm, and take action.
And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.
So the wise, know God. They Love Go. They worship God.
They live for Him and Him alone.
They hold fast to Him and stand firm. They refuse to cave to the world, and let nothing get in their way.
That’s what take action means. They do as they will. No obstacle, No trial, no hardship can make them turn back on their faith.
Not sword, flame, captivity or plunder.
They live for God and God’s glory and nothing else.
That’s why God calls them wise. They live with understanding.
The word wise also means skilled. They are skilled at living.
Why? Because they live for what God created them for: They live for God’s own glory.
What God is describing are those that have faith. Those that trust in God and nothing else.
He is their hope, life, and reward.
Everything else pales in comparison to Him.
In Daniel’s day, it was those who looked forward to the Messiah and stayed faithful under some of the most intense persecution ever faced by the people of God.
And today it is all of us. All of us who hold fast to Christ and trust in Him alone for salvation.
And look what God promises to all those who trust in Him for salvation and persevere no matter what: The blessing of Everlasting Life.

Everlasting Life

Daniel 12:11-12 “And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days.”
Now before we get into it, let’s clear up this business about the regular burnt offering being taken away and abomination of desolation.
In Daniel there are two abomination of desolations and both of them refer to pagans desecrating the Temple and putting an end to sacrifices.
One is associated with the Messiah in chapter 9 (Dan. 9:26-27).
This is the one Jesus talked about in Matthew 24.
In the context of Daniel, the Messiah comes in the reign of the 4th kingdom, the legs and feet of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and the 4th and terrifying beast that rises out of the Sea.
This refers to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple at the hands of the Romans in 70 AD.
The other abomination of desolation is related to Antiochus Epiphanes and related to the third Kingdom of the book of Daniel, the Kingdom of Greece.
We see it in chapter 8 verse 13 and our vision here in 11:31.
So which one are we talking about here?
Calvin took it to be the abomination of desolation at the hands of the Romans.
However I think Daniel is talking about the abomination of desolation under Antiochus Epiphanes because of the immediate context of vision we are dealing with.
In Daniel 11:31 clearly talking about Antiochus it says Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.
The same exact words we have here.
That would mean the specific number of days are associated with something to do around that time.
This is roughly 3.5 years which is about how long the Temple was desecrated under Antiochus as well as how long the Jewish wars lasted against the Romans because talking about the Abomination of Desolation in Luke, Jesus said When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies which kicked off the Jewish Roman wars (Luke 20:21).
And if you’re sitting there asking why does it go from 1,290 days to 1,335, you’re in good company.
No one really knows.
Given what we know from history its difficult to decide what these days are.
And that’s even if you take it as Antiochus in the first place. Like I said, others take it as the Romans in the Great Tribulation of Matthew 24.
What are we to do?
Luther here gives good advice.
“Daniel concludes the record of his terrifying visions and dreams on a note of joy, namely with the coming of Christ’s eternal reign of glory.… Whoever wants to study them profitably dare not focus his attention on the details of the visions and dreams, but will find comfort in the Savior Jesus Christ whom they portray and in the deliverance he brings from sin and its misery.”
Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Daniel: Foundations for Expository Sermons (Eerdmans, 2012), 392.
In other words: See the big picture: God’s salvation of sinners through Jesus Christ.
No matter how you take it, here’s what God is saying in this passage.
The times of trouble for the people of God are not just marked off generally for some future time, time, times, and half a time.
They are numbered down to the very day.
They are exactly measured down by God and will not last a single day longer than what God has ordained.
This gives the people of God great encouragement.
This goes back to the sovereignty idea we focused on last week.
Every single detail of our life is ordained by God.
Nothing, not anything good or bad, comes into our life without first passing through His sovereign hand according to His own perfect will and timing.
This gives us great encouragement because God is always good, always wise, and always loving.
He is working all things together for our good and His glory and so we can wholeheartedly trust His sovereign will.
That’s what the additional 45 days are ultimately all about. Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days.
The difference in days is there to encourage the saints to endure just a few days beyond what they think is their absolute limit.
Keep going even when you don’t think you can endure one second longer. Just a few more days.
Persevere until the very end.
Hold fast to Christ and trust God’s sovereign will.
And if you do, God promises you an eternal blessing and reward.
What is that blessing?
Go up to verse 2.
Daniel 12:2-3 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
So the wicked, those that conform to the world and turn their back on God. They will rise to shame and everlasting contempt.
This is the final judgment. The day Christ returns to judge the living and the dead, and the day that will decide where every man, woman, and child will spend eternity.
The wicked go to Hell.
They are cast out into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth to suffer eternal, conscious, torment under the wrath of God for all their sins.
The wise will rise to everlasting life. They will shine like the brightness of the sky above and like stars forever and ever.
The picture here is glory.
God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all,
In the resurrection, every trace and stain of sin will be removed once and for all and we will shine with the glory of God.
We will have everlasting life.
God will be our God. He will dwell with us and we will be His people. He will wipe away ever tear from our eye and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Rev. 21:3-4).
That is the eternal reward, the inheritance God has promised to everyone who trusts in Him.
And who is that? Daniel 12:2, everyone whose name is written in the book of life.
In Daniel they were the wise. Those that knew God.
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Jesus said I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).
God’s promise of eternal life is only for those who are purified, made white, and refined through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
He died in our place for our sins. He suffered the shame and condemnation of the cross and the wrath of God so that you and I, through faith in Him would never have to.
Do you want eternal life? Do you want to escape the eternal Hell-fire, shame, and condemnation, every single one of us deserves because of our sins?
The only way is Jesus Christ.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
That is God’s promise and He swore it through the angel with a double handed oath, and sealed it with His own Name.
There is nothing that can break it.
And that’s why God closes the book of Daniel with that promise.
That is a promise made to every Saint.
In this passage God is encouraging the Church for all time, past, present, and future to hold fast to Christ and persevere no matter what.
To live for the glory of God and stand firm against all the powers and temptations of the world.

God has promised Everlasting life to everyone who believes in Christ and perseveres to the end.

How do you thrive in Babylon?
You need to rest on the promise. Bank your life on the promise.
God has promised you with a double oath made in His Name.
Blessed is the one who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days.
Persevere to the end no matter what. Hold fast to Christ and you will receive everlasting life.
That takes us to point number 2.
If we want to thrive in Babylon, not only do we need to Rest on God’s promise of Everlasting Life.
We need to...

II. Live for God’s Promise of Everlasting Life

Daniel 12:9; 12-13 Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end…Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days. But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.
In the first part of the passage, we looked at God’s promise, and here God gives Daniel, and by virtue us, a commission. Go your way to the end.
Two times God tells Daniel go your way to the end.
The idea of these words is God saying, Daniel, continue going as you are going. Stay on the path. Keep doing what your doing. Keep living how your living.
Keep going your way.
Go your way and you will stand in your allotted place, you will stand in your inheritance of everlasting life, at the end of days.
Now I want to be explicitly clear.
God is not telling Daniel he will be saved by virtue of all of his works or his own perseverance.
We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
Even our perseverance is still a work of God’s grace in us.
We don’t keep ourselves, God keeps us.
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,  for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Php 2:12–13).
So when we talk about Daniel’s way, we must always remember that it is the fruit of faith.
The fruit of someone who trusts in Christ alone for salvation, and the grace of God keeping them in that faith all along the way.
There’s a wonderful mystery. We work out what God works in.
So what is Daniel’s way?
What does thriving in Babylon and persevering to the end for an eternal reward actually look like?

Following Daniel’s Way: Relentless Godliness

Two words: Relentless Godliness.
I think if you were to look at Daniel’s life over the whole book of Daniel one of the ways you could describe Daniel’s way was Relentless Godliness.
The word relentless means absolutely constant in intensity, strength, and pace.
No compromise, constant faithfulness, constantly striving after the glory of God day after day after day no matter how much the world, the kingdom of darkness, Babylon pushes back.
And Daniel’s way, this relentless godliness, gives us the path God wants all of His people walking to thrive in Babylon.
So what is that?
I think this idea of relentless godliness exemplified in the life of Daniel has two parts; one negative, one positive.
Negatively, we refuse to conform to the world.
And then positively, we live all of our life for the glory of God alone.
These are the two pedals on the bike of a life of relentless godliness; of living for God’s promise of eternal life.
First, Relentless Godliness refuses to conform to the world.

1. Relentless Godliness Refuses to Conform to the World

We see this in the very beginning of Daniel.
Daniel is brought to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar and the king gave them all new names and started his school of Babylonian indoctrination to turn these fine Jewish boys into true princes of Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar taught them all the literature and language of the Chaldeans in hopes that he could one day send them back to Israel to rule as his own puppet princes; trusted by the people of Israel, but really working for Babylon (Dan 1:4).
He fed them with his own food and his own wine.
But Daniel 1:8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.
Instead Daniel asked to be given only vegetables and water to drink (Dan 1:12).
The point of vegetables and water didn’t just have to do with the food laws of Israel.
Later in chapter 10, Daniel talks about fasting from meat and wine, so this was not Daniel’s permanent diet.
Rather, vegetables and water came from God and would have reminded Daniel that he served God and not Nebuchadnezzar.
First, he asked the chief eunuch who said no. But that didn’t stop Daniel. He went to the next steward that was directly over him and in faith asked to be tested for ten days.
Here’s the big idea: Daniel took pains to not be conformed to the world.
It was hard and it was difficult, but he didn’t let that stop him from holding fast to God and keeping himself unstained from the world.
And that wasn’t just a one off, that was the pattern of Daniel’s life.
In chapter 6 when Darius was tricked into signing a law that all prayers and worship should be offered to him, that didn’t stop Daniel.
He kept on praying, Daniel 6:10, three times a day just as he did before even though he knew it meant getting thrown to the lions.
This is a major theme in the book of Daniel, and even in the vision we already saw how God said the wise refuse to turn from God and instead stand firm and take action.
They Do all that they can to live for him.
Like James says...
James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Daniel’s way took pains to keep himself unstained from the world. To stay holy and consecrated to God.
Do we?
Do we guard against our love for the world and take pains, do anything necessary, to keep ourselves unstained from the world?
Or do we live like everyone else with a little bit of Jesus on the side?

Relentless Godliness refuses to conform to the world.

Number 2...

2. Relentless Godliness Lives for the Glory of God Alone

Psalm 63:8 My soul clings to you.
The King James Version says My soul followeth hard after thee.
I cannot think of a better description of the life of Daniel. He clung to God. He ran hard after Him.
Consider how Daniel lived.
We’ve already seen how intentional he was about his holiness.
His whole life was bent on obeying and pleasing God.
That’s what he lived for.
But what else do we see. For one, Daniel was a man of prayer.
Its hard to turn a page in Daniel without seeing him praying. He was always praying all the time.
Seeking the Lord. Praying for God’s will and God’s Kingdom.
Daniel 6, his habit was to pray three times a day.
And anytime he had to interpret a vision for a king or was troubled in his soul, Daniel went to prayer.
He studied Scripture and he fed on the Word of God.
The whole vision of the 70 weeks started because Daniel was studying the book of Jeremiah and praying about it.
He treasured God’s Word and sought to live it out as best He could.
He confessed and repented of sin; that’s the prayer in Daniel 9.
He hated sin and begged for God’s forgiveness.
Whether it was his sin or the people’s sin, he didn’t toy with it. He strove to put it to death everywhere it was found in His life.
We could go on, but its clear: Daniel’s way ran hard after God. He lived for the glory of God alone.
And how did he do that? By being intentional and putting an emphasis on spiritual disciplines.
If you want to thrive in Babylon, spiritual disciplines are key.
Things like Going to church. Daily feeding on the Word. Jesus said man does not live on bread alone but by every word of God. Confessing and Repenting of Sin and Prayer.
And if you don’t practice any spiritual disciplines or your spotty with them at best, today’s a good day for that to change, because without them your faith will be weak.
And a weak faith won’t thrive in Babylon. It will get torn apart.

Spiritual Disciplines

Now what is a spiritual discipline?
A spiritual discipline is anything we do intentionally to pursue Christ and godliness.
Its anything we do to grow or any intentional effort we make to grow in our love for Christ and bring more and more of our life into submission to Him.
Do you want to live for the glory of God alone, then spiritual disciplines are key.
They are how we intentionally pursue Christ and a life of godliness.
Think of spiritual disciplines like this.
And this doesn’t come from me. It comes from a puritan named Thomas Watson.
And if you want a really good book on what it looks like to intentionally pursue godliness and life for the glory of Christ, I would recommend to you Thomas Watson’s book The Godly Man’s Picture published by Banner of Truth.
All of this is going to come from him.
Spiritual disciplines are the coals of the Christian life (232).
They are what fan into flame a zealous love for God that overflows in a life of godliness.
They are how we abide with Christ. Treasure Christ. Prize Christ above everything else.
The soul that truly loves and hungers for Christ would be a fool to not eat freely from the table of spiritual disciplines.
But the really sad truth of it is, most of us are starving but we refuse to put in the effort and do the hard work of the spiritual disciplines.
And I’m speaking to myself too…that is the heart of hypocrisy.
How can we say we love Christ, prize Christ, treasure Christ if we are absolutely content to go day after day without abiding in Him? Meeting with Him? Worshiping Him?
Watson says if we are truly prizers of Christ, if He truly is our greatest treasure and ultimate joy, then we cannot live without Him (51).
The things which we value most we do not know how to live without (51).
And if we are prizers of Christ, there are no pains to great to get him. We dig for gold in the mine (51-52).
But ultimately, what do we say? What excuse do we make?
I don’t have enough time. Let’s talk about that.
Do you want to hear what cut me to the core when I read Watson’s book?
Paul says There is great gain in godliness. It has value in every way, not only in this life but in the life of come (1 Tim. 4:8).
There is no greater cause than the pursuit of godliness.
But listen to what Watson says: Many people fool away their time, some in idle visits, others in recreations and pleasures which secretly bewitch the heart and take it away from better things. What are our golden hours for but to attend to our souls? Time misspent is not time lived but time lost…Time when it has once gone, cannot be recalled (224-225).
What are our golden hours for? How valuable is your time? Where do you spend it?
So much of our time is already accounted for. Family. Church. Work.
If godliness is the most valuable thing in life, why else would God have given us free time than to attend to our own souls?
I’m not saying you have to spend every moment of every day reading the Bible. But most of us don’t even give 20 minutes.
And can I tell you something? 15 to 20 minutes a day might actually change your life.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
What are your golden hours for? Christ or something else?
Are we relentless for godliness? Do we strive for the glory of God in every area of our life and are we ever satisfied until we have it?
We who are eternal debtors to the grace of Christ, do we not live like it? What holds us back? What keeps us?
What could God do in a church that treasures Him most and actually lives like it?
That is Daniel’s way. That is how you thrive in Babylon.

Conclusion

God has promised Everlasting life to everyone who believes in Christ and perseveres to the end.

So how do you thrive in Babylon?

How do we as a church thrive and persevere for the glory of God no matter how much the world tempts us or pushes back?
First, we rest on God’s promise of everlasting life.
We live with the reward in mind.
The destination determines the journey. Where you are going determines how you will get there.
Are our sights fixed on Christ and eternity with Him or are we all too satisfied with the things of this world?
And second, we live for God’s promise of everlasting life.
We pursue a life of relentless godliness that refuses to conform to the world...
And strives, in every way to live for the glory of God alone.
Go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days (Dan 12:13).

Let’s Pray

Scripture Reading

1 Timothy 4:7-10 “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”
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