Marcus Mecum - New Day, Old Demons - Part 2

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Daniel pulls away and he goes to his prayer place. When he comes out of his prayer place, he reveals several things that we’ll look at. One is there is a reason for the season. The second thing, he begins to let us know is that God is in control of who is in control. And then, finally, we see that God always has the last word. So, let’s look at these. He shows up and he says, «Hey, listen, king. God changes the times and the seasons». So, seasons are God’s idea. They’re under his control. He created the seasons and there is a spiritual side to seasons. When we don’t understand the reason for the season, when we’re confused by the season, then we can actually end up missing what God is trying to teach us in a season.

Luke 12, Jesus said, «You can look at the sky and you can see that it’s gonna rain, how is it you can’t discern the time and the seasons»? Speaking about what was spiritually happening? So, to everything there is a season. Seasons create strange responses in people. When we don’t like the seasons, we say, «God cannot be in this season». When we love the season and God’s blessing us, we’re like, «Oh, look, look at what God is doing». But if the season changes into something we don’t like, we doubt him, we doubt what he’s up to. But God is in charge of seasons. Hell is not in charge of seasons. Hell cannot prolong a season. Hell cannot change a season. A season is set up by God to run its course. You can avoid it. You can fight it. You can be insensitive to it. You can ignore it, but a season is set. You can go and try to wear a tank top in January. It does not change the season.

So, God not only orders our steps, he orders our seasons. Seasons are God’s servants. They’re sent to serve his people. They have a purpose. There is a reason for the season. When it’s harvest, we love it. When it’s not harvest, we don’t love it, right? But you cannot have spring without winter, and you cannot have resurrection without winter. So, God sends seasons to accomplish his purpose, but God sets the clock. God sets the beginning day and the end day. God says, «It’s a season. It’s a chapter. It’s not the whole book».

Find the reason for the season. Why? Because there’s no other way to get through it. You must go through the season. It’s grey. It’s cold. It’s stormy. It’s something you don’t desire, and you don’t enjoy, and you think there’s no way God is in this. The sun isn’t shining. The birds aren’t singing. The flowers aren’t blooming. But yet, God said, «If it’s a season, make no mistake, I made it. I created it. I control that season. You don’t have to jump up and down. You don’t have to act excited about it». But you have to get with God and say, «What is the reason? What is going on? What are you up to? What’s your point? What’s the purpose of that»? Knowing there’s a divine purpose for every season. Once you find out the reason, guess what happens? You can produce fruit in season. If you’re not in season, you cannot produce the fruit that’s needed.

The Bible says that, «The sons of Issachar knew the times and the seasons, so they knew what Israel ought to do». You might be suffering. You might be in defeat. You might be looking at your life and say, «Man, for years, I’ve been in a place that’s heartbroken. It looks like I’m losing the battle». But God said, «Let me be clear. I am in charge of seasons in your life. The devil is not in charge. Evil is not in charge. The unrighteous and the ungodly are not in charge. The attack and the adversity will have its season,» but God said, «I’m the one that changes the times and the seasons».

So, now, the reason for the season. Daniel comes out of prayer and he’s like, «Okay. We have to know the reason. We’re here in Babylon. We’re not in Jerusalem. We’re not in a place where God’s people are flourishing. We’re in Babylon. There’s gotta be a reason for the season. We’re in the world, but we’re not of the world». We gotta know we’re see, that season, right? That’s what salt is. It’s something that preserves. Here we are. We got another reason for the season. What’s the reason you’ve placed us on the earth in this time, in this moment? The second thing Daniel comes out of his prayer time saying is that God sets up and removes kings.

So, God is in control of who is in control. Even when the wicked have the upper hand, God is bigger than Babylon. For 70 years, Daniel was in Babylon. Not one time do you ever see Daniel leaving Babylon. His whole life was lived there. Some kings loved Daniel. They embraced him. They pulled him close. They asked him what his thoughts were. They asked him to pray. They asked him to bring solutions. Other kings pushed him as far away as possible, wanted nothing to do with him. Five different regime changes Daniel lives through. After Nebuchadnezzar dies, the next king would be assassinated by his brother, another killed in battle, two others became prisoners of war.

The final one would die during the fall of Babylon. And the point is this, this is the man who says, «God sets up and removes kings». For us, every four years, there is a presidential election. What does that mean? That means the landscape will constantly change and the pressure we feel, the angst we feel, the worry, the divisiveness, all the things that we’re feeling right now, you’re supposed to feel, not because of what you’re hearing and seeing, but because behind the scenes there is spiritual warfare going on. And this is what you see in Babylon consistently. When there were regime changes, leadership changes, you see the presence of angels in each of those. You see Gabriel, and Michael, and Daniel. You see them fighting and warring off through the prayers and the fasting of Daniel.

You see, the prince of Persia losing its power. There’s spiritual warfare going on. Babylon is still succeeding, but God’s people are there calling. The angels, and the warring angels, bring down the evil, demonic spirits that are controlling that system and the policies of that nation. You see an angel in the lion’s den. You see the fourth man in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And what I’m trying to get you to see is it is a very biblical concept that whenever there is a regime change, a leadership change, that there is spiritual warfare, that there is something happening behind the scenes. You see this several times throughout scripture. I’m just gonna give you a few ideas.

When Jesus showed up on the planet, the Bible says, «From the law and the prophets unto John, John the Baptist. There was a rule, the law and the prophets was the rule». Then it says, «After John, when Jesus shows up, now we preach the Kingdom of God». There was a regime change going on. The law and the prophets, their era’s over. Jesus' era and the church is coming. That’s, «The kingdom is coming». That’s what we preach, his kingdom is coming. Jesus goes to the wilderness and what do you see? The devil fights him. The devil tempts him. The devil attacks him. Then what happens? Angels come and minister to him and strengthen him. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he’s there fighting, warring, praying, trying to discover the will of God. He says, «Take this cup from me. Nevertheless, your will be done».

And again, angels show up and minister to him, because there was a transition happening. We see that there was spiritual warfare going on. And election years is our spiritual warfare years, and this is why. Whoever you elect rules, and whoever rules, sets the rules. That’s why you feel spiritual pressure in times like this. Because a policy or a rule can either bring the favor of God or chastisement. Proverbs 29:2 says, «The righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people begin to groan».

This is the idea. You go back to the Old Testament, Balaam understood them. He saw God’s people prospering. He saw the favor of God on the nation of Israel and he wanted to see God turn his back on God’s people. And he knew that, he tried to curse them. He had tried, so, he said to himself, «Let’s set up some temptation. Let’s try to get them to sin, because if they’ll sin, maybe their God will get mad at them and maybe their God will curse them». Curse means to diminish or to make small. «Maybe God will stop blessing them, stop giving them his favor». Because the enemy knows that God has to stay with his word. The enemy knows God can only bless what he said.

So, when policies or laws reign in a nation that God is clearly against, he doesn’t change his mind. He gives us time. He gives us warnings. That’s why you have the book of Jeremiah telling the people of Israel, «You’re embracing things that God is against. If you don’t stop, Babylon’s coming. If you don’t stop, Babylon is going to come and bring all of this favor down. The walls of protection, the walls of favor, they’re all coming down. If you persist, Israel, you just need to know God cannot violate his unchanging word».

And we as Americans need to know the same thing. Our job is to pray. Our job is to seek God. Our job is to know God is in control of who is in control. He sets up and removes kings. God does it. God decides what needs to happen. But we have a say. I love Abraham. He says, «If there is 50 righteous, will you pull back? If there’s 30 righteous, if there’s twenty, if there’s ten righteous and God’s up there saying, 'my heart is to bless my people. My heart is to prosper my people'. Why? 'so, my name could be made great in all the earth'». That’s the whole point is God wants people to know he loves them and that he has a plan and a future.

So, he blesses his people, so his name could be made great in the earth. Number three, God has the final word. So, he’s in control of the seasons. Find the reason for the season. What’s the reason for this season? God is in control of who is in control. He always has his purposes, even if it’s wicked and evil and we don’t get it. God is in control. And know this, whatever happens in whatever kingdom, empire, nation, God has the final word. Watch this. So, Daniel walks into the presence of the king. He says, «I’ve heard from God». He says, «Well, what is it that you’ve heard»? «I know exactly what you dream, king. And not just do I know the dream, I know the interpretation of the dream».

So, he begins to tell the king a little bit about his dream. I’m not gonna get into the details much. But he says, «This dream that you had was of this colossal statute. It’s standing. It’s immovable. It’s this great statue. The head of this status is gold and that represents you, king Nebuchadnezzar, and that represents Babylon». The statue represents the systems of this world. It represents how satan works to oppress through systems, humanity, and people, to keep their eyes blind, and to keep them hearing the gospel. It represents how satan finds a way to keep people in captivity, whatever influence he can. He does this through music. He does this through education. He does this through, in our nation it would be Hollywood, the arts, whatever way he can deceive and bring about that spirit, he’s working overtime. Babylon is strong. It’s colossal. It’s immovable. It’s powerful. It seems like there’s no way it will ever come down.

Then Daniel says, «But I saw in this dream, king, that out of nowhere, a stone came rolling down. The stone was not cut with man’s hands. Man did not bring the stone. Man did not produce this stone. But it’s rolling like a bowling ball towards this statue, this image, that looks so powerful it could never fall. But that stone hits the feet of the statue, and those clay feet are shattered, and like a massive sky scraper that statue comes crashing to the ground. Nothing but dust and ashes are left as a result. And then, a great wind comes and blows the dust and the ashes to never be seen again». And this is what he says, «And that rock became a mighty mountain and filled the whole earth».

When Daniel gave the dream and the interpretation of the dream, it appeared like there was no way that Babylon would ever fall. But we would know that the Persian empire came and conquered Babylon, which would represent the next layer of the statue, which was the silver chest. It would look like that empire would never fall and then we see another empire come, the Greek empire comes, and takes that one out which would represent below that, the brass waist. Then it looked like no way that that empire would ever be conquered, but then, the Roman Empire came and conquered that one, which will represent the iron legs. And history as we know it Daniel said, «This dream is certain. This interpretation is sure. These nations will fall».

And as he said, they have fallen. The fifth empire is debated. But it is the rise of that same Babylonian Roman spirit, again, it’s antichrist, same spirit that killed. That same spirit is going to revive in the end times, but the Bible says, «Be clear, king. Be clear every other sitting king, every other reigning king. It doesn’t matter what nation you rule over, there is a stone coming and it’s not been made by the hands of man. Another kingdom is coming and that stone when it hits Babylon, and every other earthly kingdom will be shattered. It will become dust, and it will be blown away as though it never even existed». And that stone, we know, is Jesus and it is his kingdom, and it is a stone that is made without the hands of man. It is an eternal kingdom because God will have the final word. You can fight it, you can reject it, but every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that he is Lord. I said, Jesus is Lord.

Come on, I’m part of that stone. You’re part of that stone. We’re a part of that kingdom. And when it comes, it’s not going to show up gradually like man’s kingdoms. It’s not gonna show up little by little. It’s going to happen suddenly. Suddenly, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, overnight, his kingdom will come in Jesus' name. And this is what I want to say. We’re on the threshold. This is why we should say goodbye to fear, goodbye to anxiety, goodbye to what if this happens or that happens? 'cause we have a divine secret. God has the final word. He sets up. He brings down. He’s in control of the seasons. It’s him.

Does that mean we do nothing? No, we have our hands. A lot of miracles, the Bible says, happen through the hands of man, the laying on of hands. But what I’m talking about, which is righting everything wrong in the earth, that cannot happen with hands. It’ll happen without hands. He’ll do it sovereignly. And the day has been set, the day has been appointed. We can do nothing to stop it, nothing to delay it. It will come just like he said. And our job is to know he has the final word, he has the final say. Remember the disciples there in the boat, the storm hits and they’re so unsettled. They’re fearful and they’re really upset. They cannot believe that Jesus, the Son of God, who is supposed to love them is sleeping.

«You inconsiderate. Don’t you know that the boat’s about to capsize, that we’re about to drown and die»? And when they finally wake him up, they’re trying to understand, «How could you be sleeping in a time like this»? Well, it’s easy. He has the final word. He has the final says. The waves don’t, the storm don’t, none of that stuff has the final say. He has the final say and we can rest in that in Jesus' name. Amen. We can rest in it. You’ll be alright if we do some warfare for about 30 seconds? Can we be some Daniels in Babylon? Can you be some Daniels who know that prayer and fasting works? That we can bind the prince spirit that’s trying to bring the nation of America down to keep the gospel from going forward.

Father, we pray that whatever that demon is that’s put the scales of people’s eyes, Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, we’re here as the righteous. Not righteous because of what we’ve done, not righteous in our own works, but we stand as the righteousness of Christ Jesus, and we pray for our nation. We pray for our government. We pray that you know what’s going on in the hidden places and the dark places. Nothing is beyond your scope. We have a God who has the inside information. And so, we pray for our nation. We pray that you heal our land. We pray you unify America once again.

We pray that whatever forces are trying to destroy this nation, be kept at bay because we as your people simply pray and speak to us in our hearts and our spirit about what you’re up to. Whatever this season, let us find the reason. Whatever the king or leader, let us know your sovereign purposes will ultimately be fulfilled and you will have the final say. I see it. I see the stone coming in Jesus' name. I see that mighty stone that was made without the hands of man coming to set up the new Jerusalem, a New Heaven, a new earth, where we’ll rule and we’ll reign with Christ Jesus. I look forward to the day there’s no sin, there’s no anger, there’s no violence, there’s no sickness, there’s no cancer, there’s no fear, there’s no death, there’s no fighting, because king Jesus is going to rule that kingdom. And we look forward to that mighty day in Jesus' name. Praise God. Praise the name of Jesus.