In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith discusses the importance of standing up for righteousness in a fallen world. He uses the example of Daniel, a young man who took a stand for God even when it could have cost him his life. Pastor Chuck encourages young adults between the ages of 12 and 20 to resist compromise and prepare for the Lord's coming. He also introduces his new book, "Standing Up in a Fallen World," which provides guidance and encouragement for today's generation.

Welcome to the Word for Today. The Word for Today is a continuous study of the Bible taught by Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently teaching from the Old Testament. And for those of you following along in your Bibles, we'll be continuing today in Isaiah chapter 14 beginning with verse 12. As we continue with an in-depth study, here's Pastor Chuck. And Satan doesn't come as some ugly, horrible, repulsive kind of creature. He always comes with the idea of wonderful, exciting, beautiful. And that's why it's so deceptive. Because he promises you light. And he promises you excitement. But he brings death. He promised to Eve, you know, you eat of this, you're going to be as gods. You'll know good from evil. But it brought the fall. Now, Satan, being this cherubim, being the anointed cherub that covers, or the ruling cherub, being in the garden of God, every precious stone for his covering, perfect in beauty, perfect in wisdom, perfect in all of his ways until the day that iniquity was found in him. What is the iniquity? Being created as a self-determinate being, as his man, Satan had the capacity of choice. And Satan decided to exercise his will against the will of God. And that's what basically sin is all about. It's rebellion against God's authority. God who reigns over the universe as the creator, the sovereign God, did create creatures of, and gave to them the capacity of choice so that as they worshiped him, their worship would be meaningful. If he had created robots, no capacity of choice, though they may worship him, the worship would not be meaningful. So that God might receive meaningful worship from his creation, he created angels and men with self-determination. Satan chose to rebel against God in the exalting of himself. And so we read of his I wills, five of them. This is the exercise of his will against the will of God, rebellion, which constitutes sin. I will ascend into heaven. This is what he said in his heart. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, the stars of God being the angels. I will exalt my throne above all of the angels of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. And then finally and climactically, I will be like the Most High. I will be as God, or I will be God. Now this being God is the very thing that perpetrated his fall, that desire to be God. And so he said, yet thou will be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. Satan, when he came to Eve in tempting her, used the same lure. You will be as God, knowing good from evil. The Hindus believe that by going through their rituals, their fastings, their prayers, their meditations, their chantings and all, that they can come to a place where they are transformed into the God state. The New Age movement, which is modern day Hinduism, or is Hinduism in Western garb, is telling man the same thing, that you can ascend into the God state. And they speak of that universal consciousness and this altering of our consciousness and the conscious levels, so that you can ascend into the universal consciousness of God and you become God. Shirley MacLaine, I am God. And it is something that is being espoused by the New Age movement. It is something that the Mormons are attracted to. For the hope of the Mormon is when he dies to become God and to have his own planet and take his celestial wife and be joined with her on that planet and to populate that planet with a lot of little Mormons and watch over them as they develop and answer their prayers and have power and authority and all over them. So that when a marriage is sealed in the temple, at the time of their consecration of the marriage or the wedding in the temple, the wife is given a new special name. So that when the husband comes to his planet, when he calls that new special name that is given to his wife, then she comes and together they procreate and start their new planet. If he doesn't call her name, she's out of luck. She wasn't good to him, didn't bring his coffee in the morning, and didn't serve him well in this life, and so he gets even with her. He doesn't call her name when he gets to his kingdom. And he calls another name. So wives, treat your husbands well. You want your name to be called. So, tragically, many of the TV evangelists and TV personalities today have taken up this same, man is God kind of a heresy. And as they promulgated the heresies of positive confession, of writing your own tickets, of creating your own reality, and as they spoke of the creative power of words, the word of faith and its creative force, and how that you can create your own reality and you can have whatever you wish and whatever you desire, these are characteristics that belong to God. God is sovereign, and God does create and can create His own realities. And when man then steps into that position of control, and he can have whatever he desires if he exercises the proper attitudes and positive attitudes and confessions and all towards it, creating his own reality, God is no longer in control of that man's life. He is in control of his own life. And thus, man is elevated even by that doctrine to the God state. And so that would be a doctrine that would be assumed by the teaching of positive confession and all, even if they did not take the next step and talk about God-man and man becoming God and you are gods, it would be an assumption that would be made in the fact that I am able to create my own reality. I can take control and I can have whatever I desire by making my confession and all. And God then has to honor my faith and what I have said and what I have claimed and all. And God becomes really subservient to me. And God is no longer in control of my life. I am in control and God is obeying my whims and my wishes. Thus, you see, the next step logically would be I am God. And they took that step, unfortunately. And many of the TV evangelists that are well known today are teaching this heresy in the TV personalities, even locally, are teaching that you are little gods and that you look in the mirror and you see God. And God looks in the mirror and He sees you. And you are gods. And it's just this stuff that goes way back to Satan who said, I will be like the Most High. And yet the Lord said, you'll be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. And they that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee. That is, they'll sort of squint. When you see Satan there in hell, you'll squint and say, is that the guy that gave me such a hassle, gave me such a bad time? They that see thee will narrowly look upon thee and consider thee saying, is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdoms? That's the one that did all the damage? You take a universal tour and you get to see this one who created so many problems. That made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof and opened not the house of His prisoners. Now turning again to Babylon and its destruction, all of the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword that go down to the stones of the pit as a carcass that is trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial because thou hast destroyed thy land, and you have slain the people, and the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. So prepare slaughter for His children for the iniquity of their fathers, that they do not rise nor possess the land nor fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, I'll cut off from Babylon the name and the remnant, the son, the nephew, saith the Lord, and I will also make it a possession for the bitter and the pools of water, and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts. For the Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have fought, so shall it come to pass. As I have purposed, so shall it stand." So God's destruction of Babylon will be thorough. It will be complete. Nothing will remain. And the Lord said, I have sworn. As I have fought, so shall it come to pass. God's word is faithful. God's word is sure. God's word shall stand. As I have purposed, God said, so shall it stand. Whenever God swears, I'm always taking note. Because that's something you can be absolutely sure of. God who is true and who cannot lie, when He takes an oath to proclaim a truth, then mark that in heavy underlining because you can be sure that God will fulfill His purposes. That I will break the Assyrian in my land. Now He turns from Babylon to Assyria. The immediate danger is not from Babylon. That will come later. The immediate danger is Assyria. At this very time, Assyria is carrying away captive the northern kingdom of Israel. This is the time of the death of Ahaz the king, at the time that Hezekiah is coming into the throne, 726 BC. And at this time, the process of the destruction of Israel is taking place by Assyria. And thus, He speaks of Assyria, that I will break the Assyrian in my land. And upon my mountains, I will tread him underfoot. And then shall his yoke depart from off of them and his burden will depart from off their shoulders. And this is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth. And this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed and who can disannul it? His hand is stretched out, who can turn it back? Now, Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and then they began to invade Judah at the time that Hezekiah was king. And the Rebbekshek came with the message from Sheneq Reb, the king of Assyria, and said, don't trust in your God that He will deliver you. Because none of the gods of the other nations have been able to deliver them from the Assyrians. And capitulate and we will spare you, but if you don't, we're going to exterminate you. Now Isaiah said to Hezekiah, don't worry, don't fret over this because God is going to destroy the Assyrians. Now here Isaiah prophesied that God would break the Assyrians in His land and upon the mountains He would tread them underfoot. So the Assyrians invaded and they began to set up their host for the siege of Jerusalem. And the Assyrians were encamped on Mount Scopus. They're on the edge of the city of Jerusalem. In fact, it's a tremendous vantage point to look over the city of Jerusalem from Mount Scopus. And as they were encamped on Mount Scopus ready to besiege Israel, or Judah and Jerusalem, an angel of the Lord went through the camp of the Assyrians. And in the morning when the men of Judah looked out at the camp of the Assyrians, they saw all of these corpses lying on the ground. They went out and they counted them 185,000 slain by the angel of the Lord in that one night. The Assyrian power was broken. God said, I have purposed it and no one can disannul it. He did it and no one could disannul it. The great power of the world at that time was destroyed by the hand of God in one simple operation by one angel. Now whenever you begin to tremble at the power of man, just remember, one angel could wipe out the whole total nuclear force of Russia or the United States or anything else. Could disannul it. God said, I have purposed it, no man can disannul it. So Isaiah then tells us in verse 28 that in the year that King Ahaz died was this burden. In other words, this is when the Lord laid this heavy burden upon me as I saw the destruction of Babylon, as I saw the future and the things that were going to transpire, horrible things. It created a real heaviness upon him, a burden. Rejoice not thou whole Palestinia, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken. Now for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. You remember that out of the root of Jesse would come the righteous branch who would reign. Now here out of the rod of him that smote thee, because the rod of him that smote thee, out of the serpent's root there will come forth not a righteous branch, but a poisonous serpent, and his fruit shall be as a fiery flying serpent. And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety, and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. Howl, O gate! Cry, O city! Thou whole Palestinia art dissolved, for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. And what shall one then answer the messengers of the nation, that the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it." So the Palestinian issue will be settled, and the Lord will found Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it. Pastor Chuck Smith will return with a few closing comments, but first I'd like to remind you that today's message is available in its unedited form on cassette or CD. Simply write or call and ask for ordering details on tape or CD number C-3248. Again that's tape or CD number C-3248. As we come to a close in today's program we'd like to introduce a new book by Pastor Chuck Smith written especially for today's young generation. Do you have what it takes to abstain from the immorality of our culture? Would you stand up for Jesus Christ in a group of complete strangers? What about in a group of your closest friends? It definitely takes a commitment to follow Jesus Christ. The word for today presents Pastor Chuck Smith's new book, Standing Up in a Fallen World, a Bible study based on the book of Daniel, a young man who took a stand for righteousness in a time when he could have lost his life. Filled with encouragement and application, Pastor Chuck teaches a powerful message for today's young adults between the ages of 12 and 20, urging them to stand up against the compromise in the world today and get ready for the Lord's coming. And now for the first time, the word for today is made available clothing, t-shirts, beanies, and hats for a limited time only, equipping young adults to witness and revive their generation. Also available is a study guide especially designed for students and family devotions. To order your copy of Pastor Chuck's new book, Standing Up in a Fallen World, the clothing apparel and study guide, you can call the word for today at 1-800-272-WORD or write to us at P.O. Box 8000, Costa Mesa, California 92628. Once again, that number to call is 1-800-272-9673. And for those of you that would like to visit our website, you can do so at www.twft.com. Or if you would like to email us, you can do so at info at twft.com. Well coming up next time on the word for today, Pastor Chuck will be continuing his fascinating study through the book of Isaiah. That's coming up next time on the word for today. And now with a few closing comments, here's Pastor Chuck. Lord, we remember your word that says the time has come when judgment must begin at the house of the Lord. Lord, we do ask that you would clean house, your house. And Father, we pray that you'll restore to the church and to the name of Jesus Christ, dignity, honesty, that we might be above reproach, Lord. Bless your church, your people. May we grow strong that in these last days we might be able to stand, Lord, against all of the onslaught of evil that is coming. And be your light in this dark world. In Jesus name, Amen. This program is sponsored by the word for today. The radio ministry of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California.