1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,420 And here at the end, we will shut the streaming down 2 00:00:03,420 --> 00:00:05,360 and we will have a time of prayer. 3 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:07,540 So make sure that you get a prayer list. 4 00:00:07,540 --> 00:00:09,800 If you have a prayer request, 5 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:11,680 you can grab one of those slips and fill that out 6 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:12,520 and turn that in. 7 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:15,360 And we will make sure to get that prayer request 8 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:20,360 on the prayer list for the next few weeks and months. 9 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:22,920 And so that'll be what we do. 10 00:00:23,860 --> 00:00:25,340 If you have your Bibles, grab those. 11 00:00:25,340 --> 00:00:29,400 We're gonna be in Daniel, Daniel chapter number one. 12 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:34,280 Daniel chapter number one. 13 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,480 We're gonna be starting a new series tonight 14 00:00:39,480 --> 00:00:42,240 and I'm really excited about this new series. 15 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:44,960 It's gonna be a six week series 16 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,280 and then we're gonna, it's gonna be really, really good. 17 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:53,880 I want you with the two or three people 18 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:54,800 that are around you ready. 19 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:57,080 I want you, everybody, 20 00:00:57,080 --> 00:00:59,360 I think most people had this experience. 21 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:02,560 When you came home from school growing up, 22 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:06,240 what was your favorite show? 23 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:07,560 If you, did you ever watch the show? 24 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:09,360 Anybody watch shows after school? 25 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:10,440 Okay. 26 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:11,920 You never watch shows after school. 27 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:13,000 Okay. 28 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:14,080 Or, okay. 29 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:17,720 If you don't have that, if that's not part of it, 30 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,300 give me an old show that you haven't seen in a long time 31 00:01:20,300 --> 00:01:23,240 that you really like, ready, set, go. 32 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:27,240 Talk to each other. 33 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:54,240 Okay. 34 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:15,140 All right. 35 00:02:15,140 --> 00:02:17,560 Let me ask you a question. 36 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:19,280 Is the old show that you hadn't seen in a long time, 37 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,160 how many of you guys was it from the, from the 90s? 38 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:23,140 Anybody from the 90s 39 00:02:23,140 --> 00:02:25,140 Is it the one that you mentioned? 40 00:02:25,140 --> 00:02:27,140 Okay, Isaac's. 41 00:02:27,140 --> 00:02:29,140 Okay, that makes sense, Isaac and John. 42 00:02:29,140 --> 00:02:31,140 How many of us are from the 80's? 43 00:02:31,140 --> 00:02:33,140 Show from the 80's? 44 00:02:33,140 --> 00:02:35,140 70's? 45 00:02:35,140 --> 00:02:37,140 70's? 60's? 46 00:02:37,140 --> 00:02:40,140 Maybe a bunch of you raised your hand for the 60's. 47 00:02:40,140 --> 00:02:43,140 Okay, here's a trivia question. 48 00:02:43,140 --> 00:02:49,140 There was a show in the 60's that primarily featured... 49 00:02:49,140 --> 00:02:51,140 Wait, am I messing this up? 50 00:02:51,140 --> 00:02:53,140 I said what I was going to say. 51 00:02:53,140 --> 00:02:55,140 I can't. 52 00:02:55,140 --> 00:02:57,140 Okay, there was a carat... 53 00:02:57,140 --> 00:02:59,140 I almost messed it up. 54 00:02:59,140 --> 00:03:06,140 Okay, there was on this show a pet that was under the stairs. 55 00:03:06,140 --> 00:03:09,140 And it was a show from the 60's. 56 00:03:09,140 --> 00:03:11,140 You got it. 57 00:03:11,140 --> 00:03:14,140 What was the name of the pet? 58 00:03:14,140 --> 00:03:16,140 Spot. 59 00:03:16,140 --> 00:03:18,140 Does anybody know what they're talking about? 60 00:03:18,140 --> 00:03:21,140 They said it's the monsters. 61 00:03:21,140 --> 00:03:24,140 Okay, and the pet was Spot, right? 62 00:03:24,140 --> 00:03:26,140 What was... 63 00:03:26,140 --> 00:03:28,140 What was Spot? 64 00:03:28,140 --> 00:03:30,140 Does anybody remember that? 65 00:03:30,140 --> 00:03:32,140 What was Spot? 66 00:03:32,140 --> 00:03:34,140 It's a dragon. 67 00:03:34,140 --> 00:03:36,140 The dragon that lived. 68 00:03:36,140 --> 00:03:39,140 How many guys are my age and you have no idea what they're talking about? 69 00:03:39,140 --> 00:03:41,140 Yes, okay. 70 00:03:41,140 --> 00:03:43,140 Yeah, we're all kind of showing our age. 71 00:03:43,140 --> 00:03:45,140 That's fine. 72 00:03:45,140 --> 00:03:52,140 So, the monster's stairs open like the hood of a car. 73 00:03:52,140 --> 00:03:56,140 And Spot would appear if you remember and he would breathe fire or whatever. 74 00:03:56,140 --> 00:04:00,140 And it would be kind of cool to own a dragon. 75 00:04:00,140 --> 00:04:02,140 Who would like to own a dragon? 76 00:04:02,140 --> 00:04:04,140 That would be kind of neat. 77 00:04:04,140 --> 00:04:06,140 You could have like... 78 00:04:06,140 --> 00:04:12,140 You could have a backyard, you know, barbecues all you want. 79 00:04:12,140 --> 00:04:15,140 But probably they would cost more than you could afford. 80 00:04:15,140 --> 00:04:18,140 Who agrees? Probably the feeding will be hard. 81 00:04:18,140 --> 00:04:21,140 And, yeah. 82 00:04:21,140 --> 00:04:23,140 Of course, that was a fictitious pet. 83 00:04:23,140 --> 00:04:33,140 And, of course, some of the best shows and stuff are fictitious, obviously, and otherworldly. 84 00:04:33,140 --> 00:04:39,140 Several shows in the 60s depicted people living in an unfamiliar place like... 85 00:04:39,140 --> 00:04:42,140 Like the monsters being there. 86 00:04:42,140 --> 00:04:44,140 They were kind of these like... 87 00:04:44,140 --> 00:04:47,140 There are monsters in real everyday life and that was kind of the shtick. 88 00:04:47,140 --> 00:04:49,140 Who remembers other shows like that from the 60s? 89 00:04:49,140 --> 00:04:51,140 Like people not in where they're supposed to be. 90 00:04:51,140 --> 00:04:54,140 Like, for instance, who remembers Beverly Hills, right? 91 00:04:54,140 --> 00:05:02,140 They're kind of out of place because they're from the country and they're stuck in, you know, Beverly Hills. 92 00:05:02,140 --> 00:05:04,140 Anybody else thinking something like that? 93 00:05:04,140 --> 00:05:06,140 Yeah, I'm a sue. 94 00:05:06,140 --> 00:05:08,140 My favorite Martian, okay. 95 00:05:08,140 --> 00:05:10,140 Gilligan's Island was that way. 96 00:05:10,140 --> 00:05:11,140 Yeah. 97 00:05:11,140 --> 00:05:14,140 People lost in space. 98 00:05:14,140 --> 00:05:15,140 Hey, good job. 99 00:05:15,140 --> 00:05:16,140 That's the one. 100 00:05:16,140 --> 00:05:19,140 For sure. Lost in space was that way. 101 00:05:19,140 --> 00:05:21,140 You guys got exactly the right... 102 00:05:21,140 --> 00:05:23,140 That's the ones I wrote down. 103 00:05:23,140 --> 00:05:25,140 Sometimes... 104 00:05:25,140 --> 00:05:29,140 So you have these people that are out of their element, right? 105 00:05:29,140 --> 00:05:32,140 We're starting a series called... 106 00:05:32,140 --> 00:05:37,140 Staying True in a World Far From God. 107 00:05:37,140 --> 00:05:43,140 And there is a sense in which people that are trying to... 108 00:05:43,140 --> 00:05:46,140 And we're all at different places in this, okay? 109 00:05:46,140 --> 00:05:51,140 I'm not trying to make anybody in here feel bad. 110 00:05:51,140 --> 00:05:54,140 Some of us are new in our journey following Christ. 111 00:05:54,140 --> 00:05:58,140 Some of us have been coming to church and trying to follow Christ for a long time. 112 00:05:58,140 --> 00:06:00,140 So we're all in different places. 113 00:06:00,140 --> 00:06:06,140 But sometimes what happens is the more and more God changes you. 114 00:06:06,140 --> 00:06:08,140 And I believe that God does change us. 115 00:06:08,140 --> 00:06:09,140 Do you believe that? 116 00:06:09,140 --> 00:06:14,140 I believe that the testimony of so many lives that I've known. 117 00:06:14,140 --> 00:06:22,140 And I know the testimony of my life is that outside of knowing God from His word and in my life, 118 00:06:22,140 --> 00:06:24,140 I know where I would be. 119 00:06:24,140 --> 00:06:27,140 I know where I would be if I didn't have this. 120 00:06:27,140 --> 00:06:29,140 Because I know where I am with it. 121 00:06:29,140 --> 00:06:33,140 And I'm not everything I could be. 122 00:06:33,140 --> 00:06:36,140 But I'm not everything I could be. 123 00:06:36,140 --> 00:06:38,140 Do you get it? 124 00:06:38,140 --> 00:06:43,140 And so the more that God grows us, the more that like... 125 00:06:43,140 --> 00:06:53,140 I think there should be a sense in which we become less and less comfortable in this world. 126 00:06:53,140 --> 00:06:56,140 That we're not... 127 00:06:56,140 --> 00:06:59,140 And here's kind of what's happening in our culture. 128 00:06:59,140 --> 00:07:04,140 Our culture is getting further and further away from God. 129 00:07:04,140 --> 00:07:06,140 So how do you... 130 00:07:06,140 --> 00:07:11,140 This is the big question of this series. 131 00:07:11,140 --> 00:07:17,140 How do you stay true to God in a world that's growing further and further away from Him? 132 00:07:17,140 --> 00:07:27,140 What are some of the things you can do living in a culture that's not driving you towards morality, ethics, right spiritual thinking? 133 00:07:27,140 --> 00:07:30,140 How do you stay true to God? 134 00:07:30,140 --> 00:07:33,140 Who agrees there's lots of temptation out there, right? 135 00:07:33,140 --> 00:07:35,140 And here's the other thing. 136 00:07:35,140 --> 00:07:38,140 I think one of the toughest things for us to... 137 00:07:38,140 --> 00:07:51,140 One of the toughest tests to pass in terms of wanting to be spiritual, be godly as you go through life is the test of prosperity. 138 00:07:51,140 --> 00:08:02,140 That like when you have a lot and here's what you need to understand about where we live in history and in this world, we have a lot. 139 00:08:02,140 --> 00:08:06,140 The poorest among us have a lot. 140 00:08:06,140 --> 00:08:07,140 Okay? 141 00:08:07,140 --> 00:08:11,140 Now I'm not saying that there aren't people that don't have problems and needs, 142 00:08:11,140 --> 00:08:15,140 but facing that test can be very, very difficult. 143 00:08:15,140 --> 00:08:20,140 And coming out the other side having been godly. 144 00:08:20,140 --> 00:08:24,140 There ought to be a culture shock. 145 00:08:24,140 --> 00:08:28,140 Have you ever experienced culture shock? 146 00:08:28,140 --> 00:08:37,140 I know my wife and I before we were married, we, for one summer for like seven or eight weeks, we talked. 147 00:08:37,140 --> 00:08:40,140 We were just friends. 148 00:08:40,140 --> 00:08:45,140 And we talked on this old school thing called Microsoft Messenger. 149 00:08:45,140 --> 00:08:47,140 Does anybody remember that? 150 00:08:47,140 --> 00:08:50,140 Well, instant messenger was the other kind of one. 151 00:08:50,140 --> 00:08:52,140 Did you ever do that, Dustin? 152 00:08:52,140 --> 00:08:57,140 We would talk online and she was just falling head over heels for me. 153 00:08:57,140 --> 00:09:01,140 And I thought she was pretty cool too. 154 00:09:01,140 --> 00:09:06,140 But we were talking online that way because she was in Thailand. 155 00:09:06,140 --> 00:09:15,140 She spent a summer in Thailand teaching English as a second language and working with the missionary and getting people into church and doing that. 156 00:09:15,140 --> 00:09:18,140 And I remember talking about the differences in the culture. 157 00:09:18,140 --> 00:09:23,140 I'm looking over here at Jessica who spent four years in Taiwan. 158 00:09:23,140 --> 00:09:33,140 And like, I'm sure Jessica could tell us because I talked to Corey and her both about like you're in a place and then all of a sudden you hear somebody speaking. 159 00:09:33,140 --> 00:09:40,140 I've heard people, they haven't told me this, but stuff like this happening where you're in a culture where you're not around people like you. 160 00:09:40,140 --> 00:09:42,140 Everybody you see is Taiwanese. 161 00:09:42,140 --> 00:09:45,140 Everybody you see is speaking another language and thinking a different way. 162 00:09:45,140 --> 00:09:55,140 And all of a sudden you hear an American accent and you're like somebody from home, you know, because you're in a different place and you have that culture shock that happens. 163 00:09:55,140 --> 00:10:01,140 The Old Testament prophet Daniel, I believe, experienced exactly this. 164 00:10:01,140 --> 00:10:03,140 This was a guy. 165 00:10:03,140 --> 00:10:13,140 Daniel and his three friends that we hear about, commonly known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 166 00:10:13,140 --> 00:10:19,140 These were the best and brightest of the Hebrews. 167 00:10:19,140 --> 00:10:26,140 Babylon, this Babylonian empire had invaded just like God had predicted that they would. 168 00:10:26,140 --> 00:10:29,140 And they took these three Hebrew boys, they took Daniel. 169 00:10:29,140 --> 00:10:42,140 And part of the way that they would do things is they would take the best and brightest from the culture and they would bring them into their culture and they would try to make them in their mold and in their image. 170 00:10:42,140 --> 00:10:45,140 They would try to make them Babylonian. 171 00:10:45,140 --> 00:10:53,140 For those who grew up in church, our first thought concerning Daniel is likely of the king throwing him in the lion's den. 172 00:10:53,140 --> 00:10:55,140 How many of you have heard that story before, right? 173 00:10:55,140 --> 00:10:58,140 We've all heard that story. 174 00:10:58,140 --> 00:11:06,140 This centuries old story highlights the world's antagonism towards the thing of God and his followers. 175 00:11:06,140 --> 00:11:15,140 The conflict has existed since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden and continues till today. 176 00:11:15,140 --> 00:11:23,140 The division between the world standards and God's standards is not a thin line in the sand. 177 00:11:23,140 --> 00:11:28,140 Today it's growing as an ever increasing chasm. 178 00:11:28,140 --> 00:11:33,140 And the differences are seemingly becoming greater and greater and ever increasingly rapid. 179 00:11:33,140 --> 00:11:41,140 To the point at which the thing I've experienced, I've been in full time ministry since about 2003. 180 00:11:41,140 --> 00:11:46,140 I was in school some of those years and I started an internship in ministry then. 181 00:11:46,140 --> 00:11:54,140 I've not been forever but I've been around it for a while. 182 00:11:54,140 --> 00:11:56,140 There's ebbs and flows in this. 183 00:11:56,140 --> 00:12:01,140 What I've experienced the past couple of years is that we start engaging with people more and more. 184 00:12:01,140 --> 00:12:10,140 That they're not necessarily saved or even bought in traditionally Christian. 185 00:12:10,140 --> 00:12:16,140 What's happening is they're beginning to look towards the things of God and hear what I'm hearing. 186 00:12:16,140 --> 00:12:21,140 I felt like I needed to come to church because the world is getting so crazy. 187 00:12:21,140 --> 00:12:26,140 Just because there's things that are being questioned that I never thought were questioned. 188 00:12:26,140 --> 00:12:29,140 It's not necessarily like, oh, tell me about this Jesus. 189 00:12:29,140 --> 00:12:33,140 It's more like, you guys seem like you're a little bit more sane. 190 00:12:33,140 --> 00:12:35,140 You know what I'm saying? 191 00:12:35,140 --> 00:12:40,140 I'm not a little bit of a trove but I'm having that conversation a lot more than I ever have. 192 00:12:40,140 --> 00:12:53,140 Daniel in the lion's den is but one snapshot of this story where these guys were taken out of a culture that revered the things of God at least at some level. 193 00:12:53,140 --> 00:12:56,140 They were placed into a foreign culture. 194 00:12:56,140 --> 00:12:59,140 They're out of their element. 195 00:12:59,140 --> 00:13:03,140 They're in a place that they don't totally understand. 196 00:13:03,140 --> 00:13:14,140 Our behavior that stands out is one behavior that stands out among many things is his convictions. 197 00:13:14,140 --> 00:13:21,140 In fact, over the next six weeks we're going to be looking at what it means to stay true in a world that's far from God. 198 00:13:21,140 --> 00:13:25,140 Daniel did this and you'll see it on your sheet as you look at the handout. 199 00:13:25,140 --> 00:13:28,140 These are the six lessons we're going to do. 200 00:13:28,140 --> 00:13:37,140 Daniel stood out and these boys stood out in a world far from God and a culture that they lived in, the Babylonian culture that was far from God, 201 00:13:37,140 --> 00:13:40,140 by number one, developing strong convictions. 202 00:13:40,140 --> 00:13:43,140 Number two, praying with passion. 203 00:13:43,140 --> 00:13:44,140 Excuse me. 204 00:13:44,140 --> 00:13:46,140 Number three, speaking truth boldly. 205 00:13:46,140 --> 00:13:48,140 Number four, living courageously. 206 00:13:48,140 --> 00:13:51,140 Number five, confessing wholeheartedly. 207 00:13:51,140 --> 00:13:55,140 And then number six, preparing for battle. 208 00:13:55,140 --> 00:14:03,140 Today we're going to start with this first idea and that idea is developing strong convictions. 209 00:14:03,140 --> 00:14:12,140 If you're going to stay true in a world that's growing farther and farther and farther away from God, you've got to have some convictions. 210 00:14:12,140 --> 00:14:14,140 You've got to have some things you say, you know what? 211 00:14:14,140 --> 00:14:20,140 This is the line in the sand, this far and no farther. 212 00:14:20,140 --> 00:14:23,140 In fact, I'll say this and this is kind of the theme of the lesson. 213 00:14:23,140 --> 00:14:29,140 Our convictions, not our circumstances, define who we are. 214 00:14:29,140 --> 00:14:34,140 Our convictions, not our circumstances, define who we are. 215 00:14:34,140 --> 00:14:35,140 Who agrees? 216 00:14:35,140 --> 00:14:37,140 Our circumstances can change. 217 00:14:37,140 --> 00:14:39,140 Our circumstances can change. 218 00:14:39,140 --> 00:14:46,140 What's true in the 90s and what's true in the 2000s and what's true in 2023, that changes. 219 00:14:46,140 --> 00:14:49,140 Our location can change, right? 220 00:14:49,140 --> 00:14:52,140 Our, the culture changes. 221 00:14:52,140 --> 00:14:59,140 Sometimes our circumstances are thrust upon us as you find Daniel having that kind of situation. 222 00:14:59,140 --> 00:15:04,140 Who we will be determines what we do and what we do comes from what we believe. 223 00:15:04,140 --> 00:15:13,140 If we want to do the right thing and honor our God, we must be people who do that regardless of where we are and what's happening to us. 224 00:15:13,140 --> 00:15:17,140 So to do that, we have to develop strong convictions. 225 00:15:17,140 --> 00:15:27,140 So developing and living out strong convictions are exemplified for us by Daniel's experience and decision making here in Babylon in Daniel chapter one. 226 00:15:27,140 --> 00:15:32,140 And we're going to see three choices that he made that we should make too. 227 00:15:32,140 --> 00:15:34,140 Here's the first choice that he made. 228 00:15:34,140 --> 00:15:37,140 Number one that we got to make. 229 00:15:37,140 --> 00:15:42,140 Don't conform, don't conform to the world around us. 230 00:15:42,140 --> 00:15:43,140 Here's what it says. 231 00:15:43,140 --> 00:15:48,140 Daniel chapter one, let's start in the verse three. 232 00:15:48,140 --> 00:15:55,140 And let me just set this up again just to make sure you totally understand the context. 233 00:15:55,140 --> 00:16:01,140 Daniel, the book of Daniel was written by Daniel and he was a prophet of God. 234 00:16:01,140 --> 00:16:08,140 In fact, there are prophecies in Daniel that have been already fulfilled. 235 00:16:08,140 --> 00:16:12,140 There are some prophecies in Daniel that have yet to be fulfilled. 236 00:16:12,140 --> 00:16:16,140 So that's a pretty interesting thing about this book. 237 00:16:16,140 --> 00:16:31,140 Daniel chapter one gives us an insight into what happened with him as he and his friends were taking out of Israel to Babylon. 238 00:16:31,140 --> 00:16:36,140 They're put with a bunch of the people and we'll see this in just a second. 239 00:16:36,140 --> 00:16:39,140 They're put with a bunch of people that are trying to change their values. 240 00:16:39,140 --> 00:16:42,140 And that's exactly what we find. 241 00:16:42,140 --> 00:16:45,140 Look at verse three, Daniel chapter one verse three. 242 00:16:45,140 --> 00:17:08,140 And the king spake unto Asphanas, the master of the eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel and of the king seed and of the princes, children in whom was no blemish but well favored and skillful in all wisdom and cunning in knowledge and understanding science 243 00:17:08,140 --> 00:17:17,140 and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace and whom they might teach the learning of the tongue of the Chaldeans. 244 00:17:17,140 --> 00:17:30,140 And the king appointed them with a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them three years and that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. 245 00:17:30,140 --> 00:17:50,140 Now among these were all the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Michiel and Azariah, unto whom the princes of the eunuchs gave them names, for he gave unto Daniel the name of Balthashazzar and the Hananiah of Shadrach and then Michiel and Meshach and the Azariah of Abednego. 246 00:17:50,140 --> 00:18:17,140 So you have something interesting going on here, you have the king giving Asphanas, that's the guy's name right, verse three, the master of the eunuchs, the eunuchs were people who were physically altered, we'll just leave it at that, so that they would not be married so they could give their full service to a king. 247 00:18:17,140 --> 00:18:34,140 Now think about this, we're in a small group setting a little bit, not as big as Sunday morning, what are some of the things that they were trying to use to influence these boys, what did they try to change about them? 248 00:18:34,140 --> 00:18:40,140 Give me some stuff, we just read it, what are some of the things that they were trying to influence them with? 249 00:18:40,140 --> 00:18:56,140 Yes, the eunuchs for sure, yeah absolutely. 250 00:18:56,140 --> 00:19:03,140 Right, they're trying to cut off their ability to even propagate. 251 00:19:03,140 --> 00:19:12,140 Did you see that, they're teaching them the tongues of the Chaldeans, we want you to speak in our language, right, yeah. 252 00:19:12,140 --> 00:19:22,140 What else, somebody else, huh, change their names, changing their identity, did you guys see that? 253 00:19:22,140 --> 00:19:40,140 I make joke all the time about my brother and I, I think I've done that, my brother is named Joshua Shadrach Jennings, so we call him Shad, you guys haven't met him, Shad you need to come to Ohio, why haven't you come? 254 00:19:40,140 --> 00:20:01,140 He's not watching, he doesn't watch, okay, but Shadrach is his name and my name is Benjamin which means favorite son, son of the right hand, and Shad's name, Shadrach is, I think it means literally circuit of the son, I think it was the Babylonian, 255 00:20:01,140 --> 00:20:20,140 it was a name that was a tribute to the Babylonian son God, and so I bring that up a lot, Shad's name is that, but so these names that they gave to these boys honored their, that was me, honored their gods, 256 00:20:20,140 --> 00:20:32,140 so now your identity is not in your Judaism, now your identity is not only in our Babylonian ways, but in our Babylonian religion, what else? 257 00:20:32,140 --> 00:20:37,140 We got, we got language, we've got name, what did you say? 258 00:20:37,140 --> 00:20:41,140 Yeah, they're diet, who agrees? 259 00:20:41,140 --> 00:20:47,140 We'll get back to that one, there's another one, what did you say? 260 00:20:47,140 --> 00:20:59,140 Yeah, so I'm going to say their education, I believe what they're describing when he says they're going to come and live here and learn the language and change the name and eat the way they're doing, 261 00:20:59,140 --> 00:21:14,140 and to have that for a period of three years before they stand before the king, essentially what they're saying is we're going to educate them, we're going to brainwash them, we're going to make them think the way that we think. 262 00:21:14,140 --> 00:21:24,140 Now, it seems as if the boys probably didn't have a choice, but they would respond to the names they were given. 263 00:21:24,140 --> 00:21:31,140 I'm sure that at some level they probably dressed in the way that they were told to dress. 264 00:21:31,140 --> 00:21:45,140 I'm sure that what you find at some point is that the king, and we're going to see this later, but the king kind of keeps putting Daniel in charge of things and that happens later on. 265 00:21:45,140 --> 00:21:49,140 That's part of that whole story with Daniel and the lion's den. 266 00:21:49,140 --> 00:21:53,140 So I think that they did the best they could at their studies, does that make sense? 267 00:21:53,140 --> 00:22:11,140 So they adapted to their culture, they adapted to what was going on, but there was something that happened that was, and we're going to see that in the next section, dealing with compromise. 268 00:22:11,140 --> 00:22:19,140 But here's the point, the point that I'm trying to make with you is this. 269 00:22:19,140 --> 00:22:23,140 Their culture had an agenda. 270 00:22:23,140 --> 00:22:27,140 Their culture had an agenda for them. 271 00:22:27,140 --> 00:22:46,140 And that culture, here's what I say, not all culture, culture in general is not, it's not, there are some things that are culturally not bad or not good, they just are. 272 00:22:46,140 --> 00:22:50,140 But Satan wants to use culture to affect us. 273 00:22:50,140 --> 00:22:54,140 So we need to be in the culture but not of the culture. 274 00:22:54,140 --> 00:22:55,140 Who agrees with me? 275 00:22:55,140 --> 00:22:57,140 We need to be in it and not of it. 276 00:22:57,140 --> 00:22:59,140 There's so much that's cultural. 277 00:22:59,140 --> 00:23:02,140 I'm wearing shirts and jeans. 278 00:23:02,140 --> 00:23:03,140 Many of you are too. 279 00:23:03,140 --> 00:23:10,140 You're wearing, nobody came in with robes on like they would wear back in Jesus' day. 280 00:23:10,140 --> 00:23:11,140 Those are some things that are cultural. 281 00:23:11,140 --> 00:23:14,140 They're not moral or immoral, they're there. 282 00:23:14,140 --> 00:23:22,140 But the truth of the matter is Satan wants to use the culture to drive us into a certain way. 283 00:23:22,140 --> 00:23:25,140 The world wants to conform us. 284 00:23:25,140 --> 00:23:30,140 This passage reminds us that the enemy wants to put the world around us. 285 00:23:30,140 --> 00:23:34,140 It wants us to get from around us to inside of us. 286 00:23:34,140 --> 00:23:36,140 You get it? 287 00:23:36,140 --> 00:23:41,140 The apostle Paul warns us against allowing this to happen in Romans 12, 1, and 2. 288 00:23:41,140 --> 00:23:42,140 He says this. 289 00:23:42,140 --> 00:23:49,140 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, 290 00:23:49,140 --> 00:23:53,140 wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 291 00:23:53,140 --> 00:23:54,140 And then he says this. 292 00:23:54,140 --> 00:24:02,140 And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove 293 00:24:02,140 --> 00:24:08,140 what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 294 00:24:08,140 --> 00:24:17,140 You can either be conformed to the world or you can be transformed by the truth of the word of God. 295 00:24:17,140 --> 00:24:22,140 This helps us know how to think, how to do, and how to live. 296 00:24:22,140 --> 00:24:29,140 And we self-to-be in the world, we still eat, we speak language. 297 00:24:29,140 --> 00:24:30,140 That's all part of it. 298 00:24:30,140 --> 00:24:35,140 But wherever we're tempted to go past the line that God has drawn in the sand, 299 00:24:35,140 --> 00:24:38,140 we've got to make sure we don't go past that line. 300 00:24:38,140 --> 00:24:47,140 And we need to recognize, this is so important, that the culture has an agenda. 301 00:24:47,140 --> 00:24:49,140 The world has an agenda. 302 00:24:49,140 --> 00:24:51,140 That's number one. 303 00:24:51,140 --> 00:24:52,140 Don't conform to the world around us. 304 00:24:52,140 --> 00:24:57,140 Number two, don't compromise like the world around us. 305 00:24:57,140 --> 00:25:00,140 Don't compromise like the world around us. 306 00:25:00,140 --> 00:25:03,140 Look at verse number eight. 307 00:25:03,140 --> 00:25:05,140 I love this. 308 00:25:05,140 --> 00:25:08,140 Here's where Daniel had to draw a line. 309 00:25:08,140 --> 00:25:18,140 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's meat, 310 00:25:18,140 --> 00:25:20,140 nor with the wine which he drank. 311 00:25:20,140 --> 00:25:28,140 Therefore, he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 312 00:25:28,140 --> 00:25:37,140 What do you think it means when it says purposed in his heart? 313 00:25:37,140 --> 00:25:39,140 What do you think that means? 314 00:25:39,140 --> 00:25:45,140 Somebody raise your hand and, Brian, we think. 315 00:25:45,140 --> 00:25:50,140 Who agrees that there's a decision that's made, right? 316 00:25:50,140 --> 00:25:54,140 What else? 317 00:25:54,140 --> 00:26:02,140 Doran. 318 00:26:02,140 --> 00:26:04,140 Right. That's good. 319 00:26:04,140 --> 00:26:12,140 So there's a meditation. 320 00:26:12,140 --> 00:26:21,140 Right. 321 00:26:21,140 --> 00:26:25,140 That's good. 322 00:26:25,140 --> 00:26:27,140 Yeah. 323 00:26:27,140 --> 00:26:28,140 I agree. 324 00:26:28,140 --> 00:26:34,140 There's a line that he puts in the sand. 325 00:26:34,140 --> 00:26:35,140 Okay. 326 00:26:35,140 --> 00:26:41,140 He definitely, we know at least this way. 327 00:26:41,140 --> 00:26:43,140 Yeah. 328 00:26:43,140 --> 00:26:55,140 Why would Daniel make that decision in the first place? 329 00:26:55,140 --> 00:26:58,140 It's right down the line with what you're saying, Dave. 330 00:26:58,140 --> 00:27:07,140 He recognized that there was a line in the sand that he wasn't supposed to cross because he knew God's opinion on it. 331 00:27:07,140 --> 00:27:09,140 Does that make sense? 332 00:27:09,140 --> 00:27:13,140 If he hadn't been taught, who do you think taught Daniel? 333 00:27:13,140 --> 00:27:21,140 We don't know for sure, but when he came from a Hebrew culture, that was a discipleship culture, right? 334 00:27:21,140 --> 00:27:33,140 Deuteronomy 6 tells people that the law tells parents that the law of God should be in their heart and that they would teach it diligently to their kids when they walk in the way when they sit down and when they rise up. 335 00:27:33,140 --> 00:27:42,140 And so Daniel, even though he might have not have had the word of God in terms of scrolls there in front of him, he had the word of God in here. 336 00:27:42,140 --> 00:27:49,140 So when the culture tried to get him to go in a certain direction, there was a hard choice that had to be made. 337 00:27:49,140 --> 00:27:55,140 I think it's interesting too, he purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself. 338 00:27:55,140 --> 00:28:01,140 That was a decision, but was it just one decision? 339 00:28:01,140 --> 00:28:03,140 No, there's multiple decisions. 340 00:28:03,140 --> 00:28:06,140 I think there is a decision that looks a lot like, you know what? 341 00:28:06,140 --> 00:28:08,140 No, I'm not doing that. 342 00:28:08,140 --> 00:28:12,140 Okay, once you make the decision, I'm not doing that. 343 00:28:12,140 --> 00:28:18,140 What decision do you have to make next? 344 00:28:18,140 --> 00:28:20,140 What am I going to do then? 345 00:28:20,140 --> 00:28:29,140 Because there's coming a dinner, there's coming a situation where they're going to put a plate of food in front of me that I've been told I'm not going to do it. 346 00:28:29,140 --> 00:28:31,140 That's why the second half of the verse is there. 347 00:28:31,140 --> 00:28:33,140 Look at verse 8. 348 00:28:33,140 --> 00:28:40,140 Asked verse 8, but Daniel purposed his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor the wine that he drank. 349 00:28:40,140 --> 00:28:43,140 What's the next word? 350 00:28:43,140 --> 00:28:55,140 Therefore, because he made a hard decision and made a purpose and a plan, he had a purpose and a decision in the line, there has to be a therefore. 351 00:28:55,140 --> 00:28:57,140 Okay, what's my plan then? 352 00:28:57,140 --> 00:29:00,140 Well, I'm going to go have a conversation. 353 00:29:00,140 --> 00:29:02,140 What's the conversation? 354 00:29:02,140 --> 00:29:10,140 He requested of the prince of the eunuchs, Ashfinaz, that he might not defile himself. 355 00:29:10,140 --> 00:29:12,140 Now, here's what's cool. 356 00:29:12,140 --> 00:29:13,140 I love this. 357 00:29:13,140 --> 00:29:31,140 You got something you're going to say? 358 00:29:31,140 --> 00:29:36,140 Right. 359 00:29:36,140 --> 00:29:40,140 He knew that it was whatever level breaking God's law. 360 00:29:40,140 --> 00:29:46,140 Now, there is meat that we know that the Jewish people back then could not eat. 361 00:29:46,140 --> 00:29:47,140 Right, it's pork. 362 00:29:47,140 --> 00:29:54,140 So you know that there's going to be some kind of meat that was there that at that time was wrong for that, for him and for those people. 363 00:29:54,140 --> 00:29:56,140 It was wrong for him to eat that. 364 00:29:56,140 --> 00:30:03,140 So we don't know all the details, but we know it's pretty clear from the text that he had something he wasn't supposed to eat. 365 00:30:03,140 --> 00:30:11,140 And when he says, therefore, he requested the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself, there was a decision to have a conversation. 366 00:30:11,140 --> 00:30:21,140 But as you read, as you read what he's about to do, I believe part of purposing in his heart was not just the decision that, no, I'm not going to do it. 367 00:30:21,140 --> 00:30:27,140 It was also the decision, okay, I need to talk to somebody and I need to have a plan. 368 00:30:27,140 --> 00:30:28,140 What's the plan? 369 00:30:28,140 --> 00:30:33,140 He's going to say, no, you probably need to eat this and I'm going to say what? 370 00:30:33,140 --> 00:30:34,140 Who agrees? 371 00:30:34,140 --> 00:30:37,140 Look at verse 10. 372 00:30:37,140 --> 00:30:40,140 And we'll come back to verse 9. 373 00:30:40,140 --> 00:31:00,140 What was he saying? 374 00:31:00,140 --> 00:31:02,140 Summarize it for me. 375 00:31:02,140 --> 00:31:04,140 Anybody want to? 376 00:31:04,140 --> 00:31:09,140 Hey, yeah, Mr. Deb. 377 00:31:09,140 --> 00:31:13,140 Right. 378 00:31:13,140 --> 00:31:15,140 And essentially, you're exactly right. 379 00:31:15,140 --> 00:31:20,140 If you eat that way, you may not look like you should. 380 00:31:20,140 --> 00:31:23,140 And I've got a temperamental king who will have my head. 381 00:31:23,140 --> 00:31:29,140 I don't need any more problems physically from a king. 382 00:31:29,140 --> 00:31:33,140 And so I just don't want to lose my head. 383 00:31:33,140 --> 00:31:39,140 Now, do you think that that response by Ashfinaz was a surprise to Daniel? 384 00:31:39,140 --> 00:31:40,140 Right? 385 00:31:40,140 --> 00:31:42,140 Who agrees? 386 00:31:42,140 --> 00:31:45,140 Probably not a surprise. 387 00:31:45,140 --> 00:31:51,140 That's like asking the jailer, hey, I know you want me to stay in this jail cell, but I really need to go outside. 388 00:31:51,140 --> 00:31:53,140 Can I go outside? 389 00:31:53,140 --> 00:31:55,140 What's the jailer going to say? 390 00:31:55,140 --> 00:31:57,140 No, right? 391 00:31:57,140 --> 00:31:59,140 So he goes and does it. 392 00:31:59,140 --> 00:32:10,140 I think what's amazing is that I think part of Daniel's purposing in his heart was not just a decision to not do it. 393 00:32:10,140 --> 00:32:21,140 I think he purposed in his heart to talk to the man and then to think through what's my response going to be so that I can convince him so that I won't defile myself. 394 00:32:21,140 --> 00:32:30,140 So he says, verse 11, then said, Daniel to Melzar, who the prince of the eunuchs had said over Daniel, hand on eye, and I am a shea on Azariah, 395 00:32:30,140 --> 00:32:36,140 prove thy servants I beseech thee ten days and let them give us pulse to eat and water to drink. 396 00:32:36,140 --> 00:32:46,140 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee and the countenance of thy children that eat of the portion of the king's meat, and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. 397 00:32:46,140 --> 00:32:48,140 Do you think he had that planned? 398 00:32:48,140 --> 00:32:50,140 I believe he did. 399 00:32:50,140 --> 00:32:52,140 We don't know for sure. 400 00:32:52,140 --> 00:32:53,140 Here's what I do know. 401 00:32:53,140 --> 00:33:01,140 If you're going to stand up for what's right, you've got to first of all notice and know what your conviction should be. 402 00:33:01,140 --> 00:33:03,140 Who agrees? 403 00:33:03,140 --> 00:33:12,140 And then before you even get to that situation, then go, okay, if I'm going to do that, what's the plan I'm going to have to be obedient? 404 00:33:12,140 --> 00:33:15,140 Now here's the part that I didn't read that I think is so cool. 405 00:33:15,140 --> 00:33:18,140 Look at what it says in verse 9. 406 00:33:18,140 --> 00:33:27,140 Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. 407 00:33:27,140 --> 00:33:30,140 Who thinks that's cool? 408 00:33:30,140 --> 00:33:32,140 Here's what I know. 409 00:33:32,140 --> 00:33:40,140 I know that God wants you to obey as much as we want to obey, more than we want to obey. 410 00:33:40,140 --> 00:33:46,140 And when you purpose in your heart, I'm just going to do what God wants me to do, because if God said it, I'm going to do it. 411 00:33:46,140 --> 00:33:51,140 I believe there may be times where God helps you out. 412 00:33:51,140 --> 00:33:53,140 You agree? 413 00:33:53,140 --> 00:33:55,140 That God wants to do that. 414 00:33:55,140 --> 00:33:59,140 My dad, I love my dad so much. 415 00:33:59,140 --> 00:34:02,140 I felt like God was calling me to ministry. 416 00:34:02,140 --> 00:34:06,140 And so in those days that just was an automatic. 417 00:34:06,140 --> 00:34:11,140 In the church that I was in, that meant I'm going to Baptist Bible college in Springfield, Missouri. 418 00:34:11,140 --> 00:34:16,140 And so that's what I'd already promised my dad I would do that for a year anyway. 419 00:34:16,140 --> 00:34:20,140 And then once I felt the call to ministry, that's where we ended up going. 420 00:34:20,140 --> 00:34:24,140 And so I knew God, a call to ministry is a call to be equipped. 421 00:34:24,140 --> 00:34:26,140 That's what he told me all the time. 422 00:34:26,140 --> 00:34:28,140 And I believe it with all my heart. 423 00:34:28,140 --> 00:34:38,140 So we jump in the car in August of 2000 and drive all the way to Springfield, Missouri from St. Pete, Florida. 424 00:34:38,140 --> 00:34:41,140 And I was like, oh, I'm going to go all the way there. 425 00:34:41,140 --> 00:34:44,140 It was like my dad was doing like last minute parenting on the way up. 426 00:34:44,140 --> 00:34:47,140 It's like, if I didn't tell you this, I'm going to tell you it now. 427 00:34:47,140 --> 00:34:51,140 And that was the whole ride up, was just him trying to pour as much of the last minute. 428 00:34:51,140 --> 00:34:53,140 Like I got to leave you there. 429 00:34:53,140 --> 00:34:55,140 And so that's how it is. 430 00:34:55,140 --> 00:34:58,140 One of the things he taught me was this. 431 00:34:58,140 --> 00:35:07,140 He said, listen son, if you're going to Missouri to train to be in the ministry and to go either if you're going to be a missionary or a pastor, 432 00:35:07,140 --> 00:35:15,140 whatever you're going to do, you feel a calling to go into the church ministry, right? 433 00:35:15,140 --> 00:35:23,140 So if you're going to be trained to go into church ministry, to lead in the church, to serve in the church, 434 00:35:23,140 --> 00:35:28,140 then when you go to school, you should go to church. 435 00:35:28,140 --> 00:35:34,140 But dad, what if I need to work? 436 00:35:34,140 --> 00:35:36,140 What if I need a job? 437 00:35:36,140 --> 00:35:41,140 Don't you think God can help you find a job where you don't have to skip church? 438 00:35:41,140 --> 00:35:43,140 I think I do. 439 00:35:43,140 --> 00:35:45,140 So you know what that meant for me? 440 00:35:45,140 --> 00:35:47,140 Now I'm not saying, here's what I know. 441 00:35:47,140 --> 00:35:48,140 Don't take this the wrong way. 442 00:35:48,140 --> 00:35:52,140 I know we need, who agrees we need Christian police officers? 443 00:35:52,140 --> 00:35:55,140 Who knows we need Christian nurses and doctors? 444 00:35:55,140 --> 00:36:00,140 Who knows that we, there are certain things that like we need those people who are Christian to do that. 445 00:36:00,140 --> 00:36:04,140 And so I'm not saying everybody should be at church every single time no matter what. 446 00:36:04,140 --> 00:36:13,140 Because I'm glad that there's a Christian nurse at the hospital so that somebody gets in an accident and they can help. 447 00:36:13,140 --> 00:36:14,140 Are you with me? 448 00:36:14,140 --> 00:36:15,140 I'm not saying that. 449 00:36:15,140 --> 00:36:21,140 But what he was saying to me in that moment was, don't, you're here to train to be in ministry. 450 00:36:21,140 --> 00:36:23,140 Go to church. 451 00:36:23,140 --> 00:36:25,140 Go to church. 452 00:36:25,140 --> 00:36:32,140 And you know as silly as that may seem, I went to Bible college and there are some people that on a Sunday, 453 00:36:32,140 --> 00:36:38,140 they're training to go be pastors and on Sunday morning they're at bedside Baptist. 454 00:36:38,140 --> 00:36:40,140 They wouldn't go to church. 455 00:36:40,140 --> 00:36:42,140 That's a bad idea. 456 00:36:42,140 --> 00:36:43,140 So you know what happened with me? 457 00:36:43,140 --> 00:36:46,140 I went and my first job I went, I found this job. 458 00:36:46,140 --> 00:36:48,140 It was going to be a great job. 459 00:36:48,140 --> 00:36:50,140 It was five to nine Monday through Friday. 460 00:36:50,140 --> 00:36:53,140 And I realized man, I think this is the right job for me. 461 00:36:53,140 --> 00:36:57,140 But Wednesday night, it's five to nine. 462 00:36:57,140 --> 00:37:02,140 So if God wants me to have this job, then I need to talk to the guy. 463 00:37:02,140 --> 00:37:06,140 So I went in and I said, listen sir, here's what I got to tell you. 464 00:37:06,140 --> 00:37:07,140 I would love to do this job. 465 00:37:07,140 --> 00:37:10,140 The shift that you have is from five to nine Monday through Friday. 466 00:37:10,140 --> 00:37:13,140 I said, I'll be the best employee you got. 467 00:37:13,140 --> 00:37:14,140 I'll come early. 468 00:37:14,140 --> 00:37:16,140 I'll stay late. 469 00:37:16,140 --> 00:37:22,140 Could this job on a Wednesday be done from like two to six instead of from five to nine? 470 00:37:22,140 --> 00:37:23,140 He said, oh yeah, probably. 471 00:37:23,140 --> 00:37:29,140 I said, do you care if I come in on Wednesdays from two to six so that I can be at church? 472 00:37:29,140 --> 00:37:32,140 And he said, sure, no problem. 473 00:37:32,140 --> 00:37:36,140 And so I got this incredible job, but I didn't have to skip church. 474 00:37:36,140 --> 00:37:37,140 Isn't that cool? 475 00:37:37,140 --> 00:37:39,140 Are you glad I didn't skip church? 476 00:37:39,140 --> 00:37:42,140 You want to pass through the unskipped church, right? 477 00:37:42,140 --> 00:37:43,140 You want me here? 478 00:37:43,140 --> 00:37:49,140 My point is I believe that God gave me favor with that guy and I still got the job and it still worked out. 479 00:37:49,140 --> 00:37:50,140 Isn't that cool? 480 00:37:50,140 --> 00:37:53,140 No, I'm not trying to be the hero of my own illustration. 481 00:37:53,140 --> 00:37:55,140 My point is it's kind of the same thing. 482 00:37:55,140 --> 00:37:57,140 You got to have a conviction, a line in the center. 483 00:37:57,140 --> 00:38:00,140 What is that you need to do and then you need to do it. 484 00:38:00,140 --> 00:38:09,140 And I believe God sometimes does that and helps us with that. 485 00:38:09,140 --> 00:38:11,140 Number three, here's the third one. 486 00:38:11,140 --> 00:38:15,140 Don't cut off from the world around us. 487 00:38:15,140 --> 00:38:19,140 Don't cut off from the world around us. 488 00:38:19,140 --> 00:38:26,140 Verse 17, as for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill. 489 00:38:26,140 --> 00:38:29,140 Oh, by the way, we need to know what happened, right? 490 00:38:29,140 --> 00:38:43,140 What happened was, if you look at verse... 491 00:38:43,140 --> 00:38:44,140 Well, let's just read it. 492 00:38:44,140 --> 00:38:51,140 It says, as for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill and all learning and wisdom and Daniel had understanding and all visions and dreams. 493 00:38:51,140 --> 00:39:01,140 Now at the end of the days that the king has said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar and the king communed with them. 494 00:39:01,140 --> 00:39:06,140 And among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Michele, and Azariah. 495 00:39:06,140 --> 00:39:10,140 Therefore stood they before the king. 496 00:39:10,140 --> 00:39:11,140 Isn't that good? 497 00:39:11,140 --> 00:39:13,140 What ended up happening? 498 00:39:13,140 --> 00:39:17,140 And we see in these three verses that Daniel served where he was situated. 499 00:39:17,140 --> 00:39:21,140 He functioned for wherever he found himself. 500 00:39:21,140 --> 00:39:29,140 It became his reputation that he was going to do, that he was a man of his convictions, that he did the right thing. 501 00:39:29,140 --> 00:39:35,140 And what was amazing was that even those who were trying to conform him respected him. 502 00:39:35,140 --> 00:39:38,140 And that's exactly what happened with King Nebuchadnezzar. 503 00:39:38,140 --> 00:39:40,140 He actually ended up eating with the king. 504 00:39:40,140 --> 00:39:45,140 And it seems to me that that meant that he in verse 19, the king communed with him. 505 00:39:45,140 --> 00:39:50,140 That means he ate the right things and not the wrong things there in the presence of the king. 506 00:39:50,140 --> 00:39:57,140 In other words, his circumstances did not circumvent his walk with God. 507 00:39:57,140 --> 00:40:06,140 And as a result, the non-God followers could see his excellent spirit, his noble character, and his spiritual gift in this. 508 00:40:06,140 --> 00:40:13,140 And this is what Christ meant when he told his disciples and when he told us that we are the salt of the earth. 509 00:40:13,140 --> 00:40:17,140 We are the light of the, what is it? 510 00:40:17,140 --> 00:40:20,140 The light of the world, right? 511 00:40:20,140 --> 00:40:26,140 Instead of being, I'm having you say the word because what's the name of our series? 512 00:40:26,140 --> 00:40:30,140 Saying true to God in a world that's far from God, right? 513 00:40:30,140 --> 00:40:33,140 Instead of being influenced by the world, what was happening? 514 00:40:33,140 --> 00:40:36,140 They were influencing the world. 515 00:40:36,140 --> 00:40:38,140 That's exactly what Jesus told us to do. 516 00:40:38,140 --> 00:40:41,140 Don't be influenced by the world. 517 00:40:41,140 --> 00:40:42,140 Influence the world. 518 00:40:42,140 --> 00:40:53,140 Be salt and light and that we should let our lives so shine so that lost people can see our good works and glorify the Father, our Father, which is in heaven. 519 00:40:53,140 --> 00:40:58,140 We can't evangelize those in darkness if we evade the darkness. 520 00:40:58,140 --> 00:41:08,140 We have to be in the world but not of the world while we're trying to be a witness to the world. 521 00:41:08,140 --> 00:41:10,140 There ought to be a difference. 522 00:41:10,140 --> 00:41:16,140 But in that difference, we ought not to be arrogant or haughty or prideful. 523 00:41:16,140 --> 00:41:25,140 When we see people that maybe aren't living out the convictions that we have, that doesn't make us better. 524 00:41:25,140 --> 00:41:32,140 We can't be angry and mad and enemies with our mission field. 525 00:41:32,140 --> 00:41:34,140 They're our mission field, right? 526 00:41:34,140 --> 00:41:42,140 And if we see a brother or sister in Christ that may not have the exact convictions we do, again, we're not better or worse than them. 527 00:41:42,140 --> 00:41:46,140 If it's from the Word of God, then maybe you have a conversation with them. 528 00:41:46,140 --> 00:41:56,140 Like if it's clear that what they're doing is wrong, then you do the Matthew 18, the Galatians 6 thing. 529 00:41:56,140 --> 00:42:06,140 But you do it, Galatians 6 1 says, if a brother be overtaken in an offalt, ye who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness. 530 00:42:06,140 --> 00:42:08,140 Consider it in yourself, lest you also be tempted. 531 00:42:08,140 --> 00:42:11,140 You don't do it in an I'm better than you way. 532 00:42:11,140 --> 00:42:16,140 You do it in a way that restores, that brings hope and care. 533 00:42:16,140 --> 00:42:24,140 And you do it in a way knowing that, hey, I'm probably not perfect in every area of myself. 534 00:42:24,140 --> 00:42:37,140 How do you have convictions in the way that helps you to stay true in a world far from God? 535 00:42:37,140 --> 00:42:39,140 Number one, you don't conform to the world around us. 536 00:42:39,140 --> 00:42:40,140 How do you not conform to the world? 537 00:42:40,140 --> 00:42:45,140 Well, you've got to be able to identify what's wrong and what's right. 538 00:42:45,140 --> 00:42:47,140 And that's where this comes in, right? 539 00:42:47,140 --> 00:42:51,140 Number two, you don't compromise like the world around us. 540 00:42:51,140 --> 00:42:54,140 And number three, you don't get cut off from it either. 541 00:42:54,140 --> 00:43:03,140 You become salt and light redeeming the culture for the Lord. 542 00:43:03,140 --> 00:43:04,140 Let me ask you this. 543 00:43:04,140 --> 00:43:27,140 How does being a part of a church help us develop strong convictions? 544 00:43:27,140 --> 00:43:30,140 Have you guys ever found it easier? 545 00:43:30,140 --> 00:43:32,140 Have you found it? 546 00:43:32,140 --> 00:43:36,140 Let me ask you this question. 547 00:43:36,140 --> 00:43:45,140 Have you ever been influenced by when you're in a group of people who don't want to live for the Lord or don't want to do right to do wrong? 548 00:43:45,140 --> 00:43:47,140 Right? 549 00:43:47,140 --> 00:43:51,140 When you're running with the wrong crowd, it's easier to do wrong. 550 00:43:51,140 --> 00:43:53,140 Who agrees? 551 00:43:53,140 --> 00:43:56,140 When you're running with the right crowd, is it easier to do right? 552 00:43:56,140 --> 00:43:57,140 Yeah. 553 00:43:57,140 --> 00:44:01,140 We need encouragement from other people to help us do that. 554 00:44:01,140 --> 00:44:04,140 I think there's a sense in which that's what church is supposed to be. 555 00:44:04,140 --> 00:44:10,140 I think Daniel had an easier time because of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 556 00:44:10,140 --> 00:44:15,140 What do we see happen with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego later? 557 00:44:15,140 --> 00:44:17,140 What do they do? 558 00:44:17,140 --> 00:44:18,140 They say that for what's right. 559 00:44:18,140 --> 00:44:23,140 Don't you think that that was help that Daniel and what he did in Daniel chapter one helped them when it came to that point? 560 00:44:23,140 --> 00:44:25,140 I believe that with all my heart. 561 00:44:25,140 --> 00:44:32,140 While they're in the ungodly culture, there was a culture among the four of them that helped. 562 00:44:32,140 --> 00:44:36,140 I think you know our church has a culture, doesn't it? 563 00:44:36,140 --> 00:44:40,140 The ways we think, vocabulary we use. 564 00:44:40,140 --> 00:44:50,140 I hope that being a part of this body helps you to try to want to do the right thing and not just be dismissed but sent and all the things we talk about. 565 00:44:50,140 --> 00:44:52,140 That's a part of it. 566 00:44:52,140 --> 00:44:53,140 Yeah, for sure. 567 00:44:53,140 --> 00:44:56,140 All right, let's go lower to prayer.