Sharing good news of great joy to all people,
Elation Church. This is week number two in our
series we've entitled Self -Control. And if you
weren't here last week, man, you missed it. You
missed out on it. It was a great introductory
to self -control. Because wouldn't we all agree
that there's areas in our life that each one
of us could gain a little and grow in our self
-control, right? You know, whether it be our
health, whether it be our temper, whether it
be our finances, like there's so many areas,
right? We could just go on and on. And the Bible,
we learned last week that the Bible is full of
information and knowledge concerning what self
-control looks like for the believer. And this
morning, I don't have time to recap everything
that we did last week, but we are going to recap
a little bit because we learned. That self -control
is a supplement to our faith. We supplement our
faith by self -control. And we saw this in 2
Peter 1, 3 through 8. It says this, by his divine
power, God has given us everything we need for
living a godly life. Someone say amen. Amen.
We have received all of this by coming. To know
him. I just want to stop right there. Do you
realize God has already given you everything
that you need? Amen? It's already been paid for.
It's already been provided for. Amen? And we
have received this. How have we received it?
By coming to what? Know him. By coming to know
him. That is the most important thing for each
one of us. It doesn't go past that. The knowledge
of just getting to a personal relationship with
Jesus Christ more and more and more, becoming
more like him, looking more like him day to day.
And we do that by spending time with him, right?
Getting to know his heart. And then it transforms
our mind. It transforms our thoughts. It transforms
the way we live. Amen? Amen. And so we've received
this by coming to know him, the one. who called
us to himself by means of his marvelous glory
and excellence. And because of his glory and
excellence, he has given us great and precious
promises. Amen. These are the promises. Listen,
what are the promise? The promise enable you
to share what? His divine nature. The promises
of God enable each one of us to share in God's
divine nature. Did you know? This is what's available
to you. God's not holding out on you. This is
what he wants for his children, each one of us.
Amen? To share in his divine nature, being in
Christ. Right? And what does that accomplish?
It accomplishes escape. How many of you need
escape sometimes? Escape from what? The world's
corruption caused by human desires. As we've
talked about many times, the corruption in the
world is all based on a lack of self -control.
That's its origin, was a lack of self -control
with Adam and Eve in the garden. Their lack to
submit to what God said. Them thinking that,
oh, I know better and I'll just choose whatever
I want to, right? Or I can gain a little more
knowledge. God's holding out on me, right? And
that caused all the corruption in the world that
we see. But when we take hold of the promises
of God, it promises us an escape from the world's
corruption. From the corruption of sin, we can
have an escape from it. Amen? Verse 5, in view
of all this, make every effort. Look to your
neighbor and say, you got to make an effort.
Got to make an effort. It requires work on our
part. Amen? requires work on our part to what?
To respond to God's promises. And how do we respond
to God's promises? And how do we take hold of
them? By faith. And we're supposed to supplement,
listen to what it says, because it's talking
about faith. It says, supplement your faith with
a generous provision of moral excellence. What
is moral excellence? It's God's perfect standard,
right? of right and wrong, his moral excellence.
It's not based upon our understanding, but it's
based upon his being and who he is. Moral excellence.
And moral excellence with knowledge. And knowledge
with self -control. Because you have to have
self -control, listen, you have to have self
-control to hold on to what you believe. You
have to have self -control to make an effort
towards working towards his moral excellence,
right? It requires self -control on your part
to look more and more like Christ. It requires
effort. Knowledge with self -control, self -control
with patient endurance. And patient endurance
with godliness. And godliness with brotherly
affection. Affection for those around us, right?
Our brothers and sisters in Christ. And then
affection and love for what? Everyone. Everyone
we come in contact with. Amen? Verse 8. The more
you grow like this, listen, the more what? Productive
and useful you will be in your knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone say productive. Everyone
say useful. Useful. So the Bible teaches there,
like we learned last week, to supplement our
faith with a generous provision of self -control.
And the word self -control used throughout the
New Testament is this word, is encrateia. It
means in the sphere of dominion and mastery.
So it's a dominion within. It's control over
our actions, our thoughts, and our feelings.
When we come into a relationship with Christ,
our spirit is made new unto him and made alive
unto him, right? But our bodies, right? Our bodies,
our flesh is still the same. You know, that requires
our part. And our soul, our mind, will, and emotions
have to be renewed and made in line and put in
alignment to God's will. and God's word. First
Corinthians 9, 24 through 27. We also read this
one last week. I love this. It says, don't you
realize that in a race, everyone runs, but only
one person gets the prize. So run to win, run
to win. We're supposed to run this race of life
to win. It's not enough. Like the world says,
well, as long as you play the game, It doesn't
matter if you win or lose. Uh -uh. That's not
a biblical mindset. In God, we're called and
we're commanded to have victory. We're supposed
to play and run every race that we're in. We're
supposed to live in a continual victory parade
of God has won. We win because we're in him.
Amen? So we run to win. All athletes are disciplined.
Same word here, self -control. The same word
used for self -control. All athletes are disciplined,
exercise self -control in their training. And
they do it to win a prize that will fade away.
But we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with
purpose. I run with purpose every step. I'm not
just shadow boxing. And I discipline my body.
Paul's saying I put my body under submission,
right? I have control over it. I have self -control
over my body. He's like, I discipline my body
like an athlete, training it to do what it should
do, right? In line with God's word, in line with
his will and his way. And as we learned, self
-control is an essential to living with purpose
and living with victory. We got to have self
-control. Now more than ever, we got to live
in self -control. This is the indicator. Self
-control is actually an indicator of being a
Christian. It's a fruit of the Holy Spirit. As
we learned last week, Galatians 5, 22 through
23. A lot of people, we read all these other
ones, but then we kind of go, oh, self -control,
it's just some of this, you know, it's at the
end, right? Kind of save the best to last, I
like to say. But listen, the Holy Spirit produces
this kind of fruit in our lives. Love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self -control. So the fruit of the Holy Spirit,
what the Spirit produces in our lives and helps
us with is self -control. Self -control then
proceeds out from one within oneself, but it's
not by oneself, right? It's not by yourself.
You're not alone. You have a helper, but it requires
effort on your part. He can't help you if you're
not doing anything. Right? He's supposed to come
alongside you and lift you and help you accomplish
these things. Because the world talks a lot about
self -control and the mastery of itself. And
those are all good things, but self -control
is a concept given to us by God. And each one
of us are created with the capacity to control
ourselves, to make a choice. Right? Something
supernatural can happen in the life of a Christian.
Because it's not just all about ourselves anymore.
It's not just all about self -help anymore. But
it's about controlling our bodies, submitting
our bodies to his will. For godly purposes in
the earth. To accomplish things greater than
my own muscles can. To accomplish what my own
voice cannot. Way beyond my ability, way beyond
our talent, we can reach out and do things, amen,
by the power of the Holy Spirit for his kingdom.
Because that's what we're called to do. Do you
realize the Christian life? You're not just called
to come to church every Sunday morning. That's
not the pinnacle of your Christian experience.
If that's all that it is for you, of course you're
going to be let down. Of course you're going
to be miserable. So much more. True mastery from
within can only be accomplished, listen, by the
power of the Lord, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And we learned, you know, not everything in your
life is a direct consequence from your actions,
thoughts, and your words. Some people, sometimes
you find yourself in situations that are beyond
your control. Right? But you got to realize that,
You can't control everything around you. You
can't control the situation that you're in. Not
always. Some situations are. But you can't control
everything and everyone around you. But you can
control yourself. Amen? And as we learned last
week, self -control is not just about... abstaining
from excess, from the excesses of this world,
right? It's not just abstaining from excess,
but what Scripture talks about, it involves a
positive mastery and a direction of one's energies.
Remember that purpose, a direction of one's energies
and desires towards godly purposes. And we see
this all throughout the Bible. So many great
examples of men and women Who have this great
self -control and they do great things for God
because they're useful to God. And we have to
operate in the fruit of the Spirit to be useful
to Him. One of these great characters, and this
is what we're talking about today, one of these
great characters who just had a great self -control.
I like to say big self -control. Had huge self
-control. And I want to give you a little homework
this week, if you don't mind. A little extracurricular
activity to have a little more self -control,
right? To scroll less and read the book of Daniel.
Get off of social media and just read the book
of Daniel. It's only 12 chapters. Just do that
for me. Through the lens of self -control. and
how he exhibited self -control, and how that
really was a key factor in the trajectory of
his whole life. So today we're going to kind
of look at very quickly some of these highlights.
It'll be like a highlight reel. We're going to
bounce through the book of Daniel and look at
some of the things that make him so special and
so unique. historical context here, we're looking
in Daniel chapter 1. King Nebuchadnezzar, he
overtakes Jerusalem, and he gives orders to bring
young men from Judah's royal family to Babylon
to serve in his palace. And in verse 4, Nebuchadnezzar
says, select only strong, healthy, good -looking
young men, well -versed in every branch of learning,
gifted with knowledge and good judgment. It just
goes to show you that you know, if you're strong,
healthy, and good looking, you can go far in
life. I should know. No, I'm just kidding. I'm
kidding. Some of you, I just woke you up. Some
of you were asleep. I just had to. I'm sorry.
Back to it. I'm just kidding. You got to know.
It's anyways. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azar were four of the young men chosen. Each
were given a Babylonian name, and they were to
be trained for three years and given the best
education in the king's food and wine. But listen
to this. But Daniel, in verse 8, Daniel was determined.
I like that word. He was determined not to defile
himself. by eating the food and wine given to
them by the king. He was determined not to defile
himself. What are some possible reasons? Well,
in Exodus and Leviticus, we know that according
to Jewish custom, you know, maybe the food may
have been unclean according to their dietary
laws, right? Either in its content or its preparation.
Right? Because they couldn't eat certain foods,
but then if certain foods were prepared a certain
way, that would break the law that God had given
them. So maybe that was a reason. Maybe the food
had been sacrificed to idols. Maybe Daniel, while
he was there, he saw them sacrificing the food
to Nebuchadnezzar's God in Babylon. Maybe those
have been the reasons. But he knew in his heart,
he knew in his heart that it would defile himself.
Even the risk of defiling himself was so important
to him to follow God. But when you think about
this incident, I know this is like very familiar
story. So I'm just trying to like recap and get
us there. You know, Daniel, he's a captive. He's
in a foreign land, right? And he could have easily
justified just, eating the food, drinking the
wine. That was what he was offered, right? No
one would have known. No one would have known.
They would never know, right? There were some
other guys with him that he might have known,
but like, would you blame Daniel? He could have
justified it, right? Just out of cultural respect.
How many of us in the same, we'd be like, well,
you know. This is the king. This is his order.
I'm in a new land. I want to be respectful. God
would want me to be respectful to their culture
and to their customs. I don't need to just come
in and ripple the water, so to say, right? He
could have easily justified that just out of
trying to be good, right? He could have justified
his actions. He could have just said, oh, it's
good. We know from... Verse 10, that, you know,
he could have justified it. He could have been
like, you know, there's this huge potential for
risking the safety of his friends, the people
who were with him, and the staff that were in
prison. They said, look, we'll let you eat your
own food, but if we do that and the king finds
out, he'll have our heads. He'll kill us. Daniel
could have said, do you think that's what God
would really want? You know, potentially risking
the lives of my friends and the staff here? Nah,
you know. He could have just said, ah, it's just
food. It's just food. God knows my heart. Come
on now. Think about it. We do that in our own
lives all the time. When we face choices, we
always like, look, we always want to compromise.
We always want to justify our actions to do.
We're constantly in this battle and this choice.
You can talk yourself into doing anything. Come
on now. You can make it seem right to your own
eyes. But then the end is what? Death and destruction.
Come on now. It's just food. God knows my heart.
Moving on. But Daniel did not compromise what
he believed, what, to fit in, to be accepted,
or to even get ahead. He had self -control in
his commitment to God. You know, in our own understanding,
it would make a whole lot more sense for your
longevity, in a foreign land for your safety
to just eat the food. It would make so much more
sense in our own understanding to just, what,
like, I'll do whatever. You know, if I want to
get ahead in this kingdom to have more influence
for the kingdom of God, right? Could have justified
it like that. It makes so much more sense for
him to compromise. But Daniel does not. He sticks
to what he believes in, what he knows is right,
his commitment to God. And what is the outcome
in Daniel chapter 1? We see something special.
We often look past it. But in 17 and 20, we see
that Daniel and his friends receive revelation
from God. They receive a special ability. The
Bible says Daniel receives an ability to interpret
visions and to interpret dreams. They receive,
they're wiser, they're stronger, 10 times wiser
and stronger than all the others who were captured.
Why is that? Because they ate some vegetables?
Come on. If I ate vegetables for 10 days, I'd
be on the floor. One time I was trying to be
a vegetarian. I had a biology professor at Liberty
tell me, don't look at me like that. Don't look
at me with that tone of voice. I had a biology
professor at Liberty had me convinced that, you
know, everyone was supposed to be a vegetarian.
I tried it three days. I made it. We were traveling
out west. We were going across the country, you
know. And by the time we got to San Antonio,
Texas at that time, that's when I gave up. and
I ate the biggest steak I've ever ate in my entire
life. And I said, you know, forget it. And then
we stopped at a barbecue restaurant named Rudy's,
and they had a shirt, and it said, I didn't crawl
all the way to the top of the food chain, just
eat vegetables, you know? No offense if you're
a vegetarian. I'll just throw that out there,
but it probably was. Anyways, moving on. But
they received revelation from God. They received
what? Favor with the king, which seems so backwards,
right? They should have been beheaded. They should
have been killed, right? They had direct orders
from the king, and they chose to disobey it.
But they received favor. They received promotion
and supernatural wisdom and judgment. Daniel
chapter 3, we bounce forward. The Bible's then
written in Aramaic, and we see that there's a
significant time pass here, and now Daniel's
kind of off doing other things for the king because
he had been promoted, and his friends had been
promoted, and Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
their Babylonian names were called Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, right? You might didn't
realize their names earlier before because we
always just call them by their Babylonian names,
right? But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are
now in charge of all the affairs of the province
of Babylon. That's actually the last verse of
Daniel chapter 2. And then it leads us into another
very familiar story and another great example
of tremendous self -control. King Nebuchadnezzar
now makes a gold statue 90 feet tall. And nine
feet wide. He invites provincial officials to
come and dedicate and worship it. And at the
sound of musical instruments, everyone was required
to bow before it. And when the music played,
everyone except Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
bowed. Yeah. Everyone. All these important people.
Everyone bowed except Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego. Imagine that. Imagine that in your
mind, like in your imagination. Just imagine
what that was like. Nebuchadnezzar then threatens
to kill them by throwing them into a furnace
if they don't serve his gods and worship his
statue. Verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
replied, O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to
defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown
into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve
is able to save us. He will rescue us from your
power, your majesty. I love it when people get
bold. It just gets real bold for God right here
and for what they believe, right? He will rescue
us from your power, but even if he doesn't, come
on. We want to make it clear to you, your majesty,
that we will never serve your gods or worship
the gold statue you have set up. We'll never
do it. What was the reason in Exodus God told
his people, says this, you must not have any
other God but me. You must not make for yourself
an idol of any kind or of an image of anything
in the heavens or on earth or in the sea. You
must not bow down to them. How more specific
can God be? You must not bow down to them or
worship them. For I, the Lord your God, am a
jealous God who will not tolerate your affection
for any other gods. Reason two, I like to think
that they remembered back. Remember, Daniel's
the one who made the stand in prison. They were
there, and they followed Daniel's lead, but someone
had to choose not to compromise. Someone had
to get that conviction just bowl up in them.
And that was Daniel, but this time Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego are standing there, and
I bet something went through their mind. I bet
they remember Daniel. I bet they remember his
stand for God. And just like, think of the trajectory
of their life and how that changed everything
for them. The outcome was so much different than
what they thought it could be. It was better
than anyone else who went through. Why? Because
God provided for them. God protected them. God
revealed things to them. God promoted them. I'm
sure they remembered back and they were like,
you know, God provided and he protected us in
that moment. And they remembered that that had
happened. And that was able to strengthen them
and help them have self -control in this moment
when their life is on the line. But just like
Daniel, they could have easily justified bowing.
Could have said, you know, he's the king, right?
He's given so much to us. He's done all these
things, right? He's promoted us. He's let us
live in his house and work in his beautiful kingdom.
Could have just be out of just respect, right?
We know that he's made this little god or whatever,
you know. We know, but we'll just show him some
respect, right? Could have justified it because
their lives were at stake. They're going to be
thrown into the furnace. Nebuchadnezzar gets
so mad, he heats it up ten times hotter. And
they could have just reasoned in their heads.
They could have said, you know, God understands.
I might be bowing on the outside, but I'm standing
on the inside. God knows my heart, right? But
they refused to compromise. They were willing
to die before doing what they knew was wrong.
Fitting in, being accepted, and even getting
ahead had no control over them. If they wanted
to move ahead and gain more influence, it would
just seem like they would, you know, just follow
along, just bow down. It's so simple. God knows
your heart. No, that didn't have any control
over them. They had self -control to align with
God's word and what God desired. And what is
their outcome? This is good. What is their outcome?
If you're not familiar, I don't care if you are,
I'm going to say it. Nebuchadnezzar, he gets
so angry, he don't even give him another chance
to bow. He just says immediately, throw him in,
throw him into the furnace. He heated up hotter,
hotter, hotter. The guys who threw Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, they even died it was
so hot. And all of a sudden, I'm sure Nebuchadnezzar
feels real good. Not himself. I showed them.
I showed them, Hebrew boys. Think that they can
come into my house. And he's sitting back and
everything's going on. And all of a sudden, what?
What is that? There's people moving around. There's
people moving around. And he goes over there
and he's like, hey, go look. What's happening?
There's not just three people moving around.
There's four people moving around. It's good.
All of a sudden, just imagine they're walking
around in the fire. And they're like, I don't
feel anything. Do you feel anything? I don't
smell anything. You smell something? And then
all of a sudden there's someone else walking
around with them. If you want to see in greater
measure God's manifested presence in your life,
you're going to have to start making bold stands
of self -control. Consistently. In self -control.
Because what matters is what you do consistently,
not what you do momentarily. Consistent, there's
power in consistency. And we need to consistently
submit our mind, our will and our emotions and
our bodies to the glory of God. If we want to
see his manifested presence with us, Not every
time you exhibit self -control, not to like,
you know, get mad over some little thing is all
of a sudden God's going to be there. But listen,
every time you do it, you better acknowledge
that the Holy Spirit helped you do it. Because
God is with you. Amen? And he helps you. And
acknowledge him in all things. Amen? But for
the boys, they had protection. The Bible says
in verse 27, no hair was singed. They didn't
even smell like smoke. Nebuchadnezzar calls them
out. And then he claims to the whole nation.
He's like, it turns a whole people to God. He
says, this God is real. So it was a testimony.
Their act of self -control was a testimony which
furthered. The good news of God. But in our minds,
wouldn't bowing get them killed? And wouldn't
bowing not get them killed? And wouldn't they
have more influence? Right? Wouldn't they have
more influence if they just did what the king
wanted? Wouldn't the promotion come quicker if
they just obeyed the king? No. Because Nebuchadnezzar
was not their king. And they would only bow their
knee to the king of kings. Amen? Then they're
promoted to higher positions. God's at work again.
But it required effort on their part to not compromise.
Daniel 6. We're bouncing forward. Daniel's, we
get another look at Daniel. Two kings later,
get this, two kings later after Nebuchadnezzar,
Daniel, or after not Nebuchadnezzar, but Belshazzar.
So, and then Daniel is still in prominent position.
And because of, and it says this, if you go and
read chapter 6, it's because of Daniel's great
ability that to interpret dreams and visions
and his handling skills, all these things, his
ability, King Darius chooses him to administrate
and supervise the high officers placed over the
120 provinces. Darius even made plans in verse
3 for Daniel to be over the entire empire. And
this made a lot of people jealous. But they couldn't
find, listen, they couldn't find a single thing
to criticize or condemn. He had an excellent
spirit, some translations say. He had a tremendous
self -control. Daniel was, in verse 4 it says,
he was faithful, he was always responsible, and
he was completely trustworthy. Imagine if you
could find an employee like that. I'd keep him
around too, right? Imagine if that was the characteristics
that people talked about us, right? When someone
refers to us in our jobs, in our life, are we
faithful? Are we responsible? Are we dependable?
Are we completely trustworthy? That requires
some self -control. Some concluded that Daniel's
only fault was his religious practice. His only
fault as a human being, his only fault was his
religious practice. They knew he prayed three
times a day, giving thanks to his God. And so
the jealous officials, they rallied together
against Daniel. They tricked King Darius to sign
a law that banned anyone from praying to anything
or anyone except King Darius. The consequence
of not following this new law was execution by
being thrown into a den of lions. Yeah, seems
a little intense and very specific. In verse
10, I love this, but when Daniel learned that
the law had been signed, when he learned that
it had been signed, not before, he was aware
of it. He was aware of it. When the law had been
signed, what did he do? He went home. And he
knelt down as usual in his upstairs room with
his windows open towards Jerusalem. And he prayed
three times a day just like he had always done.
Come on. That's bold right there. He could have
easily just hid, prayed in secret, right? Think
about it. Could have easily just, let me just
keep the curtains closed today. He could have
easily just continued about his normal business,
and I'll just pray in my heart quietly unto God.
I'll just pray. And praying three times a day
is not a requirement. Like, a lot of people in
the Bible did that, but I did some research.
I couldn't find any. There's no requirement for
someone to pray three times a day. There was
no, like, law for them to, that God set up. So,
you know, he could have just said, I'll just
do it when I'm not around everybody and when
it's more convenient. Not made such a scene.
But there was a reason why he continued on. Because
for Daniel, it was not just a ritual. It's not
just religious duty to do this. It was a testament
of his deep faith and affection. A testament
of his deep faith and his commitment and his
affection towards God. And his reliance on God.
And see, Daniel, he prioritizes his spiritual
life and communion with God above anything else.
No matter what's done to him, no matter what
people say. No matter who's coming against him,
he doesn't focus on all the jealous people trying
to get after him. He doesn't focus on the approval
of King Darius. He prioritizes his spiritual
life, his communion with God, and this disciplined
routine showcases a heart devoted to acknowledging
God regardless of life's fluctuations. Regardless
to the hostility around him, he said, I'm not
going to be moved. He did not compromise who
he was. Listen, and he did not change his outward
expression. So many of us, even in the comfortable
environment of church, we don't even want to
praise God like we would in our closet at home.
Because we're so fearful of our outward expression,
about raising our hands and shouting unto God.
Some people look at it and they're like, what's
going on? No, you should get excited. We should
dance in the street. Daniel did it. But you know
why we don't? Because we don't believe it. We
don't have the, we don't. Maybe even if we think
we believe it, our beliefs are always tied to
our actions. And what we really do, I'm getting
ahead of myself, but what we do in this life
is really a representation of what we genuinely
believe. You can't think one thing and believe
deep down, believe one thing and do something
that you don't believe in. Daniel, he didn't
change his outward expression or time with God
to fit in, be accepted, get ahead. What happens?
They take him, they throw him into the lion's
den. And again, the Bible says, the angel of
the Lord. Shut the lion's mouth. God's manifested
presence is all of a sudden there. He's sitting
right beside Daniel in the worst of places. Come
on. And what happens? God delivers him out. If
you want some deliverance over some things that
have control over you, I don't care the worst
circumstance you can possibly be in. Guess what?
if you have some self -control, if you do not
compromise what you believe, get this, come on,
God will be with you. The Holy Spirit will empower
you and he will deliver you out. Come on. Protection,
not even a scratch. That's the kind of good father
we have, amen? Protection. Not even a scratch.
I like to say that there's no consequences, right?
Not even remembrance of it. He couldn't even
look back another day and be like, I was thrown
into the furnace. No, he would just say, oh,
God is so good. There's no scar, right? There's
not even a scar of past memory. He's just thrown
away. It's washed away. In this time, Darius
declared the whole nation to turn to the living
God. He said everyone must worship Daniel's God.
He is the one true God. And Daniel, because of
this great self -control, he prospers during
the reign of Darius and his successor Cyrus.
He outlives four kings. and stays in prominent
position. Amen. And to conclude, I say all that
to say, you know, we all face opportunities to
compromise our beliefs each and every day, whether
they're small things, whether they're big things.
We might not be, like, attempted to be beheaded
this afternoon for, you know, whatever. But there's
people around the world who are. And we shouldn't
take that lightly. Here in our comfort, sometimes
we become lazy. We become complacent. And we
justify every decision that we can for our convenience
instead of our beliefs. We act, like I said earlier,
we act based on our beliefs. What we do, listen,
what you do if you're not happy, like what you
do in this life comes from a place of your belief.
If you look at your life and you're like, well,
why did I, you know, I made that bad decision.
Well, you need to look inward and say, God, what
am I believing? Where's my heart at? When we
disobey God, when we compromise what we know
is right, there's a lot of people who don't know.
But as Christians, we should know. There's no
excuse. It's according to the light in which
is inside you, what God has revealed to you,
and you act upon that or choose not to. It's
your decision. And your affection determines
what decision you make and what is most valuable
and what's most important. Is obedience to God
and His Word, is self -control, you know, my
body, my health, my mind? Is that, am I taking
those things captive and placing them under submission
to what I know is right? Or am I just living
life however it's easy, however it feels? Am
I letting my mind, will, emotions in my body
control me? Or am I controlling my mind, will,
emotions in my body and yielding them to the
Spirit? It's easy to justify doing what you know
is wrong. The enemy might tell you those lies.
He might tempt you, but it's your decision. Whose
word's more important to you? What's the value?
Is the value getting ahead? Is that the most
valuable thing in this life? Is the most valuable
thing fitting in? Is it being accepted? So easy
to talk yourself into doing something you know
you should not do. And when we compromise what
we believe to fit in, to be accepted, to get
ahead, guess what? You'll always wind up doing
the wrong thing and making the wrong decision.
Whatever outcome you thought was going to take
place, it might happen a little bit, but it'll
just as easily be taken away from you. Whatever
kind of advantage that you think you achieved
by justifying and compromising your beliefs,
guess what? It'll be taken away from you. We
need self -control to not compromise our beliefs
and to control our actions, just like Daniel
and his friends did. And listen, and I'm done.
Often people want, you know, they look to someone's
talent or their ability. As the key factor in
someone's trajectory in life. And the success
that they will have and the promotion that they
will achieve based upon their talent and their
ability. But I know a lot of people, listen,
I know a lot of people with a lot of talent and
a lot of ability that are not, they're not using
it for the kingdom. They're not able to, you
know, it's like you can be the. The best actor
on the face of the planet. But if you don't have
self -control, listen, you'll kill yourself before
the movie comes out. Just hard facts. That was
a big lesson to me when I watched Batman the
first time. Dark Knight, right? With Heath Ledger.
He was a great actor. Some of the best acting
I've ever seen. In a movie. But he didn't make
it. He had no self -control. That's why self
-control is the most important thing. You don't
have to have the best talent and the best ability
to be used in the kingdom of God. Talent and
ability is great. God gives those things. But
listen, you can have all those things and still
face some kind of moral setback. and have some
kind of moral thing. Just recently, a singer
in Christian music, right? Very prominent figure.
He had all these talents and abilities, but his
self -control, now he's nothing. His whole legacy,
everything that he remembers, it's all gone because
of his lack of self -control. Self -control is
more vital to your success and promotion and
the trajectory of your life than anything else.
And remember, remember, though, self, you have
a helper. And if you will acknowledge the Holy
Spirit, if you will acknowledge him in each why
and fork in the road, if you will acknowledge
him in those times of decision, He will empower
you to have self -control. He will empower you
to control your mind, your will, your emotions,
and your flesh and its desires. He will help
you. He will help you. But you have to make the
choice. And today I just want to leave you and
I just want to encourage you. Make the choice.
Choose God and his word and knowing him more
than anything else. Right? Don't compromise what
you believe and what you know is right. Don't
talk yourself into something this week, this
month, this year that you know you should not
do. If you have to justify it, it's typically
the wrong decision. This online worship experience
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