Speaker 1: So if you would go to Daniel 3, we have study Bibles available for anyone who needs one on the sides.
Speaker 1: Tenemos Biblias Bilingües disponibles al costado del salón.
Speaker 1: Bonjour, buen satsin.
Speaker 1: Cantar mueve avec muen y sitla.
Speaker 1: No hay quien vive creo hay cien pu.
Speaker 1: No gratis.
Speaker 1: No, samson, no creo Alright, so we're in Daniel 3.
Speaker 1: And God is on the throne, and here we have someone else on a on another throne, and his name is King Nebuchadnezzar.
Speaker 1: And if you remember, he, he had a dream.
Speaker 1: And the dream was where he was golden.
Speaker 1: Uh, he was part of a golden statue, but it got worse and worse as it got to the bottom.
Speaker 1: And Daniel was the one who was able to interpret the dream and show that there were kingdoms coming after him that were going to be worse and worse as it got to the bottom.
Speaker 1: And Daniel was the one who was able to interpret the dream and show that there were kingdoms coming after him that were gonna be worse and worse and worse, and they were gonna topple to the ground.
Speaker 1: And the king said to himself maybe I should make a statue of gold to myself.
Speaker 1: That was what he learned, so he's gonna have to learn some more lessons.
Speaker 1: And that's where we pick up in Daniel three.
Speaker 1: Here we go.
Speaker 1: King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue 90 feet high and nine feet wide.
Speaker 1: He set up a plane of Dura in the province of Babylon.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to turn off my phone too.
Speaker 1: I'm like something is cutting out my mic.
Speaker 1: I gotta pray again.
Speaker 1: Hold up, father.
Speaker 1: We thank you that you are here, in your presence, father.
Speaker 1: We thank you that you are here and you are present, and we thank you that you are doing something, and we know that when you're doing something, the devil wants to attack and we don't want to give him all the credit.
Speaker 1: He doesn't deserve our attention.
Speaker 1: We give you the glory, we give you the honor and know that whatever you want to do this morning, your will be done.
Speaker 1: Your kingdom is moving forward and we are ecstatic about that, and we will draw attention to you, your goodness and your glory this morning.
Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, we pray.
Speaker 1: King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue 90 feet high and 9 feet wide.
Speaker 1: He set up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
Speaker 1: King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue he had set up.
Speaker 1: So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces assembled for the dedication of the statue the king had set up.
Speaker 1: Then they stood before the statue.
Speaker 1: Nebuchadnezzar had set up A herald loudly proclaimed.
Speaker 1: People of every nation and language, you are commanded, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum and every kind of music, you are to fall face down and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
Speaker 1: Now, before I go any further, you're starting to hear repeated themes.
Speaker 1: Are you hearing them Repeated, repeated, repeated?
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: This is an oral tradition, you guys.
Speaker 1: So if you're having to repeat the story over and over, you don't have a book to read all the time.
Speaker 1: You need to remember and you need to have ways to remember.
Speaker 1: That's why you're going to hear repetition throughout this because this oral tradition.
Speaker 1: They had to remember how to tell their stories and the best way to remember a story is to have certain repeated themes all the way throughout.
Speaker 1: So you're going to hear those repeated again and again.
Speaker 1: It's because it wasn't written down usually at this point.
Speaker 1: So the fact that we have this written down is beautiful, um, but you're going to hear these things over and over again.
Speaker 1: But whoever does not fall face down and worship will immediately be thrown into the furnace of a blazing fire.
Speaker 1: Verse seven Therefore, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and every kind of music, people of every nation and language fell down and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Speaker 1: Some Chaldeans took the occasion to come forward and maliciously accuse the Jews.
Speaker 1: They said to King Nebuchadnezzar the furnace of the blazing fire like he didn't know.
Speaker 1: There are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon Shadrach, meshach and Abednego.
Speaker 1: These men have ignored you, the king.
Speaker 1: They do not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.
Speaker 1: Then, in a furious rage, nebuchadnezzar orders to bring in Shadrach, meshach and Abednego.
Speaker 1: So these men were brought before the king.
Speaker 1: Nebuchadnezzar asked them Shadrach, meshach, abednego, is it true that you don't serve my gods or worship the gold statue I set up?
Speaker 1: Now, if you're ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum and every kind of music, fall down and worship the statue I made Fall down.
Speaker 1: Statue I made fall down.
Speaker 1: If you don't worship it, you will immediately be thrown into the furnace, a blazing fire.
Speaker 1: And who is the God who can rescue you from my power?
Speaker 1: He has a short memory, right?
Speaker 1: Shadrach, meshach and Abednego replied to this.
Speaker 1: King Nebuchadnezzar, we don't need to give you an answer to this question.
Speaker 1: If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace a blazing fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king.
Speaker 1: But even if he does not rescue us, we want you, as king, to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.
Speaker 1: Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage and the expression on his face changed towards Shadrach, meshach and Abednego.
Speaker 1: He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times more than was customary and he commanded some of the best soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, meshach and Abednego and throw them into the furnace of blazing fire.
Speaker 1: So these men, in their trousers, robes, head coverings and other clothes let's talk about it flammable things were tied up and thrown into the furnace of blazing fire.
Speaker 1: Since the king's command was so urgent and the furnace extremely hot, the raging fire flames killed those men who carried up Shadrach, meshach and Abednego, and these three men Shadrach, meshach and Abednego fell bound into the furnace of the blazing fire.
Speaker 1: Then King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm.
Speaker 1: He said to his advisors didn't we throw three men bound into the fire?
Speaker 1: Yes, of course, your majesty, they replied to the king.
Speaker 1: He exclaimed look, I see four men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.
Speaker 1: Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and called out Shadrach, meshach and Abednego, your servants of the high God, come out, which is cool.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to talk about it, but you know that come out statement is one that Jesus makes when his friend Lazarus is dead and in the tomb for several days.
Speaker 1: Come out, lazarus.
Speaker 1: That got me in my own Bible study this morning, sorry so they came out of the fire when the satraps, prefects, governors and the king's advisors gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men.
Speaker 1: Not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unaffected and there was no smell of fire on them.
Speaker 1: Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed praise to the God of Shadrach, meshach and Abednego.
Speaker 1: He sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him.
Speaker 1: They violated the king's command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any God except their own.
Speaker 1: Therefore, I issue a decree that anyone of any people, nation or language who says anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, meshach and Abednego be torn limb from limb and his house made a garbage dump, for there is no other God who is able to deliver like this than the king rewarded Shadrach, meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Speaker 1: Let's pray That'll preach on its own right.
Speaker 1: Father, we thank you for another chance to be together today.
Speaker 1: We recognize many do not have that honor.
Speaker 1: Some are sick and in home.
Speaker 1: Some are trapped in those homes.
Speaker 1: Lord, we know that there are many in Gaza who are hungry today, who are starving today.
Speaker 1: Please use your church to provide the food they need.
Speaker 1: Lord, we ask that you would bring true peace to Russia, to the Ukraine, to Haiti, to the Sudan, to Ethiopia, to Israel, to Palestine.
Speaker 1: Lord, please have mercy on our world and help your church to be agents of peace.
Speaker 1: We want to follow you in season and out of season, but there are people in this room right now that are stressing didn't realize when I wrote that that it would be me.
Speaker 1: God, we need you to be Lord.
Speaker 1: We need you to be Lord of everything, our everything, lord of this world, lord of our problems, god of our fears, master of our worries.
Speaker 1: We need you today.
Speaker 1: Lord, please teach us this morning.
Speaker 1: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of our hearts be pleasing to you.
Speaker 1: We pray this all in Jesus' name, and all God's people said amen.
Speaker 1: So today I'm going to be giving you three things Christians should expect in a broken world.
Speaker 1: That's three things Christians should expect in a broken world, and since our screens are also just having all kinds of issues.
Speaker 1: They may be up there or may not.
Speaker 1: We'll see Three things Christians should expect in a broken world, and the first point of this a broken world.
Speaker 1: It's going to act broken.
Speaker 1: We should expect brokenness from a broken world, right?
Speaker 1: So three things we should expect from a broken world.
Speaker 1: Brokenness from a broken world.
Speaker 1: The king had made a 90 foot statue to himself.
Speaker 1: That's a sign of brokenness.
Speaker 1: That's a sign of insecurity.
Speaker 1: Right In his dream, god showed him as a golden head of a statue.
Speaker 1: So God must have wanted this right Him to be a big statue himself.
Speaker 1: And he missed the point, right?
Speaker 1: So the king got all his leaders together and told them when a certain song starts, bow to this statue of me.
Speaker 1: If you do not bow, you'll be thrown into the fire, you'll be killed.
Speaker 1: So they all stood before the statue and did what most people would do, most people in Babylon would do when the music started.
Speaker 1: What'd they do?
Speaker 1: They bowed and they pretended to worship, didn't they?
Speaker 1: But some of the king's advisors, who were probably only alive because of Daniel and his friends, kind of ironic, right, they use this moment as an excuse to elevate themselves and they went to the king and they said may the king live forever.
Speaker 1: In verse nine, you, as king, have issued a decree that anyone who hears that music must fall down and worship the statue.
Speaker 1: Whoever does not fall down will be thrown into a furnace, a blazing fire.
Speaker 1: Thank you for that.
Speaker 1: Now, that's crazy to me.
Speaker 1: These guys were like the worst of kiss ups, right, like tell the king whatever he wants to hear, do whatever the king wants, try to manipulate him.
Speaker 1: And the king had just been about to kill them, right In chapter two, for being lying kiss ups.
Speaker 1: They were constantly lying to the king, constantly faking, constantly pretending there are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon Shadrach, meshach and Abednego.
Speaker 1: These men have ignored the king.
Speaker 1: They do not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.
Speaker 1: So the king very quickly decided he wanted even more than teacher's pets, though, didn't he Like he didn't want teacher's pets anymore?
Speaker 1: He didn't want kiss-ups anymore.
Speaker 1: What did he want?
Speaker 1: He wanted worshipers to himself.
Speaker 1: He sounds insecure, doesn't he?
Speaker 1: But we know this, though.
Speaker 1: Babylon's going to Babylon Now.
Speaker 1: Shadrach, meshach and Abednego had already seen this kind of king on display.
Speaker 1: He had been quick to anger and he always took bad advice.
Speaker 1: They probably weren't surprised Sometimes.
Speaker 1: To follow Jesus you have to be faithful to God and say to yourself if I live, I live.
Speaker 1: If I die, I die.
Speaker 1: But most people from Babylon they fake the funk, they pretend they are chameleons and they will even pretend to be Christian for a minute if it helps them.
Speaker 1: Have you not met anyone like that?
Speaker 1: I know I have.
Speaker 1: Whenever I meet a politician, a famous pastor, a famous musician, I can find out who they are real quick, especially if it's behind the scenes.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you've ever experienced that.
Speaker 1: Like you can sense, if someone is not particularly trustworthy behind the scenes real fast, no matter what they say on stage.
Speaker 1: When you see them behind the scenes you're like oh, this is, this is who you really are, this is who you are.
Speaker 1: I've seen that.
Speaker 1: But it doesn't surprise me anymore.
Speaker 1: It doesn't surprise me that many influences are in it for the cash or that some pastors can be greedy and manipulative.
Speaker 1: Does that surprise you?
Speaker 1: It doesn't surprise me that the world is full of fakes and kiss ups.
Speaker 1: Babylon's going to Babylon.
Speaker 1: It doesn't surprise me that people worship musicians.
Speaker 1: So when you read about ditties, nasty parties and court depositions and news articles, you shouldn't be surprised.
Speaker 1: He's a part of our broken world.
Speaker 1: When you give anyone too much power beyond our God, they're going to take it.
Speaker 1: King Nez built a golden statue to himself.
Speaker 1: Built a golden statue to himself.
Speaker 1: I would say in a broken world, when someone is given power and they don't exploit others, it's more the exception than the rule.
Speaker 1: It's why I have elders that can overrule me, because you don't want me to have extreme power.
Speaker 1: I don't want to know what I'm like with full power.
Speaker 1: I have the Holy spirit of God, but I'm also me.
Speaker 1: I'm still broken.
Speaker 1: I'm not fully repaired on this side of heaven.
Speaker 1: Diddy had extreme power, and he built up a culture of sex and selfishness.
Speaker 1: Why are we surprised, though?
Speaker 1: That's the question.
Speaker 1: Babylon's going to Babylon.
Speaker 1: Have you heard of Mr Beast?
Speaker 1: Mr Beast was this social media influencer, and then he does all these cool things for people.
Speaker 1: It's weird to me that he like restored sight to the blind using some surgeries.
Speaker 1: I felt like that was a little bit like yo, you're calling yourself Mr Beast, restoring sight to the blind.
Speaker 1: There's some issues.
Speaker 1: I got there with the Bible, but it came out that he had an unsafe work environment that people felt like if they worked for him they were not safe.
Speaker 1: You had Ellen DeGeneres.
Speaker 1: She had the Ellen Show.
Speaker 1: She seemed so nice, so funny, so sweet, and then you found out that she had a toxic work culture and racism was rampant.
Speaker 1: You had Andy Byron.
Speaker 1: Does anyone know who Andy Byron is?
Speaker 1: I bet everyone in the room knows who Andy Byron is.
Speaker 1: How about this?
Speaker 1: He's the CEO of the tech firm Astronomer.
Speaker 1: Oh, now we know who that is.
Speaker 1: That was that dude who was at the Coldplay concert holding a lady in his arms that just so happened to not be his wife and happened to be a person that worked for him.
Speaker 1: He had extreme power and nobody could tell him what's up.
Speaker 1: Nobody could stop him and what we learned is that he had this is repeated again and again he had a toxic work culture.
Speaker 1: We learned about this later.
Speaker 1: Babylon's going to Babylon.
Speaker 1: We shouldn't be surprised about this Local politician.
Speaker 1: There was a local politician I don't like putting names out here, but this local politician, she Babyloned recently it was like four years ago that she gave an award the top award in the state to her boyfriend.
Speaker 1: She said I don't see the problem, and I think the rest of us were like oh so you don't have integrity and it seems like he doesn't either.
Speaker 1: So they got married and guess what?
Speaker 1: He turned out to not be a good dude.
Speaker 1: He was subsequently sued by an employee for sexual harassment, threats to destroy her and pressuring her with job loss if she didn't fully do certain favors for him.
Speaker 1: Babylon's going to Babylon, but Jesus is the hope of the world.
Speaker 1: Guys, this is the world that we are in.
Speaker 1: Those of us who call ourselves Christ followers belong to a greater kingdom, and that's the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1: And and those who do not follow Jesus?
Speaker 1: They belong to Babylon.
Speaker 1: Yes, they can still do good things, they can still do kind things, because that's God's common grace at work within us but, like we once did, they belong to the kingdom of darkness.
Speaker 1: Don't be fooled.
Speaker 1: When you date somebody who doesn't belong to Jesus, you are fooling yourself.
Speaker 1: They belong to Babylon.
Speaker 1: You can hide it from us, you can hide it from God, and the thing is is you can't hide it from God, excuse me.
Speaker 1: You can hide it from God, and the thing is is you can't hide it from God, excuse me.
Speaker 1: You can hide it from us, but you can't hide it from God, and you won't be able to hide the consequences that come with it.
Speaker 1: God's not trying to hurt you.
Speaker 1: God's trying to help you.
Speaker 1: There have been many people in our school board that have advocated for very liberal sexual education and for the right of a young woman to even get an abortion without her parents' consent, and for the right of a young woman to even get an abortion without her parents' consent Much younger than my own child.
Speaker 1: They make this be an issue of good versus evil.
Speaker 1: We are the good people.
Speaker 1: Those people are.
Speaker 1: The bad people that disagree with us sexually Now with the Christians, are the close-minded evil people, they would say, but the very same people who are famously committing crimes.
Speaker 1: These are the same people who are committing crimes that go against everything they claim to be for.
Speaker 1: Last year, our San Diego school superintendent was accused of pressuring women employees for sex, holding their career advancement over their heads.
Speaker 1: When they allegedly refused, they were allegedly fired.
Speaker 1: How about this one?
Speaker 1: One of the San Diego school board members was sued in and around 2019 by four different young men who accused him of abusing them sexually and promising them political favors.
Speaker 1: If you wanted to be favored by him, if you wanted him to help your career, you had to go to his hot parties, hot tub parties.
Speaker 1: Yeah, same people who are advocating that we have a more kind and inclusive sexual education program.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying all people who disagree with okay, you gotta gotta stay quiet, tiffany.
Speaker 1: If you want to stay, you gotta stay quiet, thank you.
Speaker 1: These are the same people advocating that we have a more inclusive sexual program.
Speaker 1: But here's the thing.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying everyone is some sexual abuser, but I'm saying that the people who are saying we got it wrong.
Speaker 1: They're intimidating.
Speaker 1: They are using it to their advantage on people.
Speaker 1: Babylon is going to Babylon, but what do we expect?
Speaker 1: But still, jesus offers a greater hope to this world.
Speaker 1: Now, they may not all do the terrible things I just mentioned.
Speaker 1: Many of them can be very kind, but no one from Babylon has their faith centered on Jesus, which means their rules and their ideas are always going to change, usually to meet their own needs and often to meet the philosophy of just the crowd, wherever the crowd is going.
Speaker 1: But we're not of this world and Jesus didn't speak to win over the crowd, did he?
Speaker 1: He didn't do that.
Speaker 1: He didn't want to scratch their itches.
Speaker 1: He spoke truth with kindness and love.
Speaker 1: Some people didn't like him speaking the truth.
Speaker 1: Some people didn't like him offering forgiveness.
Speaker 1: Even Our mayor talks a big game about equity, but the same things happen in this community.
Speaker 1: That happened 30 years ago.
Speaker 1: He claims to be about the poor, he claims to be about black lives, and then the money goes to the rich neighborhood.
Speaker 1: Babylon is going to Babylon.
Speaker 1: Somehow he seems to be able to go to bat for his rich donors in their neighborhoods.
Speaker 1: Babylon's going to Babylon, but the kingdom of God can shine brighter.
Speaker 1: I tell you we can do a whole lot more than the mayor sometimes.
Speaker 1: Now you're going to constantly be challenged by the people around you to go with the flow of Babylon.
Speaker 1: When I was on the San Diego planning group, I lost so many battles of building dispensaries across the park, across the street from our park, and people were getting paid to come speak at our meetings and advocate for the dispensary to be built across from our park.
Speaker 1: Babylon's going to Babylon.
Speaker 1: But I knew it was right because I serve Jesus and money is not as important to me as it is to some.
Speaker 1: This is the world we live in.
Speaker 1: I wanted to give you a lot of examples of how it's happening all around us.
Speaker 1: The world was once perfect, but it was made broken.
Speaker 1: This is the world, bent on war, on sex, on power, on money, and we should expect it.
Speaker 1: And because we come from this world, we should be careful to know ourselves.
Speaker 1: Now, the good thing is, we have God's spirit in us, don't we?
Speaker 1: But we can still listen to our own wants and desires, just like the rest of the world.
Speaker 1: That's still in us.
Speaker 1: This side of heaven.
Speaker 1: We need God's word, we need his spirit, we need his church if we want true success.
Speaker 1: Now, I've been reading the book of Judges the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: I will tell you, my least favorite book in the Bible to read is Judges, and the Bible says that all of it is good.
Speaker 1: Okay, but here's the thing about Judges.
Speaker 1: Like you know, have you ever seen, like the movie Schindler's List?
Speaker 1: Who here has seen the movie Schindler's List?
Speaker 1: Now, keep your hands up.
Speaker 1: Keep your hands up.
Speaker 1: Who here has seen it twice?
Speaker 1: Wow, amazing, a couple of you seen, seen twice.
Speaker 1: I know, for me it's like I cry so much.
Speaker 1: So we got two of you, we got two of you.
Speaker 1: It's so difficult to read it twice.
Speaker 1: That's how I feel about the book of Judges.
Speaker 1: It's so godless in many ways, it's so mean in many ways, but it all hinges on one statement, which is in Judges 21, 25, and it's repeated throughout the book of Judges.
Speaker 1: In those days, there was no king in Israel.
Speaker 1: Everyone did whatever seemed right to him in his own eyes.
Speaker 1: Guys, that's what Babylon does People setting up golden idols, people killing and raping people, people destroying other people.
Speaker 1: We should only have one king, friends, and that's King Jesus.
Speaker 1: He deserves your devotion.
Speaker 1: But if you'd still like to be a king, make sure you bow to everyone.
Speaker 1: Our culture today is going to make sure you bow to everyone.
Speaker 1: And can we be honest in the room?
Speaker 1: We aren't that naturally good.
Speaker 1: We are more like the king in the story than we are like Shadrach, meshach and Abednego.
Speaker 1: Come on, naturally, you know that's in you.
Speaker 1: Don't read this and just think I'm Shadrach, please don't.
Speaker 1: You need to read this and say I have more in common with this king than Shadrach, meshach and Abednego.
Speaker 1: You're going to miss it if you just see yourself as the good guy in the story, because we know that a lot of times we are more like that king.
Speaker 1: We're like that king to God.
Speaker 1: We're like that king to each other.
Speaker 1: We want to be in charge.
Speaker 1: We want people to bow to us, we want to be God.
Speaker 1: A lot of times we think we can play with sin, and sin is just us saying we don't trust you, God.
Speaker 1: I don't trust you for my pleasure, so I'm going to seek my pleasure.
Speaker 1: I don't trust you for power, so I'm going to seek my power.
Speaker 1: We can be a little world.
Speaker 1: We can be this little world and we can sit on our little thrones.
Speaker 1: We think that we can belong to this world, to Babylon?
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1: I once heard a pastor say it's like owning a pet tiger.
Speaker 1: You got this little tiger and you can have it, you can control it, but as it gets older and older and older, you won't know and it'll be too late and it'll take over you.
Speaker 1: And we know what tigers do.
Speaker 1: Friends, what is your pet tiger?
Speaker 1: What is the Trojan horse the enemy will use to get beyond your defenses?
Speaker 1: Where in your life does the sin threaten you, your faith?
Speaker 1: For me, I think it's control.
Speaker 1: Honestly, for me, as our church grows, I want to still have control over everything, but I cannot.
Speaker 1: The Lord is very gently pulling things out of my hands that belong to him and not me, because I want to be king of this church and God's not about that.
Speaker 1: I also care too much about what people think about me.
Speaker 1: The devil can use that if I'm not constantly giving these struggles to the Lord.
Speaker 1: Remember, god doesn't want to be your side, chick.
Speaker 1: He is all in.
Speaker 1: He wants all of you, he wants your heart, he wants your actions, he wants your repentance.
Speaker 1: Here, rackshack and Benny, they said no.
Speaker 1: They glorify God In verse 14,.
Speaker 1: The king asked them is it true that you don't serve my gods or worship the gold statue I made up?
Speaker 1: When the music plays, you need to fall down in worship, but if you don't, what God will rescue you from a blazing hot furnace?
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a pretty like that statement, like you think about that statement.
Speaker 1: It's a pretty like hey, what God's going to rescue you from this?
Speaker 1: That's a normal statement.
Speaker 1: I think Like that's one that we would say yeah, I get that.
Speaker 1: It's funny.
Speaker 1: You should ask, king, these three men didn't have hope in political careers.
Speaker 1: They didn't have hope in their lives.
Speaker 1: They had hope in their God and if they died, they died.
Speaker 1: There's a famous photo of what is believed to be a man named August Landmesser.
Speaker 1: Do we have that photo?
Speaker 1: I don't even know how the tech is working today.
Speaker 1: Do we got that today?
Speaker 1: Sid, there it is.
Speaker 1: Many of you guys have seen this right?
Speaker 1: Have you seen this photo?
Speaker 1: Man?
Speaker 1: This guy is a boss right here, like, look at all these people saluting Hitler and look at this dude, look at him.
Speaker 1: Now, what we've learned about this man is that he married a Jewish woman.
Speaker 1: Well, actually, he wanted to marry a Jewish woman and he wasn't allowed to.
Speaker 1: Now, I know a lot of you guys out there right now have seen this picture before and it's used in really like irrelevant ways.
Speaker 1: You're like man, everybody's wearing a fanny pack out here, but me.
Speaker 1: Everyone's wearing Crocs, but me, you know, and it's like, yeah, that's probably not about that.
Speaker 1: Everyone's, everyone's getting Crocs, but me, you know, and it's like, uh, yeah, this is probably not about that, um, everyone's, everyone's getting the vaccine, but me, I'm the only true word.
Speaker 1: Now I would just say, be really careful with this kind of statement.
Speaker 1: Um, but what I want you to see is, like this is important when it means following God and nothing else.
Speaker 1: There are issues that go beyond that, that are preference or like what you think is best, but I'm talking to you about God, following God.
Speaker 1: This man risked his life, and you know what?
Speaker 1: This man was never found again a couple of years later.
Speaker 1: Okay, so when you do this, like Rack, shack and Benny, just know there are going to be times when you're not going to make it out of that fire.
Speaker 1: You're going to be delivered, but not delivered in the way you think.
Speaker 1: In the book of Acts, the leaders of the early church are dragged into the court of the religious leaders and they are severely beaten and they're told you better, stop talking about Jesus.
Speaker 1: And you know what their response is.
Speaker 1: Should we listen to you or to our God?
Speaker 1: We cannot help but speak about the things we've seen and heard.
Speaker 1: And what's amazing is, every time these people were beaten and abused for following God, it said they had joy.
Speaker 1: They went out with joy that they were even worthy to be abused.
Speaker 1: See that dude, august.
Speaker 1: August Landmesser.
Speaker 1: He knew about it.
Speaker 1: Tony Evans says protests through civil disobedience involves deliberate personal resistance to a government decree that violates God's standards.
Speaker 1: See, august knew this.
Speaker 1: John Lewis knew it, rosa Parks knew it.
Speaker 1: In the book of Acts we see that they knew it too, basically.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, but we don't fear you as much as we fear God.
Speaker 1: Jesus said in Luke 12, don't fear those who kill the body and after that can do nothing more.
Speaker 1: But I will show you the one to fear.
Speaker 1: Fear him who has authority to throw people into hell after death.
Speaker 1: Yes, I say to you, this is the one to fear, guys.
Speaker 1: He's not talking about the devil, you know that right.
Speaker 1: He's talking about God.
Speaker 1: Fear God, friends, when you give your life to Jesus.
Speaker 1: I'm not telling you that you will have an easier life.
Speaker 1: Quite the contrary.
Speaker 1: I'm just telling you that you can live an honest life, that you can live a good life, that you can enjoy a relationship with the one who created you.
Speaker 1: He gives you a new, beautiful and unconventional family in City Life Church.
Speaker 1: He gives you hope when others have no hope.
Speaker 1: He gives you a forgiveness and love.
Speaker 1: He gives you a better way.
Speaker 1: He made you.
Speaker 1: He knows what you need better than you and we must prepare for people not to like us, because Babylon's going to Babylon and that's our second thing Christians should expect from a broken world.
Speaker 1: They will push back against our subversive faith.
Speaker 1: Be faithful anyway.
Speaker 1: They will push back against our subversive faith.
Speaker 1: Be faithful anyway.
Speaker 1: See, the king gave another chance to the three men.
Speaker 1: I'm going to give you another chance In verse 17,.
Speaker 1: If the God we serve exists, is their response, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king.
Speaker 1: But even if he does not rescue us, we want you, as a king, to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.
Speaker 1: See, these men said we can't listen to you and God, we serve him.
Speaker 1: You guys, we should submit to our bosses, to your government, to your parents.
Speaker 1: But when you can't be obedient to your boss and God, choose God.
Speaker 1: When you can't be obedient to your government and God, choose God.
Speaker 1: He can rescue us If he's, if, if it serves his purpose.
Speaker 1: But even if he doesn't, our God is still good.
Speaker 1: Friends, don't abandon God for something.
Speaker 1: Short term it never works out.
Speaker 1: Even a lifetime of worldly success is no comparison to eternity, not to mention worldly success is always going to leave you feeling hollow.
Speaker 1: Serving others in the power of the spirit is harder, it's more difficult, but it will always make you feel more satisfied.
Speaker 1: Success in the ways of the world is like it's like a kid who successfully gets all the Halloween candy and then they eat it.
Speaker 1: And then what happens to them?
Speaker 1: They're terribly sick.
Speaker 1: They feel awful, like they know that it's bad for them.
Speaker 1: They're like that's what success in the world is.
Speaker 1: It's like eating all the candy in the world.
Speaker 1: How are you going to feel after that?
Speaker 1: You got what you wanted.
Speaker 1: Babylon's going to Babylon, though.
Speaker 1: It's going to demand you fall in line.
Speaker 1: Kings and kingdoms will demand you tow the party line, but we belong to Jesus, not to Babylon.
Speaker 1: This means we stand up for the Bible and we stand up for the rights of Muslims.
Speaker 1: This means we stand up for God's explicit sexual ethic and we are the first ones to protect people in the LGBT community from abuse.
Speaker 1: We work harder than anyone else at our jobs, without taking shortcuts.
Speaker 1: We also take days off to rest and prioritize the Lord's day.
Speaker 1: We never make work more important than knowing our children or our spouses.
Speaker 1: We belong to Jesus, just like Daniel, just like Shadrach, just like Meshach and Abednego did.
Speaker 1: Daniel stood up for the king's magi in chapter two and protected them from the death penalty, because it was right.
Speaker 1: It was the way he fought with God the same people who were going to demand the death penalty of his bros later, just a chapter later.
Speaker 1: Now here's what Jesus said in Matthew five.
Speaker 1: He said you have heard it was said love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your father in heaven.
Speaker 1: See, this is what Jesus is telling us to do, and it looks wrong sometimes to the world when you love your enemies.
Speaker 1: It looks wrong when you say no and you love your enemies.
Speaker 1: Still see friends hating Muslims.
Speaker 1: Hating Muslims is from Babylon.
Speaker 1: Hating people from the LGBTQ plus community is from Babylon.
Speaker 1: Hating Democrats Ooh, here's one Hating Donald Trump is how Babylon gets you.
Speaker 1: You are not supposed to hate Donald Trump.
Speaker 1: Hating Joe Biden is not from God.
Speaker 1: Hating racists is not from God.
Speaker 1: Hating communists and murderers is how Babylon gets you.
Speaker 1: This is the upside down kingdom.
Speaker 1: We do what is right because we have a good and loving god who loves us, who helps us, who loves justice and mercy.
Speaker 1: He hates sin and he loves us even in our imperfection.
Speaker 1: Of course, your old homies, though, are going to want you to gangbang.
Speaker 1: Of course they want you back.
Speaker 1: These dudes are going to keep offering you sherm, and when you say no, they're going to tease you.
Speaker 1: They're going to.
Speaker 1: Then they're going to start to be mean about it.
Speaker 1: Of course, babylon is going to push back, and they're going to want you back.
Speaker 1: What did you expect them to say?
Speaker 1: Wow, congratulations on your journey through sobriety, bro.
Speaker 1: Like we're so proud of you, like sobriety is a really great thing.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, no, no, because when you're clean, you know what happens to them.
Speaker 1: They see how clean they're not.
Speaker 1: They see how clean they're not, so of course, they're not going to congratulate you.
Speaker 1: They're in Babylon right now.
Speaker 1: You being clean makes them feel judged.
Speaker 1: You being clean makes them feel shame.
Speaker 1: But you need to stay away from there.
Speaker 1: They will give you crap for not going.
Speaker 1: Babylon wants you to belong to Babylon, or else you might draw attention to their wickedness.
Speaker 1: When people at the office want you to gossip and you say no, it might hurt your career.
Speaker 1: When you speak kindly about the person who's not in the room and just let's be clear they're gonna speak about you too.
Speaker 1: When you're gone, when your boss is telling you to work seven days a week, or when they ask you to be dishonest on your reports or dishonest to a customer, you no longer have to obey them.
Speaker 1: You belong to a new kingdom, but there's a good chance they will fire you for this.
Speaker 1: I'm not telling you it's going to get better.
Speaker 1: They will fire you and they will be awful and they will denigrate you and you won't be able to put them down on your resume and you'll need to take food from the food pantry and you'll be happier.
Speaker 1: But take heart, jesus has overcome the world.
Speaker 1: First.
Speaker 1: Peter 4 says dear friends, don't be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening.
Speaker 1: Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed.
Speaker 1: You don't belong to Babylon, you belong to Jesus.
Speaker 1: Be faithful, and you still might be thrown into the furnace of the king.
Speaker 1: Be faithful anyway.
Speaker 1: It is better in the furnace with God than outside the furnace with the king of Babylon Verse 19,.
Speaker 1: The king was filled with rage and the expression on his face changed.
Speaker 1: He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times more than was customary.
Speaker 1: Now, now, now, seven times is a Jewish idiom that is used to like a really large number, okay.
Speaker 1: So whenever you hear seven, when something was turned up seven times, that's an idiom that Jews use.
Speaker 1: Okay, just to mean like a huge number as much as possible.
Speaker 1: Which is why, when Jesus is asked should I forgive someone seven times?
Speaker 1: He says seven times 77.
Speaker 1: That's why we talk about seven.
Speaker 1: So the oven is hot as possible and he commands some of the best soldiers in the army to tie them up and throw them into the furnace.
Speaker 1: King didn't care.
Speaker 1: He hated God followers so much he was willing to put his best soldiers in the army to tie them up and throw them into the furnace.
Speaker 1: King didn't care.
Speaker 1: He hated God followers so much he was willing to put his best soldiers in danger.
Speaker 1: Babylon does that.
Speaker 1: If you praise Jesus and not them, they're going to come at you.
Speaker 1: So these men verse 21, in flammable clothing, were tied up and thrown into the furnace of the blazing fire.
Speaker 1: And so what I want to tell you is that God is going to deliver all of you from the furnace.
Speaker 1: That's what I want to tell you is that god was is going to deliver all of you from the furnace.
Speaker 1: That's what I want to tell you.
Speaker 1: That you won't die, that's what I want to tell you.
Speaker 1: But even rack, shack and benny knew that wasn't true.
Speaker 1: They said they might die.
Speaker 1: Why would I say any different to you?
Speaker 1: You might lose your job.
Speaker 1: People might hate you for following jesus, you might lose your living situation, you might miss out on something you think is awesome right now, but there is still reason to hope in this broken world, and that's our third point.
Speaker 1: Point number three God's kingdom, uh, always wins in the end and we never suffer alone.
Speaker 1: God's kingdom always wins in the end and we never suffer alone.
Speaker 1: In verse 22, since the king's command was so urgent and the furnace extremely hot, the raging flames killed those men who carried up Shadrach, meshach and Abednego.
Speaker 1: So, by the way, church, I just got to say this for a second If you decide to make Babylon your king, if you decide to make Babylon your God, just remember they still will turn on you At a moment's notice.
Speaker 1: They will turn on you.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's immediately, sometimes it comes later, but they will eventually turn.
Speaker 1: And these three men verse 23, fell bound in the furnace of the blazing fire, and the king jumped up in alarm.
Speaker 1: He said to his advisors wait, didn't we throw three men bound in the fire?
Speaker 1: Yes, of course, your majesty, they replied.
Speaker 1: Still kissing up, he exclaimed look, I see four dudes not three, not tied either walking around in the fire unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.
Speaker 1: Now we got to talk about this angel of God that is mentioned in the Bible.
Speaker 1: You will see the angel of God mentioned, or the angel of the Lord mentioned.
Speaker 1: Who is it?
Speaker 1: Who is he?
Speaker 1: He's mentioned several times in the Old Testament.
Speaker 1: Now, it's not an angel of God, it's the angel of God.
Speaker 1: But before I explain, I have to help you understand something.
Speaker 1: Jesus is God.
Speaker 1: That's a that's.
Speaker 1: We believe that Jesus has always existed.
Speaker 1: So before any human was born, jesus existed.
Speaker 1: So here's what before Jesus was born, jesus existed.
Speaker 1: So what we believe is this is the pre incarnate Jesus.
Speaker 1: This is Jesus before Jesus was born, walking around in the fire with Shadrach, meshach and Abednego.
Speaker 1: So God is with us in this fire, in this moment.
Speaker 1: We know and trust that God will be with us, no matter what.
Speaker 1: It doesn't make any sense, and yet God's there.
Speaker 1: So these men walked in the fire and Jesus was there with them.
Speaker 1: Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the furnace, called out Shadrach, meshach, abednego, you, servants of the most high God.
Speaker 1: Oh, now you're kissing up, come out, so they came out.
Speaker 1: Of the most high God.
Speaker 1: Oh, now you're kissing up.
Speaker 1: Come out.
Speaker 1: So they came out of the fire.
Speaker 1: When they gathered around, they saw fire had no effect on the bodies of these men.
Speaker 1: Not a hair of their head was singed.
Speaker 1: Their robes were unaffected and there was no smell of fire on them.
Speaker 1: Okay, tell me how many of you have spent 10 seconds in front of a campfire and that smell is on you for the rest of your week?
Speaker 1: My clothes smell for days, like my hair.
Speaker 1: I'm like trying to shampoo it out.
Speaker 1: That fire stays with you.
Speaker 1: It did not even stay with them, the smell.
Speaker 1: And then the king exclaimed praise to the God of Shadrach, meshach and Abednego.
Speaker 1: Okay, now he sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted him.
Speaker 1: They violated the king's command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any God except their own.
Speaker 1: Therefore, I issue a decree that any people, nation or language who says anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, meshach and Abednego will be torn limb from limb and his house will be made into a garbage dump, for there is no other God who is able to deliver like this.
Speaker 1: Then the king rewarded them.
Speaker 1: See, once again a lesser king of kings realized he was wrong and Yahweh, the creator of heaven and earth was the true king of kings.
Speaker 1: Now, babylon often switches around, though you guys know this wasn't the end for these guys, was it?
Speaker 1: They had plenty of battles ahead of them.
Speaker 1: Kings of Babylon are often forced to do the right thing, but they quickly change back when it suits them.
Speaker 1: Babylon is going to Babylon, but Jesus is the hope of the world, and our God blesses those who remain faithful when the heat is turned up.
Speaker 1: Now, some of you have been through a lot of battles as well.
Speaker 1: Right, like some of you are in battles, but I need you to remember how often God has carried you through in the past.
Speaker 1: I don't know everyone in this room, but I know this for many of you.
Speaker 1: God saved you from abuse.
Speaker 1: God saved you from cancer.
Speaker 1: He saved you from strokes, prison, fiery car accidents, gunshots.
Speaker 1: How can you not trust him?
Speaker 1: After that?
Speaker 1: The king of Babylon understood that God was good in that moment, but he turned back quickly.
Speaker 1: Don't you do the same thing?
Speaker 1: When God has done so much for you?
Speaker 1: How can we not trust him after that?
Speaker 1: Has Babylon took your job?
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: Work hard to find a new one and trust God.
Speaker 1: He's worthy.
Speaker 1: You found out you were dating a Babylonian.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, but God will never leave you, and this imperfect church loves you too.
Speaker 1: Friends, if you belong to Jesus, I promise you, there will be days when you feel forced into a fire.
Speaker 1: There will be.
Speaker 1: How many of you feel that way today?
Speaker 1: Come on, is there anyone else who feels like they're in the fire?
Speaker 1: Do I see any?
Speaker 1: A couple hands, yeah, three, four, yeah, all right, so here's the thing.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing.
Speaker 1: God is with us in this fire and he loves us.
Speaker 1: Please make sure that you have somebody pray for you today.
Speaker 1: Please don't leave without being prayed for.
Speaker 1: Dwells within you.
Speaker 1: His spirit is with you.
Speaker 1: He will counsel you, he will give you strength and courage.
Speaker 1: This is the beauty of our God, our Emmanuel God with us.
Speaker 1: This is the beauty of the gospel.
Speaker 1: The God came to this earth, lived a perfect life, sent his son Jesus to be here, god himself walking on the same dirt, this God who loved us enough to sacrifice himself for us.
Speaker 1: You don't think he's going to be with you.
Speaker 1: He's been through it, but then he rose again on the third day, conquering sin and death.
Speaker 1: And now we can trust that he's good, because not only has he risen again, but he sent his Holy Spirit to be in us and we get to be a part of his kingdom, moving forward, seeking justice and mercy and goodness and peace and prosperity for the kingdom of God on this earth.
Speaker 1: Friends, this is the beauty of the gospel, but if you've not given your life to God, you belong to Babylon, and it doesn't have to end at God saving you.
Speaker 1: Yes, you can reject your sin and embrace Jesus, but once you do, you don't have to turn back to Babylon.
Speaker 1: The old you died.
Speaker 1: The new, you belongs to Jesus, and he's not going to use you.
Speaker 1: He's not only going to use you to reject the wickedness of Babylon, though.
Speaker 1: He's going to use you to redeem Babylon.
Speaker 1: God takes things meant for evil and he redeems them for his glory.
Speaker 1: You might not make it out of this trial, but God will redeem your situation.
Speaker 1: Indian scholar Ankur Lali Rotaka, he says this.
Speaker 1: He says we may not need to, or we may not be rescued from our fiery furnace and we may have to face death as Jesus did, but we are certain of the resurrection and we know that he walks with us in the valley of the shadow of death, just as the divine figure was with the three faithful Jews.
Speaker 1: Now here's how Beth Moore puts it.
Speaker 1: She puts it best.
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 1: She says this she says we can be delivered from the fire.
Speaker 1: That's one that will cause your faith to go on it.
Speaker 1: Number two she says we can be delivered through the fire.
Speaker 1: Ooh, this means that our faith will be refined in the tough situations.
Speaker 1: And the third option we can be delivered by the fire into God's arms, into death, where our faith is perfected.
Speaker 1: So I'll close with this City Life Church.
Speaker 1: I'm not convinced things are going to get better.
Speaker 1: Babylon is always going to Babylon.
Speaker 1: There will be war, there will be power struggles, there will be hatred.
Speaker 1: People will fight over imaginary lines.
Speaker 1: Wholesale rejection of God's law will happen.
Speaker 1: There will be threats.
Speaker 1: We will respond by loving those who hate us.
Speaker 1: That is how we respond, because we know how all of this ends.
Speaker 1: Jesus is the only hope of the world.
Speaker 1: Our God blesses those who remain faithful.
Speaker 1: Even when the heat is turned up, god will be with his children.
Speaker 1: Let's pray.
Speaker 1: Even when the heat is turned up, god will be with his children.
Speaker 1: Let's pray.
Speaker 1: Father, we thank you that you've never left us, but can we be real with you, lord, and we know that you're a good dad and you got some kids that ask dumb questions.
Speaker 1: God, sometimes we just don't feel like you're there with us.
Speaker 1: Sometimes things seem so hard and we can't feel your presence there with us.
Speaker 1: Sometimes things seem so hard and we can't feel your presence and all we want to do is run away from you and run back to Babylon, where things seem better somehow.
Speaker 1: God, we know that that's, that's sin in us.
Speaker 1: We know that's the Babylon in us.
Speaker 1: So, god, we want to reject that.
Speaker 1: We want to.
Speaker 1: We want to apologize to you.
Speaker 1: We want to repent of the sins that we have.
Speaker 1: We want to.
Speaker 1: We want to go to you and repent of all of the things that we've done wrong and we were in our pent of the good things that we've not done that you've called us to.
Speaker 1: In this moment of silence we bring you.
Speaker 1: Lord, you know the decisions we've made.
Speaker 1: Some of them have been wrong, some of them have been wrong, some of them have been right, but ultimately, we often make selfish decisions, and so, god, we ask that you would help us to follow you, you would help us to see you as the author and originator of our faith, and we thank you that.
Speaker 1: As far as the east is from the west, so our sin is from your side.
Speaker 1: That when you look upon us, you see the righteousness of your son Jesus from your sight.
Speaker 1: That when you look upon us, you see the righteousness of your son Jesus.
Speaker 1: How good it is to belong to you.
Speaker 2: We love you and we pray this all in Jesus' name.
Speaker 2: Amen, Amen, Amen.
Speaker 2: Let's give a hand, a couple of praise for that good word.
Speaker 2: Babylon is going Babylon.
Speaker 2: So when Jesus came to earth, he came with a mission, he had a purpose.
Speaker 2: He didn't come for no reason and his mission was to defeat sin and death on our behalf.
Speaker 2: Sin is a stain that we have that, no matter how hard we try, we couldn't get rid of.
Speaker 2: We got our little tied pins and we tried to wipe the stains out and it couldn't come out.
Speaker 2: And so Jesus was the only person that could remove the sin, and so he did so.
Speaker 2: But it cost something.
Speaker 2: It cost his life.
Speaker 2: And so Jesus knew during his entire ministry that it would cost his life.
Speaker 2: And he counted the cost and he saw us and he said it was worth the price.
Speaker 2: And so, as Jesus went on with his ministry, he had disciples and he sat with his disciples with his death impending, and he said he knew he was about to die and he said, hey, we're going to share a meal together for the final time.
Speaker 2: And he took a piece of bread and he broke that piece of bread and he said this is my body, which will be broken for you.
Speaker 2: And in the same way, he took a glass of wine and he said this is my blood that's going to be poured out for the forgiveness of your sins.
Speaker 2: And so we're getting ready to partake in what we call communion.
Speaker 2: And so communion isn't something magical, but it's something that we do to remember the price that Jesus paid on the cross for us.
Speaker 2: And so when we do communion, we remember that Jesus paid the price, that it was a gruesome death on the cross, that when he looked out and he saw his church, he was willing to pay that price.
Speaker 2: And so if you're a believer today, if you call Jesus the Lord of your life, we have the table open for you.