SPEAKER_01: This podcast is brought to you by Grant Parkway Baptist, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_01: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandHarkway.org.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, when we sing and say things that are that truthful, it can sound ominous and sad.
SPEAKER_00: It's not sad, it's inviting when we say that just give me Jesus because everything else pells in comparison to him.
SPEAKER_00: So that's not punishment, that's invitation.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna find ourselves in circumstances and situations in this life, whether we're 17 or 77, we're gonna find ourselves in circumstances and situations where all we have is God.
SPEAKER_00: And sadly, God, it oftentimes takes that for us to realize that's what we really need.
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean we don't need a truck and a car and college and food and money and sex and pizza and all that other stuff.
SPEAKER_00: We need all that and we enjoy all that as gifts from God.
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be moments, God, where you just have to clarify our understanding by helping us, causing us to realize this is all I have, this is all I need.
SPEAKER_00: What have I been squirreling my life away on other stuff for?
SPEAKER_00: So, Holy Spirit, illuminate your word today.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just words on a page, it is life in peace.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we need.
SPEAKER_00: So, Holy Spirit, give us that today, we pray in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: And everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: You can have a seat.
SPEAKER_00: If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it.
SPEAKER_00: Now, by the way, if you would like to, you can remove your mask during the preaching portion of our service and breathe some air that doesn't smell funny.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but if you'd like to leave yours on, you can leave it on.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you're more than welcome.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, today is a great day.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, if you're a if you're visiting our church, we preach through books of the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Now, that doesn't mean we give religious lectures and bore you to death.
SPEAKER_00: We preach through books of the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and today we're starting the book of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: It's in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: So if you've got a Bible, you can turn and find the book of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: And you also might want to find 2 Kings chapter 20.
SPEAKER_00: If you find Daniel, go to the left.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Kings is back there in the historical part.
SPEAKER_00: And we'll get to that in just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to give you a context uh for the book of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I'm kind of a nerd.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and you say, what do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: Uh I like some TV.
SPEAKER_00: Like uh I watch golf tournaments.
SPEAKER_00: My wife's like, that's the craziest thing.
SPEAKER_00: You watch men play golf on TV.
SPEAKER_00: It's so relaxing, though.
SPEAKER_00: I will watch this afternoon.
SPEAKER_00: Tour championship is on, or the playoffs are on.
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, uh, I'm a nerd.
SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that is when we built our house in 1999, I drove over and watched them pour the foundation.
SPEAKER_00: And my wife said, Well, what was that like?
SPEAKER_00: I said, just men, cement trucks, everything.
SPEAKER_00: I said, but here's the thing the foundation is really the most important part of the house.
SPEAKER_00: If they get this wrong, nothing else matters.
SPEAKER_00: So it is with understanding the book of the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: If you uh and today we'll be kind of laying the foundation for the book of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so, because if you don't understand the foundation, the rest of it's kind of like disconnected, one-off stories.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and that's not what the Bible is.
SPEAKER_00: And so let me just give you kind of an overview of the book of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, the theme of Daniel is simply this: that despite how things look, God is still in control.
SPEAKER_00: Despite how things look, God is still in control.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, a couple uh just factoids about Daniel, the book of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: It's one of the only books in the entire Bible with nothing negative is written about the author.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing negative about Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the second thing about the book of Daniel, you should understand.
SPEAKER_00: It is written in the context of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, excuse me, of judgment.
SPEAKER_00: It's written in the context of judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, because a lot of books in the Old Testament, they kind of warn against, hey, God's gonna judge you if you guys don't get your act together.
SPEAKER_00: Other books look back on it.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel is one of the two or three that writes from the from the in the midst of it, in the context of judgment taking place.
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me give you the context before we start reading Daniel chapter one, verse one.
SPEAKER_00: The context of what's happened here is that now, after the reign of King David, you ever heard of King David say amen?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, King David, the reign of King David was great, and the reign of his son Solomon was great.
SPEAKER_00: After that, you had some cats that weren't so great.
SPEAKER_00: So there were 12 tribes in Israel.
SPEAKER_00: The 12 tribes separated.
SPEAKER_00: Ten of the 12 pulled off, and they kind of divided along geographical and kind of uh tribal alliances.
SPEAKER_00: Ten of the 12 went up and formed what's called the northern kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Now, they were doing good for a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: God warned them hey, don't intermarry with these people, don't let these people turn your heart against God, but they didn't believe God.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't listen to God.
SPEAKER_00: They started kind of saying, Hey, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to, we don't want to be a bunch of haters, so we're gonna let those people practice their religion.
SPEAKER_00: We'll take some of their religion, some of our religion, some of that person's religion over there.
SPEAKER_00: And pretty soon you have nothing, you don't have a relationship, you have spirituality void of a relationship with a sovereign God who has the moral authority to tell you no.
SPEAKER_00: Sound familiar?
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, uh, and so God says, Don't do that, don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: But they turned their heart against God, and pretty soon they said, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: We like this idolatry because they let us do whatever we want.
SPEAKER_00: They're idols.
SPEAKER_00: God kind of is hating on us and raining on our parade.
SPEAKER_00: And so God warns them and warns them and warns, and finally, God raises up a nation called Assyria, uh, and they overwhelm, they sack the northern kingdom uh and they overcome it.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the takeaway: when you refuse to listen to God, he gives you leaders you don't want.
SPEAKER_00: Remember that come November.
SPEAKER_00: Uh so that's the the Southern Kingdom, I'm excuse me, the northern kingdom, 10 tribes.
SPEAKER_00: I told you there was 12.
SPEAKER_00: What happened to the other two?
SPEAKER_00: The other two are Judah and Benjamin, the smallest of the 12 tribes.
SPEAKER_00: They break off and they they form what's called the southern kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Why do I tell you this?
SPEAKER_00: You're like, dude, really?
SPEAKER_00: I shaved my legs for this?
SPEAKER_00: This is where Daniel lived.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel comes from the southern kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Despite the fact that they watched what happened in the north, they drifted away from God.
SPEAKER_00: God warns them through the prophets Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, but they don't listen, okay?
SPEAKER_00: They do not listen.
SPEAKER_00: They're just knuckleheads, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Let me ask you another question.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you in this room, at any point in your life, you've realized, you know what, this is not the right thing, but you just went ahead and did it anyway.
SPEAKER_00: Say amen.
SPEAKER_00: Sinners.
SPEAKER_00: See, you're surrounded by sinners.
SPEAKER_00: You're in good company.
SPEAKER_00: No, here's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes we can get down on ourselves and be kind of like, oh my gosh, I just can't seem to get my act together.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not letting you off the hook as much as I'm saying this.
SPEAKER_00: Look at me.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible identifies with how you struggle.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible doesn't come down heavy on you.
SPEAKER_00: Like, oh my gosh, what a pathetic Christian you are.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the Bible says, hey, don't be a knucklehead.
SPEAKER_00: And God warns us, God sends people.
SPEAKER_00: In the Bible, it was prophets.
SPEAKER_00: Nowadays it's preachers, it's friends, it's your mom and dad.
SPEAKER_00: You're like, thanks for that part.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: It's your mom and dad that are saying, Hey, sweetie, we don't we don't live that way.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the right thing to do.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, don't let your friends turn your heart against God.
SPEAKER_00: And so the southern kingdom, just Judah and Benjamin, they didn't listen until God raises up the nation of Babylon under the leadership of a guy named Nebuchadnezzar.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, unless you were raised by veggie tails, and then it's Nebuchadnezzar.
SPEAKER_00: And he sacks Judah and Jerusalem and they take some of the people captives back to Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: Why do they do that?
SPEAKER_00: It's real practical on a governmental people-ruling thing.
SPEAKER_00: An expanding government needs foot soldiers that can they can indoctrinate into their way of thinking so they can stay in the power.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, if I'm in Babylon, I can't overtake all these other because Babylon's already defeated Assyria.
SPEAKER_00: They don't have enough people to go occupy Syria and now occupy Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: So what they do is they take some of the elite people out of Jerusalem, bring them back, and they indoctrinate them.
SPEAKER_00: It's now called college.
SPEAKER_00: We'll get to that next week.
SPEAKER_00: Uh y'all are like, you didn't just say that, did you?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what I said.
SPEAKER_00: So what they do is they indoctrinate them and then to their way of thinking so they can stay in power.
SPEAKER_00: Some of them they keep in Babylon, some of them they sit back as a puppet kingdom in Jerusalem and say, hey, run this country the way we would run it if we were here.
SPEAKER_00: Nowadays we do it through illegal immigration.
SPEAKER_00: This is the way they do it in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: They just brainwash people into their ways.
SPEAKER_00: Again, why are you telling us that?
SPEAKER_00: Because Daniel was one of the young men that got taken captive back to Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: And best we can tell, he was about 15 or 16 years old when this happened.
SPEAKER_00: 15, let that in.
SPEAKER_00: 15 or 16 years old.
SPEAKER_00: So everything, this is why I say today's kind of a foundation.
SPEAKER_00: Today's kind of nerdy.
SPEAKER_00: Today's kind of like, oh, dude, he should drink decaf.
SPEAKER_00: He's a little excited.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, because I want you to see uh just just some some some some pillars that that God uh these things are true in in Daniel's day, they're true in our day, and they'll be true for the rest of our days.
SPEAKER_00: And so now that you kind of got this foundation, Daniel, 16 years old, comes back to Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to read from Daniel chapter one, the first two verses.
SPEAKER_00: He says, In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand with some of the vessels of the house of God.
SPEAKER_00: And he brought them to the land of Shannar, to the house of his God, and he placed the vessels in the treasury of his God.
SPEAKER_00: Now we'll just stop right there.
SPEAKER_00: We're just gonna read two verses.
SPEAKER_00: Now you're probably thinking, dude, if we're just reading two verses every Sunday, we're gonna be in Daniel till Jesus comes.
SPEAKER_00: I'm hoping Jesus comes before we get to chapter eight, and I gotta explain the visions to you.
SPEAKER_00: I'll let him do that, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Uh because Daniel breaks into three sections.
SPEAKER_00: There's chapter one, which is an overview.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter one covers 70 years of the life of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, there's really only records nine episodes from the life of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: 70 years, nine episodes.
SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: Not every day's a journal entry.
SPEAKER_00: Some days you're gonna go to work and come home, and your wife's gonna say, Hey, how was it?
SPEAKER_00: God wants us to pay our mortgage.
SPEAKER_00: That's all I got to tell you, because I got paid for today.
SPEAKER_00: Not every day's spectacular, not every day's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: I shared the gospel in H C B and nine people fell to their knees.
SPEAKER_00: No, it's like, eh, it was just today.
SPEAKER_00: Nine episodes over 70 years.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter one's an overview.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter one's written in the in the book of Daniel's also bilingual for for you, Bible nerds.
SPEAKER_00: The chapter one's written in Hebrew, chapters two through seven are written in Aramaic, chapters eight through twelve are back in Hebrew again.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you why at a later date, but I just want you to understand that now.
SPEAKER_00: I want to draw your attention to verse two.
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's read verse one.
SPEAKER_00: There's only two verses.
SPEAKER_00: How hard is that?
SPEAKER_00: In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, southern kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
SPEAKER_00: Here, verse two.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand.
SPEAKER_00: So this is not a story of military might or prowess.
SPEAKER_00: This is a story about a sovereign God who takes seriously being trusted, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Here's the I'm gonna make three foundational statements today from this story, just to kind of lay the foundation for Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the first one: not trusting God is a sin.
SPEAKER_00: Not trusting God is a sin.
SPEAKER_00: You should read verse two, and the Lord gave Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, into his hand.
SPEAKER_00: You should read that and say and ask yourself, now why would God do that?
SPEAKER_00: Why would God do that?
SPEAKER_00: Here's why.
SPEAKER_00: Because God does not like not being trusted.
SPEAKER_00: God does not like not being trusted.
SPEAKER_00: Because when you and I say, I'm not gonna trust God, we're operating in unbelief.
SPEAKER_00: I don't believe God.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have to trust God and idolatry.
SPEAKER_00: I'm trusting somebody or something else.
SPEAKER_00: You should ask yourself today, hey, when I don't trust God, who or what do I trust?
SPEAKER_00: Because here's the foundational truth of the book of Daniel: not trusting God is a sin.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I told you earlier, we're gonna read a little bit in Daniel, but we're gonna read a lot in 2 Kings chapter 20.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're visiting our church or you're new to our church, you'll hear us say this a lot that the Bible is not a bunch of one-off stories.
SPEAKER_00: It's one story that God is telling all the way from Genesis 1:1 to the very end of Revelation.
SPEAKER_00: Even so, Lord Jesus, come.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes you can read the Bible and it feels like a puzzle, but the more you understand and you see it clearly, it becomes a picture.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a puzzle, it's a pitcher.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what I want to do is pan the camera back because we should always ask ourselves in marriage, in business, in friendship, in church, in the book of Daniel, how do we get here?
SPEAKER_00: How did we get to this point where this good God gives the king Jehoiakim, the king of Judah and Jerusalem?
SPEAKER_00: The sinner.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is God's people, this is God's city, and God hands it over to a bunch of pagans.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't take it.
SPEAKER_00: God said, Here, I want you to have this.
SPEAKER_00: Why would God do that?
SPEAKER_00: How do we get to this point?
SPEAKER_00: Because not trusting God is a sin.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: Second Kings chapter 20, verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death.
SPEAKER_00: And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amaz, came to him and said to him, Thus says the Lord, set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.
SPEAKER_00: How'd you like to get a friend visit you in the hospital like that?
SPEAKER_00: Just came to tell you, dude, it's over.
SPEAKER_00: Make your peace with God, because you're gonna take the dirt nap.
SPEAKER_00: Look how he responds.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 2 Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.
SPEAKER_00: And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
SPEAKER_00: And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, turn back and say to Hezekiah, the leader of my people, thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father, I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears.
SPEAKER_00: Now, beloved, look at me.
SPEAKER_00: God, when it comes to your praying, he doesn't just hear your words, he sees the way you live.
SPEAKER_00: Because all of us have been around people who've heard people pray, you heard your grandma pray, your grandpa or your parents pray, and you can kind of cobble together some words, you know, God is great, God is good, let us thank him for a food.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and so I just want to say this when it comes to praying, God doesn't just hear what you say, he sees how you live.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes your prayers don't get answered, not because you're not saying the right thing, but because how you live.
SPEAKER_00: Because for God to answer that prayer you're asking for would be a violation of how you live, because how you live could not support God answering that prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Does that say, does that make sense to anybody?
SPEAKER_00: And so it's not just about what you say.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I've heard your prayer, I've seen your tears.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, I will heal you.
SPEAKER_00: On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, and I will add 15 years to your life.
SPEAKER_00: I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria.
SPEAKER_00: Now, remember, I told you, little little Bible fun fact, who sacked the northern kingdom?
SPEAKER_00: Assyria.
SPEAKER_00: So everyone's afraid of Assyria.
SPEAKER_00: They're like, the man of Assyria is coming.
SPEAKER_00: It's like fighting Mike Tyson in his prime.
SPEAKER_00: Mike Tyson would walk in the ring with just a towel with a slit cut in it, and no socks on.
SPEAKER_00: People were scared to death of Mike Tyson.
SPEAKER_00: Assyria was like Mike Tyson.
SPEAKER_00: And God says, I will deliver you in this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.
SPEAKER_00: And Isaiah said, Bring a cake of figs and let them take and lay it on the boil that he may recover.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 8, and Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?
SPEAKER_00: And Isaiah said, This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised.
SPEAKER_00: Shall the shall the shadow go forward ten steps or back ten steps?
SPEAKER_00: And Hezekiah answered, It's an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps.
SPEAKER_00: Rather, let the shadow go back ten steps.
SPEAKER_00: Now look at me.
SPEAKER_00: What God is saying is through his prophet uh Elijah, he's saying, Hey, do you want the sun, you want time to go forward or you want God to move time back?
SPEAKER_00: God says, I can make the sun go forward, I can make the sun go back.
SPEAKER_00: Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 11, Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and he brought the shadow back ten steps by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.
SPEAKER_00: Let's keep reading.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: At that time, Meridoch Baladan, the son of Baladan, the king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
SPEAKER_00: Beware of strangers bearing gifts.
SPEAKER_00: And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouse.
SPEAKER_00: There was nothing in his house or in all the realm of Hezekiah that did not show them.
SPEAKER_00: Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say?
SPEAKER_00: And from where did they come to you?
SPEAKER_00: And Hezekiah said, They came from a far country, from Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: He said, What have they seen in your house?
SPEAKER_00: And Hezekiah answered, They have seen all that is in my house.
SPEAKER_00: There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.
SPEAKER_00: And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and that which your fathers have stored up to this day shall be carried to Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing shall be left, says the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And some of your own sons who shall be born to you shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good, for he thought, Why not?
SPEAKER_00: If there'll be peace and security in my days.
SPEAKER_00: This is a great example of short-sighted leadership.
SPEAKER_00: Let me give you three things if you're taking notes just to jot down.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to jot them down.
SPEAKER_00: You can just look at them and go, Yeah, I'll see if I can remember that.
SPEAKER_00: A couple of takeaways.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, you must decide if you're going to trust man.
SPEAKER_00: This includes yourself, or you're going to trust God.
SPEAKER_00: And the sooner you can make that decision, the better off you'll be.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're 12 years old and you're sitting in here, you should ask yourself, am I going to trust God?
SPEAKER_00: Do I believe that God's real?
SPEAKER_00: First of all, do I understand that God's good?
SPEAKER_00: And what can I not trust God with?
SPEAKER_00: And so, am I going to trust God or am I going to trust man, including myself?
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, have good boundaries.
SPEAKER_00: Have good boundaries.
SPEAKER_00: You say, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that Hezekiah showed these strangers from a far country everything that was in his house.
SPEAKER_00: Everything.
SPEAKER_00: Now just think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody's getting a trip to the bathroom.
SPEAKER_00: You see that?
SPEAKER_00: Now, your teenagers, if you fall asleep, you're gonna go trip to the bathroom too.
SPEAKER_00: Remember you're little, your parents would say, You want me to take you to the bathroom?
SPEAKER_00: By the way, my dad never took us to the bathroom.
SPEAKER_00: He beat us right at the table.
SPEAKER_00: I was I was being raised in the in the in the early 70s.
SPEAKER_00: They whip your kids in public back then.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, if your kids act up and you have to step out, no one's looking, kind of going, God, what kind of parent are you?
SPEAKER_00: Because we can't control our kids.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lady that can't control her kids.
SPEAKER_00: She feels relieved now for beating her kids in public.
SPEAKER_00: I when somebody walks out with the kids, y'all all look at me like, what are you gonna do?
SPEAKER_00: It's just life.
SPEAKER_00: You can't control your kids.
SPEAKER_00: But put your hand over your mouth to get to the bathroom and then beat them privately.
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, back to the three takeaways.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta have good boundaries.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Hezekiah just opens up everything.
SPEAKER_00: He lets them see his bank account, his 401k, everything.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, these people, you don't you gotta have good boundaries.
SPEAKER_00: Students, remember this mom and dad, teach your kids this, okay?
SPEAKER_00: We do not talk about our money, our body, or our family secrets.
SPEAKER_00: That's just a good place to start with having boundaries.
SPEAKER_00: We don't talk about our body with anybody, we don't talk about our money, our lack thereof, and we don't talk about our family secrets.
SPEAKER_00: Hezekiah just throws open the door and says, Come on in, I'll show you guys everything.
SPEAKER_00: And what he's doing is that he is he's making an alliance with Babylon against Assyria instead of trusting God.
SPEAKER_00: This is what's taking place.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the third thing as far as a takeaway.
SPEAKER_00: We have to learn to think beyond ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: It's verse 19.
SPEAKER_00: Hezekiah says, I mean, after I mean, the word of the Lord comes uh to him.
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah lays it out and he just says, Well, uh, this is good.
SPEAKER_00: What the Lord has spoken is good.
SPEAKER_00: For he thought, why not?
SPEAKER_00: If there'll be peace and security in my days.
SPEAKER_00: You hear the trade-off?
SPEAKER_00: He says, I don't care what happens after I'm gone.
SPEAKER_00: As long as my life's okay, as long as I'm peaceful, as long as I get to retire, move to the hill country, play golf three days a week.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care what happens to my kids or grandkids.
SPEAKER_00: Short-sighted leadership will damn the generations that come after you.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what happens.
SPEAKER_00: It's a sin to not to trust God, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Well, you got to ask yourself this question today.
SPEAKER_00: What decisions are you making right now that will outlive you?
SPEAKER_00: What decisions are you making right now?
SPEAKER_00: Because whether you realize it or not, positively or negatively, we're all making decisions right now that will outlive us.
SPEAKER_00: I told the first service this, and then the guys in the booth did the math and said, actually, there was a stock split twice.
SPEAKER_00: There was a two for one and a four for seven, and so your numbers are off.
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Okay, whatever.
SPEAKER_00: Uh but years ago, I met a young man, uh, he was very young.
SPEAKER_00: He graduated high school in 1997.
SPEAKER_00: His grandma was all into investing, very disciplined woman.
SPEAKER_00: And so his grandma said, for your graduation present, I'm gonna give you$10,000.
SPEAKER_00: And this kid was like, and she's like, No, no, no, you have$10,000 to invest, and you have to invest all of it.
SPEAKER_00: So you pick a stock or multiple stocks you want to invest in, and grandma will set it up for you.
SPEAKER_00: And so he asked around, and somebody said, Hey, computers are kind of gonna be the wave of the future.
SPEAKER_00: There's a computer company, it's kind of started out, it's kind of hit a little rough patch.
SPEAKER_00: The company's called Apple.
SPEAKER_00: And in 1997, in June, look it up because some of you are like, that never happened.
SPEAKER_00: Because when he told me this, I was like, shut up.
SPEAKER_00: He said, I bought Apple stock at$3.56 a share.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, now I'm sure I'm the only one.
SPEAKER_00: Does anybody you ever hear something that's too good to be true?
SPEAKER_00: And your first thing is just skepticism.
SPEAKER_00: Like, that's a lie.
SPEAKER_00: Go look it up.
SPEAKER_00: Just type in Google, type in what is the all-time low Apple stock price?
SPEAKER_00: It's$3.56 a share in June of 1997.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to his grandma, he goes, I don't know, just put it all on this on this Apple stock, I guess.
SPEAKER_00: And he did.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I checked it this past week because I'm nosy rosy.
SPEAKER_00: Apple was trading at$504 a share and it closed at four, it crashed and closed at$499 a share.
SPEAKER_00: And so my math, I said, that's today current value,$1.4 million on$10,000.
SPEAKER_00: The guys in the in the booth back there said, actually, you clearly don't have stock.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, uh, I work for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I live on faith, brother.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and they said, actually, there's been two stock splits.
SPEAKER_00: There was a two for one and a four for seven.
SPEAKER_00: So we did the math, and really that guy has about$19 million.
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Oh, I'm calling him after church.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, remember me?
SPEAKER_00: Now, why do I tell you this?
SPEAKER_00: Here's the part that it blew me away when I thought it was 1.5 1.4 million.
SPEAKER_00: Now that's 19 million, maybe more.
SPEAKER_00: Because the guy said he was a young man when I met him, probably eight years ago, graduated high school in 1997.
SPEAKER_00: This is foresight.
SPEAKER_00: He said, You know what?
SPEAKER_00: I think I'm gonna do.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I'm gonna touch this because my grandmother invested well and she left it, she she gave all of us$10,000 to invest.
SPEAKER_00: He said, I think I'm just gonna leave it in there and I'm gonna divide it up and give it all to my kids.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, your kids are looking at you right now, like, what you got for me?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, again, here's the question we got to be asking ourselves: what decisions am I making right now that will outlive me?
SPEAKER_00: Because to not trust God, Hezekiah doesn't trust God, and the consequences of that outlive him, which is why Daniel and his friends are taken captive at the age of 16 and marched to Babylon to be brainwashed into this pagan culture and to be in government.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the second foundational truth for Daniel: sin always has a consequence.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel chapter 1, verse 2, and the Lord gave, and the Lord gave, and the Lord gave.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about, hey, Babylon's the superpower, and no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: Sovereign God gives his people over.
SPEAKER_00: Why would God do that?
SPEAKER_00: Because sin always has a consequence.
SPEAKER_00: One of the greatest consequences of sin is that the consequences of your sin go on long after you're done sinning and even after you're gone, i.e., dead.
SPEAKER_00: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_00: One of the greatest consequences of sin is that the consequence goes on after you're done sinning.
SPEAKER_00: You can sin and realize, dude, I'm just being a knucklehead.
SPEAKER_00: And you can you can stop sinning, you can repent, but the consequences often will go on long after you've stopped that behavior.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because you can pick your sin, but you can't pick your consequence.
SPEAKER_00: And they go on long after you're done sinning, and a lot of times they go on long after you're even living.
SPEAKER_00: You say, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: Exodus chapter 34, uh, verses six and seven.
SPEAKER_00: God is about to give the Ten Commandments to Moses, and God self-discloses.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, God describes himself.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what God says about himself, and listen to what he says about us and our descendants.
SPEAKER_00: Exodus 34, verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: He passes in front of Moses and he says, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who by no means clear the guilty.
SPEAKER_00: Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation.
SPEAKER_00: Sin always has a consequence.
SPEAKER_00: And men look at me.
SPEAKER_00: We have the power to affect our trajectory of the other generations that come after us.
SPEAKER_00: Now, some of you may be sitting here, you may have a secret habit or a pattern of behavior that no one knows about, and you've tried and you've wrestled with it, and you've repented and you've rededicated and you've read books, and it will not go away.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you the saddest day of your battle with that specific sin is when your son comes to you and confesses the same sin.
SPEAKER_00: The only thing that will be sadder than that is that when you're 86 and your adult son, who's like 60, comes to you and says, his adult son, who's 30, struggles with the same sin.
SPEAKER_00: And then you'll realize that the sins of the fathers are being visited on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's a spiritual principle.
SPEAKER_00: Now, look at me, listen carefully.
SPEAKER_00: That does not mean that, oh, if my grandfather was an alcoholic and my dad was an alcoholic, well, I just got to be an alcoholic.
SPEAKER_00: No, not at all.
SPEAKER_00: This is not like, oh, this doesn't excuse behavior.
SPEAKER_00: This warns against sinful behavior.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because sin always has a consequence.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the third foundational statement that we got to get this language in the water to understand the book of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: And it's this the consequence of sin is judgment.
SPEAKER_00: The consequence of sin is judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Again, Daniel chapter 1, verse 2, and the Lord gave.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord gave.
SPEAKER_00: Again, why would God do that?
SPEAKER_00: Is God mad at his people?
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: No, not trusting God is a heinous sin.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Just read the Ten Commandments.
SPEAKER_00: You shall have no other gods before me.
SPEAKER_00: Not only that, but you you you you shall not make for yourself a graven image.
SPEAKER_00: You shall not turn your back on the sun and fall in love with your shadow that you see on the ground.
SPEAKER_00: And you just conjure up something and call it spirituality.
SPEAKER_00: God takes himself very seriously, beloved.
SPEAKER_00: This is why the consequence of sin is judgment.
SPEAKER_00: It's important that we don't see this as a military conquest where Babylon is the superpower of the day.
SPEAKER_00: Listen carefully, okay?
SPEAKER_00: That this fate came from God as a faithful act of judgment.
SPEAKER_00: This fate being taken captive into Babylon, that this came from God as a faithful act of judgment is actually encouraging news to these people.
SPEAKER_00: And here's why.
SPEAKER_00: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_00: It's encouraging news to these people.
SPEAKER_00: And here's why.
SPEAKER_00: Because their future and their fate is in the hands of a sovereign God, not of a foreign government.
SPEAKER_00: You say, I don't know what you mean.
SPEAKER_00: Because once you lose sight of the sovereignty of God, regardless of circumstance, let me say it again.
SPEAKER_00: Once you lose sight of the fact that God is sovereign, regardless of my circumstance.
SPEAKER_00: So, in other words, if we're like, well, you know, things are going bad, and I don't know who's in control, once you lose sight of God's sovereignty, regardless of circumstance, then all of a sudden you're living in a world where nobody's in control.
SPEAKER_00: And the byproduct of that is anxiety and depression.
SPEAKER_00: Look around our culture.
SPEAKER_00: We don't live with the sense that God is good, God is sovereign, He can be trusted, and it is vexing to the human psyche because we live in a world where nobody's in control.
SPEAKER_00: And we live, we're like Wiley Coyote, we're waiting for that 20-ton acne anvil to drop down on us.
SPEAKER_00: The theme of Daniel is that despite circumstances, God is in control.
SPEAKER_00: God is faithful.
SPEAKER_00: Hear me, beloved.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the ways that he demonstrates his faithfulness is through judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I read a great article by a guy named Eric Redmond, helped me kind of get my excuse me, Eric Raymond, helped me kind of get my head around and understand judgment, not as a negative but as a positive thing.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to close this morning with three things about judgment that I want us to understand.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, judgment teaches us who God is.
SPEAKER_00: Judgment teaches us who God is.
SPEAKER_00: When when we as preachers neglect talking about God's judgment, we're really seeking to hide God from our people and really say, hey, look to me to kind of explain away all the jagged edges of God's nature so you don't be offended.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and to that, I would just say start reading the first book of the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: You don't get very far into it without encountering what I call unapologetic judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I say unapologetic, not because God isn't compassionate, but because he's right.
SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes the most compassionate thing God can do is bring judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_00: It's unapologetic judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Not because God's not compassionate, it's because God's right.
SPEAKER_00: And because God's right, he's not going to forfeit that truth.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the most merciful, compassionate thing God can do is bring judgment.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a parent, you should understand that.
SPEAKER_00: It's the most, if you're like, oh, well, I don't discipline my kids, you don't love your kids.
SPEAKER_00: And I would tell you that to your face.
SPEAKER_00: In your house, eating your food, drinking your coffee.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't discipline your kids, you don't, if you live in fear of your children, you do not love your children.
SPEAKER_00: There's another word, I'm not gonna say hate, but there's some other word closer to hate than love.
SPEAKER_00: If you're like, oh, well, you know, we're kind of our kids are like free-range chickens.
SPEAKER_00: They come and go as they please.
SPEAKER_00: Your kids will destroy themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Because the judgment of God will overwhelm them.
SPEAKER_00: They'll think God's some kind of cosmic bully or something.
SPEAKER_00: It's your responsibility, mom and dad, to bring judgment on you.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm not saying go home today and go, hey, dad's gonna have to judge you.
SPEAKER_00: Prepare for judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I have two daughters that are 22 and 17.
SPEAKER_00: I have to say to my 17-year-old every once in a while, hey sweetie, you're kind of getting off the reservation.
SPEAKER_00: Do you need dad's help getting back on the reservation, or can you find your way back?
SPEAKER_00: And she's like, I hear you, dad.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, take them earbuds out that I paid for.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, I'm gonna have some earbuds.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever, dad.
SPEAKER_00: Now, not she's not disrespectful.
SPEAKER_00: They're both great kids.
SPEAKER_00: They took after their mom, amen.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and so when I say judgment, it's not like I tell you what, you want a whipping?
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: I'm very gracious, but I'm very firm.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, hey, I told mine, a matter of fact, last week I told mine, hey, you're 17.
SPEAKER_00: We shouldn't have to tell you everything to do.
SPEAKER_00: You should look around and see what needs to be done and just do it without being told.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that crazy?
SPEAKER_00: And I said, hey, this ain't welfare.
SPEAKER_00: We capitalists in this house.
SPEAKER_00: You got to contribute to get.
SPEAKER_00: And so my kid, I didn't go in my parents' bedroom.
SPEAKER_00: It was creepy.
SPEAKER_00: I stayed away from that.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, uh, my kids live in our bedroom.
SPEAKER_00: Last night my 17-year-old got in bed with her mom and was watching HCTV eating cereal.
SPEAKER_00: And this morning I got up at 6 o'clock and the cereal bowls on my nightstand where my cup of coffee goes.
SPEAKER_00: So today I gotta say, hey, if you want to come hang out in my bedroom, you gotta pick your stuff up.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, you can't come in here anymore.
SPEAKER_00: Now, is that judgment?
SPEAKER_00: That's warning.
SPEAKER_00: That judgment cometh and it rides a fast horse.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what am I saying?
SPEAKER_00: I'm saying when it comes to being to discipline, loving your kids, you don't have to always use a heavy hand.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, mom and dad, when you get angry, what you're really saying to your kids is, I don't know what to do right now.
SPEAKER_00: It's always coming out like this.
SPEAKER_00: I say to my 70-year-old, who's a good kid?
SPEAKER_00: Hey, hey, you're getting a little wobbly here.
SPEAKER_00: You need to tighten it up.
SPEAKER_00: And she's like, I got it, Dad.
SPEAKER_00: What do you think I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_00: And she's always boom, you're talking about boom, boom, boom.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, okay.
SPEAKER_00: That's all.
SPEAKER_00: And some of y'all come up to my kids and go, What's your dad like at home?
SPEAKER_00: Because she tells me, oh, so-and-so asked me what you're like.
SPEAKER_00: You tell them I beat you on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
SPEAKER_00: She goes, You don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: No, I don't.
SPEAKER_00: So here's my point.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not, I don't want you to think judgment is licensed to be some insecure, angry old man.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: No, we have to bring judgment, I have to bring consequence for disobedience.
SPEAKER_00: Look at me, to turn our kids' heart back to what's right.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: He just to turn our kids' heart back to what is right.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, judgment teaches us who God is, okay?
SPEAKER_00: You you you don't get very far into Genesis.
SPEAKER_00: You get into Genesis 3, and he judges and expels Adam and Eve from the garden.
SPEAKER_00: Genesis 6, he floods the earth and starts over with Noah and his family.
SPEAKER_00: Genesis 11, he judges humanity because they want to compete with God.
SPEAKER_00: They want to build a tower into the heavens and make a name for themselves.
SPEAKER_00: And God's like, I don't think so.
SPEAKER_00: And he scatters them, and we get what we call the nations, the ethne, the people groups.
SPEAKER_00: Genesis 19, he destroys Sodom and Gomorrah.
SPEAKER_00: You know why he destroys Sodom and Gomorrah?
SPEAKER_00: Not because what you're thinking.
SPEAKER_00: He destroys Sodom and Gomorrah because they were selfish and they were not generous.
SPEAKER_00: And selfishness left unchecked.
SPEAKER_00: It erodes into this lifestyle where you do whatever you want to do and no one tells you what to do.
SPEAKER_00: It is the core sin of homosexuality.
SPEAKER_00: They're selfish, and God says, Hey, you guys are a bunch of stingy weasels, and he wipes them off the map.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because judgment teaches us who God is.
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, judgment informs our behavior, it informs our behavior.
SPEAKER_00: Most preaching over the past 10 years focuses on what the gospel does for us and neglected what the gospel requires of us.
SPEAKER_00: Like I often say to my children, hey, how does the gospel speak to this situation?
SPEAKER_00: And they they're kind of they have a sarcastic sense of humor they got from their mother.
SPEAKER_00: And they'll say to me, Oh, oh, you're the preacher, you tell me, dad.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, uh, all I heard was dad, which means on the organizational chart of this family, my box is above yours.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going with preacher, I'm going with dad.
SPEAKER_00: How does the gospel look at me?
SPEAKER_00: Because I want my kids to integrate their faith.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want them to make a hundred on the Jesus pop quiz.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, the Daniel in the lion's den.
SPEAKER_00: Shut up.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: Judgment informs our behavior.
SPEAKER_00: See, all the imperatives, if we're not careful, all the imperatives, all the commands of scripture get wrapped into Jesus and all the promises get bundled for us.
SPEAKER_00: And this produces irresponsible people who live with this sinful sense of entitlement instead of living in gospel responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: We become convinced that all of God's judgment got poured out on Jesus on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Listen very carefully, okay?
SPEAKER_00: We're just about done.
SPEAKER_00: You still with me?
SPEAKER_00: That was terrible.
SPEAKER_00: Let's try that again.
SPEAKER_00: Are you still with me?
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Now, again, we think that all of God's judgment got poured out.
SPEAKER_00: I've even heard preachers say, God exhausted his judgment on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: No, he didn't.
SPEAKER_00: The cross was an expression of God's judgment.
SPEAKER_00: It was not the exhausting of God's judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, in 1 Corinthians 10, the apostle Paul says he refers to these historical uh episodes that happened in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: He said, these happen for our edification so that we can learn from them.
SPEAKER_00: But I would just point you to Acts chapter 5.
SPEAKER_00: Don't turn there.
SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter 5, after the cross, where God expresses his judgment, but he doesn't exhaust his judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter 5, the church is forming and it's becoming a force in the culture.
SPEAKER_00: And there's these two people, a man and wife in the church called Ananias and Sapphira.
SPEAKER_00: They have a piece of property, they sell it, and then they're kind of posers.
SPEAKER_00: They come and they say, Hey, this is what we got for the land, and we're giving it all to the church.
SPEAKER_00: And everybody claps, woo, that's awesome, but you cannot lie to God.
SPEAKER_00: And so the man comes and they said, Hey, is this what you sold the land for?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we don't care.
SPEAKER_00: We're not trying to get in your business, but you're telling a lie in front of God and everybody.
SPEAKER_00: And this is judgment.
SPEAKER_00: God strikes him dead right in front of the whole church.
SPEAKER_00: And they drug him out.
SPEAKER_00: Three hours later, his wife shows up and they said, Hey, uh, is this the price you guys got for the land?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes, indeed it is.
SPEAKER_00: And they said, Why have you chosen the lie to the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_00: And then they said, This the feet of the men who drug your husband's carcass out are at the door, and they're going to tote you out too.
SPEAKER_00: And then the Bible says, God struck her dead.
SPEAKER_00: So if you think God exhausted his judgment on the cross and so I'm just free over here, how do you explain that?
SPEAKER_00: God's a serial killer.
SPEAKER_00: Or God is a God who takes sin seriously.
SPEAKER_00: And he can't stand religious posers.
SPEAKER_00: You see, judgment informs our behavior.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the last thing judgment does.
SPEAKER_00: Judgment teaches us the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: It's 2 Corinthians 5 21.
SPEAKER_00: For our sake, he God made him Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He made him who knew no sin to become sin for us so that we can become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Hear this again.
SPEAKER_00: God made Jesus become sin.
SPEAKER_00: Could there be any more harsh form of judgment?
SPEAKER_00: To be clear now, he's not judging Jesus, but God is judging sin.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus took on our sin so we could take on his righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: And so when he took on our sin, he incurred the judgment that sin deserves, that you and I couldn't take, he takes for us.
SPEAKER_00: Why is that a big deal?
SPEAKER_00: You got to understand the whole gospel.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just that Jesus became sin for you.
SPEAKER_00: Hear this.
SPEAKER_00: But you became something different as the as a consequence of Jesus becoming sin.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says he took on our sin and we took on his righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, the gospel doesn't just solve your problem of sin, it changes who you are.
SPEAKER_00: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_00: Look at me.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel doesn't just solve your problem because as we go through the book of Daniel, I hate to blow it for you, but God's not gonna solve their problem.
SPEAKER_00: They're gonna be in Babylonian captivity.
SPEAKER_00: So he tells them settle down, buy a house, check out the schools your kids are gonna go to.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna be here a while.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't solve their problem.
SPEAKER_00: But people around Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they want to know the God that these guys know.
SPEAKER_00: At one point, the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar says, I won't want anybody else.
SPEAKER_00: There's no God but Daniel's God.
SPEAKER_00: On another occasion that we'll talk about in a couple weeks, he says, I don't want anybody praying to another God except this God.
SPEAKER_00: This is a king who ruled a nation and worshiped the false God because God didn't solve their problem.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel and his friends, their problems don't get solved as much.
SPEAKER_00: It's who they are shines forth to such a degree that people want to know the God that they know.
SPEAKER_00: This is the theme of the book of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: It's not relief, it's the truth.
SPEAKER_00: It's relief.
SPEAKER_00: It's not relief all the time, it's the truth.
SPEAKER_00: And so they can be in the fiery furnace and say things like this Hey, our God is able.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't say our God will.
SPEAKER_00: They said, our God is able to deliver us, but even if He doesn't, we're not gonna bow down and worship what your culture worships.
SPEAKER_00: Nebuchadnezzar was so mad he had the furnace heated up seven times hotter than normal.
SPEAKER_00: And then the Bible says they came out of there and they didn't have a smell of smoke on them.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the gospel is that God just doesn't solve your problem, He changes who you are.
SPEAKER_00: And look at me, I'm done.
SPEAKER_00: Look at me.
SPEAKER_00: People want to be around Christians who understand who they are.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not just relief, he's truth.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't just solve the problem.
SPEAKER_00: He became sin.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: You become something different and you act different and you talk different and you experience different things, and people are drawn to that.
SPEAKER_00: Ask yourself this question: When's the last time anybody expressed interest in knowing more about the God that you worship?
SPEAKER_00: Because this is what we see all through the book of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_00: If you're our guest, just uh relax.
SPEAKER_00: We like to teach the Bible and then give you some soul space to think about.
SPEAKER_00: Some questions come up on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: Let me voice a prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just spend maybe two minutes just thinking about what God said to us today.
SPEAKER_00: God, thanks for the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks that it's thought-provoking, it's formative, it kind of stabs us and awakens us, it comforts us, and it makes us consequential.
SPEAKER_00: All of that, God, you do in our lives because you love us and you care for us.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, we've talked about a lot today because we have to labor to lay a good thick foundation.
SPEAKER_00: We talked about it a lot, but God just kind of let what had our name on it settle in on us during this time.
SPEAKER_00: We pray in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you that there are times in our life when you reveal to us what we need to understand.
SPEAKER_00: There's times you're gonna rescue us, but all the time you reign.
SPEAKER_00: There's never a time when God's not sovereign, God's not in control.
SPEAKER_00: And so, whatever we're worried about, be it college, relationships, work, marriage, kids, neighbors, whatever, you're you're over that.
SPEAKER_00: And so reveal to us what we need to understand about it so we can represent you accurately in the midst of it.
SPEAKER_00: This is our prayer.
SPEAKER_00: We pray in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Well, if you're a guest, let me say thanks for being part of our church today, our service.
SPEAKER_00: You're always welcome.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, today was a lot.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to lay a good foundation, and then we'll pick up and the stories that you're familiar with.
SPEAKER_00: With.
SPEAKER_00: But look at me.
SPEAKER_00: They're more than moralism.
SPEAKER_00: There's a biblical truth there.
SPEAKER_00: So we'll be digging into it.
SPEAKER_00: There's always things going on in our church.
SPEAKER_00: We want to keep you in the loop about what's happening.
SPEAKER_00: So give your attention to the screens for this week's announcements.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a look at what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_01: Singer-songwriter Jason Bray will be joining us in all three services on September 27th.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a word from Jason.
SPEAKER_03: La la la la la la world is in the moment.
SPEAKER_02: Hello friends, it's Jason Gray, and I am so excited to be coming back to hang out with you guys on September 27th.
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I know I'm supposed to say this, things like this, but uh but I'm not saying this because I'm I'm supposed to.
SPEAKER_02: I I I mean this.
SPEAKER_02: The last time I was with you was just uh it was unforgettable.
SPEAKER_02: It was just one of the highlights of all my times on the road, just the way we connected and the way you uh you received me.
SPEAKER_02: And uh so I'm I'm so excited to come back.
SPEAKER_02: I can't wait to be back with you guys.
SPEAKER_02: So I'll be there September 27th, the Lord willing, for uh for the three morning services.
SPEAKER_02: And uh I'm grateful for you, and I just I can't wait to hang out.
SPEAKER_02: So we'll see you soon.
unknown: Bye.
SPEAKER_01: Be sure to invite your friends and family to attend on September 27th.
SPEAKER_01: Men mark your calendars for October 16th and 17th for the annual men's weekend.
SPEAKER_01: Registration will open soon.
SPEAKER_01: For more updates about midweeks, community groups, and other ministry opportunities at the church.
SPEAKER_01: Be sure to check out our website at grandparkway.org and give us a follow and a like on social media.
SPEAKER_01: If you're new, we would love to know you are here.
SPEAKER_01: Come find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.
SPEAKER_00: Speaking of invite, uh, I hold in my hand what we call an invite card.
SPEAKER_00: These are bundled on that little shelf right right on the other side of that wall.
SPEAKER_00: If you leave this one, would you grab some of these?
SPEAKER_00: Uh, they have our church address uh and website on one side, and on the other side, it just says you are invited, you will be welcome, and you will be loved.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the service times at the bottom.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and so just stick that in your purse, and when you go out to eat or whatever, and you leave a nice, fat, generous tip, amen.
SPEAKER_00: Uh just leave leave one of these as well.
SPEAKER_00: Or if you're talking to somebody, you invite them to church, you can say, Hey, here's our service times.
SPEAKER_00: We'd love for you to join us, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Again, they're available in the lobby, just on the other side of the back wall there.
SPEAKER_00: We'd like to conclude our service with a spoken blessing.
SPEAKER_00: So if you would.
SPEAKER_00: Stand to your feet and hold your hands out.
SPEAKER_00: You're the people of God in our such privilege to live.
SPEAKER_00: Always in control.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes he will rescue you.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes he will reveal you what you need.