WEBVTT 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:08.240 This podcast is brought to you by Grant Heartway Adventure. 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:12.400 Helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:17.600 For more information about Grant Parkway, visit grandharkway.org. 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:29.280 Father, we uh we understand that this morning, that there's no one like you, that no one compares to you, uh, that you're the only God who ever was, will be. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:31.679 You're the God who was and is and is to come. 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:38.399 And so when we build and bank our lives upon you, we are building and banking our lives on the most certain thing this world could ever know. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:40.159 Everything else is uncertainty. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:43.600 Or as the hymn writer said, it is sinking sand. 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:46.640 And so, Lord, we're not here to get mad at the sinking sand. 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:49.359 We're just not here uh to depend upon it. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:52.960 And so, Holy Spirit, uh, lead us into the truth today. 00:00:53.119 --> 00:00:55.759 We want to sing to you, not just about you. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:57.280 We want to hear from you. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:04.239 We don't want to just hear about you, and so every time we open the Bible, we are reading the will and the words of God. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:11.680 And so let us bring sufficient sobriety to the moment so that our intellect can bow down before King Jesus today. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:18.640 Big, sufficient Jesus is here to proclaim his rule and reign over everybody and everything. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:20.959 And we're great with that. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:24.079 Our heart beats fast at the prospect of that. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:26.640 And so, Holy Spirit, illuminate the Bible. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:30.799 It's not a lesson today, it's an invitation to a life. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:33.680 Give us eyes to see, we pray in Jesus' name. 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:35.439 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:35.920 Amen. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:37.280 You can have a C if you got a Bible. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:39.760 I invite you to take it and open up to Daniel chapter 3. 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:42.799 If you're our guest, we're going through the book of Daniel, just verse by verse. 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:48.879 It's called expository preaching, and it's not sexy, but it's the way you nourish a congregation over the long haul. 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:54.239 I have a friend that checks in with me, not every week, but consistently to say, Hey, what are you gonna tell your people this week? 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:58.879 And I said, I'm gonna talk to them this week about what we learn from suffering for our faith. 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:01.280 Now, my friend is not a believer, my bad. 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:03.120 I'm saying he's not a Christian. 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:05.120 He is not in a relationship with God. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:08.159 And therefore, the requirements of the gospel do not apply to him. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:12.240 And he said, you know, I said, you know, what we learn from suffering for our faith. 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:14.960 I said, you have to be a Christian to suffer for your faith. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:17.759 And he said, I don't know that I'd ever want to be a Christian if you suffer. 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:20.719 I said, Oh, everybody's going to suffer in a fallen world. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:30.159 The difference in you and me, my, I said to my unbelieving friend, the difference in you and me is that when when I suffer, there's there's resources in reality available to me. 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:34.960 When you suffer, there is no resource and available and reality available to you. 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:36.879 You suffer all alone. 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:41.919 And he's like, Well, I wouldn't have to, I would hate to believe in something and have to suffer for it. 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:48.080 I said, This is how you know you you believe in it, is that you suffer for it and you don't have your mind changed about it. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:50.400 And he said, Yeah, I I just never suffer. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:53.680 And I said, But he said, Well, I said, it's not the devil. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:55.919 We Christians say, Oh, the devil's attacking me. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:58.080 Sometimes it is the will of God that you suffer. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:02.080 Because I told him, I'm gonna tell my people that sometimes it's the will of God that you suffer. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:04.400 He goes, Man, they're not gonna like that. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:05.840 And I said, That's okay. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:12.719 It's not my job to be liked by my people, it's my job to equip them uh to be the people the Bible says they can be. 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:16.560 And I would never look into your life and say, oh, this is the will of God. 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:18.400 It's God's will you're suffering right now. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.759 I that's insensitive and not my place. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:23.520 And my friend kept going in the conversation. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:37.599 He's like, Well, I just don't know how I feel about uh uh about something where you know, and I said, here's the thing: I said, you don't have to worry about suffering as a believer because you're not one, and you really don't have to worry about the devil attacking you because y'all are on the same team. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:39.759 And he said, What do you mean? 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:44.960 I said, if you turned on TV and two teammates on the Pittsburgh Steelers are fighting each other, that would be news. 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:49.919 If the Pittsburgh Steelers were fighting the Baltimore Ravens, that would be just, oh, it's just football. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:57.039 But when teammates don't really turn on each other, why would the devil awaken you if he's got you blinded and you're going to hell? 00:03:57.520 --> 00:03:59.360 And he said, So you think I'm going to hell? 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:00.719 No, I don't think you're going to the whole of things. 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:02.080 I said, I know you are. 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:04.319 This is why I talk to you like I do. 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:05.759 I'm not trying to be shocking to you. 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:10.080 And my friend's like, man, you are the most consistently narrow-minded person I know. 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:11.759 I said, or I'm right. 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:14.240 And I'm willing to bank my life on it. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:17.680 And I said, You've banked your life on what you believe, I banked my life on what I believe. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:19.360 Now, why am I telling you all of that? 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:23.120 Because this morning we're going to read about three men who banked their life on what they believe. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:24.160 Give you the context. 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:35.360 Daniel chapter 3, King Nebuchadnezzar, an insecure ruler, has built this 90-foot-tall, nine feet wide idol out of gold, covered with gold, and told everybody we're going to play music and you're going to bow down to it. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:41.120 And three guys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they were Hebrew teenagers, about 16, 17 years old. 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:45.120 They said, No, we're not worshiping any God but the one true God. 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:46.399 And they didn't bow down. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:49.120 And he said, if you don't bow down, I'm going to throw you in the fiery furnace. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:52.240 Translation, a big brick oven, and you're going to be cooked alive. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:05:01.120 And they were like, Okay, our God is able to save us, but even if he doesn't exercise his capacity, we're not going to change, have our minds changed about this. 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:03.759 And so he's where we are, we left off last time. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:08.160 He gets them up there and he asks the question, What God is going to deliver you out of my hands? 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:10.480 And they're like, dude, we do not live in your hands. 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:10.959 Okay? 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:15.279 And so I want to talk to you this morning about what we learned from suffering for our faith. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:18.800 Daniel chapter 3, we'll pick up the story in verse 19. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:25.519 He says, Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.759 He was for them, in other words, until they said, We will not bow down to you. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:32.480 And then his face was changed towards them. 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:36.319 He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it's usually heated. 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:43.519 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:50.639 And then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, their other garments their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:53.920 Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:58.000 The flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:03.279 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:06.959 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and he rose up in haste. 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:12.319 He declared to his counselors, Did we not cast three men bound into the fire? 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:23.439 They answered and said to the king, True, O king, and he answered and said, But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:32.639 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace, and he declared, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:35.920 Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:43.519 And the satrapes, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of these men. 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:50.000 The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:07:04.959 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him and sat aside the king's commands and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any God except their own God. 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:18.800 Therefore I make a decree: any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other God who's able to rescue in this way. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:23.600 And the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:28.240 Just by way of notification, this is now the second promotion they've gotten in two chapters. 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:31.759 So being a Christian is not always about, oh, it's suffering every day. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:32.480 No, it's not. 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:39.600 But there are going to be moments and circumstances in which you suffer for your faith because of the fact that you're a believer. 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:41.279 And so what can we learn from that? 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:42.879 Four things from the text this morning. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:46.079 Number one is that culture is hostile to nonconformity. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:49.519 Culture is hostile to nonconformity. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:57.360 Even this past uh week, uh let me say it like this: you cannot not conform and expect everything to be as it's always been. 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:07.920 Even this past week, Twitter, Facebook, and Google, all these big high-tech companies, big tech companies, uh, if you do not agree with their political ideology, they will ban you. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:13.519 They have ways to go in, alter the algorithm, and say, hey, this is you can't put this content out of here. 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:15.519 And everyone's freaking out about that. 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:21.519 And I get people call me the guy that's not on social media, that's never been on Twitter, and go, what do you think about this? 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:30.480 And I just say, hey, I'm actually preaching about this this coming Sunday, that culture is hostile to nonconformity because these people all are on the same page and they're driving everything. 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:35.519 If you're getting your news and information from social media, that's your first problem right there. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:36.879 Let me just start there. 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:41.679 If you're like logging on to see what you should think, big problem, okay? 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:45.200 You got to ask yourself, how did these people get so powerful? 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:47.120 Because you let them into your home. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:49.759 You let them into the way your kids think. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:57.600 This is why depression and anxiety is crippling our students because all social media is just a platform for comparison. 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:05.279 And they realize I do not measure up, and they just sink down under the weight of not measuring up, and we can't seem to figure that out. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:08.480 Do the data, look at it, all you data-driven people. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:20.879 And with the rise of social media, we've seen a decline in the way our students feel about themselves, and the depression and the anxiety is crippling because culture is hostile to non-conformity. 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:27.840 Conformity communicates to the culture that nothing's wrong, everything's okay, and nothing needs to change. 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:29.360 Let me say that again. 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:35.519 Conformity communicates to the culture that nothing's wrong, everything's okay, and nothing needs to change. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:41.519 So when Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3 rolls out the golden image and says, All right, when the music plays, you know what to do. 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:48.960 And everybody and every language the Bible said bows down, except three Hebrew teenagers who just stood their ground. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:50.960 And he is enraged. 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:53.679 He loves these men, he respects these men. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:58.799 He's already promoted these men once and he expects, hey, all my mid-level managers are gonna bow down. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:01.360 He's like, Nope, not gonna do that. 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:10.240 And he goes crazy because conformity communicates one thing to the culture, while non-conformity is like mercaptin in natural gas. 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:12.080 Everybody know what Mercaptin is? 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:16.559 Mercaptin is the chemical that you put in natural gas that makes it stink. 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:20.320 Natural gas by nature is tasteless and odorless. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:22.240 You cannot smell natural gas. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:29.279 But nowadays, if you realize you you'll realize this, like when I said natural gas, some of you are kind of like, oh, I can taste it on the back of my tongue. 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:30.320 I hate that smell. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:32.960 It smells like cabbage or rotten eggs. 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:33.840 That's exactly right. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:35.039 You ever wonder why? 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:41.519 If something is odorless, why would you make it smell so bad that it is the most, it's one of the most recognizable smells in the world? 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:51.039 Like if you go home, you turn on the burner and it doesn't come on, and you're like striking matches, and for 30 seconds you're striking matches, and then you're like, hey, maybe we just get out of the house right now. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:52.559 You're like, I smell gas. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:53.279 Something's gone. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:56.159 No one smells gas and says, What's that smell? 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:57.840 What could that be? 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:01.600 No, it is one of the most recognizable smells in the world. 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:02.879 You know why? 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:09.919 Because of something that happened at a little Texas community up in Russ County on March 18th, 1937, at a place called the New London School. 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:13.519 New London was a little community that was that was in an oil boom. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:18.480 And they built this really nice multi-grade, all the way first to 12th grade school complex. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.600 And back then, Mercapton was not in natural gas. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:23.360 It was odorless and tasteless. 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:24.399 You could not detect it. 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:32.639 And so no one knew that under the eight-inch concrete slab in the sub basement of the school, natural gas had been pulling up and building up. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:40.240 And then in a shop class, a shop teacher turned on an electric sander and the spark from the ignition blew the school sky high. 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:42.559 The roof came off, the walls came in. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:48.559 294 students and teachers were killed that day, and countless other people were injured. 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:54.159 It is the third highest uh uh uh uh fatalities in the history of the state of Texas. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:57.679 Number one is a 1900 hurricane that hit Galveston. 00:11:57.840 --> 00:11:59.279 This thing came in at number three. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:11:59.759 Why? 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:03.600 Because they couldn't smell what had the capacity to destroy them. 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:13.120 So when I say that nonconformity is like Mercapan in natural gas, what I'm saying is that you and I, nonconformity is not being a jerk. 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:17.840 Nonconformity is not trying to stand out and distinguish yourself from anybody else. 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:22.320 Nonconformity is just being faithful to what you know the truth to be. 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:26.159 Case in point, I'm in Kroger right here on Highway 6 this past week. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:27.679 Minded my own beeswax. 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:34.879 There's like eight self-checkouts, because apparently not only do I shop at Kroger, but I work there whenever I shop there because no one can check you out anymore. 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:35.919 And so I'm waiting. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:45.279 There's like eight people, they're all full, and one guy's got like a jar of pickles, and he's like, hey, these pickles, the thing I scan, and I'm like Aquaman, telekinetically communicating. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:46.639 Just put it in the bag, dude. 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:48.399 And it's saying, Do you want to skip bagging? 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:50.879 He's like, oh, oh, this is fascinating. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:52.480 And I think it's just me. 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:56.320 And I glance over my shoulder, and people behind me are just like, oh, for the love. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:58.240 Have you never been to the grocery store? 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:00.320 And I just think this is a captive audience. 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:02.000 Why not have a conversation? 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:07.759 And so the guy behind, and I'm just like, and one guy's like, oh, well, I I bought these supposed to be on sale, and what's the deal? 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:10.559 And the guy said, the lady comes over and says, Sir, you have to buy four to get the price. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:11.360 She says, sir, right. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:13.120 He goes, Well, can I get three for the price? 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:16.320 I'm like, why do the rules not apply to you, dude? 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:18.799 Just get four or else get out of line. 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:20.559 The guy behind me goes, preach. 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:27.039 And I was like, and so I said, What is it with people these days? 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:28.399 He goes, Man, this world's messed up. 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:30.159 This world's going to hell in a handbasket. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:32.000 I said, You have no idea how true that is. 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:34.000 And it launches into this conversation. 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:39.279 And then he gets in conversation, the lay two people back, she's uh-huh, yeah, now you're talking. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:40.639 And we talk about everything. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:48.320 We talk about the election coming up, we talk about the state of America, and all in the whole time, all you hear is beep, beep, beep. 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:49.600 People are just scanning stuff. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:52.799 And the guy said, You know, I just think as soon as we get the election, things are gonna get better. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:56.320 I said, And who's gonna get in the White House that's gonna make things better? 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:02.480 He said, Well, you know, he told me his candidate, and I said, Here, here, here's the thing, here's the problem with looking to people. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:06.080 When you look to man to meet your deepest needs, the byproduct of is violence. 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:08.960 So if your guy gets elected, this other party's gonna be mad. 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:11.679 And if this other person gets elected, this party's gonna be mad. 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:17.519 And so people are gonna go burn down and destroy target and steal stuff in the name of social injustice. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:18.240 Really? 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:19.759 This is social injustice? 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:25.200 You're just lazy and you don't want to work, and so you'd rather steal than go punch a clock. 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:28.559 The lady in the back is like, Come on now, you talking now. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:35.039 And I'm just like, and all of a sudden, people all start, the people in the other checkout lanes are all looking like, what's going on over there? 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:39.200 And the guy, and the guy looked at me and goes, Man, where do you get these ideas? 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:44.080 Again, Mercatin. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:54.000 It just takes one drop of Mercatan to inform the way thousands, thousands of gallons of natural gas. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:55.840 How you measure natural gas. 00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:59.519 The Bible says a little leaven leavens the whole lump. 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:02.159 So I'm not saying take a bullhorn and go to Kroger. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:05.600 That's not that's not what it is. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:08.480 Some of you think, oh man, I'm really standing out. 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:11.840 I'm practically nonconformity with my trump sticker on the back of my minivan. 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:13.279 No, you're not. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:16.960 No, we have to open our mouth and speak to people. 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:20.799 And the people stand there, they're just like, uh, uh, uh. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:28.320 And one lady said, Well, I just think once we get the right person, I said, we look to the wrong people for the right things. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:30.159 That's the problem with America. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:36.720 I said, because here's the thing Donald Trump isn't gonna solve it, Joe Biden isn't gonna solve it, none of these people are gonna solve it. 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:38.960 The manager comes over and like, sir, is there a problem? 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:41.120 We have a little church up in here, there's no problem. 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:46.399 She said, Okay, okay, people are filing by, and the guy's like, Hey, can we people hey, you go ahead to this guy? 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:47.919 I'm like, I've been waiting in line. 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:49.919 He wants to keep talking. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:52.960 People are dying for the truth. 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:57.840 See, conformity sends a message to the culture, everything's fine, nothing needs to change. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:01.519 Nonconformity, not being obnoxious, just kind of standing there, whatever. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:07.039 Nonconformity is what you choose to do when everybody else is doing the same thing. 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:09.440 And it stands out like Mercaphton. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:10.080 You smell it. 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:13.919 It's kind of like something thinks about this, and I just gotta speak to it. 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:14.399 Okay? 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:23.600 Now, now, by the way, that day on the butt in the rubble, 295 students mainly, and some teachers were killed, other countless others were injured. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:28.720 They dig into the rubble, they find a chalkboard, and this was written on the chalkboard that day. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:32.480 Oil and natural gas are East Texas's greatest mineral blessing. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:34.320 Without them, this school would not be here. 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:36.799 None of us would be here learning our lessons. 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:44.320 See, we live in a culture that says the same things about politics and this candidate and that candidate. 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:45.200 Pick your candidate. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:45.840 I don't care. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:48.320 I don't trust any of them, I don't look to any of them. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:50.159 I lift my eyes up to the hills. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:51.360 Where does my help come from? 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:53.120 My help comes from the Lord. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:56.879 If you can get everything you need from man, you never need God. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:16:59.120 You just don't. 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:02.960 We look to different things and say, without them, we would not be here. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:05.519 None of this, none of us would be learning our lessons. 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:10.960 I'm submitting to you that going way back to Daniel chapter 3, we still haven't learned the lesson, beloved. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:14.880 Culture is hostile to nonconformity. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:19.759 Secondly, what we learn when we suffer for our faith is that God is with us when we suffer. 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:20.960 Look at verse 24. 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:24.240 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and he rose up in haste. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:28.559 He declared to his counselors, Did we not cast three men bound into the fire? 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:31.119 And they answered and said to the king, True, O king. 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:36.799 He answered and said, But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt. 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:40.079 And the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:41.359 Hello. 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:46.799 See, when I say that God is with us when we suffer, this is what my unbelieving friend doesn't understand. 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:50.880 And he's like, So, so you're a Christian and bad things still happen to you. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:55.039 Yes, because I live in a world that is under the price and penalty of sin. 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:57.519 You cannot have heaven here on earth. 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:00.720 Perfection is not going to happen until heaven. 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:08.160 And so, in this world, the where creation is groaning as a woman in the pangs of childbirth, okay? 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:18.079 When people have a free will and they use that sometimes for good and sometimes they use it for evil, we are going to experience hardship and we are going to suffer as Christians. 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:20.880 Christianity, some of you got sold a bill of goods. 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:23.359 Christianity is not the way you escape suffering. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:26.880 Christian, sometimes you suffer for being a Christian. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:29.039 Sometimes you will be passed over. 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:34.240 Sometimes, students, you will not be invited to the party because you're simply because of your faith. 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:37.839 It's not because you're not cool, it's not because, oh, you don't understand. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:41.279 It's because they love conformity. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:46.160 They don't want a non-conformist, a conformist in this big vat of conformity. 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:51.440 So when I say God is with us when we suffer, when they're thrown in the furnace, they're not alone. 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:58.640 You know, my favorite part of this is that before they throw them in the fiery furnace, basically in a big brick oven, that's heated up seven times faster. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:01.119 They say to them, put your coats on. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:03.920 Really? 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:06.480 What's the point of that? 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:10.640 They put their coats and they bind them up. 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:13.279 And it's kind of like, hey, we're gonna burn you alive. 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:16.240 But here, you're going to hell, put on a big fat parka. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:20.319 You don't want to, it's like, what in the world? 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:22.400 But God is with us when we suffer. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:26.480 Nebuchadnezzar looks in and says, Hey, there's a fourth person in the fire. 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:28.960 This isn't the first time God has said this, by the way. 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:39.839 They are experiencing the promised reality that God has promised his people way back in Isaiah 43, verse 1 says this, but now says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:43.839 Jacob is not a person, it's a people, referring to the nation of Israel. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:47.519 He who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel. 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:49.839 Fear not, for I have redeemed you. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:51.440 I have called you by name. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:52.480 You are mine. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:55.200 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. 00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:57.839 And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:03.119 When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:05.200 This is the way God says now. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:06.000 Here's what we do. 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:08.480 We hear that last part when we preach Daniel 3. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:12.720 We hear, oh, you'll pass through the flame and not be burned, and the flame will not consume you. 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:14.640 And that's great and that's true. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:20.240 But I want to draw your attention back to the first part where God says, But now, thus says the Lord. 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:21.599 Thus says the Lord. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:23.680 Does that phrase still get your attention? 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:25.200 Is that sufficient for you? 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:26.400 Is that enough for you? 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:28.079 Oh, God said this. 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:30.000 Therefore, end of discussion. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:33.039 I don't want to hear what people on Facebook say or think about it. 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:34.319 I don't care. 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:36.799 Thus says the Lord. 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:42.480 And then God, by way of introduction, says four things just to remind you who I am. 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:46.079 He says, by now, says the Lord, who is who is this Lord? 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:48.480 Number one, I created you. 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:50.319 Number two, I formed you. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:52.319 Number three, I redeemed you. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:54.319 And number four, I called you. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:55.759 You are mine. 00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:58.480 Why does he lay claim to his people? 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:03.440 Because he created you, he formed you, he redeemed you, he called you by name. 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:10.799 As a parent, there is no more galling reality than your kids to disrespect you like they do not have to obey you. 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:13.759 You think God's any different? 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:26.000 You think God's like, oh, I just I remember riding the escalator up at the Denver airport, and some four-year-old, his mom's holding him, and he just leans back and slaps her in the face. 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:27.599 I'm catching a 6 a.m. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:28.079 flight. 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:29.839 I'm not full of the spirit at this point. 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:35.680 I'm like four steps down the escalator, and I'm like, oh boy, you wouldn't, you'd walk with a limp for the rest of this week, son. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:37.519 And the dad is like, let me have him. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:40.000 And the mom's like, he slapped my glasses off. 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:42.000 And we're like, hey, here's your glasses, man. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:43.279 They get to the top elevator. 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:50.960 The dad takes the four year old boy, goes over to the side, and kneels down and says, Now, do you remember the video the other day about greedy bear? 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:53.440 You're being like greedy bear. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:54.720 I couldn't help myself. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:56.000 I got to the top elevator. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:57.920 I just stepped to the side and see how this is gonna go. 00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:59.839 Because I'm like, you can have my belt to whip that kid. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:04.240 And he's like, Oh, you're you're being like Greedy Bear. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:05.599 Do you want to be like Greedy Bear? 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:07.759 And the kid's like, I don't want to be that Greedy Bear. 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:09.759 I'm over here, like, what about the spanking bear? 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:11.519 Was the spanking bear in the video? 00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:14.720 Because the spanking bear is here right now. 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:18.799 And the spanking bear is gonna wear your little self out, four-year-old. 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:20.640 Slap your mother. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:25.759 Now, some of y'all are kind of like, Are you for corporal punishment? 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:29.599 Boys and girls, Pastor Sunshine is a good man. 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:33.200 Here's the thing and don't miss the point. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:40.400 There's no more galling experience than someone you created and brought into this world disrespects you. 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:46.400 Don't choke on your own hypocrisy if you get mad that God's the same way. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:50.480 I would just flip the script and say you're that way because God is that way. 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:53.519 He's with us with us when we suffer. 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:54.559 Now, what does that mean? 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:56.400 Here's the thing I want you to understand. 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:01.279 Where God is not present, now this is where I go back to my unbelieving friend, who I'm not mad at. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:02.079 He's a good guy. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:03.359 He just doesn't know Jesus. 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:06.559 So I don't expect him to live like people that do. 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:14.079 Because see, when we when you get in the furnace, where God is not present, the realities of the gospel are not available. 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:18.400 Now, I'm not saying, oh, God's everywhere, yeah, but I'm talking about in people. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:21.440 See, the unbeliever suffers by themselves. 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:27.440 They have no recourse, no resource, no presence, no fourth person in the fire. 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:31.599 It's just them and their insufficient worldview, and it's sad. 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:34.960 And my friend's like, so when I suffer, I said, Yeah, who saves you? 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:38.640 You have to save yourself because you are your own God. 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:43.839 That's the insufficiency of being arrogant and unbelieving. 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:52.880 And I would say the same thing to any of you in this room who do not have a relationship with God that you're just like, I'm just here for the free coffee because my parents make me come. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:56.720 You have no resource, you'd no God to call on. 00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:04.400 When you find yourself in the context of the fiery furnace, you just have to look around and make the most out of it from a naturalistic point of view. 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.799 Because that's all you bring to the equation. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:08.400 Why? 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:12.400 Because where God is not present, the realities of the gospel are not available. 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:21.119 But by the same token, here's what we see in Daniel 3 where God is present, all of the realities of the gospel are available in all their fullness. 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:24.799 This is why these men, Nebuchadnezzar, is like, I'm gonna throw you in the fire. 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:31.440 And they're like, Okay, great, but here's the deal: we're not gonna bow down, we're not gonna play along like everybody else. 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:32.720 We don't care. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:37.920 We don't care what the polls say, we don't care what the focus group says. 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:39.200 We could care less. 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:40.720 Do whatever you gotta do. 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:44.799 This is why the text earlier says they paid no attention to him. 00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:52.400 Tragically, most Christians do not respond well when they suffer because you got sold a bill of goods. 00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:54.559 That Christianity is how you escape. 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:57.039 Therefore, you think it's strange when you suffer. 00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:59.279 So let me just read a passage from the New Testament. 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:02.480 I know the Old Testament was like, man, oh mean old God, he like killed people. 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:06.000 New Testament, we like Jesus because he's friendly and hung out with hookers. 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:06.880 That's good. 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:11.759 New Testament, 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 12. 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:16.079 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you. 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:16.799 Hello. 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:23.440 You mean fiery trials are not just for Hebrew teenagers that won't bow down to golden idols? 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:32.640 As though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:38.960 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:44.400