Counter Culture Going Against the Flow

I packer he coined that phrase he put it as sex shekels and stomach all right they all go back to the God of self another preacher put it as pleasure possessions and positions or as first John says in first John chapter 2 verse 16 the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life football the firm and family might be another one there's all sorts of different things that vie for our hearts attention and the list of idols are endless aren't they and I know some people they might disagree and

There's a great book by jerry bridges you need to read it's called respectable sins you need we got copy down here in the library you need to use this library it's a great resource but I know that some people disagree but when we find ourselves at odds with God's word it's probably because there's some form of idolatry in our lives idolatry can be going along with worldliness and affirming sin it can be going along with culture and skirting around uncomfortable passages as many of you heard at the sbc annual meeting rick warren got to stand up and give a what was like seven minute speech to the convention wasn't even scheduled or anything like that there was a motion made last year to actually remove saddleback church from being a part of the southern baptist convention because they have female pastors on staff and that goes directly against what the baptist faith message of 2000 says that the office of pastor is for men even though women and men might be gifted in that area and as he stood up he said you're never going to find another baptist who agrees with you completely on everything amen as western culture grows more dark more evil more secular we have to decide are we going to treat each other as allies or adversaries are we going to keep bickering over secondary issues or are we going to keep the main thing the main thing now there was a lot of platitudes there what I mean is that they sound good but we have to ask that question if he says are we going to keep the main thing the

Main thing then we have to ask what is the main thing for us as southern baptists of course for us as a local church it is holding to Biblical truth we believe that it is a firm foundation for our souls that the word of God wins out every single time as uncomfortable as it can be southern baptists and we are a convention of cooperative churches who give to the cooperative program to declare the Gospel through the international mission board and the north american mission board that's what we do we are the greatest biggest missionary sending organization in the world and so we have to look at the great commission in Matthew 28 verses 18 through 20 which is on your screen and Jesus came and said to them all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all I have commanded you and behold I am with you always to the end of the age and we see several verbs there you know things like go baptize make disciples but I believe that teaching them to observe all I have commanded you is what we have to focus on in regards to rick warren's statements when the Bible limits the office of elder pastor to men Scripture expressly forbids for women to teach or exercise authority over men then it is incumbent upon us to teach others to observe all that Christ has commanded of us make no mistake that all of Scripture is God breathed therefore it is also breathed out and affirmed by Christ and so we take it all

And if we fail in teaching people the whole word of God then we aren't really fulfilling the great commission you can't say amen you better say ouch right and it's true even in my own life and that's why we are go growing in the Lord together that's why we're going through this process of sanctification conforming ourselves more and more into the image of Christ which none of us are perfect in amen and so idolatry is dangerous it affects our doctrine it affects our theology as we've seen here it can affect our missions our confession and today we're going to be looking at Daniel chapter 2 verses 49 through chapter 3 verse 15. And one of the most famous stories in all of Scripture but we're going to see seven dangers of idolatry and so I would ask that you stand with me in honor of God's word as we read this passage together this is what God's word says Daniel made a request of the king and he appointed shadrach meshach and abednego over the affairs of the province of babylon but Daniel remained at the king's court king nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits and its breadth six cubits he set it on the plain of dura in the province of babylon and then king nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the sat traps the prefects and the governors the councillors and the treasurers the justices the magistrates and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that nebuchadnezzar had set up then the sat traps the prefects the governors the councillors the treasurers the justices the magistrates and all the officials of the provinces gathered for

The dedication of the image that king nebuchadnezzar had set up and they stood before the image that nebuchadnezzar had set up and the herald proclaimed aloud you are commanded o peoples nations and languages that when you hear the sound of the horn pipe liar trigon harp bagpipe and every kind of music you are to fall down and worship golden image that king nebuchadnezzar had set up and whoever does not fall at fall down in worship shall immediately be cast into burning fire into a burning fiery furnace excuse me therefore as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn pipe liar trigger harp bagpipe and every kind of music all the peoples nations and languages fell down and worshipped the golden image that king nebuchadnezzar had set up therefore at that time certain chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the jews they declared to king nebuchadnezzar oh king live forever you o king have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn the pipe wire trigger harp bagpipe in every every kind of music shall fall down and worship the golden image and whoever does not fall down in worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace there are certain jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of babylon shadrach meshach and abednego these men o king pay no attention to you they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up then nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that shadrach meshach and abednego be brought so they brought these men before the king nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them is it true oh shadrach meshach and

Abednego that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn pipe liar try again harp bagpipe and every kind of music to fall down and worship the image that I have made well and good but if you do not worship you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace and who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands and so God we do thank you for your word we ask that you would help us to rightly apply it to our lives that we would see your hand at work that we would discover the joy of you being infinitely better and greater than anything else in this whole universe God you are preeminent you are the best and God we just pray that today we would rediscover that in all of our lives that we might not hold to things that may be good but Lord let us never settle for good when we can have your best which is ultimately you God in Jesus name amen so verse 49 which we didn't really get to hit on last week it's a it's a transitional verse it kind of sets the stage for the next narrative of everything that's going to take place for us because so far Daniel has been the main focal point of the book of Daniel he's the author he's the focal point but now it's going to shift over to an amazing work between these guys shadrach meshach and abednego their hebrew names are hananiah mishael and azariah now

Why does Daniel suddenly change over there well part of it is that in verse 7 of chapter 2 the language of the book of Daniel actually changes from hebrew to aramaic and it stays that way until about until the end of chapter 6 and then transitions back over into hebrew and so that's part of it part of it is that aramaic it was the common language in babylon during that day another part is to emphasize culturally what is going on in this society they are squarely in an anti-God area and I believe that Daniel he wants to emphasize that and I want you to notice that nebuchadnezzar he is a proud and arrogant man when Daniel in chapter 2 verse 38 tells nebuchadnezzar about his dream you are the head of gold nebuchadnezzar took that to heart he oh look at me I'm a head of gold I must be pretty important and so he decides to build an idol to his own name on the plains of dura now no one knows exactly where durra was and it's been lost to history there are several areas around babylon called dirt dura durray dura europa is another place that people have said maybe that's it but I want to point out that the first danger of idolatry is that they are man-made the first danger of idolatry is that they are man-made ten times in this passage it is clear that nebuchadnezzar he has made this he has set it up how many how many times do we see nebuchadnezzar set it up the image that nebuchadnezzar had set up I mean it is very abundantly clear that this is not from God it is from kings

And it's been set up by man in acts chapter 7 verses 39 through 41 it tells the story of Stephen he recounts the history of israel and in this passage it says and it should be up on the screen for you our fathers refused to obey him but thrust him aside and in their hearts they turned to egypt saying to Aaron make for us gods who will go before us as for this Moses who let us out of the land of egypt we do not know what has become of him and they made a calf in those days and they offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands these are the chosen people of God intentionally rebelling against the creator it's possible for you and I it's possible that we have idols in our own lives but idols don't just happen okay it's not like you look at the defense that Aaron gave in Exodus chapter 32 verses 22-24 Moses confronts Aaron you are the priest what are you doing why are you offering sacrifices to this image and Aaron says make let not the anger of my Lord burn hot you know the people that they are set on evil for they said to me make us gods who shall go before us as for this Moses the man who brought us up out of the land of egypt we do not know what has become of them so I said to them let any who have gold take it off so they gave it to me and I threw it in the fire and out came this calf idols just they don't just happen like that they are willful intentional secretive in many places and it ultimately is destructive

Because it shows us the dissatisfaction that many people have for the Lord listen when we pursue idols and the worship of idols in our own lives it's because there's dissatisfaction in the Almighty God are you satisfied with God I don't just like answer that but take a moment and ask yourself that question are you satisfied with God more importantly do you live like you're satisfied with God how many times have you and I been tempted to go you know it's it's sunday and I haven't slept in all week and I really need rest which is true we do need rest that's why we have a day of so you know we say you know I'm not going to go to church today I'll watch it online I'll listen to it on the radio I'll read my Bible study Jesus is the same Jesus in my living room as he is at church all those things are true however what happens is that you get up on monday morning do you really feel that much more rested actually you wind up shorting yourself even more because you know what happens is that you enter into the week without your spiritual cup filled you haven't been able to participate in the worship of the saints it's encouraging to hear brothers and sisters make loud the name of Jesus amen it is good to get together and talk about Scripture together in small groups amen it's good for us to sit under the preaching of God's word together amen and that's why we get together and we observe the Lord's supper and we dedicate our children and we

Do those different things and we celebrate those things as a family and here in a few weeks praise the Lord we're probably going to be celebrating a baptism and we're thankful for that you don't get to enjoy those things when skip on sundays secondly we do see here that idolatry is a big deal 60 cubits in fact I'm joking but that's roughly 90 feet tall 90 feet tall this idle according to the measurements it was it doesn't say that was a statue it says that was an image and it's important for us to make that distinction even in the aramaic it doesn't exactly mean statue it could mean statue it means literally an image it could be an obelisk those were very popular to set up and based upon the measurements it does make sense but I think that number 60 is important the reason why is because in america we have a 100 base like system of measurement so if we say hey you're gonna give me a hundred percent yeah I'm gonna give you a hundred percent in babylonian culture they had a base arithmetic of 60 okay so they think again give me 60 yeah but it meant 100 to them and so when we see this like 60 here it literally is the greatest thing in nebuchadnezzar's mind he is trying to reach the highest of heights that he possibly can in order to prove to everyone that he is the head of gold and that he is the best of the best and that apparently even the God of heaven thinks so you know when we talk about idolatry no matter what your vice is or your rebellion or whatever it is it is much bigger than what you think because God's holiness is much bigger than what you think

God's holiness what we mean by the holiness of God when we when we talk about holiness as people we have to rediscover what holiness means no one likes to talk about holiness but the Bible talks plenty about it holiness means the practice of being separate from sin and since God is completely holy it means that he is completely separate from sin completely 100 percent distant from sin and so when God's people are given over to sin it is a massive deal and so that's why we are called to bear with one another and encourage one another and support one another rebuke with love and so we pray we seek out the good of one another we confess our sins to one another that we might practice holiness in our personal lives think of this nebuchadnezzar had seen God just work a miracle can anyone tell me what I dreamed about last night I had a crazy dream none of us can there's not one person in here it's got a hamburger eating contest in case you're curious [Laughter] but he had seen a miracle not just that someone told him what he dreamed about but the interpretation of that dream and instead of honoring the Lord and building something to honor him what does he do he honors himself and this is a form of idolatry among dictators isn't it directing statues to themselves and setting up images of themselves in their own honor and don't miss this that nebuchadnezzar and dishonoring the Lord here it had major repercussions even back in Genesis

What I mean by that is that back in Genesis chapter 11 there was something that was built called the tower of babel I got an image here for you it was constructed on the plain of shinar and this is where the plane of shinar is that was a picture painted back in the 1500s can you sh pull up that map there yeah there we go so that's the plane of shinar in babylon and in Genesis chapter 11 can anyone tell me what the very first command was in Scripture to humans it was to be fruitful and multiply fill the earth and subdue it that's very and you know why the tower of babylon was such a big deal because they said you know what we're not going to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth we're just going to stick around right here right around this tower it was an act of rebellion and treason against their creator it was for them their idolatry was a city to reach heaven and just as rebellion in one area leads to rebellion in others you and I we must repent and seek out the father in his face and come to him through tears asking the Lord please God make me new make me right I turn from the sin and he will receive you and I to himself he promises that to us in first John 1 9. We come to him who loves us we're made right by the work of Christ that and that rightness that God gives us by that new birth will empower us to make the changes that we need to make and walk in holiness and if you're dealing with idolatry guess what you don't get saved again you know what you do is you ask the Lord God I'm done messed up can you help me

And he loves you and he wants to how many of us fathers in here on this father's day if your child comes back to you with tears and repentance would say you messed up too bad not one good father would an evil father might but a good father would never turn a child away like that and our father in heaven is infinitely better than us better than the best here on earth infinitely better another danger of idolatry is outside pressure nebuchadnezzar he made a huge celebration of this idol can you put that next point up there for me a huge celebration with all these with all of the royal gallantry with all of the music and all of the celebration everyone is there it's a who's who of everyone yet we don't see Daniel there which everyone's like well where's Daniel in this situation I believe that nebuchadnezzar excuse Daniel you know why because he literally just performed a miracle in front of him and he knows that he worships the God of heaven but nebuchadnezzar he doesn't see he doesn't know the role of hananiah and mishael and azariah he has no clue about their how they were prayerfully interceding before the father and so when everyone assembles together all the leaders they have this huge symphony of musical instruments and the herald he proclaims you are commanded that you are to fall down and worship this image that king nebuchadnezzar has made and we see this same kind of pressure in our society today to change your logo to a rainbow during pride month to make a commentary on every single social issue that's happening in our world today well why don't you have a ukrainian flag

On your facebook profile picture things like that you know there's we see these things happening everywhere and it's it's not just a recent trend back in the 1920s a psychologist actually did a social experiment what he found was that people are okay conforming to wrong as long as they're accepted by their peers actually in one experiment it showed that one out of every four people were readily agreeable to an outright wrong answer at least half the time just so that way they weren't ostracized from the group actually in 2005 they did a similar study with 32 volunteers and five of what they called confederates they met together they built relationships they were taking pictures together that it was kind of a quiz thing and what they found were that when the confederates the moles if you would answered first the group would follow nearly unanimously in the wrong answers so the tighter the bond the more readily people are to follow wrong and how much more when life is on the line and so for most cultures in human history they were polytheistic and so when nebuchadnezzar sets up this new image and says hey you have to worship most of these guys are like okay another God check I can do this but not shadrach meshach and abednego you know why because they worship the one true God of heaven they worship the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob regardless of their babylonian identity they were still Hebrews and they worship the God of the Hebrews the one true God of israel the fourth danger is temptation look at what nebuchadnezzar's herald says

And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace this is actually a very common threat in the ancient world which would have been like executed very quickly if they weren't the governors of the province of babylon if they were a lower level official then they would have been tossed immediately but because of their position which Daniel gave to them they got a second chance and so the reason why this fiery furnace is right there is because it was probably used to melt the gold create liquid in order to cover this image but the choice is clear you bow and you live or you stand and you die that's tempting isn't it I wonder how many of us would be willing to bow presume upon the grace of God well if I bound now I can ask for forgiveness later don't say that you don't do it because I know the temptation's there we just have to be real about that and this is in many ways has been the history of the church for the last 2000 years yet in the midst of that tremendous persecution you know what happens is that Christ's kingdom continues to flourish especially in the midst of persecution especially in the midst of death and so the nations they worship they bow all except for these three men and so the chaldeans they accuse they accuse them and why did they accuse them because Daniel was the one they thought had all the power Daniel's the one who was able to interpret the dream it wasn't hananiah michelle and azariah and so when the chaldeans saw Daniel

Give his friends these positions of power well it's because they know each other that's why he has the power so let's let's try to get rid of these guys they've got all the political power in the province let's do what we can to eliminate them look at verse 12 there are certain jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of babylon shadrach meshach and abednego these men o king pay no attention to you they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up the fifth danger is accusations it's not like these men weren't paying attention they were paying much better attention than anyone else I guarantee it here we see their conviction that they couldn't do it because it violated the law of their God first commandment there's one God second commandment don't make an idol and bow down to it tenth commandment don't covet and the danger of accusations isn't the true things though it's that people get up in arms and they make decisions quickly based upon accusations and when there's idolatry and someone calls you out of that idolatry what it leads to can be offense which is the next point nebuchadnezzar is deeply offended and this sends the most dangerous man in the world into what's called a furious rage he literally sees red and he is just reacting at this point this is the head of gold how dare you and there is a big difference between unrighteous anger and righteous anger not all offense is bad righteous anger is a negative response to sin

We don't like injustice in our world because we believe that God is a God of justice therefore when we see injustice take place true injustice that makes Christians upset because God is just when we see attacks on the kingdom of God or the mistreatment of others it makes Christians upset because God is just unrighteous anger is when your pride is hurt and so you repay evil for evil well they shouldn't have said that to me that was mean-spirited it's interesting that nebuchadnezzar gives them a chance to bow again if you are ready we will try this another time but if not the furnace awaits you notice this last danger is hostile questions hostile questions is it true that you don't bow who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands this is a sign of someone who doesn't have the right view of God this is this is the reaction of someone caught in sin and attempts to justify it who are you to judge me we've never heard that before pilate standing before Jesus who was the word of God became flesh after a lengthy conversation with our Lord he said do you not know that I have authority to release you an authority to crucify you it's a hostile question questions can be good questions can be great I love asking questions I love it when people ask questions those are good and right things for us to do because if they're if they're asked rightly you know they drive us to know God better especially when we have humble hearts and minds but when our pride and our arrogance get the best of us

It leads to hostile questioning which results in bitterness in spite and in wrong answers so we learned that idolatry it leads to the darkest areas of the human heart and much of it is because covetousness is idolatry according to Paul in Colossians 3. And as you can see that there are many dangers to take note without regarding idolatry so we have to ask this question how do we guard ourselves against idolatry first thing is that you have to be born again you have to be born again doesn't matter what you do it doesn't matter how hard you try you cannot be saved and delivered unless it is by faith alone in Jesus Christ the second thing is to love the Lord you God with all your heart soul mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself it's the only way we can't get into this well I need to do better do better do better do better do better that's legalism that's not faith and so we come to God simply as we are saying God help me help me to discover the joy of knowing you and loving you and serving you God I want you and he will reveal himself more and more to you that's my wife's testimony she said I'm done playing Christianity she was are you 18 eight no dude yeah you were 18 years old God I'm done playing Christianity if you're real show yourself to me if not I'm done playing games Lord honored that humble request God please show yourself to me so we do it by being born again and following what God's plan is and we can't keep God's law in our own nature

You know your nature when you're lost is dead and so we have to be born again secondly get other believers around you to hold you accountable Scripture says this up on the screen in Ecclesiastes 4 verses 9 through 12 2 are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil for if they fall one will lift up his fellow but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up again if two lied together they keep warm but how can one keep warm alone and though a man might prevail against one who is alone two will withstand him a threefold cord is not quickly broken and I don't think that's coincidence that God has three friends together to resist this tremendous temptation and idolatry I believe that every Christian should have a few friends that they can call on to hold them accountable and ask them tough questions on where are the deepest desires of your heart and we're going to learn a lot more about standing against culture next week and the importance of standing for Christ but I want to ask you to think today on whether or not you struggle with idolatry let's go back to that definition and ask these questions and we'll go through these one by one is there something or someone you love more than God it could be a spouse it could be a job it could be a thing the thing if there's something that you love more than God that's idolatry do you want something more than God is there something that if I just had this then I would be content then I would be happy

What is it that's your God do you desire something more than the Lord in other words is there something that brings you greater pleasure than God and that thing or that person is your God do you treasure something more than God that thing that you prize above everything else is what sits on the throne of your heart what you treasure most is your God do you enjoy something more than the Lord and that's your God and if there's something that's in your mind right now that you're just like I need to get this is what I've identified whatever that is I want you to ask this question is that thing better than Jesus is that person better than Jesus is that ambition better than Christ is it worth your soul first corinthians chapter 6 Paul writes this do not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who practice homosexuality nor thieves nor the greeting or drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God and such were some of you and some of me but you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God for believers you're called to repent of that today whatever that thing is Christ died for you and you are called to trust in him you have been saved you've been raised with Christ and so you

And I we should seek the things that are above not the things that are earthly we should seek the things that are above where Christ is and he has all the authority you have died to sin and now your life is hidden with Christ in God according to Colossians 3 and for those who haven't believed the Gospel the message is very similar that you must turn to Christ you must repent of your sin and believe the Gospel because Jesus Christ he came to this earth to die for that idolatry he took that punishment for you and I he paid the price by dying on the cross so that you and I we can turn to him by faith and be saved by trusting in him alone and this happens when you turn to him you ask him to save you he will because he loves to do that he is in the soul-saving business and he promises that he will receive you just like you are but you have to enter through his son head hand heart head I want you to know that idolatry leads to destruction idolatry leads to destruction always leads to ruin always leads to suffering those gods they will always leave you wanting more they are worthless for salvation so trust in the Lord and I want you to use those those questions that template that we had to search and destroy any idols that are in your life and they're lurking there they're in the dark corners search them out because many of them might be eating at the roots of your spiritual walk ask the Lord to help you seek them out heart I want you to believe that God is better than any idol and that's really

The crux of the issue because you know the reason that we have idols is because somehow we bought into that this thing is better than God or that this thing meets our needs better than God it starts with believing that God is better which he is he is infinitely better and so God we do ask that you would help us help us to rid ourselves of all of these things that have come into our collective minds God whatever they might be things ambitions people whatever it is that has our hearts attention God we pray that as your people we would focus on you and that you would lead us God that you would revive our hearts to know that you are infinitely more worthy than anything else here on earth God deal with us [Music] help us God to conform into the image of your son help us to come back to you once again God asking for you to clean us up renew our hearts God as we stand together and we worship you today let these songs that we sing the declarations of our faith and our trust in you as we all stand together let's sing in Jesus name amen [Music] come every soul by sin oppressed there's mercy in the Lord and he will surely

Give you rest by trusting in his word trust him only trust him only trust him now he will save you he will save you he will save you now for Jesus shed his precious blood rich mercy to be punch now into the crimson flood that washes white as snow only trust him only trust him only trust him now he will save you he will save you he will save you now sing that again only trust him [Music] only trust him only trust him only trust him now he will save you he will save you he will save you now [Music] good morning my name is Thomas green and for the past few months I've been one of your deacons now so let's pray Lord thank you for this morning thank you for this father's day thank you for the example of a father you are for us and as we go through this week help us to evaluate what those idols are in our lives and help us to put those away put those in their place and help us to refocus and just only focus on you in Jesus name amen