Four Signs You May Be A False Convert

Well good morning church it's so good to see y'all a lot a lot of chatting that's okay good morning church it's good seeing you guys here at first baptist church my name is cody I'm the pastor here it is good to be in the house of the Lord today amen and I know that we've got several of our friends and church members that are traveling and doing vacation be in prayer for austin and myself as we're going to be traveling this afternoon our flight leaves out of springfield today at around 4 30. We're going to the sbc annual meeting in anaheim and so it's going to be far from relaxing and so y'all pray for wisdom I'll pray for spiritual leadership pray for austin and I he just got back from camp so he's just like you know you're gonna drive me down there and you know he's gonna he's gonna spend some time napping I'm sure and getting refreshed so it's gonna be a good time a couple of things real quick we've got the constitution is available to you guys the one that we are hoping to ratify in two weeks okay that's gonna be june 26th and so I hope that you guys will be here for that it's gonna be right after our sunday morning service that way we get as many people here as possible if you need to look at any kind of if you have any questions or anything like that we had a constitution town hall where people were able to ask questions and we went through it line by line and that video is available to you to view we don't have it like just up on youtube for the whole world to see because not everyone needs to see our business but if you would like to have access to it just email deborah fbccampton gmail.com or you can call the church

Office and we'd be happy to send you that link that way you can be up to date on all those changes that are in there the constitution team has done such a fantastic job making sure that it's all ready for you now today we got a vacation Bible school t-shirt offering it's gonna be happening after service today that goes to offset the cost for our vbs t-shirts we've got literally 150 kids are gonna be here for vacation Bible school throughout that week and it's gonna be fantastic and we are praying for them the theme this year is spark studios and so they've my kids are already doing the hand motions and singing the song and it's been a nightmare joking I'm joking but stuck in my head if you want to watch the sbc annual meeting there is a app that is available it's called the axe 2 app it was developed by the georgia baptist convention and that's how it's going to be available for you to stream and so you can actually scan a qr code that's in the bulletin and that will allow for you to be able to download the app so you can see all of the business stuff and I would highly recommend that you take time to read the mission or to watch the mission reports from the international mission board and the north american mission board the reason why is because that's where your cooperative program dollars go it goes to fund international missions did you guys know that the southern baptist commission convention is the largest mission convention in the world and because of your generous giving and we participate in the cooperative program that goes to fund the largest mission organization in the world and we're thankful for organizations like the wmu who

Help us set lottie moon goals and annie armstrong goals because that kind of money goes to plant new churches and to reach unreached people groups all around our globe 365 days a year and so when you give generously it helps us to be able to send missionaries generously now we do have a men's prayer breakfast it's going to be happening at the end of the month the date for that I think is june 25th and we also have a couple of projects that we're going to be knocking out things like painting and things like that also joy group has a meeting at the end of this month as well there's information about that in the bulletin got to sign up for that and register for it there's no evening service this week or next week because this week I'll be gone and next week is father's day so I hope that you guys enjoy that also if you're visiting with us or if you have prayer requests please be sure to grab one of these visitor cards fill it out and drop it in one of our offering plates which are located at each one of these exits and we would be happy to pray for you we would be happy it's it's our honor honor and our privilege to pray for you in that way also to reach out to you if you are visiting with us now we are going to enter into a time of preparing our hearts and our minds for worship I would encourage you on saturday nights maybe to take some time as the evenings winding down to begin to focus and prepare your hearts and minds for worship but if you haven't had an opportunity to do that now would be a good time for you to bow your head and close your eyes and prepare yourself for the word of God maybe you're here and you just need to hear from the Lord you want to renew your relationship with him or you just

Are having a hard time with some of the things that are happening in your life take it to the Lord right now and ask for him to speak to you maybe things are just overwhelming with how the economy is going and jobs are just kind of feeling a little shaky right now and you're just uncertain and you need a you need something in your life that is certain and sure why don't you take a moment right now remind yourself of the beauty of the unchanging nature of God perhaps you haven't been to church in a while and you just kind of want to see what it's all about right now ask the Lord to speak to you this morning Lord we do ask that you remind us that you are with us even now in this place God help us to focus our minds and our hearts completely on you and your work God we ask that you would take away anything that would distract us God let us recognize who it is that we approach here this morning the God of the universe the creator of all things the master of our hearts Lord help us to worship you with everything that we are and in everything that we say and do it's in Jesus name that we can boldly approach and pray amen please stand and join me as we sing together of the creation of our Lord and king you made the starry hosts you phrased the mountain peaks you paint the evening the skies it is your throne from desert to the sea all nature testifies your splendor

Praise the Lord praise the Lord sing his greatness all creation praise the Lord raise your voice new heights and all your deaths from furthest east to west let everything that has breath praise the Lord you reached into the dust in love your spirit breathed you formed this in your very likeness to know your wondrous works to tell your mighty deeds to join the everlasting course praise the Lord praise the Lord sing his greatness all creation praise the Lord raise your voice you heights and all your depths from furthest east to west let everything that has breath praise the Lord [Music] let's symphonies resound let drums and choirs ring out all heaven hear the sound of worship let every nation bring it's honors to the king a roar of harmonies [Music] the Lord praise the Lord sing his grace and praise the Lord raise your voice you heights and all your depths from furthest east to west let everything that has breath praise the Lord sing it out church praise the Lord praise the Lord sing his graveness or create of praise the Lord raise your voice new heights and all

Your deaths from furthest east to west you distant burning stars all creatures near and far from the sky to see the shores sing out forevermore let everything that has breath praise the Lord [Music] praise his holy name this morning let's continue to praise his name as we sing it is well with my soul [Music] [Applause] thou has told me to say it is well it is well with my soul [Music] let this blessed assurance control that Christ hath regarded my heavenly saints and hath shed his own blood for my soul it is well [Music] [Applause] [Music] and I bear it no more praise the Lord praise the Lord o my soul it is well [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and the Lord hates the day when love's fake shall be sighed the [Applause] [Music] shall clouds and the Lord shall descend even so it is well with my soul [Music] what makes it well with our souls this morning the blood of Jesus shed on the cross for us I'd like to read to you now a passage out of Colossians starting in the first chapter verse 15. He is the image of the invisible God the firstborn of all creation for by him all things were created

In heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things hold together and he is the head of the body the church he is the beginning the first born from the dead that in everything he might be preeminent for in him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and here's where it gets really exciting as though it wasn't enough that he came and revealed himself to us in this way if as though it wasn't enough that God came to dwell with sinful man it says this and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of his cross and you who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him can I get an amen for that this morning praise the Lord his mercy is more [Music] stronger than darkness [Music] his mercy is more [Music] what love could remember no wrongs we have done on this and all knowing he counts not there's some thrown into a sea without bottom or shore our sins they are many history his mercy is more [Music] stronger than darkness every morning our sins they are many his mercy is more [Music] what patients would wait as we constantly roam one father so tender is calling us home be

The weakest the highest the poor our sins they are many his mercy is ore praise the Lord his mercy is more [Music] stronger than darkness new every morning [Music] his mercy is more [Music] what riches of kindness he lavished on us his blood was the payment his life was the cost we stood beneath our [Music] his mercy is more praise the Lord his mercy is more stronger than darkness new every morn our sins they are many hands mercy and more sing it out praise the Lord his mercy is more [Music] our sins they are many his mercy is more [Music] so this week I've been with students out at camp down in sherman texas it was quite a drive but we had a great time we're supposed to be wearing vbs t-shirts but I cheated I'm wearing my camp t-shirt today and it says matchless one that was the theme of camp this week and we talked about how Jesus is the matchless one exactly what that passage from Colossians was talking about how he is other than us he is different he is holy and it was a really exciting week as we talked about what that means what that meant before Jesus came on the scene what that meant when he was on the scene and what that now means in our lives how do we respond to the matchless sacrifice of Jesus the matchless obedience of Jesus the matchless forgiveness that he shows to us and we respond by doing the exact same thing

I want to close us here with all I have is Christ because he is so matchless nothing compares to him how can we help but hold him first and foremost in our own lives so join me as we sing hallelujah all I have is Christ I once was lost in darkest night yet thought I knew the way the sin that promised joy and life had led me to the grave I had no hope that you would own a rebel to your will and if you had not love me first I would refuse to still [Music] but as I ran my hell ways indifferent to the cause you looked upon my heavy and led me to God's love displayed you suffered in my bore the place [Music] reserved for me now all I know is grace [Music] all I have is Christ hallelujah [Music] Jesus is my life [Music] now Lord I would be yours alone and live so long might see the strength to follow your commands could never come from

Me oh father use my ransom life in any way you choose and let my song forever be [Music] all I have is Christ hallelujah Jesus is my life [Music] all I have is Christ hallelujah [Music] Jesus is my life I want you to sing this line with me oh father use my ransom life in any way you choose oh father use my ransom life in any way you choose sing it again oh father use my ransom life in any ways father use my ransom life in any way [Applause] you choose oh father used my ransom life in any way you choose hallelujah all I have is Christ hallelujah Jesus is my life [Music] Lord we pray that you would use our lives in any way that you choose because God you have ransomed us we are not our own we have been purchased we have been bought with a price a price so great that we can't

Even comprehend it Lord let us surrender totally and completely and daily to you help us to take up our crosses and follow you to die to self and live for Christ it's in Jesus name that we pray amen well if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to Daniel chapter 2. We're wrapping up this series called dreams and nightmares I do want to before I get too far into it I do want remind you that next week is father's day which means that our baby bottles are due for the baby bottle campaign and so make sure that you bring those back next week next week we will begin chapter three a new series called counter culture so I want to invite you to bring some of your friends and men I want to challenge you father's day is always kind of a regular low sunday for us you know and I believe with all my heart that the way to reach families is by reaching dads by reaching grandfathers I believe that as we reach and disciple men that church becomes healthier more focused on missions and leadership and so I want to challenge you especially men make next week a priority and tell those those children those grandchildren hey you know what I want for father's day I want you to come with me to church because we're going to see the Lord do some really amazing things as we get into the fiery furnace and it's going to be great I hope that you'll be here today we are going to be on a kind of a sensitive topic that's pretty close to me and I hope that you guys will just maybe be a little patient with me because in about the year it was the year 2000 it was june 23rd

At a summer camp called the wilds in brevard north carolina when I was saved and God radically transformed my life took me from death to life and since then it's been really difficult at times to see a lot of my peers guys that you know raised in Christian homes raised in the church abandoned the faith completely and just walk away from Christ there's a guy that I knew I went to we were in youth group together and you know awesome guy called to children's ministry Lord was using them in really powerful ways had a tremendous testimony about being delivered from porn addiction to you know being you know like radically transformed and knew that he was called to children's ministry no doubt about it he gets on campus at liberty university he's a prayer leader then he turns into a spiritual life director for the dorms and just really just a passionate guy for the Gospel and then in his senior year he just kind of goes you know I don't know if I believe this anymore he just stops and we see that like I could I could share with you story after story after story after story after story after being in youth ministry for 15 years of students that have gone that route parents grandparents devastated what happened you know and we look at we look at these different things and we can get discouraged I mean from the outside he looked like a faithful Christian but on the inside there was no regeneration and you know if he can fool all these

People it makes me kind of wonder well you know what about my heart what about my life am I in the faith and that should make us maybe even think about that in our own lives you know like do I know Jesus am I walking faithfully with the Lord and the fact is that there's many we're talking about false conversion today and four signs that you might be a false convert and it's not just something that's in our church it's you know in the sbc it's in every church throughout north america in europe and many places like that you see in 2012 the southern baptist convention had 330 000 baptisms we had 16 million members 10 years later we have 14 million members just over that and in that same time we've baptized 2 million 389 055 people that doesn't even include the people that have joined churches by statement and so if we look how do we lose two million people in a decade in the southern baptist church how do we let's net it and say 4 million how do we lose four million people in a decade what happened I mean we can blame society we can blame culture we can try to point fingers at rising liberalism or social media or entertainment we can try to play the blame game as long as we want to but the fact is that many of us we need to look in the mirror and look at ourselves because if revival is going to start anywhere you know where it's going to start it's going to start right here amen many people in churches today they aren't saved sure they made a profession of faith

But remember that Paul he instructed Timothy to do the work of an evangelist why would he tell that to a pastor a guy whose main job it is to proclaim the Gospel to congregations it's because there's many in churches that don't know Jesus it's because there's dead people in congregations even in the early church no one likes to think about that possibility least of all the pastor but we must consider it and so how can anyone tell if they're a false convert that's what we're going to talk about today and if you're here and you find these things are true about you my heart really does go out to you because there is nothing nothing nothing more important than knowing where you stand with the Lord there is nothing more vitally important than knowing whether or not you're in the faith and so I'm going to ask you to really look at this because we're looking at nebuchadnezzar we're going to look at his response to a tremendous miracle and we're going to look at these four signs that you might be a false convert if you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read Daniel chapter 9 chapter 2 verses 46-49 God's word it says this then nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel and commanded that an offering in incense be offered up to him the king answered and said to Daniel truly your God is God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries for you have been able to reveal this mystery then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts and made him ruler

Over the whole province of babylon in chief prefect over all the wise men of babylon Daniel made a request to 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 and so God we do thank you for this passage we know that's your word and so we treat it as such it's your word and it's good help us Lord to love you to serve you to honor you apply this passage to our lives truthfully and Lord if there's anyone here that may not know you as their Savior maybe they've been coming for years Lord may this be the day that they're taken from death to life from darkness to light from being an enemy of God to being a child of the king in Jesus name amen well Daniel has told nebuchadnezzar what his dream was and what has been keeping him awake the dream was of a statue made of different medals it had a head of gold and nebuchadnezzar was that head we're going to see how that plays out in the next chapter it had arms and a torso of silver a belly and thighs of bronze legs of iron and feet mixed partly of iron and partly of clay Daniel he saw in this dream the stone being cut without human hands and absolutely demolishing this statue the statue turns into dust and is scattered by the winds and then this stone that was made without human hands which we know is the kingdom of God that was brought to us at the time of Christ grows and grows and grows until it fills up the whole earth it shows us that the kingdom of God that's what it does it grows it

Flourishes through the proclamation of the Gospel as the people of God grow in obedience to the father as we begin to apply God's words to our lives we see the kingdom growing and flourishing and making an impact and difference wherever it goes and I want you to put yourself in Daniel's shoes real quick remember exactly what it is that Daniel has gone through okay he has been taken from his family he'll never see them again all right he probably was castrated because he's part of the king's court he is there that's one of the customs that they had in the in the among the kings court in the wise men he has been indoctrinated or attempted to be forced to learn new language new culture new customs he has been all these different things we can look at now if you are in Daniel's shoes how likely are you to come alongside of king nebuchadnezzar and say sure I'll help you out I mean if we're being honest we would probably be full of bitterness we'd be full of resentment we would say there is no way that I'm going to help out this king but that is not what God's plan is for nebuchadnezzar you see Jeremiah he was a prophet who prophesied during the time of king josiah's reign so this is before Daniel and even kind of a contemporary of Daniel and in Jeremiah he was left in judah after the first exiles okay we're there and even during the second exiles he was still in jerusalem and this is what Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 29 verses 4 through 7. It says thus says the Lord of hosts the God of israel to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from jerusalem to babylon

Build houses and live in them plant gardens and eat their produce take wives and have sons and daughters take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage and may they bear sons and daughters multiply there and do not decrease but seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf for in its welfare you will find your so God he says make homes get married have babies if you're not a eunuch obviously seek the welfare of the city pray to God on its behalf and Daniel he knew that this is what the Lord requires of his people and so Daniel he does everything he can possible to serve his king well and as a result nebuchadnezzar he falls on his face why does nebuchadnezzar fall well think about it he had just witnessed a tremendous miracle even the pagan wise men that were there they said there is no way that anyone can do this unless the gods reveal it to him and their dwelling is not with flesh I mean these pagan wise men they prayed to marduk you all remember him or inanna she was the chicken-footed goddess that we looked at nergal who is the leader of the underworld in the babylonian pantheon of gods and so nebuchadnezzar he falls on his face because he knows that there is a miracle that just happened the God of the heavens the God of the Hebrews has now just totally revealed to him something that everyone else said was impossible not only did he tell them what the dream was but gave an accurate interpretation of that dream the first time that you might be a false convert is that you're amazed by God's work but not him

You're amazed by God's work but not him nebuchadnezzar he had just seen God do some amazing things and I've seen I've seen God work powerfully in people's lives over the years people being saved from the brink of death and in that in that season people they're dealing with God if you do this then I will live for you and I would I would and they're making all sorts of promises and then God works in really powerful and amazing ways and all of a sudden all those promises are just gone and there's no heart change there's no life change nothing is different in the life even though they've seen something amazing and you see this throughout the Gospels too where people are just amazed by the works of Christ in Mark chapter 2 verse 12 Jesus he has healed a paralyzed man and this is Mark chapter 2 verse 12. And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before all them so they were all amazed they glorified God saying we never saw anything like this where were the crowds later they weren't to be found you look in Luke chapter 8 Jesus he brought a little girl back from the dead and in verses 55 and 56 her spirit returned to her and she got up at once and he directed that something something should be given to her to eat and her parents were amazed but he charged him don't tell anyone what had happened in John chapter 12 Jesus he's surrounded by the crowds and they'd followed the Lord all around listening to his sermons in his preaching they ate bread and fish and they saw him do all these miracles and they saw him raise Lazarus from the

Dead and in John chapter 12 verse 36 the same chapter where where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead Jesus he teaches these things and he departed and he hid himself from them talking about people who he was talking to and though he had done so many signs before them they still did not believe in him see being in awe of God's work or his creation or his church or anything like that is not salvation just being filled with awe and wonder at creation is not salvation I've seen some wonderful sites I took some high school guys up to canada and I got to hike into the colorado rockies for a few hours and it was amazing seeing these little these beautiful pools and these gargantuan mountains and it was just it was awesome to see and I was filled with awe and wonder at the creator of those creations are you filled with all and wonder of who God is do you love the Lord your God my when Jesus is restoring Peter he doesn't say Peter do you love my works he says Peter do you love me do you love the Lord or just the things he does for you because there's a huge difference church and my prayer is if you are lost maybe you're hearing you're just like ah my prayer is that you would fall in love with the Lord your God because he is good and he is right and he is holy and he is just and he is good and he loves you and now nebuchadnezzar he falls on his face and he pays homage to Daniel to pay homage it means to bow low before someone who's superior to you so think of like a vassal to their king or a

Knight to their queen they're they are paying homage to them bowing down low but nebuchadnezzar goes a little bit further and he commands that an offering be made to Daniel in incense to be offered up as well and this is a sign of worship josephus he records alexander the great coming in to jerusalem and he bows down before simon the righteous who was the high priest at this at the time in alexander he believed himself to be a deity but his general gr parminion he asked why alexander bowed down and he said you know I don't worship the high priest but the God with whose high priesthood he has been honored is that what nebuchadnezzar is doing here I don't think so because you know he's a he's a pluralistic guy that is making an offering to Daniel and Daniel he's been very careful he's been saying it's the God of heaven it's the God of heaven it's the one true God that is doing all of this and he has been given constant glory to God and so it seems strange for nebuchadnezzar to worship someone who admits I don't have any power here what you are seeing and the things that you've experienced is not because Daniel is so great it's because God is so great and we see this in the new testament as well in acts chapter 14 Paul and Barnabas there at leicester and they are preaching Christ they're preaching him crucified and they healed a man who had never been able to walk and so the people of Elijah they decided you know what Barnabas is zeus and Paul is hermes and we need to make an offering to these guys and Paul and Barnabas are like no you guys are completely missing it you don't understand we are not anyone special we are representatives of the one true God

The second sign that you are that you might be a false convert is that you believe in God but you live like he doesn't exist you believe in God but you live like he doesn't exist and here's nebuchadnezzar who had just witnessed a miracle he's told that there is one God the God of heaven the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the God of the Hebrews who revealed this mystery and he is totally lost in his sin trying to make sense of what has just happened there's been no heart change as a result of this message he's just doing the best they can which our best is not good enough for God's best was good enough for us and that's why he sent his son Jesus Christ and I know that there's many people who think that belief in God is enough to be saved but it's not satan believes in God satan's a wonderful theologian he knows God's word backwards and forwards way better than you or I ever will but there's no there's a huge difference between knowing the word of God and knowing the God of the word what saves a person it's believing on the Lord Jesus Christ it's trusting in him and his work on the cross for you it's being born again by the power of God being reconciled to the father have you ever dealt with God one on one it's a terrifying hum humbling humiliating wonderful place to be the Bible says that we who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Jesus have you been brought near to God if you haven't then you may not be saved and you're not saved if you've not been brought near to God nebuchadnezzar doesn't experience this and so he worships a man

What are you worshiping what do you trust in what has your heart's affections there's a saying that you can tell what you worship by the three t's your time where do you use your time where do you use your talent where do you spend your treasure so we assess our lives constantly and we wonder God how am I making the best use of the time because the days are evil am I using the best am I making the best use of the treasures that you've gifted me with because they're ultimately your gifts God how am I using my talents for you and I don't feel like saying these things should be controversial but I think that some folks think that this might be a little bit borderline legalism but it's not it's simply that if we come to Christ he changes our life and our life shall reflect a change it's as cut and dry as that the born again life should look different than our old one we should be you know giving to missions we should be doing whatever we can to share the Gospel we should be using our talents to serve in our church and to serve our neighbors and to love our community well we should be a blessing to our family and to our neighbors that are around us nebuchadnezzar he makes a tremendous statement here truly your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and this is a true statement from nebuchadnezzar's experience but he's also a polytheist it doesn't take much for him to just add one God into his life but you see you don't get to take Jesus and just add them to your life as you know this life enhancement pill like I got my Jesus this morning I'm good that's not the way

That Christ works and what I'm saying it's not just for church members it's true for pastors too you know there was a an arizona Christian university they just released a report it's the worldview state of the church and among pastors pastors only 37 percent hold to a Biblical worldview of pastors 37 one out of every three pastors holds to a Biblical worldview that means that two-thirds of pastors ought to just resign in this study 62 percent of pastors they hold to a worldview known as syncretism syncretism is where you take a part of another worldview and you add it to the Christian worldview for example karma not that there's anyone in here that believes in karma being facetious I'm sure there is I don't know anyone but karma it's an unbiblical thought what goes around comes around right everything's in balance another one is that people are born inherently good and not evil or maybe if they're just good enough they can get to heaven those are those are parts of a of a worldview that do not like compute with the Bible they're not on equal footing and these are major issues that Christian and Christianity at large and for us we must be people of the book far and above anything else before it's gonna make some people mad God bless you before we're baptists we believe the Bible okay now we're baptist because baptists believe the Bible

Amen but for us like this is the ruling document God's inspired word all 66 books Genesis to revelation we believe it 100 and Paul he warned Timothy that there was going to be a time where people wouldn't put up with sound doctrinal teaching in second Timothy chapter four verses three through four for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but will have itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths it's true we see it happening you see the massive churches that are growing by leaps and bounds they preach a false Gospel like the vast majority of those churches they're okay with preaching a false Gospel mega churches that preach that the Holy Spirit is like the blue genie from aladdin like that's blasphemy it's awful it will condemn people the third sign that you might be a false convert is that you make a profession of faith but you won't submit to his authority you make a profession of faith but you won't submit to his authority here's nebuchadnezzar your God is the God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries that's a pretty good confession right but there's no submission to the authority of God's rule there's no God is the only God that the Lord is the only king rodney stores he said that a profession of the mouth without the bending of the knee is not genuine and will only last for a short time

I can't tell you how many times I've counseled students you know and you know hey if you want to receive Christ you know you know come forward and talk with me and say they come they're like cody I want to be saved well you know I can't do it for you but I would love to walk with you through it if you if you really want to be saved I can I can kind of show you how I did it I did it by praying praying you know a prayer of dedication and thanking the Lord about the work they did in my life and so I walk them through it and just Lord I'm a sinner Lord and there's no like remorse for sin it's just like all of a sudden it's just get out of help free card there's no repentance and that's the kind of stuff that leads to false conversion this is called missing heaven by 18 inches it's where people know the word of God and what's required to be saved but yet our hearts have never been made right and Jesus he's called us to die to ourselves and he's taught us that the way is narrow and it's hard and the reason is because Christ died to save us from our sins and so we forsake every other effort to cling to Christ that's why we sing that song hallelujah all I have is Christ hallelujah Jesus is my life because he is our only hope in life and death that's another song that we sing theology in songs is important guys that's why we sing the songs that we do in the Gospel it's not just mental agreement it's not just changing bad habits it's not just joining a church it's a radical change in allegiance in world view in your whole being but there's so many so-called Christians that they don't want to submit to the authority of God's word

And so let me let me clarify this you must turn from sin and believe the Gospel and you come to God just like you are through Jesus you don't clean yourself up you come just as you are and he's the one that changes you he's the one that molds you and conforms you into his image and when you come to God you don't have you know like I know I said it but you don't have to clean yourself up he's the one that makes you clean and you are saved by grace through faith and so when you encounter God what happens is that you are changed by submitting to his authority into his plan and the Scripture says that in Christ you are a new creation the old has gone behold the new has come and we become characterized by the fruit of the spirit love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control those are hallmarks of our lives so the final sign that you might be a false convert is that you honor a ministry but you don't glorify the Lord God with your life look at the passage then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts nebuchadnezzar delivered on what he promised in verse six and he makes Daniel the chief counselor of the province of babylon and the chief prefect over the wise men and these are these are fine gifts to a minister of the Gospel but they don't save I saw a video this week of an apostate his name is jesse duplantis you've probably seen him or heard of him with kenneth copeland another charlatan and heretic and I've got no problem saying that

Because you know what those guys you know what they were teaching they said the reason why Jesus hasn't come back is because people haven't given enough money I hope that you are just shocked and offended and want to punch him in the face like I know why santa claus punched arius in the face now that's a story from church history but you know I mean to make people feel like oh hey I have to give like even more in this economy otherwise Jesus isn't going to come back that's like what a wolf does it's exactly what a wolf does you know what you do with a you kill them and you skin them as a warning to other wolves to not come near the flock don't don't give any money to those guys I'm telling you like they don't care about you or your soul but that's just straight wolfish behavior you think like in our world like we all know that there's record inflation right now we are all feeling the pinch of the economy like we see it we feel it each and every single one of us I've got five little kids with mouths to feed okay we all we are all like with sticker shock right now should we give to missions absolutely should we give to ministry absolutely we are commanded to do those things and do it well to do it prayerfully to do it generously but our primary goal is to glorify the Lord God first corinthians 10 31 whether you eat or whether you drink or whether whatever you do it all for the glory of God so my question is are you living for the Lord are you living for the Lord are you seeking to glorify God and what you do and what you say you think of all

Of these warnings that we've looked at a false conversion none of them are true of Daniel he is totally in awe of God you look at verse 20 Daniel he prays blessed be the name of God forever and ever verse 23 to you o God of my fathers I give thanks and praise he is all in awe of the person and the work of what God has done and this is an important distinction because we glorify God and we delight in his works Daniel he lives like God exists he trusts in God we've seen his character and his commitment to God's principles and we see this in his prayer life and his focus on glorifying the maker and Daniel he submits to God's authority and he professes faith everywhere he goes whenever there's an opportunity to take a stand for the Lord he does so and he looks for opportunities to share his faith and he does so under the authority of God Daniel he glorifies Lord we see that throughout everything that he has said up to this point and so we learn that as Daniel obeys the Lord and he declares the Lord's goodness and his mercy we see Daniel is raised to this prestigious position in babylon that he might declare that the Lord is God alone and God he has given Daniel by the hand of nebuchadnezzar authority as a ruler over the province of babylon and as the chief prefect over all of the wise men and the wise men know what has happened is a miracle by their own admission this could not have happened and so the wise men they were there they had searched out all the mysteries they cannot figure out what nebuchadnezzar's dream was but Daniel did and so he has proven to his peers that he is wiser than all of their collective wisdom

And since Daniel has proven his wisdom over these wise men who do you think that they're going to listen to now they're going to listen to Daniel and where do you think that Daniel is going to point all these wise men too he's going to point them to the God of creation and that's why as Christians we must be wonderful employees and bosses and involved in politics and doing those different things socially you know why so that way we can make an impact in our community that desperately needs to be pointed to Christ and God and Daniel doesn't point to himself he always points to the God who keeps his covenants and this is a great principle for Christians to learn that we must not isolate from the world we must engage the world right where it's out we must engage the world we've got to share what God has done do you know what Christ has done for you more importantly have you placed your faith and trust in the Savior and are you a child of God now how do you know was there a time when you were brought before the cross and you submitted your life to Christ were you in awe of the glory of the cross and you knew that Jesus died for do you believe that God he's real does your life reflect that you believe that God is real are you submitting to his authority the Bible tells us that we should make professions of faith romans 10 verses 9 through 13 it says if you confess with your mouth in Christ Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart God raised him from the dead you will be saved for with the heart one believes in is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved for the Scripture says everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame for

There is no distinction between jew and greek for the same Lord as Lord of all bestowing riches on all who call on him for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved has that happened to you if it hasn't happened then my friend let me tell you that you are not saved my heart goes out to you and I plead with you to turn to Christ to put your faith and trust in him because today is the day of salvation you can be saved and you can know and you can have eternity squared away in your mind that you are saved and if you would like to talk about it you know you don't have to come up here shake my hand and I say yeah look at him he's safe no I want to counsel you I want to know what's going on in your life just come up and say pastor cody I need to talk with someone about this because I want to know that I know that I know that I'm saved head hand heart head I want you to know that we are called to be a blessing to our community each and every single one of us we are called to do it and you can be a blessing by using the skills that God has given you to be used in ministry you can help out in different ways Daniel he was awesome in wisdom and logistics and administration some of you might be gifted at security and logistics and children's ministry God he can use those gifts and he's given them to you not so you can hoard them but so that you can bless others and I want you to take time this week and I want you to study Matthew chapter 7 verses 13 through 27 every day this week just read over it if you're a slow reader it'll take you about 3.7 minutes

And that's if you're a slow reader okay read it write some notes in your passages around it hide it in your heart apply it to your life this week and take delight in what Jesus has done for you and heart I want you to believe the Gospel today not only for salvation but for your continued salvation because you and I we need to hear the Gospel every day we need to know about where we've come from what Jesus did for us and where we're going because we have a greater hope than the things that we see in this world we've got a hope in heaven based upon the work of Jesus Christ and so God we do thank you so much for this day we thank you for your mercy and I pray Lord that you would just continue to work in our lives if there's anyone here that maybe they don't know you as their Savior as their Lord that today would be that day that they turn to you and trust in you God that you would do an incredible work God we do pray for revival for our church or we do pray that ministers and members would submit to your authority to exercise your will in our lives to not focus on building up our own kingdoms but your kingdom God help us to fall in love with you because you're worthy of it God we thank you for your grace and just ask that you would move among us as we stand and we worship together may you be glorified in Jesus name amen let's stand let's worship together [Music] I once was lost in darkest night yet thought I knew the way

The sin that promised joy and life had led me to the grave I had no hope that you would own a rebel to your will and if you had not loved me first I would refuse you still [Music] but as I ran my hellbound race indifferent to the cost I looked upon my head the state and led me to the cross and I beheld God's love displayed you suffered in my place you bore the wrath reserved for me now all I know is grace hallelujah all I have is Christ hallelujah Jesus is my life now Lord I would be yours alone and live so all might see the strength to follow your commands could never come from me oh father use my ransom life in any [Music] you choose and let my song forever be my only boast is you hallelujah

All I have is Christ hallelujah Jesus is my life hallelujah all I have is Christ hallelujah Jesus is my life sing it one more time let your voices ring out with this truth hallelujah all I have is Christ thank you for coming today and again to remind you up here up front our vbs t-shirt offering paint cans please come and give that would be great and pray with me as we're dismissed dear heavenly father I do thank you for today thank you for your Almighty power that is visible in our lives visible in the nature around us visible everywhere that we look and see thank you Lord for your ocean of mercy I ask you Lord for a cup of mercy from your ocean of forgiveness Lord that never ceases never ends is always there and thank you for leading us each day help us to look for you in each moment in the days to come that as we see opportunities to speak for Christ that we may boldly speak up and say something and Lord thank you for being with us today thank you for pastor cody as you have spoken to him and he speaks to us Lord help us to know that within our hearts what you've said through him is true and believable and I pray these things in Christ's name amen you