Sunday 04/24/ 2022

Through at all test one two all right there we go hey good morning church it's good seeing y'all here and in case you haven't had a chance to meet me I'm cody I'm the pastor here it's good seeing you guys and you know we had a really great day yesterday at dogwood festival amen it was it was awesome being able to minister to a need in our community it's interesting you know we just opened up our facility for bathrooms and people were like thank you so much it's like sure yeah so anyways if the bathrooms were maybe a little messy we tried to hit them as best as we could after the fact but you know a messy facility is a small price to pay for a Gospel impact amen and so anyways we've got a lot of things that are going on remember that we're all about loving God loving each other loving our community and world and if you're interested in learning about what it means to love our world we do have women on mission banquet that's open to you we're going to have Ruth marshall that's going to come in and speak and she's going to share a little bit about missions and of course we'll have the gas that'll be there to receive some awards but we do need you to sign up for that the last day to sign up for that is this upcoming wednesday you can sign up on the church center app or you can go out here to the table and sign up and it's going to be a great time women always do such a fantastic job putting that together also the last day of sign up for summer camp is this upcoming wednesday the cost is 200 bucks it's the dates for camp are june 6th through the 10th and that'll be down there in sherman texas and that's where my two of my kids were born and

They're going to do some mission outreach there by building handy handy wheelchair ramps for handicapped people they're going to re-roof houses and paint fences and all that kind of stuff and so if you want to send your kids we do have scholarships that are available but you also need to put a little bit of skin in the game talk to austin about that we want to send your kids and be a blessing to you in that way if you need a break from your child hey we got a business meeting tonight at 6 p.m a couple of things that we are dealing with aside from our regular reports and things like that is we are nominating messengers for the annual meeting in anaheim so if you want to go to california you can go with austin and I we'd love to hang out with you for a little while and we I don't know what to expect at this meeting as you guys know but you know I want to kind of get ahead of this a little bit I know that some of you all saw the missouri baptist pathway had a plan b option for giving and I also want to tell you all that the director for the missouri baptist convention is on that short list to be the leader of the executive committee and I've seen dr yates and have met him several times but I know the men that are around him and the men that he surrounds himself with and so y'all pray that the Lord would bring him into leadership in the southern baptist convention he's not only a unifier and a great administrator but a godly man who loves the local church and has a vision for seeing the southern baptist convention grow and flourish in the Gospel now today we are starting the book of

Daniel if you haven't gotten a book for that they're available at the entrances and things like that trying to think oh also this is a huge praise guys not only have we taken up several special offerings this past year but even this past week we were able to over go over our annie armstrong easter offering so praise the Lord for that amen and so you know we were really tangibly loving God loving each other and loving our community and world this week and so thank you church for being a blessing for partnering together and making these different things a reality now as has been our habit and what we do we do like to take the beginning part of our service to bow our heads and close our eyes and just take some time to prepare ourselves in our hearts for worship and so if you would close your eyes and bow your heads with me today we're going to be talking about loss and maybe you've gone through a season of loss why don't you ask the Lord right now to prepare your heart for a sermon on that topic and to make you receptive and to not be bitter to not be angry but that he would gently speak to you today also rate where you're at if you could take some time to thank the Lord for the ministry that's taken place over this last week in our church maybe you're here and you're new to the whole church thing or maybe you're searching why don't you ask God to speak to you today tell him that you're open to what he has to say

Lord we know that you are prepared to speak to us and God we ask that you would help us to open our minds and our hearts to your voice Lord help us to believe help us to act like we believe Lord help us to act like we are filled with the Holy Spirit help us to sing like we're filled with the Holy Spirit God let us declare your praises loudly and boldly this morning and even as we leave this place Lord we are your people and you are our God what a glorious relationship that is because we offered nothing to it Lord instead you reached down to us we who were unworthy and made a way for us to dwell with you and to praise your name forever Lord let that change us and affect us it's in Jesus name that we pray amen please stand with me and join me as we sing the praises of our Lord come all you weary come all you thirsty come to the well that never runs dry drink of the water come and thirst no more [Music] come all you sinners come find his mercy come to the table he will satisfy the taste of his goodness find what you're looking for [Music] for God so loved the world that he gave us his one and only son to save us whoever believes in him will live forever [Music] bring all your failures bring your addictions come lay them down at the foot of the cross Jesus is waiting there with open arms for God so loved the world that he gave [Music] us whoever believes in him [Music]

I'm walking in freedom for God's true love God so loved the world praise God from whom our blessings praise him praise him for the wonders of his love praise God from whom a blessing praise him for the wonders of his love for God so loved the world that he gave us his one and only son to save us whoever believes [Music] the forever of hell forever defeated now it is [Music] bring all your failures bring your addictions come lay them down at the foot of the cross Jesus is waiting God so loved the world amen [Applause] you can be seated as we worship I just like to remind you all because often you wait until I ask you to stand or sit or whatever it is but it really doesn't bother me whether you stand or sit or whether you're kneeling in prayer whether your hands are raised or they're at your sides that doesn't bother me much at all that I ask of you today as we are gathered to worship is that you worship that's what we're here for worship is it's not contingent on the right kind of music it's not contingent on the best singers it doesn't rely on you know you being the most comfortable you've ever been or anything like that worship is simply what God requires of us it's praising his name making his name great and so that's what I'd like us to do together this morning amen all right

[Music] forever [Music] the father the spirit the son sufficient and endlessly generous magnificent marvelous matchless [Music] creation is brimming with thankfulness the mountains exalted the seasons rejoice in your [Music] each day [Music] how [Music] love [Music] you came in the fullness of time how far we have fallen from righteousness but not from the mercies of Christ your cross is our door to redemption your death is our fullness of life that they have forgiven magnificent marvelous love how great how sure his love [Applause] enters forever [Music] united in your resurrection you lift us to infinite heights could anything separate [Music] [Applause] how great how sure [Music] amen [Music] from the highest of heights to the depths of the sea creations revealing your majesty [Music] every creature unique in the song that it seems called disclaiming

Indescribable uncontainable you face the stars in the sky and you know them by name [Music] we fall to our knees [Applause] [Music] who has told every lightning bolt where it should [Music] who imagined the sun [Music] you are amazing God [Music] you are amazing [Music] you are amazing God [Music] indescribable uncontainable you place the stars in the sky and you know them by name you are amazing God incomparable unchangeable you see the depths of my heart [Music] you see the depths of my heart and you love me the same you are amazing God you see the depths of our hearts and you love us the same you are amazing God [Music] please stand with me as we sing nothing but the blood [Music] he sees the depths of our heart and he loves us the same he loves us in this way that he would give his own son to die on our behalf to bear the curse of sin that we deserve what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of

Jesus what can make me call again nothing but the blood of Jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] nothing but the blood of Jesus [Music] for my pardon this I see nothing but the blood of Jesus for my cleansing this my plea nothing but the blood of Jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] nothing but Jesus [Music] nothing can force in a tone nothing but the part of Jesus [Music] none of the good that I have done nothing but the blood of Jesus [Music] is the flow that makes me white as I know nothing but the blood of Jesus he is our righteousness [Music] this is all my hope and peace nothing but the blood of Jesus this is all my righteousness nothing but the blood of Jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] nothing but the blood of Jesus [Music] nothing but the blood of Jesus [Music] Lord God Almighty [Music] the morning our songs shall rise to thee holy [Music] blessed amen God you are holy Lord you are holy in your justice your holy in your grace you're holy in your mercy it's who you are and your mercy was shown to us by the precious blood of Jesus Christ who died the death that we deserved so that we might live that we might dwell with you eternally Lord we pray that if there are those here that don't know that or that don't believe that Lord you would open their eyes and let us be an example to them as we sing your praises as we respond to your word and Lord we ask that for those of us who do know that who do believe that this would be a refreshing thought that Lord it would it would open our eyes again that we might taste and see your wondrous love in our lives and Lord we ask you to not stop there for us but that we would take that and spread it among the nations because that's what we're called to do Lord help us to be your servants it's in Jesus name that we pray amen well I am very thankful to be back in a book of the Bible that we're going through systematically verse by verse we're going to be in the book of Daniel we're starting a series it's called shining in babylon the reason why we're doing this is because if you're a Christian if you're saved then you are called to shine your light babylon and what is babylon for us well babylon for us is the culture that we're in right now Christians have grieved for centuries about the state of their society every culture has what they what we

Would term to be acceptable sins John bunyan he's the author of pilgrim's progress he wrote about avarice and pride and greed and morality that looks godly but isn't in our society you see morality and decline you see evil being called good and good being called evil you see fools being proclaimed as wise health problems arising at alarming rates and there are so many things on the decline that as a civilization many might determine well we're dying it's so bad that for many people they have even lost their stories as americans you know we have certain stories people like Paul bunyan or tom sawyer you know and as I talk about those things I'm always amazed at how few people know just our stories as a nation much lesser history and so what should a Christian's role be in the midst of loss how does a believer live with conviction in a society that so despises God's word and his law and so these are the reasons why we're going to go through this book firstly is to how to live with Christ-like conviction and secondly we're also going to see how that kind of conviction is going to cost us something it's going to cost us something now one of the heroes in seminaries is a guy by the name of norman geisler anybody ever read any of norman geisler's books or heard of norman he writes on apologetics and things like that there's a picture of him right here if I got it up here there should be a picture is there no okay that's interesting y'all got my notes though right I got all my sermon notes okay all

Right I'm just tracking with you okay I got a lot of archaeology that we're going into today so otherwise adapt on the fly anyways he's a Christian apologist he wrote over 90 different books everything ranging from philosophy to calvinism to the roman catholicism to just apologetics in general and he was hugely important back in the 1970s there was a war on the inerrancy of Scripture and he was one of the key authors in writing what's called the chicago statement on inerrancy it means that God's word never airs it has no errors within it we believe that we affirm the chicago statement because we are Christians we are believers we believe that God's word is inerrant southern baptist affirmed it everyone you look at the list they're they're heroes from the past even you know folks like adrian rogers and rc sprole and saints that we have all benefited from but norman geisler he wasn't always a Christian in fact he went to vacation Bible school way back in the 1940s and this church they ran a bus and he said you know I like that church's vacation Bible school I'm going to go and just attend church there and so he attended and he attended and he attended for over 400 weeks that boy rode the bus to come to that church for 400 weeks it wasn't until his senior year well after the 400th time that he had been picked up by that bus that he finally received Christ as his Lord and Savior now imagine for a moment if the bus driver had said you know I've been picking up this kid for over 400 weeks now and I don't see any fruit in his life

What if he'd given up at number 395. We wouldn't we wouldn't have the benefits of the many pastors that have benefited from his writings it cost them something and today we're going to be talking about a great cost actually we're going to be talking about loss and we're going to talk about how to shine in the midst of loss and so if you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read Daniel chapter 1 verses 1 through 7. God's word says this in the year of the reign of jehoiakim king of judah in the third year of the reign of jehoiakim king of judah nebuchadnezzar king of babylon came to jerusalem and besieged it the Lord gave jehoiakim king of judah into his hand and some of the vessels of the house of God and he brought them to the land of shinar to the house of his God and placed the vessels in the treasury of his God then the king commanded ashban as his chief eunuch to come to bring some of the people of israel both of the royal family and of the nobility youths without blemish of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom endowed with knowledge understanding learning and competent to stand in the king's palace to teach them the literature and the language of the chaldeans the king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate another wine that he drank they were to be educated for three years and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king among these were Daniel hananiah

Michelle and azariah of the tribe of judah and the chief of the eunuchs gave them names Daniel he called he called beltashazar hananiah he called shadrach meshael he called meshach and azariah he called abednego and so God we do thank you for your word we thank you that we get to begin this series and Lord as we seek to rightly apply it to our lives to not only look to our future but also to our present about how to live with conviction Lord in the times that we are in right now God they are crazy crazy times but none of these things catch you by surprise Lord you know all these things God you know what tomorrow holds you know your return at the very moment you know our struggles you know our fears you know it all and so God in the midst of it help us to shine in Jesus name we pray amen well the book of Daniel it begins with the third year of the reign of king jehoiakim king of judah jehoiakim literally means to be raised by the Lord which is the exact opposite of who jehoiakim was jehoiakim was an evil king of judah the Bible says in the second kings that joha kim he brought back the false idols that king manasseh had set up king josiah tore them down but jehoiakim he brought them back and he also shed innocent blood do you know that God hates the shedding of innocent blood he hates it's something that so many in our nation celebrate under the guise of women's reproductive freedom or so-called choice fact many pro-life legislators have

Refused to create laws forbidding abortion in missouri or even on a national scale said they just try to limit abortion it's regulation of murder that's what it is they allow for the murder of innocent fetuses as long as it's maybe before six weeks or something like that remember that babies are the victims the mothers and the fathers are the culprits they're not innocent in it they're not the victims God has called for the people to repent for the shedding of innocent blood and God hates it enough to overthrow his chosen people's entire society the shedding of innocent blood idolatry in God he uses what we would perceive from the outside and it's true a completely godless society to overthrow his people nebuchadnezzar he's the king of babylon you know how babylon got its name it's because that's where the famous tower of babel was built it was built on the plains of shinar that was in Genesis chapter 11 and it's the heart of this empire and it and it seems like reaching to the heavens has never really departed the hearts of the people that are still there in babylon they probably still hear the stories week in and week out month in and month and so why did why did babylon attack the people of God well remember that God is a God of covenants God he makes his promises and he's always faithful to his promises amen okay Leviticus 26 he kind of gives us a nice summary of the covenant that he established with Moses in Leviticus 26 verses 3 through 4 he makes it clear that when israel obeys

God's commands there will be blessing look at it with me it says if you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them then I will give you your reigns and their season and the land shall yield its increase in the trees of the field shall yield their fruit and it goes on from there and it describes the many ways that God has promised his blessing to the nation of israel but in that same chapter God promises curses for disobedience look at verses 14-17 it says this but if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments if you spurn my statutes and if your soul abhors my rules so that you will not do all my commandments but break my covenant then I will do this to you I will visit you with panic with wasting disease and fever that consumes the eyes and makes the heartache and you shall sow your seed in vain for your enemy shall eat it and then it goes on from there to lay out in detail what will happen describing even them being scattered among the nations and the land becoming desolate well israel did break God's covenant and not just one time not just two or three but hundreds thousands of times did they break God's covenant but yet each time they repented each time they did until they stopped repenting now fast forward to this guy his name is king hezekiah he was a good king of judah hezekiah he was under immense pressure to surrender to assyria and this guy his name was general sennacherib and sennacherib he had he had defeated egypt who was at that time judah's ally and he was ready to lay siege to the city of jerusalem and he said forsake the Lord surrender

To me quit trusting in the Lord that's what sennacherib was saying to the people of God and sennacherib he said you've got a day but then hezekiah he said don't talk to him don't speak a word just be silent and trust the Lord and that day the Lord did save judah but years later king hezekiah he's he's sick and he thinks that's to death Isaiah actually says it's to death and as he turns around he says no hezekiah I've got a plan for him you turn around you tell him that this is not a sickness unto death and that the Lord will prolong his days and after he got better babylon they were a growing empire they wanted to impress them impress hezekiah he decided to send envoys along with a present hey king we heard that you were sick here's a present we want to build a diplomatic relationship with you and hezekiah because of the evil in his heart he said you know I want to I want to get in good with these guys so I'm going to show them everything that the kingdom has to offer and in second kings chapter 20 verses 16 through 18 after showing them all the treasures all the armories the oils the spices here's what the word of God says it says Isaiah said to hezekiah hear the word of the Lord behold the days are coming when all that is in your house and that which your fathers have stored up till this day shall be carried to babylon nothing shall be left says the Lord and some of your own sons who will come from you whom you will father shall be taken away and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of babylon and this is a

Direct prophecy fulfilled this is why babylon attacked judah and they came to jerusalem and they besieged it if you're taking notes I want you to write down the first thing that the people of God lost they lost the holy city they lost the holy city this is the capital of their nation the place where their leaders reside it's a place where Solomon's temple was and where God was worshiped and now it's under siege I want you to if you've got the little Scripture journals that we give out on the book of Daniel okay write these things down circle highlight underline it's a great resource for you but I want you to circle that word gave underline it highlight it out pen pencil lipstick mascara whatever you got circle that word because God he has rights and ownership over all creation God he can give and he can take whomever whatever he wants at any time that he chooses because he is Almighty God the Lord gave jehoiakim the bad king into nebuchadnezzar's hand where was the nation of israel before that in the palm of God's hand this is a an ancient way to describe domination but I want you to notice that God's hand was no longer with the leader of God's people that's a that's a terrifying place to be is outside the hand of God yet even when he was when he entrusted nebuchadnezzar to dominate the people of God he still ruled and reigned and had a plan that God was not he didn't lose control or anything like that so God he allowed some of the vessels to be taken out of the house of God as well now before this hezekiah he had taken a lot of the gold a lot of the silver that was in the temple and he had given it

Away to sennacherib in exchange for peace and these vessels that are taken outside out of the temple and are put into the house of his God are very important very important they will come up later on in the book of Daniel but I want to point out that those those vessels were very important to the right worship of God and when the people lost those vessels they lost the ability to worship God rightly what do I mean by worshiping God rightly I mean that God he prescribes exactly how we are to worship he's revealed to us in his word how we can worship it's it's about engaging the heart it's about praising God loudly with our lips it's about raising up our hands or bowing down low it's about being engaged one-on-one with the father even though we do it corporately in the old covenant God he laid out in extreme detail how to worship him through offerings and through sacrifice thank the Lord that we're under a new covenant amen but for these folks that are under the old covenant these vessels these these plates and these cups they were sanctified they were holy they were special and yet they were taken away and no longer could the people worship God in the temple the way that he had told them to now nebuchadnezzar he takes these these vessels to the land of shinar and he puts these vessels in the house of his God marduk this is a picture of marduk right here you got that picture up it's like just a guy standing there it's like looks like a stamp there it is yeah so this is marduk you'll see that he's covered in stars and

That thing that looks like a dog down there it's not a dog it's a dragon okay it's his symbol of like his deity okay now marduki is the God of the babylonian God of justice of compassion of healing of thunderstorms and of magic so there's a lot of different things that he is over and his temple actually still stands to this that day this is a picture called the great ziggurat of a lot of historians actually believe that this is modeled after the base of the tower of babylon of course the temple has been looted and all that kind of stuff since but in the middle of this temple you used to stand a golden statue of marduk which when a king is being is going through coronation he would actually walk up and take the hands of marduk and that would be the sign that he is now the king is by taking this demonic entities hands and this is nebuchadnezzar's most revered God he built grand temples like this to marduk but even while paying homage to other deities in babylon he would he would work in icons to show that marduk was even involved there these are what's called the ishtar gates or these beautiful blue fabulous gates now you kind of get a sense of the scale with those guys that are down there looking at the enamel bricks that are right there but what's interesting is that this is the smallest one that they have this is actually the one that they still have in storage they don't have a place in their facility to build it this is in the in berlin in a natural in a museum over there but the other one is actually the full-sized one this is one-third of

The size which gives you an idea of how massive the ishtar gate actually is it's just in storage right now but you'll see that there's that there's bulls on there you'll see that there's lions on there but right there in the middle in between you'll see that there's those dragons that are there which is the symbol for marduk and so it is in this temple that these vessels of God's house that's where they go to but nebuchadnezzar he doesn't just take gold or silver he actually commands his chief eunuch ash panas to take the most valuable treasure of all the next generation the people of God are now losing the next generation's leaders look at verses three and four then the king commanded ash penaz as chief eunuch to bring some of the people of israel both of the royal family and of the nobility youth without blemish of good appearance skillful and all wisdom endowed with knowledge and understanding learning incompetent to stand in the king's palace and teach them the literature and language of the chaldeans you have here the royal family the children of the nobles young men that are between the ages of 6 to 16 years old being taken away to an ancient land and this is a direct fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy the young men they're castrated the babylonians they take the best to the best and they begin to educate them they take these youths because it's easy to have control over the minds of young children and to influence their thinking this is why it's so important parents grandparents to be watchful over the things that your

Kids learn over the things that your kids watch and are entertained by because the world it wants to indoctrinate your kids period don't give your children over to media and unrestricted screens and allowing them to listen to whatever they want monitor it watch over it like satan wants your kids hearts period don't let it happen because you will give an account to God for how you raise your child now the babylonians they had full control over this jewish royalty the exiles they were taught the stories of the babylonians they were taught the language that they spoke because stories are important they give us cohesive thought when people lose stories or stories are replaced listen to what happens you lose your tradition the people they lost their tradition surely things like the epic of gilgamesh were taught as a creation account that's that's pretty interesting this is the epic of gilgamesh is their flood story well that guy Noah no it's actually the epic of gilgamesh that's actually what happened that's what you have to believe now the enuma elish which is the babylonian creation account was also taught to them surely we actually have like the tablet that records this story it's interesting that they go after Genesis in order to hold sway over people remember that israel also had strict dietary laws the cultures that were around israel they didn't observe them so you got these this meat that the king had offered to idols which makes the

Meat unclean and so you have the language you got the learning you have the dietary traditions all being taken away like that this leads to a loss of their culture loss of culture after they're educated for three years they're expected to withstand examination from the king that's why it's so important to be among God's people it's not just young people who need to consider what they're entertained by or who they listen to or who they learn from it's incumbent upon adults to set that example amen ouch it's important to regularly worship and fellowship with God's people because it reaffirms your identity in Christ this is why you should get involved in a community group start up a core group regularly be in church unless you're providentially hindered by God the amount of Christians that just don't want to come to church because of all the other things is just too high do we not fear God anymore do we not want to live for his glory anymore do we live on mission anymore finally notice the loss of identity the loss of identity look at verses six through seven among these were Daniel hananiah mishael and azariah the tribe of judah and the chief of the eunuchs gave them names Daniel he called beltachazar hananiah he called shadrach mishael he called meshach and azariah he called abednego Daniel it means God is my judge nebuchadnezzar told him now beltashasar is your name and that means oh lady wife of the God bell protect the king so your name is no longer gonna be God glorifying anymore it's gonna be the lady of

Belle hananiah means Yahweh is gracious and you know what that's not going to be your name anymore hananiah your name is now shadrach which means that you are fearful of God yeah you know he used to be gracious now you fear because he's delivered you into our hands mishael became meshach which sounds similar very different meanings mishael means who is what God is and meshach means who is like aku who is their moon God who is like aku and azariah means Yahweh is a helper and abednego now means that he is a servant of nebo if God really is a helper guess what he's going to be a servant of nebo now and we think of all that the people of God have lost I mean put yourself in these people's shoes how would you feel if all of these things were taken away from you your children your grandchildren are gone the young men totally dominated that would break our hearts you know they're gonna be worshiping in a temple made to a false demon or I guess a true demon but false God they're going to be learning language and occult practices there is nothing you can do about that this is devastating what about the promises of Abraham God what about the covenant that you made with us God aren't we still your chosen people your elect people why is this happening have you ever felt like that God why is this happening why me why my child why right now why not to the previous generations or the next generations what is that you've lost recently maybe you've lost hope maybe God is shutting door after door

After door and you don't know what to do about it you feel trapped feel powerless maybe you've lost your health what used to work fine now becomes the bane of your existence maybe you've lost control you've trapped yourself in a series of bad decisions and bad habits and you just cannot overcome that addiction or that sin and you just feel lost let me let me encourage you real quick that even in the midst of loss tremendous loss God has a great plan for you we're going to see it but before we can get to being shining and being vibrant let me tell you that none of this means anything unless Jesus Christ is your Savior and you have a personal relationship with God whatever you've lost listen to me whatever you've lost is nothing compared to what you gain in Christ because God he has a tremendous love for you he loves you so much that even though you've broken his law time after time after time even though you've lied or cheated or stolen or hated or lusted or blasphemed he sent his son anyway to die on a cross so that you could turn to him and be saved the Bible says God demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us my son josiah he asked me the other night dad what does it mean to be a Christian and you know it's kind of kind of funny because we know those answers until we're asked that question even your pastor told him I said it means like to love God and pursue God over everything else in this world son it means to come to come through Jesus and you gain God and even when it's hard you live for God

Which to a six-year-old doesn't mean much right now but maybe it does to you it means that you come to Christ just like you are you'll have to clean yourself up you come to him just like you are you go I know I can't come to God the father on my own he's too good and righteous and holy you need someone to take you there and Jesus he can take away that sin and give you his righteousness so that way you can come to God you might say can God do that for me that's a prayer that Jesus that God always says yes to and it's at that moment when that exchange happens that Christ he takes our sin he gives us his righteousness that we are saved and he puts his light in inside of us where we can shine to babylon and we can shine for his glory even in the midst of tremendous loss and so how can we do that first and foremost we must remember God's faithfulness got to remember God's faithfulness God he has remained faithful to you and I even in spite of all of our mistakes and all of our sins and sometimes even in spite of our outright rebellion the wages of sin is death and I don't see any dead people out here right just making sure but to remember faithfulness also means that we have to walk through hard seasons don't think that this is like an easy like oh we remember God's faithfulness no there has to be a time where you where God had to prove his faithfulness to you maybe you've had to walk through the valley of the shadow of death the person that walked through that valley knows what it means to dwell beside green pastures in quiet waters because we've been with God through the darkest nights and so while remembering God's

Faithfulness it's easy to write right down got to remember that it takes the hard times to remember it secondly know that the loss that you experience is controlled by God jerusalem is falling young men are being taken away the vessels of the temple they're being stolen a loss of identity loss of culture loss of traditions all of those things happen because God allowed for them to happen to the people and so that means that when we experience loss and hurt and hard times it's not arbitrary it's not something that's just kind of happening and we're just kind of going through the currents of life going well I guess this is it guess this is God's lot for me no it means that in the midst of it God has a tremendous plan for you and your sanctification God is not just some distant force that pines for us going oh I just hope that they make the best decision possible God is not some weak and puny feminine he is God Almighty and you rest securely in his strong and powerful hands how comforting is that thirdly recognize satan's tactics to assimilate you see God he allows satan to pursue the saints for a purpose he is still a roaring lion and only God can shut that lion's mouth sometimes satan feels like a roaring lion and we can feel that but I often times think that he is far more subtle than just a roaring lion sometimes he's a sneaky snake look at what babylon does to exiles right okay here these here's these guys they're going off to a distant land to be indoctrinated and they don't live in

Like gulags okay they're they're not living in destitute poverty forced to bend over doubly to labor for the rest of their lives what do they do they live in a palace and they get to eat like the best food in the kingdom and they get to drink wine and they get to be educated we would consider this even to be higher education because this is things like astrology and numerology and all these mystical arts and things like that it sounds strangely like the american dream am I wrong I mean we want our kids to receive these good things for most of us and we know that there's other young men other than these four that were taken where are the other men they were assimilated they laid down and they took it said you know this isn't half bad I could get used to this they were fine with the castration they were fine with eating in the king's palace they were fine with eating the food offered to demons and the good wine they were fine with getting the higher education and just blending in recognize this that it's easier to control those who are well fed and occupied with their time and are in a place of comfort I once heard a story of middle eastern Christian who loved people they were concerned for the eternal state of the people that were around them and they were in the in a country where it was they could get in a lot of trouble for sharing the Gospel with people even for just being a Christian they

Could get in trouble and they had some tense run-ins with local religious leaders and law enforcement and what happened was a pastor here in the state said you know I'm really concerned about you guys we'll get you out of there okay we will provide for you a job house we just want you here and so they jumped at the opportunity they said yes we're gonna go we don't anyways they were over here for about 18 months and this is the wife's testimony they noticed something bad she said that the sound that satan had the ears of Christians and he was singing a lullaby here's what she said she says it's like there's a satanic lullaby playing here and the Christians are asleep and I feel like I'm falling asleep please let's go back I've heard many Christians make this same assessment of american culture even church culture that just kind of feels like we're asleep and we're just kind of going through it there's there's a slub sluggishness among you it's among myself are we going to keep listening to satan's lullabies and deceptions or are we going to wake up and do something about it church who has your ear are you leaning into the to the whispers and the lies of the deceiver are you living for the glory of God it's time to wake up to live for eternity and quit living in the moment and quit living for right now and to live for Jesus Christ so don't allow for satan in the midst of all this to squander your loss you may have gone through tremendous

Loss and you really don't want to share that with people but it may be that God has a desire to reach someone going through the same thing that is just kind of being quiet about it if God if God can redeem your loss for his good what greater benefit is there then are we really going to be upset for temporary suffering in this world when we have eternity to gain four live for the kingdom and shine for others live for the kingdom and shine for others Daniel he was uncompromising even though Daniel's name was taken from him by the king of babylon Daniel never surrendered his name he never did in Daniel chapter 6 he's serving under a totally different emperor like totally different empire the medo-persian empire and king darius here's what he says oh Daniel servant of the living God Daniel he knew his identity in God he knew God's covenant promise with the people of israel and he never forgot yet Daniel and his friends also did everything they could everything that they could do in order to be leaders in their society they were so good at learning at literature at language at verse 19 it says the king spoke with him and among all of them none were found like Daniel hananiah michelle and nazariah and this means that they were they were the best of the best not compromising but also thriving in the culture where they were in when we live for the glory of God we cannot help but shine for others and it's not just by being good at our jobs that we shine it's not enough

For Christians to just act good and it's time that we stop acting like that's the case these four men they were constantly pointing to the God the one true God the creator God the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob these four men who are constantly pointing to God even in the midst of all that loss for 70 years they were pointing to God and they were still exiles and you know what they were doing is they were still pointing others to God and it's because of their faithfulness that we have the stories of guys like Ezra and Nehemiah and they brought God into the picture and when God when people saw God's hand and how it moved it either brought people closer to God or it drove them away from him but you just bring people to God let him sort them out fifthly get other Christians around you get other Christians around you these four men they were a great source of encouragement and strength in the midst of loss and we're going to examine this a little bit more next week but nebuchadnezzar he threatened to kill all of his wise men that's in chapter two he threatens to kill all of them and where does Daniel turn he turns to hananiah and michelle and nazariah says hey guys you pray for me and when these three men we call them shadrach meshach and abednego when these three men stood before the fiery furnace you know what they did they looked at each other and they were able to encourage each other and not lose heart it's important for Christians to have others around them that can help direct you in the midst of loss when you're going through that valley when you're going through the hard times when the doors are closing it's important to surround yourself with people that will pray for you and will

Speak a word of encouragement to you sometimes we can't from our perspective we can't see God's hand for the trees and so he has given you other believers around you to give you a different perspective so that way you don't lose heart and so my question is what are you going to do with all this first I would ask that you ask yourself this question are you asleep in your walk with God are you asleep are you just going through the motions or are you awake and trying to sense the Lord's leading in your life if you're not awake then it's time to wake up think of that like there's a black preacher he just goes wake up wake up wake up he does that for like 10 minutes it's awesome wake up church because it's time there's a world going to hell the judgment place of God and we do not want them to be under God's divine judgment we want them to be delivered by the hands of Jesus Christ secondly I want you to ask if you have surrendered that loss to God maybe that you've nursed a wound and that loss has now become a part of your identity so I'm going to ask that maybe you take your loss to the throne of God and say God what would you have me to do with this loss that I've experienced and how can you use it for your glory because he loves you and he wants to do it head hand heart head I want you to know that when we experience loss we can shine even brighter for the Lord remember that candles they don't shine

Very bright in a room like this okay but when they're in a dark culture or a dark room they give off tremendous light you might not think that God can use your loss for his glory but God is bigger than that he can take despair and he can use it for joy he can take loss and he can make gain with it whoever loses his life will gain it is what the Lord says heart I want you to believe that God he still preserves and he protects his people even in the midst of sorrow God hasn't lost you he hasn't lost you in the chaos of your life and the hurt and the pain and the loss he hasn't lost you he still has you even when it feels like it's all falling apart he is a shelter for you and he instructs for you and I to take refuge in him maybe you're a believer and maybe you just haven't come to God for refuge it's time to come to him give him your burdens your fears he wants them he tells you us in his word to take his yoke upon yourself because it's easy and it's light and he promises peace to his people heart I want you to believe that God he still preserves and protects his people even in the midst of sorrow maybe you're not a Christian but maybe you would really like to become one you know that you're in darkness you know that you're without hope God he invites you to come to him just as you are and he invites you today to trust in him and receive his light and to follow him you can do that right now you can ask the Lord to save you and tell someone say

Pastor cody I need to be saved or a friend that invited you how do I become a Christian tell a friend during a worship song you can come forward we want to celebrate that with you because God invites you to come to him so it has that we all stand and we pray together as we respond and worship let's pray God we ask that you would help us to shine in babylon or this nation that we are in was founded on Christian principles and beliefs the Lord we've gotten so far away from that [Music] God we as a church where we even repent of our own sins God of greed of avarice of anger and control a fallen asleep God or we ask that you would help us to wake up to no longer be content just doing church and going through the motions as we sleep soundly listening to satan's lullaby God we don't want that we want you God and so you have our ears God as a church we confess that and help us God as your church to listen intently for your leadership God we ask for you to be glorified God that your name would be famous God that we would just be your people that shine brightly and Lord when we don't shine or when the carriers of this world come over us and maybe we give in to despair Lord help us to change our minds about that repent to come to you [Music] God that you would just restore us into your grace God that you would move among us today we ask for your peace and your blessing over us in Jesus name

Amen let's worship together [Music] oh so are you weary and troubled no light in the darkness you see there's light for a look at the Savior and life abundant and free turn your eyes upon Jesus look for his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely in the light of his glory and grace through death into life everlasting [Music] he passed and we follow him there or us in no more hath dominion for more than conquerors we are turn your eyes upon Jesus [Music] look for in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely [Music] in the light of his glory and grace [Music] word shall not fail you he promised [Music] believe and all will be well then go to a world that is dying his perfect salvation to death [Music] turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in his wonderful faith and the things of earth will grow strangely in the light of his glory and grace one more time just our voices turn your eyes upon Jesus

So God we do thank you just for your calling on our lives Lord that you've called us to be lights to the world to be salt to the earth Lord let people see the hope of you within us let them be around us and be able to taste and see that the Lord is good God use our loss we surrender it to you God you have our ears wake us up help us to stay alert God we just surrender ourselves to you as your people we go out of here proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ his death and burial and resurrection God you are good we love you in Jesus name amen