1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,800 Daniel declared, May the name of God be praised forever and ever, 2 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:09,200 for wisdom and power belong to him. 3 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,120 He changes the times and seasons. 4 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:14,840 He removes kings and establishes kings. 5 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,320 He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have 6 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,920 understanding. He reveals the deep and hidden 7 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:23,880 things. He knows what is in the 8 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,320 darkness, and light dwells with him. 9 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:30,320 Ioffer, thanks and praise to you, God of my ancestors, 10 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:32,640 because you have given me wisdom and power. 11 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:37,200 And now you have let me know what we asked of you, for you 12 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:39,400 have let us know the King's mystery. 13 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:49,880 One of my favorite things to talk about is the fact that I 14 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,080 was homeschooled. If we've had a conversation, 15 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:55,240 right, Yay for the homeschoolers. 16 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:59,080 OK, let's see one of the only places they're going to hear 17 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:03,680 clapping. So I love to talk about having 18 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:05,840 been homeschooled, even though it was so long ago. 19 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:10,920 But it was a huge influence upon my life and I was homeschooled 20 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,400 almost the entire way through. Not because we're against my 21 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:16,680 family's against public schooling, It was the fact that 22 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:18,640 we lived somewhere that didn't have very good public schooling. 23 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,960 So my parents decided to home homeschool us. 24 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,760 I grew up in Lansing, MI for the 1st 12 years of my life. 25 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,800 So kind of the Midwest. I identify where someone lives 26 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:32,880 in Michigan by going like this and pointing, you know, if you 27 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,920 know someone from Michigan. But after that, I moved to 28 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:40,880 Buffalo, NY and if you have been to New York, you know, New York 29 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:44,880 is a completely different place than the Midwest, just a 30 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:46,840 different vibe, right? Not good, not bad, but a 31 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:49,680 different vibe. And so me and my family, we 32 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:51,880 moved to Buffalo, NY. My parents were really excited. 33 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:54,920 I was not, I was devastated. I still have wounding from that 34 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,520 move. But when we did that, my parents 35 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:00,920 decided that we're going to try new things. 36 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,280 And I don't like trying new things, but I did it anyways. 37 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:09,080 And one of the things we tried is I tried going to public 38 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:12,320 school for, for 6th grade, something I don't often talk 39 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:16,600 about. And let me tell you, it was an 40 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:18,400 experience. I don't want to say if it was 41 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:19,800 good or bad, but it was an experience. 42 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:24,080 It was a place, though, where I felt completely out of place, 43 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:26,840 right? For one thing, I couldn't wear 44 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:29,320 pajamas all day. That stunk. 45 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,520 I positive I didn't have to unload the dishwasher. 46 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,360 That was a really nice thing about going to public school. 47 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,840 I could kind of make up my own schedule with home schooling at 48 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,360 public school. I, I had to like follow where I 49 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:46,800 needed to be. In fact, I can remember being so 50 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,440 stressed about like needing to be in certain places at certain 51 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,720 times that there was a week at school where I didn't even go to 52 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,040 my locker. I just carried all of my books 53 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,360 and all of my notebooks and stuff with me wherever I went. 54 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,600 I was so and I still, I still have dreams about that. 55 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:06,680 I was completely out of place and I knew it. 56 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:10,320 I wish that I could say like I was like a confident 6th grader. 57 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,440 There is none by the way. There's no confidence graders. 58 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:19,560 But man, I felt nervous, I felt anxious, I felt lonely. 59 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:23,400 I felt completely like I didn't belong. 60 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:31,600 Some of our favorite stories are about characters like that in in 61 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:33,600 film. We call these fish out of water 62 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,360 stories, right? Whether you're a Marvel fan and 63 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:41,240 it's Thor cast out of Asgard down into Oklahoma, and he's 64 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:43,440 walking around assuming things are the way they are. 65 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:45,640 He goes to a restaurant, gets really good coffee, and what 66 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:47,840 does he do? He throws the coffee mug on the 67 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:49,320 ground and says, I'll have another. 68 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,080 Or maybe it's Captain America, a man at a time. 69 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,320 He's used to the 1940s, and when he's now in our current day, he 70 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:02,920 feels completely out of place. If you don't like Marvel movies, 71 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,640 think who remembers George of the jungle? 72 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:08,040 Raise your hand if you remember George of the jungle. 73 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:10,280 George. George Georgia of the jungle. 74 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:14,160 Wash up for that tree. Yeah, that's my singing this 75 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,360 morning. We love these stories about 76 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,959 about characters that are in places where they don't feel 77 00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:24,440 like they belong or honestly, they they don't fit in. 78 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,640 It resonates with us because we've all felt that way. 79 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,320 Am I right? We've all had a time where you 80 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:37,160 felt like you didn't belong. For some of you, it's when you 81 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,440 move from one place to another, right? 82 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:43,200 The West Coast is very different than the East Coast is very 83 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,760 different than the Midwest. Even more so if you move 84 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,800 countries, right? Europe is a completely different 85 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:57,040 vibe than America, than Asia, than the Middle East. 86 00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:59,760 For some of you, it's just moving jobs, right? 87 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:01,720 Different work cultures are different. 88 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,080 Maybe you like worked at a really healthy culture where 89 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:08,640 everyone was able to speak their mind, everyone felt safe, and 90 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:13,200 you move to a toxic work environment where everyone was 91 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:20,240 watching their own back. We all have times where we feel 92 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:24,160 like we don't belong and all we want is to be home. 93 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:29,560 And the language of scripture, this feeling is what we call 94 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:34,080 exile. Exile is not simply being far 95 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:38,920 from home. Exile is being in a place with a 96 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:44,360 different thought value and heart. 97 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:52,480 Jesus being a follower of Jesus means that you and I feel that 98 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:54,520 on a daily basis. Am I right? 99 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,960 If you're following Jesus and you're on social media and 100 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:02,280 you're watching maybe friends argue, that feels out of place. 101 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:07,080 If you're if you hold a biblical sexual ethic that feels out of 102 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,720 place in our world. If you hold a biblical ethic 103 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:17,120 about justice that can feel out of place in our world. 104 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,560 Jesus gives us a different vision of of sexuality, a 105 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,280 different relationship with money, and a different posture 106 00:06:24,280 --> 00:06:31,240 towards power. We all have a sense that we are 107 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:40,080 not quite home. But what if this isn't so much a 108 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:42,880 bug, but it's a feature of being human? 109 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:47,720 What if it's just a reality of being human? 110 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:56,200 We're going to talk this week about how we are able to live as 111 00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:01,240 exiles in the place we live. And last week Pastor Ben began 112 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:06,160 our conversation about this as we begin the book of Daniel and 113 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:10,560 and teaching through that. So last week Pastor Ben talked 114 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:14,280 about the fact that we are exiles and learning how to stand 115 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:18,320 resolute, how to stand firm in what you believe, how to not be 116 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,080 swayed by the culture around you. 117 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,280 But this morning we're going to talk about the other side of the 118 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:27,400 coin. We are going to talk about how 119 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:34,680 you and I, as exiles in our culture, can live as as a 120 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:41,200 presence of love, healing, truth, wisdom, and God himself 121 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:46,880 in the place that we are. How can the people of God 122 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:52,040 influence the culture around them without becoming captive to 123 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,120 it? So we're going to read Daniel 2. 124 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,080 Go ahead and turn in your Bibles to to Daniel 2. 125 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:00,000 We're not going to read the whole thing because it's 40 126 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,160 something verses and you guys don't want me to preach that 127 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:05,880 long. You guys were quiet. 128 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:07,000 Maybe I will. That's good. 129 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:11,040 I'm kidding. We're going to look at Daniel 2 130 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:13,320 and then we're going to be a little nerdy today. 131 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,920 I love when I get to say this. If you have like a notebook or 132 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:18,720 something, this is a note taking sermon. 133 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,800 We're going to get a little a little nerdy, so go ahead. 134 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,960 We're going to start in Daniel 21. 135 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,520 Last week, if you weren't here, we started the Book of Daniel. 136 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:34,360 This is the opening crawl, right of if you're a Star Wars fan, 137 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:39,400 I'm going to give you that Babylon is the world power at 138 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:43,240 the time of Daniel. They invade, they take over 139 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:46,200 other cultures and bring them in. 140 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:52,360 And so Israel is invaded by Babylon and Babylon kidnaps the 141 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:58,880 top leaders of Israel. Now why do they do that? 142 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:00,320 Why do they take only the top leaders? 143 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,280 See, Babylon doesn't take all of the slaves and bring them in. 144 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:07,000 Usually what Babylon does is is much more sneaky. 145 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:13,200 Babylon will take like the top leaders and take them to Babylon 146 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:17,320 and then begin to train them up in Babylonian ways, train them 147 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:20,680 in their way of living, train them in their religion, their 148 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:23,760 ways of thinking. And then they would send those 149 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:29,880 people back to their their home. And as those leaders had become 150 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,640 more Babylonians, the people underneath them would slowly 151 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,760 become more Babylonian because as the leader goes, so goes the 152 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:39,640 culture. So Daniel's kidnapped, he's 153 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:44,320 taken to Babylon and him and the others are begin this like 154 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,360 training regimen, right? This training regimen to be to 155 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:51,800 be wise men or or rulers with within Babylon and the the 156 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:55,080 Jewish people. And Daniel manages to stand 157 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:59,720 resolute against them, but not in a hostile way, right? 158 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,640 And so this week we began a couple years later, verse one, 159 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:09,360 now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. 160 00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:15,320 Nebuchadnezzar had dreams and his spirit was troubled and his 161 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:18,760 sleep left him. How many of you have had a bad 162 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:23,280 dream before that kept you up? You just kept thinking about it. 163 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:26,760 That's this guy, right? This is Nebuchadnezzar. 164 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:31,200 Nebuchadnezzar is one of the most powerful men in the world, 165 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:34,160 and he is brought to anxiety by a dream. 166 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:36,960 Part of the reason is not just the dream itself, but in the 167 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:40,480 Babylonian culture, they believe that dreams were the way that 168 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:45,160 the gods would speak to you. So Nebuchadnezzar has had some 169 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:49,760 kind of dream that he believes is a message from the gods and 170 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:54,480 it terrifies him so much so that he's unable to keep sleeping. 171 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,640 And so verse 2, then the king gave orders to call him the 172 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:01,960 soothsayer priests, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and 173 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:05,440 the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans is not a word that 174 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:09,480 we have in our everyday life. Chaldeans this is there's 175 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:12,560 there's two things that a Chaldean would be OK. 176 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:17,000 First, we know that Babylon goes and takes over other cultures, 177 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:22,080 but if you were an original like OG Babylonian actually from 178 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:25,120 Babylon, you would be called a Chaldean, right? 179 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:27,280 It's like superheroes in comic book. 180 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:28,880 Things are cool now and I like them. 181 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:32,320 Back in the early 90s when I was just a little nerd, I was an 182 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:34,920 original nerd. That's what Chaldean is. 183 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:39,040 But the more interesting thing about the Chaldeans is what they 184 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:43,560 did see the the sorcerer's and the soothsayers and the Mystics. 185 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:48,080 They would sit and they would like seek the gods for answers 186 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:52,640 or seek the spiritual world or or they would, they would speak 187 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:55,640 to the dead. But the Chaldeans were much more 188 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:59,720 analytical. They were like prophetic nerds. 189 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:01,880 OK. The Chaldeans had these books 190 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:04,720 that were were full of different dreams. 191 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,880 And then what did they mean? I mean, it was literally we, we 192 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:10,680 can, we can go in the historical record and we still can find 193 00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:12,520 these. They're just these manual of 194 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:15,800 different dream images and what they mean. 195 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:19,400 And so if if you had a dream, you could go to a Chaldean, you 196 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:20,920 could say, hey, I had this dream. 197 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:25,640 I dreamt that the moon was really big and my mom came in, 198 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:28,880 but she had a goat head. I don't know what that means. 199 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:30,200 What did it? Would it mean Chaldean in the 200 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:32,160 Chaldean would be like, oh, that's very interesting. 201 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:34,800 He'd open his manual and he would look and go, oh, big moon 202 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,120 mom comes in and go ahead and he could give you an answer. 203 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:42,680 And so it makes sense that that Nebuchadnezzar brings all of 204 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:46,520 these people in in order to help him find the answers he's 205 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:50,880 looking for. So the king says, verse 3, I had 206 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:56,680 a dream in my spirit. My inner being is anxious to 207 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:01,560 understand the dream. Then the Chaldean spoke to the 208 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:06,520 king in Aramaic. O king, live forever. 209 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:11,360 Tell the dream to your servants. Nothing wrong with this request, 210 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:13,000 right? This is how it usually works, 211 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,800 and we will declare the interpretation. 212 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:19,880 The King replied to the Chaldeans. 213 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:26,360 The command from me is firm. If you do not make known to me 214 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:30,560 the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn 215 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:34,800 limb from limb and your houses will be turned into a rubbish 216 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:39,480 heap. Now the Chaldeans didn't usually 217 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:43,240 receive this response, right. Usually you would come in and 218 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:46,560 say, Mr. Chaldean, Sir, I dream that the moon was really big. 219 00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:49,120 My mom walked in and she had to go ahead and then the person 220 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:51,480 would give an answer. They did not have people coming 221 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:55,120 in and saying, hey Chaldean, I had a dream, tell me what it is. 222 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:00,280 So the Chaldeans are are a little bit confused by this and 223 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:02,840 I imagine they're a little bit concerned about the amount of 224 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:05,320 aggression that Nebuchadnezzar has. 225 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,280 I don't often go places and have someone say, hey, if you don't 226 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:10,960 do your job, I'm going to tell you limb from limb and make your 227 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:16,800 house rubble, right? But Nebuchadnezzar in that time 228 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,240 period, it makes a little sense why he's doing this. 229 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:25,120 See Cause for Nebuchadnezzar during that time period, there 230 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:30,440 was political betrayal often. There was often conspiracies, 231 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:33,760 power struggles, backstabbing, betrayal. 232 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:35,880 It was Game of Thrones all the time. 233 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:40,360 Not that I've seen it or right I don't. 234 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:46,680 Anyways, So for Nebuchadnezzar, he's constantly looking out for 235 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:50,360 enemies and he's looking for what is true. 236 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:55,800 And so he looks at these wise men and he says, I have a 237 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:59,280 problem. I need you to answer me in all 238 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:04,320 your mysticism and your dream analytics, and you're talking to 239 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,560 the dead. And I want you to tell me what I 240 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,320 dream so I know that you're legit. 241 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:13,280 Because if you're not legit, what are you doing? 242 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,360 Are you trying to manipulate me? Are you looking to betray me? 243 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:19,400 What's going on? So Nebuchadnezzar, he has a 244 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:25,800 short fuse about this. This is what anxiety does. 245 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:32,280 If anxiety is left untreated, it turns us outward and it turns us 246 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:38,920 aggressive. And so the wise men, they, they 247 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:41,200 try again. The wise men feel like maybe 248 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:44,880 they, they misheard the king. And in the verses it says, let 249 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:48,160 the wise men go, oh, king, king, listen, if you could, just like 250 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:51,840 if you could tell us the dream. I know you're looking for us to 251 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:53,960 tell you the dream, but that's not really how it works. 252 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:56,040 Actually. You tell us the dream, and then 253 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:58,600 we'll be able to give you the answer. 254 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:01,160 But Nebuchadnezzar doesn't have it. 255 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,680 Nebuchadnezzar repeats it. Listen, I'm going to wipe you. 256 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:06,600 I'm going to destroy you, OK? I'm going to destroy you. 257 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:14,240 If you can't give me an answer. And they're scared, how would 258 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,640 you like it if your boss said that to you at work? 259 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:26,280 And so Daniel then finds out what Nebuchadnezzar has said 260 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:31,400 about the wise men. Verse 17. 261 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:33,680 Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends 262 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:37,120 Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about this matter. 263 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:41,480 Now notice we haven't heard from Daniel yet in this passage. 264 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:47,960 And the first time we do in chapter 2, he is in danger, OK? 265 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:52,520 It's like Daniel's like hanging out at his home, probably in 266 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:54,960 some kind of like fraternity with other young wise men 267 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:56,920 people. Guards come to the door and 268 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:58,800 like, listen, hey, we got to wipe you out. 269 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:05,200 And So what does Daniel do? Daniel asks for more time. 270 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:09,280 He says, listen, I don't, I don't know what's going on here, 271 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:14,720 but I hear that the the wise men and the Chaldeans and the other 272 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,040 like sorcery people, they can't give you an answer, but I can 273 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,760 definitely give you an answer. You just got to give me some 274 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:25,400 time to go and find it. And by the grace of God, they 275 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:28,760 say yes. We got to remember that this is 276 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:33,960 not Daniel like at his prime. This isn't like 45th year old 277 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:37,920 wise men beard probably like a staff and a bunch of scrolls 278 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:42,280 looks really wise in the eyes. It's not like Gandalf Daniel. 279 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:47,080 This is like Frodo Daniel. This is young Daniel. 280 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,680 From the beginning of the story, we know that this might be 281 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:55,240 Daniel during his training or or at most this is Daniel like very 282 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:59,600 beginning of his career. But what we do know is Daniel 283 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:06,280 has no influence at all. All that is known about Daniel 284 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:10,680 by the Babylonians is that he is a man of integrity. 285 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,240 From the story before with the food and the wine and stuff, 286 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:20,080 right? And so immediately in response, 287 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:22,520 Daniel gets his friends together and they begin to pray. 288 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:24,400 And what do they pray for verse 18? 289 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:28,600 That they might request compassion from God of heaven 290 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:32,400 concerning this secret so that Daniel and his friends would not 291 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:34,760 be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 292 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:41,280 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision and 293 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:43,640 then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 294 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:48,560 Daniel said, may the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for 295 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:53,120 wisdom and power belong to him so that they might request 296 00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:55,440 compassion from the God of heaven. 297 00:18:56,160 --> 00:19:01,520 Now this phrase, God of heaven, you can take a highlighter at 298 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:02,640 home. Here's some homework. 299 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,600 I like homework. Maybe you do go read the book of 300 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,280 Daniel and highlight every time God of heaven shows up. 301 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:10,800 This is a really important phrase. 302 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,080 Why? Think about the source that 303 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:16,640 everyone else was seeking an answer for from? 304 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:20,560 It was all what they could do right? 305 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:23,600 Whether it was the Chaldeans and their books of knowledge or the 306 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:27,320 sorcerers that were seeking the spiritual world or the dead, it 307 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:29,760 was all internal. It was all about what they could 308 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:35,720 do to seek an answer. But Daniel, Daniel is going to 309 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:40,960 the God of heaven, the the, the creator of God, Yahweh Elohim, 310 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:45,560 the creator of heaven and earth, the one who made the stars that 311 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:49,640 made the spirits that gives dreams. 312 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:57,800 So Daniel gets his answer and I want you to look at what his 313 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:03,080 response is. It's worship. 314 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:08,880 Read along with me because this is it's beautiful. 315 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,520 It's why we read it before. This is literally Daniel's 316 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,760 worship song. It's it's praise. 317 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,280 It's theologically rich. Verse 21 God. 318 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:22,800 It is he who changes the times and the periods. 319 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,560 He removes kings and appoints kings. 320 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:29,000 He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to people of 321 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,640 understanding. It is he who reveals the 322 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,720 profound and hidden things. He knows what is in the 323 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,240 darkness, and the light dwells in him. 324 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,840 To you, God of my Father's, I give thanks and praise, for you 325 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:45,200 have given me wisdom and power even now. 326 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:50,760 You have made known to me what we requested of you, for you 327 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,720 have made known to us the kings matter. 328 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,280 Listen to all of these things that Daniel is saying about God. 329 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:02,920 Daniel acknowledges wisdom and that wisdom and revelation are 330 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,600 from God, that God is eternal, that God knows all, that God is 331 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:08,880 sovereign, He's king, he's powerful. 332 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,760 He gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding that God is 333 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:14,920 faithful and that God answers prayer. 334 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:21,000 See, ultimately the difference between what Daniel did and 335 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:27,120 everyone else is that Daniel was seeking the giver, everyone else 336 00:21:27,120 --> 00:21:33,800 was seeking the gift. Daniel was looking to God. 337 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:36,840 He was going for a relationship with the Father. 338 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:40,280 It says that he went and he sought compassion from God. 339 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,600 He didn't just go looking for an answer. 340 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,360 And so after that, Daniel goes to Iraq. 341 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:52,160 He's the the captain of the guard and he says, hey, so 342 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:55,560 listen, you were here yesterday and you said we're all going to 343 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:57,600 die. But listen, I have an answer for 344 00:21:57,600 --> 00:21:59,840 you. I went and I prayed and I, I 345 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:01,680 have an answer. And Iraq, he probably is a 346 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,400 little surprised, but he takes Daniel and he takes him into the 347 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:09,680 throne room. And then verse 25, then Aria 348 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:13,400 currently brought Daniel into the King's presence and spoke to 349 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:17,520 the king as follows. I have found a man among the 350 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:22,120 Exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the 351 00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:25,840 king. The king said to Daniel whose 352 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,280 name was Beltazar. Real quick, this is a little 353 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:31,240 thing I learned in my research. It's a little aside. 354 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:39,240 Every time you see the name of a Babylonian God, like even in the 355 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,280 names of the people, it's spelled wrong. 356 00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:46,960 Every time that the Babylonian gods show up and Daniel, they're 357 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:51,160 spelled wrong. We scholars used to think it was 358 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:55,000 like a little error, but we've found a ton of manuscripts. 359 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:59,040 It's always spelled wrong. It's as if Daniel's looking at 360 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:01,960 the Babylonian God names and goes, I don't care. 361 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:10,040 The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belchazar. 362 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:15,040 Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and 363 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,880 its interpretation? Notice he's asking, Can you tell 364 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:19,480 me what the dream is and interpret it? 365 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,240 Daniel answered before the king and said. 366 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:28,240 As for the secret about which the king has inquired, neither 367 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:32,880 wise men, sorcerer's soothsayer, priests nor diviners are able to 368 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:37,840 declare it to the king. However, there is a God in 369 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:43,080 heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to King 370 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:47,680 Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the later days. 371 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:51,760 This was your dream, and the visions in your mind. 372 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:57,280 Well, on your bed pause. Want you to, before we talk 373 00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,960 about the dream, want you to notice a couple of things. 374 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:06,360 First, contrast Aryak's posture with Daniel's posture. 375 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:11,000 Aryak is doing what we call image management. 376 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:13,080 It's something that you and I still do. 377 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,920 It's when we go in and we make sure people see what we have 378 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:19,680 done. Aryak's trying to build 379 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:22,160 influence for himself. He's trying to build power for 380 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:23,760 himself. He's saying, King, notice me, 381 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:26,400 look what I did. He's trying to to get a 382 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:30,920 platform. Contrast that with David. 383 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:36,360 David said there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets. 384 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:41,040 Daniel takes zero credit for this. 385 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,560 He does not come in and say, listen, I have an answer. 386 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:46,240 He says, listen, God has an answer for you. 387 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:50,480 He pushes all glory, all praise up to God. 388 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:55,840 Daniel is humble. Second, notice who the 389 00:24:55,840 --> 00:25:00,560 revelation is for. It's for King Nebuchadnezzar. 390 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:07,440 God doesn't answer the prayer just to get Daniel out of 391 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:11,960 trouble. God answers the prayer because 392 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:16,440 even though it is a foreign culture and enemy of Israel, he 393 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:20,400 still has love and compassion for King Nebuchadnezzar. 394 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:25,480 He still has a revelation. He still has a word for 395 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:30,120 Nebuchadnezzar. So what about the dream? 396 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:33,560 The dream is like 20 versus long. 397 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:36,120 We're not going to read it, OK, And honestly, we're not going to 398 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:38,280 spend a lot of time on it, but I do want to touch on it so that 399 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:40,240 we stay faithful to the word. OK? 400 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:44,280 So let's talk about what happens in the dream. 401 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:50,800 The king has dreamt about a giant statue, OK? 402 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:55,240 Think like Statue of Liberty and the head, its gold, its chest 403 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,400 and its arms, its silver. Its belly and its thighs are 404 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,720 bronze. Its legs are made of iron and 405 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:05,400 its feet are partially iron and partially clay. 406 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:10,080 It's symbolism. It's not because someone was 407 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,360 lazy and planning how to build a statue, OK. 408 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,400 And so Nebuchadnezzar is looking up at this giant, beautiful, 409 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,120 extraordinary statue. And then all the sudden, from 410 00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:23,560 the sky, a stone comes and bashes the statue and it 411 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:26,400 crumbles to pieces. The stone embeds itself in the 412 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,000 ground and then grows up to be this giant mountain. 413 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:41,240 Weird dream, right? First, what can we learn from 414 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:42,880 this passage? Or what do we know about this 415 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,560 passage? First, Daniel says that the gold 416 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:48,400 head that the statue has is Babylon. 417 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,680 He says in verse 36, this was the dream, and now we will tell 418 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:54,400 you its interpretation before the king. 419 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:58,840 You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven 420 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,960 has given the Kingdom the power, the strength and honor. 421 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:06,440 And wherever the sons of mankind live, or the animals of the 422 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:10,720 field, or the birds of the air, he has handed them over to you 423 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,760 and has made you ruler over all of them. 424 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:15,600 Listen to the language right there. 425 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:19,080 It's very simpler, similar to Genesis one, right when God 426 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:22,200 creates man, He says, I've created him in my image and my 427 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:24,440 likeness. And what does he tell mankind to 428 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,600 do? To have dominion over the earth, 429 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:31,440 to care for it, to rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of 430 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:32,680 the air, and the creatures of the ground. 431 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:38,760 Daniel is speaking Genesis 1 to the king, saying listen king, 432 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:46,000 you have the opportunity to live out being a king that God has 433 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,800 created you to be. Being a king is not bad. 434 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:50,240 Being a king of Babylon is not bad. 435 00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:58,160 It's all in how you do it. 2nd, the use of these different 436 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:01,640 kingdoms. I want to talk about why they're 437 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:06,040 there, because maybe you've been raised in the church and maybe 438 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:07,960 have like a study Bible or you've done a study of Daniel 439 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:10,800 before and there's lots of different interpretations of 440 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:14,320 what these different layers are. Some people think like, oh, OK, 441 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:18,360 so it's Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, America, or there's, 442 00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:20,080 there's a bunch of them. You can go and look at them. 443 00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:25,040 But I, I don't think that God or Daniel is wanting us to focus on 444 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:29,360 exactly what Kingdom is, which I think he has like a deeper 445 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:33,120 message to us. And I think that because the 446 00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:36,320 number four and five that he gives like the, the four layers 447 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:39,280 or the five layers, depending on how you look at it, that's a, a 448 00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:42,600 literary device to help you remember that there's, there's 449 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:46,200 a, a multitude, OK, we see it throughout writing four or five. 450 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:53,680 And what I think that Daniel is communicating is that Babylon 451 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,720 and the other kingdoms will not last. 452 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:00,480 And they don't. So whether it is Babylon, 453 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:02,600 whether it's Greece, whether it's Persia, whether it's Rome, 454 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:08,440 whether it's America, all of these kingdoms will not last. 455 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:13,280 They do eventually fall. The only victorious ruling 456 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:17,920 forever Kingdom is the mountain, the Kingdom of God. 457 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,760 Verse 44. And in the days of those kings, 458 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:25,120 the God of heaven will set up a Kingdom which will never be 459 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:29,880 destroyed, and that Kingdom will not be left for another people. 460 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:34,120 It will crush and put an end to all of these kingdoms, but it 461 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:39,360 will itself endure forever. God is sovereign, God is in 462 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:44,120 control, He is above all. He is king. 463 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:50,480 And this is the heart of the book of Daniel, is that God is 464 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,360 ultimately in control, even though Babylon thinks it is. 465 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:57,080 At the beginning of Dan, at the beginning of Daniel, Daniel won. 466 00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:01,240 It says that Babylon comes in and it takes over, takes over 467 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:04,600 the Israel, that it kidnaps the people. 468 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:08,120 But along with that it says God handed them over. 469 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:11,520 It's Daniel's way of saying, listen, Babylon thinks it's in 470 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:13,880 charge, but God's actually in charge. 471 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:16,720 Babylon thinks it's in charge when it's trying to get Daniel 472 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,000 to eat certain food, but Daniel goes, I'm not going to eat that 473 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:21,640 food. Who's actually in charge? 474 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:25,800 Later on with the the Daniel and the lion's den, you all know 475 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,440 this story. Babylon says, listen, you're not 476 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:30,960 allowed to pray to anyone but the emperor for a while. 477 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,120 What does Daniel do? Daniel keeps praying because he 478 00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:39,520 knows that God is in control. Daniel wants you. 479 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:43,480 Daniel wants I Daniel wants King Nebuchadnezzar to know that God 480 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:45,480 is sovereign and he is in control. 481 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:48,680 And So what happens? Verse 46 Then King 482 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:51,480 Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid humble respect to 483 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:55,720 Daniel and gave orders to present himself, to present him 484 00:30:55,960 --> 00:31:00,200 an offering, an incense. The king responded to Daniel and 485 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:06,520 said, your God truly is a God of God and a Lord of kings and a 486 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:10,320 revealer of secrets. Since you have been able to 487 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:18,160 reveal this secret. Daniel's faithfulness leads the 488 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:26,400 Babylonian king to worship God. The way Daniel lives allows the 489 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:32,280 king to see God's goodness. And so Daniel's promoted. 490 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:36,080 He's put over the other wise men. 491 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:44,200 Daniel the exile, a man with no real power influence, brings a 492 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:48,520 king to worship God. See, my friends, Daniel's way of 493 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:52,640 life did more than keep Babylon from getting into him. 494 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:56,960 It made him the kind of person through whom the presence and 495 00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:59,720 wisdom of God could enter Babylon. 496 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:03,840 Our way of life does more than keep the culture from forming 497 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,360 us. It makes us the kind of people 498 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:10,040 through whom the presence and wisdom of God can enter the 499 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:16,680 world around us. This is the way that the Kingdom 500 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:22,880 of heaven works, not through hostility, not through what what 501 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:27,120 sociologists call hard power, that's like military power or or 502 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:31,640 hard force, but through what sociologists call soft power, 503 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:37,520 that slow gentle influence, whether it's Jesus and his 504 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:41,040 disciples, whether it's the early church in the book of Acts 505 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:45,040 or the early church in Rome. I would love to talk all day 506 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:48,520 about how early Christians in Rome in a culture that viewed 507 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:54,160 children, that viewed like baby girls as as nothing, that viewed 508 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:57,280 the the sick and the infirm as nothing. 509 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:04,440 They create, They create orphanages, hospitals, hotels 510 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:08,160 through the Middle Ages. They create libraries and 511 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:12,840 breweries and like all of this culture making stuff. 512 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:22,680 Our way of life has a way of bringing goodness and truth of 513 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:26,160 God into the world around us. So I want to talk for just a 514 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:27,400 moment before we talk about what? 515 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:30,120 What exactly can we pull from the book of Daniel? 516 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:35,200 I want to talk for a moment about what culture is and the 517 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:38,440 tension that you and I feel within it, because you'll hear 518 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:40,240 Pastor Ben and I talk a lot about culture. 519 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:42,520 If you've been with us the last year, we talk a lot about 520 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:46,800 culture because it's really important because it has more 521 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:48,920 influence than a lot of other things in our lives. 522 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,680 Culture is the water that we swim in. 523 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:58,880 So what is culture? Culture is, according to Andy 524 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:05,880 Crouch, what we make of the world, OK Dallas Willard says 525 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:10,199 that culture is what you and I do naturally. 526 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:15,440 Therefore, culture is not bad. It just is, OK. 527 00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:20,960 You're a family has a culture. Maybe it's quiet. 528 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:22,800 Maybe you guys pray after dinner. 529 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,080 Maybe everyone gets along. Or maybe it's a little bit 530 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,800 chaotic. Maybe the TV's on a lot more 531 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:33,920 than it should be at my house, and our daughter won't sit at 532 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:38,040 the dinner table. Work has different types of 533 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:41,880 culture, right? You might have a culture, again, 534 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:44,440 that feels safe, where everyone is able to share, where people 535 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:46,679 show up on time and try to do a good job. 536 00:34:46,679 --> 00:34:48,199 Or maybe you have a culture where people are cutting 537 00:34:48,199 --> 00:34:52,719 corners. Culture is what we make of the 538 00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:56,320 world. It's like if you went to a 539 00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,080 couple fish and asked them how the water is. 540 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:02,600 The fish don't necessarily know what what water is. 541 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,200 It is just what they swim in. They don't know what's beyond 542 00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:08,760 it. And so the tension that you and 543 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:15,200 I have with culture is how do we walk faithfully without becoming 544 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:21,760 synchronistic or isolate or becoming isolated, right? 545 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:25,000 Like at the end of the day, you want to be faithful to Jesus, 546 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:27,160 right? You want to follow him, You want 547 00:35:27,240 --> 00:35:30,440 to be faithful to him. You want to be a loving person, 548 00:35:31,680 --> 00:35:35,280 but there's this tension in us where we don't want to become 549 00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:37,680 unpopular in the world. We don't want to lose influence 550 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:40,520 with people. We don't want to have like, send 551 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:48,120 people away from us, but we also don't want to, like, adopt all 552 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:49,560 the values and stuff of the world. 553 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:52,840 So quick word on syncretism and isolation. 554 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:56,600 Syncretism is the blending of beliefs, practices, symbols and 555 00:35:56,600 --> 00:36:01,240 traditions from different religions or cultures producing 556 00:36:01,240 --> 00:36:05,720 a new expression of life. So syncretism is when we adapt 557 00:36:05,720 --> 00:36:09,080 the thoughts, beliefs and practices to fit our host 558 00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:10,600 cultures. OK. 559 00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:13,200 This would be like Christians being willing to say certain 560 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:16,440 things or have certain views in order to get influence on social 561 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:19,320 media. It's when you and I decide to go 562 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:23,480 against what we know scripture says and adapt new new beliefs. 563 00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:30,800 It's, it's like in The Jungle Book, OK, Mowgli starts living 564 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:32,800 like an animal instead of a human. 565 00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:36,240 There's syncretism there. He's become like his host 566 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:39,200 culture. So we don't want to have that. 567 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:41,520 We don't want to become like our host culture, but we also don't 568 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:44,120 want to become isolated, which is when we run away from the 569 00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:48,040 culture and we just like make Christian media or Christian 570 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:51,040 like businesses. We try to completely wall 571 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:55,320 ourselves off from anything of the world, Pastor John Stott 572 00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:57,760 once wrote. Although Christians are or 573 00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:00,360 should be morally and spiritually distinct from non 574 00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:04,080 Christians, they are not to be socially segregated. 575 00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:07,480 Why? The world is dark, Jesus 576 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:11,240 implied, but you are to be its lights. 577 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:16,920 The world is decaying, but you are to be salt and to hinder its 578 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:20,800 decay. John Stott is of course working 579 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:23,880 off of Jesus's words and the the Sermon on the Mount where he 580 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:27,760 says you are the light of the world, a city on the hill. 581 00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:34,000 A great example of this is Chick-fil-A, the light of the 582 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:39,600 world in fast food restaurants. But think about it for a moment. 583 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:43,960 Chick-fil-A does not call itself just a Christian organization. 584 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:46,120 It's not just going towards Christians. 585 00:37:46,720 --> 00:37:50,600 It exists in the public sector. Anyone can go and eat at 586 00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:54,080 Chick-fil-A, but Chick-fil-A holds to Christian values like 587 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:58,240 being closed on Sundays for a Sabbath for their employees. 588 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:02,640 And by doing so, they are having an influence on the culture 589 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:08,400 around it. We see Jesus in his words in one 590 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:11,360 of his final prayers. I'm not asking that you take 591 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:15,440 them out of the world, but to keep them away from the evil. 1 592 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:18,400 Jesus wants us to seek reconciliation instead of 593 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:21,880 rejection, right? He wants us to be peacemakers. 594 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:26,720 He wants us to stand in the in the in between where we have two 595 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:28,880 sides that are hostile to one another. 596 00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:33,120 And He wants us to find a way to make peace between them, not 597 00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:35,000 just for peace for us and the world. 598 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:41,240 We need to have discernment about what we watch or play or 599 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:43,720 produce. I think about like when I was 600 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:47,120 10, again, homeschooled, and Pokémon was really big. 601 00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:52,960 I loved Pokémon, I loved it. I could name the 1st 150 Pokémon 602 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:54,640 no problem. And I know that there are some 603 00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:56,240 of you in the room that can still do it. 604 00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:03,520 You're smiling and nodding. But there was a magazine that my 605 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:05,800 mom used to get and it was a homeschool magazine and it had 606 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:09,320 like a three page article about Pokémon and how it was evil. 607 00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:12,160 And my family, like we laugh about it now. 608 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:16,400 But like my family did wrestle with like, do we do Pokémon? 609 00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:20,920 Is it faithful to God? And I applaud my parents because 610 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:26,640 they were prayerfully discerning about it and they raised a nerd 611 00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:28,160 to continue on. So I definitely still did 612 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:32,040 Pokémon, but we need to have discernment like that in the 613 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:34,560 world we live in. We need to not just adapt what 614 00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:37,000 the host culture says or just isolate ourselves. 615 00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:39,960 We need to ask questions about like if our kids are involved in 616 00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:42,520 activities, how much activities are OK? 617 00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:45,960 Do I completely take my kids out of sports in order to follow 618 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:48,920 Jesus or do I just let my kids do whatever and to run my 619 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:51,880 schedule? Should I watch love island? 620 00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:58,160 Should I watch The Walking Dead? What am I watching? 621 00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:04,200 What am I listening to? Think lighthouses, not castles. 622 00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:08,760 Think relationships with people that influence. 623 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:14,080 We need to find ways for the Kingdom of heaven to break in to 624 00:40:14,080 --> 00:40:17,960 our lives. This is what Jesus is talking 625 00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:19,720 about in the parable of the mustard seed. 626 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:23,680 Jesus said he presented another parable to them, saying the 627 00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:27,080 Kingdom of heaven is a mustard seed which a person took and 628 00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:31,680 sowed in its field, and this is smaller than all the other seed. 629 00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:34,480 But when it is fully grown, listen to this. 630 00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:36,280 This is something that I missed for a long time. 631 00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:40,520 When it is grown, it is larger than the garden plants and 632 00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:44,200 becomes a tree. So that what happens, the birds 633 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:48,560 of the sky come and nest in its branches, the Kingdom of heaven. 634 00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:52,520 The reason that Jesus came is not for us to escape the world. 635 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:56,680 It is so that we become a safe place for the world to find 636 00:40:56,680 --> 00:41:01,800 healing and reconciliation. The Kingdom of heaven is not 637 00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:03,880 where good people go to escape the world. 638 00:41:04,200 --> 00:41:08,000 It is God's invasive hope breaking into the world to make 639 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:12,880 all things new. So a couple of quick words of 640 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:15,440 how we're able to do this out of Daniel 2. 641 00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:20,640 First, what does Daniel show us? Daniel lives a life that 642 00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:24,800 prepared him. Daniel lived by a rule of life, 643 00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:28,640 which is a set of practices that kept his heart, mind and body 644 00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:32,200 oriented towards the father. You see this throughout the 645 00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:34,960 book, right? Daniel will only eat certain 646 00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:37,840 things. Daniel prays with his friends 647 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:41,400 later on in the book of. In the book in chapter 6, I 648 00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:45,040 believe it is when the king says that no one's allowed to pray to 649 00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:47,800 anyone but the king. Daniel has a prayer rhythm 650 00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:51,080 through the day where he prays at the same time every day. 651 00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:54,760 None of this is random, and none of it was just religious duty. 652 00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:58,480 These practices were forming him into the kind of person who 653 00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:01,600 could remain faithful under pressure. 654 00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:04,720 So when the crisis came, Daniel did not have to invent a 655 00:42:04,720 --> 00:42:08,000 spiritual life on the spot. His way of life had already 656 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:12,320 prepared him to hear from God, to stand with humility, and to 657 00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:17,160 become the source of good for Babylon 2. 658 00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:21,320 Daniel's posture positioned him right. 659 00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:24,560 Daniel answered. And As for the secret about 660 00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:27,680 which you you're inquired, either the wise men, the 661 00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:30,560 sorcerer's, the soothsayer priest, or the diviners could 662 00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:33,240 tell the king. However there is a God in heaven 663 00:42:33,240 --> 00:42:37,360 who reveals secrets. Daniel could have built a 664 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:41,600 platform right here in the passage when he looks and says, 665 00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:43,440 listen, all of them could not answer. 666 00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:48,160 He could have said, but I can. But instead, Daniel positions 667 00:42:48,160 --> 00:42:56,640 himself to present God himself. And that's a hard word for you 668 00:42:56,640 --> 00:42:58,960 and I because we like to have influence. 669 00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:09,240 But the way that you and I hold our posture will determine how 670 00:43:09,240 --> 00:43:15,200 God will show up in our lives. God is not looking to build your 671 00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:20,680 platform. God's not looking to make you a 672 00:43:20,680 --> 00:43:25,240 person of influence for your your business or your TikTok or 673 00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:30,440 whatever. God wants to work through you, 674 00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:43,240 not build you up Finally. Finally, Daniel's prayer 675 00:43:43,240 --> 00:43:51,280 empowers him. The center of the passage is 676 00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:57,200 about Daniel's seeking of God and nothing else to answer the 677 00:43:57,200 --> 00:43:59,760 question. At its heart, this is a story 678 00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:03,400 about a person who learned to seek God's presence before 679 00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:07,960 anything else. When the crisis comes, Daniel 680 00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:11,760 does not begin with strategy. He does not reach out for 681 00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:14,200 control. He gathers friends and they 682 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:17,520 pray. And that's what your workplace 683 00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:19,080 needs. That's what your family need. 684 00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:20,400 That's what your neighborhood needs. 685 00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:23,600 That's what Ankeny needs. We need prayerful people, people 686 00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:26,840 who seek God together and receive his wisdom for the 687 00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:35,370 places that we live in. It's about learning to notice 688 00:44:35,370 --> 00:44:37,610 God in our daily decisions about our work. 689 00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:42,680 It's it's asking God, how should I respond to the situation, to 690 00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:44,560 this person? How do I stay humble? 691 00:44:44,720 --> 00:44:49,480 How do I stay patient? It's learning to practice 692 00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:55,640 discernment. Because this is how God's people 693 00:44:55,640 --> 00:44:59,120 influence culture. Not by becoming louder, not by 694 00:44:59,120 --> 00:45:02,040 chasing platforms, not by winning every argument, but by 695 00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:05,680 becoming the kind of people who recognise what God is doing and 696 00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:07,960 respond with wisdom, courage and love. 697 00:45:11,480 --> 00:45:13,920 So look at the way you live life. 698 00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:17,400 Let's talk about this really practically. 699 00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:23,320 Look at your pace of life. Do you live at a pace of life 700 00:45:23,320 --> 00:45:27,960 where you could hear God? Look at your calendar. 701 00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:29,400 Do you have space where you can hear God? 702 00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:32,840 Look what receives your attention right? 703 00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:35,000 Like what are you putting in front of your eyes? 704 00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:37,360 Who has the most influence on how you think? 705 00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:40,000 Who are the voices that you're listening to? 706 00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:44,360 See, when trouble came, Daniel already knew where to turn. 707 00:45:48,720 --> 00:45:50,440 And so I'm going to ask the worship team to go ahead and 708 00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:56,440 come on up. So the question at the beginning 709 00:45:56,440 --> 00:46:00,000 is, how do you and I influence our culture? 710 00:46:02,240 --> 00:46:07,720 And it is by becoming a prayerful people, a prayerful 711 00:46:07,720 --> 00:46:10,440 people that are seeking God himself that are seeking God's 712 00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:13,640 presence, right. We are presence church and what 713 00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:16,360 do we do? We want to be a presence in our 714 00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:20,720 city, but through him. And so like Daniel this this 715 00:46:20,720 --> 00:46:24,600 week, as you encounter work situations, as you encounter 716 00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:28,840 difficult conversations, the invitation is to go and to seek 717 00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:33,240 God. And so some of you just need to 718 00:46:33,240 --> 00:46:37,560 createspace, some of you need space in your calendar to go and 719 00:46:37,560 --> 00:46:41,320 see God's voice. Some of you need a place. 720 00:46:41,640 --> 00:46:44,120 Do you have a place in your house, apartment, wherever? 721 00:46:44,280 --> 00:46:47,160 Maybe it's a park where you can go and you can listen for God's 722 00:46:47,160 --> 00:46:56,560 voice, check your posture or whose platform are you building? 723 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:02,680 Are you building up you, are you building up your business? 724 00:47:03,880 --> 00:47:06,440 Are you building up a place where you can have a voice? 725 00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:22,480 Or are you positioning yourself so that's the invitation this 726 00:47:22,480 --> 00:47:28,680 week is to begin prayerfully asking God, how am I supposed to 727 00:47:28,680 --> 00:47:32,440 influence my place of work, my family, my city? 728 00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:38,120 We become so deeply formed in the presence of God that his 729 00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:41,120 presence begins to shape every place we enter. 730 00:47:43,160 --> 00:47:46,520 So this week, do not begin by asking how can I become more 731 00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:53,320 influential? But the ultimate question is how 732 00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:54,400 can I be present to God?