♪♪♪
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Adam Bender: Hi, everyone,
welcome to "ITOWN TV."
My name's Adam, and I'm one of
the pastors at ITOWN Church.
In just a few moments, we're
gonna hear from our pastor,
Dave Sumrall, from a message he
shared recently with our church.
You know, we live in a
pretty chaotic and crazy world
sometimes, and it can often
be difficult to determine
how we should live.
Pastor Dave dives into some of
the answers to that problem and
poses an interesting question:
Will we change the world, or
will the world change us?
I hope today's message
encourages you
and challenges you.
Check it out.
♪♪♪
Dave Sumrall: We're
gonna jump into the
book of Daniel today.
We're gonna study a
little bit out of chapter 1.
Let me set the stage for you.
So there's about 4,000 years of
history that separate Adam to
Jesus, and the last 400 years,
there was complete silence.
God didn't speak.
There was no prophecy.
And Daniel kind of lands right
at the end of the time where God
was speaking, right before the
400 years of silence, and he was
living, of course, in Jerusalem
as an Israelite, and they had
fallen far from God, and there
was prophecy after prophecy that
they'd be conquered
by a foreign nation.
Finally, Nebuchadnezzar from
Babylon came and overthrew the
people there, and they took the
best and the brightest back to
Babylon, and
Daniel was one of them.
He's probably about 15, 16 years
old as this story begins to
unfold, and it's a
fascinating study.
In Daniel chapter 1,
verse 1, we'll pick it up.
"In the third year of the reign
of Jehoiakim king of Judah,
Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon came to Jerusalem
and besieged it.
And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim
king of Judah into his hand,
along with some of the articles
from the temple of God."
And then it says, "These he
carried off to the temple of his
god in Babylonia and he put in
the treasure house of his god.
And then the king ordered
Ashpenaz, the chief of the court
officials, to bring in some of
the Israelites from the royal
family and nobility--"
which is interesting.
I never thought about until
literally studying for this
message that Daniel
was in the royal line
with the Israelite people.
And so, "They're young men
without any physical defect,
handsome, showing aptitude for
every kind of learning, well
informed, quick to understand,
and qualified to serve in the
king's palace because he was to
teach them the language and the
literature of the Babylonians.
And the king assigned to
them a daily amount of food
from the king's table.
And so they were trained for
three years, and after that they
were to be put into
the king's service."
And here we find
Daniel and his friends.
"Among them were Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah."
Now, we don't know them by
those names, his three friends,
probably people he
was related to since
they were all in
the royal family.
But it's a fascinating study of
here is Daniel, obviously a very
righteous young man.
He's in line for some type of
leadership, nobility, maybe even
the throne itself in Israel,
and, all of a sudden,
his nation is overthrown.
He probably has a passion to see
the nation of Israel turn back
to God because we see his
incredible principles all
throughout the book of Daniel,
and, yet now he's taken captive,
and he's taken to a foreign
country where they have this
plan of basically retraining
them, reprogramming them,
reteaching them so
they can serve and advanced
the Babylonian kingdom.
And it's exactly
what the devil does.
He comes into God's creation,
and he tries to hijack the best,
the most talented, and the
brightest, and manipulate them
and brainwash them and
train them to advance
the wrong kingdom.
And that's what's happening
in the world today,
and it's one of my pet peeves.
Why do the best and the
brightest, why do the best
actors, why do the best
musicians, why do those who have
the best leadership, why do
they always go to the world?
Why are they not in
God's kingdom,
advancing the cause of Christ?
Why are they using their
talents to serve the devil?
Well, that's what
the devil does.
He wants to take the best and
reprogram them, and Daniel and
his friends had every right
to be victimized by what
was happening.
"Here we were on our way to
revolutionize our own country,
and our parents and our
grandparents threw it all away,
and we're victims.
Now here we are
captives in another country.
We're powerless to do whatever
God has called us to do."
But, yet, at the end of the day,
while Daniel lived in a godless
culture, you'll find time and
again, all throughout the book,
that he continues to rise
to a place of leadership and
prominence, not because he
learned how to play politics and
not because he said all the
right things and not because he
compromised where it was
necessary, but because Daniel
was resolved to be the man
that God had called him to be.
He never wavered in his love for
God and in his passion for God's
Word and for the principles that
God called him to live by, and
every time through every king
and in every situation, he rose
to a place of leadership.
And so he leaves us with the
question as we look at his life,
and as we live in an
increasingly godless culture in
America as it continues to
change, we have to answer the
question of the series, "Will I
change the world, or will the
world change me?"
Am I gonna be a person that
stands up for righteousness, or
am I gonna allow things in
culture to begin to change the
way I see the world, the way I
process information, the values
that I embrace in my life?
I think it's a big question
that's facing the church today,
and I think it's vital that each
one of us individually
answer it.
Now, there are three questions
that we have to settle in our
own hearts about God if we are
going to indeed be people who
change the world instead of
allowing the world to change us.
Let's go to verse 7.
It says, "The chief
official gave them new names."
First thing that happened,
"To Daniel, he gave the
name Belteshazzar.
To Hananiah, Shadrach; to
Mishael, Meshach; and to
Azariah, Abednego."
And this is the names that we
know the three Hebrew boys that
got thrown into the furnace,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
We don't really know
their Hebrew names.
We know their Babylonian names.
But the first question that we
have to answer is
"Do I trust God's plan?"
Jot it down if you're takin'
notes: "Do I trust God's plan?"
It's a fascinating thing
that the devil does 'cause in
Jeremiah 29, verse 11--most of
you have heard it before--
God says, "I have plans.
I got some plans for your
life, and I'm gonna prosper you.
I'm not gonna harm you.
I'm gonna give you hope.
I'm gonna give you a future."
No matter who you are, no matter
what you've done, it's never too
late to become who
you might've been.
God's got a great plan for your
life to make a difference in the
world around you.
He sees the best parts of you.
He speaks to the
greatness on the inside of you.
So God has plans.
But here's the problem:
The devil doesn't have
an original plan.
Y'all know that?
He's never come up with anything
on his own 'cause he's a created
being, so all he can do
is pervert God's strategy.
But the devil knows there's
power in a name, and so what
happens is, when we're very
young, the devil attacks our
lives and tries to label you,
just like the Hebrew boys,
with a different name.
He wants to change your name.
Some of you may identify with
some of these names:
stupid, worthless.
"You'll never
amount to anything."
"You're just
clumsy," or "You're fat."
"Nobody's gonna like you."
"Nobody's ever gonna love you."
"You're ugly."
"You're broken."
"You'll always be sick."
"Identify with this lifelong
illness because
that's who you are."
Or maybe divorced, or
you're rejected, betrayed.
Maybe you just experience some
significant pain, and the devil
tells you, "You'll
never live above that pain.
That pain will hold you
hostage your entire life.
You'll never see things
through a healthy lens."
Or maybe hypocrite.
As a Christian, you struggle
with an area of sin, and the
devil tells you, "You could
never make an impact, and you
can't serve because you're
not living a righteous
or perfect life."
You see, the devil loves to
try and manipulate what you see
about yourself because he knows
that beliefs drive behavior.
What you believe about yourself
will determine who you become.
That's why God always
speaks to our potential.
And the devil always speaks to
your weaknesses 'cause the devil
knows, if he can get you to
believe a lie about yourself,
then you will live out a lie and
fall short of the potential that
God has for your life.
And so the earliest and the most
deadly attack that you and I
face in our lives is on our
identity 'cause the devil knows,
"If I can just change your
identity, if I can change your
perspective, I can
hold you hostage."
Now, check this out 'cause
you'll see things that are
happening in your life and in
the world around you by what the
devil did to Daniel
and his friends.
So Daniel's name literally means
"God is my judge," that "I serve
Yahweh, the highest King, the
greatest God, and I only have to
answer to him, who is a
gracious and loving God."
But look at "Belteshazzar"
literally means
"Lady, protect the king."
You look at the world today
and all the sexual confusion and
gender confusion.
That is not who you are.
The world tells you, "You
were born that way," "You have
problems," "This is your issue,"
or "This is who you are," and
that the church is evil and
judgmental for saying that God's
way is higher and that God's
way is best, and that God was
confused when he made you.
And then, now
we're not serving God.
We're worried about
people--"protect the king."
Instead of God protecting me,
now I have to protect others.
It's on me to
look out for people.
So, again, the shift from God,
to being consumed with people.
It's what's happening
in the world today.
It's what the devil is trying
to do to every single person.
"Hananiah," "Yahweh has been
gracious," talkin' about the
graciousness and the
love that we receive.
"Yahweh" is an enduring term, a
wonderful, beautiful, intimate
relationship with God and
how he's been so gracious.
"His mercies are new every
morning," the Bible says.
They called him
"Shadrach," which means,
"I'm fearful of God."
So we go from the perspective
of God is loving and God is
gracious--and I want you
to hear that message today.
It doesn't matter who you are.
Doesn't matter what you've done.
Your God loves you more than
you could possibly imagine.
He died on a cross not to get
even, but to set you free from
everything you've
been through in life.
But the devil doesn't
want you to believe that.
He wants you to think that God's
mad, that he's waving an angry
finger, and the church is out to
get you, everybody's judgmental,
and that you should live in fear
because, if God had it his way,
he'd send you straight to hell.
Perspectives.
Names.
"Mishael," "Who can
compare to my God?
No one."
He's saying, "God is the
greatest God," but, yet his
Babylonian name,
"Meshach," is
"I am despised, contemptible,
and humiliated."
So look at this shift from
confidence to cowardice.
"God is the greatest God,
and if God is for us,
who can be against us?"
"I'll not fear a single person
because I have God on my side."
The Bible tells us that
we can overcome anything.
Jesus said, "All authority has
been given to you, so you can
trample over snakes and
scorpions, and nothing shall
by any means harm you."
That's what your Bible says
about you, but the world tells
you, "Nobody likes you," "We
don't want your opinion,"
"You are contemptible,"
"You should be humiliated
and ashamed of
your opinions," "If you have
values as the church, you should
shut up," "You should be quiet,"
"You should sit in the corner,"
"Nobody wants your opinion,
you bigot,
you horrible person
who hates people."
Isn't it amazing how the devil
has redefined what love is?
'Cause God says love is grace
and truth, telling people where
they're wrong and how
they can find a solution.
The devil's definition of love
is "Do whatever you want that's
gonna destroy your life, and
we'll just stand aside and let
you do it 'cause we love."
"Azariah,"
"Yahweh has helped me."
That was his name.
They changed it to "Abednego,"
which means "servant of Nebo."
Again, "Yahweh, my
God, is there for me.
I'm gonna serve him.
He alone is the one who will
rescue me,"
to "Be a servant of people.
Do what people tell you to do."
So the devil's working overtime
to get you to shift your
perspective and to shift your
fear from God, that reverent
respect of God and honoring his
Word, to being more obsessed and
concerned about what people
think about you, and "Don't look
at what God says about your life
and what the Bible says
about your life.
Look within yourself and be true
to your inner self and whatever
you want, whatever you desire."
I'm just telling you today that
path will lead to destruction.
It is a lie of the enemy.
It's an attack against
your God-given identity.
Jot this down if you're takin'
notes: "As culture shifts, you
better know who you are."
It's time for us to get our
identity rooted
and grounded in Christ.
It's time for us to stop caring
about what the world thinks
about us.
But I'm telling you, people
say, "Well, if we do that, we're
gonna offend people.
We're here to love the
community, not to hurt it."
I'm just telling you, we are
saving our community by standing
for what we believe in because
hurting and lost people are
coming through the doors.
They're not rejecting
Christ because of it.
The people who are staying
away weren't coming anyway.
It's important for us
to know who we are.
Back to our text, verse 8.
"So Daniel resolved not to
defile himself with the royal
food and wine, so he asked the
chief official for permission
not to defile
himself in this way."
So, second thing, not only do
you trust God's plan, but "Do I
trust God's principles?"
Jot it down if you're
takin' notes:
"Do I trust God's principles?"
'Cause God has principles for
how we're supposed to
live our lives.
And Daniel could have said,
"Man, this is a blessing
from the Lord.
It's a small compromise, but,
man, we'll be eatin' steak and
drinkin' wine, and we need it.
We need the good food 'cause
eventually we're gonna have to
try and somehow figure
out how to change Babylon.
So we're just gonna--we're just
gonna allow that morality to
slide just a little bit so
we get accepted by everybody.
We're not tryin'
to make waves here.
We're slaves in another country.
We just gotta do--"
"When in Rome, do
as the Romans."
But God said in Exodus
chapter 34, and many other times
throughout the Bible, "Be
careful not to make treaty with
those who live in the land,
'cause they're gonna prostitute
themselves to their gods and
sacrifice to them, and then
they'll invite you to come eat
with them, and you'll eat their
food that's been
sacrificed to idols."
God says, "I don't
want you doin' that."
And it's all throughout
the New Testament as well.
It was just a value.
And this food that Daniel had
been offered not only violated
their dietary laws as Hebrews,
but it also had been sacrificed
to their idols.
And so Daniel just says,
"I'm not gonna compromise."
And I just want you to
know that we live in a
world full of compromise.
Culture has come so far.
Like, I'm not saying
it's right or wrong.
I'm just gonna make a few
statements about, when I was a
kid, we didn't play sports
on Sunday 'cause that was
the Lord's Day.
Think about how far we've come.
Like, we--oh, you, straight to
hell if you played sports
on Sunday.
Like, our church, we were
allowed to go to the movies, but
it wasn't really
like, encouraged.
We didn't drink at all.
No drinking.
Like, no drinking.
You don't touch this stuff
because you could be the one or
two that has a problem with it.
And I'm not sayin'
drinking, in general, is wrong.
You can't find that in the
Bible, but it does say, a
million places, that this stuff
will ruin your life, and it's
pretty easy to get drunk, and
that definitely is a sin when
you begin to use it in place of
the Holy Spirit, which the Bible
says, "Do not be
drunk with wine,
but be filled with the Spirit."
You know why?
Because the Holy Spirit has an
intoxicating effect on your life
if you'll lean into his presence
and his power and the baptism of
the Holy Spirit, which we
need now more than ever before.
But the devil has a counterfeit,
called alcohol, that he wants to
lure you into, or drugs.
You say, "Aah,
it's just one or two.
Aah, it's not a big deal."
We didn't believe in dancing.
There was no dancing.
We definitely did not believe in
premarital sex 'cause we thought
it might lead to dancing.
No dancing.
Definitely no dancing.
I'm not here to be
your moral compass today.
I'm just here to tell you,
hey, the line has shifted.
The world is changing, and if
you draw your values from the
world around you, you will find
yourself a million miles from
God, completely compromised.
Daniel said, "I'm not gonna
make the small compromises.
I'm gonna resolve in my heart to
be who God has called me to be
and to live how God
has called me to live.
I'm not gonna even make the
small compromises 'cause small
compromises lead to big sin down
the road, and I just don't wanna
lose my witness.
I don't wanna lose track of
my relationship with God.
Even though I'm in a culture
that says, 'It's all good,' just
not goin' there."
"As culture shifts--" jot
it down--
"don't lose your convictions."
Let's be resolved,
not judgmental.
He didn't point his finger and
say, "Everybody who eats this
food is goin' straight to hell."
He just very quietly said,
"Hey, I'd like to not do that.
I'm just not gonna
participate in that.
No, no, thank you."
When the alcohol comes to the
table, you don't have to say,
"No, nobody should drink.
It's horrible to drink.
What kind of a witness are we?"
Just say, "No, thank you.
I'm not gonna have any."
It's easy to not be offensive
to still make a difference while
holding your values 'cause
people notice that stuff.
Makes a difference.
Verse 9, "Now God had caused
the official to show favor and
compassion to Daniel, but
the official told Daniel, 'I'm
afraid of the lord, my lord the
king, who has assigned you the
food and drink.
Why should he see you looking
worse than the other
young men your age?"
Isn't it amazing how the devil
automatically assumes, if you
don't do it their
way, your life is worse?
"'You're gonna look worse than
everybody else, then the king
would have my head because of
you.'
And so Daniel said to the
guard that they had appointed
over him and Hananiah, and
Mishael and Azariah,
'Test us. Just test us.
Let us try it for ten days.
Give us nothing but vegetables
to eat and water to drink."
This is where we get what
we call the "Daniel Fast."
"For ten days, vegetables and
water, and then compare our
appearances with the other young
men who eat the royal food, and
treat your servants in
accordance with what you see."
Isn't it amazing how God always
produces something at the end of
this that you can see?
Should be a visible
difference about your life.
"And so this guy agreed to the
test, and he said, 'I'mma test
you for ten days.'"
As we close, I want you
to ask this question
of yourself: "Do I
trust God's process?
Do I trust God's process?"
'Cause what the devil wants to
sell to you today is that his
way is faster, and it's better.
It's more enjoyable.
The devil would love for you to
be consumed with pleasure rather
than living by principle.
"Do what feels good.
Do what you enjoy.
It's not a problem.
In the end, it'll work out,
maybe even be better for you."
He could've convinced himself
of that: "Well, you know what?
He's right.
We are gonna look malnourished,
and then we won't be able to get
in the King's presence, and then
we won't be able to impact the
kingdom, and we won't be
able to make a difference.
No, he wasn't worried about that
'cause, again, he wasn't worried
about the government.
He was worried about his God.
At the end of the day, we have
to have the same conviction:
"Who am I living to
please, and do I trust
that God's way is better?"
Because he says in Scripture in
Isaiah chapter 55, "As high as
the heavens are higher than the
earth, so my ways are higher and
my thoughts are higher."
God says, "I've
got a better plan."
So Daniel knew that, and he
said, "I want you to test us.
Give us ten days."
Do you know that everything
that has a "ten"
in Scripture is a test?
Ten Commandments are a test.
"Am I gonna honor
God's way of living life?"
The tithe, 10%, it's a test.
"Do I trust myself, or do I
trust my job, do I trust the
government, do I put my faith in
my money, or am I really seeing
God as my source by returning
the first 10%, acknowledging
that all of it came from him?"
It's a test.
Who do you serve?
You serve money, or
do you serve God?
It's a simple test.
There were ten days for the
disciples as they waited in the
Upper Room for the Holy
Spirit to come, ten days of
perseverance, ten days
of praying until they
were baptized with fire.
Daniel said, "I'm
ready for the test.
Give us a test."
And I promise that, if in
your life, you'll embrace God's
principles and put them to the
test, at the end of the day,
it'll work out better.
Listen to me, young person.
I want you to hear me 'cause the
world is gonna tell you, "If you
do it the world's way,
you're gonna have more fun,
more pleasure.
It's gonna be great.
You're gonna get ahead socially,
and people will love you and
accept you and like you,
and you'll be popular
and successful.
If you do it God's way,
you'll be ostracized.
You'll be as an outsider.
You won't have influence, and
nobody's gonna like you, and
you're just gonna be a
nerd, and it doesn't work out."
Put him to the test.
Daniel says, "Test us,"
'cause God's way is better.
God's principles are better.
As culture shifts, never give in
to pressure 'cause the world is
gonna pressure you.
The world is gonna test you.
We have to be resolved.
We have to say, "I'm
ready for the challenge.
I'm ready for the test.
I'm gonna live the life
that God's called me to live.
I'm gonna have these values.
I'm gonna stand strong in the
face of pressure 'cause I'm more
concerned about pleasing God
than I am about pleasing people,
and I know, at the end of
the day, God's way is better.
God's thoughts are higher."
Verse 15, as we close, "At the
end of the ten days, they looked
healthier and better nourished
than any of the young men who
ate the royal food.
And at the end of the time set
by the king to bring them into
his service, the chief
official presented them
to Nebuchadnezzar."
And check it out: "The king
talked to them, and he found
none equal to Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah.
Why?
Because God's way works.
They didn't
lose favor.
They didn't lose
their opportunity.
They didn't lose
their open door.
No, in fact, they created it by
the fact that they said, "Look,
I'm gonna trust that God has
a plan for my life, I'm gonna
trust the principles that
he's given us in his Word.
We're gonna live by them,
and I'm not gonna give
in to pressure.
I'm gonna walk through this
process and give God my whole
life, and I really don't care
what the world thinks about me.
I don't care what
people say about me.
I'm gonna live for the
principles of God's Word, and,
at the end of the day, God is
the one who raises one up and
lowers another."
The world that we live in,
church, I'm asking you today
to evaluate your own life.
Are you obsessed with what
the world thinks about you?
[gasps]
"You went to church?"
As you're all out on Geist with
a hundred boats roped together.
"I can't believe you'd do
something so unsafe"-- as your
child is hitting another
child in contact football.
I'm not livin' for
what the world thinks.
I'm gonna do what God thinks,
and I'mma lead our church to do
what God thinks 'cause I'm
telling you, church, it's time
to stop playin' patty-cake,
and it's time to build an army
because we are at war with the
forces of hell, and the victory
is ours in the cross of Calvary,
and if we don't stand up and
boldly proclaim the truth, we're
gonna lose a culture that is
gripped with fear and headed
straight to hell, and their
blood will be on our hands
because we let the devil keep us
in fear and tell us to shut up
and sit on the sidelines, and we
will not go silently into the
night, but we will fight for our
generation, and we will stand
for who God has called us to be,
and we will make a difference.
We will see revival, and God
will make a difference in our
community and in our children,
and for generations to come
if God tarries.
♪♪♪
Dave: Never in my lifetime
have we had the opportunity like
we do now to live
what we believe.
So I ask you one more time
before we close, are we gonna
change the world, or are we
gonna let the world change us?
I say we stand in the boldness
and the authority that God has
given us in
Christ, amen, everybody?
Adam: That was such a
good message from Pastor Dave.
I love the question "Will I
change the world, or will the
world change me?"
Well, it's challenging.
I don't know about you, but
I wanna be a world changer.
The truth is that it's
difficult to do on our own.
We won't always know the
next step to take or have the
strength to face difficult
situations, but when we give up
control of our lives to God,
we have access to supernatural
wisdom and strength that far
exceeds anything we
could do on our own.
Did you know that God actually
sent his only Son Jesus to this
earth to die on a cross to pay
the price for our sins so that
he can have a
relationship with us?
Then three days later, Jesus
came back to life, and that same
power is available
to you and I today.
If you've never given your life
to Jesus, I wanna give you an
opportunity to do
that right now.
We're gonna pray a
simple prayer,
and you can repeat after me.
Just say, "Dear
Jesus, I give you my life.
Thank you for dying on a
cross and for your resurrection.
Thank you for forgiving
me of all of my sins.
I turn to you and to your ways.
Come and make me new.
I give you my life."
Just whisper those words.
Just say, "I give you my
life, in Jesus's name."
And, God, I pray that you would
give each of us the strength to
be world-changers,
to have the boldness
that only comes from you.
Fill us up with your holy Spirit
so that we could have the power
to face difficult situations, so
that we could have wisdom beyond
our years, and boldness
in the face of opposition.
Thank you for all that you've
done for us and all that you're
gonna continue to do.
We love you,
in Jesus's name we pray, amen.
Well, if you just made that
decision to give your life to
Jesus, I want you to know that
it's the best thing that you can
do with your life, and
we're so proud of you.
You know, our church is built
for people just like you, and
we'd love to come alongside
you and support you
in this new journey of faith.
If you would just take a moment
to grab your cell phone and text
the word "HOPE" to the number
63566, we'll send you a link to
a quick video from Pastor Dave
with some next steps you can
take to help you grow in
your relationship with God.
I'd also love for you to join us
live in person or online for a
Sunday service soon.
You can find more details
including times and locations at
ITOWNChurch.com.
We hope to see ya soon, but
until then, we love you,
and we're praying for you.
God bless.
♪♪♪
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