Please open up your Bibles this morning to the book of Daniel.
And we're beginning a new series this morning in the book of Daniel.
And I've been excited about opening up this book with you.
But I also got to admit, I'm a little intimidated by this book.
Daniel is not an easy book.
It's not an easy book to understand.
It's not an easy book to interpret.
And I'm finding out it's not an easy book to preach.
And so I appreciate your prayers for me.
And as we begin, I would just like to give this qualification.
You know, if you're not used to hearing a pastor or a preacher say things like,
Hey, I'm not really sure what this means.
Get used to it.
We're about to hear that a lot as we walk through this book together.
But all scripture is God-breathed.
And is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.
And so I am excited to open this book up together and hear from the word of the Lord.
And grow together as we walk through the book of Daniel.
So if you found it in your Bibles, Daniel is right there after the book of Ezekiel.
Right before the book of Hosea.
I do want you to have your Bibles open so we can lay eyes on it there together.
And our passage this morning is going to be all of chapter 1.
And so let's stand together in honor of the reading of God's word.
Daniel chapter 1.
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 gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand
with 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 Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch,
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,
and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate,
and of the 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, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.
And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names.
Daniel he called Belteshazzar,
Hananiah he called Shadrach,
Mishael he called Meshach,
and Azariah he called Abednego.
But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food,
or with the wine that he drank.
Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.
And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.
And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel,
I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink.
For why should he see that you are in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age?
So you would endanger my head with the king.
Then Daniel said to the steward,
whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
Test your servants for ten days.
Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.
Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you,
and deal with your servants according to what you see.
So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days.
And at the end of the ten days,
it was seen that they were better in appearance
and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food.
So the steward took away their food and the wine that they were to drink
and gave them vegetables.
As for these four youths,
God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom.
And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
At the end of the time,
when the king had commanded that they should be brought in,
the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.
And the king spoke with them,
and among all of them,
none was found like Daniel,
Hananiah,
Mishael,
and Azariah.
Therefore they stood before the king.
And in every matter of wisdom and understanding
about which the king inquired of them,
he found them ten times better
than all the magicians and enchancers
that were in all his kingdom.
And Daniel was there until the first year
of King Cyrus.
The grass withers and the flower fades,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Lord, we praise you for your word.
And again, as we open up a new book this morning,
we pray you would speak powerfully to us
through your word.
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You may be seated.
When I was a college student,
I was proud to be the only American member
of the International Students Club.
I saw that there was an opportunity there
for ministry.
The nations had come to my backyard
there in Milledgeville, Georgia.
And I wanted to influence as many of them
as I possibly could
with the good news of the gospel
before they finished their studies
and went back to their home countries.
And so I made friends
with the international students.
I made friends from Kenya,
friends from Pakistan.
But eventually I got to know
several of the Chinese students.
In fact, Amanda and I,
in our first apartment complex
that we lived in,
there in our college town
after we got married,
it was surrounded,
all of our neighbors were Chinese.
And a couple of times a month,
sometimes more than that,
we would be sitting in our living room,
hanging out, watching television,
whatever it might be,
and we would begin to smell
this incredible aroma
wafting through the walls,
the paper-thin walls
of our apartment complex,
coming in from the apartment next door.
And after a while,
we caught on.
We knew what it was.
It must be Dumpling Night.
Soon enough,
we would start to hear
the voices gather.
We would hear the footsteps
up the stairs.
We would hear the people
coming together
in the apartment next door,
sometimes 10,
sometimes 15,
sometimes 20 Chinese students,
gathering together
to get a little taste of home
while they were living
in a foreign land.
You see,
something that we learned
very quickly
about these Chinese students
was that
while they were interested
in learning about
American culture,
they wanted to be here,
they came here intentionally,
even so,
they were eager
to maintain
their own
distinct identity
while they were living
on foreign soil.
they knew that
their identity,
they were Chinese men and women
on temporary assignment
here in America.
Well,
this morning,
as we begin the book of Daniel,
what we find is that
Daniel is living
in foreign territory.
He's in exile.
He's not just
a foreign exchange student.
He hasn't come here willingly.
He's been taken captive
out of his homeland.
He's not excited
about learning
the culture of Babylon.
But by God's
sovereign appointment,
he's here in Babylon.
And by God's grace,
he shows us
what it looks like
for us
to maintain
our distinct identity
as citizens
of God's kingdom
even while living
here
in foreign
enemy territory.
The book of Daniel
communicates
key theological truths
for exiles.
And so,
we'll begin
the book of Daniel
this morning
with two key truths
for exiles
this morning.
Two key truths
for exiles
to remember
this morning.
This will be our outline
if you're taking notes
this morning.
Two key truths
to remember
in time of exile.
First,
the first truth
for exiles
to remember
is that
God
is
king.
God
is
king.
And we'll get
to Daniel
in a moment.
But even though
the book of Daniel
bears his name,
what I want us to
understand here
in this first point
is that the book
of Daniel
ultimately
is not primarily
about Daniel.
It's about
Daniel's God.
The book of Daniel
is about
the Lord.
And we learn
from Daniel
and we learn
from his story,
but the primary
lesson that runs
throughout the book
of Daniel
is that
there is a
God
who reigns
and rules
over all
of human history.
That there is
a God
and that
he
is king.
Look there
to verse 1.
So the book
of Daniel,
it begins
with a grim
picture of
the state
of God's
people.
It says,
In the third
year of the reign
of Jehoiakim,
king of Judah,
Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon,
came to Jerusalem
and besieged it.
King Jehoiakim,
he ruled from
609 B.C.
to 598 B.C.
over Judah.
And as you read
through the
biblical historical
books,
they give you
a pretty clear
sense of,
hey,
this king
was a good
king.
He led his
people well.
He honored
the Lord.
This king
was an evil
king.
He led the
people astray
into idolatry.
King Jehoiakim,
I'm not going
to get this
right,
y'all.
King Jehoiakim
was an evil
king.
Say that 10
times fast.
And in the
third year
of his reign,
Babylon comes
in and takes
over.
This was a
three-part
takeover.
605 B.C.
was the first
wave,
and that's when
Daniel and his
friends are
taken away.
There's a second
wave in 597,
and then again
in 587 B.C.,
and by this point
there's not much
left of the city
at all.
This is a dark
moment in the
history of God's
people,
men and women.
children are
brutally murdered.
The city is
destroyed.
The temple is
destroyed.
The city itself
by 587 is
burned to the
ground.
The city,
this nation
that was meant
to be the
central place
of God's
presence,
the central
place of God's
glory in the
midst of all the
earth,
was now totally
taken over and
destroyed by a
pagan nation.
From a purely
human vantage
point,
from a purely
human perspective,
this looks like
defeat,
doesn't it?
Everything is
falling apart.
Verse 2,
it tells us that
Nebuchadnezzar,
he took some of
the vessels out
of the house of
God and brought
them into the
house of his
God and placed
the vessels in
the treasury of
his God.
This is an
apparent triumph
of the gods of
Babylon over
the God of
Jerusalem.
It's an apparent
triumph of a
sinful nation
over and against
God's people.
How can this
be?
Why in the
world is this
happening?
If you know
your Old
Testament,
this shouldn't
come as a
surprise at all,
should it?
Deuteronomy
chapter 28,
in the law of
Moses, the Lord
had told them,
if they kept
covenant with
the Lord.
All these
blessings would
come upon them.
Blessed would
be the fruit of
their womb.
Blessed would
be their land.
Blessed would
be their cattle,
their basket,
their kneading
bowl.
Their enemies
would be defeated.
They would be
established.
All of these
blessings would
come upon the
people of God
if they kept
covenant with
the Lord.
But it also
says, if they
were faithless,
if they broke
covenant with
the Lord.
He says,
the Lord will
bring you and
your king,
whom you set
over you,
to a nation that
neither you nor
your fathers have
known.
They shall
besiege you in
all your towns
until your high and
fortified walls in
which you trusted
come down throughout
all your land.
What I want us to
understand is that
this dark moment in
the history of God's
people was exactly
what God had warned
them would happen
if they rebelled
against the Lord.
And he didn't just
warn them once.
This wasn't just a
one-time thing.
This is what the
prophets warned the
people of God about
time and time and
time and time again.
Jeremiah warned them
this was coming.
Chapter 21,
chapter 25.
Isaiah prophesied
this moment.
Isaiah 39,
verse 6.
It's like when you
get pulled over by a
police officer for
speeding.
Now you're going to
have to imagine,
because I know all of
you drive the speed
limits, right?
You get pulled over
by a police officer.
You knew the law.
You knew you were
driving too fast.
You knew you should
have buckled up and
followed the rules,
but you get pulled
over and just imagine
he says, I will let
you off with a warning
this time.
And then he walks
back to his car.
The wise response for
us would be buckle up,
drive away very slowly,
obey the law from now
on, do exactly as he
said.
But instead of doing
that, we slam our
foot on the gas and
we speed away 89
miles an hour down
the road.
And then another
police officer comes
and he warns us the
same thing.
You better not go
over the speed limit.
I'll give you a
warning this time.
Same thing, we speed
off down the road
another police officer
time and time and
time again.
These officers are
far more merciful and
patient than any I've
come in contact with,
right?
But at some point,
your lawlessness is
going to catch up with
you.
Justice demands that
your lawlessness be
punished.
And for Israel, that
time has come right
now.
This dark moment in
history is God's
judgment on their
rebellion.
But you know, one of
the beautiful parts of
reading biblical
history is that we
don't only get the
view from the ground,
so to speak, from a
human vantage point.
We get the view from
the air.
We get the Lord's
vantage point.
Now again, from the
ground, from a sheerly
human point of view,
all of this looks
hopeless.
Now all of this looks
like the world itself is
caving in and everything
is falling apart.
The bad guys have come
in.
The city is destroyed.
It looks like evil has
won.
But Daniel gives us
another perspective.
Look to verse 2.
He says,
The Lord gave Jehoiakim,
king of Judah,
into his hand.
The Lord gave.
These three words
completely change the
lens through which we
look out and interpret
all the affairs of human
history.
Now I realize we haven't
made much progress in
Daniel chapter 1, right?
Yeah, I think we will.
I'm going to try to.
But I want to make this
point first because this
is a theme that runs
throughout the entire
book of Daniel.
God is the king of
human history.
God is the king of all
the nations of the earth.
God is the sovereign
ruler of all the affairs
of man.
everything that happens
in human history,
all the events of human
history, big and small,
significant and seemingly
meaningless.
All of them from
beginning to end are in
the hands of a good and
sovereign God.
Whatever happens here,
God is king.
Who is responsible for
this exile?
From a human vantage point,
Nebuchadnezzar saw and
Nebuchadnezzar came, he
saw and Nebuchadnezzar
conquered, right?
But from the divine
perspective, Daniel says
the Lord gave.
I'm hammering this point
because Daniel, he repeats
this for us.
I feel like this is an
emphasis for him.
In fact, three times in
this chapter, you see that
phrase over and over and
over again, the Lord gave.
The Lord gave Jehoiakim,
king of Judah, into the
hands of Nebuchadnezzar,
verse 2.
The Lord gave Daniel favor
and compassion in the
sight of the chief of the
eunuchs, verse 9.
The Lord gave Daniel and
his friends learning and
skill in all literature and
wisdom, verse 17.
That repetition is
intentional.
Daniel, he wants to
comfort exiles with the
truth of the sovereignty
of God.
So that we no longer see
history or current events
just from an on-the-ground
perspective, but rather we
learn to see things from the
divine perspective.
That whatever may come to
pass, God is king.
Nothing happens apart from
his sovereign decree.
Nothing is given to you but
by his sovereign hand.
God is king.
Now, that's bad news for a
faithless people.
That's bad news for those who
are still in rebellion against
the Lord.
He is patient with you.
He is slow to anger, but he
is just.
And the time will come when
justice will demand pain for
lawlessness.
His kindness and patience is
meant to lead you to
repentance.
It's bad news for those who
rebel against the Lord, but
for those who do trust in the
Lord, church, his kingship is a
glorious comfort, is it not?
And when the world around us
seems to have lost its ever
loving mind, and when the
place where we live seems like
it's crumbling to the ground,
when everything looks dark, and
from our perspective it looks
hopeless, we remember and we
take comfort in the fact that
God is king.
Here at the beginning of the
book of Daniel, I want us to see
that we, Christian, we have far
more in common with Daniel than we
might tend to think.
Church, we, like Daniel, are
exiles.
The book of 1 Peter, what we
read this morning, it calls us,
it calls Christians sojourners
and exiles.
You realize we, you and I, we as
Christians are citizens of another
kingdom.
Scott reminded me of an old song a
couple weeks ago in the men's
Bible study.
I wish he was here because he
would love that I quoted it.
This world is not my home.
I'm just a passing through.
Y'all know this one.
My treasures are laid up somewhere
beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven's
open door and I can't feel at home
in this world anymore.
Y'all know that one.
Is that true of you?
See, Christian, we are exiles.
Make no mistake, America, as many
blessings as we have here, as
wonderful as this place may be.
America is not a lasting home for
us.
It wasn't so 10 years ago or 30
years ago or 50 years ago or 100
years ago and it will not be so 100
years in the future unless the Lord
returns.
America is not the promised land.
Church, we need to understand where
we live, America is just our little
corner of Babylon.
And if that's true, then we shouldn't
be surprised by any evil that surrounds
us here.
We shouldn't be surprised when leaders
fail us.
We shouldn't be surprised when wars
break out.
We shouldn't be surprised when people
hate each other, when there's lawlessness
and godlessness all around us.
We should not be surprised.
Why?
Because this place is Babylon.
We're exiles here.
It shouldn't surprise us.
But it also shouldn't shake us.
Why?
Because we know that no matter what
happens here and now, God is king.
You know, sometimes the way Christians
react to current events and the way that
we talk or post on social media, we kind of
sound like Chicken Little, don't we?
The sky is falling.
Everything's crumbling to the ground.
The church, there's chaos all around us.
Make no mistake.
But we of all people ought to rest in the
sovereign rule of God, no matter what
happens here and now.
Amen?
Instead of panicking over the question, what
has this world come to?
I think the church ought to spend more time
asking the question, how can we, Christian,
how can we, Siwe Bay, remain distinct during
our time of exile?
How can we remain distinct as God's people living
here in foreign territory?
Which is why the second truth we must remember.
Number one, God is king.
And number two, praise God, you are his.
You are his.
Now let's see Daniel's story.
Verse three, it says that not only did Nebuchadnezzar
bring the vessels of God out of the house of God
and put them into the house of his God,
but he also sent Ashpenaz to bring out some of the
best people out of Israel, out of the royal family
and of the nobility.
It says youths without blemish, of good appearance
and skillful in all wisdom.
They're endowed with knowledge and understanding
and learning and they're competent to stand
in the king's palace.
These teenagers at this point, these men
were the cream of the crop.
They're young, they're intelligent, they're influential,
they're nobility and most importantly,
or at least as Nebuchadnezzar thought,
they were impressionable.
It says in verse four that he was going to teach them
the literature and the language of the Chaldeans
and he assigns them a daily portion of food
that the king himself ate.
This was good food.
And a portion of wine that the king himself drank.
This is good wine.
And it's going to go on like this for three years.
Now at the end of this period of three years,
these men would stand before the king.
That was the plan.
His plan was cultural indoctrination.
And this is a strategy.
To take the best and the brightest of Israel,
of Judah, to take the best and the brightest
and to make them now good, educated, successful Babylonians.
See, his strategy was he didn't just want to conquer them.
He wanted to absorb them.
They would learn the literature of Babylon.
They would learn the language of Babylon.
Not only this, they would even be given new Babylonian names.
I remember growing up,
multiple times my mom correcting anybody and everybody
who would call me anything besides Jonathan.
Right?
That was the name my mama gave me.
Nobody was allowed to shorten it.
If they called me John,
I remember her correcting them,
no, his name is Jonathan.
There was meaning behind that name.
My dad's name is David.
And biblically in the Bible,
you know the Old Testament,
David and Jonathan were best friends.
And it had meaning to that name.
She didn't want anybody changing that name.
Well, names in the ancient Near East culture were significant.
They carried meaning.
They meant something.
And so what Nebuchadnezzar is trying to do here
is he's stripping away any reference to Israel's God
and he's replacing them.
He's redefining them in terms of the false Babylonian gods.
This is an attempt to redefine who they are.
So Daniel, which meant God is judge,
is now Belt-Shazzar,
which is a reference to the false god Bel.
Hananiah, which meant Yahweh is gracious,
is now Shadrach at the command of Aku.
That's a reference to the moon god.
Mishael, which meant who is what God is,
is now Mishak, who is what Aku is.
Azariah, which meant Yahweh helps,
is now Abednego, servant of Nego,
the god of wisdom.
You see what's going on here?
Nebuchadnezzar is trying to take the people of the Lord
and convince them from the inside out
that no, now you belong to me,
you belong to my people,
you belong to my culture,
you belong to my gods.
This was a plan of cultural indoctrination.
Well, Daniel knew what was up, didn't he?
He could see the plan.
And so, for this reason,
verse 8 says,
Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself
with the king's food.
You know, a lot has been made
of Daniel's decision here.
This is where, I guess,
I guess this is where people get the Daniel diet, right?
And the diet may be just fine.
It would probably be good for some of us
to eat a little bit more veggies.
Amen? Right?
But may I suggest
that that is missing the point just a little bit.
This is not a divinely inspired meal plan
for us to follow.
The point isn't the food or the diet.
Don't get hung up on the food.
The point is that Daniel and his friends,
they're resisting at whatever level they can,
becoming a Babylonian,
even while they're living stuck here in Babylon.
He knows that God is king.
He knows that he belongs to him
wherever he may be,
Jerusalem or Babylon.
And because of this,
he knows that he and the rest of God's people
are called to be distinct
from the nations around them.
And he knows that Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon,
is trying everything he can
to turn Daniel and his friends
into good Babylonians.
And so he resists.
Now notice here
how Daniel resists.
Just really quickly here
because I think this is appropriate
for us by way of application.
He's not loud.
He's not obnoxious.
He doesn't pitch a fit.
He doesn't protest
or post a social media rant
or cause a scene
about how unfair everything is here in Babylon
for him and his Jewish friends.
He doesn't dig in his heels
and say,
Jehoiakim's my king,
not Nebuchadnezzar.
I know very humbly,
very respectfully,
and certainly prayerfully,
knowing what we know about Daniel,
he asks the chief eunuchs
to allow him to not defile himself.
And we see that God the king
gave Daniel favor and compassion.
And so verse 11,
it tells us that they came to a deal.
Ten days.
You got ten days.
Give us some veggies and water.
See for yourself.
Test us in ten days.
See what we look like.
And at the end of the ten days,
verse 15,
it says that they were better in appearance
and fatter in flesh
than all the youths
who ate the king's food.
And so the steward took away
their food and wine
that they were supposed to drink
and instead gave them vegetables.
What we see here
is that the Lord honored
their faithfulness to him.
The Lord honored their desire
to be distinct in exile.
And what was the result?
Look to verse 17.
God gave them learning
and skill and wisdom.
And he gave Daniel
understanding and visions and dreams.
And after three years of faithfulness,
after three years
of resisting the pressures
to become good Babylonians,
three years of clinging
to their identity
as the people of God,
the time has come
that came before the king.
And verse 20 says
he found them ten times better
than all the magicians
and enchanters
that were in all his kingdom.
He was vindicated
in his resolve
to remain distinct in exile.
You know,
this is the beginning of a theme,
again,
that we're going to see
over and over and over again
in this book of Daniel.
God's people are here.
They're exiles in Babylon.
They're pressured
and they're threatened,
yet they remain distinct in exile.
And at the end,
they are honored and vindicated.
And we'll see this theme
again and again and again.
And we need to understand,
Christian,
that this is our pattern as well.
We are here in exile.
We are going to be pressured
to succumb to the pressures
in the culture of Babylon.
And those who remain distinct
at the end
when we stand before
the King of Kings,
we will be honored
and vindicated.
We have to remember,
church,
the time will come,
whether in this life
and certainly in the one to come,
when all of God's people
who remain faithful
in their time of exile
will be vindicated.
vindicated.
The world may look at us funny
right now
as we make efforts
to be distinct.
We may be strange now,
but the time will come
when we will all stand
before the true King
and all who remain distinct
will be vindicated.
But until that day comes,
friend,
we must do as Daniel does
in this passage.
We must remember
that God is King
and that we are His.
I had a seminary professor
who used to say often,
you know,
the most important thing
about you
is not who you are,
it's whose you are.
The most important thing
about you
is not who you are,
it's not where you happen
to grow up,
it's not where you live,
it's not what college sports team
you root for,
it's not what hobbies you have,
it's not what your interests are.
If you've put your faith
in Jesus Christ
by the grace of God,
the most important thing
about you
is that you belong to Him.
That you are a citizen
of the kingdom of God.
Wherever He may have you
here on this earth,
that's your identity.
And if we are citizens
of His kingdom,
then just like Daniel,
we need to be aware
that the ruler
of this present phase
of Babylon
is going to do anything
and everything He can
to make you
a good Babylonian.
Church,
we need to be aware
that the tactics
against God's people
have not changed
one single bit.
Think with me here
about Nebuchadnezzar's strategy
just for a moment,
really it's threefold.
Think about it.
How did He seek
to conquer God's people?
How did He seek
to make them Babylonians?
It's a three-part strategy.
It really is brilliant.
Separation,
satisfaction,
satisfaction.
It's a three-part strategy
of Babylon.
Separation,
saturation,
satisfaction,
and nothing has changed.
Tactic number one
was separation.
He took these men away.
He took them away
from God's people,
took them away
from corporate worship,
took them away
from instruction
in the Word of God.
He took them away
from their place,
away from their people,
away from their practices.
Tactic number one
was that He separated them.
Don't you think
the enemy wants to do that
with you, Christian?
The enemy would love
nothing more
than to separate you
from the people of God.
He would love nothing more
than to separate you
from the gift
of corporate worship,
from the gift
of instruction
in the Word of God.
Do not take gatherings
like this
with God's people
for granted.
You know that this,
of all the places
of the world,
this is the closest
that we will get
to heaven
on this side
of eternity.
You know the local church
is an embassy
of the kingdom of God
here on earth?
Don't take this gathering
for granted.
There are Christians
all over the world
who long
for what we have here.
Do not let the enemy
separate you.
Tactic number two
was saturation.
He not only took them
from their religious culture,
he also saturated them
with his pagan culture.
Do you see this?
He taught them
all the books.
He taught them
the language.
He gave them new names.
He poured this
cultural system
right down their throats.
And again,
don't you realize,
the playbook
hasn't changed a bit.
The television shows
that we watch
are not neutral.
The news that we consume
is not neutral.
The books that we read
are not neutral.
The music that we listen to
is not neutral.
The culture that we live in
is not neutral.
Our neighbors that we talk to
are not neutral.
Everywhere we turn,
the enemy is seeking
to saturate you
with lies.
The church needs
to develop discernment.
We need to watch
what we eat.
Our call as exiles
here in Babylon
is as Paul calls us
in Romans 12,
do not be conformed
to the patterns
of this world,
but instead be what?
Be transformed
by the renewal
of your mind.
We're called
to take every thought
captive
and make it obedient
to Christ.
Are we careful
what we're saturating
our minds with,
church?
Are we careful
what we're saturating
our hearts with?
If we're not actively
clinging to the truth
of God's word,
we will passively drift
into the lies
of the culture.
Separation,
saturation,
and tactic number three,
satisfaction.
He saturated them
with pagan culture
and he wanted them
to like it.
And notice this,
he didn't feed them
with scraps,
did he?
And what did he want
to feed them with?
What did he want
them to eat?
He wanted them
to have the king's best food,
the food that the king
himself ate,
the wine that the king
himself drank.
He wanted them
to have the best,
the richest,
the fattest,
the most delicious meat
that he possibly could.
He wanted them
to drink the king's
own supply of wine.
He wanted to seduce
and satisfy them
into thinking,
well, maybe this place
isn't so bad after all.
Maybe this king
is nicer than we thought.
Maybe Jerusalem
wasn't so great
after all.
And again,
the playbook
has not changed.
Church,
the devil's favorite tool
is not pain.
It's pleasure.
He wants you
to love sin.
The devil wants
to wine and dine you
with the pleasures
of Babylon,
but he always hides
the price
and he never pays
the bill.
It's like when you go
to one of these
fancy restaurants
that doesn't have
prices on the menu
and you eat yourself
full,
whatever you want.
You buy an appetizer
and main course
and three desserts
and then the bill
comes due.
And you realize
the cost
of satisfying
your appetites.
Friend,
we would be wise
to count
the cost
now
before the bill
comes due.
If you haven't
figured this out yet,
the enemy's tactics
have not changed
a single bit.
The tactic of Babylon
in every age
is to separate you
from the ways
of God,
to saturate you
with the ways
of this world
and to make sure
you like it.
our call
as God's people,
our call
as exiles
living here
in foreign territory
is to say
wherever God
has placed me,
whatever evil
I face,
I will be set
apart from the ways
of the world,
I will be saturated
with the word
of God,
I will satisfy
my heart
and the Lord
above all else.
Are you committed
to this?
if you are
His,
your call
is to live
your life
here in exile
faithfully
to the King
of Kings.
Your call
is to be
distinct
in exile.
Why?
Because despite
whatever the
apparent appearance
of defeat
may be,
we know
the truth,
church.
We know
the truth
of the gospel
that God
has done
for you
in much
more powerful,
much more
eternal
and effective
ways
what Nebuchadnezzar
only attempted
and failed
to do
with Daniel
and his friends.
Church,
the good news
of the gospel
is that God
has sent
His own Son
to live
and to die
and to rise
in our place
in order
to bring
us out
of our
state
of lawlessness
and into
His marvelous
grace.
The good news
of the gospel
is that the
Son of God
Himself
bore the
punishment
that we
deserve
for our
sin
so that He
might call
us out
of belonging
to this
present darkness
and make us
citizens
of the
kingdom
of God.
The good
news of the
gospel is that
God has
separated
you
from belonging
to this place
and given
you a new
identity
as His
Son and
His
daughter.
The good
news of the
gospel is that
by faith
in Christ
God has
saturated
you.
He has
filled you
with His
own Holy
Spirit.
The good
news of the
gospel is that
God has
worked a
miracle in
us by
giving us
a new
heart
that hates
sin and
loves the
Lord.
He has
satisfied
you with
the goodness
of God
and the
glory of
Jesus Christ.
That's the
gospel.
church.
This is what
God has
done for
you in
Christ.
And although
it looks
dark now,
our certain
hope of the
gospel is that
when He
comes,
Babylon will
be judged
and we
as God's
people will
be vindicated.
Revelation
2 verse
17 tells us
we will be
given a new
name.
Given to
us by our
King.
Do you
believe this?
Is this
your hope?
Friend, if
you have
not put
your faith
in King
Jesus,
the time
is now.
What keeps
you from
saying right
now that I
see that Babylon
is a sinking
ship, I want
no part of
it, I want
to belong to
the King of
Kings, I put
my faith in
King Jesus
right now.
What prevents
you?
And for
us, church,
as we live
here in
exile, our
call is to
help one
another to
remain
distinct
while we're
on temporary
assignment here
in America.
You know, I
didn't tell you
the full story
about my
Chinese
neighbors.
the friends
who came
were gathering
to have a
Chinese cultural
experience, but
the host who
gathered her
friends there for
dumpling night, she
was a Christian.
And she wasn't
just having a
Chinese cultural
experience, although
that was part of
it.
She was using
these gatherings
as an opportunity
to share the
good news of
Jesus with
her Chinese
brothers and
sisters.
You see, she
understood that
wherever the
Lord had her, be
it China, be
it Milledgeville,
Georgia, wherever
the Lord had
her, the most
important thing
about her was
not who she
was, but who
she was.
She knew that
God is king and
that she belonged
to him.
Now, her call was
to remain distinct
here in exile and
to call as many
as she possibly
could to come
with her out
of Babylon.
And church, that's
our call as
well.
Are you
prepared to
resist the
influence around
us?
To resist the
urge to primarily
identify ourselves
with anything other
than the call of
God and Christ
Jesus for you?
God is king and
we are his.
Let's pray.
Lord, we need
your grace.
We need your
help.
We know even as
we've already
prayed, we are
prone to wonder,
each one of us.
And Lord, it's so
easy to be
deceived and
lured astray by
the pleasures and
the enticements of
the world around
us.
But God, we know
that, Father, in
your presence there
is fullness of
joy.
And at your
right hand there
are pleasures
forevermore.
There is no
pleasure that you
would withhold
from us.
It's all found
in Christ.
And so we pray,
Lord, that we
would look forward
to the kingdom
to come.
That we would
long for the
return of Christ.
That we would
live as distinct
exiles here in
Babylon.
We love you,
Lord.
We pray this in
Jesus' name.
Amen.