Self-Control: No Compromise

Sharing good news of great joy to all people,

Elation Church. This is week number two in our

series we've entitled Self -Control. And if you

weren't here last week, man, you missed it. You

missed out on it. It was a great introductory

to self -control. Because wouldn't we all agree

that there's areas in our life that each one

of us could gain a little and grow in our self

-control, right? You know, whether it be our

health, whether it be our temper, whether it

be our finances, like there's so many areas,

right? We could just go on and on. And the Bible,

we learned last week that the Bible is full of

information and knowledge concerning what self

-control looks like for the believer. And this

morning, I don't have time to recap everything

that we did last week, but we are going to recap

a little bit because we learned. That self -control

is a supplement to our faith. We supplement our

faith by self -control. And we saw this in 2

Peter 1, 3 through 8. It says this, by his divine

power, God has given us everything we need for

living a godly life. Someone say amen. Amen.

We have received all of this by coming. To know

him. I just want to stop right there. Do you

realize God has already given you everything

that you need? Amen? It's already been paid for.

It's already been provided for. Amen? And we

have received this. How have we received it?

By coming to what? Know him. By coming to know

him. That is the most important thing for each

one of us. It doesn't go past that. The knowledge

of just getting to a personal relationship with

Jesus Christ more and more and more, becoming

more like him, looking more like him day to day.

And we do that by spending time with him, right?

Getting to know his heart. And then it transforms

our mind. It transforms our thoughts. It transforms

the way we live. Amen? Amen. And so we've received

this by coming to know him, the one. who called

us to himself by means of his marvelous glory

and excellence. And because of his glory and

excellence, he has given us great and precious

promises. Amen. These are the promises. Listen,

what are the promise? The promise enable you

to share what? His divine nature. The promises

of God enable each one of us to share in God's

divine nature. Did you know? This is what's available

to you. God's not holding out on you. This is

what he wants for his children, each one of us.

Amen? To share in his divine nature, being in

Christ. Right? And what does that accomplish?

It accomplishes escape. How many of you need

escape sometimes? Escape from what? The world's

corruption caused by human desires. As we've

talked about many times, the corruption in the

world is all based on a lack of self -control.

That's its origin, was a lack of self -control

with Adam and Eve in the garden. Their lack to

submit to what God said. Them thinking that,

oh, I know better and I'll just choose whatever

I want to, right? Or I can gain a little more

knowledge. God's holding out on me, right? And

that caused all the corruption in the world that

we see. But when we take hold of the promises

of God, it promises us an escape from the world's

corruption. From the corruption of sin, we can

have an escape from it. Amen? Verse 5, in view

of all this, make every effort. Look to your

neighbor and say, you got to make an effort.

Got to make an effort. It requires work on our

part. Amen? requires work on our part to what?

To respond to God's promises. And how do we respond

to God's promises? And how do we take hold of

them? By faith. And we're supposed to supplement,

listen to what it says, because it's talking

about faith. It says, supplement your faith with

a generous provision of moral excellence. What

is moral excellence? It's God's perfect standard,

right? of right and wrong, his moral excellence.

It's not based upon our understanding, but it's

based upon his being and who he is. Moral excellence.

And moral excellence with knowledge. And knowledge

with self -control. Because you have to have

self -control, listen, you have to have self

-control to hold on to what you believe. You

have to have self -control to make an effort

towards working towards his moral excellence,

right? It requires self -control on your part

to look more and more like Christ. It requires

effort. Knowledge with self -control, self -control

with patient endurance. And patient endurance

with godliness. And godliness with brotherly

affection. Affection for those around us, right?

Our brothers and sisters in Christ. And then

affection and love for what? Everyone. Everyone

we come in contact with. Amen? Verse 8. The more

you grow like this, listen, the more what? Productive

and useful you will be in your knowledge of our

Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone say productive. Everyone

say useful. Useful. So the Bible teaches there,

like we learned last week, to supplement our

faith with a generous provision of self -control.

And the word self -control used throughout the

New Testament is this word, is encrateia. It

means in the sphere of dominion and mastery.

So it's a dominion within. It's control over

our actions, our thoughts, and our feelings.

When we come into a relationship with Christ,

our spirit is made new unto him and made alive

unto him, right? But our bodies, right? Our bodies,

our flesh is still the same. You know, that requires

our part. And our soul, our mind, will, and emotions

have to be renewed and made in line and put in

alignment to God's will. and God's word. First

Corinthians 9, 24 through 27. We also read this

one last week. I love this. It says, don't you

realize that in a race, everyone runs, but only

one person gets the prize. So run to win, run

to win. We're supposed to run this race of life

to win. It's not enough. Like the world says,

well, as long as you play the game, It doesn't

matter if you win or lose. Uh -uh. That's not

a biblical mindset. In God, we're called and

we're commanded to have victory. We're supposed

to play and run every race that we're in. We're

supposed to live in a continual victory parade

of God has won. We win because we're in him.

Amen? So we run to win. All athletes are disciplined.

Same word here, self -control. The same word

used for self -control. All athletes are disciplined,

exercise self -control in their training. And

they do it to win a prize that will fade away.

But we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with

purpose. I run with purpose every step. I'm not

just shadow boxing. And I discipline my body.

Paul's saying I put my body under submission,

right? I have control over it. I have self -control

over my body. He's like, I discipline my body

like an athlete, training it to do what it should

do, right? In line with God's word, in line with

his will and his way. And as we learned, self

-control is an essential to living with purpose

and living with victory. We got to have self

-control. Now more than ever, we got to live

in self -control. This is the indicator. Self

-control is actually an indicator of being a

Christian. It's a fruit of the Holy Spirit. As

we learned last week, Galatians 5, 22 through

23. A lot of people, we read all these other

ones, but then we kind of go, oh, self -control,

it's just some of this, you know, it's at the

end, right? Kind of save the best to last, I

like to say. But listen, the Holy Spirit produces

this kind of fruit in our lives. Love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

and self -control. So the fruit of the Holy Spirit,

what the Spirit produces in our lives and helps

us with is self -control. Self -control then

proceeds out from one within oneself, but it's

not by oneself, right? It's not by yourself.

You're not alone. You have a helper, but it requires

effort on your part. He can't help you if you're

not doing anything. Right? He's supposed to come

alongside you and lift you and help you accomplish

these things. Because the world talks a lot about

self -control and the mastery of itself. And

those are all good things, but self -control

is a concept given to us by God. And each one

of us are created with the capacity to control

ourselves, to make a choice. Right? Something

supernatural can happen in the life of a Christian.

Because it's not just all about ourselves anymore.

It's not just all about self -help anymore. But

it's about controlling our bodies, submitting

our bodies to his will. For godly purposes in

the earth. To accomplish things greater than

my own muscles can. To accomplish what my own

voice cannot. Way beyond my ability, way beyond

our talent, we can reach out and do things, amen,

by the power of the Holy Spirit for his kingdom.

Because that's what we're called to do. Do you

realize the Christian life? You're not just called

to come to church every Sunday morning. That's

not the pinnacle of your Christian experience.

If that's all that it is for you, of course you're

going to be let down. Of course you're going

to be miserable. So much more. True mastery from

within can only be accomplished, listen, by the

power of the Lord, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And we learned, you know, not everything in your

life is a direct consequence from your actions,

thoughts, and your words. Some people, sometimes

you find yourself in situations that are beyond

your control. Right? But you got to realize that,

You can't control everything around you. You

can't control the situation that you're in. Not

always. Some situations are. But you can't control

everything and everyone around you. But you can

control yourself. Amen? And as we learned last

week, self -control is not just about... abstaining

from excess, from the excesses of this world,

right? It's not just abstaining from excess,

but what Scripture talks about, it involves a

positive mastery and a direction of one's energies.

Remember that purpose, a direction of one's energies

and desires towards godly purposes. And we see

this all throughout the Bible. So many great

examples of men and women Who have this great

self -control and they do great things for God

because they're useful to God. And we have to

operate in the fruit of the Spirit to be useful

to Him. One of these great characters, and this

is what we're talking about today, one of these

great characters who just had a great self -control.

I like to say big self -control. Had huge self

-control. And I want to give you a little homework

this week, if you don't mind. A little extracurricular

activity to have a little more self -control,

right? To scroll less and read the book of Daniel.

Get off of social media and just read the book

of Daniel. It's only 12 chapters. Just do that

for me. Through the lens of self -control. and

how he exhibited self -control, and how that

really was a key factor in the trajectory of

his whole life. So today we're going to kind

of look at very quickly some of these highlights.

It'll be like a highlight reel. We're going to

bounce through the book of Daniel and look at

some of the things that make him so special and

so unique. historical context here, we're looking

in Daniel chapter 1. King Nebuchadnezzar, he

Daniel 1 · chapter mention

overtakes Jerusalem, and he gives orders to bring

young men from Judah's royal family to Babylon

to serve in his palace. And in verse 4, Nebuchadnezzar

says, select only strong, healthy, good -looking

young men, well -versed in every branch of learning,

gifted with knowledge and good judgment. It just

goes to show you that you know, if you're strong,

healthy, and good looking, you can go far in

life. I should know. No, I'm just kidding. I'm

kidding. Some of you, I just woke you up. Some

of you were asleep. I just had to. I'm sorry.

Back to it. I'm just kidding. You got to know.

It's anyways. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and

Azar were four of the young men chosen. Each

were given a Babylonian name, and they were to

be trained for three years and given the best

education in the king's food and wine. But listen

to this. But Daniel, in verse 8, Daniel was determined.

I like that word. He was determined not to defile

himself. by eating the food and wine given to

them by the king. He was determined not to defile

himself. What are some possible reasons? Well,

in Exodus and Leviticus, we know that according

to Jewish custom, you know, maybe the food may

have been unclean according to their dietary

laws, right? Either in its content or its preparation.

Right? Because they couldn't eat certain foods,

but then if certain foods were prepared a certain

way, that would break the law that God had given

them. So maybe that was a reason. Maybe the food

had been sacrificed to idols. Maybe Daniel, while

he was there, he saw them sacrificing the food

to Nebuchadnezzar's God in Babylon. Maybe those

have been the reasons. But he knew in his heart,

he knew in his heart that it would defile himself.

Even the risk of defiling himself was so important

to him to follow God. But when you think about

this incident, I know this is like very familiar

story. So I'm just trying to like recap and get

us there. You know, Daniel, he's a captive. He's

in a foreign land, right? And he could have easily

justified just, eating the food, drinking the

wine. That was what he was offered, right? No

one would have known. No one would have known.

They would never know, right? There were some

other guys with him that he might have known,

but like, would you blame Daniel? He could have

justified it, right? Just out of cultural respect.

How many of us in the same, we'd be like, well,

you know. This is the king. This is his order.

I'm in a new land. I want to be respectful. God

would want me to be respectful to their culture

and to their customs. I don't need to just come

in and ripple the water, so to say, right? He

could have easily justified that just out of

trying to be good, right? He could have justified

his actions. He could have just said, oh, it's

good. We know from... Verse 10, that, you know,

he could have justified it. He could have been

like, you know, there's this huge potential for

risking the safety of his friends, the people

who were with him, and the staff that were in

prison. They said, look, we'll let you eat your

own food, but if we do that and the king finds

out, he'll have our heads. He'll kill us. Daniel

could have said, do you think that's what God

would really want? You know, potentially risking

the lives of my friends and the staff here? Nah,

you know. He could have just said, ah, it's just

food. It's just food. God knows my heart. Come

on now. Think about it. We do that in our own

lives all the time. When we face choices, we

always like, look, we always want to compromise.

We always want to justify our actions to do.

We're constantly in this battle and this choice.

You can talk yourself into doing anything. Come

on now. You can make it seem right to your own

eyes. But then the end is what? Death and destruction.

Come on now. It's just food. God knows my heart.

Moving on. But Daniel did not compromise what

he believed, what, to fit in, to be accepted,

or to even get ahead. He had self -control in

his commitment to God. You know, in our own understanding,

it would make a whole lot more sense for your

longevity, in a foreign land for your safety

to just eat the food. It would make so much more

sense in our own understanding to just, what,

like, I'll do whatever. You know, if I want to

get ahead in this kingdom to have more influence

for the kingdom of God, right? Could have justified

it like that. It makes so much more sense for

him to compromise. But Daniel does not. He sticks

to what he believes in, what he knows is right,

his commitment to God. And what is the outcome

in Daniel chapter 1? We see something special.

Daniel 1 · chapter mention

We often look past it. But in 17 and 20, we see

that Daniel and his friends receive revelation

from God. They receive a special ability. The

Bible says Daniel receives an ability to interpret

visions and to interpret dreams. They receive,

they're wiser, they're stronger, 10 times wiser

and stronger than all the others who were captured.

Why is that? Because they ate some vegetables?

Come on. If I ate vegetables for 10 days, I'd

be on the floor. One time I was trying to be

a vegetarian. I had a biology professor at Liberty

tell me, don't look at me like that. Don't look

at me with that tone of voice. I had a biology

professor at Liberty had me convinced that, you

know, everyone was supposed to be a vegetarian.

I tried it three days. I made it. We were traveling

out west. We were going across the country, you

know. And by the time we got to San Antonio,

Texas at that time, that's when I gave up. and

I ate the biggest steak I've ever ate in my entire

life. And I said, you know, forget it. And then

we stopped at a barbecue restaurant named Rudy's,

and they had a shirt, and it said, I didn't crawl

all the way to the top of the food chain, just

eat vegetables, you know? No offense if you're

a vegetarian. I'll just throw that out there,

but it probably was. Anyways, moving on. But

they received revelation from God. They received

what? Favor with the king, which seems so backwards,

right? They should have been beheaded. They should

have been killed, right? They had direct orders

from the king, and they chose to disobey it.

But they received favor. They received promotion

and supernatural wisdom and judgment. Daniel

Daniel 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, we bounce forward. The Bible's then

written in Aramaic, and we see that there's a

significant time pass here, and now Daniel's

kind of off doing other things for the king because

he had been promoted, and his friends had been

promoted, and Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

their Babylonian names were called Shadrach,

Meshach, and Abednego, right? You might didn't

realize their names earlier before because we

always just call them by their Babylonian names,

right? But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are

now in charge of all the affairs of the province

of Babylon. That's actually the last verse of

Daniel chapter 2. And then it leads us into another

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

very familiar story and another great example

of tremendous self -control. King Nebuchadnezzar

now makes a gold statue 90 feet tall. And nine

feet wide. He invites provincial officials to

come and dedicate and worship it. And at the

sound of musical instruments, everyone was required

to bow before it. And when the music played,

everyone except Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

bowed. Yeah. Everyone. All these important people.

Everyone bowed except Shadrach, Meshach, and

Abednego. Imagine that. Imagine that in your

mind, like in your imagination. Just imagine

what that was like. Nebuchadnezzar then threatens

to kill them by throwing them into a furnace

if they don't serve his gods and worship his

statue. Verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

replied, O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to

defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown

into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve

is able to save us. He will rescue us from your

power, your majesty. I love it when people get

bold. It just gets real bold for God right here

and for what they believe, right? He will rescue

us from your power, but even if he doesn't, come

on. We want to make it clear to you, your majesty,

that we will never serve your gods or worship

the gold statue you have set up. We'll never

do it. What was the reason in Exodus God told

his people, says this, you must not have any

other God but me. You must not make for yourself

an idol of any kind or of an image of anything

in the heavens or on earth or in the sea. You

must not bow down to them. How more specific

can God be? You must not bow down to them or

worship them. For I, the Lord your God, am a

jealous God who will not tolerate your affection

for any other gods. Reason two, I like to think

that they remembered back. Remember, Daniel's

the one who made the stand in prison. They were

there, and they followed Daniel's lead, but someone

had to choose not to compromise. Someone had

to get that conviction just bowl up in them.

And that was Daniel, but this time Shadrach,

Meshach, and Abednego are standing there, and

I bet something went through their mind. I bet

they remember Daniel. I bet they remember his

stand for God. And just like, think of the trajectory

of their life and how that changed everything

for them. The outcome was so much different than

what they thought it could be. It was better

than anyone else who went through. Why? Because

God provided for them. God protected them. God

revealed things to them. God promoted them. I'm

sure they remembered back and they were like,

you know, God provided and he protected us in

that moment. And they remembered that that had

happened. And that was able to strengthen them

and help them have self -control in this moment

when their life is on the line. But just like

Daniel, they could have easily justified bowing.

Could have said, you know, he's the king, right?

He's given so much to us. He's done all these

things, right? He's promoted us. He's let us

live in his house and work in his beautiful kingdom.

Could have just be out of just respect, right?

We know that he's made this little god or whatever,

you know. We know, but we'll just show him some

respect, right? Could have justified it because

their lives were at stake. They're going to be

thrown into the furnace. Nebuchadnezzar gets

so mad, he heats it up ten times hotter. And

they could have just reasoned in their heads.

They could have said, you know, God understands.

I might be bowing on the outside, but I'm standing

on the inside. God knows my heart, right? But

they refused to compromise. They were willing

to die before doing what they knew was wrong.

Fitting in, being accepted, and even getting

ahead had no control over them. If they wanted

to move ahead and gain more influence, it would

just seem like they would, you know, just follow

along, just bow down. It's so simple. God knows

your heart. No, that didn't have any control

over them. They had self -control to align with

God's word and what God desired. And what is

their outcome? This is good. What is their outcome?

If you're not familiar, I don't care if you are,

I'm going to say it. Nebuchadnezzar, he gets

so angry, he don't even give him another chance

to bow. He just says immediately, throw him in,

throw him into the furnace. He heated up hotter,

hotter, hotter. The guys who threw Shadrach,

Meshach, and Abednego, they even died it was

so hot. And all of a sudden, I'm sure Nebuchadnezzar

feels real good. Not himself. I showed them.

I showed them, Hebrew boys. Think that they can

come into my house. And he's sitting back and

everything's going on. And all of a sudden, what?

What is that? There's people moving around. There's

people moving around. And he goes over there

and he's like, hey, go look. What's happening?

There's not just three people moving around.

There's four people moving around. It's good.

All of a sudden, just imagine they're walking

around in the fire. And they're like, I don't

feel anything. Do you feel anything? I don't

smell anything. You smell something? And then

all of a sudden there's someone else walking

around with them. If you want to see in greater

measure God's manifested presence in your life,

you're going to have to start making bold stands

of self -control. Consistently. In self -control.

Because what matters is what you do consistently,

not what you do momentarily. Consistent, there's

power in consistency. And we need to consistently

submit our mind, our will and our emotions and

our bodies to the glory of God. If we want to

see his manifested presence with us, Not every

time you exhibit self -control, not to like,

you know, get mad over some little thing is all

of a sudden God's going to be there. But listen,

every time you do it, you better acknowledge

that the Holy Spirit helped you do it. Because

God is with you. Amen? And he helps you. And

acknowledge him in all things. Amen? But for

the boys, they had protection. The Bible says

in verse 27, no hair was singed. They didn't

even smell like smoke. Nebuchadnezzar calls them

out. And then he claims to the whole nation.

He's like, it turns a whole people to God. He

says, this God is real. So it was a testimony.

Their act of self -control was a testimony which

furthered. The good news of God. But in our minds,

wouldn't bowing get them killed? And wouldn't

bowing not get them killed? And wouldn't they

have more influence? Right? Wouldn't they have

more influence if they just did what the king

wanted? Wouldn't the promotion come quicker if

they just obeyed the king? No. Because Nebuchadnezzar

was not their king. And they would only bow their

knee to the king of kings. Amen? Then they're

promoted to higher positions. God's at work again.

But it required effort on their part to not compromise.

Daniel 6. We're bouncing forward. Daniel's, we

get another look at Daniel. Two kings later,

get this, two kings later after Nebuchadnezzar,

Daniel, or after not Nebuchadnezzar, but Belshazzar.

So, and then Daniel is still in prominent position.

And because of, and it says this, if you go and

read chapter 6, it's because of Daniel's great

ability that to interpret dreams and visions

and his handling skills, all these things, his

ability, King Darius chooses him to administrate

and supervise the high officers placed over the

120 provinces. Darius even made plans in verse

3 for Daniel to be over the entire empire. And

this made a lot of people jealous. But they couldn't

find, listen, they couldn't find a single thing

to criticize or condemn. He had an excellent

spirit, some translations say. He had a tremendous

self -control. Daniel was, in verse 4 it says,

he was faithful, he was always responsible, and

he was completely trustworthy. Imagine if you

could find an employee like that. I'd keep him

around too, right? Imagine if that was the characteristics

that people talked about us, right? When someone

refers to us in our jobs, in our life, are we

faithful? Are we responsible? Are we dependable?

Are we completely trustworthy? That requires

some self -control. Some concluded that Daniel's

only fault was his religious practice. His only

fault as a human being, his only fault was his

religious practice. They knew he prayed three

times a day, giving thanks to his God. And so

the jealous officials, they rallied together

against Daniel. They tricked King Darius to sign

a law that banned anyone from praying to anything

or anyone except King Darius. The consequence

of not following this new law was execution by

being thrown into a den of lions. Yeah, seems

a little intense and very specific. In verse

10, I love this, but when Daniel learned that

the law had been signed, when he learned that

it had been signed, not before, he was aware

of it. He was aware of it. When the law had been

signed, what did he do? He went home. And he

knelt down as usual in his upstairs room with

his windows open towards Jerusalem. And he prayed

three times a day just like he had always done.

Come on. That's bold right there. He could have

easily just hid, prayed in secret, right? Think

about it. Could have easily just, let me just

keep the curtains closed today. He could have

easily just continued about his normal business,

and I'll just pray in my heart quietly unto God.

I'll just pray. And praying three times a day

is not a requirement. Like, a lot of people in

the Bible did that, but I did some research.

I couldn't find any. There's no requirement for

someone to pray three times a day. There was

no, like, law for them to, that God set up. So,

you know, he could have just said, I'll just

do it when I'm not around everybody and when

it's more convenient. Not made such a scene.

But there was a reason why he continued on. Because

for Daniel, it was not just a ritual. It's not

just religious duty to do this. It was a testament

of his deep faith and affection. A testament

of his deep faith and his commitment and his

affection towards God. And his reliance on God.

And see, Daniel, he prioritizes his spiritual

life and communion with God above anything else.

No matter what's done to him, no matter what

people say. No matter who's coming against him,

he doesn't focus on all the jealous people trying

to get after him. He doesn't focus on the approval

of King Darius. He prioritizes his spiritual

life, his communion with God, and this disciplined

routine showcases a heart devoted to acknowledging

God regardless of life's fluctuations. Regardless

to the hostility around him, he said, I'm not

going to be moved. He did not compromise who

he was. Listen, and he did not change his outward

expression. So many of us, even in the comfortable

environment of church, we don't even want to

praise God like we would in our closet at home.

Because we're so fearful of our outward expression,

about raising our hands and shouting unto God.

Some people look at it and they're like, what's

going on? No, you should get excited. We should

dance in the street. Daniel did it. But you know

why we don't? Because we don't believe it. We

don't have the, we don't. Maybe even if we think

we believe it, our beliefs are always tied to

our actions. And what we really do, I'm getting

ahead of myself, but what we do in this life

is really a representation of what we genuinely

believe. You can't think one thing and believe

deep down, believe one thing and do something

that you don't believe in. Daniel, he didn't

change his outward expression or time with God

to fit in, be accepted, get ahead. What happens?

They take him, they throw him into the lion's

den. And again, the Bible says, the angel of

the Lord. Shut the lion's mouth. God's manifested

presence is all of a sudden there. He's sitting

right beside Daniel in the worst of places. Come

on. And what happens? God delivers him out. If

you want some deliverance over some things that

have control over you, I don't care the worst

circumstance you can possibly be in. Guess what?

if you have some self -control, if you do not

compromise what you believe, get this, come on,

God will be with you. The Holy Spirit will empower

you and he will deliver you out. Come on. Protection,

not even a scratch. That's the kind of good father

we have, amen? Protection. Not even a scratch.

I like to say that there's no consequences, right?

Not even remembrance of it. He couldn't even

look back another day and be like, I was thrown

into the furnace. No, he would just say, oh,

God is so good. There's no scar, right? There's

not even a scar of past memory. He's just thrown

away. It's washed away. In this time, Darius

declared the whole nation to turn to the living

God. He said everyone must worship Daniel's God.

He is the one true God. And Daniel, because of

this great self -control, he prospers during

the reign of Darius and his successor Cyrus.

He outlives four kings. and stays in prominent

position. Amen. And to conclude, I say all that

to say, you know, we all face opportunities to

compromise our beliefs each and every day, whether

they're small things, whether they're big things.

We might not be, like, attempted to be beheaded

this afternoon for, you know, whatever. But there's

people around the world who are. And we shouldn't

take that lightly. Here in our comfort, sometimes

we become lazy. We become complacent. And we

justify every decision that we can for our convenience

instead of our beliefs. We act, like I said earlier,

we act based on our beliefs. What we do, listen,

what you do if you're not happy, like what you

do in this life comes from a place of your belief.

If you look at your life and you're like, well,

why did I, you know, I made that bad decision.

Well, you need to look inward and say, God, what

am I believing? Where's my heart at? When we

disobey God, when we compromise what we know

is right, there's a lot of people who don't know.

But as Christians, we should know. There's no

excuse. It's according to the light in which

is inside you, what God has revealed to you,

and you act upon that or choose not to. It's

your decision. And your affection determines

what decision you make and what is most valuable

and what's most important. Is obedience to God

and His Word, is self -control, you know, my

body, my health, my mind? Is that, am I taking

those things captive and placing them under submission

to what I know is right? Or am I just living

life however it's easy, however it feels? Am

I letting my mind, will, emotions in my body

control me? Or am I controlling my mind, will,

emotions in my body and yielding them to the

Spirit? It's easy to justify doing what you know

is wrong. The enemy might tell you those lies.

He might tempt you, but it's your decision. Whose

word's more important to you? What's the value?

Is the value getting ahead? Is that the most

valuable thing in this life? Is the most valuable

thing fitting in? Is it being accepted? So easy

to talk yourself into doing something you know

you should not do. And when we compromise what

we believe to fit in, to be accepted, to get

ahead, guess what? You'll always wind up doing

the wrong thing and making the wrong decision.

Whatever outcome you thought was going to take

place, it might happen a little bit, but it'll

just as easily be taken away from you. Whatever

kind of advantage that you think you achieved

by justifying and compromising your beliefs,

guess what? It'll be taken away from you. We

need self -control to not compromise our beliefs

and to control our actions, just like Daniel

and his friends did. And listen, and I'm done.

Often people want, you know, they look to someone's

talent or their ability. As the key factor in

someone's trajectory in life. And the success

that they will have and the promotion that they

will achieve based upon their talent and their

ability. But I know a lot of people, listen,

I know a lot of people with a lot of talent and

a lot of ability that are not, they're not using

it for the kingdom. They're not able to, you

know, it's like you can be the. The best actor

on the face of the planet. But if you don't have

self -control, listen, you'll kill yourself before

the movie comes out. Just hard facts. That was

a big lesson to me when I watched Batman the

first time. Dark Knight, right? With Heath Ledger.

He was a great actor. Some of the best acting

I've ever seen. In a movie. But he didn't make

it. He had no self -control. That's why self

-control is the most important thing. You don't

have to have the best talent and the best ability

to be used in the kingdom of God. Talent and

ability is great. God gives those things. But

listen, you can have all those things and still

face some kind of moral setback. and have some

kind of moral thing. Just recently, a singer

in Christian music, right? Very prominent figure.

He had all these talents and abilities, but his

self -control, now he's nothing. His whole legacy,

everything that he remembers, it's all gone because

of his lack of self -control. Self -control is

more vital to your success and promotion and

the trajectory of your life than anything else.

And remember, remember, though, self, you have

a helper. And if you will acknowledge the Holy

Spirit, if you will acknowledge him in each why

and fork in the road, if you will acknowledge

him in those times of decision, He will empower

you to have self -control. He will empower you

to control your mind, your will, your emotions,

and your flesh and its desires. He will help

you. He will help you. But you have to make the

choice. And today I just want to leave you and

I just want to encourage you. Make the choice.

Choose God and his word and knowing him more

than anything else. Right? Don't compromise what

you believe and what you know is right. Don't

talk yourself into something this week, this

month, this year that you know you should not

do. If you have to justify it, it's typically

the wrong decision. This online worship experience

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