Hope Over Horror

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Good morning, CCW.

And Darren, good morning, good morning.

Well, that was a great job by the praise team this morning.

I'm so thankful.

And uh yeah, let's give them a hand clap.

Sometimes God's timing with the worship fits right in, and it's just interesting the way God ties things together.

If you drove in today and you've ever been here before, you probably drove in with a different view.

Am I right?

Amen.

Man, I just want to say a thank you to Greg and Darren and everyone who worked on getting that.

I mean, I told y'all a Houdini act was gonna happen.

It was like gone.

So if you drove in here and this, you don't know what I'm talking about.

There used to be a place called Bud's Bait Barn right here.

And uh somebody asked me this morning, did you ever think when you become a pastor you would talk so much about Buds Bait Barn?

Never.

Amen.

But what a beautiful view.

I can stand in the lobby and go, I can see 280.

They're gonna see our church.

Heather said we're buying a steeple next, so we'll see.

Light on the hill, but praise the Lord.

Thank you guys, and thank you for those who donated to make that happen.

Man, it was like we prayed, God started moving, uh, and everything happened quick, but praise the Lord.

I'm so excited about this that it's down for next weekend is our biggest outreach event of the year, Harvest Jam.

And so people are gonna drive in and see such a beautiful site.

But be in prayer for that.

And uh last year we seen over 1,500 people on the campus.

If you hadn't signed up or or whatever for getting in and being a part of serving, that's next Saturday.

We'll probably meet here about three o'clock and starts at four, goes to seven.

And uh it's basically CCW's fall carnival.

And uh, we got an acrobatic basketball dunking team gonna be doing the show in here, and we'll be sharing the gospel through that presentation, and uh it's gonna be an awesome, awesome day.

And I failed to mention, but every year, the following day, is our church friend day.

So if you're looking for an excuse, here's your way to invite.

Hey, it's my friend day.

They might not let me in the door unless you come with me.

Okay, that's why I told a guy at the gym.

I said, they're not gonna let me preach next week if you don't come.

And he said, I'm coming.

So, uh, anyways, next week is Friend Day, and we I believe we could have 500 people in our buildings next week.

But and here's the message for Friend Day.

God planned this out weeks in advance.

Daniel chapter 3.

Daniel 3 · chapter mention

Are you ready?

A fraud, a fire, a friendship, and a fourth man.

And every friend that comes needs to hear about that fourth man.

So I hope that you will be here next week and bring somebody with you, your neighbor, your family member, coworker.

One more thing I have to mention this morning is this.

I've got a son over here, I'm very proud of.

His name is Wyatt, and tomorrow Wyatt turns 15 years of age.

He loves to be hugged, so make sure on the way out of church.

He's a big hugger.

Turn your Bibles to Daniel chapter 2.

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

This morning's message is hope over the horror.

Hope over the horror.

And in Daniel chapter 2, uh, I was at a nursing home every week for about four or five months in Chattanooga, Tennessee, every Monday night, and I started playing this game with a lady named Sylvia.

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

She, they had a rec area we went in.

It was a part of our Christian service at the college, to pick a ministry.

And uh every Monday night I'd sit down with Sylvia and I'd play checkers with Sylvia.

And it was my goal upon meeting her.

I liked Sylvia.

She was funny, sort of spirited.

And uh anyhow, we'd get playing, and I'd choose my checkers, and we'd get playing the game.

And it was my intention, hear me, because I know y'all think maybe I'm competitive.

It was my intention to lose to Sylvia every time I played her.

But this is what started to happen, right?

First game I'm playing her, and we'll say that I was the red checkers.

I'm jumping, she's back and forth, and I'm trying to lose.

Halfway through the game, Sylvia switches it up on me.

She switches colors on me, and all of a sudden I was losing on purpose to her, and now she's losing.

I gotta figure out, and I'm like, I'm looking back and like, what is this lady doing?

And then she switched back.

She switched three, four, or five times during the game, and she did this every week for the next several months, and I just watched her, she would just forget.

She would just forget.

She was having fun in the middle of the game, and she just would forget what's going on.

Have you ever woke up from a dream and you're trying to kind of piece back together what was going on in your dream?

You woke up and you it was so vivid, and then all of a sudden it was just, and quickly you were losing it, it was fleeting from you, and and you're almost there, but no, not quite.

Well, in Daniel chapter two, there is a dream that's important to this chapter, and I want you to see.

Daniel chapter two, let's look at verses one through three.

It says, in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, I'm in chapter one.

That's not gonna work.

There is no dream there.

Chapter two.

Now, in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams, and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him.

Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams.

So they came and stood before the king, and the king said to them, I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.

And so this dream is an important dream.

David Jeremiah said this about the dream.

It furnishes a biblical overview of end times that we see in Matthew 24 and Revelation.

So as dreams go, this one is extraordinarily significant.

Pray with me.

Father, we pray that as we dive into your word, God, that today is not just a service.

Lord, we're not here just to meet a tradition.

God, we're here to meet with you.

And so I pray, as your word says of itself, that it would divide our hearts, show us where we are, what we need, who we are, and our need of you.

And Lord, I pray that you would speak through your word.

Move me and everyone's agenda out of the way for the next few minutes.

And God, you speak to us in Jesus' name.

Amen.

The first point this morning is this that it was a dream forgotten.

And letter A underneath of that is we're gonna see the potentate's whore, the king's whore.

It says he was so troubled that his sleep left him.

You ever been troubled like this?

You ever woke up like this?

The last three weeks prior to this week, man, I had some anxiousness in life.

Um, and things were waking me up.

Kids waking me up.

The dog has woken me up several times.

And I tell my kids from an early age, like, listen, especially my boys, there's something you don't want to mess with.

You don't mess with a man's sleep.

Don't mess with people's sleep.

And so I don't get angry real easy, but the other week, about two in the morning, some of this stuff had happened.

Other things, it was a second, third time.

Wyatt is in the room, and he's standing over Heather.

It's 2 a.m.

I find out later, I look at my phone, it's 2 a.m.

He says, Mom, I know you're asleep.

That should be the end.

All right, turn around and leave.

Mom, I know you're asleep, but I'm hungry.

I'm like, what?

2 a.m.

I'm like, I don't know if he was asleepwalking.

I'm like, Heather, was that real?

Like, we got what do we want him to get up and make a say?

I don't know what happened.

Okay.

But when you're asleep and you wake up, imagine the king.

It says he was troubled.

He was anxious.

He's all riled up, he gets up, he's got the bedhead, his eyes bloodshot, his heart is racing, and he says, Get all the magicians, get all the sorcerers, get all of them, get all the psychics.

I want Madam Serena, Copperfield, I want Houdin, I want all of them here, because I've had a bad dream.

And then I want you to see verses four through six what follows.

Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, O king, live forever.

Tell your servants the dream, and we'll give the interpretation.

The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, My decision is firm.

If you do not make known the dream to me, hear that, and its interpretation, you will be cut in pieces, and your house is made an ash heap.

However, if you tell the dream and the interpretation, you'll receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor.

Therefore, tell me the dream and its interpretation.

And so we see that the king brings before them a plan.

He says, I want you to tell me the dream and interpret it.

Gives them an offer they can't refuse.

Tell me the dream and interpret it, or I'm gonna cut you to pieces.

Okay, deal?

And these guys are like, What is he saying?

He says, let it be the psychic's whore.

We see their whore.

They come in and they're supposed to be good at this stuff.

He said, Read my mind, astrologists.

Tell me the dream, soothsayer, and then interpret it.

Now, some of you husbands here, you understand when you got married, you were supposed to become better at mind reading.

Am I right?

If my wife says, I'm fine, that's a four-letter word that means I am not fine.

That's what that means.

When a woman says, hear me, some of y'all younger guys, when a woman says, shut up, because you're telling her how beautiful she looks, what she actually means is you better not shut up.

You're supposed to understand this.

The king is frustrated.

He said, if you're a psychic, get into your magic ball, do psychic things.

Here's my palm, astrologer, Sue Sayer.

If that's you, you should know my dream.

Right?

He says, show up or blow up.

This is your time.

There's a good principle in here for us.

If God has given you a gift, don't just talk about it, be about it.

He said, Here's your opportunity.

You're a visionary, you're a dreamer.

You know all this stuff, the floor is yours, and you know what he got?

Crickets.

Nothing.

Well, I want to talk about this idea, this word, these visionaries, because it seems the king is skeptical of even what he himself is steeped in in the land of Babylon.

The word halam or chazam, that is to prophesy, to speak by inspiration of God.

Well, how important is this to be accurate?

Well, I want you to look at Deuteronomy chapter 13.

Deuteronomy 13 · chapter mention

These guys had better be careful of the things that they say about a dream or a vision.

Old Testament Deuteronomy chapter 13 says this if there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and then the sign or the wander comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, key, which you have not known, and let us serve them.

Deuteronomy 13 · chapter mention

Look at what it says.

You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.

For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul.

You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and his commandments and obey his voice.

You shall serve him and hold fast to him.

But the prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God.

So this is an important topic.

There's a lot of people today talking about dreaming and visions, and I'm not, listen, I'm not down on that.

The Bible says in Joel 2, you can see it's talking about in Times Prophecy.

But hear me, God doesn't give a word or a vision that does not benefit in a biblical sense.

Okay?

Vodi Bachman said this.

There's a picture that's gonna come up, posted this.

He said, What do Mormons, Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, Jim Jones cult all have in common?

They were all begun by someone claiming that God or some spirit spoke to him, giving a new revelation.

All of these cults have one thing in common.

Oh, God, God gave them something, but let me tell you this, it wasn't found in here.

Hear me.

People have talked to me about God is not trapped in a box.

Oh, you're right, he's not in a box, but he's definitely in this book.

And so having those things come to pass, Bodhi Bachman said, that's a cult.

And 2 Peter 1, let me tell you this verse, 19, you can turn there.

You need to see this.

2 Peter 1 20 and 21.

Look at what it says.

Knowing this first, that no prophecy, not some, not a little bit, no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy never came by the will of man.

Right?

It doesn't conjure up by men.

But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Why are we getting into all this, Pastor?

Well, I'll tell you why.

One time, early in ministry, I had a lady come down to me in the SOS Youth Hall in youth group, and she told me that morning, Pastor, God gave me a vision this morning, and this is what you're to do.

I'm gonna take all the other youth leaders and we're gonna go pray.

Sounds fine.

And you're gonna speak to the teenagers.

And I thought, what?

What am I gonna speak?

She said, God said to me to tell you that you're gonna speak.

Now here's the thing: God didn't tell me that.

But he told her that to tell me.

And I I didn't know what to do.

So, young in the ministry, I opened up my Bible, she took off with the youth leaders, and I did biblical uh whoop, found me a verse, and it wasn't good for 45 minutes.

Awkward.

It wasn't planned, the Holy Spirit wasn't in it, and I thought, this is weird.

Okay?

Here's what I'm trying to get across to you.

Can God give visions?

Yes.

Does God still do that?

Yes.

Is it ordinary?

I don't believe it's ordinary.

And here's the key if God gives a vision, if he gives a word, it has to agree with this.

These guys said they could decipher dreams.

A soothsayer is a person when you look it up, a person supposed to be able to foresee the future.

An astrologer uses astrology in the stars to predict the future.

And the king says, You guys are a bunch of charlatans.

Tell me my dream.

Well, as it turns, interestingly, look back at Daniel chapter 1, verse 17.

Daniel 1:17

Daniel has an awesome gift.

As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom.

And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

Isn't that interesting as this begins to unfold?

Well, point number two is this a dream foretelling.

We see letter A, Daniel's insightfulness.

It's important you understand, verse 17, that it says, and God gave Daniel.

That word gave is Nathon, and that is ascribed.

God ascribed to Daniel.

He bestowed to Daniel a gift.

It wasn't there, and God placed it there.

When God gets a life, let me tell you something, church.

It's like he's able to reach into the heavens sometimes and pull something in that was never there before and place it in a believer.

God gave a tool.

This tool, as far as I can understand, looking biblically, this is an interesting tool.

There's a lot of prophets in the Bible, and there's a lot of people that see things in the Bible.

There's only a few instances where you see someone who can interpret somebody else's vision.

You see it in Joseph with Pharaoh.

You see it with Daniel, and we might see it with Amos.

And so this is a rare type of gifting that God gave to Daniel.

And so this is probably the first time that Daniel would use this gift, and he looks at it with a godly approach.

I want you to see his approach.

We'll see.

We're going to look at verse 13 through 16 starting here.

But there's four P's about Daniel's approach that I want you to see.

Firstly, is Daniel's poise.

Look at verse 13.

It says this.

So the decree went out, and they began killing wise men, and they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them.

Then with counsel and wisdom, Daniel answered Ariok, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.

He answered and said to Ariok, the king's captain, Why is this decree from the king so urgent?

Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel.

So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time that he might tell the king the interpretation.

And so we see first of all Daniel's poise.

If you look back there in 1314, how did he come into Ariok?

Ariok was coming to kill Daniel.

It says he was coming to kill them.

He came to him with wisdom and counsel.

He came to him mildly.

There's a biblical principle, right?

If we are slow to wrath, a quiet answer turns away an argument.

And so he came to him, not with an argument or a fight, like maybe others, trying to justify why they couldn't tell a dream.

He came to him quietly and said, Why is this urgent?

And don't forget God's hand being on Daniel.

Daniel had favor previously with the eunuch.

I believe Daniel had favor with this man who was coming.

And the Bible says this about God's people, man.

He goes before us and behind us.

And so he comes to him.

He could have been killed.

And then he went from there and went boldly into the court of an angry king.

Can you imagine?

To a king who was ticked and ready to kill anyone because they could not reveal his dream.

He didn't have any regard for anyone at that moment.

Why did he not kill Daniel?

Again, God's hand was on him.

And Daniel forged forward, though, and he offered something interesting that the other wise men didn't offer.

He had something else.

They kept asking, we go through this whole situation again, and they asked, King, tell us the dream, and we will tell you the interpretation.

Well, that's not Daniel's approach.

Daniel said, Can you give me time?

Because if you give me time, I believe my God can tell the dream and the interpretation.

He never once said, I can't tell you the dream.

He never once said, Well, you go ahead and tell me the dream first.

He believed that God could give the king what he wanted.

Whereas the others, they were just being called out for being counterfeits.

So Daniel, it would seem, church, Daniel had this secret weapon.

We'll call it today the God factor.

Are you with me?

The God factor says, I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.

The God factor said, if you'd have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can have a mountain be moved.

The God factor says he can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.

The God factor says, with God nothing shall be impossible.

Daniel had it, and he was poised, and because he knew God, and God gave him the ability to understand dreams.

And so Daniel goes in.

Look at verse 17 and 18.

And see what follows.

Then Daniel, after he went into the king, then Daniel went to his house, and he made the decision known to Hananiah, Meshach, and Azariah, Shabrach, Meshach, and Abednego, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven.

Concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

So the second thing we see about Daniel's approach was he was prayerful.

He could have become fearful, he could have lost it, he could have seen the horror and gotten anxious, but poised and prayerful.

He takes to his three friends and he says, Gentlemen, we gotta go to a prayer meeting.

Join me in the prayer closet.

Him and his three godly friends, Matthew Henry said this: vis unita fortior, meaning the union of forces produces greater force.

Together they sought the mercies of God concerning this secret.

The Bible says the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Matthew Henry said this, there are mysteries which prayer is that key that unlocks the cabinets of heaven.

I want to ask you a question this morning.

Is there anyone here today you would say, Pastor, there's a situation in my life, if I'm just real honest, there's a situation right now that needs prayer.

You're there right now.

There's something in your life, there's people in your life.

I see that all over.

And here's what Scripture says it says, knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Four teenagers understood and sought God in prayer.

Every time I talk about prayer, I share this.

John Piper said, prayer causes things to happen that would not have happened if you had not prayed.

And so we're called on to pray.

When you arrive in a moment like this, with desperation of clarity, plead to God.

James said, cry out for wisdom, and he'll give it liberally.

Are you in one of answers, church?

He says, Ask, seek, knock.

Have you prayed?

When we finish the service today, we're going to have a time of invitation for prayer.

The Bible says you have not because you asked not.

The Bible says that where two or more agree together in prayer, that God is there with them.

The Bible says, if any one of you is sick, that the elders should lay hands together and pray.

And so I'm going to ask today that at the end of service, our counsel would come up.

Have you prayed?

Have you put the matter in God's hands?

You see, he gave God the credit.

That's what Daniel did.

He gave God the credit that was due.

And then, listen to me, guys, over here.

And then, like an obedient teenager, he went to bed.

How do we know that?

Because it says, look at verse 20 and 21.

He was asleep.

Look at verse 20 and 21.

Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his, and he changed the times and the seasons.

He removes kings and raises kings.

He gives wisdom and knowledge to those who have understanding.

But verse 19, previous to his praise, the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision.

Daniel woke up and began to praise God.

That's the third thing we see in his approach.

He praised God.

He gave God the credit.

God answered a prayer.

He says, This Nebuchadnezzar, you bring kings, you bring kingdoms.

And you are in charge of times and seasons.

And so he answers to God and praises him for that.

Well, verse 24, we see lastly, Daniel's approach, his pity.

Look at verse 24.

This is interesting.

All of the things Daniel could have thought, and it says, Therefore Daniel went to Ariak after God had revealed the dream, the interpretation.

Therefore, Daniel went to Ariok, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon.

He went and said to them, Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon.

Take me before the king, and I'll tell the interpretation.

So we see Daniel in his approach.

He had pity on those in Babylon.

He would understand some principles from Leviticus 19 that says, Don't take a stand against your neighbor or steal.

Love your neighbor.

And so Daniel believed in the word of God.

And even when he didn't have to, he was kind.

And so Daniel has pity.

Well, that takes his letter B.

The dream, interpretation, and implications.

Look at verse 28 and 29.

I want you to see how Daniel goes about talking to the king.

Daniel gets a little preachy here.

I like this, Daniel.

Daniel says to the king, but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.

Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed were these.

As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed about what would come to pass after this.

And so, man, he gets preaching.

He says, Daniel, King, this isn't Daniel's interpretation.

He says, I want you to know something.

He takes his moment before the king and he says, This isn't me.

This is about my God.

I want you to understand that.

Some people, it seems like they believe in their gift as if it's something that they conjure up.

It's something of theirs.

Not Daniel.

Daniel says, I want you to know something, King.

God did this.

And so then he gives the interpretation of the dream.

After he gives all credit to God, he gives the interpretation of the dream.

I want you to see a picture of the dream, and I'm going to do my best here to describe this dream.

And this could be its own message.

There's people that would go for weeks talking about this topic, but we'll give an overview this morning.

The image is a statue that he saw, and the statue came and it had different metals, it had different consistency.

The head was gold, and the head was to picture Babylon as it was at that time.

And then it goes on down to the chest made of silver, the chest in arms, and that was to be a picture of the meat and Persians who would follow after.

It's about nations who would lead, and then nations who would come and conquer and be next in line.

And then as it follows down, it's bronze, the belly and thigh of bronze.

It's about the Grecian rule that would come to pass.

And then iron and clay as the legs and feet at the bottom.

Interesting as it continues from top to bottom, the deterioration of the strengths.

And so it continues down.

Maybe many believe that to be Roman, but it's a divided kingdom.

And then in the picture, a stone cut from the mountain comes crashing down at the bottom of the feet of the statue, bringing the whole statue crumbling to the ground.

And that stone is a picture in Daniel 7 speaks of it, of a kingdom that's coming that would not be shaken.

At the end of times, a kingdom is coming through Jesus Christ, that rock, that stone, it calls him the Son of Man in Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

That's coming.

And he's going to crumble all other kingdoms and bring a kingdom that will last forever.

And we see it talked about in Luke 21, the end times.

And I know that you're paying attention to things right now, but the Bible says there will be wars, rumors of wars, nations rising against nations, kingdom against kingdoms, famines, pestilence, earthquakes, brother against brother, many will be offended.

False prophets, lawlessness.

It says there in Luke 21, Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies.

And you know what it says to us in verse 14 of Luke 20 says, Look up, for in that time your redemption draws nigh.

Jesus is coming again.

And he's bringing an eternal kingdom.

That's the picture of this dream.

And so he brings that dream an interpretation to the king.

I want you to see what happens because of his interpretation.

Point number three this morning is this Daniel's faithfulness and future.

Look down at verse 46 through 49.

Daniel's faithfulness and future.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him.

The king answered Daniel and said, Truly, your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets.

Since you could reveal this secret, then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts.

And he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.

Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon.

But Daniel sat in the gate of the king.

Letter A is this, the crown's new praise.

And we see King Nebuchadnezzar fall to his face at the interpretation.

Somebody got the dream.

He understood the dream and the interpretation.

He falls down.

And this is compelling because for the first time, it would seem like Nebuchadnezzar embraces the idea of another god.

You need to know a little bit of backstory about where Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians, were, but notoriously the Babylonians worship the gods of Marduk.

The gods of Marduk is interesting, and this will take you down a rabbit hole.

I'd encourage it if you want some fun.

But the gods of Marduk is the patron god of Babylon, and I need you to know the important tie between Marduk and Babylon.

In Genesis 10, 9, it introduces a character named Nimrod, who is called a mighty hunter against God.

And Nibrod is introduced, and he's tied in.

We're not told explicitly that he built the Tower of Babel, but he's there, and the next thing you are seeing is the Tower of Babel whose purpose was to build to their God, and who could sit upon an observatory at the top and observe the stars and astronomy.

Interesting the tie that Babylon would have years later with Nebuchadnezzar for being a place who is into astrology and astronomy.

That is their intellectual prowess.

And numerous commentators align this, you need to hear this, that after Nimrod and his wife, Semiramus' death, they were established and paid homage to as the gods Marduk and Astarte.

It would appear that at his death, the people of Babylon, a lot of commentators align on this fact that Nimrod was observed as a god named Marduk.

That probably, possibly, Nebuchadnezzar is still worshiping at this time.

The people of that city of Babylon are steeped in it.

Interesting to add to that, other names for the god Marduk?

Baal, Baal, which we see a history.

And if you go to the Tower of Babel and all the changing of languages at the God of Marduk who was seen, there's all kinds of names that tracks all kinds of things.

Osiris is a name, there's tons of it.

And so there's all these ties to this Nimrod who sought to seek after God through astronomy and astrology.

And now Nebuchadnezzar, who's been steeped in it for life, concedes for the first time that we know of that there is in fact another God.

There's another God.

He's been believing a certain way his whole life.

And listen to me, one of the hardest things to do is to go after someone, 70s, 80s, who's been steeped a certain way and ask them to listen to the message that God has filled you with.

And so we see Nebuchadnezzar.

See this dream be interpreted and go, nobody else.

You got something, Daniel.

There's something different.

A prideful, angry king who hoped to bring these Hebrew boys in, brainwash them to the culture of Babylon, and receive them into his culture and make them another one.

They had decided purpose in their heart that they got to be in Babylon, but Babylon wasn't going to be in them.

And now that Babylonian king is starting to get a little Hebrew in him.

He started to acknowledge their God.

This was a huge win for these Hebrew boys who were stolen, who were captive.

And it goes back to that Daniel 1.8.

Daniel purposed in his heart to remain steadfast and God honored it.

I want to tell you today, church, for us in practicality, what do I do with that, Pastor?

It is no small thing for you to speak concerning your God.

It is no small matter when God, the Holy Spirit, touches your heart to speak of your God, to testify of your God, to share in prayer to that co-work.

Can I pray for you?

When the door is open, be ready and be faithful.

2 Peter 2.15 says, always be ready to give an answer of the hope that is in you, which is from Christ Jesus.

It's hope over the whore to be bold.

You see, culture is sinful and people are in disarray, and we have a distinct opportunity to make an impact because of our real God.

There's a lot of people looking to false gods, and they're looking to why aren't they happy with all this money?

And why aren't I happy with all this vacation?

Why ain't I happy with all this status and power and clout and my house and all these things?

And we come in being happy with whatever it is that we got, and they go, What is different about you?

You see, it's because we have a real God, and our God did change our life, and our God does answer prayer, and our God does do miracles, and our God is worthy to be praised.

And our God, listen to me, is seated in the heavens.

It's not just background music, it's not just elevator noise.

Our God is King of Kings.

And Nebuchadnezzar even says it.

He says, Your God is a king of kings.

Your God is a God of gods.

People are horrified, church, today.

People are lost today.

And hear me.

This sounds bleak, but there are people heading to a sinner's hell.

And they need our God.

In the depths of darkness, something with light shines so brightly.

And Nebuchadnezzar says, Praise.

Here's the answer to Dave's question for this week, I think.

He says, Praise your Lord.

So stay with me for another few weeks.

He says, Praise your Lord.

He doesn't say praise my Lord.

So we're gonna see.

It's interesting to study Nebuchadnezzar.

Well, it didn't end with that.

I love this part, point number B.

Look at the companion's new promotion.

48 and 49, we read, but it says this.

Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts and made him ruler over the whole province Babylon, chief administrator, all over the wise men.

And also Daniel petitioned the king about his friends.

See, the king promoted Daniel because God, listen to me, Daniel got no promotion for anything that Daniel did.

Daniel got a promotion because his God interpreted a dream.

Jumped right past manager, jumped past district manager, jumped past regional manager, jumped past, and shot him straight up to governor.

Daniel's governor over the whole province.

And that's not all.

Daniel, I love him here.

Daniel said, I don't want to press my luck king, but what about my friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo?

Nebuchadnezzar, feeling generous, said, promote them to.

Everybody's over a province today.

Don't tell me today, church, that your walk with God doesn't impact people close to you.

Nearest to you.

Husband today, your steadfastness pours over unto your bride.

Parents, your steadfastness pours to your children.

Daniel walked closely to the Lord, and when God called on him, he was ready.

Teenagers, you want to be a good friend?

Be a godly friend.

You might make an impact on your friends.

Because Daniel and his friends gave God his credit and went to him in a prayer meeting.

Now four stolen teens in the hand of God went from obscurity, stolen, no family, lost their home, lost their community, captive nobody's two.

Look at my God, rulers in this new province.

Can you imagine?

Let me ask a question today, church.

Have you surrendered your work?

It wasn't what Daniel did.

He was surrendered to his God, and the moment came, he was already surrendered.

You hearing me?

He had already purposed in his heart.

And the moment came and he was ready to do what God had already called him to do.

Have you surrendered your family?

Are you ready to do the work of God that's already before us?

Have you surrendered your finances?

Say, why ain't God blessing me?

Have you surrendered?

Have you surrendered your time?

Let me tell you this, church, because everything else is running on the hamster wheel of life.

If you have not surrendered, you're just going and going and going and not getting any place.

Have you surrendered your sport, your gift, and talent?

Have you surrendered?

Where is that thing getting you?

Is it fulfilling your heart's desires?

Because it's only God that can do that.

Do you feel like you're living on purpose?

That your life is a worship unto God, or is it a worship unto self?

That is the problem with Babylonians and Hebrew.

There's the crux of the matter.

Babylonians were looking for purpose, and all they had was false gods.

And let me tell you, America's living in it.

We're full of false gods, and we're trying to fulfill, and we're running on that wheel, and we're getting so tired.

And he says, It's me.

I can do so much with so little.

But I need your surrender.

I came across this old story, great story of Oral Hersheiser.

You remember the old Dodgers pitcher in 1988?

He had just won the World Series, and he was uh on the Johnny Carson show, and Johnny Carson started to ask him questions because there's a clip of him at the end of the eighth inning.

He would go on to pitch a complete game.

End of the eighth inning going into the ninth inning.

The Dodgers are up five to two, and there's this clip of Oral Herschiser standing in the dugout, and they can see his lips moving.

They don't know what he's saying.

And Johnny Carson starts kind of pushing him live on the television show.

He says, Here's this clip.

What were you saying?

And Oral Herschiser says, I wasn't saying anything, Johnny.

He said, Well, we see your lips moving.

What do you do?

He said, I was singing.

He said, Oh, really?

I didn't know you were a singer.

Would you sing for us today what you were singing?

And Oral said, I don't, you don't want to hear me sing.

And he said, Come on.

And the audience together began, Yes, let's hear what it was.

And Oral said, All right.

And Oral Herschiser began to sing.

Praise God to whom all blessings flow.

Praise him here, all creatures below.

Praise him above, ye heavenly host.

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Johnny Carson was speechless on live television as he shared this.

And the whole audience was dead silent at this moment, looking at him.

Well, finally a man in the back of the crowd stood to his feet and began cheering.

And as he did, the crowd came with him, and an ear-splitting applause went off.

As on live TV, God was given credit for what he did.

You see, Orl, upon pitching eight strong innings, knew going into the ninth.

All he could do to that moment was to sing about the blessings of the one who gave the blessing.

He could have buckled, he could have been terrified, he could have been in horror.

But I think he understood what Daniel understood.

He had hope.

CCW today.

God wants to show himself real in your story.

Will you give him credit?

Will you see that it's him, it's not us?

You see, Philippians 1 6 says, He that hath begun a good work in you is faithful to complete it.

He wants to do a work in you.

There's some people here today.

I've had it said throughout my ministry, God had a calling on me, but I didn't listen.

And I'm so sad, or whatever it is, listen to me.

It's not too late.

You're here.

It's not too late to speak, to serve, to use your business, to use your family.

It's not too late for a change.

You'll say, Well, I'm stuck.

This is what I do, this is what my day looks like, this is what my schedule looks like.

You are the one that can make that change.

And Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 tells us what happens if we do.

Trust the Lord with all your heart.

Lean not into my own understanding, but in all my ways, acknowledge him, and he'll direct my path.

You don't have to make the steps make sense.

You just got to take a step.

I don't know what a teenage boy was thinking when he went into a king.

But he thought, I believe in my God.

Do you, church?

I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes this morning.

He will lead and he will guide.

But church, today you have to take a step.

What is that step?

I don't know.

We're all on different parts of this Christian journey.

But I know this.

God wants to move you forward, and he wants to do incredible things for his glory and use us as a tool.

What a privilege.

Now you can walk out of here the same as you have many weeks.

Or if the Holy Spirit's speaking to you, you can take a step.

If you accepted Jesus today, we want to hear about it.

Take a moment and text CCW Connect to 94,000.

Thank you again for joining us on the CCW podcast.

We hope you'll make plans to join us in person on Sundays.