Daniel Dilemma Part 2 10 08 2017 Sermon

all right today welcome to week number two of a four part series that we're simply calling the daniel dilemma. We'll tell you more about that in just a second but let me say hello to everybody and all of our campuses. Come on you braved the tropical storm and came to church! So good to see all you guys and for all you guys that are watching online somewhere or maybe you stayed home and thought that was the safest thing to do we think that's just fine we're so glad for the miracle of technology that allows us to bring this to you in your home even though it's not quite the same we're so glad that you're still able to join us and for everyone who's watching somewhere around the world to the men and women in the Alabama Department of Corrections so we love you with all of our heart consider it a great honor to bring Jesus to you and to minister to you in the way that we get to so god bless you all today but I want us to put our hands together today and give a special shout out for the Dream Teamers because a bunch of them showed up wait, hanging on hang on really early bunch of them are out there in that sideways rain right now and helping you guys get in this room and taking care of your kids and made you some coffee and and playing music and then to the portable campuses they're setting up and taking down keeping all of our equipment dry while they get all soaking wet how about the biggest hand ever for the Dream Team come on everybody yeah god bless you guys thank you for what you do man I really mean that so god bless you all all right I want you to pull out the little message note sheet out of your worship guide about 60 70 percent of the Sunday's we will give you the outline and a way to fill in some blanks and makes it easier in fact today it's uh I think it was more important that you have this because I'm gonna be a little teaching heavy on the front end and so for these those are you guys that like it deep and you like teaching you're gonna love this one but those you guys that don't come back next week it gets a different kind of a message but uh but I wanted to get into kind of a deep topic today to help us understand culture we're in a four part series based off of a book that I wrote that was based off of a series we did four years ago I never thought it would become a book honestly we did this series and you guys kept commenting on it and rewatching it on our website it became very obvious that this we had struck a nerve when we did a we did a verse by verse a study in 2013 through the Book of Daniel and in that series basically the thesis of a series was that the beauty of that story in the Old Testament the Daniel story this the story of the Hebrew nation the whole nation being brought out out of of Israel and its captives of slaves in a pagan culture Daniel and his friends had the ability to watch this they had the ability to stand firm in their faith I mean really just keep following God but they didn't have to do it and isolate themselves they still had influence into their culture I think today people kind of see in either or either I must stand for God and everyone's gonna hate me and I'll go to heaven but man you know it'll be by the skin of my teeth you know or in order to really have kind of any impact in the culture man we're gonna have to change God's Word a little bit and we're going to ease this thing a little bit it's too tough culture will never go for it and I personally believe you can stand firm and love well at the same time and that's what the books all about so we did write this book we have it available for our church only at the cost of the book publisher no one makes any money it's just available to you guys and honestly if you don't have even what they are charging take it we want you to have it it belongs to you I think you're as much a part of this project as anyone you're you're really the inspiration behind this wanting to really create a playbook a how-to if you will of how to live your life in in a pagan culture and today I want to just talk about that what we're going to talk in the next two weeks about how we can influence it and it'll be kind of a different spirit behind those messages may be a bit more encouraging but today I want to just be really honest about what our culture really is all about and I want to start with this little thought it's not in your notes it's just I want you to start this thought and that is we a really have a choice and really one of these two things is gonna happen we're either gonna set the culture or have some kind of influence on it or we'll reflect the culture maybe an analogy and putting it in an analogy you're either gonna be a thermostat or you're gonna be a thermometer I'll personally believe that God's called us to be a thermostat he's called us to to set the culture that we're to live our lives jesus said it this way let your light shine in front of men so well that they see your good works and they'll want to glorify your God in heaven we're called to be salt make things brighter and light salt make things better and in light make things better I got that all backwards but you get the point everybody all right salt and light better and brighter okay I can preach I promise you all right but we're here to have that kind of impact in our culture and I really believe that and and when I when I wrote this and put it on this message it made me think of a Cajun story haven't told you one in a long time and I think it'd be a good point to laugh because there's nothing else funny in this message all right so but but when I wrote that I remembered when Boudreaux first got his thermos bottle the terminus you know that that's how they sat down in Cajun Louisiana I'm from south Louisiana they called it determines he said and when he had that thermos bottle his book the Thibodeaux walks up says man what that is and he said well that's a terminus he said what a term is did he said well he said the hot stay hot and the cold stay cold and Thibodeaux said how do it know Boudreaux said it just no he said well what you got in there he said I got a bowl of gumbo and two popsicles so there you go yes funny I don't care what y'all say that's hilarious all right but seriously we're not to retreat out of culture we're to have an impact on it and that's why on the night before Jesus went to the cross he went to the Garden of Gethsemane on that Thursday night and and John chapter 17 records the entire prayer that jesus prayed if you want to read the whole prayer I pulled out two verses he says my prayers Jesus is not that you take them out of the world which honestly sometimes that would be my prayer Lord just get me out of here insulate me from culture we get we can Christians can easily be get what I call a fort mentality let's just go let's hide in our buildings let's worship our God the state they stay out of the way of all them ungodly sinners out there you know that's she said no I don't want you to do that I don't want you out of the world but instead I want you in the world but protected from the evil one in the middle of it come on somebody say Amen right there that that that that Jesus says they Christians are not of the world even as I am NOT of it but I'm still in it I'm not of it but I'm still in it and that's the challenge how do we live in it but not become part of it and how can we even have influence in the middle of it well I want to expose what I personally believe is the single culprit to an ungodly culture I want expose today what I believe drives every ungodliness every sin it's rooted in one mentality I've called it today the babylon mentality the book of daniel is set in a geographic location called babylon that today that exact dirt today that land is called iraq back then called babylon but i want to submit to you that babylon is not a locality it's a mentality and that it is a spirit that existed from the beginning of your bible to the end of your bible and still exists today and i'm going to try to prove that in the next couple of minutes and i want you to see it so that we can recognize it because part of my job as a pastor according to ephesians is do not participate in the fruitless deeds of darkness but rather expose them and that's what i want to do today i want to help you see oh because once you understand how Satan operates oh then then then he doesn't have as much chance to pull us into it like he does unfortunately for so many of us in fact Satan's biggest lies started in the first words that came out of his mouth so we hear him speak in the 2nd chapter of the Bible in Genesis there's Adam and Eve in the garden and that the Satan shows up in the form of a serpent you probably remember this story and the first thing that he does is he questions God and he tries to elevate people in fact Satan's lie basically is look if you'll follow me I am all about you I'm all about you I want you to have what you want I will I will give you everything you want I'm all about you and God don't follow him because God's all about himself and that is the biggest lie that Satan gives mankind and it comes in different versions you only go a few pages further in your Genesis and in the Bible in the book of Genesis and you get the story of the Tower of Babel some of you know this story that they decided to build a tower to the heavens and they said come let us build ourselves ourselves notice that word a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens and will even tell you why we're doing it so that we can make a name for ourselves we don't need God we got we got this because Saints all about us fact I'm all about me too and really I don't need God until I need God so you just stay out of the way and let's make ourselves great this is Satan's he's banking his whole his he's wagering all his bets on our self-interest everything he he knows that all he has to is just kind of promote you he'll win and it goes on in the next few verses later in verse 9 and that is why it's called Babel which way where we get the word Babylon which the Book of Daniel is set in Babel because there the Lord confused the languages the word Babel literally means confusion it's a deranged way of thinking that produces confusion now listen to me you don't even need a preacher to tell you because if you follow a way other than God's Way it's going to produce confusion in your life like you don't even need me to preach it you'll find you'll find you live in chaos and I submit to you that we're experiencing chaos in our nation right now we had a deranged gunman just mow people down for no reason at all just mowing people down just just a deranged a deranged thinking that creates mass confusion and I just it's the mentality that is that that I believe personally and unfortunately that that is just but a symptom of what's taking place in the hearts of so many people in our nation and the world it's why we need God can I hear a good amen everybody say well where was God God was right where we left him we we have we have uninvited him in our lives he wants to be involved if my people who are called oh if you call my name homo yourselves pray seek my face turn from your wicked ways I'll show up and by the way I do believe God showed up in those first responders in our Police Department and then the people who hug those people and pull them out of harm's way come on everybody and they're right but it's a deranged thinking that produces confusion and if you're here today with chaos in your soul it might be that you bought into the babylon mentality very beginning your bible starts with this in the Garden of Eden and then this story of the Tower of Babel but check it out the last part of your Bible talks about it because if you go to the book of Revelation which is the book about the end times two chapters are devoted to this chapter 17 and 18 are all about Babylon and God judging this Bible Babylon mentality the name written on her forehead was a Mystery Babylon the Great the mother of prostitutes in the abominations of the earth in other words everything that is ungodly has its root in this mentality go to the middle of your Bible the very middle of your Bible and by the way read those two chapters 17 and 18 and you'll see what God thinks about and by the way he even talks about how this spirit has even gotten in the church that even in the church people think it's all about them making themselves great instead of God great we've got to be careful of that in Isaiah right go to the middle of your Bible guess what they're talking about Babylon if you go to chapter 47 at the top of this discourse the very top and every Bible is the heading the fall of Babylon okay and it says now then listen you lover of pleasure in other words you're just all about what feels good lounging in your I would add self security I don't need God I'm secure I got it I got it going on and saying to yourself I am and there is none besides me I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children because I can handle my life without God both of these will overtake you Isaiah said in a moment on a single day loss of children widowhood they will come upon you in full measure in spite of your many sorceries you take God out of the picture just just see what happens and all your potent spells you've trusted in wickedness and you've said no one sees me your wisdom quote unquote wisdom and knowledge misleads you when you say to yourself I am and there's none besides me I'd do that because we kind of live in a selfie generation the only and they're like come on everybody Babylon's motto we got to be careful I'm all about social media I use it myself but we got to be careful of believing I am and there is none besides me this is the biggest trick of the devil is to get you self focused even thinking you're smarter than God you know better than God you love better than God you you even you even would judge the earth better than God you would write different laws than God God God doesn't know what he's talking about babylon elevates ourselves elevates me make it all about me it's just really all about me comes in the form of things likes being self adoring the selfie I mean there is none in this picture but me I am look at me and there's there's none in this instant story but me look at all you can boomerang it I don't know what that's all about but that seems to be popular yeah I'm just it's just me I'm a focus on me Babylon this elevating of self is self building I can do it without God I'll let you know when I need you God but you stay tucked in on my Sunday I'll show up and come meet with you when I want to meet with you and when I don't need you anymore I'm gonna go live my life kind of the way I want to right and then if I have an emergency I'm gonna call you that's kind of most people's attitude toward God which is why by the way when prosperity hits the earth the church is empty and whenever whenever tragedy hits the earth the churches fill back up I mean the largest service we ever had in our first year as a church we were kind of growing in 2001 and then September 11th happened on that Tuesday and that next Sunday was the very first Sunday in the history of church of the Highlands that we had our thousand seat auditorium jammed packed to the rafters why because all of a sudden everybody like I need God I mean I've kicked him out I need him back we got we got it we got to be careful being self building I'll let you know when I need your or be ready for this one's self indulging then I can just do it I want and honestly I can if it feels good to do it it's a it's a it's a it's a narcissistic humanistic hedonistic kind of a kind of a belief in our feelings no loving God would tell me to leave something that I feel how dare he call that sin no we just become self indulging but not just the elevation of self but also it has to also lower God at the same time make God less than he is I got to put God down here and that's what culture does culture tries to mock God I am and there is none beside me it's a blatant mockery of Exodus chapter 3 where God says I am that I am the devil even uses the same language because he's not even created and creative enough to come up with his own line and he'll say things to you like God doesn't love me if he loved me he would let me be Who I am what kind of loving God would call me out of something that I feel in my heart but the truth be known the greatest expression of love is that is a God who lavishly forgives and then calls you into repentance so that you can have a better life come on somebody God God doesn't love me and God isn't for me he's not on my side he's mean outdated old fashioned that stuff maybe work 2,000 years ago but it doesn't work today pastor it's a lie it lowers God it makes us think that we know more about how to run a society run a life then God does listen to me everything that God put in his word is there for your best interest not his own Oh God wants too much from me he asks for too much only a loving God would call you out of your sin only a loving God would say hey let me forgive you and now go sin no more this is the babylon mentality i confront it today in the name of jesus i say that can be in any of us including the one speaking to you I've asked God to look at my own heart and life and if you see one pillar story in the book of daniel it's in Daniel chapter 4 where the King Nebuchadnezzar's are the one who brought them all into Babylon in the first place he's a wicked ungodly King he was at his home and his palace look at these two words contented without God and prosperous look what I've done he stood there admiring himself I write about it in chapter 7 of my book but it goes on I'll just tell you the story for the sake of time Nebuchadnezzar has a dream in the dream a big old tree luscious and fruitful was over the entire nation the tree was cut down all but the stump in the roots it was just completely cut down he wakes up the next day doesn't know what it means calls his magicians and enchanters and all the people in his Court interpret the dream well none of them could oh there's that Hebrew boy that I hears from God let's see if he knows Daniel comes in there is influencing culture knows the interpretation of the dream could have been his head too to say what he said I loved the courage the courage of Daniel always amazes me because he said you hate to tell you Nebuchadnezzar but you're the tree you're the tree and they look they like what are you kidding me are you serious oh yeah you will be driven away from people and live with the wild animals you're gonna go out there and eat some grass like a cow and be drenched for the dew of heaven literally was talking about Nebuchadnezzar's upcoming insanity remember that Babylon the word Babylon means confusion and it is an insane mentality and an insane result seven years or seven times are going to pass by you until you acknowledge that the most high is sovereign over the kingdoms of men in fact he goes on to say but i'm gonna do something for you and i only include this first because i want every one of you in this room to hear this because i don't know where you are spiritually but i'll tell you this even if you walk away from god today God always commands the leaving of a stump he'll never cut you off and never let you go out too far away that he doesn't give you the ability for all of it to be replenished again he always leaves a little bit he never cuts the tree completely down and then digs up all the roots in the stump no he always leaves the ability there that your kingdom might be restored come on somebody say a good Amen for a restoration we all need it we all need it but you can have it when you acknowledge that say the last two words out loud you acknowledge that heaven rules that's all you got to do you need to flip the mentality you're not all that God is and when you acknowledge that heaven rules it'll work out for you well he didn't listen to - to Daniels prophecy 12 months later he stepped out he admired something that we even admired today the Hanging Gardens of Babylon this one of the seven ancient wonders of the world ah look look at what I've done I he basically said I created those plants I made those plants grow III did he admired everything about his life mocked God and and and literally at that time the Bible says I Nebuchadnezzer raise my eyes toward heaven he says after he had been out there and spent seven years as a as a as a cow eating grass and had claws like it like an eagle he said I had enough of grass eating he says my sanity notice the confusion goes away my sanity was restored I almost named this message today sanity restored if there's a call that America needs to hear is that sanity needs to come back to our land I'm telling you then I praise the Most High he got saved I mean he literally became a believer in God honored him and glorified him who lives forever his Dominion is an eternal Dominion his kingdom endures from generation to generation watch this all the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing like we know we thought we were he sees the great one we're just created beings he does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the people of Earth no one could hold back his hand or say what in the world have you done complain at God and at the same time my sanity was restored confusion's gone and my honor and my splendor returned with it by the way whenever God humbles us you need to know that God doesn't leave you down when you acknowledge him he'll let you not only be restored your sanity but he does anything in mind your splendor returning and the glory of your kingdom returning my advisers and nobles sought me out and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before come on somebody now, I, Nebuchadnezzer here's what I'm gonna do I got it figured out now I was tired of eating grass and kind of being out there in the field no no I'm gonna praise and exalt and glorify the king of heaven because everything he does is right and all his ways are right and those who walk in pride I will tell you to take my word for it he gonna humble you write down three things that we need to do for three i wills for a people of god this is my job as the pastor's to prepare you for an ungodly culture all you really have to do I'm going to reduce all of culture down to you declaring three I wills you declare these three i wills you're gonna survive and influence any ungodly culture trust me and you do three things number one is that I will exalt God not just on Sunday not just for an hour at a church no I'm gonna live my life praising and exalting God I mean I'm not I'm not just gonna love him in my heart oh yeah my faith is kind of private I got it got Jesus in my heart where I got him I just got any my heart don't ask me about my faith my faith is private no no no no no I'm gonna live my life exalt you know what there's a lot of exaltation that goes on in the state of Alabama on a Saturday I don't y'all notice that or not but had a little exaltation going on at the Hodges house yesterday one-point win over Florida praise god everybody all right all right but but there's a lot of exaltation and nobody ever says anything about it in fact they even celebrated least tens of thousands hundreds of thousands of people show up in a stadium and they call them fans they celebrated you do the same thing to church they call you a fanatic you know what I'm saying but no on Saturday it's a fan on Sunday it's a fanatic but they just exalting they lift their hands I've noticed it's a lot of hand lifting on a Saturday and a lot of lot of celebration a lot of high five a lot of shouting kind of a lot of things you read in the Book of Psalms it's just I think the Book of Psalms looks more like Saturday then it does Sunday I don't know I'm just just throwing that out there for thought but but they it were just oh and everybody thinks it's okay and if we get the church it's like well we just don't do like that in church you know but it goes well I Got News for you I'm not gonna I'm not gonna praise a team that don't even know my name and keep quiet for the God who saved me come on somebody no I'm gonna exalt my god come on there's no time at the Lord let us exalt his name make Him big Exalt! magnify the Lord I'm telling you I have a dream I'm gonna get a little preachy here just for a second that's all right with y'all bojay I would dream that the sound that comes from 16 auditoriums on a Sunday it's way louder than the sound that comes out of Jordan hair and bryant-denny Stadium on a Saturday Come on Church give Jesus five seconds Magnify him making big exalt his name forever all right let me get my teaching back on here all right come on I will exalt you this is just not a matter of that you deserve it no I'm going to my god the King I praise your name forever and forever come on let's be a church that's no boy you want to go see a bunch of people on fire for their God I think I think God could use us in the coming months in years where people come into these rooms just to see you on fire my goodness something must be going on that's right we're a people who don't exalt ourselves though I pray that they don't even talk about Church of the Highlands not Chris Hodges not any staff member may it all be about the king the one who sits upon the throne and unto the lamb King Jesus be let let it be to him blessing and glory and honor and splendor and praise and power forever and ever and God's people said it good amen I'll exalt him it's been exalting people I'm okay if you exalt God there's no way you can exalt yourself and you'll survive culture the second thing is that we need to acknowledge God in everything acknowledge him he says I've realized Nebuchadnezzar says you do everything right your ways are just you know what you're doing and I'll never question that I acknowledge that God's Word is true I acknowledge that I don't even care what culture says about it even if they pass laws that say you can't even read certain parts of that Bible because it's offensive to different groups of people I'm so sorry you're gonna have to lock me up I'm like acknowledging God and that his ways are right Amen everybody also acknowledge that all the reason I'm even standing on this stage today it's because by some strange I don't even know how God why God thought this was a good idea but he plucked this little C student from Louisiana said I think I'll put him in Alabama to do this I'm gonna find this guy and they're gonna have to worship me because they're gonna get to know Chris oh yeah no way you could have done it I'm just gonna I'm gonna go put him right there and Here I am I'm from Louisiana not Connecticut are y'all listening to me everybody I mean we we 50th on every list maybe 49 thank God for Arkansas come on somebody I stand here to you not because I'm well trained I stand here by the grace of God I don't stand here because I have my life perfect and everything is just you know I'm just I'm just me me no of me and the Trinity we just kind of all just here there that were there for the example for you know I need Jesus just as much as you for some reason he chose me I have only reason I stand here is because Jesus allows me to breathe breath in my lungs right now the lungs by the way that he created the only reason I even stand here is because because this stage is his he belongs team visi he he created this no I just acknowledged God even even when I give to God people don't tithe It's the Lord yeah so is the rest of it Tammy and I have this little ritual you don't have to do it if you don't want to but we were we write our tithe check every month we do it we'd like to do it together and we say it for everything Lord we're gonna give you this portion but just be clear all of its yours it's yours oh you can have it all it all belongs to you we belong to you I stand right out there on the side of this stage every Sunday during Highlands news I got a little sign you go look at if you won't tell that the security team will let you loose look at you won't take a peek at here's a little sign says it is it's a privilege to be on this stage God thank you for choosing me because he just picked me I don't even know why and then why y'all watching highland news I got my hand on it it's my play like a champion today sign I'm just right Lord and here's the prayer I pray every single Sunday if you pick somebody else to do this I'll step out of the way it's not my church this is your church I'll go do anything anywhere for you I belong to you i'ma tell you when you do that culture can't touch you culture's can say what they want to about Chris Hodges it didn't matter to me I've already sold by my whole soul I've given it I've freely given my life to Jesus hey I don't even belong to me hello the way Corinthians says it what are you so puffed up about what do you have that God didn't give you in the first I built this business no you did not oh you have it's from God why act like you accomplished something on your own cuz you didn't know just acknowledge God God it all came from you I just worship you come on I'm exalt God I'm gonna acknowledge God number three and that is I will humble myself would you write the word humble down and then circle the word myself and after you do it I want you to look up here at me because listen to me humility is coming you can initiate it or life will initiate you can initiate it or culture will initiated you can initiate it or the devil can initiate it you can initiate it or God will initiate it and that's why the Bible says humble yourselves look it's either humility or humiliation it's coming it's coming to America America who can be all people people in the world they can feel like I got we got it all figured out and be all I don't I don't even say anything because it'll happen insanity is gonna happen to everyone who takes on the Babylon mentality sanity restored peace no confusion happens to those who acknowledge God I'm just telling you and we humble ourselves and watch what he does he didn't leave you down there in the scum humility is not thinking less of yourself it's thinking of yourself less he never leaves you down there he lifts you up but you didn't get up he didn't you didn't get up because you got up you got up because God brought you up he sets our feet on a rock I grew up in my home Church in Baton Rouge under my pastor Larry stockstill through who spoke here a couple Sundays ago his dad we affectionately call him brother Roy he's the founding pastor of Bethany in Baton Rouge 1962 started this church from nothing the church ended up having global impact I mean like literally global impact this little church in Baton Rouge and brother Roy was the meekest mildest most soft-spoken person you've ever met I've never even got a chance to have a conversation but he's just he did go talk to him because oh it's just the Lord brother why it's good message oh no it was just it was just a little he'd always reflect everything back to Jesus right before I moved to Birmingham he said brother Chris can I have a time with you before you move this of course you I took eight pages of notes in an hour and a half The Wisdom that was coming from his lips one of the things he said to me I could show you my notes he said brother Chris the man on his face can never fall from that position he said brother Chris stay low serve God serve people make it all about Jesus with everything that's in me I've tried for that to become a reality here I know man tries to elevate you and put you on pedestals but I stand here to clarify the record and I'm nothing Jesus is everything even Church the Highland's it's not we don't we don't have a great church we have a great God we have a great God and I want to leave you with this thought I'll pray for you standing strong in a pride and flattered culture begins facedown I want you to bow your heads right there where you are let's just do it God we humble ourselves before you we need you God we know there's an arrogance and there's a satanic lie that says that we're great and you're not we realize there's a Babylon mentality right here in America and even sometimes in our own minds in our own homes today God we repent and Lord we exalt you we acknowledge you and God we humble ourselves before you and lord i pray that you would bring sanity to every person in this room come on receive the peace of God right there your seat they sanity be restored to marriages may sanity be restored to businesses families to hearts Lord we break this confusion of Babylon may it be replaced with the sanity of our Savior I sense God's peace right now this is why you came you didn't come here to hear me speak you came here for your sanity to be restored receive it today you know what sin really is Church sand just is my way that's really all it is is just my way you know what salvation is God's Way it's not when you join a church salvations whenever you say I'm turning around I'm just gonna do it God's Way from now on some of you today need to make that decision right there in your seats pray this prayer say Lord forgive me for going my way forgive me today I turn around I repent I'm going your way I'm gonna follow you so forgive me change live in me give me the power to do it I'm gonna live my life for you but everything I have your name I pray

Channel: PraisePlace777

Views: 10,383

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Keywords: Church of the Highlands, Pastor Chris Hodges, Daniel Dilemma

Id: Xyc-YnOOrRQ

Length: 36min 44sec (2204 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 23 2017