A Godly Life in Ungodly times
A godly life should expect opposition
A godly life should expect hard choices
Living a godly Life in ungodly times requires that we know Who we believe in
Living a godly life brings blessing and peace
Slide
Intro
Good morning. It is hard to believe that the year is half over already. Time goes by fast. Not only does the year seem to go by, but the years seem to go by.
In just a few days, we will be celebrating the 236th Birthday of our country.
Even though we were not there, there have been a lot of changes in our country over the last 236 years. In fact in the last 50 or 60 years there have been incredible amounts of change. Some of those changes have been good and some, not so good.
The technological and medical advancements of the last 50 or 60 years have been incredible. But I think also, over that time, we have seen our society as a whole devolve into a society that is less moral which has made it less safe.
Changing Times
I was at a family reunion yesterday and we were talking about how my mom and her cousins would at 15 or so years old, take the train from Morris down into the city by themselves and go to a Cubs game and then take the train home that got them back about midnight.
I told them not allowed to talk to Melanie, because I would not allow her to do that at her age without an adult with them. It is not something that would be safe for a few 15 year old girls to do in our day and age, and that is largely due to the moral decay of our society.
Transition
I would argue that the reason that we have suffered such moral decay is because America has become less of a God fearing nation than it was when it was originally founded, and that it was even 50 or 60 years ago.
Liberty vs. License
Our country was founded upon a principle of Liberty, which is freedom and rights that come with responsibility. People today want license, or, freedom and rights without responsibility.
I would also argue that our view of our responsibilities, our view of what it means to live in a way that we take our responsibilities seriously, comes from our belief in God.
And as the people of our country have become less of a God fearing people, our nation has become a more difficult place to live with the freedoms that we have.
In fact, our second President and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence said
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
John Adams - Letter to the Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts, 11 October 1798
As the morals of the people of our country continue to devolve and decay, I believe it will become harder and harder to live a godly life for those who are followers of Jesus Christ, believers in the God of the Bible, because as we give responsibilities to our government, we are also going to lose freedoms, and as we lose freedoms, we, as people who fear and seek to follow the Lord, are going to be put in some very difficult positions.
Transition
This is one of the reasons that I thought it so appropriate to be studying Daniel this summer.
Daniel and his friends were living in a society that was similar to our own, they were self-focused and they were a great and mighty nation in that day.
I want us to be able to look at Daniel and his friends and see some of the things they faced as men of God, so that we can know
what we can expect as we strive to live godly lives and
how we might better prepare ourselves
To live a godly life in ungodly times.
Slide
Turn with me to Daniel 3.
We are going to read about Daniel’s 3 young friends as they strive to follow God the best that they can as their government seeks to force them to worship other gods and live and act in ways that dishonor the Lord.
We are going to start by reading
Daniel 3:1-12
3:1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.
4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, "This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: 5 As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."
7 Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
8 At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. 9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, "O king, live forever! 10 You have issued a decree, O king, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, 11 and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. 12 But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon-Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego-who pay no attention to you, O king. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up."
Let’s stop here a moment and pray.
Here we have Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, going about living their lives, doing their job, when things start to change. The king, the government of their day, issued a new law that would have meant that the Jews had to act in ways contrary to what they truly believed.
There were people (some astrologers v. 8) that did not like the Jews or perhaps what they represented and seized this opportunity to denounce the Jews to the king
Notice also that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego have not changed. They are not doing anything different than they have in the past. They had a healthy fear of the Lord and lived in light of that, but due to the culture and society and circumstances that have changed, the things they believed and how they lived their lives began to stand out in a way that brought opposition.
An important truth we need to realize is that Living
A Godly Life will Bring Opposition
Slide
This seems counter intuitive to us.
If we are living a godly life, shouldn’t our life be free of conflict and opposition?
Shouldn’t it be peaceful and easy.
Doesn’t Scripture tell us that if we live a godly life, we will be blessed?
It does.
Proverbs 3:33 - The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.
Psalm 128:1 - Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways.
God blesses us as we live godly lives, lives that show we “walk in his ways.”
The problem is that we mis-define blessing to mean ease of circumstances.
There are times when God does bless us with good circumstances, but being blessed of the Lord does not at all require good circumstances.
Being blessed by the Lord is more about experiencing His presence in the midst of life, whatever that brings.
We can experience God’s blessing in the midst of suffering as He comforts us.
2 Corinthians 1:5 - For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
We experience God’s blessing in the midst of trouble as He gives us peace.
John 16:33 - "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Far from guaranteeing ease of life, Scripture tells us that Living a godly life will bring persecution and opposition, Paul tells us in
2 Timothy 3:12 – “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”
We are going to face persecution and opposition and I would say even more so as our society continues to move further and further away from a biblical standard of what would be deemed moral behavior.
Transition
Well, let’s continue the story to see what else living a godly life will bring.
After hearing the charge against the Jews by the astrologers, it says
Daniel 3:13-15
13 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, 14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? 15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?"
That’s a Bummer
Not only does living a godly life bring opposition to these 3 young men, but now they are put between a rock and a hard place. They either bow down and worship or die.
That is not an easy choice in real life.
Well that is something else we need to realize. Living
A Godly Life will Bring Hard Choices
Slide
These guys have to choose between
worshiping a false idol and living physically or
worshipping the living God and dying physically
Now, we could make rationalizations and argue that God has given us this physical life as a gift and we should do all in our power to save our life for God’s glory so in this case it might be ok just to outwardly bow down but not to really worship inwardly.
Illustration
Kind of like the boy who misbehaved and was forced to sit in a chair, but said to his mom, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but I am standing up on the inside.”
But is that what the Lord would have us do?
I’ll tell you what the Lord wants from us. Faithfulness.
But does He want us to be faithful even if it means we die?
Listen to what we are told in
Revelation 2:10 – Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
He has enabled us to be faithful through His Spirit, even to the point of death, by removing the consequence of our sin, eternal death, from those who have received Him. Therefore, if you are in Christ, having received Him as Savior, He has given us the ability by saving us eternally, to be faithful, even to the point of death.
To really do that, to be faithful to the point of death requires us to live as Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:17, to “live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.” Not as if this is our home that we never want to move away from.
A good example of someone living like these young men, as a stranger here in reverent fear is
Slide
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani from Iran. He was arrested in October of 2009 for protesting the mandatory teaching of Islam at his children’s schools. In February 2012 he was ordered to be executed for apostasy and trying to evangelize Muslims.
He was given the choice several times of renouncing Christ and being set free and not facing execution, but he has refused.
A young pastor with a wife and 2 small children. Hard choices. But He has remained faithful.
Application
In our country, we aren’t facing too many of the life and death choices that Pastor Youcef faces, that these three young friends of Daniel faced.
But we do face choices that are hard for us and that could greatly affect our life.
Now, I am anything but a legalist when it comes to regular church attendance.
Things come up on occasion, special events happen, work emergencies happen, some jobs, for the good of the people, require that we work on some Sunday’s, like firemen, police, doctors and nurses.
But there are many situations that we face that we do have a choice, even if it isn’t always an easy choice.
Kids Sports
Our child is good at a sport so we want him or her on the traveling team.
They only play on Sunday mornings for the next 3 months.
If you can’t play then, your child can’t be on the team.
If they don’t play travelling sports, it will be hard to play in High School.
If they don’t play in High School, they won’t get that scholarship.
If they don’t get that Scholarship, they won’t get a good job and their life won’t be as good.
But God’s word says in Hebrews 10:25 - Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life
What do you do?
Work pressures
Maybe you work in an environment that encourages you to do things that are not right to get more business or make more money.
When I worked at the CME, I had some clients that would want me to make trades after the closing bell, or to prearrange a trade if they knew of someone who had commodities to sell or buy, instead of through open outcry where everyone had a chance to make the trade.
Those were against the rules, but there are guys who would do that to keep their client happy, and to make more money and please their bosses.
If you are faced with losing a client or losing your job if you don’t do something that is wrong, but everyone is doing it, what do you do?
Do you bow down to the idol of work and money, or do you make the hard choice to worship the Lord in your action?
We all face choices. Some harder than others.
These 3 young friends face a hard choice.
Bow down or die.
Let’s see what they do.
Daniel 3:16-23
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
Wow.
These guys made the hard choice and the consequences were severe.
We respect that kind of stand, but really how do you make those kinds of choices in the heat of the moment like that?
I will tell you this.
The responses that we make to hard choices we face that concern how we live a godly life are not made on the spur of the moment.
You need to prepare ahead of time to make choices like that in those moments.
And we prepare in all the little choices that help us to know God better.
A Godly life requires that we know Who we believe in
Slide
Look at what these three say to the king.
Daniel 3:17-18 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
They know who they believe in and serve.
They know that the God they serve is good.
They know that the God they serve is able.
They know who it is they have put their trust and their hope in and it shows up in their actions. They don’t know exactly what the Lord will do, but that doesn’t change who they know God to be. If He doesn’t do what they think He will do, or want Him to do, it must mean that He has something better in mind.
They have a relationship with God that enables them to live a godly life even to the point of death.
Pastor Youcef knows the God he believes in. The God who took away the eternal separation that he deserved and has given him eternal life. The God who is so good, that He has given us such a gift that enables us to live a godly in ungodly times!
Who you believe in Matters
Do you know who you believe in?
We say we believe in God, but do we really believe in the God of the Bible who is good, who is able and who has given us eternal life with Him?
I guarantee that each day, these three young men in Babylon, that pastor Youcef, were making little choices that enabled them to grow deeper in their relationship with God.
It is that deep relationship with the Lord, knowing who he really is, that is going to enable us to make the really hard choices.
But, if we are not growing in our relationship with the Lord by reading and studying His word, by being encouraged through coming together to worship corporately, through times of prayer and meditation, then the God we think we know, starts to look more and more like us and act more and more like us.
When god starts to look like us, then we are no different than the Babylonians or those who worshipped idols in the Old Testament. That is what they did. We become just like Nebuchadnezzar who made an image of gold, basically creating his own god, like he thought god should be.
Even the people of Israel, when they stopped growing in relationship with the Lord, ended up making their own gods.
Listen to what He says about this in Isaiah 44.
Isa 44:6-7, 9, 13a, 14-15, 19
6 "This is what the LORD says--Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.
7 Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come--yes, let him foretell what will come. ..
9 All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless…
13 The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker…
14 He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. 15 It is man’s fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. …19 No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, "Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?"
When we think god is like us, who thinks like us, who is as smart and is as wise as us, we are basically creating our own god in our image and we are bowing down to it.
If we are making god in our image, then we are basically bowing down to a block of wood that has no power, that has no real wisdom, that has no might and when we face opposition and hard choices, we will not be able to make the right choice.
We need to know the God of the Bible and be growing in our knowledge of Him knowing that He is all wise, all powerful, all knowing. It is in us knowing Him intimately, that we can walk in faith and obedience with joy and peace and contentment even in the face of opposition, and hard choices because we know Him who is able!
And it is as we walk in that faith in our Good and mighty God, that we find that even in the midst of opposition and hard choices, we find that living
A godly life brings blessing and peace
Slide
These 3 young men had a great peace as they went to what appeared to be certain death.
But let’s look at the end of this story after they are thrown into the blazing furnace.
Daniel 3:24-30
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?"
They replied, "Certainly, O king."
25 He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."
26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!"
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way."
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
These three young men were able to stand firm in the strength and power and might of the Lord, trusting Him fully, even unto death, and God blessed them and glorified Himself by saving them out of the fire.
Notice that they were actually thrown into the fire.
As we live godly lives, there are times that we are going to be thrown into the fire.
But we are blessed as God is able to meet us there.
He is able to save us.
But even if he does not save us physically, if we have received Jesus, He has saved us from eternal damnation.
That is our sure hope. That is what we know. That is what enables us to live godly lives.
Knowing and growing in our knowledge of Him, of who He is!
Conclusion
What kind of circumstances or opposition are you facing in your life or hard choices are in front of you that are challenging you not to worship the Lord, but worship the “gods” of this world?
Are you facing cancer and wondering where God is in this?
God is able to save you from the cancer, BUT even if He doesn’t, if you have trusted in Him, He will save you for eternity.
Are you facing financial hardships?
God is able to save you from those hardships, BUT even if He doesn’t, if you have trusted in Him, He will save you for eternity and your treasure will be in heaven.
Are you facing work pressure to do wrong?
Remember that if you are worshipping the God of the Bible, the God who revealed Himself to us through Jesus Christ, then you have a God that is able, that is powerful and that is mighty to save you from any circumstance you face.
But even if He doesn’t save you physically from the fiery circumstances you face, our God will meet you there and be with you because He is mighty to save you for eternity.
That is the God whom we worship. That is the God who wants us to know Him deeply.
He is the God of the Bible who died for you and is able and mighty to save us.
Worship team come up
We are going to close singing Mighty to Save.
Make your prayer to Him to be strong like these young men who knew who they believed in where able to say to the King
Daniel 3:17-18
17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
Sing Mighty to Save
(After going through song, Worship team keeps playing instrumentally)
Now let’s sing the last course and truly worship the God who is mighty to save.
Savior, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
Pray
