This is truly a blessing to be up here. I actually never thought I would really preach a message. My wife said I preached a message before. I don't remember it. She said at our old church we preached on a Sunday night. But I think this is my first message. I don't know. She says I did, but I don't recall. But a pastor texted me the other day and asked if I wanted to preach. And my first instinct, my first reaction was, no. Nope. That was my first thing. I said, no, I don't want to do that. I mumble. I stutter. I don't feel adequate to preach to anybody. So I told James in the back there, I said, hey, if I start mumbling or say anything wrong, just cut my mic, because there's going to be some debates. And then we'll be good to go. I'll keep mumbling, and then we can start talking about golf or something like that. I have a six handicap, I promise. But no, it truly is a blessing to be up here, and I'm thankful, and I appreciate all that were praying for me. I know some of you texted me today, and that means a lot. That means a lot to me, so I appreciate you. This morning, I picked up my devotional and I'm going to read it just because I usually don't read this. So today I'm going to read my devotional today. See what it says. So it's the book called Revival Today by John Getsch. And they go back in history on this day, so the day of. So they'll talk about something that happened regarding revival or whatnot. And it really fit with how I was feeling. I really don't feel adequate to be up here. I mean, I'm just going to be real with you. At first, I just didn't want to do it. I told my wife, I said, If I do okay, they might keep asking me to preach. She was like, do you hear yourself? I was like, I guess you're right. I guess you're right. You know, sometimes the Holy Spirit will speak to you through your wife. So, you know, we are the head of the home, right? But they say the wife is the neck. She turns the head whithersoever she pleases. So, I appreciate my wife. She's encouraging. I just want to read this real quick. I just thought it was fitting for today. Again, I never picked this up, but I picked it up today. So it says, Moses was shocked that God wanted him to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt into the promised land. He did not feel like he had the ability for such a task. He said, I am not eloquent, but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue, in Exodus 4.10. He said, I wonder sometimes how many miracles have been missed because we, as God's people, are unwilling to place our dependence on God instead of ourselves. No one is worthy to serve the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We are sinners saved by grace, and it is only by God's grace that we can serve him. The pastor and evangelist Curtis Hudson was born in Decatur, Georgia on this day in 1934, so 90 years ago today. He would later meet his future wife, Barbara, in high school and work at a textile mill after graduation. Hudson would travel to churches in the area around Atlanta. While working as a mail carrier, he loved to hear preaching and longed to be used by God. With no formal training for ministry, Dr. Hudson would go in his garage, take a sermon that he had written, and preach it. To simulate an audience, he would set some tin cans on the floor and preach to them. He was so burdened to say the right things, especially at the invitation after the message, that he tied strings to the cans and pulled them toward him as he exhorted his audience to come to Christ. God used Dr. Hudson's faithful preparation and burden for the lost, allowing him to reach thousands of people for Christ and stir churches for revival. Can God use you? The only abilities God is looking for are availability, pliability, and dependability. Like Moses and Curse Hudson, we are all candidates for God to use. So I just thought that was interesting, because that was exactly how I was feeling today. Like, I'm not adequate. So I pick up the devotional that I never pick up. And that's the message that I got out of that. So I thought that was interesting. And it's true that we're not adequate. But God is able. Christ is enough. And that's what I want to share with you. So today, we're going to be in 1st Daniel. 1st Daniel, so if you turn there. And then later on, we'll be going over to 2nd Chronicles, Chapter 36. And then, to 1st Daniel. Daniel. Daniel, Chapter 1. Wow. This is my first time. Can you tell? Daniel chapter one, second Chronicles 36, and then we'll later be in Philippians chapter two. That was actually funny. I'm all right with that. I do know that it's Daniel chapter one, so you should know that. All right, Daniel chapter one. If you're able and willing, could you please stand as we read God's word? We'll just read the first four verses and then we will get started. Daniel chapter one, verse one says this. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his God, little G-God. And he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the prince's. Children in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. Let's pray. Lord, we are just so thankful for who you are. Lord, I just pray that you can speak to our hearts tonight. Lord, just get me out of the way and just have me say to what you would have me say, Lord, we love you so much in your precious name, amen. All right, you may be seated. So we see here in verse one, we see the Babylonians, they came in and they wiped out Judah. It was horrific. They killed the moms and the dads, grandmas and the grandpas. They wiped a whole bunch of people out. They wiped out really the people that had no use. They had no use for these people. But what did they do? They kept the young people. They kept the young people. They took the young people. Many of them were teenagers. and they trained them to be Babylonians. They raised them as Babylonians. So really they kept the smart, the young, and the strong. Look down at verse five, and the Bible says, and the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank. so nourishing them three years that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Verse six. Now among these were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Now notice there in verse six it says among these. Out of all the teenagers taken, these four were mentioned. Why were only these four teenagers mentioned out of all the people? They were the only ones that stood up for God. God noticed that they stood up for Him. Listen, when we stand up for God, God notices. Teenagers, when you stand for God, He notices. When you choose to be pure in your relationships, God notices. When you choose to not defile yourselves, God will notice. When you're kind to your youth group and your friends, and maybe you don't even want to be kind to them, but you do it anyway, God notices that. He notices when you choose right over wrong. God notices when you stand for Him. When you stand for Him. Now, God also notices, you don't have to be young, He notices all of us. If you're old or young, if you stand for God, God notices. You know, if you're for your family, if you stand for your family, God notices that. Moms and dads, when you pray for your children, God notices that. You're standing up. You say, hey, I'm not going to raise them in the wrong way. I'm not going to raise them in this wicked world. I'm not going to let them go down the wrong path. When you stand up and say, I don't care what people think, that's what I'm going to do. God notices that. That's true. Grandmas and grandpas. God notices when you are an example to your grandchildren. You know, grandparents have such a huge influence on their grandchildren. And I think sometimes, I've talked to some grandparents, older people, older than me, and they say, hey, I don't really feel adequate. I don't really feel like I'm of much use, but I promise you that you have such a big impact on your grandchildren. You have such a big impact on these younger kids in this church. Whatever we choose to do for God affects the next generation. My grandpa, he's 91 years old, and I wouldn't be here today without it. My grandpa was the godliest man that I've ever known. He's still going, 91, still going. Such a blessing to me. I can follow him because he follows Christ. Because he decided to take a stand and say, I'm gonna follow Jesus. I can follow my grandpa because he follows Christ. And God notices when we follow Christ. He notices when we choose not to defile ourselves. We choose to be clean and not defile ourselves. He notices the businessman and the businesswoman who says, you know what? I'm going to choose to run my business for God. I'm going to choose to have a high character, high integrity. I'm going to choose to be fair in my business dealings. God notices that. To the whole Gospel Light family, God notices when we encourage each other. He notices when we are a blessing to the young teenagers over here, because again, they're the next generation. God notices that. He notices your faithfulness when we come to church. He notices when we lift up our pastor in prayer. You know, it's so important that we lift up our pastor in prayer. I don't know the statistics. I won't give you any numbers, because I don't know the numbers. But I do know that pastors are dropping out all the time out of church lists. It's a hard, difficult job. It's not a job. It's a calling. But they're dropping out, because they get worn out. You know, they have a lot of... hurts within the church. And sometimes it's because of church members. So we need to pray for our pastor. Pray for his family. Pray that he can keep going. Pray that he stays in God's word and stays true to what God will have him to do. I'm so thankful for our pastor that we have a man like that. He notices those who stand for Christ. Look at verse seven. The Bible says, unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names, for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar, and to Hananiah of Shadrach, and Mishael of Meshach, and to Azariah of Abednego. Here's the famous verse that we all know. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank, Therefore, he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself." So notice, what did Daniel do here? Purposed in his heart, he made a decision. He was making a spiritual decision. Here's Daniel, this 17-year-old. People believe he was 17, maybe 16. In a foreign country, no mom and dad. Yet, he still decided to follow God. He still decided to take a stand. He still decided to say, I'm not gonna defile myself. He made a spiritual decision. You know, this Sunday we're going to Arise, and these teenagers are gonna be making some spiritual decisions. Can I say, let's be careful Not to say, oh, it's just teenagers making decisions. I've heard years ago, a guy was talking to me, and some kids came back from camp. And he's like, oh, they don't really know what they're saying. They're just, oh, he says he wants to preach. That's kind of silly. Ha, ha, ha. God can speak to anybody. God can touch any heart, doesn't matter how old or how young. So let's not downplay the power of God and how He can speak to our youth. So let's be praying for them, you know, that these decisions that they make, that they follow through with them. I wonder how many kids or teenagers said, you know what, I'm called to preach. And then they end up not becoming a pastor. Maybe because someone talked him out of it. So let's just be really careful that we pray for them and we encourage them that whatever their spiritual decisions are, that we say, hey, you know what? I'm for you and I'm behind you and I'm gonna be praying for you. That's our next generation. Let's look at verse eight again. The Bible says, but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank, therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Verse nine, now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. So what happened here in verse nine? We see that God's hand was on Daniel's life. When we take a stand for God and we make a spiritual decision to stand for Him, God's going to give us favor. Hey, in 2024, God still wants to give us favor. But we have to take a stand for Him. We have to make spiritual decisions and say, you know what? I'm going to follow Him. If we want His favor, we've got to follow God. I don't want to say that trials are coming. I mean, we've all been through trials. If you're not in a trial right now, you're going to be in one later. But the question is, what are you going to do during that trial? How are we going to react when we're faced with these trials? Are we going to take a stand and still purpose in our heart to serve God? To still, no matter what, say, I'm not going to defile myself. I'm going to follow God, like David did. David. Daniel. Like Daniel did. I knew I was going to do that. But I do find something interesting here. These teenagers, they were never supposed to be in Babylon. They weren't supposed to be there. Why were they there? It's because the older generation made really poor decisions that caused them to be there. It was the older generation that put them there. Daniel didn't do anything wrong. His friends didn't do anything wrong. But because of the sins of the generation before him is what put them there. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be the reason that my kids go to battle. Daniel had to stand because the generation before him did not. Daniel suffered. because of the generation before him, because they rejected God. You know, my wife, you all know her, Leanne, she's over here. She grew up in a really bad situation. She was in foster care most of her life. By the time she was 14, she was living on her own. She was working three jobs, just getting by, working her way through high school. Her mom was an alcoholic, a drug addict. She didn't know her dad, just found out who he was not that long ago. Living in cars, living in hotels, a very, I would say, very difficult life. because of her older generation, because of her mom and her dad, because of her grandparents, because of the generations before her. She had to suffer through this. But what did she do? She said, I'm not going to live like that. She purposed in her heart to say, I'm going to choose the right way. I'm going to change the trajectory of what the statistics say I should be doing. The statistics are saying that she should be a drug addict right now, that she should be an alcoholic right now. But she chose to live a life. Did she make some mistakes? Of course. But at the end of the day, she chose to be a godly mother. She chose to be a godly wife. She chose to take a stand and not do what the older generation did. And I'm so thankful she did. She wasn't going to let the past determine her future. I'm so thankful, I'm so encouraged, truly, by the Gospel Life family, all of you. Just seeing you bringing your children, everyone sees it. You bring your kids, you're faithful, you're serving the church. And truly, that's such an encouragement to me. It's encouraging to me to see the grandparents out there. Alan, I love Alan, bringing his grandkids. They always bragging on their grandkids. It's an encouragement to see how faithful you all are to the church, to the kids, to the next generation. Even if you don't have kids, by the way, people notice you. We notice your dedication. We notice you just encouraging the kids. And that is such an inspiration to me. I am so thankful we have a church that loves on the next generation. So I just want to say continue. Let's continue in that. Continue to make spiritual decisions so our kids don't end up in Babylon. Let's continue that. You know, I believe that we all have a responsibility. Whether we have kids, whether we don't have kids, whether you're young or not as young, We have a responsibility for the next generation. We have to stand up and do what is right, because they're watching. They're watching us. Sometimes we might not think they are, but they're watching us. They're watching how we interact with each other in church. They're seeing everything we do. And we need to be careful that we're living a holy life for God, that we're not defiling ourselves. Because again, they are watching. So here's the question. If you don't mind, turn to 2 Chronicles. I do know there's one first and second Chronicles. Can't believe I did that. Wow. Here's the question. Why specifically were these teenagers in Babylon? 2 Chronicles chapter 36, let's look at verse 13. Give you a second. If you're there, say amen. Amen. Right. The Bible says, and he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God, but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel. So what did the older generation do? They refused to turn to God when the nation was in trouble. I love this church because we're a praying church. I know that we're always praying for this nation. I say let's continue to pray for this nation because That's what the next generation is going to grow up in. As we all know, it's not looking too bright right now. Who here would say times are a little bit different today than when we were kids? A little bit different, maybe? I mean, I'm an 80s and 90s kid. Do I have any 80s and 90s kids? OK. You know, we drank out of garden hoses. We played with lawn darts. I mean, they're missing out. Lawn darts were great. Where are my 60s and 70s kids? Right? Do I have any 1930s through 50s kids? Amen. There we go. OK. So would you say times are a little bit different? A lot. Right? They're a lot different. I don't know about you, but I would not want to grow up in this day and age, with the technology, with the distractions, and with just the horrible things that really they have to deal with. I don't know how well I would have done with that. I'm so thankful that I didn't have to, because, I mean, now we have kitty litters in high school restrooms, and kids are allowed to identify as cats. When we were growing up, they would say, let's get this person checked out. But now, it's like, how dare you question this? Times are different. Now we have grown men who are allowed to go into our Target restroom with little girls. That's disgusting. We have to pray for the next generation. It's only going to get worse. It's only going to get worse. 2 Chronicles 7.14 says, if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will they hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. The next reason I wanna look at why Daniel and his friends were in Babylon, look down at verse 14, 2 Chronicles 36.14. The Bible says this, moreover, all the chief of the priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. So what happened here? Idolatry crept into the house of the Lord. You know, we all know what idolatry is. We know all the tangible things that are idolatry, right? The houses, the cars, you know, anything tangible we put above God. We know that that's an idol. But an idol is also anything that captures our heart more than God. You know, that can be, it can be ungodly desires. It can be seeking attention. It can be anything that our heart is craving more than we crave God. And when we do that, what does verse 14 say? It says that the house of God gets polluted. When we bring in pride to the church and anything that's above God, bring it into the church, the church gets polluted. And what do we go away from when we do that? What do we not do when the church gets polluted? Well, one thing is we stop exalting God. We stop exalting God. The second thing is that we stop edifying each other. When we have pride creep into the church or any idolatry creeping into the church, we stop edifying the believers. Then we stop preaching the good news. We stop being who we're supposed to be as Christians. When we let idolatry creep in to the church, Look there, verse 15, the last reason I'll mention why Daniel and his friends were in Babylon. It says, and the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up at times and sending, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. Now I don't know about you, but aren't you glad our God is a God of second chances? I just want to say, if you get a second chance, take it. If you get a second chance from God, please take it. Because there's going to be a certain time when we've run out of second chances. Look at verse 16. It says, but they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and misused his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people. till there was no remedy. Now, of course, I don't believe any of us here today are coming in and saying, you know what? I'm going to reject Pastor Warren. I'm just not going to listen to him. I'm going to come in with a bad attitude, and I'm just not going to hear anything he has to say. I don't think we're doing that. Of course not. But I wonder if you're like me, and sometimes we come to church with the wrong spirit. You know, sometimes maybe we don't prepare our hearts before we walk into the house of God. Maybe sometimes we come with the wrong intentions, not on purpose, but subconsciously. We don't come in with the right intentions. You know, the message is preached, but are we really listening? Do we say, God, you know what, can you use me today? When I walk into the church, can I be a light to somebody else today within the church? Because we have hurting people, I guarantee, within the church. But when we're so focused on ourselves, they're not going to get edified. They're not going to get lifted up, because we're having the wrong intent coming in. And by the way, I'm talking to myself. I'm not pointing at you. I'm talking to myself. Sometimes we come in with the wrong intent. Church isn't about me. It's all about Jesus. It's all about Jesus. We're gonna end with this. Turn to Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two. First Philippians, just kidding. Just joking. I'm never gonna move that one down, am I? Jason. That's good. All right. Philippians chapter 2. You know, I think one of the greatest examples that we can give the next generation is to be a unified church. The greatest thing that we can do is to be a unified church, be united. Look at verse 1 there in chapter 2. Did I say that right? Yeah. In verse one, you're gonna see Paul uses four if statements. Now these if statements, they are assumed to be true. They are assumed to be true. So look at verse one. The Bible says, if there be, therefore, any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bows and mercies, says, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in, who? Christ Jesus. You know, I heard somebody say that, verse two here, I heard someone say that this is the four-part harmony of the church. Who all knows what a four-part harmony is? Sheila, do you know? Right, it's when you take four voices, I gave this illustration before with the teenagers, You take four voices or four different instruments, and if I butcher this, let me know, and you turn it into one chord, is that right? And you make a beautiful melody, a beautiful song with the four different instruments or four different voices. You know, that's how the church should be. The church should be a four-part harmony. This church needs to be working together to make a beautiful melody, to make a beautiful song. That's what we need to do as Christians. Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be what? Like-minded, that's one. Having the same love, that's two. Being of one accord, three. And of one mind, that's four. Four-part harmonies are really easy, right? No, of course not. It takes work. You have to work at it, just like marriage. Guys, do you always agree with your wife? I do, but you don't? Okay. I was asking. It takes work. It takes work. To have a four-part harmony church, it's gonna take work. You know, Satan wants nothing more than to divide the church. nothing more to divide the church and to divide the house. If the house is divided, what else is divided? The church. Again, pride sneaks in sometimes. Jealousy sneaks in. People get offended very easily that can sneak into a church. And then sometimes the person who gets offended goes and tells somebody else that they are offended instead of going to the person that offended them. that pollutes the church. You know, sometimes a single conversation, a single godly conversation would fix that right away, right away. You know, if my wife ever, if we ever get into an argument, whatever, I know, you don't believe it. Sometimes we have that quick communication, nip it in the bud, and we're good to go. That's how we need to be in the church. Hey, you know what? When you said this, when this happened, that kind of hurt my feelings. And oh, I didn't mean it that way. I meant this. Oh, OK. Then we're good. Instead of wait, wait, wait, months go by, we start to fester. We start to get bitterness. You've all heard this. When you're bitter, You're drinking the poison, and you're hoping that someone else feels the pain. But it's only hurting you. It's only hurting me. Now, I'm preaching to the choir tonight. It's the Wednesday night choir. But this is what I felt the Lord tell me to preach. It takes all of us. For a part of harmony, it takes everybody to work together, purpose in our hearts to make that spiritual decision that no matter what, I'm gonna stand for God, and I'm not gonna let the church go down. The cool thing, it's not about us. It's all about Jesus. So when we say, hey, less of me, more of him, it takes a lot of work to do this, to stand, because it's gonna affect the next generation. But I believe that all of you believe that's worth it. I believe that we all believe that they are worth it. So I just say, let's continue to make a stand for Christ. Purpose in our hearts that we're going to stand. All right, let's pray. Lord, thank you so much for these faithful individuals. I'm just honored that I could even be up here again, I don't feel adequate, but the truth is, I'm not. Lord, I just pray that you spoke to our hearts, I pray that maybe it's nothing I even said, maybe it's something else in their lives that someone heard from you in a different way. God, just help us to be a light to the world, help us to be a unified church, and help us to stand for you and not to defile ourselves. God, we love you so much, thank you for loving us. In your precious name we pray, amen. Thanks, y'all.