Perilous Pitfalls of Compromise pt. 1

Mark Finley: Our God is powerful. Our God is greater than the powers of hell. On the cross of Calvary, he triumphed over the principalities and powers of hell. He lives in the sanctuary above and our God reigns.
Guest (Male): This is Hope Lives 365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message, Perilous Pitfalls of Compromise. Part one. Enjoy. And remember, you can always catch up with past messages and stay up to date with Hope Lives 365 and Pastor Mark by going to hopelives365.com and stay with us for a free Bible study offer later in this program. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.
Mark Finley: I'll tell you the story of somebody that I will call, not their real name, Mr. and Mrs. Wong. Mr. Wong was a member of the Red Guard Chinese Army. And I I should say we were grateful and thankful to the Chinese government for allowing these delegates to come. And we we are thankful to God for the officials that have given the measure of religious liberty that they have in China. But many, many years ago, in 1991 1990 to 1993, Mr. Wong was a member of the Red Guard. He was an avowed atheist. He felt that all Christians were ignorant fools that believed fables that you couldn't have any confidence in. When he came home from the army on leave, he discovered that something amazing had happened in his city. From 1991 to 1993, in one city in China, there was a mighty spiritual revival. And in one Seventh-day Adventist church in that city, for three years, there were between two and 3,000 people baptized each year. That local congregation grew to well over 10,000. It was amazing moving of God's grace, an amazing outpouring of God's spirit. When Mr. Wong came home from the army, he discovered that his wife had become a Seventh-day Adventist, that some of his brothers had become Adventists, and his father and mother had become Adventists and joined that local congregation. He was furious. He was incredibly angry. As he told me the story, he said, Pastor, I could not understand why my own wife would accept such fables, such nonsense, such intellectual superficiality. He said I was angry. I ranted. I raved. I yelled at her. She he said, I threatened her in a variety of ways. I would go to the Adventist church and break up their worship services with my rants and anger and rage. He said then, one day I came with rocks and stones and threw them through the windows of the church. I felt I had to do everything I could dis to dissuade my wife from this foolishness. His wife developed a very serious eye infection. And that eye infection threatened her with loss of sight. She was taken to the hospital for a very serious operation to save her vision. And as the surgeons operated on her, she of course had a patch on one eye. And a physician said to her, we don't want you to strain your other eye by any reading because if you do that, you may lose total vision. One day, her husband came into her room and he saw her reading the Bible with a patch on one eye looking at the word of God. And he said, I thought the physicians told you not to do that. And she said, well, I needed strength. I need the strength that comes from God's word. And I could not go for months without reading the word of God. He looked at her and he said, you are foolish. As your husband, I'm not going to allow you to go blind reading the word of God. Give me that book and I'll read it for you and to you. Praise God. Praise God. He said, what do you want me to read? She said, read the book of Job. Now, I am not sure that that's the first book I would introduce people to in the Bible. Read the book of Job. But God's ways are mysterious. Mr. Wong said to me, Pastor Mark, I began to read the book of Job. And I saw the trials that this man was going through. And I recognized that I was putting my wife through some of the trials. She was the modern Job. And he said I kept reading and reading and faith grew in my heart as I saw Job trusted God in spite of the trials. As I saw Job trusted God in spite of what was going on in his life. He came to the end of the book of Job and he was amazed. If you have your Bible and I know you do, take it and read. Turn to Job chapter 42. Job chapter 42. And look there at verse 10. Mr. Wong said, Pastor Mark, I I read the book of Job to my wife. I saw Job's faith. I saw Job's courage. I saw Job's confidence in God. And I was absolutely amazed. He then said, I came to the end of the book and I read Job 42 verse 10. And the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. And Mr. Wong said, Pastor Mark, I was so amazed in a God like that. As his wife continued to have treatment, Mr. Wong did not admit what God was doing in his life. As she would go to treatments to see the physician, he would take the Bible out of the drawer by her bed and read it. And secretly he read the Bible. Until that day in that hospital room, Mr. Wong knelt down and said, Jesus, I'm yours. Jesus, I can resist you no longer. Mr. Wong today is the part of a pastoral team that in one pastoral district has 20,000 members and 400 churches and groups. If God can take a member of the Red Army, an atheist, one who believes that Christianity is nonsense and lead him to be a mighty pastor for God, what can God do for your life? What can God do with my life? When I asked Mr. Wong, what was the most significant thing that led you to make that decision? What led to your conversion? If he were here this morning giving his testimony, this is what he would say. He would tell you that there was one major reason. His wife was faithful to God and did not compromise her integrity. The Holy Spirit used her powerfully to reach her husband. Now, there's one thing for certain. A half-hearted compromising Christianity is not going to impact the world for Christ. One pastor put it this way. God will not use a compromised life to reach a compromised world. God will use a life that is given over to him that is a demonstration of the message that through the power of Jesus Christ and his love, he can transform our lives and set us free. If the world is looking for anything today, it is looking for young people. It's looking for adults that have authentic, genuine Christianity. A sham, a pretense, hypocrisy will never reach the world. A sugar-coated gospel will not transform a society by the grace of Christ and the power of the living Christ. No formal, ritualistic Christianity will do. No half-hearted Christianity to do. Young people with divided hearts and compromised lives will not impact a world for Jesus Christ. In your opinions and in your faith, there must not be the least appearance of wavering. One of the sterling examples in scripture of an undivided heart, of an uncompromised faith. One of the sterling examples in scripture is Daniel. Throughout his life, he stands as a sterling example of faithfulness and loyalty. And this morning, we want to spend some time studying the life of Daniel. We're going to look at chapter one in the book of Daniel, then fast forward to chapter six. In Daniel chapter one, Daniel is approximately 17 years old. He's in his teens. And he faces an incredibly amazing test. In Daniel chapter six, it is about 65 or 66 years later and Daniel is 83 years old. He faces an amazing test. Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, whether you are young or old, Satan is an equal opportunity employer. He does not have any prejudice in those whom he tempts. You may be young, you may be old. You may be Hispanic or Asian or African or from North America. Your language may be Spanish or or your language may be Italian. Your language may be Portuguese. Your language may be Tagalog. You may speak one of the African dialects. You may speak English. But that does not exempt you from temptation. Satan is an equal opportunity tempter. Tempts men and women, young and old. Merely because you have walked with Christ and been faithful to Christ for 20 or 30 years does not mean in any way that you're exempt from the temptations of Satan. And one of the things we see in the life of Daniel is the life of faithfulness from the beginning to the end. Daniel did not merely start the journey. Daniel finished the journey. And he found in Christ one that was the author and finisher of his faith. He found in Christ one who he could hold the beginning of his confidence strong to the end. So I invite you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Daniel. Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel. Daniel chapter one. Daniel chapter one begins with the great controversy scene.
Guest (Male): We'll be right back with Pastor Mark Finley. We thank you for listening and hope you're enjoying today's message. Our mission is to attractively present the Christ-centered biblical truths of scripture in a practical, relevant way to people around the world so that they may experience the abundant life that Christ offers. If you want to learn more about the Bible, check out our free Bible series at globalbibleschool.org. That's globalbibleschool.org. Discover answers to your deepest questions straight from God's word. And now, back to Pastor Mark Finley.
Mark Finley: Look at Daniel chapter one and verse one. Here we begin with the great controversy. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. So here you have two kings, Nebuchadnezzar and Jehoiakim. You have two cities, Jerusalem and Babylon. Babylon, the citadel of evil. Babylon, the center of idol worship. Babylon, the center of egotistical, proud, man-made religion. Jerusalem, the sanctuary of God, the Shekinah glory of God, the people of God, the law of God. Babylon, the city of falsehood and error. Jerusalem, the city of truth. Nebuchadnezzar attacks Jerusalem. And Jerusalem falls to Nebuchadnezzar. So in chapter one, you see the great controversy. Verse one. The controversy between good and evil. The controversy between Christ and Satan. Daniel and his young teenage friends are taken captive. Nebuchadnezzar longs to bring the brightest, the most intelligent, the those that are are are handsome and physically attractive. He longs to bring a group of youth that have the potential for leadership that will be educated for three years at the University of Babylon. So Nebuchadnezzar can send them back as his emissaries to Jerusalem. The devil loves to attack the brightest, the best, the most intelligent because he knows that if he gets the leaders, the followers will follow. And the devil still uses that strategy today on Christian Seventh-day Adventist young people. If he can capture the minds of the brightest and the best, if he can lead them from faithfulness to God, he knows that if he gets the leaders, the followers are going to follow. So here in the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar takes captive the most intelligent, the brightest young people. Brings them to the University to Babylon to educate them in the University of Babylon. Early in that captivity, Daniel and his friends are ushered into the banquet hall of Babylon. Everything is set on those tables to tempt the taste, to satisfy the palate, to delight the eyes. The music is playing. The tables are set. The royal banquet is there. Now, there's an interesting aside that I want you to see in Daniel chapter one. Notice it in verse two. And the Lord. Now, that word for Lord there is a word that means the one who is in control over all in spite of the captivity, in spite of the apparent defeat. God is still sovereign. He is still on his throne. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand with some of the articles of the house of God. What are the articles of the house of God? The candlestick from the sanctuary. What are the articles from the house of God? The articles that were in the sanctuary that the Shekinah glory reflected off. Those golden emblems that were in the sanctuary of Jerusalem were taken. And where were they brought? Daniel chapter one verse two. And he brought the articles to the treasure house of his God. Who was his God? The chief God. There were 13 chief gods of Babylon. Bel Marduk was the chief God. Bel Marduk sat in a golden temple on a golden throne before a golden table. Can you imagine it? The very candlestick in the sanctuary, the very emblems of the sanctuary that reflected the Shekinah glory of God, the very presence of God. Nebuchadnezzar came into the sanctuary, took those out, brought them to the temple, the pagan temple of the idol of Bel Marduk. He put them there. Daniel and his friends are ushered into that banquet room. They see some of those glittering golden articles that had been in the sanctuary. And I can just imagine that Nebuchadnezzar was in effect saying, if your God is so supreme, why are you in captivity to us? If your God is so supreme, why are the articles from the sanctuary here? If your God is so supreme, why is Jerusalem in ruins and defeated? Here Daniel and his friends go in to that sanctuary. And they're invited to defile their health and defile their minds. The food on those tables was offered to the god Bel Marduk. To eat that food was to worship and give tribute to the pagan gods. Also, Daniel was wise enough to know that that wine would defile his mind. That those alcoholic beverages would destroy brain cells. That they would affect conscience, reason, and judgment and make him less capable of responding to the Holy Spirit's impact on the mind. He recognized that the unclean foods on that table would destroy his health. And so Daniel knew that the decision that day was not a small one. He recognized that it was much more than a glass of alcohol. Much more than unclean foods. But that it was the compromising of his integrity. He recognized that it was much more than simply that one choice because that choice would lead to another choice and another choice and another choice. So in one of the most magnificent passages in scripture, Daniel, the first chapter and the eighth verse. The pressure to conform was enormous. With the destruction of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar claimed that his gods were superior to the god of Jehovah. Notice what Daniel says. What it's recorded about Daniel. Daniel one verse eight. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore, he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. The scripture says Daniel purposed in his heart. What is the word purposed mean? Purposed means he decided. Purposed means he determined. Purposed means he chose. In the heart. In the Old Testament, the heart is the seat of the intellect. It is the center of the emotions. It is the center of our thought processes. There are two passages in Proverbs that are helpful here. Proverbs four verse 23. Now, keep your finger in Daniel one. We're going to go back to it. Proverbs chapter four and verse 23. We're studying this idea. Daniel purposed in his heart. What is this heart? Daniel chapter four. In the Bible, the heart is the center of intellect, the center of emotions. It is the it is the thought center from which decisions are made. In Proverbs four verse 23, the scripture says, keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. Keep your heart. Keep your mind. Guard your mind. Proverbs 23 verse seven adds. As a man or a woman does what? You know the text. Say it with me. As a man thinks in his what? Heart, so is he. You know a number of years ago, Isaac Newton, that famous hymn writer. You know Isaac Newton wrote between 650 and 750 hymns. Some scholars say it was 650, some say 700, some say 750. You know he wrote those great hymns like when I survey the wondrous cross upon which the prince of glory died. Isaac Newton, who had written so many of those hymns, was not a real large man. He was about 5'3 5'4, quite thin. And one day in London, there was a parade in Isaac Watts's honor. And people gathered to give pay tribute to this mighty hymn writer of God. And they gathered along the streets of London. Many of them got up on balconies so they would see this mighty man of God. They had sung his majestic hymns and they had pictured a man 6'1 6'2 many who didn't know him. They had pictured this huge man. Isaac Watts was riding in a open covered kind of like like carriage. And as he was riding in this horse-drawn carriage, he was kind of hunched over by now he was old and he didn't even look like he was 5'4. He looked like he was about 5'1 or 5'ft. He was kind of hunched over. And there was one of these high society women that was sitting in the balcony. And she looked over and saw this carriage. And she looked. And as the carriage passed, she was one of those women that often spoke or men too. I got to be careful. I don't get myself in trouble here. She was one of those individuals. That's good. Who thought second and spoke first. Have you ever met anybody like that? It's always good to think before you speak, not to speak before you think. But anyway, she blurted out. Isaac Watts is coming by and she bursts out and says, what? Are you Isaac Watts? She was so surprised as he was little shriveled up man. You know Watts just um always thought in poetry um and um you know one time his father said, why your eyes open in prayer? And Watts said, I could not say my prayers when the mouse ran up the stairs. So he always thought you know in poetry. So this woman says, what? You Isaac Watts? And he looked he motioned the carriage to stop. It did. He stood up to his full 5'3 or 5'4 length and he said, madam, could I in fancy grasp the poles or hold creation in my hand? I'd still be measured by my mind for the mind is the measure of a man. The great battle in the last days of earth's history is not a battle in the Middle East. It is a battle for your mind. And the devil is focusing on every young person today. Doing everything he can with mass media, with video. He's doing everything he can through the party culture, the pleasure culture. He is doing everything he can to capture your thought patterns because what you habitually think about develops attitudes. Attitudes lead to actions. Repeated actions lead to habits. And habits develop character.
Guest (Male): You've been listening to Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you enjoyed today's message and that it increased your faith in God and his word. If you'd like to learn more, Pastor Mark invites you to visit globalbibleschool.org for an inspiring, interactive Bible study experience. That's globalbibleschool.org. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.
Mark Finley: Who are we? We are the sum of our thoughts, our attitudes, our actions, and our habits. Character is what defines us. And the choices we make determine the characters that we will have. The battle is a battle for your intellect. It's a battle for your mind. It's a battle to control your thoughts. And Satan will do everything he can in this godless, secular society to influence the thought processes because the mind is the seat of our emotion.