The Babylon Mentality - April 8, 2020 - Stand Firm-Love Well series - a podcast by theCrossroads, UPC
from 2020-04-08T20:06
The Babylon Mentality
Part 2 – STAND FIRM – LOVE WELL Series
How do we live like Jesus in a pagan culture!
We’ll either set the culture, or reflect the culture we live in.
You’ll either be a THERMOSTAT or a THERMOMETER.
– God has called us to be a thermostat! To set the culture.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
We are called to be SALT and LIGHT
Salt makes things better, Light makes things brighter.
We are here to MAKE an IMPACT!
John 17:15-16 (NIV)
15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves.”
That is why it was called Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world.
The name written on her forehead was a mystery: BABYLON THE GREAT. THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
“Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.’ Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells. You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’”
Babylon’s motto: “I am, and there is none besides me.”
Elevate self.
- Self-adoring.
- Self-building.
- Self-indulging.
Notes:
Lower God.
- God doesn’t love me.
- God isn’t for me.
- God wants too much from me.
Notes:
I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous.
Your Majesty, you are that tree!
Daniel 4:25-26
25 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. 26 The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules.
Sanity Restored
At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
1. I will exalt God.
I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2. I will acknowledge God.
1 Corinthians 4:7 (LB)
What are you so puffed up about? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is from God, why act as though you have accomplished something on your own?
(If you see a turtle on a fence-post you know he didn’t get there by himself).
3. I will humble myself.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.
THE MAN ON HIS FACE CAN NEVER FALL FROM THAT POSITION.
Standing firm in a pride-inflated culture begins with face-down posture.
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