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Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Did you know that John Wesley also took up certain social causes? During his time. The abolition of slavery was one of them. Human trafficking.
Also, the mistreatment of animals. Public drunkenness. but most notably the elimination of the African slave trade. And he interfaced with another man who was a political man named William Wilberforce, also a committed believer. And three days before Wesley died, In seventeen ninety one, He wrote a letter to William Wilberforce, who was then in the Parliament.
And he said, I believe God has raised you up for this glorious enterprise to end the slave trade. and urged him not to become weary in well-doing. Worship God supremely. also involved socially. I believe that we evangelicals have a tendency.
And the tendency is to be escapists. to sort of use the church to hide from the world. Oh, we have our occasional raids into enemy territory where the the drawbridge goes down, we cross over the moat, we have our Christian event and then quickly run back into the castle and drawbridge goes right back up. Yep. This may not be a tendency for most of us here because we live and work in a secular world, but I will tell you one thing: this is a danger for people who work on a church staff.
Who are around church people and talking about all the events that go on in the castle? all week long. This can become a danger to us. Mission. is the human responsibility to the divine commission.
And Daniel, I believe, was both salt and light. He was salt and salt in those days was used As a preservative to stop the decay that would happen, it was rubbed into meat. And I believe that believers like Daniel can be in their society and stop, retard the corruption that has a tendency to go on. At the same time, Daniel was also light. Shining the light of the glory of God in Babylon, in the court where he was with Nebuchadnezzar, and leading people out of spiritual darkness, letting them see the true God.
One thing we must never become like. is that country preacher When a homeless lady came to him for help. And he sort of patted her on the head and said, Well, I'll say a little prayer for you and send her away. And she wrote this letter from her shelter where she was staying. I was hungry.
and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger. I was imprisoned. and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release. I was naked. And in your mind, you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick, and you knelt and thanked God for your health. I was homeless. And you preach to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God. I was lonely. And you left me alone.
to pray for me. You seem so holy, so close to God. But I am still very hungry and lonely and cold. Daniel struck a balance, worshiping God supremely. but involve socially.
Second area of balance. Daniel stood alone. But he walked with others.
Now let me flesh that out for you, because this to me is impressive. I am continually impressed as I go through the book of Daniel. That this guy was never afraid. to stand alone. if he felt like God wanted him to.
to act alone. to stand up for his convictions. For example, in chapter one, Daniel acted alone. In protesting the king's diet that he was trying to impose upon everybody, he said, I don't want to do that, we don't want to do that, and he was the spokesman. We don't want to eat that.
We don't want to drink that. We'll go on this special fast. That was Daniel. He did it single-handedly. In chapter 2, it was Daniel alone.
who approached Ariok, the captain of the guard, and eventually the king. and said I'll give you my guarantee, I will interpret that dream for you. In chapter Five. Daniel alone stood against Belshazzar. In chapter 6, He also stood alone against the band not to pray.
And he alone faced the lion's den.
So here's a guy who over and over and over and over again made a stand.
Sometimes all alone. But But He was never an island. He was never an isolationist. He shared companionship and fellowship. with his brothers while he had them other Jews in the kingdom.
Example, chapter one. Daniel is noted. As one among four other Jewish young men: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah. They're all four named as a group. In chapter 2, when the edict came to kill all the wise men of Babylon, including Daniel.
We are told Daniel went to his house. Made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, his companions. The word means those he was in constant fellowship with. That they might seek mercies from the God of heaven.
So, as soon as he finds out the problem, he goes, Boys, we got to pray, and we need to pray together. He was able to stand alone. Because he walked with others. You and I will be able to stand alone for God in the workplace only when we walk with others in fellowship. That's where we get the strength, the platform to do that.
Yeah. Which is why we need fellowship. Koinonia is the Greek New Testament word. Most of us have heard that term before. Most everyone here has heard the word koinonia.
In fact, you've been a Christian like a month. I know that. I know Greek. Koinania. Fellowship.
Partnership, communion. It actually means to share something with someone else. But let me tell you, if I may, what fellowship is not. Fellowship is not just hanging out in Jesus' name. We have an interesting habit, we church people.
We are able to sanctify just about any activity we do or hobby. All we have to do is add fellowship on the end of it. We have our Weightlifters Fellowship. We have left-handed basket weaving fellowship. Just add fellowship to it, and it's cool.
But it means much more than just a social activity. We're getting together and we're with each other and we're hanging out, so we're fellowshipping. Fellowship always has a spiritual component. Fellowship means that I am adding something to your life, you're adding something to my life. That we're mutually encouraging one another in spiritual matters, stimulating spiritual growth.
One author wrote this. Our churches are filled with people who outwardly look contented and at peace. But inwardly, they are crying out for someone to love them just as they are. They're crying out for fellowship if they had true, authentic fellowship. they wouldn't be crying out.
There's an old Jewish proverb that says, A friendless man is like a left hand bereft of the right hand. I would add to that and say, an isolated Christian. First of all, it's an oxymoron. You can't have an isolated Christian. A Christian is part of the body of Christ.
But an isolated Christian is like the right hand bereft of the left hand. In Proverbs 18, we are told: a man who isolates himself seeks his own desire. He rages against all wise judgment. We have a need. to interact.
We have a need for a family. Years ago, I was impressed by a little-known fact, at least I didn't know it till that time, a little book that described Adolf Hitler. And um Kind of what made him tick. And I guess his closest associate was a guy named Albert Speer. And Albert Speer, though he said I'm his close as an associate, I was never his friend because Adolf Hitler, he said, had no friends at all.
He said, one of the things I noticed about Hitler. is that he repelled, he always repelled friendship. He wouldn't let anybody get too close to him. He always had his guard up. And I can I can uh Say with authority, said Speer, that Adolf Hitler died without any friends.
Daniel was able to stand alone, but walk with others, be connected with others. His life was in balance. There's a third area of his life that brought balance. And that is, he saw into the future But he lived in the present. One of the big features of the book of Daniel, we notice from chapter.
Um six, actually seven, all the way to chapter twelve, the second half of the book. Is it's mostly all future, it's all prophetic. From Daniel's standpoint, it's all yet to come. Daniel is sort of like the equivalent in the Old Testament of The Apostle John and the New Testament both were given apocalyptic visions. Both were able to see the coming kingdom, the coming Messiah, the tribulation.
the Antichrist. Etc. Daniel From his vantage point, Saw what was going on around him and what would come after him in terms of. the Babylonian kingdom, Medo-Persian Empire, the Grecian Empire, the Roman Empire. What's really fascinating to me is that he wasn't the first one to see it, but King Nebuchadnezzar was.
Daniel merely interpreted what the king saw. And if you remember back to chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream a large image, a polymetallic image, gold, silver, bronze. Iron, iron, and clay. A few chapters later, Daniel gets the same information, same revelation about four successive kingdoms, but he doesn't see a statue. Do you remember what he saw?
He saw four beasts. Four rapacious beasts destroying each other, eating one another. And I submit to you that what Nebuchadnezzar saw. is history from the human viewpoint. What Daniel saw is history from God's viewpoint.
Human viewpoint is always impressive, shiny, awesome. Look at the gold, silver, woo! That's how we write our history. God sees the same thing, but he gives you the heart of it. They're a bunch of animals trying to destroy each other.
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Now let's get back to today's teaching. Remember the scripture when Samuel was looking for the next king of Israel after Saul, and he went to the house of Jesse and he looked at Eliab, the oldest guy. He was so handsome and so, well, he looked like a king. And God said, I have rejected him. For man looks at the outward appearance.
But God looks at the heart. Nebuchadnezzar saw the outward appearance. God was showing Daniel the heart of the matter into the future. And so here is Daniel able to see from his shoreline, his vantage point, all of history all the way to the coming of the Messiah. and the setting up of that kingdom.
But though he saw into the future, He lived responsibly in his present world. That's a balancing act.
Now let me share with you something that I believe is very important. I have taught the book of Revelation. I've taught you the book of Daniel most recently.
Some believe that it's unhealthy to teach prophecy. It's a bad thing, they would say. They say if you teach prophecy, it's distracting, it's unprofitable, you're getting people's minds off of what is real and important now. It was a pastor that actually boasted. Saying, I never teach my people prophecy.
I believe it's too distracting. A friend of his heard that and said, Well, then you got to admit, God has put a lot of distractions in the Bible. Right? Because like a fourth of the Bible is prophetic.
So it's like God wrote it for you to be distracted a little bit about what's coming in the future. And here's why. It's not distracting. It's motivating. When you study prophecy, it will do something for you.
Number one, it'll make you confident in God. Because you realize as you read what God writes is coming in the future. God takes nothing, or nothing takes God by surprise. He sees it all. He knows the future.
He knew all about Alexander the Great, all about Seleucus, all about Antiochus' Epiphanies, because he wrote in detail about it, gave it to Daniel. Which must mean He knows all about you. And Jesus said, The very hairs of your head are. Numbered. Which is a daily task for God, I would imagine, because For some people it's growing on more and some are losing.
The second thing studying prophecy will do, it'll clean up your life. There's always a close relationship between prophecy and godliness. Did you know that? When Peter predicts the end of the world and the coming of the end of the age in 2 Peter, this is what he said. Since all of these things around you will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?
When you see what is coming, and that this world is going to be burnt up. It changes the way you live. It makes you less a materialistic person and more a spiritual person. It'll clean up your life. Number three, It'll comfort you in your sorrow.
All of us have had loved ones, relatives, friends. who have died They're no longer with us. We study prophecy and we're told about not only the coming tribulation, but the coming king, the coming kingdom, coming rewards, and a coming reunion with those who have died in Christ before us. That gives us comfort. Number four.
It'll call you to service. It'll motivate you to serve the Lord. Because you read as the Bible speaks about the future. that in the future you're going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And he's gonna say to you who were faithful, well done, good and faithful servant.
You've been faithful in a little, I'll bless you with much. Enter into the joy of your Lord. And you go, hot diggity dog. I want to serve the Lord. With that motivation in mind, there's nothing wrong with that.
In other words, studying the future. gives you a solid foundation in an unstable world. That's why Daniel was so balanced. He was able to see into the future. But with that information, use it to live responsibly in the present.
There's a fourth area of balance I want to consider as we close our time together in Daniel. Daniel aged gracefully. But he influenced mightily. And do you remember? I'm going to have to jog your memory a little bit, like a long time.
When we first opened up the book of Daniel, how old Daniel was when he first came to Babylon? He's about 15 or 16 years of age. He was a young teenager.
So He essentially grew up. in Babylon, grew old in Babylon. Died in Babylon, was buried in Babylon. And as he aged, he aged so gracefully. His commitment that he started with was maintained faithfully throughout his whole life.
But as he aged, he influenced. Every person who came in contact with Daniel. was influenced by his integrity. and his stand for God and his work ethic. Whether it was Ariok, the chief of the eunuchs, in chapter one, or Nebuchadnezzar, in chapter two, and chapter four, or Belshazzar, the next king, in chapter five.
His mom came to him in chapter 5, if you remember during that party, and said, There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And she was referring to Daniel. Daniel influenced. I also believe that he influenced Cyrus The next king, the Medo-Persian king, to let the Jews go back home after the 70-year captivity. He knew what the prophecy said.
He read it. But I believe he used his governmental influence to persuade Cyrus, sign that edict, let the Jews go back home and rebuild.
Now, let me throw something else out at you. I want to sort of leave it with you. I alluded to it during our study in Daniel, but I. I suggest that Daniel's influence reached far into the future beyond even his lifetime. All the way into the New Testament.
All the way to an incident that happens in Matthew chapter 2. Do you remember what happened in Matthew chapter 2? It says, a group of wise men from the east. Came to Bethlehem, but first Jerusalem, and they said, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star, and we have come.
to worship him. These are the Magi. What on earth are they doing in Bethlehem? They come from. The Medo-Persian Coalition.
They go all the way back to Babylon. The Magi We're The magicians in the court of Nebuchadnezzar, Magi magicians from the same root. These were the wise men of Babylon. Daniel was placed in chapter 2. above all of the Magi in Babylon.
So what are they doing?
So many years later, Following a star ending up in Bethlehem. It's my belief That since Daniel saw so far into the future, He saw the coming Jewish ruler, the Messiah, wrote about him, and he left all of that deposit of work there in Babylon, along with the scripture scrolls that he had brought with him from Jerusalem. We know he brought the book of Jeremiah, for instance. That through what he saw, he also influenced those around him, so that years later, they had been following the prophecies and looking for. A certain astronomical wonder that would lead them to see a Jewish Messiah who would one day rule the world.
That's essentially what they asked Herod the Great for.
Now that folks is influence. And that's balance. Daniel's life was in superb balance. I want to tie in something else because it involves us. I believe that as a church as individual Christians, but as a Christian community.
Uh We, like Daniel, should live in balance. We should know who we are and what we're about. and our life should be lived in balance.
So, when I was going through Daniel and looking at all these areas of balance, something struck out to me, and that was our own vision statement as a church. I just want to refresh your minds with it. We also, like Daniel, In chapter 1, verse 8, we have a purpose statement as a group of believers called Calvary. And I would love it if everybody who attends this fellowship would be able to just, when somebody asks them, well, what's Calvary about? You'd be able to say, I'll tell you exactly what it's about.
We pursue the God. who is passionately pursuing a lost world. That's our statement. We pursue the God who is passionately pursuing the lost world, and we do it through three ways. Upreach.
In reach. and outreach. It's been on our literature for years. We've told you about it before. Maybe it'll lock in today because I believe that these same areas were the areas of balance in Daniel's life.
Upreach. We express our adoration to God. That's worship. We express our adoration to God through dynamic worship. and uncompromised obedience.
When we gather, we love to worship. We think our worship should be reverential, but we also think it should be happy, joyful. You know, one of the things I've always noticed about bars is they have this crazy thing, they call it happy hour. Have you ever been outside of a bar after happy hour? How many people look happy?
Not too many. And if they do, they're really loopy. But then I was thinking: how many people genuinely look happy after they leave church? Why can't this be happy hour? Why can't we get happy about our God and express in songs of reverential but dynamic worship that we love God?
Upreach. Second is in reach. In reach, we explain. the relevance of scriptures to our daily lives. And we seek to build people up and fit them for service in God's kingdom.
That's inreach. That's why whenever we gather together, It's the study of the Bible, the study of the scriptures. We make that paramount. Every now and then, somebody might say, Well, can't you guys like break from the pattern of Bible study? Couldn't you have like a raffle one day?
Or a puppet show, or I don't know, interpretive dance? Short answer: no. We can't. We believe the Word of God does the work of God and the lives of the people of God. Inreach also means we get involved personally.
In reach means that you discover a place of your Volunteer activity in some area of church life. That's in reach. The third is outreach. We extend the love of God to a hurting world through evangelism as well as social concern. And we believe that is like Daniel's life.
He was all about upreach, he worshiped God supremely. He was all about inreach. He was tethered to a group of people that he prayed with, his brothers in Babylon. He was all about outreach, influencing people. influencing people.
who didn't know who God was.
So Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. Dare to make his purpose firm. and dare to make it known.
So we end like we began. Taking a challenge to live the balanced life through the grace provided to us by God Himself. Yeah. Thanks for listening to Connect for Skip Heitzig. Before you go, don't miss your opportunity to request the Daily God Journal, along with the companion digital devotional, the Daily God Book.
These resources are our thanks for your generous year-end gift to help connect with Skip-Heitzig, finish 2025 strong, and reach more people with the truth of God's Word in the year ahead. Call 800-922-1888 or go to connectwithskip.com slash offer. Thanks for spending time with us today and we'll see you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzigs Inc. Make a connection! Make a connection.
Shouldn't know. Ooh. Of the crisis. But you have so perfect. Insomnia.
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