Marcus Mecum - Courage in a Compromising Culture
If you got your Bibles turn with me to Daniel 1, let’s look at verse one. Daniel 1:1. «In the third year of the reign of the king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem to besiege it. And the Lord delivered the king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles», I did skip the name, I know, I did that on purpose, «Along with some of the articles of the temple of God. This he carried off to the temple of his God in Babylonia». So Solomon’s temple was destroyed, ransacked. They took all the articles from inside Solomon’s temple and now they’re in the temple of the God of Babylonia.
«He put in the treasure the house of his God. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring to the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family that were of nobility. Young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude of every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified,» somebody say he’s talking about me. No, I’m just kidding. «He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service». When you look at the scriptures you’ll locate that there are two primary cities that continue to be highlighted above all others and that would be Jerusalem and Babylon.
Jerusalem represents the city of God, where Babylon represents the city of man. Babylon is a picture to us of every anti-God culture and government that’s existed in the past, present, or in the future. We see Babylon from Genesis to Revelation at work in the earth. In Genesis 11 we get our first glimpse of the spirit or the culture of Babylon when Nimrod attempts to create a worldwide anti-God government to build the tower of Babel. And, one of the first things he orders the people to do was to not use stones. He says, specifically, «I want you to build this tower that’s gonna reach to the heavens so you can make my name great. I want you to make it out of bricks».
So, it’s the first characteristic we see when Babel is introduced is that its to be made out of bricks or manmade materials. A brick is uniformed. They’re all the same. One can’t outshine the other. This a picture of socialism and communism. You see the same emphasis in Egypt when God’s people were taken into Egypt where they were told what they could eat. «You could eat some garlic here and you can have some onions here. You can live here. This is the job that you do». But, they were reduced down to nothing more than bricks. When you get to the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God does not see people as bricks, but it actually says people are like stones, living stones. A stone is God created, unique, one of a kind, and we’re all created in that same way to the praise of his glory. God even chose to call his son the chief Cornerstone.
A Cornerstone is that in the making of the temple or the making of any type of architecture that would be broken. And, because of its brokenness it would be discarded and rejected but ultimately, in the end, that would be the one that was used as the finishing stone or the stone that would be of the most value. And, God is bringing our attention in how we are to see one another. Not just see his son, but when we look at the brokenness in one another and the world would see the brokenness and the parts of you that should be discarded because of your past and we’re you’ve been and the things you’ve done, and they would devalue you and reject you. God says, «That’s not how it is with me. I see you as a stone, a living stone, and your brokenness does not devalue you. Your brokenness is actually the very thing I wanna use to bring great value, not just to you but to our world».
We’re not bricks, we’re living stones. The city of Babylon was destroyed completely 500 years before Christ, but its spirit is seen in every world empire. You see it in Rome, you see it in the society. They would execute Christ and persecute Christians. We know that all of these places were destroyed. The tower of Babel, God said, «I want it to be no more,» and it’s gone. Babylon, the greatest city and army, the most powerful, prosperous place on the earth in that time, God did not just say it would fall, he said it would never exist again. And, you go to that geographical location today and it ceased to exist. Other cities have been attacked, other cities had been burned to the ground, other cities have underwent extreme war conditions, but they rebuild and they come back. But God said, «Not so with the physical, geographical location of Babylon. I’m gonna show people what at the end of the day I will do to that spirit in the end».
The Roman Empire was also destroyed, but the Babylonian spirit has not died. And, the scripture teaches us in Revelation, it will be revived in the end times. So, why should this matter to you? First, I want us to see the parallels between Babylon and our western culture. I’m gonna tell the story of Babylon and you’re gonna feel like I’m picking on America today, but I won’t, I’m just gonna tell the story of Babylon. And, as we parallel it you’ll have moments where you’re gonna say, «I don’t like that, but that is exactly what happened».
The second thing we need to realize is Daniel and those who were brought with him to Babylon, of the thousands that were brought we only read about a few that maintained their faith in Babylon. So, the reason it’s important that you understand the culture of Babylon is so you can have courage instead of compromising like many did in Daniel’s time and like many will do in our time. In Daniel, you see people filled with pride given to nothing but Godless appetites, but you’ll also see those of prayer and conviction. You’ll see those who refused to compromise in a Godless time. You’ll see those who are marked by courage and confidence in God. You’ll see those who stand up against an anti-God environment. And, ultimately, you’ll see a sovereign God that is in control at every twist and every turn. It was not an easy task for Daniel and his friends to stand, yet they endured and remained faithful.
And, Daniel gave us the secret in Daniel 22, «They that know their God,» is what he said, «Will be strong and do great exploits». It is possible to be surrounded by evil and Godlessness in every way, shape, and form, but yet knowing your God, you can still be strong and do great exploits. In Daniel 1, as we begin this collection of messages, we see the attack on the family. Daniel was 14 years old when Babylon conquered Jerusalem. Commentaries say that he would’ve watched his family be brutally murdered before his eyes. So, Babylon hates godly families. Babylon targets families in order to control and enslave the next generation. The goal of Babylon is to remove the family as the primary influence in the next generation life.
So, the breakdown of the family, the idea of a fatherlessness society that we’re facing. How men are being discarded and men are being pushed aside and even, in many ways, men are refusing to listen to other men. I love the fact that there are men all across this room, but I wanna challenge you, as a man, at some point you need to ask yourself, «Do you listen to another man? Is there another man that can talk to you about your stuff? Is there another man that can talk to you about what’s going on»? You cannot just hide out in your own stuff forever, you need to have other men that will challenge you and push you. We need godly moms and dads, they are the first line of defense against Babylonian bondage of our kids. So, family is God’s plan. Our children need godly moms and dads.
And you say, «But my family is already broken, what am I supposed to do»? Well, God thought about you. God thought about broken families and so he gave us what is called, God’s family. And, Babylon not only hates the biological or nuclear family, Babylon hates God’s family or the church. Because, the next the thing in the story that happens is Solomon’s temple was also destroyed and devalued. So, the family of God is the second line of defense and so God’s family and your family work together. And, when your family is weak, God’s family is to be there to help you be strong, it’s there to help you fill in the gaps because the stronger your family is the stronger God’s family is.
Well, the devil doesn’t want God’s family strong, and he doesn’t want your family strong, so what does he do? He attacks your family. In the same way he tries to attack your marriage and your kids, guess what? He’s right there trying to attack and devalue the church as well because I’m a product of maybe not the biological family being what it should, but God’s family filled in those gaps for me. godly men, help come along side of me, and I am who I am today because of God’s family. So, the devil doesn’t care how he destroys the church, whether it’s the outside in or the inside out, he knows once its destroyed he can go and grab a generation like he did Daniel and thousands of young men and bring them hostage.
So, here we see Daniel’s family was destroyed, Solomon’s temple is destroyed, God’s family is diminished and now thousands of young men and women are enslaved, taken hostage, they go on a 700 mile journey that would take four long weeks, unimaginable conditions they would all face. They arrive in Babylon tired, weak, and immediately they would take all the young men and tragically mutilate them to never be a husband or father as a result. So, they would suffer the indignity of castration. You see, after the attack on the family is affected and after the diminishing of God’s family is affected, the next thing you see Babylon do is mutilate children in the area of their sexuality. Why? If we can rob them of their identity that God gave them we can control them. That’s what it says. They had to face that to be in service to the king of Babylon.
When this happened the children of Israel are enslaved, and they would be forced to break the covenant of their ancestors, which was pro-marriage, pro-creation, and a family. This commandment that God gave the children of Israel and all of us, the very first one was to do what? Be fruitful and multiply. Any act that changes a person’s sexuality is Babylonian in nature. It is an attack on God’s plan. It is an attack on that person. It is an attack on the family, and it is an attack on the scriptures. Babylonian language is what they call freedom. They say things like, «Your body, your choice». However, God calls that being enslaved and being placed in bondage. It is Babylonian. It is not in any way God’s will.
See, once we get the family and then we get God’s family, and now we get them questioning their sexuality. The next was, let’s attack their thinking. Babylon succeeded in many ways, now they’re going to change their language, is what we read, change their name, change their diet, they’re going to be educated and indoctrinated with Babylonian thinking. For three years they’re trained to enter the Babylonian kingdom. They need to talk like Babylonians talk, think like Babylonians think, act like Babylonians act. Remove the influence of the family, take them to a Babylonian university. That kid doesn’t belong to the family. The spiritual coverage of the child is not a mom and dad. No, now they belong to the state, the state of Babylon. They belong to the king. I’m gonna destroy families, I’m gonna destroy godly influences, I’m gonna rob them of their identity, confuse them, why? So, we can own them and control them to build a tower to heaven to make someone out there great. And to keep people like bricks.
It is an occultist, anti-God education they were given in Babylon. The clear agenda was, attack their God given identity, change the way they think and talk. Call evil good, good evil. Language really matters to Babylon. We read it, they have to talk like we talk. Don’t call it «The murder of the unborn,» it’s uncomfortable. Call it pro-choice. Think like the Babylonians think, talk like the Babylonians talk. Don’t call it mutilating their body, call it gender affirming health care. Think like the Babylonians think, talk like the Babylonians talk. But, the reason I’m saying this is that anti-God message eventually, and we’re seeing it as Babylon’s seen it, turns anti-human. Babylon would say, «But you’re just not educated». No, I know all about the Babylonian thinking, I’ve just chosen to not think that way and I’ve chosen to not talk that way. They say that this kind of language is hate.
1 Corinthians 13:6 says, «Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth and it always protects». What Babylon calls hate, God calls love. God’s not mad at this world, God loves this world. I’m not mad at you, I’m right there with God. I love every single one of you. I don’t care what your lifestyle is, I dearly love you and love says make whatever choice you want to irregardless of that choice my love is not taken from you. Regardless of that choice God’s love is not taken from you. However, that love also introduces consequence, responsibility, not just personally, socially, culturally. There has to be accountability and responsibility for the language and the thinking. Babylon does not give you a choice, but they say they love you. Bow down to this manmade image. Bow down to this manmade Philosophy. Bow down to this opinion. We have a fiery furnace ready, seven times hotter. Every day it’s being turned up for every one of you that will not bow. Why? Ultimately, Babylonian culture is designed to intimidate, to shut you up. I’ll intimidate you, I’ll intimidate you in order to silence you.
If you don’t bow we threaten, we censor, we cancel, we do whatever we have to do to let you know we are coming for you. Yet, Daniel refused to bow. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow. Not one time, 'cause Daniel is the author of this book. And, it’s not a diary, he’s writing it later in his life at about 80 years old and he’s looking back and never one time in his writings does he say he referred to himself by his Babylonian name. He does not fall prey to the education that the put him into, he never lost his identity. Even the threat of martyrdom could not faze Daniel. So, yes, we live in a fallen world. Yes, the enemy is vile. Yes, the battle is real. Yes, the casualties are tragic. Yes, this is an absolutely real life and death struggle we’re facing. It is not a game. However, what we’re seeing when we face all this is there are a lot of Christians who are like the seed in the soil that has the shallow roots.
And, the heat’s going to come and the persecutions going to come, and sermons like this are gonna come and we’re gonna be like, «That’s just too hot for me. I don’t like that heat. I don’t like what that’s, I like the more compromising flow». We’re not talking about trying to fit in, we’re talking about standing up for our convictions with courage. It does not matter which way the world goes, God’s word does not change. Are you thankful for his word? So, we have to have the mind of Christ, not the mind of Babylon. We have to have the thinking of Christ, not the thinking of Babylon. We have to say, «God, I wanna think how you think. I want my ways to be your ways, which is any thought, any image, any idea that exalts itself above the knowledge of God». The Bible says its our responsibility to identify it and say, «Nah, that’s not how God thinks,» and to bring it down into subjection. To say, «No, God is gonna stay high and lifted up and that worldly stuff is gonna be brought down and will not control my thinking, my feeling, or my life».
We need Bible teaching and kingdom thinking. How did Daniel have such conviction and courage? Well, Daniel gets through all that he was facing, and he discovers that God was in Babylon before he gets there. He’s facing a nightmare, he’s again been mutilated along with all of his embarrassed, humiliated. Lost his family, lost his godly influences, trained in the Babylonian education system. He’s living a nightmare, but God showed up. God gave Daniel a plan and God allowed Daniel to thrive in that kind of a culture. Daniel did not panic because God was with him. God goes where his people go. So, whatever happens in this world, know God goes with us. So, what do you see in Daniel? You see angels constantly showing up, around every turn. Through every empire change you begin to see angelic activity increase.
In the fiery furnace you see the fourth man in the fire. In the lions den, you see angels that give the lions lock jaw. Not one time was Daniel ever corrupted or was he ever compromised because God was with him. Well, Christians say things like, «Well, when you talk like that, and you think like that you cannot win the world». The problem with that is Daniel never bowed down to the Babylonian way of thinking. So, Daniel lived in Babylon, and we see that his convictions were the thing that gave him a testimony. He wasn’t arrogant about his convictions, he was humble. He was heartbroken when he had to tell Nebuchadnezzar about God’s judgment on his sin. He was saddened by it, however, he was not afraid to speak it. Being uncompromising is the only way the world will know you’re real and that your God is real, which is what Babylon is wanting to know right now. Is their God really real, and how will they know? They’ll know it because he’s real in our lives.