DS #11 The Conversion of the King, Continued

God has an encouraging word for you and me to the Bible-based printing of Dr. Don Wilton as we continue to study the book of today. We covered a lot of ground and love the opportunity to come to understand more about who Abraham was, how he was obedient to God.

In particular, walked with God and openly wanted a son because God made a promise to the Bible is filled with promises that are not just made a way to you and me about how he will sustain us about how he will fight for us and how he will never ever leave. I pray that you would know that truth you like to be encouraged and it noted, as we start our broadcast love to pray with you and for you phone numbers 866-899-WORD 866-899-9673 or email us at online@tewonline.org.org.

Now today's message Dr. Don Wilton dream into a place where they might my wife loves to do that you notice this very quickly. The monster he's the one and does good work and shapes. Everything in the format it needs to be. Then there's the wheel means by which the plot is my master which is the actual client. The Bible says God is the monster pasta about lives and he is putting us through the wheel of life we play and we all being shaped into the likeness. God would have us to be not return the clock on the park as we you got a notice on one time only ones, folks, I hate to tell you, but I put a play on the wheel and began to spin and it was just a big old blog when it started on you know I just thought I had the most delicate twinkle fingers in the world. I was wrong. I tell you I bought that thing I sent the greatest feeling in the world. By the way I mean when that car you start your fingers by getting a massage in your hand and and you sit down and boy, that thing starts to spin and you just start out with this big blog and that's what springs you begin. You begin to push in and and little bits of clay begin this document to your fingers and finally you get into some kind of shape, and then you begin.

You begin to scrape the bottom of the clay part and then you bring in the middle silently, then you want to bring up the left side and when you get it into the hands of a monster plot to lock myself. What happened was when I got the big bottom clock. All right, that was no problem. But as soon as I started to do this, the whole talk went flying over and hit me in the face. Bible says that God takes us the matter play. He's the monster pasta and he puts us on the wheel of life and begins to shape us and he takes us through the experience of black we want a spinning wheel if you please, and God the monster plot to resume the process of shaping asked to become a beautiful instrument. These three men had undergone so many of these tests on the potter's wheel chapter 1 verse three gone through the wheel. The taste of separation just remind remind yourself how these men had been taken away from their natural habitation nominated me all asking our young people and making quite a lot of statements to monitor spatially to graduating student you gonna go through the taste of separation going to graduate in my unit walk United get your cap and gown and your certificates and come August. Many of you are going to get in the motorcar or an airplane and you going to go off to college where there would be just a few miles a wizard be many miles and I made to guarantee you something God is going to put you through the taste of separation. Some of you have made wonderful stands for Jesus Christ. We want to see you this time next year.

What you look like we we want to see your faithfulness and love for the Lord and we want to see you serving the Lord. This time next year and the year off. Have you noticed how often it is sometimes when people go through the taste of separation with the top flies often hits them in the face. Something's wrong. Well, these men went through the taste of selection go back in chapter 1 verse three. Following, they were selected they were a cut above, you know, I really believe that these were the original jocks. These were the young man and the young ladies you risen above. These were the ones he was superior in some way or another they had been hand picked and selected they had been heaped upon, with honors, is anything more wonderful in this world and encountering a young person who has excelled valedictorian at school displayed on teams and leadership positions in the youth group has all these accolades and honors and gifts. I haven't been trained one, but they all are solid as a rock. Our youth group spoke with young people work. I'm proud of them. We've got men and women in our church so many who have accomplished God has blessed you. God is poured out. He spread upon you, and you haven't changed you.

It's as though you been selected for some reason you mean picked out giving you been separated and selected you been up all yet you haven't changed has in place just the same precious person you know different. There was the taste of superiority in chapter 2 in verse 49 not anywhere they tested and separated and selected, but they became superior, they were put in charge of everything. Nebuchadnezzar came along to these three men who came from a foreign land and I made them in charge of the provinces of Babylon, but they never turn. There was the taste of success. According to Josephus, and some of the other scribes of those days people who became prime minister's and gobblers of the provinces of Babylon became all millionaires overnight.

One of the things that I love to watch all things like the NBA draw often the NFL could draw often have you ever watch these college kids you play so well. They play well in college and then and then they get drafted and they get all this money and how some of them just change and some of them just don't change. One of the saddest things that you can see in the church is when a man or woman in the church comes from nowhere and they are Christian people. Later in the church and God blesses them just God chooses to bracelet financially in business God blesses the and then all of a sudden one day they just decide they no longer going to do God's way.

So they packed their bags and they begin to do it other places so they not governed by the same rules they they begin to develop a disdain for the authority and the discipline of the church.

They did with strings attached. Suddenly frame of reference changes.

See, these were tasks that these men went through. But they never changed by state the same. There was the taste of temptation chapter 1 verse five the Bible says Daniel resolved not to defile himself with royal food, young people, I can guarantee you, because I really most of us mainly when you get to the college campuses you gonna go through the taste of promise is not something that may happen to have.

It happens to your radio doesn't wait until you get to college, but especially when you are in the taste of separation when you no longer coming home to your father's house when you no longer have the use group around when you no longer have functions to go to where you no longer have the discipline of the church and you're out there on that campus and it's Friday night and I say come on man, you going to go through the taste of temptation. You going to go through the taste of training just a moment and see this deep valleys and high mountaintops sometimes come to our lives would be the blessing of financial blessing. The consistency of God.

The fact that God never changes is what we wrap our heads and hearts know if we began, especially for us is men maybe for use women as well begin to define ourselves about being that Mimi, being that I can children ready to listen to God with anticipation thing Abba father. What can I do today to be more like fulfilling God's stirred your heart with you. Let us pray with you and for phone numbers 866-899-WORD 866-899-9673, and we would love to connect with you rather go keyboard keyboard.

You can do it online@twonline.org that's TE W for The Encouraging Word online.org. Now let's dive back in today's message the conversion of the king.

Our conclusion of this message with Dr. Don Wilton is next chapter 1 verse five.

The Bible says that these men were taken and given the very basic they were trained at the highest labor. I went to the ultimate University they they would take him and me listing the ultimate books of knowledge of the day they were given PhD's in Moscow's degrees and matrices and everything else in between. These men were taken through the taste of knowledge. Now folks here is what's gonna happen. You guys and girls were going off to college, you had to go through the taste of knowledge you've ever suddenly be confronted by older secular education historical fact.

Gonna be confronted by theoretical data you going to be given the wealth of information you going to be presented with professors who are skeptics and those who are great spiritual leaders you going to be subject to every walk of life.

You going to go through the test of trying one of two things is going to happen to you unity.

The going to come out on the other side and say we have no reason to defend also for we know that our God is able to deliver us from even if he doesn't it's not going to like us, or you going to succumb just because the kingdom stands before you. You going to bow down and worship the graven image. These men went through unsurpassed tastes. Perhaps the most significant of all, was the taste of time. Some 20 to 25 years of gone by.

By the time they came in Daniel chapter 3 in verse 19. They had students told they didn't change their minds. They didn't come to church one Sunday morning, and then for the next six weeks. God didn't smell them for dust their faithfulness was absolute it was safe in concrete. It was beyond the break not because of the church not because of the preacher, but because of the God by teasing place.

It was the taste of time. The wonderful thing to see that you see young people, what happens to you and me is the time will reveal your and my true character. Time will provide the evidence of the genuineness of leadership time gives the stamp of approval to all not on the outside but on the inside.

Time is what God gives us has to prove to God that we are being used by all. That's the taste of time. Some of you are about to go through that you may be leaving town for two months, six months, you may be going overseas.

You may be going down the road, but you going to go through these tests. The taste of separation and selection and superiority of success and fame placement and training of time and all in all, the list goes.

Think about Sue taste about childhood. You see when we are born we are like these little lumps of clay on three somewhat pretty cute little lumps of clay. I'm not so sure about that. I can never quite get hold of it.

When babies are first born. It's amazing how you don't tell her grandmother that her mother because every baby that's born the right moment. I goal I mean they'll tell you how cute they are folks when my two boys were born, they will be understood. Marshall. Robbie wanted to put it back later. American are you done this to me and I would just like lumps of clay on God begins the wonderful journey of life just kind of one taste offer another taste of childhood in the taste about teen years, taste of the college days, the taste about business taste about marriage is the taste of family parenting, chairing the taste of hospitality taste about generosity taste about playfulness the taste about the cycle of discipleship. Wonderful tears you know every moment of every day God's putting us to the taste of you know what is looking for he's looking for you and me to stand up and say even within our own fear and trepidation. Lord I don't need to defend you because I know that you will save me.

But even if you do not. I'm not going to train you see folks God takes all of us and he puts us through the space, and when he looks at us. He says to us. I want to see what you might move when all else I want to see what you might move when you're actually thrown into the fiery furnace of life.

These men prospect taste and we would've thought well that's it that's sacred and even though we don't understand it. It's at this point that both of them. So all three of them are sentenced to be by our savings to be. Can you imagine that. I wonder if we were prepared to be sentenced today. You know that all around the world. There are people living in fear of their lives. When I was in China. One of the most staggering things I heard was on a bus in the northern provinces of China was so crowded and we were in an area where they weren't allowed to talk about the gospel mention the gospel anything to do that. And besides that we couldn't speak the language that would've helped. Anyway, and as we are going down this hill in a bus that seated about 30 people. He must be at least 18 they were hanging on the roof off the windows are heard somebody whistling all looked around and I waited someone Wesley Salm about the amazing grace of God. When we got to the end of our journey. The person who is taking care of us found the little old man and we pulled them over in their little sidewalk and some bamboo trees and shrubs in this little man told us his story how that he had just been set free from a prison camp where he'd been for 18 years and he was on his way back to find out if he had a home somewhere we sit in the prison camp. He said they had huge toilets or latrines in the latrines in these prison camps, which were only for Christians but I would big holes in the ground huge holes that could fit like 20 million at the time was horrible as it sounds.

To talk about off the two and three and four and five years of gone by with maiming these camps. When they needed to go to the toilet and the risk of moral I did was they would climb into the spick-and-span day and do whatever they have to do this thing, the flies, the disease was unbelievable this all man in China told me and the other two that were with me that they decided that the only place that they could worship God without interference from the prison guards was to volunteer to clean out those latrines every day and for 18 years. This old man was in charge of the detail so every day he would go and handpick two or three prisoners. They would go and get into those latrines to scrape the walls and do whatever they could and in those latrines. They would sing songs like amazing grace, how sweet the sound, and blessed assurance of Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine in rock of ages clay for me. Let me hide my face in the and he said it was in the pits of those latrines that they knew not of the Chinese communist guards would come so it was, they began to use it as an evangelistic to and so he and his group of witnesses would single out prisoners who didn't know Jesus Christ you talk about a captive audience by proclaiming that the tree and they would witness all day choking with the fumes of the spooky place, not 18 years later, this old man beaten, wounded, and told looked at us with wrinkled eyes and these Chinese dialects send to our interpreter service. I want you to know that we believe that at any moment God could deliver us, but even if he did not. We were never prepared to worship the God's but you these man was sentenced today.

What happened there was the anger of Nebuchadnezzar, he became more angry.

There was the heat of the fire.

It became more intense. There was the strength of the soldiers.

The Bible tells us here in verse 20. Not only did they multiply, and intensify the heat.

Not only did they blazer become more angry, but he called out stronger and more capable maybe. But what happened the silence of the main became overwhelming.

They had gracing but they also had gracing their deliverance. Why, because it God chose to deliver them. He would if he didn't, it wouldn't make any difference anyway. He was still God.

But notice the amazement of the king noticed the completeness of their deliverance as they stepped out from that fly with not even the smell of fire upon the body and notice the impact of the commitment to Christ.

You see beloved friends. God is working amongst us old time he's taking us through the fiery furnaces of life. He's making us and molding us is allowing setbacks to happen, he allows us sometimes to lose our jobs, sometimes to make a lot of money sometimes to get a new motor call sometimes to break down on the interstate with the sometimes to lose our voices sometimes have a beautiful family sometimes to miscarry sometimes to meet sometimes to be down you know something gone. Never change always with all else.

God is awesome be strengthening your heart.

Be of good stand told the race of get ready for sex. Be prepared to stand up Jesus Christ. God will bless you, God will bless her soul.

The pastors directed me do it today. What's holding you back, perhaps, been listening to this radio broadcaster this podcast or listen to us online for quite some time together.

Understanding your head what it is to know about the book of Daniel to know about the conversion of the king and what went on in his life. Perhaps more importantly, do realizing this is not just great teach great. This is a love letter to you using this product using our pastor Dr. Don Wilton to let you plan ready to take 866899 word that's our phone number 866899673 questions about what it is to give.

Let's start with these moments of God has spoken to. I love to help you pray with me and escape the right face. If you pray that Craig, we'd love to get alongside literature help you as you begin to grow and I want you to know that I love you very very much by the way, don't leave, don't go away. What ever you do is I'll be right back in the minutes of life changes and losses. We each need to Frank confident somebody will come alongside us and share every step of our journey. Someone who will listen to us advocate for rest and comfort someone we contrast this month for your get that's the part two The Encouraging Word. We will send you the inspiring book by Graham in Jesus and my personal story including her diagnosis understanding of the training only, nine, you are God's truth around the world. Times gone for today but I hope you join us again tomorrow.diving back into God's word about the sovereignty of God and the sin of us. It's an exciting message and that's on the way. At the same time tomorrow between now and then but they connected on our website@twonline.org. This phone number 866-899-9673