Influencers in a Strange Land
Milton J Keys / General Adult
Daniel 2:1–18 NLT
1 One night during the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had such
disturbing dreams that he couldn’t sleep. 2 He called in his magicians,
enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers, and he demanded that they tell
him what he had dreamed. As they stood before the king, 3 he said, “I have
had a dream that deeply troubles me, and I must know what it means.”
4 Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “Long live the king!
Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.”
5 But the king said to the astrologers, “I am serious about this. If you don’t
tell me what my dream was and what it means, you will be torn limb from
limb, and your houses will be turned into heaps of rubble! 6 But if you tell
me what I dreamed and what the dream means, I will give you many
wonderful gifts and honors. Just tell me the dream and what it means!”
7 They said again, “Please, Your Majesty. Tell us the dream, and we will tell
you what it means.”
8 The king replied, “I know what you are doing! You’re stalling for time
because you know I am serious when I say, 9 ‘If you don’t tell me the
dream, you are doomed.’ So you have conspired to tell me lies, hoping I
will change my mind. But tell me the dream, and then I’ll know that you
can tell me what it means.”
10 The astrologers replied to the king, “No one on earth can tell the king
his dream! And no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such
a thing of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer! 11 The king’s demand is
impossible. No one except the gods can tell you your dream, and they do
not live here among people.”
12 The king was furious when he heard this, and he ordered that all the
wise men of Babylon be executed. 13 And because of the king’s decree,
men were sent to find and kill Daniel and his friends.
14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, came to kill them,
Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion. 15 He asked
Arioch, “Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” So Arioch told him
all that had happened. 16 Daniel went at once to see the king and
requested more time to tell the king what the dream meant.
17 Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah what had happened. 18 He urged them to ask the God of heaven to
show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be
executed along with the other wise men of Babylon.
The king wants to kill Daniel, and the first thing Daniel does is go talk to
the king
Why didn't they try to run?
They didn't even do anything. The king was losing his mind. It
was clear he wasn't stable. Why did Daniel try to help the king?
As a matter of fact, if you're going to pray for God to intervene,
wouldn't you pray for God to intervene as you plan your escape?
Daniel, these people are crazy. It's time to go
Don't you feel like that sometimes?
The world is getting crazier and crazier\
And even when you try to help folks, they usually turn on you
And yet our wonderful pastor has encouraged us to engage
If you engage on your job, you might get fired
If you engage on the internet, you're going to get dogpiled with
comments\
If you engage politically, only God knows what will happen
If you engage at school, you'll be ostracized
If you engage with at the dinner table or at Thanksgiving, you
might not talk to a family member
So why do we want to engage in this dark world?
The answer is deceptively simple
Because it's dark
Matthew 5:13–16 NLT
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its
flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled
underfoot as worthless.
14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be
hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a
lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16
In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that
everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
We are called to share God's light in this
dark world
We are called to be God's influence
I want to speak from this subject:
Influencers in a Strange Land
How many of you follow influencers on social media?
If you've ever watched a day in the life video or come with me as I do
whatever video, you've been influenced
Influencers are walking, talking, living advertisements for whatever
brand hires them
I think they are so effective because we get to see products used in
real life by real people
Influencers get people who are watching them to do things like they
do
We need to be the light of the world and influence the world to follow
Jesus, because I believe a brighter world will benefit us all
God will bless us when we we brighten the worldA
Jeremiah 29:4–7 NLT
4 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the
captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: 5 “Build homes, and
plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. 6 Marry and
have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many
grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And work for the peace
and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for
it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”
Jeremiah 29:10–11 NLT
10 This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But
then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I
will bring you home again. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the
Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future
and a hope.
And God says, "I have you in Babylon for a reason. But while you are there,
I want you to pray for their success, because when you're blessed, they're
blessed, and when they're blessed, you're blessed."
God wants to bless the world through
us, but God can't do that unless we
engage
Before some of them even went to Babylon, God gave them an
assignment when they were in Babylon
But we got to be careful
Because there's a difference between engaging to be a blessing and
engaging to be a part’
You need to know who you are an influencer for
Let's look at another example
Psalm 137:1–6 NLT
1 Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept
as we thought of Jerusalem.
2 We put away our harps,
hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.
3 For our captors demanded a song from us.
Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn:
“Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!”
4 But how can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a pagan land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget how to play the harp.
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I fail to remember you,
if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.
I'm confused
I was taught that praise would confuse the enemy
I was taught that the enemy couldn't stand our praise
I thought praise was a weapon
So why are the Babylonians requesting a praise song, and why are the
Israelites saying no?
And somebody might say, "Well, they're influencers, right?”
Let me get this straight. You just took the people who got captive, and
now you want to have devotions?
You just hurt God's people, and now you want to sing God's praises?’
They weren't influenced to let these people go or to treat them right`
Some of us mistake a platform for influence\
You need to understand that they didn't want to have devotion. They
wanted to be entertained
We have to be careful that as we
represent God, we represent godly
things
And the problem is people think just because they're asked to do
Christian things, that the people asking them are Christian
Using Christian language doesn't make you Christian
Inviting somebody to pray over a meeting where you are harming
people is still wrong\
What I am telling you is there are people in this land that are using
Christianity to sanctify their sin
and make their evil deeds holy.
You got to be careful because some people are being influenced \
and others are just being entertained. There's a difference
They couldn't sing the Lord's song because it was the Lord's song.
It wasn't their way to a platform or advancement,
or a way to get a leg up in a strange land.
It's the Lord's song. It belongs to the Lord
Because what happens is we start looking like the land ;instead of the
land looking like us’
And the Lord's song becomes Babylon's song.
Wasn't that the whole point of Babylon taking these royal
hostages?
Babylon was trying to create influencers for itself
And I think sometimes we got to reevaluate who are we influencing for?
Because there are folks that are saying that they are proclaiming
the name of Jesus, and they're only proclaiming the ways of
Babylon
Psalms 137:6
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I don’t make
Jerusalem my greatest joy.
Don't you dare misuse the Lord's song in a strange lan
You see, that's what I liked about Daniel
Daniel neither runs from the challenge, nor does he misuse what God
has given him. Look at what Daniel says
Daniel 3:27–28 NLT
27 Then the high officers, officials, governors, and advisers crowded
around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on
their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t
even smell of smoke!
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in
him. They defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than
serve or worship any god except their own God.
Daniel immediately points to God
Daniel is not trying to get himself promoted. He's trying to introduce
Nebuchadnezzar to his God
Are you an influencer for God in a strange land?
Or have you restrained yourself so you can hide and no one can see your
good works?
Do you influence others around you to do good things?
Do you actions point others to Christ?