Daniel - an Excellent Spirit

[0:00] Daniel chapter 6. Daniel chapter 6. We read of a man called Daniel in the book of Daniel.! We are talking about the man Daniel and not so much the book Daniel. But we are going! Daniel the book. Daniel 6 chapter 6. And we are going to start from verse 3. Daniel 6 chapter 6. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom that they could find no occasion nor fault. For as much as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Now the book of Daniel has been called a manual of how to act and have an impact for God in a hostile and godless culture.

[1:14] Of Daniel it says he had an excellent spirit. An excellent spirit was in him. Daniel served God with excellence. He was faithful. He was faithful. Excellence marked him. And people recognised this in Daniel. Even his enemies. Daniel was chosen. Daniel was chosen. We just read there Daniel 6, 3-5.

[1:38] He was preferred above the presidents and princes. An excellent spirit was in him. Notice Daniel was chosen. Chosen, chosen, chosen, chosen, chosen. He was made an officer in Babylon by four kings.

[1:55] By Nebuchadnezzar after interpreting his dream. By Belshazzar after reading the original handwriting on the wall. By Darius the made here because Daniel had an excellent spirit. And by Cyrus the Persian.

[2:08] Why was he chosen? It was his spirit. His character. His conduct. His consistency. He maintained his integrity.

[2:18] In a secular setting. In a secular society. A secular workplace. Despite the attacks of his enemies. Despite being a Jew among the Gentiles. Living in an alien land. A believer amongst unbelievers.

[2:33] What a testimony. He held steady. He held his cause. He did not conform to the culture. It's been truly said that men of principle are also men of power.

[2:45] Such was Daniel. Excellence marked him. How he handled himself and how he treated others too. Do you have that kind of excellent spirit within you?

[2:56] Are you striving for that? I'm talking about excellence this morning. Now Julie played a role at one time in a women's fellowship where the motto of this women's fellowship was Functioning in Excellence.

[3:12] And it was a hallmark of their fellowship. Whenever these women get together there was an excellence about that high standard about what they did. The dress of the women. The catering. The tablecloths. The settings. The napkins. The greeting.

[3:26] The quality was there throughout the whole time together. And Julie and I kind of make this comment to each other about how things go on. Was that functioning in excellence?

[3:37] And we'd like to see more of that, wouldn't we? What is excellence? What is it? Biblical excellence. It's about being your best with what God has given you.

[3:47] The excellence that he has given you gifts and abilities to be your best for the glory of God. That's what it's about. And Daniel 6.4 says that Daniel was faithful.

[4:01] Excellence is about your everyday faithfulness. It's about an abounding, an increase. God wants us to excel. To excel it's been defined as to be outstandingly good or proficient.

[4:13] To do well or better than before. Paul prays for the Colossians. Colossians 1.10 That ye might be walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work.

[4:27] And increasing in the knowledge of God. That's Colossians 1.10 Walk worthy, fruitful, increasing. Do we walk in such a manner, a manner worthy of the Lord?

[4:40] What is our standard? Our standard should be Christ, shouldn't it? Christ is our standard. How we striving for excellence in our way of life, our attitude, our living, our spiritual life, our life goals.

[4:56] Because 100 years from now, it's the spiritual considerations that will be what will have mattered. And at the start of the book of Daniel, we see King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.

[5:09] He sets about finding some people to serve. And he's looking for people with certain qualities. The king wanted man with good character to enter his service.

[5:22] And he chose Daniel and Daniel's friends because of these excellent qualities. Daniel's excellent spirit meant that he was a good servant. He was faithful. And our service reflects on our God.

[5:35] We want to bring him glory. And notice here we see Daniel 1.4 Children in whom there was no blemish, but well favoured and skilful in all wisdom.

[5:47] And cunning in knowledge and understanding science. And such as had ability to stand in the king's palace. Whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

[6:01] In Daniel it says there there was no blemish. Now of course we know all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We've got blemishes, we've got faults.

[6:13] Bring them to Christ. Bring them to the cross. He can take the mark of sin. He can take our fault, our failing, our stain. And he can erase that blemish by the blood of Jesus today.

[6:26] As we've heard expressed so well before. And Daniel had no blemish. He was saved. He was sanctified. He was blameless it says of him. And it says also of Daniel and his friends as they were selected that he was well favoured.

[6:41] Daniel was well favoured. So you could think how that could mean how we can influence others. There's something about us. We can spread the influence for Christ. We can make an impact on our world.

[6:52] We can encourage and lift people and exhort others by our words. Words can kill or words can heal. And we need to have an excellent spirit to build up, not to break down.

[7:04] To inspire, to lift up, not to stomp on. And God wants us to be well favoured. Such that we have an influence. We can lift others to know Christ, to be saved.

[7:15] And it says that Daniel and his friends, they were skilful in all wisdom and cunning and knowledge and understanding. How do we get knowledge? How do we get understanding? We develop it.

[7:27] We learn. And how do we learn? By being teachable. Some people just don't have that teachability. Daniel had that. He had an ability and he was able to learn.

[7:38] And he was able to gain skill. He was able to grow wiser. To learn. To gain wisdom. Because he was teachable. And we should all have that heart.

[7:50] To apply ourselves to learn. And Daniel, it says, his excellent spirit was such that he had ability to stand in the king's palace.

[8:03] Notice God gave him, it says, ability. Think of it today for you, for yourself. You have been given God-given ability.

[8:14] Every one of you. God enables everyone with particular skills and abilities. Put yourself at God's disposal. At his service. God gives us ability such that we can serve.

[8:28] How will we serve? Wholeheartedly. Let it be wholehearted. Not half-hearted. That was the big failing of the Laodiceans. God was disgusted with that. We see in Revelation 3.15.

[8:40] Let's not settle for second rate. Let's be aspiring to excellence. Excellence. Daniel's heart was settled. He was grounded. He was a student of the word.

[8:50] He was such that he had capacity for the learning of the Babylonian university of sorts. The three years of training that he would enter. But learning more so the ways of God.

[9:02] The things of God. The word of God. We see in Daniel, he says, it is written. Later in the book. So he had a love for the word. He cared about what is written. It is written.

[9:13] That's what counts the scriptures. And he was moved from scriptural convictions. Verse 8 of Daniel 1. It says that Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.

[9:24] The occasion came where they were offered some of the king's food. And Daniel honoured the Lord here. He wanted to set a high standard. Take heed to yourself.

[9:35] Purpose in your heart. How are you going to serve God? Purpose in your heart. You're not going to defile yourself. Be your best. Give your heart and your soul. Your time.

[9:46] Your treasures. Your talents. Daniel's excellent spirit was such that he had the ability, as we read, to stand in the king's palace.

[9:58] Not only was he wise, but he had good manners and protocol. Think of what would it be to serve for the king? What would it be to stand in the king's palace?

[10:09] Time came that Daniel did. He stood in the king's palace, right in the king's throne room. And he was given a place of honour. Someone has said excellence is taking every assignment seriously for the glory of God.

[10:22] You know, sometimes we can settle for kind of half measures. Aim for excellence. Aim to take every assignment seriously for the glory of God.

[10:34] Paul says that we should learn how we ought to walk and to please God. Daniel was such a man. He aimed to please God. He wanted God to be pleased with him. He was an excellent man, an excellent spirit, a spiritual man.

[10:50] Daniel prayed, didn't he? That's one of the main things we can recollect of Daniel. That he prayed. He prayed on, despite the threat of the lion's den. You might think, what's it going to stop you praying?

[11:05] Daniel wasn't even stopped by the threat of the lion's den. And we noticed Daniel was wise too in his choice of friends. Daniel chose friends who had a likewise devotion to the Lord.

[11:18] And it's true that, as it's been said, you get like the company you keep. People you hang around with are those that you'll become like. So choose your friends carefully because they'll influence you.

[11:31] Choose your companions carefully. Paul urges us to aim to excel still more and more. Daniel had an ability such that he was recognised by king after king to stand in the king's palace.

[11:44] In other words, to serve. In Proverbs 22, 29, it tells us what kind of man will stand before the king. Proverbs 22, verse 29.

[11:56] Who will work for the king? Stand for them. In other words, stand before them. Stand serving them. Yes, sir, what would you like me to do? Stand before the king. Attend upon the king.

[12:07] Who shall stand before the king? The diligent man. A man diligent. The one who will excel in his work. That's the kind of man you search for when you want to get a job done.

[12:19] You look for a diligent man. Amen. You call the diligent man because you can know that he's going to get the job done and done well. We need to have a heart like that, don't we?

[12:30] For Christ. Look at Colossians. We see chapter 3. It tells us servants. It says, obey. In all things your masters according to the flesh. Not with eye service.

[12:41] Not just when they're looking up over your shoulder. As men pleases. But with singleness of heart. Fearing God. And whatsoever you do. Whatsoever you do.

[12:52] It says, do it heartily. As to the Lord and not unto men. When you're in the work setting. In the workplace. Some would slack off. Or kind of.

[13:04] You know. Gludge. When the boss isn't watching. But we serve the Lord. And he's watching us all the time. Don't we? And we want to serve the Lord heartily. And serve.

[13:15] Even in us. In our responsibilities. Generally. We want to serve well. Serve heartily. As to the Lord.

[13:26] Not to men. Really our ultimate boss is not the supervisor. It's Christ. We want to be a testimony for him. And to his glory. And it says there'll be a reward. As you serve the Lord Christ.

[13:38] So do what you do. As unto the Lord. And be diligent. Be a diligent man. Be a diligent woman. Surely he will reward you for that. It's been said.

[13:49] That good enough. Never is. Some people say. Oh. It's good enough. No. If you've got that heart. That attitude. Oh. She'll be right. That's near enough.

[13:59] Good enough. No. It's not good enough. We want to be wholehearted. We want to be diligent. We want to do our very best. And when Samuel called the people of God together. In 1 Samuel 12.

[14:10] He says. Fear the Lord. Serve him. In truth. With all your heart. Let's have that wholeheartedness. That wholeheartedness. That when we serve. We serve well. We serve wholeheartedly.

[14:22] We serve fully. Excellence. It should drive us. It should inspire us. To have that attitude of service to God.

[14:34] To have that attitude. To serve. To humble ourselves under his mighty hand. And he will reward. He will exalt. He will recognise. An excellent spirit.

[14:45] Let's pray for that. Let's seek after that. Such that we'll be willing to serve God. In humility. An excellent spirit obeys the leading of the Holy Spirit. And our service is our gift unto him.

[14:58] It's a gift. Our service is our gift. And we're set apart. It says. For royal service. For the service of the king. Daniel and his friends were chosen.

[15:09] Because they had an ability. To stand before the king. In the very palace. Daniel was recognised as such a man. That's excellence isn't it? Imagine.

[15:20] Imagine to be so esteemed. That you could be with royalty. To be in the royal palace. Daniel was such. As we said four times.

[15:31] Four different kings. Imagine. Now Julie and I. On this pretty much the one trip of a lifetime. Julie said it's the only holiday we've had in 40 years. But we did go to England one time.

[15:42] And we did go to London. And we like all the tourists go to London. And they look through the palace gates. And they kind of peer over through the bars. And they see the guards marching up and down.

[15:54] With their big fancy hats on. And you know. The marching of the guard. And all the pageantry of that. And we thought oh we can see it from a distance.

[16:04] And then we kept walking past the gates. And then there was this side gate. And I know I've told this story before here. But we saw the side gate. And this woman here. She was immaculately dressed.

[16:16] And she said. Would you like to come in? Would you like to come in to the palace? And we were kind of. Oh this must be a bit of a joke or something. But no. She was for real. And this woman welcomed us in.

[16:28] Mind you we had to pay. But it wasn't that much really in the scheme of things. But we were welcomed in to the very halls of Buckingham Palace. And what an amazing sight it was. As we entered in.

[16:40] And I was wearing this kind of scruffy parka. And I had jeans on at the time. I wasn't appropriately dressed. If Queen Elizabeth had been in the corridors of the palace at the time.

[16:51] But what a blessing it was to enter into the royal palace. And to see. And the servants there were immaculate. The women with their dresses. And the men with their jackets.

[17:04] And just everything was just speak and span. And the presentation. The manners. The welcome. The greeting. The atmosphere. That pervaded the place. This was a palace.

[17:15] This was a palace of the king. Of the queen. Imagine what it would be. To serve in the king's palace. Our king. The king. Of kings. To serve the king of kings.

[17:26] And we have that great privilege. Don't we? Amen. Imagine what high expectations there would be. Of our manner. Of our conduct. Of the human relations.

[17:39] Of appropriate responsiveness. And being at the beck and call. You know. The bell rings. And we race to the king. What would you like master?

[17:50] This is a position of high trust. Daniel knew what it was to stand before the king. He knew what it was to talk. When to talk. And when to listen. He knew when to move.

[18:01] When to be still. And he knew when to exhibit the right manners at the king's table. How to handle himself in every situation. That could come across. That he had to be the king's delegate.

[18:12] The king's officer. To know when to act. To speak. As he should speak. To keep himself under complete control. And there's one pastor that commented. Nearly every time.

[18:23] There's been a problem in the church. It's from people who don't know how to control themselves. They just don't know how to control themselves. And then. All manner of havoc happens. And we should have a heart.

[18:34] To be a servant of the king. To be wise. And knowledgeable. And appropriate. Daniel was described as such a man. He had an excellent spirit. It says. For as much as an excellent spirit.

[18:46] An excellent spirit. And knowledge. And understanding. And interpreting of dreams. And showing of hard sentences. Dissolving of doubts. Found in the same Daniel.

[18:57] Whom the king. Named Belthasar. Now let Daniel be called. And he will show the interpretation. So this was a later time. Where again. He's not just called in it.

[19:08] Having an excellent spirit one time. He's recognised again. He's got an excellent spirit. This Daniel. He was recognised for his spiritual insight. He had gifts. He had knowledge and understanding.

[19:19] Of a spiritual realm. Of a spiritual dimension. He had a spiritual sensitivity. He had a heart that was sensitive to God. And the spirit of God. And God led Daniel.

[19:29] Even as he was captured. We see the story of Daniel. He was really captured here. He was in a strange land. It was a time of adversity. But it was all part of God's plan.

[19:41] Sometimes we can. Not always be alert to that. That even the trials and testings. The hardness. The hardship. The adversity. Can be all part of God's plan.

[19:53] To get us where he wants us to be. Daniel remained faithful. And even despite the persecution. Such that he ended up in the lion's den. Daniel then returned eventually to the palace of the king.

[20:05] And he became second in command of the Persian Empire. Daniel's excellent spirit shone through. And it will do for you. Amen. Amen. You might face such times of testing.

[20:17] Be uncompromising like Daniel was. With his worship. Look at Daniel. He was a man of prayer. He maintained his duty. His prayer. To God. All the time.

[20:29] Didn't matter what the Lord said. He wanted to obey the law of God. Our Lord deserves the very best from us. And we need to seek after excellence in our worship.

[20:42] In Hebrews 13 verse 15. It tells us that we offer the sacrifice of praise to God. Continually. The fruit of our lips. Giving thanks to his name. Amen. Is our worship excellent?

[20:59] That God would be pleased with it. Not just some kind of performance. Or feel good. For ourselves. But is it honouring to him?

[21:11] That's what matters. Daniel was a man of prayer. He had the habit of prayer. Regular prayer. Fervent prayer. Faithful prayer. And his enemies even used his praying against him.

[21:22] As we know. The story goes. In channel 6 verse 10. That he went to his chamber. Or as he was used to. He knelt upon his knees. Three times a day. He prayed as he was used to. He gave thanks as he was used to.

[21:35] Nothing would stop Daniel's praying. Daniel's faith was firm. Even when the king's decree effectively made prayer. Illegal. And he showed his dependency upon God.

[21:47] We pray because we depend upon our Lord. Don't we? We trust him. We call upon him. As Daniel did. As it says of Daniel. That he set his face to seek the Lord.

[21:57] By prayer. By supplication. He brought himself before the Lord with fasting. He prayed unto the Lord. He prayed. He made confession. And notice the spirit of Daniel's praying.

[22:10] We see later in the book. He says. Oh Lord hear. Oh forgive. Oh Lord. Hearken. Defer not for thine own sake. Oh my God. He's praying for his city.

[22:23] He's praying for his people. The people called by God's name. Daniel did not compromise. He prayed. And he kept on praying. That's excellent. Isn't it? Isn't it?

[22:34] That's an excellent spirit. That you pray. Daniel kept praying. Kept on praying. As he normally did. Like Daniel. Let's be. Prayerful.

[22:47] Bold. Courageous. Despite the threat. Offer him our best. Not something blemished. But the best. And even if it leads to the lion's den. The pursuit of excellence.

[22:59] That's what. People call. That kind of aspirational thing. Even in the world. But what should our pursuit be? Christ. Isn't it? Follow after him.

[23:12] Paul tells Timothy. Flee these things. The bad stuff. Follow after. Pursue after righteousness. Godliness. Faith. Love. Patience. Meekness.

[23:22] He says. Chase that. Pursue that. Let that be our pursuit for excellence. To be like Christ. That his name be lifted up. That in all things. What we do. We give thanks to him.

[23:32] We do all in the name of Jesus. Our Lord. And our excellence is really to be like Christ. Just to be like him. To know. And to be as he would call us to be.

[23:46] And as a church. Can we have such an excellent service. An excellence in how we worship. Paul prays for the Thessalonians.

[23:58] That we would increase more and more. He says. Don't just stay there. Ramp it up. He says. Increase. Abound. He says. Excel. More and more. May we have that heart.

[24:08] To excel. To excel. To abound. To increase. In Christian character. In our love for one another. As he tells the Philippians. He says. That your love may abound. He says.

[24:19] Choose what is excellent. Choose what is best. He talks about being filled with the fruits. Of righteousness.

[24:31] When we excel. There's going to be fruit. There'll be a result. There'll be grace. He tells the Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians 8 verse 7. And he prays that they may abound.

[24:41] In other words. Excel. Let's abound. Let's be an abounding people. Let's excel. Let's aspire. To faith. To utterance. To knowledge. To diligence. Love.

[24:53] Grace. Back to Daniel. Daniel was a separated man. He was set apart. He would not defile himself. Now some might have accommodated it.

[25:05] But he wouldn't. He didn't want to make. He didn't want to get a step wrong. The royal food and wine. Was dedicated. To the Babylonian false gods.

[25:15] And so Daniel and his friends. Chose not. The royal food and wine. He determined to live a separated life. And. Likewise for us. Let's.

[25:28] Dedicate. Ourselves. To him. The Thessalonians. Paul told to excel. To abound. To abound. In love. God wants us to abound.

[25:40] Doesn't he? Let's not settle for. Kind of. Partial. Let's be abounding. Daniel was such. He had an excellent spirit.

[25:51] To wrap it all up here. Now. Let's make it personal. We've been talking about Daniel. What about. The person sat in your chair.

[26:02] Right now. Let's make it personal. How do we assess ourselves? There was a story told about. A Navy. Admiral.

[26:12] In the US Navy. Called Admiral Rickover. And. He would interview people. And he really put the. The. The thumb screws on them. He'd really kind of put them in the hot seat.

[26:24] To see how they'd act under stress. And. One of his interview methods. Was cutting off the front two. Legs of the chair. An inch or two shorter. Just so that. The.

[26:35] The candidate. That was getting interviewed. Would. Have to really be about their senses. And. And one time. President Carter. Was interviewed by this man. Rickover. And.

[26:45] Jimmy Carter. Used to be in the Navy Academy. And he. He did pretty well. He was one of the high flyers. In his. Training. And. Rickover. Asked him.

[26:57] How. How did you go. At the Navy Academy. And. Carter said. Sir. I stood 59th. In a class of 820. Pretty good isn't it.

[27:08] 59 out of 820. And it says. Carter telling the story. He said. He sat back on his. Chair waiting for the congratulations. And. Instead came the question. Did you.

[27:19] Do. Your best. And. And Carter said. He started to say. Hey. Yeah. Yes sir. But then he remembered. Who this was.

[27:30] And he gulped. And he admitted. No sir. I didn't always do my best. And the. Navy. Admon. Looked at him.

[27:41] For a long time. And asked. One final question. Which. Carter says. I've never been able to forget. Or to answer. He said. Why not. Did you do your best.

[27:53] No sir. I didn't always do my best. Why not. And. When we think about excellence. When we think about the excellent spirit of Daniel. He did his best.

[28:06] He gave his best. And. If we are missing. This excellence. Excellence. Why not. What's stopping us. As godly men and women. Let's seek.

[28:17] To be. To do our best. To choose what is best. It's God's will. Our Lord. Calls us to love. Love the Lord our God.

[28:27] With all our heart. All our soul. All our mind. All our strength. Excellence. It's about whole heartedness. In Ecclesiastes. The writer says.

[28:40] Whatever your hand finds to do. Do it with. Thy mind. Whatever we do. Let's do it well. Let's do the very best. Our very best. Because it reflects on the honour.

[28:51] Of our king. Of our master. Do our very best. And Paul says that. I strive according to his working. Which works in me my to.

[29:02] What is the motivator? The glory of God. Paul says. Do all things. To the glory of God. It's the chief purpose of our life. Is to do all things. To his glory.

[29:13] You know. As has been wisely said. Man's chief end. Is to glorify God. And to enjoy him forever. Nothing less than the glory of God. Should be the motive. Shouldn't it?

[29:24] To glorify our loving. Precious saviour. To bring honour to his name. One day. We'll stand before the judgment seat of Christ. You know. Friends. It says.

[29:34] All. That's. All. A. L. L. Means all. That means you. If you're a Christian here. If you're not a Christian. You'll go to the other judgment.

[29:47] And then to hell. Yeah. But you that are saved. That are Christians here this morning. It's going to be a judgment. Of your works. According to what you've done. Friends.

[29:57] And I urge you. I'm not saying that flippantly. If you are not saved this morning. Please. I. Beseech you. Get right with God. Yeah. I don't want to see anyone go to that other judgment.

[30:10] Where it's called the great white throne judgment. Where. That. Everyone is guilty. There's no. Nobody gets a. A. A. A. Pardon. At that judgment.

[30:21] See. And. I urge you. To trust Christ. He's paid. Christ. He's paid. Your debt. He's. Shared. His blood.

[30:32] Such that you can have life. Everlasting. Trust him now. And you that are saved. We know that judgment for us. Will not be of our. Of our salvation. Because our soul is saved.

[30:45] But it will be of our works. Whether. Whether we've done that which is right. Or not. Whether we've served. How we've served. And for some. They'll be a. Just a pile of ashes.

[30:56] Wood, hay and stubble. Just. Blow it away. It's burnt. But then for some. They'll be. Gold. Silver. Precious stones. Let's see.

[31:08] God helping us. That we'll have a. Whole heart in this. Let's not neglect the opportunities. And not. Let's not lose the rewards. Because at the judgment seat of Christ.

[31:19] You'll receive. You'll receive. Rewards. For some. There'll be some. A shame. There'll be some. There'll be a loss. Of. Of reward. But yet you'll be saved.

[31:30] So as by fire. But. What a shame it would be. That. We'll have a. We'll have regret. To feel regret. Let's get it right now.

[31:42] Let's not. Let's not face regret. Let's. Let's have reward. Amen. And so. As we close. Take the opportunities. You've got rewards in store.

[31:54] Let's. Show faithfulness. As Daniel did. He was faithful. Let's. They wanted to find a fault. And they could only find this man's faithful. And you can see.

[32:05] Imagine the modern media today. They. They pick on someone. Just because they go on holiday. And. And they. They. Damn him for that. And yet. But Daniel. They could find anything.

[32:16] To. To catch this guy. They could find anything. He was squeaky clean. Because he. Was saved. He was trusting Christ. And he was. Excellent.

[32:29] In his spirit. And friends. What. What a great testimony. That can be. That's. That can be your testimony. That your life. Can bring glory to God. That you can have a biblical excellence. In all your responsibilities.

[32:41] Of life. That you'll be an excellent husband. That you'll be an excellent father. That you'll be an excellent wife. You'll be an excellent daughter. You'll be an excellent mother.

[32:52] That we can be an excellent member. Of the body of Christ. That we'll be an excellent worker. Such that our people will say. Well. He. Or she. Has an excellent spirit. How do we get there?

[33:04] Are we giving our best? If not. Why not? Why not? Let go of what's unnecessary. Let go of every weight.

[33:15] Of the things that ensnare. That hold you down. Let go of that which gets in your way. Of living for Christ. With a whole heartiness of soul. And let's be such.

[33:27] That it'll be said. Truly of us. That we'll be steadfast. Unmovable. Always abounding. In other words. Excelling. Doing over and above.

[33:37] Let's be such. That we're an abounding. Church. In the work of the Lord. For as much as you know. Your labour. Is not in vain. In the Lord. Daniel it was said. An excellent spirit.

[33:49] Was in him. Let's pray. God. God. We thank you for Daniel. Testimony of this man. Lord. We know he's just a man. Subject to. Like passions.

[34:00] Lord. He's just a human. Frail vessel. And yet. You wonderfully. Filled him. Lord. Help us. Likewise. To have that same spirit. Of God. The spirit of God.

[34:10] The excellent spirit. That would fill our hearts. And soul. That we'd be wholehearted. In our love. Our devotion. That we'd be such. As we can stand. In the king's palace. That we can be such.

[34:21] That there'll be a testimony. That will ring true. That we can have a faithfulness. In prayer. Such that we'll pray. And keep on praying. Even if it means the lion's den. That you can see us through.

[34:33] Whatever life throws at us. Lord. That because we have. Your spirit in us. Lord. If you pray for any him present. That have yet to trust him. That they can know.

[34:44] Beyond the shadow of a down. That they've laid their heart. At your disposal. They've said. Lord. Take me. Receive. This poor.

[34:56] Soul. Lord. Let it be. That we can trust you. With our life. We can trust you. To save. That we trust you. You died in our place. You've risen again. And you're our saviour.

[35:08] Our master. Our Lord. And Lord. We want to render. Excellent service. Unto you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Bless God. Amen.

[35:18] Amen.