WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.800 If you will, please take out your copy of God's Word and turn with me to the book of Daniel. 00:00:06.299 --> 00:00:10.160 It's right after Ezekiel. You'll likely find Ezekiel before you find Daniel. 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:12.839 ! Also, no shame in turning to your table of contents. 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:20.800 While you're getting there, I just want to say two quick things. 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:25.199 First, there's still a couple of these scripture journals out there in the hallway. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:27.179 I think there's three left out there. 00:00:27.179 --> 00:00:30.879 So if you want one, it's just a useful little tool to take notes in. 00:00:31.379 --> 00:00:34.700 But also, if they're gone, you can grab these. Grab them on Amazon. 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:38.280 If you don't have an Amazon Prime account, I do. Come talk to me. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:40.539 I'll be happy to get one for you and shipped free. 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:45.620 Crossway also has put out these really fantastic illuminated versions of these. 00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:48.179 They're much more decorative. I think they're like $2 more. 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:50.679 You get gilding as a result of that. 00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:54.039 Kind of nice, but handy tools for that end. 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:57.859 Also, too, I wanted to point out a typo to you on the bulletin. 00:00:59.420 --> 00:01:04.299 Predominantly to say that Andy Truitt worked really hard on putting these together for us every week. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:07.200 And if there's ever a typo, it's not his fault. It's mine. 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:13.260 So this morning it says we're going to look at Daniel 1, verse 1-25. 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:16.240 It only goes through verse 21. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:19.200 The first chapter of Daniel is 1-21. 00:01:20.299 --> 00:01:26.640 I'm not going to unlock the four verses that are not in your Bible at all this morning. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:30.200 So we'll be looking at Daniel 1, verses 1-21. 00:01:30.900 --> 00:01:33.680 And that was my fault, not Andy's. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:36.159 He does a very good job, and I'm thankful for him. 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:39.959 So Daniel 1, verses 1-21. 00:01:40.819 --> 00:01:44.280 Let me remind you, last week we looked at an overview of the book of Daniel, 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:46.659 kind of quick summary of the text, 00:01:46.819 --> 00:01:50.700 and talked about the three major themes of the book. 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:52.400 And so let me remind you of those, 00:01:52.620 --> 00:01:55.120 and we're going to look at a particular one this morning. 00:01:55.219 --> 00:01:59.739 So the three major themes first are the rise and fall of man. 00:01:59.739 --> 00:02:05.939 So man has glory that comes and goes, successes that come and go. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:11.099 Second theme, the immovable sovereignty of God. 00:02:11.419 --> 00:02:11.500 Right? 00:02:11.979 --> 00:02:15.579 God's power, God's glory never waxes and wanes. 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:18.539 It is always, it is steady and immovable. 00:02:19.620 --> 00:02:27.199 And thirdly, the resilient faith of Daniel and his friends in a hostile culture. 00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:30.139 And that's the one we'll look at particularly today. 00:02:30.139 --> 00:02:34.699 But before we do, we're going to read the entirety of chapter 1 together. 00:02:35.579 --> 00:02:38.619 And before I read it, let me remind you, beloved, this is God's word to us. 00:02:38.679 --> 00:02:40.379 It was written for his glory and our good. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:44.179 And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises 00:02:44.179 --> 00:02:46.119 and obey its commands. 00:02:46.239 --> 00:02:49.539 So Daniel chapter 1, beginning in verse 1. 00:02:49.539 --> 00:03:14.579 Now, Shinar is another word for Babylon. 00:03:14.580 --> 00:03:15.380 It's a region. 00:03:16.760 --> 00:03:21.520 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, 00:03:21.660 --> 00:03:28.180 both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and 00:03:28.180 --> 00:03:35.200 skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding, learning, and competent to stand 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:41.359 in the king's palace and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 00:03:41.619 --> 00:03:44.879 Again, another word for the Babylonians. 00:03:45.079 --> 00:03:49.079 We won't get into all the nuance of that, but when you see Chaldeans, think Babylonians. 00:03:49.659 --> 00:03:50.179 Verse 5. 00:03:50.959 --> 00:03:54.979 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate and of the wine that 00:03:54.979 --> 00:03:55.519 he drank. 00:03:56.039 --> 00:04:00.019 They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time, they were to stand 00:04:00.019 --> 00:04:00.979 before the king. 00:04:00.979 --> 00:04:08.759 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 00:04:09.500 --> 00:04:11.599 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names. 00:04:12.179 --> 00:04:13.879 Daniel he called Belshazzar. 00:04:14.379 --> 00:04:16.199 Hananiah he called Shadrach. 00:04:16.699 --> 00:04:18.620 Mishael he called Meshach. 00:04:19.039 --> 00:04:21.219 And Azariah he called Abednego. 00:04:22.099 --> 00:04:26.800 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:27.599 that he drank. 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:32.140 Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:37.660 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. 00:04:38.200 --> 00:04:43.560 And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord, the king, who assigned your 00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:44.360 food and your drink. 00:04:44.660 --> 00:04:48.379 For why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own 00:04:48.379 --> 00:04:48.939 age? 00:04:49.300 --> 00:04:52.240 So you would endanger my head with the king. 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:57.699 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, 00:04:58.100 --> 00:05:02.100 Mishael, and Azariah, test your servants for ten days. 00:05:02.620 --> 00:05:05.879 Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 00:05:06.379 --> 00:05:09.900 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed 00:05:09.900 --> 00:05:13.540 by you and deal with your servants according to what you see. 00:05:13.540 --> 00:05:17.740 So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. 00:05:18.700 --> 00:05:22.340 At the end of ten days, it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh 00:05:22.340 --> 00:05:24.300 than all the youths who ate the king's food. 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:29.340 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables. 00:05:30.379 --> 00:05:34.100 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. 00:05:34.640 --> 00:05:37.620 And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 00:05:37.620 --> 00:05:42.680 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded they should be brought in, the chief of the 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:44.519 eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 00:05:44.980 --> 00:05:49.600 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:51.519 Mishael, and Azariah. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:53.879 Therefore they stood before the king. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:59.019 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found 00:05:59.019 --> 00:06:03.899 them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. 00:06:03.899 --> 00:06:08.319 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus. 00:06:09.219 --> 00:06:15.179 So, as I said previously, chapter one really draws our attention to that third of those 00:06:15.179 --> 00:06:17.639 three major themes, right? 00:06:17.739 --> 00:06:23.439 The theme of the resilient faith of Daniel and his friends in a hostile culture. 00:06:23.719 --> 00:06:26.560 So we're going to consider that a bit further with the following outline. 00:06:26.739 --> 00:06:29.219 We won't be able to wring everything out of this text this morning. 00:06:29.299 --> 00:06:32.500 There's much more that I would encourage you to study in chapter one. 00:06:32.500 --> 00:06:36.540 But we'll look particularly at this theme in this way. 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:40.300 Number one, the pressure to compromise resilient faith. 00:06:41.180 --> 00:06:44.579 Number two, the preparation for resilient faith. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:48.459 And number three, the power of resilient faith. 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:52.459 So, pressure to compromise, preparation, power. 00:06:52.819 --> 00:06:56.540 Number one, the pressure to compromise resilient faith. 00:06:56.540 --> 00:07:02.040 This would have been an enormous pressure for these young men, right? 00:07:02.400 --> 00:07:05.319 A pressure that none of us have likely felt. 00:07:05.720 --> 00:07:11.439 None that I know of in our congregation have felt this kind of pressure. 00:07:12.180 --> 00:07:15.640 These young men had seen their home city destroyed. 00:07:16.200 --> 00:07:18.920 The Babylonians had a mighty army. 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:23.500 Nobody stood in their face in these days. 00:07:23.500 --> 00:07:33.040 They had been transported roughly 1,700 miles to a foreign land with an entirely different language, culture, food. 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:36.920 This is a strange place for them to be. 00:07:37.420 --> 00:07:43.800 And they were hand-selected to be trained in the ways of Babylon to serve in the king's court. 00:07:44.259 --> 00:07:45.660 They were slaves. 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:50.939 There's much benefit being given to them, but they were not their own any longer. 00:07:50.939 --> 00:07:58.399 These young men were likely between 13 and 16 years old at the time of their capture. 00:07:58.540 --> 00:08:05.339 We can know this because Daniel was still alive 70 years later when the captivity ended. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:12.019 What pressure they must have experienced to conform to this new culture, right? 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:14.879 Young, young men, right? 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:20.699 To have their faith compromised under all this pressure. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:23.899 And they were pressured to change in a number of ways. 00:08:24.300 --> 00:08:27.420 First, they were pressured to change in their thinking. 00:08:28.180 --> 00:08:31.519 Last half of chapter 1, verse 4. 00:08:32.019 --> 00:08:37.539 It says they were to be taught the literature and the language of the Chaldeans. 00:08:37.539 --> 00:08:42.799 So the literature of the day would have had in it the culture, right? 00:08:42.839 --> 00:08:46.419 The way of thinking of the Babylonians. 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:50.919 They would have been instructed about the Babylonian worldview. 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:52.799 Their view of man. 00:08:53.339 --> 00:08:56.199 Their view of God or gods. 00:08:56.719 --> 00:08:57.659 Their view of sin. 00:08:57.779 --> 00:08:59.179 Their view of redemption. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:03.579 All opposed to what these young men had been taught. 00:09:03.839 --> 00:09:06.500 It was in direct opposition to this. 00:09:06.500 --> 00:09:13.120 They were being conditioned to no longer be Jews, but to be Babylonians. 00:09:13.860 --> 00:09:18.220 In the same way, we live in a culture that is trying to change the way that we think. 00:09:19.019 --> 00:09:22.759 And this happens predominantly through our means of entertainment. 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:26.440 It's coming at us all the time. 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:30.700 We are always being discipled. 00:09:30.700 --> 00:09:35.640 At all times, we are being taught a way in which we should think. 00:09:36.180 --> 00:09:37.120 A way in which we should feel. 00:09:37.259 --> 00:09:39.320 A way in which we should go. 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:47.420 And we must be very careful as God's people not to normalize what a fallen world would have us normalize. 00:09:47.980 --> 00:09:55.540 We must labor to have, firstly, and to hold a biblical worldview. 00:09:55.539 --> 00:10:00.539 These young men come to this place with a biblical worldview. 00:10:01.299 --> 00:10:02.000 They have it. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:07.439 And the challenge before them, as they're being trained in the ways of Babylon, is to hold it. 00:10:08.659 --> 00:10:12.500 They're also being pressured to change their worship. 00:10:12.500 --> 00:10:22.519 Consider with me the changing of their names found in verse 7, which was a very common way of declaring ownership over a person. 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:25.919 And therefore, that their destiny has changed. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:31.600 They're no longer moving in the direction they were once moving as men of the royal house of Jerusalem. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:35.580 They now belong to King Nebuchadnezzar. 00:10:35.580 --> 00:10:41.379 Sometimes this is for the positive, but most often it was for the negative. 00:10:42.060 --> 00:10:44.900 Imagine yourself being taken captive, having been given a name. 00:10:44.980 --> 00:10:47.139 And if people say to you, this is no longer your name. 00:10:47.580 --> 00:10:51.420 We don't want you to be tied to and remember the place from which you came. 00:10:51.900 --> 00:10:54.400 We are now going to define who you are. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:11:04.940 So, the names that they're meaning in Hebrew, Daniel, means God is my judge. 00:11:05.580 --> 00:11:14.240 And he was given instead the name Belteshazzar, which means Bel, which was a god of Babylon, will protect me. 00:11:15.520 --> 00:11:21.139 Hananiah, his name means God has been gracious. 00:11:21.940 --> 00:11:32.920 And he's given instead the name Shadrach, which means inspired of Aku, A-K-U, I'm guessing, another Babylonian god. 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:39.479 Mishael, whose name means who is what God is. 00:11:40.620 --> 00:11:46.099 He was instead given the name Mishak, which means belonging to Aku. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:52.179 Azariah, his name in Hebrew means God has helped. 00:11:53.139 --> 00:11:57.719 And he's instead given the name Abednego, which means servant of Nego. 00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:05.740 So, they're changing their names and they're stripping away, they're taking out the name of their god from all of their names. 00:12:06.180 --> 00:12:13.240 It's removed from them so that they would forget from where and from whom they came. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:23.180 The Babylonians wanted these young men to forsake the worship of Yahweh and exchange it for the worship of their pagan gods. 00:12:23.179 --> 00:12:29.079 Now, again, no one has forced a change of name upon any of us. 00:12:29.299 --> 00:12:33.099 Sometimes it's hard for us to find ourselves in texts like this. 00:12:33.239 --> 00:12:36.319 And it can feel like a stretch sometimes to do so. 00:12:36.919 --> 00:12:44.579 But we are constantly being told to forget from where and from whom we come. 00:12:44.580 --> 00:12:53.780 Beloved, if you are in Christ this morning, you are gods and we are citizens of his kingdom. 00:12:54.200 --> 00:12:57.639 We are strangers and aliens in the place in which we live. 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:04.620 And the world all the time wants us to think that we are self-determining, self-created. 00:13:05.340 --> 00:13:07.160 But we have a creator, God. 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:09.640 He has called us to himself. 00:13:10.620 --> 00:13:12.620 We must be reminded of this. 00:13:12.700 --> 00:13:13.820 We must hold this. 00:13:13.820 --> 00:13:18.620 We must not let the pressure of the culture cause us to forget. 00:13:19.460 --> 00:13:23.220 All other allegiances, and not all bad allegiances. 00:13:23.379 --> 00:13:25.379 There are other good allegiances in this world. 00:13:25.379 --> 00:13:32.660 But all other allegiances bow to this allegiance, that we are gods and that we are citizens of his kingdom. 00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:38.880 They were also being pressured to change their way of living. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:47.139 So we read in verse 5 that the king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate and of the wine that he drank. 00:13:47.139 --> 00:13:51.919 The best, the best food was offered to these young men. 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:55.740 It would seem that all of the other men accepted this. 00:13:55.819 --> 00:13:59.000 They were very glad to eat well in the king's court. 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:02.179 Verse 5 also tells us they were to be educated for three years. 00:14:02.579 --> 00:14:05.459 And at the end of that time, they were to stand before the king. 00:14:05.599 --> 00:14:09.639 They were to show their worthiness before the king. 00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:20.080 But verse 8 tells us that Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank. 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:25.860 Therefore, he asked the chief of units to allow him not to defile himself. 00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:32.580 Note that there is suddenly, for Daniel and his friends, a line that must not be crossed. 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:34.960 They have likely been educated. 00:14:35.139 --> 00:14:36.340 They're going to class. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:37.340 They're not skipping class. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:41.300 They're showing up and they're being educated in the language and in the literature. 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:42.800 But there's suddenly now a line. 00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:45.539 This far, but no further. 00:14:46.680 --> 00:14:47.480 But why? 00:14:48.680 --> 00:14:51.639 Daniel was not a vegetarian or a teetotaler. 00:14:52.180 --> 00:14:54.360 That is not the application of this text. 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:56.360 Everybody can breathe a deep sigh of relief. 00:14:56.580 --> 00:14:59.220 I'm not going to tell you to be a vegetarian this morning. 00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:07.220 In Daniel chapter 10, verses 2 and 3, Daniel records that he restrained from meat and wine for a period of mourning, 00:15:07.340 --> 00:15:11.539 which of course suggests that he regularly ate meat and drank wine. 00:15:11.620 --> 00:15:14.139 That's not what's going on here. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:18.460 This was the line for Daniel and his friends for two reasons. 00:15:19.920 --> 00:15:22.320 Some of the meat was unclean. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:23.940 They're not Hebrew people. 00:15:23.940 --> 00:15:24.680 It's another place. 00:15:24.780 --> 00:15:25.800 So things like goat. 00:15:25.920 --> 00:15:31.060 God's law had forbidden them from eating for the sake of their health. 00:15:31.980 --> 00:15:38.940 The Hebrew word for defilement is used most often in the Old Testament in reference to religious defilement. 00:15:39.740 --> 00:15:43.040 So we can see from that word that that's what Daniel is talking about here. 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:48.680 There was something outside of the food laws of Israel that they were being given to eat. 00:15:48.679 --> 00:15:59.419 Secondly, another law forbid this, all of the meat eaten at the king's table would have first been offered to the pagan gods. 00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:10.019 A. Leo Oppenheim in his work, Ancient Mesopotamia, Portrait of a Dead Civilization, tells us that this was the normative practice. 00:16:10.019 --> 00:16:12.019 The king ate the leftovers of the gods. 00:16:12.019 --> 00:16:14.279 The king ate the leftovers of the gods' meal. 00:16:14.819 --> 00:16:17.360 And when I read that this week, I actually found that quite funny. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:19.340 The food was laid before the gods. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:23.379 And then whatever was left over was taken to the king, which would have been all the food. 00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:23.799 00:16:24.220 --> 00:16:27.939 These false gods that have no mouths and cannot eat. 00:16:27.940 --> 00:16:34.760 But nonetheless, this is the order in which the food was prepared and presented. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:38.580 So all of this food would have been offered in that way. 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:42.540 And Daniel and his friends are aware of this, right? 00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:46.020 They did not want to sin against Yahweh. 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:48.180 They were not willing to defile themselves. 00:16:48.500 --> 00:16:52.460 So Daniel resolved and his friends followed suit. 00:16:52.460 --> 00:16:57.680 They drew a clear line in the sand. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:06.700 Now, we no longer have food laws to abide by, but we also will feel pressure to participate in the sin of our culture. 00:17:06.700 --> 00:17:08.980 Because it's easier to do so. 00:17:09.579 --> 00:17:12.039 Because we want to avoid discomfort. 00:17:12.819 --> 00:17:16.840 Because we don't want to be seen as weird or as an outsider. 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:23.459 We have such a light burden when it comes to standing for the truth and obeying God. 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:29.359 Daniel and his friends could have very likely been put to death for the request that was made. 00:17:29.619 --> 00:17:32.079 Daniel records that God showed him favor. 00:17:32.779 --> 00:17:35.459 That the chief eunuch didn't do this thing. 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:37.519 Didn't punish them in this way. 00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:39.939 But rather showed him favor. 00:17:39.940 --> 00:17:51.900 I do at this point just want to note that lately, over this past year, I've heard a number of people, a number of pastors that I respect, 00:17:52.700 --> 00:17:58.039 use the story of Daniel to talk about rebellion, revolt. 00:17:58.779 --> 00:18:02.620 And this is not the picture that I see in this text at all. 00:18:03.580 --> 00:18:04.759 He certainly took a stand. 00:18:04.860 --> 00:18:05.720 There's times to do that. 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:08.559 There's times to resolve not to do something. 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:12.099 But verse 8 says he resolved that he would not defile himself. 00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:14.119 I don't think that he was going to go back on that at all. 00:18:14.179 --> 00:18:15.720 I think the language is strong. 00:18:16.159 --> 00:18:17.240 It means to be strong. 00:18:17.379 --> 00:18:23.139 Daniel's writing this for us to say there's no way, no chance that I would have eaten of this food. 00:18:23.259 --> 00:18:30.899 But what he does next is ask the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:34.619 It goes about it in a peaceable way. 00:18:35.099 --> 00:18:38.139 And praise be to God, God grants him favor in that. 00:18:38.140 --> 00:18:40.080 And what may have happened if God hadn't? 00:18:40.180 --> 00:18:41.920 If the eunuch had said, no, you must eat it? 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:46.460 Well, I think they would have refused and they would have been put to death for taking that stand. 00:18:46.500 --> 00:18:49.060 And it would have been the right thing to do. 00:18:49.320 --> 00:18:54.580 But he's not starting a revolution when he does this. 00:18:55.580 --> 00:19:00.740 Beloved, we must stand firm when pressured to compromise our resilient faith. 00:19:00.740 --> 00:19:08.700 We also must recognize that while we do not anticipate the level of pressure that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah experience, 00:19:08.859 --> 00:19:13.720 I don't think, although maybe we'll be conquered by another people and taken away, 00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:18.880 we will experience pressure of some kind, though, to compromise. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:23.640 We have already experienced pressure to compromise our holiness. 00:19:24.100 --> 00:19:29.940 And we will not remain faithful in that day without preparation. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:35.500 So secondly, let's look at the preparation for resilient faith. 00:19:35.500 --> 00:19:43.559 These young men, remember, these teenagers did not just suddenly become faithful. 00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:47.900 They had faith worked into them. 00:19:49.099 --> 00:19:54.579 First note, the preparation of the word of God by the people of God. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:59.259 And we have to read between the lines a little bit at this point. 00:19:59.339 --> 00:20:02.980 But we must ask the question, how is it that they came knowing God's law? 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:04.480 They weren't going to defile themselves. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:10.140 They knew this God, that they should not betray his word. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:13.299 But how? How did they know this? 00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:23.079 So if Daniel is, let's say, 16 at the time of this event, then that means he would have been born in 622 B.C. 00:20:23.299 --> 00:20:26.259 And we don't know this for sure. We can't for sure. 00:20:26.259 --> 00:20:36.920 But if we're just doing some math and a little bit of conjecture, we know from Daniel 1, verse 1, that it was in the year 606 B.C. 00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:42.440 Because Daniel records for us, in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. 00:20:42.700 --> 00:20:44.759 We know when that came to pass. 00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:46.019 So 606. 00:20:46.339 --> 00:20:51.200 So if we do a little bit of math, we apply, let's just presume for a second that Daniel's 16. 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:56.619 Then the year that Daniel was born, something very significant happened. 00:20:57.079 --> 00:21:00.240 Or around the year that he was born. 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:13.400 The Jewish king, Josiah, young king, 18 at the time, opened the doors of the temple, which had been sealed by his grandfather, Manasseh. 00:21:14.019 --> 00:21:20.880 And the priests went in, and they rediscovered the word of God, and they began teaching the people from it. 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:26.500 This began a great, although short-lived, revival in Israel. 00:21:27.220 --> 00:21:33.040 And Daniel and his friends would have been instructed in the word. 00:21:33.520 --> 00:21:35.240 This is how the word came to them. 00:21:35.320 --> 00:21:40.420 It's how they know what faithfulness is going to look like in Babylon. 00:21:41.540 --> 00:21:46.480 We, too, must know the truth if we're going to have resilient faith. 00:21:46.560 --> 00:21:47.720 We must be prepared in this. 00:21:47.800 --> 00:21:49.700 And we have God's word. 00:21:49.700 --> 00:21:53.960 We don't have to wait for somebody to unseal the temple and rediscover it. 00:21:54.019 --> 00:21:55.340 We have it. 00:21:55.799 --> 00:21:57.180 Each and every one of us has it. 00:21:57.259 --> 00:22:00.940 I bet all of us right now can access multiple sources of it with devices. 00:22:01.380 --> 00:22:03.480 There's a stack of them in the back of the room. 00:22:03.620 --> 00:22:09.920 We have abundant access to God's word and wonderful help in understanding God's word. 00:22:10.500 --> 00:22:17.519 We have no excuse not to be prepared to stand faithfully in days of trial. 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:27.279 The concern, I think, is that as we're being discipled by our culture, we're looking for wisdom in places that wisdom really ought not be found. 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:31.539 Or lesser places that wisdom ought not be found. 00:22:31.539 --> 00:22:41.180 A contemporary pastor named Brett McCracken has recently written a book called The Wisdom Pyramid, which I think is really fantastic. 00:22:41.299 --> 00:22:42.839 And he uses the idea of the food pyramids. 00:22:42.879 --> 00:22:47.599 Everybody get the food pyramid pictured in their minds, which is actually a bad thing. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:50.779 You probably shouldn't eat the way the food pyramid tells you to eat, by the way. 00:22:50.779 --> 00:22:54.099 Like, grains shouldn't be the base of your food pyramid. 00:22:54.759 --> 00:22:55.519 It should be vegetables. 00:22:55.879 --> 00:22:57.660 But not the point. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:22:58.279 I digress. 00:23:00.119 --> 00:23:01.420 But if you can picture that, right? 00:23:01.879 --> 00:23:07.700 The USDA has told us this is how you ought to be prioritizing your eating. 00:23:07.700 --> 00:23:16.039 He takes that idea and he puts at the very top, that little tiny triangle at the very, very top, internet and social media. 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:21.779 A very tiny amount of wisdom should be coming from that source. 00:23:22.120 --> 00:23:28.840 And I fear for us, I feel for God's people, that way too much wisdom is looked for in that place. 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:33.160 And very, very little even can be found there. 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:39.440 He puts just below that, so in a broadening sense, beauty. 00:23:39.740 --> 00:23:47.300 And by that he means art, so music, good writing, poetry, things of that nature. 00:23:48.100 --> 00:23:49.840 He puts below that books. 00:23:50.259 --> 00:23:55.660 Not all books are wise books, but there's much wisdom to be found in books. 00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:59.800 He puts below that, again, it's getting wider and wider, nature. 00:23:59.799 --> 00:24:05.720 What God has revealed to us in his creation about himself. 00:24:06.399 --> 00:24:09.180 He places below that, the church. 00:24:10.059 --> 00:24:17.419 God's people coming together and opening the word together to rightly understand and apply that word. 00:24:18.220 --> 00:24:22.599 And then, if you're tracking with me right now, you'll know at the bottom he puts the Bible itself. 00:24:22.599 --> 00:24:30.919 God's word as the primary, as the weighty source for where our wisdom comes. 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:35.759 We will have to be prepared for the day of trial. 00:24:36.179 --> 00:24:38.079 And we won't see the day of trial coming. 00:24:38.819 --> 00:24:42.079 I highly doubt that Daniel and his friends said, 00:24:42.159 --> 00:24:45.879 We've got to get ready, because the Babylonians are definitely coming. 00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:49.480 They just were about the work of being faithful. 00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:53.880 I also had the preparation of parents. 00:24:54.120 --> 00:24:58.660 Very briefly, we don't know much of anything about these young men's parents. 00:24:58.779 --> 00:25:01.960 They were somehow in the royal house of Israel. 00:25:02.460 --> 00:25:04.839 But we do know that they were God-fearing. 00:25:04.940 --> 00:25:07.920 And we can know this because of their names. 00:25:08.220 --> 00:25:11.819 They were all named these names. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:13.740 That meant, God is my judge. 00:25:13.860 --> 00:25:15.620 God has been gracious. 00:25:16.200 --> 00:25:18.440 Who is what God is? 00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:19.820 That's my favorite one, Mishael. 00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:23.580 And God has helped. 00:25:23.900 --> 00:25:30.160 These were people, young men who grew up in God-fearing homes. 00:25:30.860 --> 00:25:34.259 And then also, the preparation of God. 00:25:34.320 --> 00:25:35.580 Now, all of those are means. 00:25:35.980 --> 00:25:40.440 The word of God, the people of God, these parents, these God-fearing parents. 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:42.640 They're all divine gifts. 00:25:42.740 --> 00:25:46.519 They're all means of God's gracious work in the lives of these men and in ours. 00:25:46.519 --> 00:25:55.920 But Daniel makes a couple of careful observations in this text about God's participation in their circumstances that I would be negligent not to draw your attention to. 00:25:56.160 --> 00:25:58.680 So, chapter 1, verses 9 and 10. 00:25:59.559 --> 00:26:00.519 Daniel records, 00:26:00.519 --> 00:26:07.559 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. 00:26:07.980 --> 00:26:09.299 And the chief of the eunuchs said, 00:26:09.379 --> 00:26:12.339 I fear my lord, the king who assigned your food and your drink. 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:13.220 Why should you see it? 00:26:13.259 --> 00:26:15.379 We are in worship that youths who are your own age. 00:26:15.819 --> 00:26:19.420 So you would endanger my head with the king. 00:26:19.420 --> 00:26:21.340 And then, verse 17. 00:26:21.940 --> 00:26:29.000 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. 00:26:29.560 --> 00:26:33.759 And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 00:26:34.019 --> 00:26:34.100 Right? 00:26:34.580 --> 00:26:40.480 Apart from God's intervening work in our lives, we cannot have resilient faith. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:40.800 Right? 00:26:40.860 --> 00:26:42.300 We need grace. 00:26:42.620 --> 00:26:42.800 Right? 00:26:42.820 --> 00:26:44.940 We need God's divine intervention. 00:26:44.940 --> 00:26:52.519 We will never be able to stand against the onslaught of this world apart from the grace and the mercy of God. 00:26:53.039 --> 00:27:01.840 We are saved or made his people by grace alone, through faith alone, in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. 00:27:02.519 --> 00:27:05.500 Jesus stated in John chapter 15, verse 4 and following, 00:27:05.640 --> 00:27:09.000 Abide in me and I in you. 00:27:09.140 --> 00:27:09.279 Right? 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:14.039 If we believed in Christ, we are both in him and he is in us. 00:27:14.039 --> 00:27:21.759 As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 00:27:22.440 --> 00:27:23.420 I am the vine. 00:27:24.139 --> 00:27:25.099 You are the branches. 00:27:25.799 --> 00:27:29.779 Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.460 For apart from me, you can do nothing. 00:27:34.460 --> 00:27:43.660 So, Daniel and his friends, you would then say, but wait, Jesus hadn't come and lived and died and resurrected in their day. 00:27:44.420 --> 00:27:48.900 Their faith was rooted in the future promise that he would. 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:54.819 Thirdly, let's look at the result or the power of resilient faith. 00:27:54.819 --> 00:28:01.579 First, God blessed Daniel through Daniel's resilient faith. 00:28:01.579 --> 00:28:04.379 As a result of Daniel's faith, God blessed him. 00:28:04.500 --> 00:28:06.539 He blessed him in body. 00:28:06.700 --> 00:28:14.460 Verse 15, at the end of 10 days, it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. 00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:17.759 I think they mean fatter in flesh in a good way. 00:28:17.940 --> 00:28:20.880 I think they had stayed sleek. 00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:23.079 They weren't shrinking away. 00:28:23.180 --> 00:28:24.880 I think is what is meant by this. 00:28:24.940 --> 00:28:30.039 So, he had blessed their health as they were obedient to what he had asked them to do. 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:33.340 I also blessed Daniel in spirit. 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:40.660 Verse 17 says that Daniel has understanding in all visions and dreams. 00:28:40.660 --> 00:28:46.340 He was in sync with God and God was revealing to him what these things meant. 00:28:47.180 --> 00:28:50.220 And he also blessed Daniel in mind. 00:28:50.680 --> 00:29:03.720 Verse 20 says, and in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. 00:29:04.060 --> 00:29:05.680 So, God blessed Daniel. 00:29:05.740 --> 00:29:08.060 Now, he didn't remove him from the slavery. 00:29:08.059 --> 00:29:11.159 Don't forget, even as he's being promoted, he's still a slave. 00:29:11.379 --> 00:29:14.000 He's still being directed by a king. 00:29:14.200 --> 00:29:19.319 But he profited him in that position because of his faith. 00:29:20.460 --> 00:29:24.919 Second, God blessed kings through Daniel's resilient faith. 00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:28.799 The very last verse, verse 21, not verse 25, says, 00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:36.059 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus, who was the conquering Persian king. 00:29:36.059 --> 00:29:42.399 So, Daniel was in this place at the very end, the end of the Babylonian empire. 00:29:43.019 --> 00:29:51.460 So, he, by God's direction, was able to give direction to Nebuchadnezzar II, who we find in this text here. 00:29:52.519 --> 00:29:55.619 Nebuchadnezzar III, that we read about in chapter 4. 00:29:55.839 --> 00:29:57.740 It's something I learned this week. 00:29:57.759 --> 00:29:59.319 I thought it was the same, Nebuchadnezzar. 00:29:59.319 --> 00:30:05.779 It's his son, Belshazzar and Darius the Mede. 00:30:06.139 --> 00:30:11.559 All of these kings' lives are spoken into because of Daniel's resilient faith. 00:30:12.059 --> 00:30:14.700 Resilient faith is powerful. 00:30:15.240 --> 00:30:16.200 It speaks. 00:30:16.399 --> 00:30:19.939 It gives us platform for truth. 00:30:20.139 --> 00:30:21.819 Not always at the pace we'd like for it to. 00:30:22.299 --> 00:30:24.439 Not always in the ways that we would like for it to. 00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:31.440 I see many of you struggle in your families, just wanting to speak the truth, just wanting to help people understand. 00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:35.440 And so many of us need to hear, be patient. 00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:37.720 Stick in. 00:30:38.100 --> 00:30:44.360 Live a life that displays how very glorious your God is. 00:30:44.359 --> 00:30:51.079 Third, God blessed Daniel's three friends through Daniel's resilient faith. 00:30:51.899 --> 00:30:59.079 Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah followed Daniel's lead and did not defile themselves with the king's food. 00:30:59.659 --> 00:31:05.079 As a result, they were also given much insight, wisdom, and power. 00:31:05.439 --> 00:31:10.959 Daniel doesn't record that they also could interpret dreams, but they had a lot of wisdom. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:13.500 We're going to read in chapter 3. 00:31:13.620 --> 00:31:19.100 They've been promoted, and Daniel's nowhere to be found in chapter 3. 00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:23.400 And they do not compromise their faith when asked to bow the knee to a pagan idol. 00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:27.720 They even go and stand before Nebuchadnezzar, and they're thrown into a fiery furnace. 00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:31.960 But they follow Daniel's example. 00:31:33.059 --> 00:31:38.220 Now, a danger that we can always come across as we look at a text like this, like we look at this account of Daniel. 00:31:38.220 --> 00:31:43.120 Never in the book of Daniel do we see great failures of Daniel, although many of the Bible characters we do. 00:31:43.339 --> 00:31:46.759 We're very clearly told not a hero, right? 00:31:46.819 --> 00:31:49.460 Not one to emulate in all ways. 00:31:49.539 --> 00:31:56.339 We don't see that with Daniel, and the temptation can be to say Daniel is the grand example for us to follow. 00:31:56.759 --> 00:31:58.839 He is an example, right? 00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:01.400 This is instructive to us. 00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:04.500 How did Daniel respond in faith? 00:32:04.500 --> 00:32:07.940 But it ought to make us think of a greater example. 00:32:08.220 --> 00:32:11.279 It ought to make us think of the perfect example. 00:32:11.660 --> 00:32:12.619 Daniel is a type. 00:32:13.380 --> 00:32:16.160 Jesus Christ is the anti-type, right? 00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:21.619 Jesus came, and he had resilient faith perfectly, right? 00:32:21.779 --> 00:32:24.319 Surely Daniel failed at some point, right? 00:32:24.380 --> 00:32:25.220 He doesn't record it. 00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:27.059 He wasn't inspired to record it for us. 00:32:27.180 --> 00:32:28.279 But surely he did. 00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:29.319 He was not without fault. 00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:32.500 But Jesus Christ was without fault, right? 00:32:32.500 --> 00:32:34.380 He perfectly kept the law. 00:32:34.380 --> 00:32:38.880 He fulfilled the righteousness that God requires of us. 00:32:39.700 --> 00:32:44.200 He had a culture that was directly opposed to him, right? 00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:50.400 Satan himself took him into the desert and tempted him to compromise that faith. 00:32:50.500 --> 00:32:52.500 And yet he stood. 00:32:53.319 --> 00:32:54.519 Perfectly stood. 00:32:54.519 --> 00:33:02.480 And he received the greatest opposition to his faith all the way to the point of the cross. 00:33:03.539 --> 00:33:09.559 Jesus took on himself our punishment, all of our failing, all of our unfaithfulness. 00:33:09.980 --> 00:33:13.639 He took that punishment, the punishment that was due us. 00:33:14.920 --> 00:33:16.099 He raised three days later. 00:33:16.460 --> 00:33:18.660 He's seated at the right hand of the Father right now. 00:33:18.660 --> 00:33:23.400 He's working this faith in his people. 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:32.660 And now God uses the resilient faith, this divine faith that's given to his people, to accomplish his purpose in the world. 00:33:33.360 --> 00:33:37.820 Namely, his praise amongst all peoples, right? 00:33:37.860 --> 00:33:43.480 He's making himself known through the resilient faith of his people. 00:33:43.480 --> 00:33:49.319 May we be a people who stand faithfully when the world presses us to compromise. 00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:57.940 May we be a people who will not be moved because our God has gone before us and his promises are sure. 00:33:58.380 --> 00:33:59.079 Let's pray together. 00:33:59.079 --> 00:33:59.179 Amen.