We're going to begin our worship now, singing first of all in Psalm 106, in the Scottish
Psalter, Psalm 106, that's on page 378.
Singing verses 1 to 5, give praise and thanks unto the Lord, for bountiful is He, His tender
mercy doth endure unto eternity. God's mighty works who can express or show forth all His
praise. Blessed are they that judgment keep and justly do always. Psalm 106, verses 1
to 5, if you're able to stand, please stand. We'll stand to sing.
Give praise and thanks unto the Lord, for bountiful is He, their tender mercy doth endure.
And to eternity. God's mighty works who can express or show forth all His praise.
Blessed are they that judgment keep and justly do always.
Remember me, Lord, with the love which thou do not bear.
God's mighty gloriousaja das Heim hat alive.
You are the only one who's ق добnahme an devotion which thou do not bear but earn.
That thy right chosen's good mercy, and in their joy rejoice,
and may with thy inheritance triumph with cheerful voice.
Let's now join together in prayer. We're praying at this time for the Sunday School and for the Young Folks'
meeting, so we'll pray especially for them at this time.
Lord, our gracious God, we give thanks that we are able to come together of all ages to worship you today,
and we give thanks for the way that your interest in us is not confined to any particular age group,
but we give thanks, O Lord, for your grace that is extended to us all.
We thank you today for the young people and for the children that belong to us as a congregation,
and we thank you, O Lord, for the way that they give us such delight
in seeing them come to learn the things of God, coming to join together in public worship,
and coming to understand the importance as they grow up of those things that are foundational to life
from the teaching of your Word.
Bless them, we pray today, and give them as they learn more of you,
and as they learn more of your Word and its meaning and its significance.
Lord, help them today to increase in understanding and in the application of this to their lives.
Bless them in their homes, their parents and families.
We ask that you bless them in whatever else they do in life,
and as they grow up especially, we pray, they will grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Receive our prayers for them, we pray, and help us to be a means of encouragement and help to them,
and bless those who give up their time today to teach them or to look after them
in creche or tweenies and in the Sunday school and Bible class.
We thank you, Lord, for their dedication and for their commitment to these wonderful tasks
of teaching our young people.
Receive our thanks, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
Well, you'll notice if you go into supermarkets these days that there's usually or almost always now
a section of free from food.
Anybody notice that?
Any of the children here?
Stick your hand up if you noticed free from food,
or if you know anything about why free from food is now important for some people.
Some people do.
Okay, well, there's always a section now on free from food.
Why is it necessary to have a section there on free from food?
What is free from food, and why is it important to some people?
Well, it's important because some people have a really bad reaction to certain things you find in some foods.
For example, in ordinary bread that's not free from, it contains gluten.
And some people have a bad reaction to gluten and can become very ill if they eat something with gluten in it.
The same with dairy products.
Those who have problems with dairy products can't eat dairy products because, again, they have a bad reaction to it.
So nowadays, you get food that's free from those types of things.
Nuts is another thing that people react badly to.
Some people do.
Don't panic if you know that there are certain things that people react to in that way.
This is really something that affects only a certain number of people.
But, of course, it's important to them that they actually can't take ordinary bread or any nuts or stuff like that.
They need free from food.
And our grandchildren, for example, a number of the boys have always had difficulty with gluten and dairy products,
and they have a bad reaction to that.
And that can actually be very dangerous if it's really quite acute.
So they always need free from food.
But their mom always has to check the jars or the tins of stuff she buys because the ingredients, the stuff that's in the food, is listed on the jars.
And she has to make sure that there's nothing in that that can really prove to be harmful or would really cause a bad reaction or be dangerous even to the children that have these allergies and intolerances, as they're called.
And the ingredients, the stuff that could be harmful nowadays, are highlighted in bold, bold letters, big black letters.
So you can see there if there's anything that's going to be harmful, obviously you put it back.
And it's important to check that.
Otherwise, it could be very dangerous for children that have these problems or for adults as well that have these problems.
Nuts, gluten, all that sort of stuff.
Now, the Bible has nothing bad in it.
Nothing in the Bible that will be harmful to you.
Nothing in the Bible that will damage you.
It's the other way about, in fact.
Everything that's in the Bible is good for you.
That's why we want to learn it.
That's why we want the young folks as well to learn it more and more and to learn its teachings for themselves.
And, oh, there's nothing bad in the Bible.
It does tell us about many things that are bad for us.
And just as you need to be careful with food if you've got allergies to nuts or whatever,
so we need to be careful about what sort of stuff, spiritually or morally, we take into our lives.
And we need to be sure that we have a free-from diet as far as possible with those matters that will harm us spiritually and morally.
The Bible tells us very specifically at times things that we are to avoid to have in our spiritual food, if you like.
When Paul wrote to the Ephesians, to the Colossians, he listed a number of things that were really harmful.
Telling lies was one of them.
Always, he says, be truthful with one another.
Bad language.
Just because the world uses bad language doesn't mean it's okay.
It's bad for us.
It's not good.
The same thing with hatred, disobedience to parents.
All these things are mentioned in the Bible as harmful or bad for us and will damage our lives and will damage the lives of other people as well.
Laziness.
Laziness is mentioned in the Bible as something bad as well.
Because God didn't make us to be lazy.
He made us to work, to work hard.
He made us to actually work so that it will benefit other people as well as ourselves.
And bad company.
Getting with or being always with people who hate God, who don't love God, who say bad things about the gospel, who don't like God's church.
We want, of course, them to come to know the truth.
But the Bible says that bad company corrupts good manners, good behavior.
So free from is very important in foodstuffs.
For those who have allergies and intolerances, free from is also important spiritually for us.
Leave out of your life, young people.
All the things the Bible tells you are harmful to you and harmful to other people.
And that way we will live a life that's pleasing to God.
A life of what the Bible calls holiness of life.
A life that wants to get rid of all the harmful, sinful stuff and get God's help to enable us to do that.
Okay, so next time you see in the supermarket, look for the free from stuff.
And it reminds you of how important it is to live as far as possible free from everything that the Bible tells you is bad for you.
Well, let's now say the Lord's Prayer together.
Amen.
Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory.
Amen.
Let's sing again to God's praise from Psalm 12.
Psalm number 12.
Again, it's in the Scottish Psalter, page 213.
We'll sing the whole of this psalm.
Lord, help, because the godly man doth daily fade away,
and from among the sons of men the faithful do decay.
And to his neighbor everyone doth utter vanity.
They with a double heart do speak, and lips of flattery.
Here is the psalmist, times when those who believed in God were becoming few in his day,
as he saw it at least.
And he's crying out to the Lord for help, not only for himself, but for the world in which he was placed.
And that's what we too pray to God about.
Psalm 12.
Help, Lord, because the godly man doth daily fade away.
And from among the sons of men the faithful do decay.
And to this day let everyone doth utter vanity.
God, Lord, because the godly man doth daily fade away.
And to this day let everyone doth daily fade away.
God, Lord, because the godly man doth daily fade away.
We'll with our tongue prevail our lips, our marches for your eyes.
For the open stand for the sight of me, the right will I.
Safe, fraud, and in vain safety set from such a sin he died.
The words of God are words close pure, in divine silver dry.
In heaven, by the seven times, the top finger high.
Lord, thou shalt and bring seven feet forever from this grave.
On its side walk thou wakest when I'll lend our high embrace.
Our reading today of God's Word is from the book of Daniel, the book of the prophet Daniel in the first chapter.
We'll read through the chapter from the beginning through to the end of the chapter.
The book of Daniel, it should be run about page 890, 891 in your pew Bibles.
So, reading through the first chapter.
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand and some of the vessels of the house of God.
And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his God, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his God.
Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility,
youths without blemish of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding, learning,
and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank.
They were to be educated for three years.
And at the end of that time, they were to stand before the king.
Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.
And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names.
Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank.
Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.
And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.
And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel,
I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink.
For why should he see that you are in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age?
So you would endanger my head with the king.
Then Daniel said to the steward, whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, test your servants for ten days.
Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.
Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you.
And deal with your servants according to what you see.
So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days.
At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh
than all the youths who ate the king's food.
So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.
As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom.
And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
At the end of the time when the king had commanded that they should be brought in,
the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.
And the king spoke with them.
And among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
Therefore they stood before the king.
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.
And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.
And we pray God will bless to us this reading again of his word.
Let's join together again in prayer.
Let's pray.
Our gracious God, our Father in heaven, we have been reading your word and singing your praises.
And as we now call upon you in prayer, we ask that we may be guided again by your Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit whose presence and power we require to enlighten our minds in the knowledge of your truth.
And also to guide our thoughts as we speak with you.
As we bring before you our petitions and our thanksgivings.
Our requests.
Lord, we thank you today for this privilege we have once again.
To gather here together to be a worshipping people.
And to be known publicly as a people whose desire it is to worship God.
And to bear testimony to him.
And to bear testimony not only to the fact that he is and exists.
But that he is our God.
That he is our creator and our redeemer.
That he is one to whom we owe our allegiance.
Our very life.
We bless you, Lord, today that as we come before you, so we bring our thanksgivings.
We thank you, Lord, for all that you have been to us since the last time we met here.
Every week that goes by, Lord, your goodness is made known to us in so many ways.
Even throughout the matters in life that we see as ordinary.
Yet we, Lord, I recognize that all the good things we do receive and are familiar with are your gifts to us.
And we thank you today that we can come together to thank you for them.
For there are many people we know in the world in which we live that have to do with so few.
Indeed, sometimes without any of these things, even our basic footsteps.
Help us, Lord, to realize that it is by your blessing that we have them.
By your will that we enjoy them.
And that we are answerable to you.
And so as to give thanks as your word requires.
Bless us, we pray, as we come here together once again round your word.
Bless your word to us and lead us into these avenues of your truth that your word contains.
Help us, we pray, to be mindful of our own native lack of understanding.
Of our need of your spirit to open our minds.
To bless your word to us.
To enable us to increase in our understanding and knowledge of it and of yourself through it.
Help us, Lord, today that we may lay to heart things which we need to know.
And need to apply in all aspects of our lives.
We bless you, Lord, today that you have taken account of all that we need to be in this world.
And all the things that we will meet with in this world.
And your word brings us counsel and teaching against them in relation to them all.
We pray today that we may be thankful that you have remembered us, Lord, in that way.
So as to provide for us this light for our path.
This lamp for our feet.
We pray today that you bless us as a congregation.
Bless us, we pray, in our services of worship.
Bless us in the activities that are related to them.
Bless the children in their Sunday school classes and Bible class.
Bless, too, those who are in tweenies and those who are in creche.
And those who look after them and care for them.
Bless us, we pray, in our homes.
Help us, Lord, there to be faithful to you.
Help us to be in public and in private the same.
And help us to realize, O Lord, that you have given us your word so that we may apply it in all of these different facets of life.
We thank you today, O Lord, for the way that you provide for us in our daily living.
We pray that you would help us to be faithful to you in whatever calling you have called us to work in this world.
And to be known to others as a people who love and value the Lord.
We pray, Lord, for those who, at this time, are anxious over their work.
For those who have lost employment during these difficult times.
We pray that you would be gracious to them and provide for them and for their families.
We pray that you would bless those today who have particular difficulties in their family circles.
Those anxieties over loved ones.
Difficulties, Lord, in coping with these issues themselves.
Those who have problems in themselves, O Lord, of mental health or other types of challenges in life that we need to face.
Lord, bless them all, we pray.
Help us to be supportive to them.
Whether they belong to us as a family or in a congregation or out with it.
Help us always, Lord, to be mindful of the needs of others.
And to bring all as we can to bear upon them in practical help and prayerful remembrance.
We pray, too, for those who mourn the passing of loved ones today in our communities.
In the congregation here, bless them, we pray.
Help them, Lord, as they express their grief.
And as they find the pain of parting.
To be so real, help them, Lord, we pray.
And be with them at this time.
And comfort them and be their portion in life.
We pray, too, Lord, for all those who serve you in public life, in public office.
Remember them before you in our local government.
Bless our local council and councillors and council officers.
Bless, we pray, those who help with the administration.
Help also those who take up responsibilities and duties.
In regard to caring for others in the medical sphere.
Remember, our hospital, our hospice, our care homes, our doctors, our nurses, and all the agencies that help them.
Macmillan nurses and all others, Lord, who go about from day to day in our community.
And seek to bring help to day in our community.
And seek to bring help to those who are in need.
We pray for the work of Crossroads.
We ask that you bless them also.
We pray, too, Lord, for those who are involved with pregnancy crisis ministry.
And we ask that you'd bless them here in our own congregation.
Bless them elsewhere as well.
In a world that takes life, Lord, so casually and many times treats life so cheaply.
Whether it be the life of the unborn or those who are old aged.
Lord, we pray for them.
And we pray for all who have different challenges with themselves.
Whether it be in mental health or other disabilities.
Lord, we ask that you'd bless them.
Bless those who don't have the same faculties as most people have.
The same abilities intellectually or otherwise.
Bless them, we pray.
Bless their families as they seek to continue to give them support and help.
And we ask, Lord, that you would bring them as they come to be.
Many of them familiar with your word.
Bless that to them.
And help them, Lord, we pray, to assimilate that in their own way of life and understanding.
We pray your blessing too for our street pastors as they go out to help those who end up in need, Lord,
at different times of the week, especially in the evenings and weekends.
We pray for our street pastors and for all who help, Lord, in that regard.
We pray that you'd keep them safe and enable them to be of help to those they meet regularly, Lord, each week.
We ask that their ministry may indeed prove to be continually beneficial to many others.
And that especially as they come with opportunities to speak about you and about their own faith.
Bless that, we pray, to those who hear them.
Those who bear witness to their desire to make Christ known, as well as being of practical help to others.
Bless, we pray, our nation at this time.
We pray, O Lord, that you'd bless our government at this time.
We ask that you'd be with them in Westminster, here in Holyrood.
We commend them to you, not merely because we are required and commanded to do that from your word,
but because, Lord, our heart is burdened that we be led in a way that would be exalting to us in righteousness
and would be pleasing to yourself.
Once again, we pray for those who are seeking office of first minister.
We pray especially for Kate Forbes and her constant Christian testimony and witness.
We pray for our Lord and her family and all the pressures that she has to meet with at this time.
Whatever our political persuasion may be, Lord, we know that we have to pray for your people
and we have to bring them before you, especially when they face such difficulties and trials as she faces in these days.
And so, Lord, whatever the outcome might be, we pray that you would continue to be with her and to assure her of your presence.
Bless us as a church, as a denomination.
Help us, Lord, we pray in all the activity that we engage in, in gospel services, in outreach, in evangelism.
And help us in all the church plants and all the other aspects of ministry that we are engaged in.
Bless those who are training for ministry.
We pray for Scott here with ourselves.
We ask that you would bless him and bless all others with him at this time, O Lord,
who are going through their period of training.
We pray that you would be with them and assure them and make them, Lord, more and more capable and endowed with your Spirit
so as to make known to others the beauty of Christ and the claims of Christ in our society.
Hear us then, we pray now, and continue with us,
pardoning all our sin and cleansing us freely for Jesus' sake.
Amen.
Once more, we're going to praise the Lord this time in Psalm 147, 147.
It's in the Sing Psalms version on page 192.
We'll sing verses 1 to 7.
O praise the Lord, how good it is to sing him songs of praise,
how pleasant to give thanks to him for all his gracious ways.
Psalm 147 and verses 1 to 7.
O praise the Lord, how good it is to sing him songs of praise,
and blessed to give thanks to him for all his gracious grace.
The Lord, how good it is to sing from ourp
The Lord, how good it is to sing him ceux- жив in the world.
Who reaches the children of Israel to bring his exiles for whole?
He heals, he heals, he heals, broken hearts, which torches to salvation.
He sets the number of persons and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and great in power, his wisdom is profound.
The Lord's substance can be cut out, the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with thankfulness, with joy his faithful praise.
And with the new shape of the heart, give glory to his name.
Let's turn now to the scripture we read in Daniel chapter 1.
Daniel chapter 1, we're looking at the chapter, especially the first seven verses of it.
Daniel chapter 1, which we'll call Wisdom for Challenging Times.
Now, the historical setting for Daniel, as I'm sure you know, as it says here, is during the days of King Nebuchadnezzar.
This passage is certainly set in that context.
Nebuchadnezzar ruled around about 605 through to 562 years before Christ.
So it's going back a long time.
But at that time, the Babylonians, over which Nebuchadnezzar was king, to which he belonged, was the superpower of the world.
It was really the great powerhouse in the known world of the time.
It had a magnificent city in Babylon.
The hanging gardens of Babylon were the envy of the world.
They were one of the seven wonders of the world at the time.
But through the Bible, Babylon is more than just a geographical location.
And the Babylonians, or Chaldeans, as sometimes they're called, are more than just a reference to an actual people who lived long ago.
Although that is, of course, true.
That's what they were.
In the Bible, Babylon represents all that is contrary to God's kingdom, to God's reign.
Babylon represents evil, corruption against God's people, against God himself, against the known church, if you like, of the time in the people of Israel, Judah.
So, all that you find in the Bible about Babylon and that way of teaching is about powers and forces that are against God and against his people.
That's all the way through until you reach the end of the Bible in Revelation chapters 18 and 19,
in the judgment of God bringing us right through to the end of the world,
where Babylon is judged, where Babylon has fallen, and where Babylon is judged by God.
In other words, these powers of evil and corruption and anti-God coalitions of various kinds throughout the centuries,
they are actually brought under the judgment of God at the end of it all.
And the Lamb, Jesus, and his people prevail.
They are the ones whom God shows to have the victory on their side,
because God is on their side and they have his salvation.
In other words, Daniel really is a timeless book in this sense that although it is important that we remember it is talking about history,
it's history with a purpose in the presentation of this Word of God.
It's timeless in the sense that Babylon, if you like, and the powers that Babylon represented, as we've mentioned,
they're active in every generation.
Something to do with Babylon, with the powers of Babylon, with the powers of, if you like, of worldliness,
in whatever form, that's always present to battle against God's people,
to resist the call of God in the gospel,
to try and undermine the church, to try and infiltrate the church,
to try and overthrow the teaching of the Bible,
in whatever ways that's possible for it under God.
And it seeks Babylon's powers.
Babylon seeks to take captive the minds of Christians as well.
Let's remember this.
Because the powers that are represented by Babylon,
the powers of evil and corruption and ungodliness and worldliness,
everything that's opposed to the gospel in every generation,
it wants to take your mind captive and my mind captive,
to take us away from faithfulness to God, from allegiance to God,
and throw our lot in with Babylon and its so-called values.
And it uses ideologies, different types of ideology,
to actually carry out its plan and its purpose.
Institutions, individuals, nations, churches, schools, government systems,
they're all subject to infiltration and the powers and the persuasion of Babylon
in order to try and do more to undermine the gospel of Christ.
And that's why we must see the contents of Daniel and the passage we're looking at today
in that wider perspective, in that spiritual perspective,
that spiritual and moral dimension that Babylon in the Bible represents.
The first thing, I'm going to look mainly at the first point,
which is the king's three-year program.
The three-year program mentioned here that King Nebuchadnezzar set
for these young people that he had brought captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.
This three-year program you'll find in verse 5, this was his purpose.
He assigned in verses 3 to 5 these youths that came
and were skillful in wisdom and knowledge, understanding and learning,
and it was to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
They were to be educated for three years and then they were to stand before the king.
So this was a program deliberately set up to try and educate or really re-educate
these young people that had come from Jerusalem to Babylon.
The king's three-year program.
And then more briefly, although it's not unimportant, of course,
because the rest of Daniel deals with it,
God's faithful people in Babylon, in that setting, in those circumstances.
And you can see already how up-to-date Daniel is as we're looking out over the world in which we are placed,
as we're seeing Babylon represented by all the powers and the ideologies
that actually are in conflict with the gospel.
The king's three-year program.
Well, he wanted, first of all, the ablest youths that came from Jerusalem.
He brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his God.
He placed the vessels there.
And then he commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch,
to bring some of the people of Israel,
both of the royal family and of the nobility,
youths without blemish of good appearance,
and skillful in all wisdom,
endowed with knowledge, understanding, and learning.
In other words, he wanted the very best.
He wanted the very best as a potential for the service of Babylon.
He wanted the choice young people of Jerusalem, of Judah,
to come and be in the service of the king of Babylon
and to take up the values of Babylon
and the aims of Babylon and the purpose of Babylon
and, as we'll see, even to come to be identified as Babylonians.
That was his purpose.
And only the best would do to serve the kingdom,
the intentions of Babylon.
Now, you can see in verse 4 there,
youths without blemish of good appearance,
skillful in all wisdom,
endowed with knowledge, understanding, learning,
and competent to stand in the king's palace.
And that actually involves both understanding and communication.
And these two are always important.
Because to the king of Babylon, to the aims of Babylon,
understanding coupled with communication skills
was always going to be an important combination.
And it still is an important combination.
That's why he wanted the best,
those who could understand,
those who could quickly assimilate the teachings of Babylon
and also be able to cogently explain them
or communicate them to the world around them.
That is what Babylon is still aiming to do.
That's why there is today,
in this very building,
an interest in you and in your minds.
An interest on the part of these forces
that oppose the gospel
of these satanic-led powers
that really have in their mind,
even if they would never associate themselves,
of course, with Satan
and with Satan's intentions
and plans and strategies.
Well, the Bible itself tells you all about that.
But here is what is seeking
to bring your mind today captive
and lead your mind away
from the teachings of Scripture,
of the Word of God,
of these principles and values of the gospel.
So, understanding and communicating abilities
are so important to the world,
so important in the world that we live,
so important to Babylon,
so important to all the ideologies
that oppose the gospel.
But this is the thing.
They are also important
to those who support the gospel,
to those who promote the gospel.
That's why our prayer is
that God will raise up
people of understanding
and able to communicate the gospel.
That's why we have the likes of Scott
as a trainee minister in training
and others like him
in different congregations
throughout the country.
That's why we're thrilled
when God calls people
to actually come to minister the gospel
by the preaching of the gospel,
but also, like many of yourselves,
to be living witnesses to God
in your own place of work,
whether it's in education
or wherever it is.
Learning and competence
in communicating those principles
that have to do with righteousness
and truth and integrity
are so important.
They are crucial to the aims of Babylon,
but they're also crucial
in resisting and overcoming
all that Babylon wants to bring about.
That's why you must give your mind
and I must give my mind
to Christ,
to the teachings of the Bible,
to the Holy Spirit of God,
to these things
that the Bible itself tells us
are absolutely crucial
and foundational
if we are to be
the kind of people
that bear witness to God
in this world.
The world needs you
and the world needs
that particular witness,
that particular understanding
and communication
of God's truth.
But secondly,
he didn't just want
the ablest youths,
he wanted them
to be turned into Chaldeans.
And three points
under this briefly.
First of all,
you'll see in verse 4,
the end of the verse there,
to teach them
the literature
and language
of the Chaldeans.
He wanted them
to be skillful
in both the literature
and language
of the Chaldeans.
In other words,
this was a curriculum
with purpose,
a curriculum
with a specific purpose.
He wanted to turn them
from being Jews
or being associated
with Jewishness
and turn them
into Chaldeans
effectively and practically.
He wanted them
to think of themselves
no longer as a people
of Judah,
but a people of Chaldea,
of Babylon,
who had taken up
the aims and the purposes
and the intentions
of Babylon.
He wanted to erode
their Jewishness
as they developed
an allegiance
to Babylon.
See how up-to-date
that is?
You see how relevant
that is to the world
in which you and I
are placed today?
Where education
is so, so important,
but where education
sadly all too often
drifts into indoctrination
because that's what
Babylon was about.
He wasn't there
just to educate
their minds
so as to give them
different things
to compare.
He was there
to bring their minds
over to the business
and the intentions
and the identity
of Babylon.
And Babylon
is still at it.
That's why we need
to pray for our teachers.
Not just for the
Christian teachers,
but especially
our Christian teachers.
Because they are facing
from the top,
from government
intentions
and government
provided
ideologies,
they are actually
infiltrating
the education
of our children
and in some parts
of the country
at least.
Our children,
even at their youngest
years in primary,
are being subjected
to teaching
that really belongs
only in the adult
field, sadly.
That is Babylon
at work.
seeking to win
young minds
over to these
ideologies
in order to provide
very skillful
communicators
for that particular
type of ideology
or teaching
to actually spread
that throughout
the world.
Now you can see
how dangerous
that is.
You can see
how important
it is to pray
against more
infiltration
of that type
into our system
of education.
Where all kinds
of ideologies
are seen
as acceptable
and where,
for some at least,
our very youngest
children have to be
subjected to these
things even from
their youngest days.
See,
that's Babylon
at work.
That's King
Nebuchadnezzar's
three-year program
being rolled out
in our society
to take minds
captive
in order that
they then serve
the values
and the aims
of Babylon.
to erode,
to normalize,
to normalize
what the Bible
says is not
acceptable,
is ungodly,
is contrary
to righteousness,
to uprightness,
to truthfulness,
and in their
place
to put the
values of
Babylon.
Friends,
please pray
for our
teachers.
Pray for our
education authority.
Pray for that
throughout the land.
Pray for all
our schools
where there are
Christian teachers
placed
Christians
are still
concerned
at having
or being
called upon
to teach
things which
they themselves
find unacceptable.
Pray for
Christian schools
wherever they
are.
Pray for those
who sincerely
intend to
bring children
up in the
values of
Christ.
Pray for
parents.
Pray for
parents who
have to actually
face this with
their children
from day to
day.
when they
come home
from school,
even in
primary school,
and say,
the teacher
today was
teaching us
to ask
questions about
ourselves and
who we are.
Are we really
male or
female?
Are we a
boy?
Am I a
girl?
That's what's
going on in
some of our
schools throughout
our land.
That's where
children's minds
are being messed
with.
That's Babylon
at work.
We have to be
aware of that
and pray over it
and also,
as we bring it
before the
Lord, ask the
Lord to bring
a change around.
So there's the
education that
sadly sometimes
becomes
indoctrination.
There's secondly
incentives.
You see,
verse 5,
he gave them
the incentives,
he assigned
them a daily
portion of the
food that the
king ate and
the wine that
he drank.
In other words,
they were made
to feel really
special.
They were singled
out from the
others as
favorites of the
king.
They were made
to feel that
they really
should surely
serve this
very kind
king,
this person
that brought
all of these
things to them
and made them
feel so special
compared to
others.
The design was
to make them
feel advantaged,
to make them
feel special,
to make them
feel this is
really the right
way.
We're surely
not wrong in
following the
king's requirements
and taking up
this teaching
that he wants
to give us
of the things
of the
Chaldeans.
And you can
see how similar
that is to
the idea
today that
if you follow
the Christian
way, if you're
especially open
about being a
Christian, you
can't possibly
get on in the
world if that's
what you commit
yourself to.
That's the
ideology of
Babylon.
That's what
Babylon will say
to you.
That's what
worldliness will
say to you.
It will say,
if you really
want to get on
in the world
and progress
your life and
make something
of a career
of it and
get promotion
in whatever
field you're
working, you've
got to take
on the world
as of equal
validity and
equal value
to the Christian
life.
You just have
to embrace
that.
And we're
being told by
certain ideologies
today, it's
not enough
in the old
style tolerance
of just saying,
well, I don't
agree with that,
but I leave you
your freedom to
believe that and
to live that way
of life if that's
your choice.
I don't agree
with it.
But I don't
agree with
persecuting you
for it.
Now, the new
ideology, the new
tolerance really
says, I think I
mentioned this
last week, it's
not enough to
say, well, I
don't agree with
it, but you're
free to follow
it if that's
your choice.
The new
ideology says,
you must see
this as of
equal value to
your Christianity.
You must take
it and celebrate
it the way you
celebrate your
Christianity.
That's Babylon
at work.
The idea that
you really must
embrace the
world in every
facet of the
world in its
thinking and in
its behavior.
If you really
want to get on
in the world,
that's what you
have to do.
And Daniel
teaches us
otherwise.
Daniel, as we'll
see, teaches
that God has
to come first.
That God is the
one who must,
at all times,
all times must
have allegiance
to Him.
And that, of
course, doesn't
mean hating
others.
That doesn't
mean being
obsessed with
and taken up
with phobias,
the way the
world actually
presents it.
Phobic this
and phobic
that.
We're called
upon to love
people, to
love people
whatever their
ideology, to
love people
whatever difference
there may be in
their way of
life throughout
Christian life.
love.
But love is
not that sort
of wobbly
thing that the
world presents
to you.
Love is love.
Love is
primarily
faithfulness to
God.
A love for
God.
A love for
His principles.
For His truth.
For His values.
For His people.
And so we
really resist
the idea that
to get on
in the world
you have to
embrace the
world.
God and
its values.
Daniel is
going to
teach us
that.
Again,
teach us
you that as
you work
your way
through the
book of
Daniel.
And especially
these opening
chapters.
So there's
education.
There's incentives
that are given
for them to
actually throw
their lot in
with Babylon.
But there's
thirdly,
identity.
Look at
verse 7.
Among
these were
Daniel,
Hananiah,
Mishael,
and Azariah,
tribe of Judah.
And the
chief of the
eunuchs gave
them names.
Daniel he
called
Belteshazzar,
Hananiah he
called
Shadrach,
Mishael he
called
Meshach,
and Azariah
Abednego.
What's that
about?
Is that just
saying,
well,
this is just
a change of
names and
nothing more?
Of course
it's not.
It fits
into the
teaching,
the theology
of Daniel.
And what
it's saying
to us is
part of
the strategy
of Babylon
is actually
to give
you an
identity
associated
with being
a Babylonian.
This was
a deliberate
part of
the strategy
because he
was concerned
that the
more they
forgot their
own native
names given
to them as
Jews,
and you
notice these
names,
as they
often did
in Judah
and Jewish
names,
had some
element to
do with
God in
them.
Daniel,
it has
the word
El,
the same
word
Mishael,
Mishach,
Azariah,
the name
Yahweh
or Jehovah,
and built
into these
Jewish names
you have
something to
do with
God,
something to
do with
a relationship
with God,
something to
do with
what God
is or
who God
is and
what he
is to
you.
They're
substituted
by thoroughly
pagan names,
and the hope
is that as
they forget
the significance
of their
Jewish name,
their Jewish
name that's
rooted in
the name
of God
himself,
so the
more they
will take
up these
pagan names,
the more
they will
be associated
with Babylon
and being
Chaldeans.
That's the
strategy.
That's the
three-year
program the
king set
for them.
That's the
aim to
gradually
incorporate
them so
that they
come effectively
to be
Chaldeans.
That's what
the world
wants you
to be.
That's what
the world
is calling
you to
today.
That's
what
worldliness
has as
its
intentions
through
whatever
ideology
that
wants
you
to
lose
sight
of
your
identity
as
a
Christian.
Where is
the
Christian's
identity?
What is it
that identifies
the Christian?
It's not
your name
given by
baptism.
It's not
your name
given by
parents,
important though
these may
be,
precious though
these may
be.
What
identifies
you as
a
Christian
is what
you are
in
Christ.
And
what you
are in
Christ means
what you
are to
God and
what God
is to
you.
That's
your
identity.
That's
who you
are as
a
Christian.
And
that's
who the
world
must
see.
You
are.
A
person who
belongs to
God and
to whom
by grace
this God
belongs as
your
Savior,
as your
King,
and
whatever
Nebuchad
and
Ezra
arrive on
the scene.
That's
the aim
of the
three-year
program.
He wanted
the
ableist
for
himself.
He
wanted to
educate
them
with the
element
of
indoctrination.
He
wanted to
give them
incentives.
He gave
them incentives
to help
them on
that way.
And he
changed their
identity,
at least
by name,
so that
gradually
they'd
come to
see
themselves,
no longer
us people
of Judah,
but people
of Babylon.
What's the
counter to
that?
Well,
this is
our final
point.
The second
point,
briefly,
has to
do with
God's
faithful
people,
because as
the chapter
goes on,
you can
see how
God gave
Daniel
wisdom,
along with
his companions,
to actually
not just
to offset,
but to
overcome
the strategy
of Babylon
and this
three-year
program.
In other
words,
what you
really find
in the
chapter,
as throughout
the book,
in fact,
is that the
main figure,
as always
really in the
Bible,
the main
figure is
not Daniel,
it's not
his companions,
it's actually
God.
God gave
Daniel,
he resolved
that he
wouldn't defile
himself,
God gave
Daniel favor
and compassion,
verse 9,
in the sight
of the
chief of
the
eunuchs.
Where did
Daniel get
his wisdom
from?
It wasn't
from the
ideology of
the Babylonians
or of his
own ingenuity,
it was the
wisdom that
was God
given.
God gave
this to
Daniel,
he gave
him favor.
God
arranged it
that the
chief of
the eunuchs
actually went
along with
Daniel's
strategy,
counter to
the strategy
of the
king of
Babylon.
And of
course we
know how
that ended
up.
And he
showed himself
superior to
all the
rest,
to all the
people that
belonged to
Babylon who
ate the
king's food.
Daniel and
his companions
turned out to
be ten times
more superior
than they
were.
You see,
God's favor,
Joseph proved
it before,
didn't he?
Daniel proves
it here.
Many others
have proved
it down
through the
years,
that God's
favor is
of so much
more value
than the
favor of
the world.
God's
favor is
the chief
thing in
your life,
surely.
To know
that you're
living a
life that's
pleasing to
God,
not because
it's a
perfect life
though you'd
want it to
be,
not because
it's a
better life
than other
people live,
not because
you see
yourself as
superior to
others,
but because
you know
this is what
God requires
of you.
That is your
privilege to
live as a
Christian life,
as a
Christian in
life.
That is your
privilege to
serve God,
your privilege
to be openly
on His side
because there
are so many
openly against
Him.
To have
God's favor,
friends,
is the most
important thing
in the world
for you and
for me.
To know
that you
have that,
to show
openly that
you have
that.
Nothing's
more important
than that,
that you
have the
favor of
God upon
your life.
And these
were people
of principle
in other
words.
It wasn't
just the
fact that
God gave
them this
favor,
that God
opened up
the way
for them,
that God
endowed them
with all of
these abilities,
which He of
course undoubtedly
did.
But they
themselves were
people of
principle.
They were
committed to
God,
by the grace
of God,
by the blessing
of God,
yes,
but they were
still themselves
committed to
God,
to the ways
of God,
to serving
God,
to be true
to God.
And that's
why Daniel
in chapter 2,
just flick
forward for a
minute,
chapter 2,
verse 48.
As they
came to
Nebuchadnezzar
following the
interpretation
of his
dream,
which none
of his
own
mystery men
were able
to do,
then the
king gave
Daniel high
honors and
many great
gifts,
and made
him ruler
over the
whole province
of Babylon,
and chief
prefect over
all the wise
men of
Babylon.
See what's
happened?
Here's a man
who's been
faithful to
God,
who has
made known
his allegiance
to God,
who has
not stepped
back from
being a
man of
Judah in
the captivity
of Babylon.
And yet what
happens?
The king of
Babylon promotes
him.
He sees that
he has special
qualities that
none of his
own people
have.
And not
only that,
but he made
a request of
the king,
and he appointed
Shadrach,
Meshach,
and Abednego
over the
affairs of
Babylon.
But Daniel
remained in
the king's
court.
Now chapter
3 tells you
the difficulties
associated with
that.
There's the
furnace.
There's the
fiery furnace.
There's all
the intimidation,
all the
antagonism,
all the
suffering,
all the
persecution.
Nevertheless,
you'd rather be
in that fiery
furnace with
the fourth
man, the
figure of
a son of
the gods,
a figure of
God himself
with his
people through
the fires of
persecution.
You'd rather be
there than be
in the service
of the king
of Babylon,
whose only
reward is at
the end of
the day,
death,
and open
shame before
God.
One of the
commentators,
a small book,
a brief
commentary on
Daniel by
D.S.
Russell,
and he
puts it this
way when he
speaks about
these,
writing about
these young
people of
Judah as
people of
principle.
He said,
to act on
principle is
sometimes an
expression of
stubbornness and
pig-headedness,
but that is no
excuse for
denigrating the
act itself.
People of
principle find
greater favor
with God than
people of
property.
They are
prepared to
pay the
price for the
stand they
take.
They accept
the penalty
of being
the odd
man out.
They are
willing to
be counted
among the
dissenters and
the dissidents,
whatever the
outcome may
be.
When principle
ceases to
matter,
then religion,
truth,
honesty,
and integrity
are all
at risk.
People of
principle,
in other
words,
people who
are true to
God,
come what
may as
Daniel himself
and his
companions
prove to
be.
And it
does give
the lie,
doesn't it,
to the
allegation,
to the
suggestion
that
Christian
people,
people who
believe the
Bible,
will never
make suitable
leaders for
a nation.
Daniel gives
the lie to
that.
Allegiance to
God,
publicly and
openly,
does not
make a
person unsuitable
to lead a
nation,
or a
people,
or a
church.
Indeed,
put it the
other way,
surely there's
nothing more
important than
to be a
person of
integrity,
a man or
woman of
God,
who will
be true
to God,
and will
lead people
in the
right direction.
May God
bless these
thoughts on
his word to
us.
Let's now
conclude by
singing to
God's praise
from Psalm
90.
Psalm number
90,
that's in the
Sing Psalms
version of
Psalm 90,
singing the
final three
verses,
verses 13
to 17.
Return,
O Lord,
how long
will you
delay?
Have mercy
on your
servants,
Lord,
we pray.
O satisfy
us with
your love
always,
that we
may sing
rejoicing
all our
days.
Verses
13 to
17 of
Psalm 90
on page
120.
Amen.
Lord,
not away,
suficiente
p Ajax
maken
mgreen
ide
ed оно
Have mercy on you, serenity, Lord, we pray.
O satisfy us with pure love always,
That we may sing rejoicing on our day.
When place of love, affliction with us, God,
In joy for all the years you may not die.
Till all your strength and the earth is we shown,
And to their children make their glory known.
Now may the favor of Almighty Lord,
How by God of rich blessings, O our Lord,
Establish every work of us of God,
Yes, Lord, for us, Establish every one.
I'll go to the main door after the benediction.
Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
The love of God the Father,
And the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and evermore.
Amen.
Moses, строils so that there may talk,
And the grace of God,
As 있으eni,
Ashopabhin scripture,
In extra balance of love,
In the past fall in the past,
While desire to God,
As you may become means bigger,
In the future.
I will be able to emphasize everything.
In the whole world with power to a the Lord,