Collierville First Baptist Church

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We're having to bring in chairs, man. It's great, a great problem to have, amen? All right.

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Hey, let's begin with the word of prayer.

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Our heavenly Father, the word of God is truth without mixture of error.

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The word of God is like honey.

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It's like a hammer that could crush a rock.

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It's like a two-edged sword that pierced as far as the division of soul and spirit, even joints and marrow of the bone.

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I praise you heavenly Father that we have Bibles that we can open tonight and we can study and we can look at a prophet who wrote this book

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almost 2,600 years ago.

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And Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus

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that you would fill me with the Holy Spirit, that you would teach through me.

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And I pray that you would give us ears to hear what the spirit of God would say.

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Lord, speak to our hearts, shape us, transform us for your glory in Jesus name, amen.

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All right, so you will turn to the book of Daniel.

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The book of Daniel.

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You know, I've been studying this first chapter for a while and this just today,

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I had a little outline just sort of fall into my lap.

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And I'd like to give you that outline. It's not on your notes, you can write it in the margin.

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It's an outline that captures the whole of chapter one.

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In verses one through seven,

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I'd like to call that Daniel's resume, his resume.

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In verses eight through 13,

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I'd like to call that Daniel's resolve.

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And then in verses 14 to 21,

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I'd like to call that Daniel's reward.

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And I don't know why it takes me so long for these things to come to my mind, but I tell you, that's a powerful little outline just sort of captures a whole chapter.

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Now, there's very little doubt

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that Daniel and Hananiah, Michelle and Azariah

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were men of God.

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They had mountain moving faith.

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One missionary said, if there's no risk involved, you don't need faith.

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Well, I'm gonna tell you, there was a lot of risk involved what these boys were doing.

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Their risk carried with it the potential of their own deaths.

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Also the death of Ashkenaz and his steward.

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However, these young Jews had already made a decision and I'm gonna hit on this later. You know, if you're gonna make a decision about commitment,

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it's best to make it before the heat of the moment.

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You make that well before you draw some lines, some red lines, and you say, I will do this, I will not do this.

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And then when the opportunity comes,

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it really puts you in a much stronger position if you've already made up your mind

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that as Daniel said, you're not gonna defile yourself with the king's food and the king's wine.

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I think we should pause and think about Daniel what they were risking.

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Now think about it, when Daniel and his friends were saying to Ashkenaz and the steward that Ashkenaz had put over them, that they would not defile themselves

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with the king's food and the king's wine,

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they risk angering the king.

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Now think about it, here's Nebuchadnezzar at this time, the most powerful man in the world.

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And here are four Jewish teenagers

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who are saying they're not gonna eat his food, they will not eat his food, and they will not drink his wine.

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Now, one thing you don't wanna do is anger the most powerful man in the world, especially the most powerful pagan man in the world.

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And they risk spoiling their chances for advancement.

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Now we know at the end of the chapter

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that they received an amazing promotion and they were saying, "Well, I'm not gonna do that, "but I'm gonna do that." I put this in here, you can't climb the ladder while you're rocking the boat.

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If this blows up in Daniel's face, he can kiss his future goodbye.

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So there was a lot of risk involved.

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But if you study the Bible,

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who are willing to risk everything for the cause of Christ,

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because it was the right thing to do.

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Now, the Babylonians could change their location, the Babylonians could change their diet, the Babylonians could change their education, their language, even change their names. But one thing Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man in the world could not do, couldn't change their hearts.

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Couldn't change their hearts.

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Listen, the most important part of you as far as being a Christian is your heart.

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The Bible says in Proverbs 4.23,

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"Guard your heart with all diligence "for from it flow the issues of life."

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Your heart.

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Their hearts belong to God.

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And when your heart truly belongs to God,

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you can go anywhere in the world and face any situation

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and be all right.

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So the question for every person in this room, every man and woman in this room is simply this, who has your heart?

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Who has your heart?

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Does God have it? Or is your heart fixed on the things of this earth?

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Now this story comes to an end on a very positive note.

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However, I want you to know that in many cases,

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God's reward and blessing doesn't come immediately. Doesn't come immediately.

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Sometimes there's a delay. Sometimes the reward of God doesn't come until you get to heaven.

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Listen, if you study what's happening in the world today with persecuted believers,

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they're being slaughtered for the cause of Christ.

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But I tell you, they'll receive their reward when they get to heaven.

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Take your Bible, just flip over real quickly.

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I think it's Revelation seven.

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Yeah, verse nine. "After these things, I looked and behold a great multitude which no one could count from every nation, all tribes, peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed in white robes and palm branches were in their hands. And they cry out with a loud voice saying," this is verse 10 of chapter seven of Revelation.

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"Salvation to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb and all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying, Amen, blessing, glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power might be to our God forever.

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And then one of the elders answered saying to me, these who are clothed in white robes, who are they?

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And where have they come from?

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And I said to him, my Lord, you know, he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation

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and they have washed their robes and made them white and the blood of the lamb.

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For this reason, they are before the throne of God

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and they serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them.

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Look at this. "They will hunger no more, nor thirst anymore,

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nor will the sun beat down on them nor any heat.

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The lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd

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and will guide them to springs of water of life and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

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So these are persecuted believers

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standing before the throne of God, finally getting their reward from God for their non-compromising commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ in his kingdom.

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Now there are some verses here I've included here. I wanna read to you. I think they're important.

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In 1 Samuel 2, verse 26 to 30,

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"Now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men.

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Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, thus says the Lord, did I not indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage in Pharaoh's house?

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Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be my priest and to go up to my altar to burn incense and to carry an ephod before me?

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And did I not give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel?

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Why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering which I've commanded in my dwelling and honor your sons above me?" Now listen, Eli the priest had some wicked sons.

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They were immoral, they were corrupt to the core

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and Eli was preferring his sons over the living God.

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And honor your sons above me by making yourselves fat with the choices of every offering of my people Israel.

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"Therefore the Lord of God declared," now look at it, it's very important. "I did indeed say that your house "and the house of your father should walk before me forever.

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"But now the Lord declares, far be it from me. "For those who honor me, I will honor,

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"and those who despise me will be lightly esteemed."

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The question is this,

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will God honor us if we have the kind of commitment and the kind of convictions that Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle and Azariah had?

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This scripture says he will.

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Look at John 12, 26.

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Jesus said, "If anyone serves me, he must follow me.

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"And where I am, there my servant will be also." Look at this. If anyone serves me, serves Jesus, the father will honor him. It doesn't get any plainer than that.

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I can look you and I and tell you this,

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if you're serious about walking with Jesus,

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if you're serious about honoring the Lord Jesus Christ with your lips and your life,

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then the Bible says, the Bible promises

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that the father will honor you.

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Look at 1 Samuel 16, 7.

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The Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance

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"or at the height of his stature,

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"because I've rejected him.

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"For God sees, not as a man sees, "for a man looks at the outward appearance, "but look at the, but the Lord looks at the heart.

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"He looks at your heart."

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And 2 Chronicles 16, 9, "For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro "throughout the earth, that he may strongly support those "whose heart is completely his."

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Again, let me ask you, who has your heart?

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Does the Lord have your heart?

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Our call is to be resistant to compromise.

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Our call is to be consistent in our walk with the Lord.

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Our call is to be persistent until we see Jesus.

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If we honor the Lord, he will honor us.

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I made a statement here, look at this.

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There is a blessing reserved for the bold

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that the timid will never experience.

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You say, does God play favorites?

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You might say he does.

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Because the Bible doesn't say that God honors everybody.

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It says he honors those who honors him.

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I tell you, there were a lot of Jewish teenagers that were carried to Babylon.

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All we know is that four of them were highly favored by God and highly blessed by God. I don't know about the rest of them. It sort of insinuates that a lot of those boys were compromises, they compromised.

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Now, here's what I want you to see. How did God bless Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle and Azariah? How did he bless them? Well, he blessed them physically.

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Look at verses 14 to 16. We ended last time with verse 13.

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So we pick up with verse 14 and we see here how God blessed them physically.

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The Bible says, so he listened to them in this matter.

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Remember, they had said to the steward that Ashbinaz had put over them, hey, just test us for 10 days, for 10 days.

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Give us water to drink, not the king's wine. Give us vegetables to eat, not the king's delicacies.

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And after 10 days, you take us for Jewish teenagers and you compare us to the other Jewish teenagers that you brought from Israel.

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Compare us.

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Now, let me tell you, that was not a test for these four Hebrew teenagers. That was a test for God.

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They were trusting God. They were laying on the line for God and they believed that God would come through for them because of their convictions and their commitment.

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And God blessed them physically. So the steward listened to them in this matter and tested them for 10 days, 10 days.

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At the end of 10 days, their appearance seemed better and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king's choice food.

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So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink and kept giving them vegetables. Now, remember, the testing period was for, the education period was for three years.

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So these boys drank water and ate vegetables for three years.

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And they were fatter and they were ripped.

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They were ripped.

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And the steward that was over them compared them to the other Hebrew youths.

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There was no comparison.

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And he just kept giving. You know what amazes me?

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If I'd been that Ashpenaz and the steward,

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if I was Ashpenaz, I would tell the steward, hey, quit giving those other guys the king's food and the king's wine and start giving them water and vegetables.

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And some scholars think that may have happened, but it doesn't appear very clear here that it did.

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So Daniel and his friends honor God.

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And God honored them by giving them favor,

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physical favor.

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And it appears that they continued eating vegetables and drinking water.

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But God also blessed them spiritually.

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Now look at verses 17 and verse 20.

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As for these four youths, God gave them, by the way, I noticed this and I got a highlighter and I went in here in chapter one. There are three times in this chapter

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where the Bible says God gave or God granted.

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Look at verse two. The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

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Look at verse nine. Now God granted or gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials.

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And now in verse 17, for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom. Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.

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Look at verse 20.

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As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them,

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he found them, now look at this, he found them 10 times better than all the magicians

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and conjurers who were in his realm.

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Now think about that.

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They honored God and God honored them.

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They were 10 times better than all of the other Jewish teenagers that were brought from Jerusalem to Babylon.

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But not only that, they were 10 times better

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than all of the conjurers and magicians and astrologers that Nebuchadnezzar had in his kingdom.

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I mean, these guys were knocking it out of the park. Why? Because God gave this kind of wisdom and discernment to them. They understood the times and they knew what to do. Listen, the overriding theme of Daniel, I think,

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is a sovereignty of God.

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It's a sovereignty of God. Let me tell you, Nebuchadnezzar may have been the most powerful ruler on the planet,

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but he was a weakling compared to God.

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God controlled everything that God wanted to control.

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The Bible says in Jeremiah that God has the power

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to plant nations and to uproot nations.

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God has a power to insert rulers and to take rulers out.

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He's got sovereign power.

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So God blessed them spiritually.

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Now, notice that last part of verse 17.

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Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.

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Now, you ought to underline that and put a star by it. Let me tell you why.

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Because that sets up the rest of the book.

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Look at chapter two.

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Nebuchadnezzar had a dream

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and Nebuchadnezzar demanded

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that his magicians, conjurers, astrologers, that they tell him the dream and the interpretation of the dream. Well, they came to Nebuchadnezzar and they said, oh, King, nobody can tell you the dream and the interpretation. You gotta tell us the dream, then we'll give you the interpretation.

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He said, no, no, no.

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If you're the real deal, you could tell me the dream and the interpretation.

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And they couldn't do it.

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And Nebuchadnezzar placed a death sentence on all of his wise men, his astrologers, his conjurers, his astrologers.

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And that included the four young men, Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle, and Azariah. But Daniel went to the steward, went to Ashburn as he looked.

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Give me a little time.

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And Daniel went, I'm just telling the story now, I'm not reading the scripture. But Daniel went to his friends and you know what they did? They prayed.

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They honored God. And they asked God to give them the dream and the interpretation.

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And God gave the dream and the interpretation to Daniel.

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Not to Hananiah, Michelle, and Azariah, but to Daniel.

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You know, the cream always seems to rise to the top.

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That's true in the business world. That's true in athletics.

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That's true in the spiritual world. The cream always seems to rise to the top.

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And it certainly did in the case of these four young Hebrew teenagers.

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And so Daniel went to Nebuchadnezzar and he told him the dream he had was to be a true man. He had had an interpretation of the dream.

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So I want you to understand that this little statement here in chapter one, verse 17, Daniel even understood all kinds of vision and dream. Now understand, God gave him the ability to understand dreams and visions and to interpret them. Once again, the sovereignty of God.

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Now that's not the only time in this book

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that Daniel is gonna be able to reveal dreams and interpretations of visions.

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When you get to chapter seven, chapter two is full of it. You get to chapter four, there's another one. And then you get to chapter seven to the end of the book, there's a ton of visions and dreams

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that Daniel has to interpret and include in his prophecy.

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But God gave him that ability.

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God blessed them spiritually.

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Now, God also blessed them professionally.

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So he blessed them physically, spiritually, and professionally. Look at verses 18 to 21.

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Then at the end of the days, which the king had specified for presenting them,

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the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar.

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The king taught with them and out of them all, not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle, and Azariah.

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So they entered the king's personal service. You ought to underline that in your notes there.

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They entered the king's personal service. What was God doing with them?

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Well, God had a plan and a purpose,

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and God was using them to show that there's only one God. There's only one God. Remember, Babylon was a polytheistic nation.

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They had many gods,

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and the Jewish people were monotheistic. They only believed in one God.

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So God, in his sovereign grace and mercy and power, sent the best of the best to Babylon

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to declare that there's only one God.

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Now, when you get over to chapter four,

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in chapter three, you're gonna notice

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that there's a turn in the heart of Nebuchadnezzar,

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and he has an aha moment.

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Now, look at this.

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Let me just start over with verse 1821. Then at the end of the days, which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar, not before Ashburnaz,

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before the king of Babylon.

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The king taught with them, and out of them all, not one was found like Daniel, Hennoniah, Michelle, and Azariah, so they entered the king's personal service. Look at verse 20 again. As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them,

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he found them 10 times better,

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and all the magicians and conjurers who were in his realm.

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Notice verse 21.

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"And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king."

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Now, that's not a little throwaway line in the scripture.

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You know what that means? It means that Daniel served pagan kings

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for approximately 70 years.

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Most scholars think that Daniel lived till he was about 90 years old.

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And he served one king, a pagan king after the other, and he had a profound impact on all of them.

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You see, when we honor God, God honors us.

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John MacArthur stated, Daniel served in his influential position for 70-plus years. His integrity and uncompromising character had far-reaching results.

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For when I see the wise men coming from the east,

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now, John MacArthur's going over into the first century

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when Jesus was born. Look at this. I think of the impact Daniel's theology must have had upon the Chaldeans astrology.

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God gave him, look, one thing God blessed them with was influence,

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intelligence and influence.

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God gave him the influence that I believe led to the decree of Cyrus

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to send the people back to their land. Do you realize that Cyrus was king of the king? Of the Medes and the Persians. And do you realize that Persia is present-day Iran?

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And so you got the king of Persia or Iran sending the Jews back to their land.

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Do you realize, you know, this little idea, God honors those who honor him and he doesn't honor those who don't honor him. Do you realize what's happening in Iran today?

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In Iran today, they are having a massive cataclysmic drought.

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I mean, they're squeezing every drop of water they can find anywhere.

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Do you know what Netanyahu has offered?

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Netanyahu and the Jewish people have perfected

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taking sea water and running it through a desalinization plant and bring fresh water.

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And Netanyahu has sent messages to the people of Iran, not to the Islamic leaders, but to the people of Iran. But we'll be glad to help you get some water.

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We'll help you.

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And so all of this is going on.

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Don't think it is a happenstance. It's not a happenstance.

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It's a sovereign plan of God.

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All right, look at this.

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So Cyrus, the king of Persia and the Medes,

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ordered that the Jewish people could go back to their land.

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That's when the walls were rebuilt

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and Ezra went back and it was rubbable.

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And God gave him influence, and I believe led to the Cree,

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influence that eventually led the wise men, look at this, led the wise men

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to crown the king who was born in Bethlehem.

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Where did those wise men come from?

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The East.

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What's East? Babylon.

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Babylon.

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So Daniel was behind the scenes of the history of the Messiah as well as the Messiah's people. Daniel had unlimited influence for through his prophecy, he brings homage to the one who is king of kings and Lord of lords who reigns forever.

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You know what's interesting? You study what the Bible says about the wise men coming from the East and asking to see the king, the king of the Jews.

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The Jewish leaders had the prophecies right before them, but they didn't understand it and they miss Jesus.

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And yet here are these wise men from the East who I believe were heavily influenced by Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle and Azariah, and they get it. And they come looking for the king of the Jews.

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That's the influence of a believer who chooses to honor God.

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Do you realize you can have some influence over people in your life? You can have influence over your family.

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You can have influence over your community.

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You can have influence over your kids and your grandkids.

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All of that's possible if you just choose

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to set some parameters for what you will do and what you won't do and to set them early on,

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not in the heat of the battle.

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All right.

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So I wanna close our discussion of chapter one

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by asking and answering a couple of questions.

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How does this text point to Christ?

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Well, think about it. Daniel and his three companions remain faithful to their true identity.

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They obey God and they were a shining testimony witness both to God's providence and to his grace.

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It's like God sent these four Hebrew teenagers on a mission trip.

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They left what was familiar.

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They went to a foreign land to bear witness to kings and nations in foreign lands for the sake of God.

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So these four young men typify another Hebrew who will arrive 600 years later,

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who was also sent to a foreign land to bear witness to the one true God.

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And this Jewish baby was named Jesus.

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Like Daniel and his friends, the son of God would leave his home in heaven and willingly embrace a sinful world without defiling himself.

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He would find favor with God and man, the Bible says, in Luke 2 40 and 52.

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And when he was still a child, 12 years old, he went to the temple with his family for one of the great feast

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and he stayed behind in the temple, remember?

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And he met with the priest there in the temple and the Bible says in Luke 2 47, they were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

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And then Jesus is a very embodiment of the wisdom of God.

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Look at 1 Corinthians chapter one.

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1 Corinthians chapter one, just take your Bible flip over there.

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Look at verse 30.

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But by his doing, you are in Christ Jesus

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who became to us wisdom from God.

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What kind of gifts did God give? What kind of rewards did he give to the four Hebrew teenagers we're talking about in chapter one? He gave them gifts of wisdom and understanding.

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But I want you to know, if you're a born again believer,

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you have access to all the wisdom of God

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if you're in Christ. But by his doing, you're in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

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See, I believe that when you study the Old Testament,

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you got to look for Jesus in the Old Testament.

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He's there.

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I promise you, he's there.

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But you got to look for it.

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And it's amazing that the parallels between these four Hebrew teenagers and the Lord Jesus. So what are the lessons for today?

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What can you and I carry away today

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from our study in Daniel chapter one? We're just laying the foundation for the rest of the book.

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Number one, indoctrination by the secular culture is a present danger.

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Lesson number one.

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I mean, we are inundated

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by the media and the entertainment industry and our nation by politicians,

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by a godless educational system. We are inundated, we are absolutely inundated

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with a secular mindset.

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Anti-God input everywhere we turn. You know what amazes me?

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It amazed me that when this tragedy occurred where this demonic man went to this Catholic school and started shooting through the windows.

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You know what he said?

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He said he got gratification from watching kids die. How sick is that?

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And a lot of response while we're praying.

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And then some of the secular elites in our culture absolutely had a conniption fit because we mentioned prayer. You read about it, you know what they say.

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Some of the headliners on CNN talked about how useless it was to pray. We gotta do something.

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I tell you, God can do more in one second than we can do in a lifetime. We ought to pray. We ought to pray. We ought to pray. We ought to pray. We ought to pray. We ought to pray. We ought to pray.

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We ought to pray when a tragedy occurs. We ought to pray for the families.

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We ought to pray for the kids who are wounded. We ought to pray for God to reign in the evil in our land to bring spiritual awakening to our land, revival to churches.

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We ought to pray.

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You know the bad thing is

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this battle is going on for our mind and our heart.

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And a lot of believers are like ostriches.

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They've stuck their head in the sands and they don't even see it.

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I know nobody in this room and nobody watching live stream has your head stuck in the sand. I know you understand the battle is on.

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And the battle will continue until the Lord Jesus comes.

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And we've got to get in the battle.

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We got to put on the armor of God

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because we're fighting for something that's worth fighting for.

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Here's the second lesson.

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I see.

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We must decide in event. I've said this already. We must decide in event. We must decide in advance that we will not compromise.

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You do understand that these four Hebrew teenagers are not the only people in the Bible who decided they wouldn't compromise.

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Think about Joseph.

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Joseph.

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Many scholars look at him as a type of Christ.

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He wasn't Christ, but he was a type of Christ.

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I mean, his brothers try to kill him.

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They sold him into slavery.

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He was sold to a man in Egypt called Potiphar

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as a slave.

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Potiphar's wife made a move on him.

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You know what?

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Joseph resisted that move.

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And she lied about him.

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And he was thrown into prison.

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So Potiphar's house to prison.

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And finally, in prison,

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he interpreted a dream,

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just like Daniel could, he interpreted a dream for Pharaoh and became the prime minister of Egypt, the second in command.

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But I'll tell you what, Joseph made up his mind that he would not compromise.

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He wouldn't compromise sexually with Potiphar's wife.

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He would not compromise.

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And we've got to make up our minds.

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Now, when,

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when Daniel and his friends were taken to Babylon,

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they all learned the Babylonian language.

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They all learned the Babylonian customs,

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the culture, they didn't rebel.

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And when they, even when they changed their names,

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they didn't rebel.

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But when they said this,

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you have to eat the king's food and drink the king's wine,

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they said, I'm sorry, I can't do it.

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There was a place they would not go.

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Do you have those places? Do you know where they are?

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Do you?

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I hope and pray you do.

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Because if you don't, you need to identify your convictions and your commitment.

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Number three, God honors those who honor him.

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I don't want you to miss what God did for Daniel and his friends. God protected Daniel, he prospered Daniel, he promoted Daniel.

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I mean, Daniel is a real hero of the faith.

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In 1873,

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P.P. Bliss wrote a gospel song about Daniel.

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It was called Dare to Be a Daniel.

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And here's the words,

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standing by a purpose true,

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Heeding God's command,

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Honor them, the faithful few.

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All hail to Daniel's band.

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Many mighty men are lost, daring not to stand,

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who for God have been a host by joining Daniel's band.

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Many giants great and tall, stalking through the land, headlong till the earth would fall, if met by Daniel's band.

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Hold the gospel banner high,

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onto victory grand, Satan and his host defy,

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and shout for Daniel's band.

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Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone,

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dare to have a purpose firm,

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dare to make it known.

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I pray the words of this song over all of us.

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Now I want you to make note of the fact,

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make note of the fact that I finished early tonight.

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(Congregation Laughing) Okay?

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So I'm gonna bank those minutes

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for when we get to the prophetic section of Daniel, okay? So how many minutes am I banking here? Let's see. That would be 11 minutes.

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11 minutes, I'm banking, so remember that, okay?

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All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much.

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Lord, it's fun to study the Bible.

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It's fun to talk about the great heroes of the faith.

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And Lord, I pray that every person in this room and every person watching live stream

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would dare to be a Daniel.

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Oh God, help us. Lord, we live in a day and time

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when the enemy is launching a ferocious attack against us. The secular world is seeking to suck us down into its malaise. But oh God in heaven,

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help us to have Daniel's resolve

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that we would not compromise,

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that we would stand for you and stand for truth.

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Lord, we love you.

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Use us this week. For the rest of this week, Lord, let us be a Daniel. In Christ's name, amen. Thank you, God bless you.