Daniel: Man Of Purity Series

INTRODUCTION

Years ago, when I was a teenager, a terrible storm surged through our area one night in southern Louisiana. Power went out that night, and we awoke the next morning to find the culprit. A large stately oak tree had fallen upon the powerlines. This tree was probably 10-12 feet around and had probably been there for some time. Looking at the tree from the outside, no one would have thought it might have come down. But when we began cutting it up for removal, we soon discovered it was rotten at the core because thousands of tiny insects had eaten away at its heart. The weakness of that tree was not brought on by the sudden storm; it began the very moment the first insect nested within its bark.

Like that mighty oak, believers often imagine themselves to be stronger than they really are, and sometimes feel invincible. Then a sin is allowed for which they do not repent, and then perhaps another. Soon, excuses are being offered for why a particular sin is not a big deal. Then church is avoided, the Bible neglected, and fellowship with fellow believers goes lacking. Before long, what once was a vibrant, growing Christian becomes a waning, stagnant one.

Unrepentant and lingering sin will do the same to the heart of a believer as those insects to that oak tree. It will eat away at us. Outwardly, for a time, we may be able to hide it from those around us, but sooner or later, it will destroy us and our testimony for God.

With the Holy Spirit's help, we must be very careful to guard our purity. Daily we must be careful of the things we read, watch, listen to, and participate in so that we do not end up in impurity.

The psalmist once asked and answered a question on this subject. “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And

who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation” (Psalm 24:3-5). We would do well to heed the Word of the Lord!

BACKGROUND

This morning we will take out time machine back to a time and place just prior to the invasion of the Christ-Child into this world. Our “Unlikely Hero” lived in the 7th century BC and would never have been considered a likely candidate for a hero. His name was Daniel.

Even though Daniel appears to have been of noble birth, he was taken captive from his home in Judah by the mighty Babylonian army. He was likely only 12-15 years old. Such circumstances would not seem inducive to his becoming anyone’s hero.

Yet Babylon was a different kind of nation. Rather than just capture and incarcerate its victims, they chose the best and brightest young men in the conquered kingdom for special service to the king of Babylon. These youths were without blemish, well-favored, skillful in all wisdom, endued with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king's palace. The king commanded that they be taught the knowledge and tongue of the Chaldeans.

Daniel was one of the chosen ones. It is here, in a foreign land, that he exhibited an attribute that all Christian heroes should demonstrate: purity. He is a shining example of purity in all he did.

Our Bible passages will reveal this great characteristic of Daniel. We find his story in the book named after him, and we will examine Daniel 1:1-8, and later 6:1-5. READ:

The Bible illuminates three areas of his life in which purity was displayed:

I. Pure in His Work for God (1:8-16)

Daniel was evidently a brilliant young man and showed much promise. Being chosen to be in this program was really an honor because those who were not chosen had fewer privileges and no prestige.

However, with such honor came more temptation to leave God’s path and to forget that his God was the one, true God. His story tells us that the King himself chose to share his own food and wine with this group (5). That means it was the best and most expensive in the kingdom. But, it also meant that much of the food was not levitically clean, or kosher for these Jewish young men.

Daniel decided that he could not compromise his godly standards. He asked the chief of the eunuchs, who had charge over his group, to allow them to have only vegetables and water for ten days, and to see if they were worse than by taking what the king offered. Reluctantly he agreed, and after the time elapsed was happy to discover that they were healthier than before!