Standing Out
Series: The Book of Daniel
Slide Introduction
Today we are starting a brand-new message series on the book of Daniel.
And what we are going to do in this series is look at some of the important point’s in the life of Daniel and some of his friends. We’re going to look at some of the moment’s when Daniel and company took a stand for what is true and what is right. We’re going to see how Daniel and company choose God over culture and comfort.
We’re going to talk about taking a stand. Because here’s the deal, we all stand for something, right? We all make our own choices, we all express our own views and opinions, right? We all take a stand on something.
And so, as Christ followers we want to make sure we are standing out in the right way, at the right moment, and for the right reason.
And so, for this week and next week, we’re going to talk about standing out
And so, what I want to do right now is give you a little bit of the back story as to what is going on in Daniel 1.
For years and years, the prophets like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Micah had been warning the Israelites, ‘Hey you need to get your act together. You need to turn from what you are doing and what you are living for and you need to turn back to God.’
And yet, there was just this constant rebellion from God’s people and so God finally has had enough and He sends the Babylonian’s into Judah too over take Jerusalem.
God’s basically, saying, ‘All right I warned you time and time again to clean up your act and get right with me. You’ve worn out my patient’s and so I am sending this pagan nation to overtake you.’
And the Babylonian’s are some bad, bad people. They are led by a King named Nebuchadnezzar and they’re a fearsome bunch but they’re also very smart bunch.
For example, when they invaded a country-it’s a guarantee victory. And so, the Babylonians would usually take the most talented and useful people back to Babylon and they would leave the poor behind to take whatever land they wanted.
It was actually a clever system because they were actually creating this system of loyalty. You’re giving land and resources to people who never really had anything to begin with and you’re also taking the best of the best, brainwashing them, retraining them, and putting them into some kind of civil service.
Kind of smart on their part, and we’re going to see this unfold in Daniel 1
Slide During the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
Slide The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah and permitted him to take some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God. So Nebuchadnezzar took them back to the land of Babylonia and placed them in the treasure-house of his god. Daniel 1:1-2 (NLT)
I’ve warned you, and warned you and now I am going to allow the enemy to overtake you. God allows the Babylonians to overtake the Israelites. And yet, we see in the coming verse God’s mercy and grace as he allows this small remnant to remain while in exile.
Slide Verse 3: Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief of staff, to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah’s royal family and other noble families, who had been brought to Babylon as captives.
Slide “Select only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men,” he said. “Make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good judgment, and are suited to serve in the royal palace.”
Slide “Train these young men in the language and literature of Babylon.” The king assigned them a daily ration of food and wine from his own kitchens. They were to be trained for three years, and then they would enter the royal service. Daniel 1:3-5 (NLT)
Now here’s what I want you to know, this was very intentional and very strategic, and the whole purpose behind this was to transform these young men from young Jewish boys to Babylonians.
And so not only were they taken to a whole new land, but they’re also going to get new names, they’re going to have these new customs, these new ideas, and a new language.
Basically, for the next three years, these teachers are going to try and indoctrinate these young men to think like Babylonians thought, behave like Babylonians behaved, and believe what Babylonians believed.
And yet, this what the church is accused of doing, right?
But the reality is this is what the world is doing to the church. The world is enticing the church to step away from its calling and teaching to follow it.
And when I am talking about the world, I am not talking about the people, no, I am talking about a spiritual enemy that is in this world enticing us.
I am talking about a spiritual enemy that is telling you and I that it is ok to behave this way. It's ok to be unloving and spiteful toward others. It’s ok for you to live this way. It’s ok for you to do these things. It’s completely ok for you to act and behave like the culture around you.
We have a spiritual enemy that is constantly telling us that its ok to mirror the world around while making you feel like garbage and shameful when you do.
Slide That’s why these word from the Apostle Paul are so important: Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
Slide For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, [realize that this morning, we’re not at war with the culture and the people living within it, no we’re at war with a spiritual enemy that has taken our culture and the people with in it hostage.] but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
Slide Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Ephesians 6:11-13 (NLT)
Realize we have a spiritual enemy that is wanting to do harm to you and so many others.
Slide The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. [And yet we have a good, good, father that wants…] My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10 (NLT)
Slide Look at verse 6 in Daniel 1: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen, all from the tribe of Judah. The chief of staff renamed them with these Babylonian names:
Slide Daniel was called Belteshazzar.?Hananiah was called Shadrach.?Mishael was called Meshach.?Azariah was called Abednego.
Daniel 1:6-7 (NLT)
Now I want to give you a little bit of context here because some of you might be wondering, ‘Why in the world would they change their names?’
Understand most scholars believe that these boys are somewhere between the ages of 12 to 15 years old. And so, we’re talking junior high, freshman-sophomore kids right here.
And the reason why this is so key and the reason why they are doing this is because they’re basically stripping away their identity.
Because think about what is happening between those ages, think about yourself or think about your own children, this is when kids are trying to form their own identity, they’re trying to figure out who they are and they’re grasping and searching for their own meaning and purpose.
And yet, all of that is being stripped away and replaced. Because here’s the deal, their original names were all tied to the worship of the one true God. Their names had meaning and purpose. Look at this…
Slide Daniel (God is my judge) was called Belteshazzar (Bel protect his life)?Hananiah (the LORD shows grace) was called Shadrach (under the command of Aku)?Mishael (who is like God) was called Meshach (who is like Aku)?Azariah (the LORD helps) was called Abednego (servant of Nebo)
And now these new names are all tied to these foreign, pagan gods. And I just want you to think about this for a moment because what a reminder it would have been when someone is referring to you by name.
What a reminder that your old identity, your old way of life has been stripped away and now you’re in this foreign land, serving this foreign king, and carrying the names of his pagan god.
It was a daily reminder that you were no longer your own. But it doesn’t stop with name changing, they’re also going to change their eating habits.
Slide Verse 8: But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods. Daniel 1:8 (NLT)
Now why in the world would you ever turn away food from the king’s kitchen. I mean I’m almost 100% sure that the food that is rolling out from his kitchen is way better than what you would find on the streets of Babylon.
But here’s the deal, the food from the king’s kitchen would defile them-it would make them unclean because this meat and this wine would have been offered to pagan gods and then served to these Jewish boys.
And this was a no, no from God. God basically said, ‘You can’t eat this or have this.’ And Daniel and company decided in their hearts and mind they’re not willing to cross that line.
And please I want you to hear me on this because even though they were living in a culture that did not honor God, these boys were still obedient to the calling of God.
And listen you and I get this because we are living in a very different world. Our culture has shifted dramatically in the past 10-15 years and it just continues to accelerating. The high Christian values that we use to regard have been kicked to the side.
And yet, even in this culture, you and I can still stand firm and not allow the culture to defile us. And Daniel shows us how to do this.
Because what’s interesting to me, when it came to the name change Daniel didn’t push back. Did you notice that? There’s no mention of push back or suggestions when it came to changing names because maybe these guys figured it wasn’t worth going to battle for.
But notice Daniel was determine to take a stand and to not cross those lines that would make him sin against the Father.
And that’s what I love about this moment and what’s so powerful in this moment because for Daniel there was a line in the sand that he would not cross. Him and his friends had decided there were somethings they would do and there were also some boundaries that they would not cross.
They had determined ahead of time that they would not defile themselves by eating the wrong kind of meat. And so, I want you to see the power in this because for these guys that didn’t wait for the temptation to come. They weren’t looking this in the face going, ‘What should I do? What should I do?’
Daniel had decided way before the temptation was at the door that He would not compromise and do this.
And this is such a powerful lesson for you and I. This really did speak volume to me this week because what do we usually do?
We usually wait for the sin to be at our door, we usually wait for the temptation to be knocking at our door and then in that moment we’re wrestling and trying to figure out what we’re going to do, right?
Because we don’t try to figure out the problem before it happens, no we try to figure out the solution when the problem happens.
And we do the something when it comes to temptation. Like we’ll deal with it when it comes. And then we’ll struggle, we’ll wrestle with it, and we’ll just feel this tremendous weight on us, and we’ll do one of two things: give in or wait to fight another day.
And yet Daniel decided ahead of time that this is the line and I will not cross it. He decided in his heart before the situation presented its self that I am not going to do this.
And so, what lines do you need to put down? What kind of boundaries do you need to set up and decide in your heart that you won’t do this and allow this?
And I’ll be honest with you, in my 20s and early 30s this is something that I would do. I would try to put up some parameter, ‘Ok, this is what I will do and this is what I want to avoid. This is what I want to be around but this isn’t what I am needing now.’
And for the most part, I was pretty good at keeping those parameters up. And even to this day there are just somethings that I will not do or lines that I will not cross.
And so maybe for some of you, no matter what your age is, maybe you need to put up some parameters. Maybe you need to lay down some lines and put up some bonders and determine in your heart not to cross theses.
Maybe for some of you, you will not talk bad about your spouse. You’re going to determine in your heart that you will not speak badly of your spouse to other people.
Maybe for some of, you’ve decided that you’re going to stay off certain sites. Like you’re no longer going to be alone at night with a phone or a computer.
Maybe for some of you its chemical dependency, you're no longer going to drink this, smoke this, eat this, inhale this, or chew this to deal with reality. Instead, you’re going to get help.
Maybe for some of you it’s emotional issues. You're not going to allow certain things in your life because of the way they affect you. Because of the things they do to you.
And so, what kind of boundaries or lines do you need to lay down before temptation comes knocking at your door?
Now I want you to notice what Daniel did next, I want you to notice his attitude and his tone. Watch this…
Slide Now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel. But he responded, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has ordered that you eat this food and wine. If you become pale and thin compared to the other youths your age, I am afraid the king will have me beheaded.”
Slide Daniel spoke with the attendant… “Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said. “At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king’s food. Then make your decision in light of what you see.”
Slide The attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion and tested them for ten days. Daniel 1:9-14 (NLT)
Now I want you to notice what these guys didn’t do. Did you notice they didn’t throw around their entitlement Christian rights, like I deserve this? Did you notice they didn’t stage a big protest with signs that tell them they’re going to hell for eating pig. They didn’t do that.
Did you notice they didn’t throw this big fit, make some kind of scene or get really, really hateful and snooty with the people in charge. Because here’s the thing, we all know people that do this, right?
We all know Christian that stand out for the wrong reasons, at the wrong time, in the wrong seasons. We all know Christians that will throw a fit, make a scene and make everyone else in the room uncomfortable.
We all know someone like that or we’ve been that person…
But did you notice the wisdom here? Did you notice the respect? Did you notice that they didn’t demand the authorities bow to them, instead that came up with a plan and presented it?
And God will honor that. God will honor our motives and our attitude when we use them to glorify Him.
Slide Verse 15: At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king. Daniel 1:15 (NLT)
Well, how does all this end?
Slide When the training period ordered by the king was completed, the chief of staff brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and no one impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the royal service. Daniel 1:18-19 (NLT)
As we are wrapping up I can’t help but wonder how much Daniel and company transformed the world around them because they did not compromise. And we’re going to see throughout the book of Daniel, how Daniel and companied transformed the people around them because they stood out.
They took a stand at the right moment, for the right reason. They were able to transform a whole kingdom because they did not compromise and took a stand for what was honorable and true.
Slide You see each one of us has a choice to make we can stand out and be transformers or we can blend in and be conformers. And I’m not saying either of these is bad, but one allows the world to squeeze you into its image and the other allows you to change the world around you.
We’re all going to stand for something, and I don’t know about you but I want to be standing for the right things, in the right way, and in the right timing. Just like Daniel and his friends
