“A NON-NEGOTIABLE FAITH”
Daniel 1:1-16
INTRO: 1. Sometimes our faith can become an inconvenience. It will place us in inconvenient
situation.
a. It can put us at odds with those around us. If not, it’s time you take a look at your relationship with God.
b. ILL. When the boss man suggests that you lie to keep your job – your faith can be an inconvenience.
c. ILL. When the guys at work start telling filthy jokes while you’re standing there – your faith can be an inconvenience.
d. ILL. When the cashier gives you more money back than was due you – your faith can be an inconvenience.
e. How we respond to such times, will determine the quality of our walk with God.
2. Jesus best describes our state in His prayer to the Father:
John 17:14-16 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
a. We are aliens to this world because we are not of this world.
b. We are strangers to this world because they do not understand our values or our world view.
c. ILL. George Shultz, when Secretary of State during the Reagan administration, kept a large globe in his office. When newly appointed ambassadors had an interview with him and when ambassadors returning from their posts for their first visit with him were leaving his office, Shultz would test them. He would say, "You have to go over the globe and prove to me that you can identify your country." They would go over, spin the globe, and put their finger on the country to which sent--unerringly. When Shultz’s old friend and former Senate majority leader Mike Mansfield was appointed ambassador to Japan, even he was put to the test. This time, however, Ambassador Mansfield spun the globe and put his hand on the United States. He said: "That’s my country." On June 27, 1993, Shultz related this to Brian Lamb on C-Span’s "Booknotes." Said the secretary: "I’ve told that story, subsequently, to all the ambassadors going out. ’Never forget you’re over there in that country, but your country is the United States. You’re there to represent us. Take care of our interests and never forget it, and you’re representing the best country in the world.’ "
c. We must never forget where our home and our allegiance is – Heaven.
3. Daniel worked in a land that was hostile to the faith he held.
a. His bosses were some of the most powerful, most ruthless, and egotistical kings in all ancient history.
b. To contradict these men could mean death.
c. The book of Daniel is a record of the many times Daniel’s faith placed him in inconvenient and uncomfortable circumstances where the odds were the highest.
4. It was this atmosphere that Daniel stood firm with a “Non-negotiable Faith”.
5. He knew what it meant to have his faith put him in some inconvenient places.
a. His faith would put Him in front of one king that wanted an interpretation of His dream or Daniels head.
b. His faith would put Him in a den of Lion’s
c. His faith would put Him in the middle of One King’s wildest parties reading God’s judgment for him off the wall.
d. The three Hebrew children’s faith would put them in a fiery furnace.
6. Daniel teaches us that living with a non-negotiable faith was a matter of the seriousness of subtle, small choices.
a. No one would have blamed him for eating the King’s food - it was out of his hands, right?
b. No one would have blamed him for putting his prayer life on hold - faithfulness to this devotion would mean the lion’s den.
c. No one would have blamed the three hebrew children in chapter 3 of bowing just this one time.
d. What many believers see as an exception to the rules, these faithful men saw as non-negotiable.
e. It’s not the big decisions that determine the quality of your faith, it’s the little ones.
I. A NON-NEGOTIABLE FAITH MEANS THAT WE HAVE ESTABLISHED
NON-NEGOTIABLES IN OUR LIVES.
a. Even as young boys, Daniel and the three hebrew children had established non-negotiables in their lives.
b. Non-negotiables are more than just a set of religious beliefs, it is a commitment to risk everything we have or we are for the faith we hold.
c. Non-negotiables refuses to submit to the lie of ‘situation ethics’— it holds to truth as absolute and practical in every situation.
A. A NON-NEGOTIABLE LORD.
1. It was immediately seen whose authority these hebrew men’s lives were submitted to.
2. Divine law always superseded Man’s law, no matter the cost.
3. The three hebrew children refused to bow before anyone but Jehovah, and Daniel refused to stop bowing to Jehovah.
4. In the reign of the Roman Empire, where Caesar was proclaimed as lord, Paul wrote to the Ephesians that Jesus Christ was:
Eph. 1:21-22 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
5. Settle in your heart that no one will ever hold the power to overrule His authority in your life.
B. A NON-NEGOTIABLE TRUTH.
1. The Hebrew children refused to accept the rich diet of the kings table, because God had shown them a higher principle to live by.
2. The truth you believe is the truth your practice.
3. I constantly discover believers who have more faith in the perspective of man, than in the principles of God.
a. “That in the business world, a little lie is O.K.”
b. “That you have to look out for #1.”
c. “That you win through intimidation.”
4. Thank God for the Daniel’s in our world that will say, “God’s Truth is a non-negotiable in my life - I choose to do things His way.”
5. This world may change, but God’s truth doesn’t.
6. ILL. A prophet once came to a city to convert its inhabitants. At first the people listened to his sermons, but they gradually drifted away until there was not a single soul to hear the prophet when he spoke. One day a traveler said to him, "Why do you go on preaching?" Said the prophet, "In the beginning I hoped to change these people. If I still shout, it is only to prevent them from changing me."
C.A NON-NEGOTIABLE SERVICE.
1. Daniel proved that His service to God was not for sale.
2. Daniel was a servant to Jehovah first, to the king next.
3. Daniel refused to even deviate from His devotional schedule to accommodate for the risk he put his life in.
4. Where do your service for God fall? When you have time for it? When the boss is satisfied? When the family is satisfied?
5. God is looking for men like Daniel who are sold-out for God.
6. Daniel proved that we can serve God without neglecting our secondary commitments.
II. A NON-NEGOTIABLE FAITH NEED NOT BE CONFRONTATIONAL.
a. Daniel knew that the spirit in which we do things is as important as what we do.
b. Daniel knew that his faith could be an area of contention and confrontation, but he refused to approach it in a confrontational manner.
c. Notice how Daniel used tact to convince those to compromise their position, just a little.
“Tact is the art of making a point, without making an enemy.”
A. OUR FIRST OPTION MUST ALWAYS BE A “PEACEFUL” SOLUTION.
Heb. 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
1. We are never to use our faith as a weapon of self-righteousness.
2. Daniel had learned to live peaceably in a world that was hostile to what he believed.
3. Daniel wasn’t motivated by his own personal ego to prove those around him wrong.
4. Daniel wasn’t motivated to defend God, He knew God would speak for himself.
5. Daniel was only motivated by a desire to follow God and give him all the glory.
6. When our motives are pure we can live peaceably with men. We must check our motives before responding to confrontational situations.
III. A NON-NEGOTIABLE FAITH MEANS EMBRACING
THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CONVICTIONS.
a. The three hebrew children best exemplifies this principle in their statement to the King:
Dan. 3:17,18 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
b. No matter the consequences, their faith still stands as non-negotiable.
c. Are you willing to have a faith that may cost you?
ILL. Cost Moses Pharaoh’s Palace and authority.
Cost the Apostle Paul his position and reputation as a Pharisee.
Cost Jesus His Life.
A. WE CAN ONLY STAND SUCH A TEST, WHEN WE VALUE WHAT WE HAVE MORE THAN WHAT WE LOSE.
1. Jesus describes this attitude in the parable of the “Pearl Of Great Price”.
2. We will never effectively serve God, until the Kingdom Of God is worth surrendering everything else in our lives.
3. Daniel and the three hebrew children valued the God they served more than their lives.
B. WE CAN ONLY STAND SUCH A TEST WHEN WE’VE FOUND THE BEST WAY.
1. Daniel had to be a firm believer that the path he had chosen was the best path and so must we. He trusted the path he had chosen and it brought blessing to his life.
2. All that life needs to be for us is wrapped up in a single package: Jesus Christ.
3. He’s all the direction we ever needed: He is THE WAY.
4. He’s all the revelation we ever needed: He is THE TRUTH.
5. He’s all the fulfillment we ever needed: He is THE LIFE.
C. WE CAN ONLY STAND SUCH A TEST WHEN WE KNOW GOD IS ULTIMATELY IN
CONTROL OF MY LIFE
1. When we truly trust God, we’re willing to put everything into His hands, even our lives.
2. You can take a stand even when it costs you – if you know without a doubt, He’s still in charge.
3. ILL. After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek-up a mountain to assess the inferno’s damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother’s wings.
4. God will take you through the fire under His wings.
CONCLUSION: Isn’t it time you embraced a non-negotiable faith?
