Test Of Faith

Test of Faith

Am Service October 4th 2009

Daniel 1:1-21

Introduction

Today we will begin a brand new series titled “Faith Under Fire” taken from the book of Daniel.

The world, in which we live, is not conducive to a growing faith in Christ. In fact I would say it is the opposite, it has the potential to destroy your faith if you are not careful how you live.

Everyday that we are alive as Christians our faith is under fire. Not unlike the characters of this book of the bible. When King Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, in about 605 B.C. fought against Israel, God allowed the Israelites to lose, and for some to be carried off into captivity in Babylon hundreds of miles away.

These Israelites are far away from home, no parents, no church, and for some I am quite sure felt as if there was no God. For four of these young men, this was truly a test of there faith, and they were determined to pass the test.

Faith is strengthen by testing, no exceptions, we don’t like it, but it is true. When we go through faith test, it is in those times when our faith in God will grow. As we will see in the first two verses of this book God allows the testing, in order to grow us in our faith, and in order for us to be more like Him.

Today from this passage of scripture, I want us to learn four of tests of our faith so that we can be better equipped when those test come.

Read Scriptures: Daniel 1:1-21

I. Test One: Isolation

Vs. 3-4 “Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility- young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.”

The first test of our faith as found in this passage is the test of isolation. Think about this for a moment. How do you act or talk when you are the only Christian around? When nobody really knows or cares that you are a Christian, how do you act?

Isolation is a major test because, when we are the only one, it is apart of our fallen nature, to want to fit in, so many times we try to blend in.

Look at these Hebrew boys, they were taken away from everything that was sacred and religious to them, no more Temple worship, no more priesthood to burn your offerings for sin, for the most part no more parents, they were isolated from everything that they new to be of their faith, they were totally isolated in a far away land in Babylon.

America is our modern day Babylon, it is possible in our day and time to be the only true Christian out on the job, or in your family, or out and about in our daily lives, maybe isolated in your home, just you and your computer, just you and your boyfriend or girlfriend, what do you do, or how do you act when you are isolated? How you answer that question, will determine whether or not you pass the test of isolation.

II. Test Two: Indoctrination

Vs. 4b “He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.”

If you don’t think this is a major test of our faith in our day and time, then maybe you are living with your head in the sand. We are bombarded daily with this issue of indoctrination.

In fact, we are in the shape we are in today as a nation, as far as having politicians who uphold Christian values, because we have fallen victim to indoctrination.

We have text books in some public school systems that teach our young children from Kindergarten on up that same sex families are okay, they are no different than a family with a mom and a dad.

We have text books, and this one I know for a fact, in our public school system that teach the Theory of Evolution as fact, even though it is an unproven Theory. We are taught in science class, that a theory is an educated guess, then why is the Theory of Evolution taught as fact in our text books, now I will say this to balance that, God has planted some great Christian teachers who risk there jobs, who by law have to teach this theory, but they teach it as a unproven theory.

Not only in our school system, and government, but it is all over the television, and written media, girls, and women are indoctrinated with this idea that you have to be a size 0 or 1 to look normal, when in reality you are beautiful just the way you are, young woman who has had children, don’t let the world lie to you and tell you, “you need plastic surgery”, to be beautiful, you are already beautiful just they way God made you.