Be Resolute
Ten Guidelines to a Meaningful Christian Life • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
We live in a time that tries to make anyone who stands firm to be an evil person.
Many call men who stand for what is right and good toxic masculinity.
We face attacks everywhere. We are attacked from every side.
We are under assault and many are folding to the pressure because it is just so hard to stand.
We see people who we never thought would fold, fold to the pressure.
We are wondering what to do.
Well, we see similar situations in Daniel.
The nation of Judah was taken into captivity.
They were taken into a place where conformity was forced on them, or they were killed.
They had names changed to fit the culture.
They were forced to train under the culture and learn it.
But, in this forced conformity one stood up and said no I will not bow to this culture and defile myself.
I will not turn my back on the Lord. I will not give in because that is easier.
If I die, I die, but I will not forsake the Lord.
He did this and three others were with Him.
We read this in...
Daniel 1:1-17 (ESV)
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. 6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. 8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. 9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” 11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. 16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. 17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
Daniel was not about to eat the food placed before him.
He knew it was wrong.
He knew that ...
Conformity is Contamination
Conformity is Contamination
Daniel knew that if he ate the foods placed before Him he would be rejecting God.
He knew that even a little dabble of that food would be a rejection of the Lord.
I see great faithfulness in this.
I see great courage in this.
Maybe you do not see that, maybe you see something that is trivial and you are confused.
Well, the Jews were under a strict dietary law.
They could not eat pork, shrimp, and many other foods that were delicacies to the Babylonians.
Neither could they drink the wine because the wine was involved in idol worship.
Daniel knew this and he stood boldly against the push of the culture.
I want you to know something about Daniel and his friends too, they were young boys. Maybe they were no older than 15 when they were taken captive.
They were at an age where they were susceptible to going with the culture.
We can probably assume that there were many youths that went with the culture.
Maybe they said we have to do this because if we do not we will be killed.
Maybe they even said “God will understand if we do because we are in this awful situation.’
But the faith of the youths were strong and they would not allow themselves to become contaminated by the culture.
Just think of the boldness this took for a youth.
I fear many today would not be so bold.
As a matter of fact many today fall for the culture and allow it to creep in.
They may not realize this but they do whenever they say it doesn’t matter what another does as long as they are not hurting you.
This is a way that the culture has crept in.
When we say things like that we are saying that truth is unimportant.
We are saying what God has said is wrong is unimportant.
But Daniel took a stand and said I will not do this and I will say why: to do so is to be defiled, contaminated.
These youths had seen their nation crumble and falter because of weak leaders allowing evil to occur.
They saw weak men falling and failing to honor God.
They saw those who compromised and what that brought upon them.
They said enough is enough we will not compromise.
We will take a stand even if it kills us.
We will not let this culture take us down that path of least resistance that only leads to eternal death.
They knew the power and authority of God and they were not going to let some little man and his false power make them fall into sinful behaviors.
It is right here where many of us falter.
We allow weak authorities cause us to fall into sinful behaviors.
We allow them to cause us to fail the test.
We lose the game.
We fall out and culture takes control.
Why do we do this?
Because
We Have Forgotten the Power of God
So we need to
Remember the Power of God
Remember the Power of God
God is an all-powerful creator God who holds the heavens and the earth together by His word (Heb. 1;1-3).
It is because of this knowledge that Daniel was able to boldly say “No, I will not eat this food or drink your drink.”
“Test your servants for ten days and see” (Dan. 1:12).
Ten days is not enough time to really demonstrate that the food was making a difference, but God moved.
Look at what the text says further down.
“At the end of the ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the kings food” (Dan. 1:15).
In ten days God did a work that demonstrated His power for those who are His faithful.
Yet, we read this and still we walk out into the world and we allow the culture that is powerless over us to tell us what to do.
God is the one who gives and takes.
Maybe the culture and the world will try and take us down.
Maybe they will take our lives, like we have seen so often with the Muslims who have taken many Christians and beheaded them.
Maybe we will be taken and locked up for boldly standing for the Lord like many Christians have in Russia.
Maybe we will be locked up for our faith like many in Canada have been because they will not waver.
Maybe we will live to be old in a foreign nation but impact many because of our faith like Daniel did as we see in Dan. 1:21 “21 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.”
Daniel lived in Babylon for 70 plus years.
Maybe we are at this place for this time for this specific reason.
Maybe we are here like these four were in Babylon.
Who can you influence by your faith and resolve to not fall into the ways of the world and culture.
Look at the rest of this book.
In Dan 2 Daniel is bold and goes before the king to save himself and his friends again.
In Dan. 3 the three friends of Daniel will not bow to the false idol set up and they are cast into the fiery furnace.
They tell Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 3:17-18 “17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
We will not bow and if you cast us in so be it. Our God can deliver us but even if He does not, we will not bow.
Then we see in Dan. 6 that a decree was sent out that no one could pray to another God than the ruler of the nation.
Daniel boldly goes up to his window where everyone can see him and prays to God.
He was not afraid of what man could do to him because he knew the one true God.
What power that is.
What power we have when we bow to only the Lord God.
What power we have in life when we let only the one true God lead us and guide us.
He is our power and authority.
He is who will strengthen you to face any and all persecution.
He is the one who will make you resolute to stand against the foolishness of the world and culture.
But there is one more thing we see in this text.
Be Resolute but Be Polite
Be Resolute but Be Polite
Daniel did not rudely say I will not eat this food.
He did not make a major Social Media post that declared that he will be taking this stand.
He did not say it to all the others.
He did not do this for attention.
What he did do was say to “the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned” over them that he wanted a test (Dan. 1:11).
He was polite in his stand but he stood.
Maybe the steward made a scene, but Daniel did not.
When we take a stand we must do it with the purpose of obedience to God, but also of love for our neighbors.
If we are rude and arrogant in our stand, we are not honoring God but ourselves.
We are to stand for the Lord but we must do this with compassion and love.
We are doing it to honor God but also to point others to Him.
I know this is a tough aspect but it is one we can do when we rest on Christ working through us.
We can’t do it on our own merits or abilities, but we can with the power of Christ working through us.
Daniel found favor and compassion with the chief because God gave that favor.
Daniel knew that God was working and he leaned into that rather than making bold and brash actions.
Yes, in Dan. 6 he makes a bold statement with his prayers, but more than likely that is what he had done every day up to that day.
He did not do something new and outrageous for extra attention, but what was normal.
When we do the normal things for the Lord every day, they can become a major thing.
Let us always honor God and commit our lives to Him in all things.
We will be rewarded for this by the Lord.
That is a certain fact.
But, it may not be how He rewarded Daniel and his friends.
They received their reward in this life as leaders because they led others to God.
We may get some of that too, but remember, even though they were blessed with positions, they were still in captivity and not free to leave and go home.
They were like trustees in prison.
Trusted to serve and do things, but still prisoners.
Our rewards will be in heaven and in glory with the Lord after we suffer here for a spell.
We are also imprisoned in a way until we are with the Lord in glory.
S, be like Daniel and resolve to not let yourself become contaminated by the culture.
Stand on the promises of the Lord and know He is with you and guiding you and will reward you for your faithfulness.
Conclusion
Conclusion
I like how this story tells us to be resolute in this world.
It’s tough to live a focused life. From every direction, something or someone clamors for our attention. A distraction draws our eyes and the next thing we know, we’ve swerved off the road and headed down another detour.
One Chicago youth pastor came up with a clever way to keep his group on track. Concerned that the balmy beaches of Florida—the site of their upcoming evangelism trip—would lure the teens from their purpose, he fashioned a cross from two pieces of lumber. Just before they climbed on the bus, he showed it to the group.
“I want all of you to remember that the whole purpose of our going is to glorify the name of Christ, to lift up the Cross—the message of the Cross, the emphasis of the Cross, the Christ of the Cross,” he announced. “So we’re going to take this cross wherever we go.”
The teenagers looked at one another, a little unsure of his plan. But they agreed to do it and dragged the cross on the bus. It banged back and forth in the aisle all the way to Florida. It went with them into restaurants. It stayed overnight where they stayed overnight. It stood in the sand while they ministered on the beach.
At first, lugging the cross around embarrassed the kids. But later, it became a point of identification. That cross was a constant, silent reminder of who they were and why they had come. They eventually regarded carrying it as an honor and privilege.
The night before they went home, the youth leader handed out two nails to each of the kids. He told them that if they wanted to commit themselves to what the cross stood for, they could hammer one nail into it and keep the other with them. One by one, the teens drove their nail into the cross.
About fifteen years later, one fellow—now a stockbroker—called the youth leader. He told him that he still keeps that nail with him in his desk drawer. Whenever he loses his sense of focus, he looks at the nail and remembers the cross on that beach in Florida. It reminds him of what is at the core of his life—his commitment to Jesus Christ.
Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 97.