Staying True At Babylon U

Introduction

Last week I saw several friends pause their current sermon series and kind of pull the car over and speak to the cultural moment that we find ourselves in. While we didn’t do that last week, we did look at God’s call on His people to be a people who speak the truth, who repent of their sins, and trust in the Lord! This week I had a 2nd surgery to remove a kidney stone, and got to spend more time than normal out of the office. Seemingly everyone is talking about how nervous they feel about our world right now. They don’t know what tomorrow will hold. With unknowns, unrest, and uncertainties surrounding us, people are struggling to find hope. See, times of crisis reveal what is inside of someone, and where they place their hope. Think of a time of crisis that you have been in recently.

500 years ago, Martin Luther stood before the Diet of Worms and the Catholic leaders demanded that he recant his beliefs, or else he would die. Luther said, “My conscience is bound to the Word of God. I can do no other. Lord help me.”

There was a doctor in Japan years ago whose father was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and calling on people to repent of their sins and follow Christ as Lord. The authorities discovered this and told him to stop preaching the Gospel and to publicly deny Christ. He was unable to do this and the authorities cut off his thumbs as a result.

As one father said after his son was tortured for following Christ, “The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Throughout the history books we see example after example of people being faithful to stand on the Word, regardless of the cost. They stayed true and didn’t compromise, even when the fires of suffering were nice and hot all around them. Think of that word, compromise, for a minute. We live in a world that has compromised on much. Specifically in the church, we see churches say that they believe in the Bible, but they don’t teach it. They say that they believe in Jesus, but they don’t teach that Jesus is the only way to be saved. People say that they believe in sin, until that sin is committed by a family member and then its suddenly a subjective area of gray instead of the black and white issue that they used to think. People believe in the Bible’s teaching about relationships and marriage, until they enter into a sinful one and do so claiming God’s blessing even though they know it’s not Biblical.

All around us, we see a world of confusion and a world of compromise. In this strange new world, we have 2 options: Christ or Chaos. We desperately need to be men and women of faith. Faith that flourishes in the fire. Boldness in a world of brokenness. As we look around and see a dark and broken world, we’re going to pull over in our study of Luke for a few weeks and we’re going to work through what it looks like to stand firm in a fallen world. We’re going to see how we are called to be bold for Jesus, even when it costs us. We’ll be reminded that even when the bottom drops out, God is still good, faithful, sovereign, gracious, and merciful! He’s got us.

This morning, join me turning to Daniel 1 and let’s read God’s Word together

Daniel 1 CSB

1 In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. 2 The Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God. Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon, to the house of his god, and put the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3 The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility— 4 young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the Chaldean language and literature. 5 The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to attend the king. 6 Among them, from the Judahites, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7 The chief eunuch gave them names; he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah. 8 Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief eunuch not to defile himself. 9 God had granted Daniel kindness and compassion from the chief eunuch, 10 yet he said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and drink. What if he sees your faces looking thinner than the other young men your age? You would endanger my life with the king.” 11 So Daniel said to the guard whom the chief eunuch had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then examine our appearance and the appearance of the young men who are eating the king’s food, and deal with your servants based on what you see.” 14 He agreed with them about this and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days they looked better and healthier than all the young men who were eating the king’s food. 16 So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables. 17 God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood visions and dreams of every kind. 18 At the end of the time that the king had said to present them, the chief eunuch presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king interviewed them, and among all of them, no one was found equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they began to attend the king. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king consulted them about, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and mediums in his entire kingdom. 21 Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

What a timely text - let’s ask the Lord to give us eyes to see and ears to hear this morning, let’s pray.

In Daniel 1, we see that Daniel and his friends are taken to Babylon and they’re left in a situation where it would be easy to go the way of the world around them… or they can remain true to what they know is right. We see this morning How to Stay True:

Remember God Regardless of Your Location (1-7)

The book of Daniel is a testimony of God’s faithfulness and power, but it sure doesn’t start out very positive, does it? Look in the text in verses 1-2. We see that the people of Jerusalem are surrounded by the Babylonians. Who are these Babylonians? They were the major world power in the 500s BC. They had just defeated the Egyptians in an epic showdown and they are now exerting their dominance on other regions, such as Judah. Imagine for a moment what the people of Jerusalem might of have been thinking at this point in time. Sure, the Babylonians are the big bad wolf on the block, but look back with me in Isaiah 37 as we see the city of Jerusalem surrounded by the Assyrians. Look at what God promised to do

Isaiah 37:33–36 CSB

33 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city, shoot an arrow here, come before it with a shield, or build up a siege ramp against it. 34 He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city. This is the Lord’s declaration. 35 I will defend this city and rescue it for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.” 36 Then the angel of the Lord went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!

What took place? God delivered His people! He defended His people! He destroyed their enemy! 185,000 Assyrians were killed. This is the power of God on display in fighting the battle for His people. Do you think the people of Jerusalem were remembering this here in Daniel 1:1? You’d better believe they were! Yet there were some problems here. Jehoiakim’s father was Josiah - remember the boy who became king at age 8! Yet, Jehoiakim was said to be a wicked king. He didn’t lead the people to worship God or obey God’s law. Deuteronomy 28 tells us that when God’s people don’t keep the covenant, God will punish them and one way that God punishes his people is by using foreign nations, to conquer them, and take them into exile. As we studied in Hebrews, it is so important to understand coven into language in Daniel, especially the second half of the book. Here, we see that the Babylonians conquered the Israelites. How did this happen? Was it because the Babylonians were better? Nebuchadnezzar takes the credit for this victory, after all! Was it because the Babylonian gods were better than the God of Israel? That’s what the average onlooker would assume in this culture. What do we read in verse 2 about this situation? Why did Jerusalem fall? Because God handed the city over. This confuses some people and others really don’t like the idea of God handing people over in this situation, but one of the recurring themes in Daniel is that God is in control. He is sovereign. He allows the nation to fall to the Babylonians. What question do we ask? Why? Why would God allow this? This seems to be a question many in our world are asking today, right? Why would God allow this thing to happen to this person? Why would God allow that to take place?

Why allow Jerusalem to fall? Why allow some of the bright young boys of the people to be taken to Babylon? Why? Have you ever asked that question to God? Here’s some good news: God doesn’t mind “why” questions. He can handle them! Why does God allow things to happen in our lives that we can’t fully understand? In part, so that we would trust in Him even more. Have you ever heard someone say this statement: God will never give you more than you can handle? That sounds really good to our ears, but is it really true? This is a false fruit - this isn’t in the Bible! What we do see is that God routinely does give us more than we can handle ourselves so that we will trust in Him even more and trust in ourselves and the things of this world even less! So that we rely on His timing, power, and provision. We see in our text that these people experience something that is more than they can handle. They are taken from their homes, they are removed from their families, they are taught by the Babylonian teachers, they are surrounded by a foreign people speaking a foreign language. This is too much for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah by themselves.

What did these 4 do? They clearly remembered their God regardless of their location. Think about how easy it is to forget things. I’m not just talking about forgetting car keys or the milk at the grocery store or a child at a ballgame or band practice… I’m talking about behavior. People act one way at home and another way at school and another way at church, why? Because our location impacts the way that we do things. We’ll let something slide at work or at school in part because we think that our location isn’t as important as say home or church. The root of this is forgetting our God and His power and His scope - He see’s it all. These 4 Hebrews, likely 14-16 years old, stand strong. Look at all that was taken away from them: They were enrolled at Babylon University and they would have learned math and science but they also would have learned about dream interpretation and about the chief Babylon god Marduk and the other gods and goddesses that existed. They learned things that clashed with their previous way of thinking. They were given different names, names that likely honored these new Babylonian gods. Today, we are being bombarded with beliefs that go completely against the Bible. There is an agenda being pushed that says that God isn’t real. Feelings determine truth. You can be anything you want to be. Marriage is whatever society defines it to be. Gender is fluid. Truth is subjective and changes.

Church family, I love you enough to shoot you straight. If God is creator and if God is designer (He is), then God is also definer. All that culture can do is try to redefine what God’s Word has already defined… but hear this as clear as can be: God’s Word doesn’t change. God’s Word remains the same. It’s not in need of a software update to “catch up with the times.” No, we need to stop being afraid to simply say what the Bible says.

They were relocated, re-educated, and renamed, but these boys still remembered God. Friends, in this life we will face things that are not godly and things that will tempt us to give into sin. In Babylon, where sin is celebrated, what must we do? We must remember our God. We remember WHOSE we are. We remember that He is in control.

Trust in God Regardless of Your Obligation (8-16)

Look at what happens to Daniel here in the text. Again, relocated, reeducated, renamed… But he remembers his God and we see in verse 8 that he trusts in his God. He determined what he would do and what he would not do. Do you think that this was a random decision that Daniel made in the moment? Absolutely not! This was a lifetime in the making. Now, this seems to be a strange place to draw the line, doesn’t it? He had no issue receiving a new name. He had no issue going to Babylonian school. But he did find issue with having to eat the food served at the king’s table and drinking the king’s wine. Look at the text, he asks for permission to not eat and drink this stuff. He instead asks for he and his friends to receive a salad instead of the New York Strip. Who in their right mind would think to do such a thing? Daniel did! Why? Because this violated his conscience. He was able to submit with the other 2, but not with this third thing because it would defile him. Why would this be such a big deal? Some have argued that possibly this meat was previously offered to the Babylonian god Marduk and to eat it was to pay honor to this false god. Some have argued that this meat was simply considered unclean because it violated their Jewish dietary laws that were given by God to help them stand out from the other nations in the world. Either way, to compromise here was to sin against God and Daniel could not do this. Therefore, he trusted in God and stood his ground.

Think of the background here. Daniel is 14-16 as are his friends. They are miles away from home. Their parents aren’t around. They are in the palace of the most powerful man in the world. No one would even know what they did. It’s just one steak. It’s just one sip. Conform, go with the flow. Get on the King’s good side. In our world we’d say, “It’s just one joke. It’s just one picture. It’s just one word. No one will even know.”

Yet, they stood their ground as teenagers. Billy Graham once said, “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” These 4 stood together! They encouraged one another. Whenever you stand on what is right, you encourage and strengthen others around you! How could they do this? Because their worldview was shaped by their parents and families at a young age. We aren’t told anything about Daniel’s parents in the Bible but we do see that they gave him a name that means, “God is my judge.” Do you think Daniel’s parents taught him Scripture? Do you think that they brought him to the temple?

Listen to the Shema - this Old Testament prayer of God’s people

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 CSB

4 “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.

Daniel stood on the Word because the Word was in His mind. Daniel’s worldview was shaped at a young age. See, we are all being shaped by the things around us. Things are either drawing us closer to God or further away from God. People who influence us to be more like Jesus or people who don’t even know Jesus. Activities that glorify God and activities that shame Jesus. Young people, settle it in your heart today what you will and what you will not do. Determine that today. Start while you are young. Say, “This is my line.” I will not miss church for _______. I will not participate in this activity. I will not go with the flow of the world. I will submit to Scripture.

Determine this in your heart today so that you stand tomorrow.

Whenever Lindsey and I got married, one of our first decisions was in relation to giving. We’re poor college students. But the New Testament says that God has been generous with us, and we’re supposed to give generously as well. How would we do this? We decide that it’ll be tight, but we had the conviction that we need to tithe. Time goes on, and 10% turns into 11 and 11 turns into 12. Not because it’s necessarily easy, but because we feel like God has been generous with us and we need to model that example as Christians. Fast forward to last month, and I kid you not, we had a couple of hospital bills come in and one of them was to the dollar amount of how much we give. What do you do in that moment? For us, we had determined years ago that we give to God first. So, we adjusted in a couple of other areas and it was tight, and still will be, but that determination years ago made this decision much easier.

Daniel only stood because he knew what he was supposed to do. He knew that he was supposed to trust in God. A teenager stood up to a tyrant, in part, because his parents and family members and friends told him what was right.

Ya’ll know that we’re in a world that loves god - lower g. Our world hates capital G God, but loves lower g god, just like Babylon. A world that has built empires upon the foundation and worldview of self and pride and postmodernism. We’re not in Jerusalem, we’re in Babylon. Our children are in Babylon. In Babylon, we need to raise up a generation of Daniels. Children who go into Babylon, who are in this world, but who know in their bones that they do not belong to this world. Who know the Word of God. Who stand on the Word of God. Who trust in the Word regardless of their obligation. Regardless of the cost. Where must this start? With us! Our only hope in this fight is to have the right conviction ourselves as we trust in the Lord and teach others to do the same. Who stand on the Word, even when its costly. What will trusting in the Lord cost?

Bryan Chapell is a pastoral favorite of mine and served as the president of Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis from 1994-2012. While he was there he had a full-time student who was pursuing a pastoral degree and this student’s wife, Karen, had a nice paying job as a quality control inspector for a pharmaceutical company in the area. Chapell shared this story that Karen encountered one day. One of the machines at the company produced an order of syringes that became contaminated and failed their inspection. Karen did her job and reported this to her boss, the boss did some quick math and made a cost-effective decision: Karen was ordered to sign the inspection clearance, even though the syringes were contaminated. Too much money and time would be lost to replace the syringes, the boss said, therefore, the clearance must be approved. Karen refused. But only Karen was legally allowed to sign this form. The syringes were in limbo. The boss threatened Karen, but she wouldn’t budge. Eventually the president of this large company was informed of this and told Karen that the form must be signed. Karen would have a weekend to think through things and if she came back to work on Monday and didn’t sign the form, her job would be in jeopardy.

Karen talks with her husband, Randy and they pray about the situation. This is their families only means of income during this season of life. She wouldn’t be able to get another high paying job like this easily. Randy’s education and their future outlook look differently than they hoped and dreamed depending on the choice that she makes. Bryan Chapell shared, “For this young couple, all the theological jargon and doctrinal instruction, righteousness, and holiness suddenly came down to one decision: Could they afford to remain undefiled from the contamination that the world of business urged Karen to approve?”

Sin produces doubt, righteousness produces determination. This was their moment of truth just as Daniel 1:8 was Daniel’s. God’s people trust in the Lord and they stand on His Word and do what is right believing that regardless of the outcome, God honors obedience. The point in Daniel 1 is not to eat vegetables and only drink water, the point is to obey God when your moment arrives.

Whenever you get to your moment, what will you do? Will you trust in the Lord or will you compromise? Don’t wait to find out - settle it in your heart today what you will do. Stay True in Babylon U and, 3rd,

Leave the Results to God’s Determination (17-21)

What is the result whenever we are faithful to stand on God’s Word? Some will tell you that if you do your job then God will do His job and if you are faithful then God will always send earthly blessings your way and the result will always be good! We know from Romans 8:28 that God works all things together for the good of His people. Sometimes that good and perfect result is prison time (Paul), suffering (Job), or a cross (Jesus). Other times, that good and perfect result is earthly success in the case of Daniel as he and his friends were superior to every other student who attended Babylon University. Other times like in Hebrews 11, we see that God’s people are faithful and they meet awful ends. The disciples of Jesus Christ, Deacon Stephen, the apostle Paul, each of these men are faithful to God’s Word, yet they are persecuted and lose their lives! Being faithful to King Jesus will cost you something, but it will cost you less than being unfaithful to King Jesus!

What is our calling as people? To be faithful and leave the results to God’s determination. In our text we see that God determined to bless these men for their faithfulness and obedience. He blesses them mentally, spiritually, and socially. They are given knowledge and understanding, they excelled, and there was no one like them. God still blesses His children today. If you are a believer, look at Ephesians 1:3

Ephesians 1:3 CSB

3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.

Is this a big deal? You’d better believe it is! He gives us a spiritual gift. He provides for us. He sustains us. Even in difficult situations, even in Babylon, God is still God. He is still sovereign. He hasn’t left His throne. He hasn’t abandoned His people. He is still working. He is still saving. He is still ruling and reigning. See, Nebuchadnezzar might have taken credit for all the events in this opening chapter, the destruction of the temple, the deportation of these teenage boys, and the deconstruction of their former lifestyle… But what do we see show up over and over in this chapter? Everything that happened took place because of God’s determination

Daniel 1:2 CSB

2 The Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God. Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon, to the house of his god, and put the vessels in the treasury of his god.

Daniel 1:9 CSB

9 God had granted Daniel kindness and compassion from the chief eunuch,

Daniel 1:17 CSB

17 God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood visions and dreams of every kind.

God handed them over. God granted them compassion. God gave them knowledge. Nebuchadnezzar might have thought he was in control, but it was God who was in control! Just as God brought them to Babylon and was with them in Babylon, God has a reason for us to be  in this season that we’re in today. Friend, God is the same. He still rules and reigns. He still has a plan. Daniel stayed true and God honored him and kept him there until the first year of King Cyrus, of Persia, when the Jews were released from captivity. In a true sense, Daniel outlived the Babylonian empire some 65 years after he was taken from Jerusalem. Think about how Daniel and his friends point us to Jesus. Young people taken to a foreign land that worshiped sin. People on a providential mission trip to bear witness to God’s power before kings and nations. People who would remain faithful in the fires of temptation. 600 years after these 4 men stood strong on Scripture before a tyrant, a young boy would be born in a town called Bethlehem who would be perfectly faithful to His Father while living in a world of sin. He would fulfill His mission trip purpose of proclaiming the Gospel message to repent and believe. A Savior who would remain perfectly faithful to His Father’s plan, even through temptation and suffering. His name is Jesus. Jesus is the greater Daniel. The greater Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When the true evil emperor tempted Jesus to defile himself with food, Jesus remained faithful. But consider the result: Daniel was delivered and exalted and promoted through faithfulness to God. Jesus was delivered over to the authorities, humiliated, and crucified on a cross. Aren’t you thankful for His faithfulness?

At the end of the day, the reason that we remember our God in challenging times and trust in Him is because of Who He is. He is the covenant keeping God. He is eternally faithful. We can’t control outcomes, but we can control faithfulness

Church, Babylon can call us what it wants, Babylon can teach us whatever it wants to, but we will not be defiled by Babylon. We are adopted children of the king. Jesus has us. We will stand on His Word - come what may. Mountain high or broken road. God is our rock and we will not be moved. As we stand on His Word, it will cost us. In the story shared by Bryan Chapell with Karen and her husband, Randy, being faithful cost her her job. Faithfulness to God cost Martin Luther his life. Faithfulness to God has cost people jobs, starting positions on sports teams because of an unwavering conviction to not miss church, it has cost people their lives.

My question for you is this: Is Jesus worth the cost?

If you know Jesus, then you know the answer to this question is a resounding YES He is worth it!

Possibly, though, you’re here this morning and you don’t know this Jesus. You don’t have this hope. Or possibly you’ve heard about this Jesus and this hope, but you personally don’t possess it. You look at this story in Scripture of a young boy remaining true to His God hundreds of miles away and you’re thinking why on earth would Daniel do this? Here’s why: Following Jesus is costly, but not nearly as costly as refusing to follow Him. If you’re here this morning and you don’t know this Jesus, understand the seriousness of your condition. We are living in a fallen, broken, godless world marked by sin. Not only is our world broken with evil, but we ourselves are broken sinful people. We see this in our daily lives. We do things that we shouldn’t do and we don’t do things that we should do. Contrary to Bruno Mars, we’re not perfect just the way that we are. We’re all broken and sinful. We need saving! Friend, this is what Jesus alone does. He saves us. He fixes us. He changes us. In a world of compromise, stand on His never changing Word.

Young people, my heart breaks for you because of the world you’re growing up in… But just as God had Daniel in Babylon for a reason, God has you here for a reason. Standing for Jesus in Babylon is costly… but it’s worth it. Our community is starving for hope and answers, and we have both. We have a light that shines bright in the darkness. Let’s tell others about the God who saves sinners!

How Can I Make Sure I Stand on Scripture Today?

Reset Your Mind (I Belong to God, not this world)

There is a part in our minds as humans that wants to fit in. Our world says to do what we want. But Romans 12:1-2 tells us to not conform to the ways of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. We must reset our mind and remember that I belong to God… not to this world.

Rephrase The Question (Does this glorify God and align with Scripture, not is this popular?)

Instead of asking if I can do something, or if I have the right to do something, or if this is trending… rephrase the question: Does this glorify God? God’s Word is our authority. It is inspired. Inerrant. Sufficient. When we face tough moments, ask if something aligns with Scripture. If not, the answer is no.

Rest in God’s Sovereignty (Be faithful to the Word, and let the chips fall where they may)

Sometimes we make decisions in fear. We look around our world today and we see division and confusion, and maybe it seems like the best thing to do is to do nothing. But in Babylon, you can’t do nothing. When good men do nothing, evil triumphs. Our responsibility is to be faithful… and afterward, rest. Speak the truth in love, and let the chips fall where they may.

We might be in Babylon, but we aren’t Babylonians. We’re just passing through this world. And our responsibility is to stay true while we’re at Babylon U.