Sermon Tone Analysis

Excellence: By whose standard?

Excellence: By whose standard?

Let’s begin by reading the key texts:

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom;

2 and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss.

3 Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him.

And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

4 Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

The modern understanding of excellent implies something of highest comparable quality.

ex•cel•lent \ˈek-s(ə-)lənt\ adjective

[Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin excellent-, excellens, from present participle of excellere] 14th century

1 archaic: SUPERIOR

2: very good of its kind: eminently good: FIRST-CLASS—ex•cel•lent•ly adverb

Inc Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

(Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003).

The thing about excellence is that someone has to do the measurement.

It’s not enough just to be good at what you do or say, someone has to say that you are.

Here’s a good example of inferred excellence:

even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD.

God presents Noah, Daniel and Job as examples of righteousness.

Here, He makes the comparison between a land is plagued by persistent unfaithfulness, and these three men.

God here says that the punishment due that land would not be dissuaded by the righteousness of these three men.

This is a good example of comparable excellence - someone has to make the observation.

The point of this talk today is for us to ask one question:

Who determines your excellence?

Script Breakaway: Talk about achievements, and who acknowledges them.

- 2 Min

We’ll use Daniel as our case study.

Events around Daniel’s life

For their sins, for idolatry and unrighteousness, from about 600 B.C., the last wave of Israelites were taken captive, and among them was Daniel and his three companions, who would later be identified by Ashpenaz as handsome, wise, knowledgeable and quick to learn.

After interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Chapter 2, Daniel was promoted, and in turn promoted his friends.

So Daniel was a prominent government official.

His friends in Chapter 4 found themselves in trouble with the King, but were subsequently rescued by God.

Nothing is mentioned about them after that.

The story of Daniel, however, continues.

He survives Nebuchadnezzar and his son, and is even when the regime changes over from the Babylonians to the Medes and Persians in Chapter 5, Daniel is still appointed as one of the three most powerful men in the region.

Daniel gets into trouble in Chapter 6 when his colleagues realize he cannot be corrupted.

Such people aught to be eliminated, no one with so much power should be that virtuous - they cause trouble for others.

So they set a trap to have him killed, but God rescues him.

Chapter 7 to 12 comprises of Daniel’s conversations with God.

These conversations are of significant importance to us today, I challenge all of us to read them, ask God to help you understand them.

The case for Excellence - Three dimensions

Where do you get your knowledge?

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,

For wisdom and might are His.

21 And He changes the times and the seasons;

He removes kings and raises up kings;

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,

For wisdom and might are His.

21 And He changes the times and the seasons;

He removes kings and raises up kings;

In Chapter 2, Daniel seems to understand the political situation of the time.

He started seeing the Hand of God in the events that were occurring, beginning with his and his countrymen’s exile from Judah to Babylon in the East.

It is clear where this knowledge comes from:

Script Breakaway - Talk briefly about the Holy Spirit, His role in shaping knowledge and understanding (The inspiration of the Bible, current affairs etc) 5 min

2. The Story is about God

There are three powerful individuals who had an opinion about the reality they lived in.

These people all contended with Daniel or his friends, and this was their conclusion (at least for two of them):

Regarding the Humbling of Nebuchadnezzar:

Belshazzar:

King Darius:

Notice the confessions of these Kings.

They understand and acknowledge the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the ultimate authority on the earth.

This story is about Him, not them.

So, how well do we know this story?

3.

Where we are in the story

It is important to understand what is happening now.

For Daniel, he clearly did - he understood why he was in exile, he realized what he must do, and did it earnestly:

God went on to explain to Daniel what would happen to the Israelites.

God laid out the entire plan for the world to Daniel, a man He called beloved.

At the end of God’s explanation of the future, here’s what Daniel said:

Response

Why do you want to be excellent?

To show off?

To gain more prosperity?

To be more powerful?

Do you understand this is not your story, but God’s?

Knowing this, what manner of person aught you to be? Do you honor God by what you know?

Script Breakaway: Talk about life’s distractions - how hard it is to read and study the Bible, how hard it is to relate the times we live in with the Almighty God - 5 Min

Will God testify of your excellence eventually?