Daniel; A Servant with a Heart for God
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Good morning my friends, How are you today?
Do you feel good, Are you have happy to be alive and in God’s house today?
I know you are...
How blessed it is to come and worship together in the Lord’s house, to worship with our brothers and sisters, what a joy it is!
Today is Father’s day, and I want to say Happy Father’s day to our Dad’s today. We usually do a giveaway of some sort for our Dad’s but since we didn’t get to celebrate Mother’s day I didn’t feel like we should give away treats to our Dad’s.
But Dad’s we want you to know that we are praying for you all. You are important for many reasons. I think it is enough to say, Thank you Dad’s for all you do. Thank you for being in our church and leading your families well. God bless each of our Dad’s.
Now this morning, I want us to return to our servant series and I want us to look at the life of Daniel.
So find the Old Testament Book of Daniel and we look at his life and see this man who had a heart for God not matter the circumstances around him.
When I look at Daniel, I see a servant who has a heart for God.
Daniel’s life will experience great change, He is born and raised in the land of Israel, He enjoyed the best of life there as a member of nobility but suddenly that is all stripped away. He is in a pagan land and forced to adapt to their ways and customs. But He never changes the way he lives for God. I think that is crucial for us to see today.
Our world is changing, positions of thought and beliefs are being shifted and Christianity is suffering. But we can live for God and hold faithfully to His ways.
So today, lets look at Daniel chapter 1 and see what is happening in Daniel’s life and learn form Him.
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.
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For a little bit of background here we know the time frame of history, it is 605BC. Judah, (the southern Kingdom for the 10 northern tribes are in captivity 722BC). has sinned against God. They have committed a multitude of sins, they have chased after other gods, they have mistreated their brothers and sisters and they have not let the land rest..
Letting the land rest was important as well.. you heard me right (explain the 7 year rest)
So God has raised up Nebuchadnezzar to come and take hold of the last two remaining tribes, Judah and Benjamin.
In the initial invasion, they carried off the temple items, and they took into captivity the best and brightest in the land. Nebuchadnezzar’s plan was to use these people to led and help rule over their own people, the captives. But only a portion of the nation is carried off, and in 586BC, after a revolt that was unsuccessful, the rest of the nation is carried off to Babylon.
There they will be in captivity for 70 years, ....
And Nebuchadnezzar will begin to have these young men trained… and this is where our story starts today...
My friends, if your intentional is to be a servant who has a heart for God, then I would encourage you to look at Daniel and see this man whose heart was fully focused on God, and he didn’t let the circumstances of life interfere with his service to God.
So let me share my first thought with you today.
1. Daniel was a Person of Conviction....
1. Daniel was a Person of Conviction....
When you examine the life of Daniel, you can note that he was indeed a person of conviction. He refused to live contrary to the ways of God, no matter the cost.
My friends in today’s world of trouble, there is a character trait the children of God must embody, it is conviction.
Conviction means to strongly hold to a belief or thought as important. Daniel believed and trusted in the Lord, as such He would not abandon God’s ways.
Look back at our text as lets remember this first point of controversy that He faced as a young man following the Lord, so lets look at verse 5
Verse 5
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.
Now as these young nobles (Daniel included) where being trained and indoctrinated into the ways of Babylon, they also received the very best of Babylon, including the food of the Kings table, food fit for a king if you will… it was the very best of what the people could experience and eat...
But there is a problem, God’s law held them to a strict dietary measure… One that offered clean and unclean food alike, by clean and unclean I mean items that were approved by God, clean and those prohibited by God.. unclean.
Now here is something interesting, even a long way from home, in a foreign land, Daniel held to His convictions.
Look at verse 8
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.
Do you see the phrase there, Daniel resolved.... He was a person of conviction. Even far from home, he would not forget his role and duty before God, he stood for Him in a dark place.
When I read this verse I thought to myself, i wonder how many of those who call themselves Christian, live differently when away from His house and His people?
And if people act differently at church than they do every other day, then something is wrong in their heart.
How sad it is when these things happen...
Daniel was set, He has purposed in His life that He would not break God’s law, He would not make himself unclean by pleasing himself with the momentary satisfaction of good food.
Now we know that as David explained his heart to the Chief of the Eunuchs, The Chief was scared, he was worried that if Daniel and the others looked weak or unhealthy, he might loose his position or life...
Remember this man answers to Nebuchadnezzar...
So Daniel had a idea, he presented a test to the Chief of the Eunuchs. Now verse 9 says God gave favor and compassion in the sight of the Chief of the Eunuchs for Daniel.
The test David proposed was water and vegetables for 10 days, and at the end of 10 days, they were to be evaluated and see how they looked, did it help them or hurt them???
Now here is what I want you to see… verses 15-16
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.
At the end of the period, Daniel and those with him fared far better than those who ate from the Kings table… The results were amazing, so much so that the steward changed the diet of all those young men.
Do you see what happened… Daniel stood for God, He held to His conviction, his resolve to honor god in all things,,, No matter the cost, no matter how far from home. He stood for God and God blessed Him
God blessed him. Listen my if you stand for God, God will stand for you!
So here is a question..... My friends, as servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, Do you stand by your convictions?
Truly in this life, He is all we have… Be resolved to stand by God. No matter the circumstances or places in life we find ourselves, if we stand, if we are resolved to live for Him. God will stand with us.
My friends, be a person of conviction! Be a person who stands for God .
Now this leads me into my second thought today, when looking at the life of Daniel, I want you to see that as a faithful servant, Daniel was a person of Prayer.
2. Daniel was a Person of Prayer...
2. Daniel was a Person of Prayer...
Without a doubt, Daniel loved the Lord with His whole heart. We see this in every aspect of His life.
Daniel has been faithful to God and God has blessed him, given Him favor with the King, and has allowed him the wisdom and insight to interrupt the dreams and visions not only of Nebuchadnezzar but also of his son Belshazzar.
But God’s eternal plan is moving forward. Their sin is the catalyst for their destruction…
Babylon has fallen, The Medes and the Persians are now controlling the most of the known world. And God has given Daniel Favor to King Darius.
But others hated Daniel.
My friends, as you live for God, expect others to hate you. Expect the Devil to know you and to seek to destroy you.
But please don’t give up. so many people when faced with persecution, trouble they give up, they saw it was easier when I didn’t live for God… so what. You can either be mediocre or great for God.
He will never leave you or forsake......
Daniel didn’t give up… God has elevated him, allowed Him to be one of 3 over the entire land under King Darius. And some were envious, jealous and hated that this Israelite was placed over them.
And so those who hated Daniel sought to lay a trap to catch him and ensnare him.
Look with me at Daniel chapter 6, verses 1-5
1 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. 5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”
Daniel has risen to great power in the land, He has risen to the position of the top 3 under the King. So many were placed under him and they hated his success.
And others sought to find fault against Him. When you live for God, expect opposition, Amen. Remember , don’t give up
But his ways, His convictions and His leadership are impeccable. He is honest and completely devoted to God.
And these people(satraps) under Him, when they couldnt ruin his credibility by his actions sought to entangle him with the law of His God.
A Little side note here my friends, Satan will try any angle to ruin you. He will attack you, your family, your relationships and much more in a effort to hurt you. But hold fast to this thought. Just keep, keeping on for Jesus and allow Jesus to take care of the rest.. amen
So these who were against Daniel approached the King with a cunning plan to entrap Daniel, look at verses 6-9
6 Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 7 All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 9 Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction.
Man, you talk about buttering the king up…
They approached the King and said, O King live forever, you are such a good king, that you deserve all our attention, our adoration and yes our prayer… Now let it be that for the next 30 days, everyone is to pray to you and you alone. And if we fail to do that… let us be thrown in the lions den.
Can you imagine...
Such treachery...
And the King of course, being all buttered up and happy,I can imagine that he may have said… man these people love me so much, Sure lets do this.. SO King Darius signed it into law.
Now there was a catch, the law of the Medes and the Persians, it could not be changed after the King signed it into law, not even if he wanted it to change. So this treacherous plan became a law and threatened all in the land
But Daniel, having a heart for God, being a man of conviction, did the only thing he knew He should do… and that’s pray.
You see a person who has a heart for God is a person of prayer my friends.. There is no two ways about it.
They love God and want to spend time with God.
The new law didn’t worry Daniel, it didn’t stop him. Look with me at verse 10
10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
I love this.. He did has he has previously done. He had been a person of prayer.
My friends one of the saddest things a child of God can do is wait to turn to God in prayer. We should pray always...The Bible reminds us that He has loved us with an everlasting love.
Listen to the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 31:3
3 the Lord appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
Daniel returned to his residence and in light all the law that has just been signed, and all that has happened, Daniel returns to the most important place in the entire city, Daniel returned to his room and to the window that faced toward the east, toward Jerusalem and there he prayed.
My friends there is a secret here for you to see....
A servant who has a heart for God desires to spend time with God. This is where he takes all the events of life and process the days events, it is where he searches for the will of God. It is in prayer that a person takes the all His cares and waits on God for wisdom and instruction to proceed.
And when a servant has a heart for God, nothing will stop them....
Daniel returns to His place of prayer and of course those horrible men are waiting for conformation of his time with God.
And as soon as they know for certain, they approach King Darius…
Verse 13, they tell the King that Daniel pays him no attention to him or the law he has signed, and his greatly distresses the king. Not because Daniel has broken the law, but because the law keeps him from saving Daniel.
The Bible tells us that the stress of the matter made the king labor all day in hopes of figuring at a way of saving Daniel, but he could not since their law could not be changed and Daniel is placed in the Lions den.
Now the Bible tells us the King is beside himself all night, He cares for Daniel and he is worried about him
As soon as day break comes, the King goes to check on Daniel in the den of those lions.
Let me take you back to the passage..
19 Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24 And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.
Daniel is alive and well, and Daniel tells him that the angel of the Lord shut the Lions mouth that evening because of His righteousness, He had lived uprightly before God and man.
The King is happy, and those men who had falsely accused Daniel, they are thrown into the lions den and they were tore to pieces. They and their entire families are gone.
My friends, Daniel lived by His convictions, He lived for God and He was devoted to prayer. And God honored him and yes even kept him safe at the point of death.
You see, a servant of God, well without a doubt they must have a heart for God. He is the center of their very life, their existence, and they honor Him in all things, even when others seek to hinder and hurt you.
How are you living before God. Is he the very center of your life. Is he first in your life?
If he is not, then today you can change that.
If you service for him as been waning, you can become rejuvenated my friends and you can return to your first love.
Will you give your whole heart over to him. He needs it, He desirse it and he will bless you for it.