Daniel: An Image of a Child of God! https://soundcloud/tony-pittenger/trinity-14-13 Trinity 14.13 1 September, 2013 Daniel GCOW 19, 29, 447, 448 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. Have you ever wondered what you are supposed to look like? As a Christian, as a Child of God, how are you supposed to appear? What is Alex-the-New-Father, or Susan-the-Single-Woman, Ben-the-Pipefitter, or Sandra-the-Student supposed to look like when seen in this godless world? Well the Epistle certainly begins to show that: walk by the Spirit…it told us what the works of the flesh look like…it told us what fruits to cultivate. To see this personified we see Daniel this morning. A fascinating person, a prophet, an advisor to kings—a man of faith. You’ve been introduced to him (or re-acquainted), let me tell you more about his life’s story… Chapter 1 told us that he was taught the literature and language of the Chaldeans. He was smart, his intelligence equaled the unbelievers around him. So Daniel was trained to do things like forecast eclipses. But because Daniel was free from their unbelief, he was able to see the event more clearly. Daniel could see that God’s creation was not random and chaotic, could see that the only reason a mathematician could forecast an eclipse was because the sun, moon, and earth were created by a God of supreme wisdom and they all ran their courses more faithfully than a fine Swiss watch. See…you’re free like Daniel. All around you people believe what is false—even very smart people. They will say that human life is the result of random mutations. This makes it easier to abort babies because after all it’s only a mass of cells. This world will tell you that marriage is a social arrangement and now society is free to redefine it. God’s Children look like Daniel and they know better. They know that the person living inside the womb is knit together by God with an eternal soul. They know that marriage of a man and woman is by God’s own design with His own fingerprint and blessing on it. They know…you know that the best way for a father and mother to nurture a child is for them to first be a husband and a wife. You know better. You are not encumbered by the misunderstandings that this world is trapped in! You are free to see these things for what they really are, to see them as they were created to be, to see them as God sees them! This is what a Christian looks like…like Daniel! The text said: But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Here is another trait of God’s children; they strive not to defile themselves. Daniel is part of the Old Testament family of believers, God had given him strict dietary laws which he resolved to follow even when living in a foreign land. We are part of the New Testament family of believers, Christ has made all foods clean and so we are free to eat whatever we want. Still we must resolve not to defile ourselves. The Child of God is different and they look different; different vocabulary, different choices, different values. There are places we must not go, parties, businesses, website, movies, concerts… There are things we must not do, activities the Christian cannot participate in; lest we defile ourselves! And this is not because we are better than others, we know that we are not; simply because our God—our Savior—has given us His command to walk by the Spirit and not gratify the desires of the flesh and as His children this is what we are to look like. Look at Daniel. He interpreted dreams and strange writings for numerous kings and world leaders. There was a dream of a giant statue made of different metals, a dream of a great tree chopped down to size; then there was a hand that appeared and wrote a message of judgment on a wall. Explaining these things was an ability God had specifically given to him. Are we to do the same, are we to interpret dreams to be a child of God? No, to the best of my knowledge God has not given any of us that ability, but we should note that Daniel was not afraid then to speak the truth. Most of the dreams bore bad news, they could have gotten him in trouble, even gotten him killed. Only the truth mattered for Daniel, he spoke it whether it’d be popular or not. We have the same call; to be salt and to let our lights shine and to always be ready to give the reason for the hope that we have and to speak the truth in love. A child of God looks like Daniel in that he-and-she faithfully speaks the Word of God. Perhaps more than anything else Daniel was—and still is—known as a “Man of Prayer.” He made a daily habit of praying for himself and for all of God’s people and for the unbelieving nation he was living in. Three times a day he set aside time to spend in prayer, not just a quick blessing before or after a meal, Daniel spent time. And this wasn’t an inconvenience, he wasn’t embarrassed about it, wasn’t afraid that others might know that he was a Child of God. In fact, that’s how his life’s most well-known event unfolded. Those who follow God will have enemies. They hate God and so they find it offensive that someone would follow His way and not theirs. These people were as numerous then as they are today. Some of these Devil’s minions got a law passed that outlawed prayer. They wanted to get rid of Daniel, and because Daniel was so faithful about his prayers they knew that the new law would work. Fascinating! Isn’t it? These godless men knew that Daniel would not stop praying, knew that living his faith was how to get him. These worldings knew what a Child of God would look like. (Kids, just as a trap baited with a candy-bar will be sure to catch one of you!) In the same way they set their trap by making prayer illegal and then all they had to do was watch and wait… …Sure enough, along came Daniel at the exact same time in the exact same place to do the exact same thing…to pray to His God. When it comes to the faith, see how uncompromising the Child of God is?!? Well, he was reported, he was questioned, he readily admitted to the crime of praying to God. Then came the infamous penalty and the story of Daniel that most of us all know: Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den. Like a tomb, the entrance was closed and darkness fell. The next morning the king had the door opened and called out—in “anguish” the Bible says—O Daniel…has your God been able to save you? Loud and clear Daniel answered. Why shouldn’t he be OK? Those lions were God’s creation and in the end they would obey God. And there, in the midst of the claws and fangs which none of us can control is another picture of what a Child of God looks like: Safe in their Father’s hands. The Child of God is safe in their Father’s hands. Does this mean that no evil will ever befall you, that all your travels will be safe, your bill-of-health always clean, your roof never leak and your bank account always full? No. Man let sin into this world and the wages of sin is death. “Safe in our Father’s hands” does not mean immunity from the hatred of this world, immunity from it’s broken down condition, or immunity from death. It means that our Father will care for us as His own. He may use lions as a soft pillow for a good night’s sleep or He may use lions to bring His child home to Heaven. Daniel was safe that night because God still wanted him here and not there. Daniel was a picture of a believer as he entrusted his frightful night into God’s hands. What do you look like? Do you look like Daniel in his ability to be in the world but not of the world? Like Daniel as he resolved not to defile himself? As he boldly confessed the truth? As he prayed? As he walked by the Spirit so predictably that even the worst unbeliever knew how he would behave? Is that what you look like? No?! You haven’t always looked like God’s Child; soiled, cheapened, sold yourself out to the lowest bidder?! Behold the Lord Jesus. He cleansed those ten men with of their deadly diseases, He cleanses you of yours—of the disease of sin. Saint Paul, a man who lived the first half his life in opposition to Jesus, would later write: as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Paul had been cleansed of his sins, Paul now lived and wrote and behaved and looked like a Child of God. That’s how you look in God’s eyes. You trust and believe in Jesus, the Father sees you through Jesus; He looks at you and sees another one of His dearly loved children, someone to care for through this life, someone to lead to the life to come. For our part we strive to walk by the Spirit, to not take part on the works of the flesh, to sow and nurture the fruits of the Spirit. We strive to return and give thanks to God, resolving not to defile ourselves, to be constant in prayer. For God’s part we are His children not because of how we intend to look and behave but because Christ has died to make us so. He sees us as He’s made us, sees us as His, sees us as those washed and cleansed by His Son whom He sent. Safe. That’s what we are. Through good and bad, happy and sad, even through life and death—in Christ—we are safe in our Father’s hands. Soli Deo Gloria
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 20:04:35 +0000
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