Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Daniel chapter one. As you look at the thing there, you're turning in your Bible to find Daniel. We haven't been there in a while.
[00:00:11] We're doing this three week little interlude between now and we get through to Christmas time and Advent and then we're going to pick back up in John first of the year. But this is a great three weeks in looking at Daniel and his life.
[00:00:31] I got to confess, when I first saw this passage and reading, I go, gosh, this is such an appropriate time to talk about change. Especially when it. When you change your location, you change your leadership, you change your. I started going there. I go, no, I can't go there. Didn't want to go there. Then I talking about. And then I got stuck on change and what change is all about. And I had an outline that was good, but I'm not going to change it totally. But as we think about this, think about the most catastrophic change that has happened in your life and not just a bad thing. Catastrophic means just the greatest change that has happened in your life.
[00:01:16] The greatest change that ever could happen was that you understood the gospel and you needed Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and he brought you from death to life. Is there any bigger change than that?
[00:01:34] No, there's nothing bigger than you understanding the gospel, understanding the fact that you have sinned against holy God that we just sung about, and that you needed the blood of Christ to cover your sins and to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ so that you could stand before God and sing that song.
[00:01:54] That's a huge change in your life.
[00:01:58] And it's a change that we fight every single day, isn't it? Because we have this flesh that wants to go back to death for some reason and do something for ourselves. It's crazy.
[00:02:10] And so with that in mind, this idea of change, that it's constant and there's all kinds of change in our life, and some of us like change and some of us don't like change.
[00:02:21] And I don't think anybody doesn't like new life in Jesus Christ. I mean, those who are believers, we would never really want to go back, but we do sometimes fight that.
[00:02:34] So some, perhaps most people are apprehensive when faced with the possibility of changes in life. However, when it comes to catastrophic change, now we're talking about a bad change. We're going to see this in Daniel's life. Very few would say, bring it on, like, we like change that much. And there are some people just bring it on.
[00:02:56] Always thought I was like that Just bring it on. So, I mean, here's the paradigm in my life about change, right? And so I was able to get picked up and plotted 2,000 miles away for a few years. And it didn't really. It bothered me, but it was like I could see God.
[00:03:15] But I was thinking about this just now, but a few years ago, I do this every year. I make about, I don't know, 12 dozen sugar cookies.
[00:03:25] And it's the thing with Steph and I. We've been doing it for, I don't know how many years.
[00:03:29] About 100 years. Yeah, but there was one. I was getting everything ready, and I was cooking. I was baking. I was ready to get the cookies off the cookie sheet. And I was going through the drawers, and I couldn't find my spatula.
[00:03:43] These spatula that I used for the last 30 years to scoop the cookie off the sheet. I was going crazy.
[00:03:51] I could not use another spatula.
[00:03:54] And I was just digging through, digging through all the drawers. Where's my spatula? So I could not even think about changing spatulas.
[00:04:03] And that's crazy, right? And so change is kind of relative to how we can adapt to change.
[00:04:10] I finally found it in the drawer that it shouldn't have been, and I probably put it there. But the fact is that just blew my mind. I couldn't use a different spatula.
[00:04:23] But when we view change in light of understanding God's providence and love for us, his children we are, then perhaps we can be more willing to embrace this said change.
[00:04:35] And again, like I mentioned, change is relative.
[00:04:40] I mean, it could be a new neighbor. It could be an unexpected career move or maybe an unexpected move across the country for whatever reason that God showed you later.
[00:04:53] But when we talk about change, we often get this pat answer from people, and it's kind of like the Christian answer. And we say, and maybe you said this yourself. I think I've said it recently that if change is happening, God must be at work in your life. So cheer up.
[00:05:11] But it's not that easy, is it?
[00:05:15] And we use that, I think, in good nature. You know, we want to help somebody. But it's really kind of can be a very shallow answer as far as why change is happening. So I'm praying that as we go through this passage in Daniel, that we get a better look at how we can understand and maybe embrace change that could be happening in your life today.
[00:05:40] And maybe that change is God working in your life today, revealing to you today that you need Jesus Christ, you need a savior, and that is the biggest change that you could ever experience.
[00:05:55] And maybe that's happening, and maybe you're kind of like, but I'm praying that as we look at Daniel and how he embraced change, that maybe that will get you over, not the edge, but that would push in the direction of just embracing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior as well.
[00:06:16] So that's a couple things going on, but we got to ask ourselves sometimes, too. What is it about change that can bring some people to their knees?
[00:06:26] Maybe that's a question you can talk about in your Gospel communities this week. And if you don't have a gospel community, then go join one. That's just a little plug.
[00:06:37] And then why is it that some people can even thrive on change?
[00:06:42] Warren Wiersbe says this about change. Change is not a threat. Change is an opportunity to grow, and change is an opportunity to discover what is really important in our lives. Don't be afraid of change. Accept it from the hand of God and let him work in your life according to his gracious will.
[00:07:03] And please keep in mind the fact that there are some things in life that never, never change.
[00:07:13] And we'll finish this quote at the end. He says something else, but let's look at Daniel 1. You got to read the whole story here in context. It's only 85 verses, so it will take. No, it's 20 verses and we'll get through this. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much. Thank you for your presence here. Thank you for this passage of scripture. Thank you for the words that you've given us, Lord, that encourage us today.
[00:07:38] Lord, your word is so alive and so relevant. It doesn't matter if it's AD Or BC Father, that we are empowered by it. We are changed by it. We are growing through it, Father. And it's so exciting that we can read it today. Lord, help me to speak clearly that your Holy Spirit would just communicate what needs to be communicated. And Lord, knowing that you are the ultimate change, Lord, we thank you. We love you. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:08:10] Daniel, Chapter one.
[00:08:12] In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
[00:08:21] 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 place the vessels in the treasury of his God.
[00:08:36] Then the king commanded Asphinaz, the chief eunuch to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without a blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with the knowledge and understanding and learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace and to teach them the literature and the language of the Chaldeans.
[00:09:00] 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. Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.
[00:09:20] And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names. Daniel, he became Belchazzar. Hananiah, also called Shadrach. Mesha, he called Meshach. And Azariah he called Abednego.
[00:09:33] Was there change there?
[00:09:36] There was a huge change.
[00:09:40] Every young man, Jimmy, your age, 14, 15 years old. Yeah. Scary, huh? Kidnapped from his parents, Kidnapped from. He was the line of Judah. He was kind of almost like royalty.
[00:09:56] He was kidnapped and he was moved from his town, his country a few hundred miles away, not just to a nice country, but a foreign pagan country that killed people for a living constantly.
[00:10:12] And maybe, I don't know, we don't know if his parents survived. They were nobility. Maybe they did, but the town would soon later be totally destroyed.
[00:10:22] That was big change.
[00:10:25] That would be catastrophic change.
[00:10:28] And we see him and how he responded to that, and I think why he responded the way he did.
[00:10:35] So just keep that in mind. We're talking about catastrophic change here, but Daniel, verse 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. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.
[00:11:00] 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. Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuch had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah test your servants for 10 days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our parents and the parents of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you and deal with your servants according to what you see. So he listened to them in this matter and intestine them for 10 days. At the end of 10 days, it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in the flesh than all they used to ate the king's food. So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.
[00:11:55] See, children, vegetables are good for you.
[00:12:00] As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in the literature and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of the time when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them before Nebuchadnezzar, and the king spoke with them. And among all of them, none was found, like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king, and in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them 10 times better than all the magicians, enchanters that were in all this kingdom. And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus. He was there for a while.
[00:12:45] All right, so we got this catastrophic change.
[00:12:49] A young man aged 15, 16 years old, ripped away from his parents, ripped away from his culture, ripped away from his city, ripped away from his guy, because that was where the temple was. And he was placed in another foreign city a few hundred miles away.
[00:13:07] How was he able to accept this change?
[00:13:11] And as the title of the sermon is, it's change in or with God's providence. And we're going to look at that idea of God's providence and sovereignty all the way through this and how that helps us, encourages us, supports us, and all types of change, whether it be a move across country or you can't find your spatula, that change is relevant, but God is there for that. So let's look at this. First of all, Daniel had faith in the word of God. And that's where it begins. All right? Is the faith in what God says. And historically, if we look at this, Daniel was born in 620 BC and he was deported roughly 605. So 15 years he lived. What happened in those 15 years? What was going on in the town of Jerusalem, in the city of Jerusalem for those 15 years, a guy named Jeremiah lived there prophesying at the height of his prophesying about what was going to happen to Jerusalem, because they weren't being obedient to God. They were actually worshiping and sacrificing things in the temple that should not be done. And God was ready just to lower the discipline And Daniel was hearing this.
[00:14:35] He was in the city. He was from the line of Judah. He knew.
[00:14:41] And God gave him the ability to understand what was going to happen.
[00:14:49] Daniel had faith in what Jeremiah was saying.
[00:14:54] Jeremiah, a mouthpiece for God, a spokesperson for God, speaking truth and judgment and punishment and discipline to the nation because of their wickedness, their disobedience, their ill regard for the temple, their irregard for God. And God is faithful to his promises.
[00:15:16] His promises are good. And sometimes his promises are not so good. It depends on how we are doing.
[00:15:23] So 605 BC, Daniel would be kidnapped and taken to Babylon. Now, was he dismayed at that point? Probably. He's a human young man.
[00:15:35] It was a little challenging to be exiled and taken to another country.
[00:15:45] 597 BC, Jeremiah penned Jeremiah 29.
[00:15:50] Daniel was already there.
[00:15:54] He was already excelled. And he was already in the king's court, serving the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, when Jeremiah penned the passage, the scripture, the book or the chapter where he says, israel, don't sit outside the gates. Go in there and build your houses, live there. I will prosper you and I will bring you back to your country, to your city, and we will rebuild the temple.
[00:16:23] And all of this. Even Daniel was aware of all that was going on.
[00:16:29] And we see from this autobiography here that he believed the word of God delivered by Jeremiah, the Babylonian conquest would have been expected.
[00:16:39] He knew it was coming, it was going to happen. God is faithful in the good things, and everything's good for God. But when bad things happen from our eyes, God is provident in that as well, isn't he?
[00:16:53] And it's our understanding of who God is that gets us through these challenges and these changes in life.
[00:17:02] So in verse two, we see the first sovereignty and providence of God, that God is at work in the lives of his chosen people, just like he was then. He's still the sovereign, provident God today. And in verse two, we see this. And there's one word that really tells us why and how God is provident. And he says, and Daniel says, and the Lord gave Jehoiakim, King of Judah into his hand. What did Nebuchadnezzar do to earn all this? Nothing. God gave the land to him. It was all God.
[00:17:37] He used him as a tool to judge and punish his people. Yes, he went too far. And he himself would be judged for that later. But the fact is, it was God who was provident in allowing this to happen to King Jehoiakim.
[00:17:55] You see, Daniel believed in the hard truths of God's word.
[00:18:00] He believed in the sovereignty and the providence of God. Now we gotta talk about these two words, and maybe you already know this, but just in case, refresher. Sovereignty and providence are not the same.
[00:18:17] God's sovereignty should be up there. Is his right and power to do all that he decides to do. We get that he is God.
[00:18:28] He can function and do in his kingdom whatever he wants.
[00:18:32] He can do and function in his world, this universe, as he wants. Why? Because he is God.
[00:18:41] It's his.
[00:18:44] And everything that's in it is his job. 42. 2. He says this or Job says this about God. I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. That's sovereignty.
[00:19:01] Do we get sovereignty? Do we understand it?
[00:19:04] Sometimes we like it and sometimes we don't like it.
[00:19:07] When we agree with it, we like it. When we don't agree with it, we don't like it. But we have to agree and understand and have faith in all that God does in his creation. Now, Providence, I like this because it made more sense to me as well.
[00:19:23] Providence is sovereignty in the service of wise purposes.
[00:19:30] Or you could say providence is wise and purposeful. Sovereignty.
[00:19:36] Does that make sense?
[00:19:39] So we see God's providence here because in his sovereignty, he is disciplining, judging his people.
[00:19:49] And through his providence and his purpose, he is allowing this nasty king come over and to basically provide the judgment for his people.
[00:20:01] That's his providence. He had a purpose for it in all his wisdom. Because God is wisdom. That's one of his attributes. He has perfect wisdom in his wisdom and for his plan. It wasn't for Daniel's plan. It wasn't for King Jehoiakim's plan. It was God's plan, his overarching plan, that in the end it would come to a culmination of Jesus on the cross and how God gets there, how he got there. That's not for us to decide into question and say, God, that really wasn't very good.
[00:20:36] He is God and this was part of his purposeful plan in order for us to be here today.
[00:20:45] And we have to have faith in God's both sovereignty and providence.
[00:20:52] So the question here today, I mean, we gotta make this some practicality here and you can talk about this in your Gospel communities.
[00:21:01] Are you embracing the hard truths of God's word?
[00:21:06] Are you kind of like just getting the heel down and kicking back against them? Are you embracing the hard truths of God's word?
[00:21:16] And we got to realize that God doesn't make empty threats.
[00:21:22] Jeremiah's words. You read the book of Jeremiah. That just wasn't a threat.
[00:21:27] That was a promise, wasn't it?
[00:21:31] Sometimes as parents, what do we do? We do a lot of threatening, but we don't follow through.
[00:21:38] And that doesn't lead very good either. So some things aren't very good with children, but God is a perfect parent. He's not threatening. He's making these promises and he's telling these people, if you don't change, this will happen.
[00:21:54] And we see here that Jeremiah wrote about it. You know, Isaiah did it for the Northern Kingdom, and they ignored it as well. Jeremiah said it for Judah. They ignored it. And we're seeing the results of their ignoring and being disobedient to God's word.
[00:22:12] They were being disciplined.
[00:22:15] Are you okay with God's sovereignty and providence in everything?
[00:22:20] We can't act like a smorgasbord. With God's sovereignty, we can't say, all right, I'm going to go take the corn, but not the peas. You have to take everything and have faith in God's sovereignty in all of what's going on in our world.
[00:22:37] It doesn't matter if it's elections. It doesn't matter if it's the choice you make. It doesn't matter what happens at work. God is sovereign, and he uses a lot of bad mistakes for his purpose and his will. Right.
[00:22:53] Who else does he have to work with besides sinners?
[00:22:57] Look around you.
[00:23:00] Is anyone perfect here?
[00:23:03] Is he still working in your life?
[00:23:05] Yes. Is he still working through your knucklehead mistakes? Is he still working through your pride?
[00:23:12] Yes.
[00:23:15] He has the plan already set, and it's our job to stay as close. We'll get there later.
[00:23:26] What's keeping you from fully embracing God's? That's a good question. I'm not patting myself, but I like it. What is keeping you from fully embracing God's providence and sovereignty right now?
[00:23:39] If you're here today and it's not a mistake, if God has been speaking to you, saying, you need me, you need me very badly. You need me desperately, and you've heard the truth. You've heard what Pastor Duba has been saying up here, what I've been saying up here, and what, you know, whatever it is, and the Holy Spirit speaking to you and in the Word, and he's saying, you need a savior, and you're yet to say, yes, I need a savior. Forgive me, Jesus, if that is where you're at. Why are you putting your hand up to God's sovereignty right here?
[00:24:19] Why are you continually wanting to reject or wait or deny that you need Jesus Christ?
[00:24:28] What is keeping you from fully embracing salvation?
[00:24:33] That's something that we have to look at as well.
[00:24:38] What are some of the truths you need to embrace today?
[00:24:43] For this, for the. For the sinner that is here, for the person who was lost, that is, we're all sinners. The person who has not yet received by faith the grace of God.
[00:24:54] Here's a truth that you can embrace, that while we were yet sinners, Christ gave his life for you.
[00:25:00] Maybe your shame and guilt is holding you away from saying, jesus, I need you. That's a truth that you can embrace today, or truth by saying, by grace you have been saved. That you don't have to come in and make your life good for God to love you, that you don't have to worry about the shame that you are remembering of a lifestyle that you had, that God doesn't care about that because he's going to forgive that and he's going to wash it away.
[00:25:34] Maybe you're here and you're just struggling because of something that you have done.
[00:25:41] Or maybe a part of your life, a season of life that you just seem as really, really dry.
[00:25:48] Maybe you need to remember and hold on to. Nothing will ever separate you from the love of God.
[00:25:56] Embrace that truth.
[00:26:00] And at the same time, we need to embrace the fact and the truth and the promise.
[00:26:07] When Jesus says that we are not greater than the Master, if he is persecuted, we too will experience the same persecution.
[00:26:16] See how it goes with this?
[00:26:19] We want to embrace the good truth all the time and the good promises all the time. That's easy.
[00:26:27] But we need to embrace, like Daniel did, a catastrophic change, knowing that God will get him through that change, and it's from God.
[00:26:42] Why did Daniel have faith in the word of God as the psalmist says in Psalm 119:89, Forever, O Lord, thy Word is settled.
[00:26:55] Settled in heaven, it is settled. Whatever he says is settled.
[00:27:04] And we can have faith and hope in that truth.
[00:27:09] And you got to realize too, that God and His Word and His Spirit are the only the Trinity. Sorry, make that shorter. The Trinity is the only constant in our universe.
[00:27:20] We're all variables. For you algebra people. I hated variables. It makes sense to me. But we are the only variables in this universe.
[00:27:35] We are very flippant.
[00:27:37] We go with the flow a lot of times, don't we?
[00:27:40] Whatever is the best. Whatever is the latest thing. We just go that direction.
[00:27:46] We change all the Time. And a lot of times we are the agent of that change because we make really dumb mistakes that God is the constant.
[00:27:57] So why not embrace the constant?
[00:28:02] I mean, there's so many. The rock of our salvation. Why? Why build your life upon sand when you can build your life upon the constant of Jesus Christ?
[00:28:12] That will never, never change.
[00:28:16] You think about our world. I mean, if you watch the news, how many times does the news cycle change in a week?
[00:28:24] What was important yesterday is not very important today.
[00:28:30] One day can change the whole news cycle. That's how flippant and how much change takes place in our world every single day?
[00:28:41] Men may try to change the word of God. They reinterpret it or they compromise it, or they try to make it, or they just what's the Word? They like to tickle our ears with the God's Word, but it still remains the same.
[00:28:55] Satan may question the Word and he'll try to substitute it with lies, but the Word, the truth, will always stand.
[00:29:06] That is what Jesus meant in the parable of the two builders. The man who built on the rock was a man who heard Christ's Word and obeyed it to the very end.
[00:29:18] We shouldn't need to relocate. Once we build upon Jesus Christ, what else is better?
[00:29:26] With Jesus Christ, the grass is greener right where you are.
[00:29:32] You don't need to go anywhere else.
[00:29:35] When we obey the Word of God, we are building on the rock. When we would disobey the Word, we are building upon the shifting sands. That looks good for a while.
[00:29:46] I never understand people who build all those beautiful houses on sandstone on the beach. It's like, what are you thinking? But that's what we do.
[00:29:56] It looks pretty for a while, but when the hard times come, it doesn't stand number two. This is just a little side thing.
[00:30:10] God's word does not come back empty. As I was reading this, you know, think about Jeremiah and all his doubts. People were rejecting him, wanting to kill him, running him out of the city. And he's like, God, is anybody listening to me?
[00:30:26] Why am I doing all this?
[00:30:30] Their ears are shut. They're like walking around, it's like, oh, don't talk to me. But you see, one person, Daniel, heard it. And what did Daniel do with that word?
[00:30:42] He internalized it. And he fed upon it. And he believed what Jeremiah was saying. Was it worth it then? If one person.
[00:30:53] Yes.
[00:30:56] God's word does not come back empty.
[00:30:59] Turn to Isaiah 55. We won't read the. I wasn't going to read the whole chapter But I talked too much.
[00:31:08] Isaiah 55.
[00:31:21] Beautiful passage about the promises and compassion and salvation from God.
[00:31:27] But a couple verses 2 or 10 and 11 kind of talks about God's Word here.
[00:31:37] Just the picture of this.
[00:31:40] For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
[00:32:09] And what does His Word succeed in? Our salvation.
[00:32:15] And just an encouragement here. We do a lot of teaching. The children, they think all that we're doing here, and we have to have faith that the Word of God is effective. It's going to come back, it's going to have value, and it's going to have results. We may never see it. Jeremiah probably didn't see Daniel, and I mean maybe heard about him later. He did as he went. But the Word of God spoke powerfully to Daniel, and he believed and he trusted God.
[00:32:48] What he says he will accomplish because his Word is the expression of his powerful will.
[00:32:55] No word of God is vain, untrustworthy, or given to deceive.
[00:33:00] Nothing God plans to do can be interrupted or set aside by us humans.
[00:33:06] His Word will prosper and it will achieve his purpose.
[00:33:13] So think about all that we do with children, the awanas, and the verses that they are planting in their hearts and minds. It is a powerful thing. It's a powerful promise that those words will not come back empty.
[00:33:28] Number three.
[00:33:32] Because of his understanding of God, his Word. Believing what Jeremiah was saying, Daniel was faithful to God.
[00:33:42] One word in verse eight says this really powerfully.
[00:33:48] 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.
[00:34:03] Daniel was resolved. He was set.
[00:34:08] He was not going to waver. He was going to be faithful to his God because his God was faithful to him. And we'll see that later.
[00:34:21] This Word resolved in this verse. The cross reference was not what I thought it would be. 2nd Corinthians 9, 7.
[00:34:28] Paul talking about the people of Macedonia that were giving so much money for themselves. He says, each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.
[00:34:46] So we look at this Daniel as he was there in the midst of all this money and wealth and whatever he want, I mean, it would be a point. Wherever he wanted, he could have. But in all of this he had decided in his heart that he would stay true to God, that he would be faithful to his Lord.
[00:35:07] We have to be resolved in our walk every day.
[00:35:11] When we get up tomorrow morning, we have to be resolved when we leave here today. We walk out those doors, we get up out of our chairs and we interact. We have to be resolved that we're going to honor God and be faithful to God in His word.
[00:35:26] It's not a one time thing, it's a daily thing.
[00:35:31] I'm resolved daily to be faithful to God. And if we don't have that attitude, how quickly does doubt, fear and disobedience come in?
[00:35:40] It's like natto. It's crazy, isn't it, that we have to be actively and intentionally pursuing this and being resolved every day.
[00:35:55] We have to be resolved in any type of change, the big change and the small change.
[00:36:02] And when there's change, we're often awakened to God's abiding presence.
[00:36:08] And yes, God is at work in change. And a lot of times the change is for us to become more reliant upon him, that we have to trust him more that this change, or in Daniel's case, this captivity can be used by God to transform our lives.
[00:36:30] There's always room for us to grow.
[00:36:33] And when we get complacent in life and things are like, I'm just going to coast now, God's going to throw something at you.
[00:36:44] I made the mistake of sharing with Val first. That's always a mistake because she always holds me to it.
[00:36:52] But telling God that I don't want to coast in life right now, I need, you know, I want to do something because I was resolved that I was going to coast in and just do something for the rest of my working time and it's going to be easy.
[00:37:08] But he says, no, you're going to do this instead.
[00:37:12] You're going to be an administrator.
[00:37:15] Like the furthest thing from my mind and by far the hardest thing that I've probably ever had to do. And continually having to rely upon God. Is God happy right now?
[00:37:26] Yeah, he is, because I'm going to him more than I ever did before.
[00:37:31] That was change.
[00:37:34] And he wants us to be totally dependent upon him like children, like infants.
[00:37:42] And if you're not doing that, you better start because change is going to happen.
[00:37:48] He's going to cause you to go to him and be dependent like an Infant.
[00:37:54] Why?
[00:37:56] Because that's the relationship he wants.
[00:37:59] He's a provident God. He's sovereign, and he's going to make things happen so that you are in that state of a relationship.
[00:38:08] He wants us to seek him, his kingdom and his righteousness daily to grow and to glorify Himself.
[00:38:18] And the result of that.
[00:38:20] I know we're skipping through but this is just the three points that this really stuck out or stood out this last couple weeks.
[00:38:28] God was faithful to Daniel and he has no choice to be faithful because that is his attribute. That's who he is.
[00:38:38] As Pastor Duba read today, Deuteronomy 7:9 says, Understand therefore that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes I love this. The new living Translation and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his command.
[00:39:01] What a beautiful promise that he lavishes his love upon you and in return we love him back.
[00:39:14] God is faithful to his promises and word.
[00:39:18] Daniel personally witnessed this as he was carted off to Babylon.
[00:39:23] God declared what would happen to Jerusalem and it happened later on.
[00:39:29] Paul reminds us about all things and all changes. And in the midst of these God is always faithful in working out a beautiful plan that will culminate with those that love Him.
[00:39:41] That wonderful verse in Romans 8:28. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good. For those who are called according to his purpose purposes.
[00:39:54] How do we show we love God? If you love me you will keep my commandments.
[00:40:01] That's what we need to do. That is our job description.
[00:40:07] I like this passage in Psalms 37.
[00:40:11] When we have trust in the Lord, when we love God, when we are wrapping our lives around God. He tells this. The psalmist says, trust in the Lord and do good. This is what Daniel was doing. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. That's what happened to Daniel. Take delight in the Lord and He will give you your heart's desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.
[00:40:38] He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
[00:40:47] Does that describe Daniel in Babylon?
[00:40:51] Exactly. Doesn't it?
[00:40:53] And it can describe us today in woodland.
[00:40:59] Probably not much better than Babylon morally.
[00:41:03] That we can be light in this world.
[00:41:06] That he will give us the ability to shine.
[00:41:10] He will provide what we need when we ask because we want it. We delight in Him.
[00:41:15] And how do we See this in this passage, verse nine of chapter one.
[00:41:22] What did God do? God gave. Just like he gave Nebuchadnezzar, Jerusalem. God is the one who gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.
[00:41:34] God, his sovereignty and his power and will allowed this man, Daniel didn't even know to have compassion for him.
[00:41:45] Daniel didn't earn that. He was a good guy, but it was God who gave it. He could have no credit for doing that. God gave Daniel the ability to be a nice guy and to be, you know, a kind guy to this eunuch.
[00:42:00] But God gave Daniel the favor in this guy's eyes. And later down 117 favor was good. But what was Nebuchadnezzar looking for? He was looking for some smart young men to help his kingdom grow.
[00:42:15] Kind of a great way of you conquer somebody. You take all the best and the best and you make your. That's what we do today, right? You make your nation bigger and better.
[00:42:24] As for these youths, again, verse 17, God gave them. It was all God. God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. That was all from God.
[00:42:39] Why? Because Daniel was faithful and loved God. In spite of what just happened, in spite of this huge change ripped away from his country, Daniel was still faithful to God.
[00:42:55] That hasn't changed for us, that we remain faithful to God no matter what.
[00:43:06] Started with that quote from Wiersbe.
[00:43:12] He says, and please keep in mind that the fact there is some things in life that never, never change.
[00:43:19] He finishes off saying, God never changes.
[00:43:22] He says in Malachi 3:6, I am the Lord, I change not. Hebrews 13:6 says of Jesus Christ that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
[00:43:35] We have a God and a Savior that cannot change. If we build our lives on Jesus Christ, then we are building on the unchanging, eternal rock of ages. And no matter how many storms may rage about us, nothing will be able to shake us from that eternal foundation.
[00:43:55] Think about eternal foundation.
[00:43:59] Where and what is your life built on right now?
[00:44:04] If it's anything but Jesus, it is not going to stand the coming of Jesus.
[00:44:12] And he's given us hope. He's forgiven us.
[00:44:17] He's given us the means to build upon himself.
[00:44:21] We have to believe what God says about Jesus Christ, that he is the Savior, he is the Lamb of God who came to take away your sins and the sins of the world.
[00:44:34] The question is, where are you going to place your faith today?
[00:44:38] Maybe for the first time, in the rock of our salvation eternal?
[00:44:46] Or is it going to be in yourself and what this world has to offer?
[00:44:50] Let's pray.
[00:44:52] Father, we do come before you and we thank you for those two big words. For your sovereignty and your providence and your perfect plan to reconcile your creation to you, made possible through your son, Jesus Christ, his perfect work, his death on the cross, his blood that was shed, that washes our sins away, and then clothing us with his righteousness.
[00:45:25] That we can stand before you, that we can come into your presence and have this relationship, to have this trust, to know, Lord, that you are with us in all things.
[00:45:38] Father, we love you. We thank you. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.
