{"id":18379,"date":"2016-12-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-04T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/daniel-004-the-blessings-of-overcoming-the-world-part-3\/"},"modified":"2016-12-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-12-04T06:00:00","slug":"daniel-004-the-blessings-of-overcoming-the-world-part-3","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/daniel-004-the-blessings-of-overcoming-the-world-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 004: The Blessings of Overcoming the World – Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[72],"series_event":[467],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18379","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-daniel","series_event-daniel","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Daniel 004: The Blessings of Overcoming the World - Part 3","sermon_date":"20161204","sermon_month":"12","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":4094,"sermon_slides":4099,"sermon_mp3":4101,"sermon_id":"124161024500","series_or_event":467,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":72,"chapter_and_verse":"1:17-21","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nSUGAR LAND BIBLE CHURCH\n\nLesson 4, The Blessings of Overcoming the World, Part 3, Daniel 1:17-21\n\nDecember 4, 2016,\n\nGood morning everybody; happy December to you.\u00a0 Thanksgiving is behind us, Christmas is in front of\u00a0 us, and so is the year 2017.\u00a0 So this is kind of a fun time of the year, particularly with kids; if you\u2019ve got kids, little kids, grandchildren, it\u2019s a neat time to seem them all kind of wound up like little machines.\n\nIf we could take our Bibles and open them to Daniel chapter 1 and verse 17, trying to wrap up today Daniel chapter 1 and I know many of you were hoping we were finished with chapter 1 because we want to get into all the cool stuff in chapter 2, about the kingdom and the antichrist, and we\u2019ll have plenty to say about that, don\u2019t worry, we\u2019ll probably have more to say than what you\u2019re interested in.\u00a0 That\u2019s coming.\n\nBut I wanted to pick up where we left off last time because I want to show you in verses 17-21 that God wants to bless you.\u00a0 In fact, God has already blessed you because you have relationship with Him through Jesus.\u00a0 But sort of our relationship with the Lord is sort of like a parent\/child relationship; you\u2019ve got one child that\u2019s disobedient and another child that\u2019s obedient; they\u2019re both still your children.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 But the child that\u2019s obedient, it\u2019s interesting, gets more privileges, blessings, opportunities, and that\u2019s what God poured into the lives of these four Hebrew youths as they took a stand for God as mere teenagers, and that\u2019s what verse 17-21 are speaking of.\n\nSo the title of our message this morning is The Blessings of Overcoming the World, Part 3.\u00a0 We\u2019ve talked about overcoming the world and now what are the blessings associated with a walk that\u2019s not perfect but a general walk of obedience?\u00a0 Of course the message of the book of Daniel is this is a very terrible time, at least for Israel; they\u2019ve been removed from their homeland, they have no reigning king on David\u2019s throne, their temple is about to be destroyed, and they\u2019ve been exported three hundred and fifty miles to the east in a place called Babylon, modern day Iraq.\n\nAnd what they\u2019re trying to figure out is, is God still there?\u00a0 How do we walk with God during this very difficult time where we\u2019re outside of our land.\u00a0 And this, by and large, is why God raised\u00a0 up the prophet, Daniel, we call him an exilic prophet because he prophesied during the exile.\u00a0 And God raised him up to explain prophetically the time period that the nation was now in, a time period that Jesus, in the New Testament, in Luke 21, around verse 24, calls the times of the Gentiles.\u00a0 [Luke 21:24, \u201cand they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.\u201d]\n\nThere had been no prophetic information about this time period.\u00a0 Beyond that the nation didn\u2019t even know how to live for God during this time period because now they are outside of their land, a land that they have been comfortable in for 800 years.\u00a0 So how do they live and what is God going to do?\u00a0 And that really becomes the subject matter of the book of Daniel.\u00a0 It\u2019s also a word of encouragement that although they are in foreign circumstances God is still very much in control.\n\nAll hell may have broken out in your life this week, this month, this year, and we need a perpetual reminder that yes, circumstances may look bleak from the human perspective but God is the same, is He not, \u201cyesterday, today and forever.\u201d\u00a0 This is the insight that the book of Daniel gives us.\u00a0 Chapters 1-7 is the historical section; chapters 8-12 is the prophetic section.\u00a0 We\u2019re just barely at the beginning of the book, completing chapter 1, the\u00a0 history of why Judah is in the position they are in.\n\nAnd we\u2019ve looked at Daniel\u2019s circumstances, verses 1-2; the captivity that the nation is in.\u00a0 We\u2019ve looked at the fact that Nebuchadnezzar, who was ruling Babylon at this time, didn\u2019t destroy the city and the sanctuary immediately.\u00a0 He will destroy that city and sanctuary a few years down the road, in about 586 B.C.\u00a0 But Nebuchadnezzar comes for the best and the brightest of Judah first and he is doing this for a particular reason.\u00a0 First of all, these people are very young; this would be about the third year of Jehoiakim, according to Daniel 1:1,\u00a0 [Daniel 1:1, \u201cIn the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.\u201d]\n\nDaniel is most likely just a 15 year old at the time these events transpire.\u00a0 And as I mentioned before, they have been exported to Iraq, 350 miles to the east.\u00a0 The prophet Jeremiah has informed them that they might as well get comfortable here because you\u2019re going to be here for 70 years.\u00a0 \u00a0And Nebuchadnezzar now selects Daniel and his three Hebrew friends; the selection is given in verse 3, and the program that they are put in is in verses 4-5.\u00a0\u00a0 [Daniel 1:3, \u201cThen the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles, [4] youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king's court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.\u00a0 [5] The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king's choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king's personal service.\u201d]\n\nIt\u2019s a program of three years of indoctrination.\u00a0 The indoctrination is not in the things of God; the indoctrination is in the things of Babylon, because Nebuchadnezzar is seeking to get these Hebrew\u00a0 youths, the best and the brightest, on his team, on his side and he believes that if he can do that and reprogram them then these youths can talk the rest of the Jewish population, the rest of the Hebrew population into submitting to Nebuchadnezzar peaceably.\n\nAnd so the program is described there in verses 4-5 and Nebuchadnezzar is so arrogant in what he is doing that he actually gives these four Hebrew youths, who had very godly names since they came from very godly homes, paganized names, so we know them by the names Daniel, that\u2019s a godly name, but then you have Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, all paganized versions of the original names that they had originally had from birth.\u00a0 And Nebuchadnezzar, in doing so, is asserting his own authority.\u00a0 He is asserting his own sovereignty because in the Bible when you name something that\u2019s a sign that you own it.\u00a0 And Nebuchadnezzar is saying to these youths, I own\u00a0 you,\u00a0 you\u2019re under my control now!\u00a0 And of course a\u00a0 young person being in that circumstance would wonder if God is there at all.\u00a0 And what we learn in the subsequent chapters is not only God there, He vindicates these Hebrew\u00a0 youths over and over again, just like He wants to do in your life.\u00a0 He wants to walk with you, help you, vindicate you; God is not out to get you, He is out to bless you.\n\nBut the type of life that God blesses, as we\u2019re going to see here is the life that is non-compromised, the consecrated life unto God.\u00a0 So Daniel, as a 15\u00a0 year old has to make a choice, is he going to eat the king\u2019s food or not.\u00a0 If he eats the king\u2019s food he is eating a food sacrificed to idols, which to a Hebrew is against God\u2019s Law.\u00a0 So Daniel takes a stand and says no, I\u2019m going to eat not the king\u2019s food but I\u2019m going to go with God\u2019s diet.\u00a0 And this was a decision that he made as a 15 year old that put his own neck, his own life if you will, on the line.\u00a0 And God, of course, when we step out of the boat, as Peter did, wants to show up and help us, and He shows up and helps these youths big time, vindicates them in the presence of the commander.\n\nAnd then the story concludes, most people skip right over it, I want to spend some time on it this morning, with three blessings that not only came into the life of Daniel but came into the life of these four Hebrew youths because of their submission to God; because of their consecration to God.\u00a0 You know, the Bible tells us to seek first His kingdom and then all of these things, concerning about food, clothing, all of these things that we\u2019re typically worried about, seek Him first all these other things will come to you naturally.\u00a0 [Matthew 6:33, \u201cBut seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.\u201d]\n\nAnd this is what these four youths have done; they have put God first, as very young men, and God, as He\u2019s in the habit of doing blesses the obedience of these youths.\u00a0 Here\u2019s our outline for the day, so they are given three blessings:\u00a0 number 1, knowledge, verse 17; number 2, they have an exam to pass, which they pass with flying colors, verses 18-20; and number 3, God gives these youths longevity, and that\u2019s in verse 21.\n\n[1 Corinthians 1:17, \u201cFor Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.\u201d\u00a0 1 Corinthians 1:18-20, \u201cFor the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.\u00a0 [19] For it is written, \u2018I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.\u2019\u00a0 [20] Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? [21] For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to<\/em> know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.\u201d]\n\nAnd he blesses them into their old age because of a choice they made as a very young person.\u00a0 And I think this third blessing is something that needs to be communicated to our youth because a lot of them think I\u2019m just going to go out and sow some wild oats and then I\u2019ll get serious with God.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is the choices you make as a young person follow you around while you\u2019re an old person, and do you want negative consequences or positive consequences to reverberate in your life.\u00a0 That largely depends on choices we\u2019re making now, and of course, if you\u2019re young you have a great advantage because you can start making good choices early.\u00a0 A lot of people say I wish I had it to do all over again.\u00a0\u00a0 The young person doesn\u2019t have to say that, they\u2019re at the very beginning of life and they have a chance to set up their life in such a way that the divine blessings are maximized.\u00a0 And that\u2019s how these verses speak to us.\n\nNow notice first of all the God-given knowledge that He gave these four youths because they stood for God.\u00a0 Notice, if you will, verse 17 of Daniel chapter 1, \u201cAs for these four youths,\u201d we\u2019ll just stop there for a minute, God blessed \u201cthese four youths\u201d with three things: we often wonder, does it really pay to walk with God?\u00a0 That\u2019s a question we all have.\u00a0 I remind us of the law of sowing and reaping, which is described in the book of Galatians, chapter 6, verses 7-9, a passage you know very well.\u00a0 It says \u201cDo not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows,\u201d in other words, what he plants, \u201cthis he will also reap.\u00a0 [8] For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.\u00a0 [9] Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.\u201d\n\nSee, that\u2019s what we\u2019re faced with many times, we\u2019re losing heart, we\u2019re doing the right thing but we\u2019re losing heart because we don\u2019t see any dividends immediately.\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s not how the law of sewing and reaping works; the law of sowing and reaping works in such a way that when you sow seed to the things of God there are blessings that show up in your life immediately, sometimes not; sometimes they show up way, way down the road.\u00a0 \u00a0The law of sowing and reaping is a neutral principle, it\u2019s neither good nor bad but I get good or bad results depending on the kind of seed that I am putting into the ground.\n\nWe typically teach or preach the law of sowing and reaping as something bad or negative will come and that could be if we\u2019re making fleshly selfish choices but the opposite is true, you put into the ground good seed and a good crop, a good harvest can come your direction as well.\u00a0 God blessed these Hebrew youths in four ways:\u00a0 Number 1, their God-given knowledge.\u00a0 And that\u2019s in the second part of verse 17, [Daniel 1:17] \u201cGod gave them,\u201d see how this is God-given?\u00a0 \u201cGod gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice here that it says these Hebrew\u00a0 youths gained knowledge and intelligence, not just in the Hebrew Bible, not just in the customs of Judaism or the traditions of Judaism or the history of God\u2019s dealing with Israel, but He gave them knowledge \u201cevery branch of literature and wisdom.\u201d\n\nNow these four Hebrew youths, going back to Daniel 1:4, apparently already had some sort of ability to read and understand and analyze \u201cthe literature of the Chaldeans,\u201d you get that in verse 4, where it says that they had to show some kind of aptitude and \u201cintelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge\u201d and you get the idea that after these four Hebrew youths consecrated themselves to God, obeyed God, God took their natural gifting, whatever those were, and expanded them, accelerated them.\u00a0 He took what was in them naturally and He began to maximize that.\n\nAnd I run into a lot of people, you look at them and you say well, there\u2019s a very talented person, why aren\u2019t they doing more for God?\u00a0 Why isn\u2019t God doing\u00a0 more through their lives?\u00a0 And generally the answer has to do with the fact that they, for whatever reason, have never consecrated themselves to God because if they consecrate themselves to God, God can take whatever gifting they have and expand it dramatically, not for self-serving purposes but for God\u2019s purposes.\n\nAnd the fact of the matter is God has revealed Himself in two sources: He\u2019s revealed Himself first of all in what we call special revelation, that would be the Bible, but He has also revealed Himself in general revelation, that would be creation itself.\u00a0 And I believe this, that if a person is studying medicine and that person happens to be rightly related to the God that made them they will understand medicine better than an unbeliever would understand medicine.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because they are in relationship with the One that understands the laws of medicine, which He Himself created.\u00a0 If a person is involved in finance or business or marketing, or science, which are governed according to the laws of general revelation then that person will understand those disciplines better than the person that doesn\u2019t know God at all, because God not only has given us laws in His Bible but He has given us laws in creation itself.\u00a0 And God wants to help you tap into those laws so that your horizons are expanded.\n\nYet He\u2019s not going to be giving you this extra insight as long as we\u2019re narcissistic and want to use our natural giftings on ourselves, but once we become consecrated to His purposes it is astounding what God can do through an individual with basic aptitudes which they already possess.\u00a0 One of the books I hope you add to your library is this book by Henry Morris, the great creation scientist who is with the Lord now, passed away recently; he wrote many, many books and one of the most fascin\u00adating books he wrote is this book here, it\u2019s called \u201cMen of Science and Men of God<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s not a book refuting evolution, which is what a lot of Henry Morris\u2019 work dealt with because his background was in science.\u00a0 This is more of a history book and what it explains is all of the basic categories of science that we have today were started by people that somewhere in their background had a belief in a creator God and they had a belief in the Bible.\n\nAnd it\u2019s astounding to read some of the great names of science that we all know today and under\u00adstand the Biblicism behind these individuals.\u00a0 We could go on and on giving names but I\u2019ll just highlight one for you.\u00a0 One is Isaac Newton, we all know the name Isaac Newton.\u00a0 Isaac Newton is the discoverer, if\u00a0 you will, of the law of gravity and made other scientific contributions.\u00a0 Isaac Newton is looked at by unbeliever and believer alike as a great mind that has made great contri\u00adbutions to the study of science.\u00a0 What most people don\u2019t know about Isaac Newton is his Biblicism \u00a0or his beliefs in the Bible.\n\nI was shocked to discover that Isaac Newton wrote entire commentaries on the book of Daniel, which is what we\u2019re studying here (maybe I should consult his commentary), and the book of Revelation.\u00a0 Now all of that has been redacted or edited or removed from the history books and the fact of the matter is the humanists look at Isaac Newton and they say there\u2019s a great mind, why did he waste so much time with the Bible?\u00a0 Think what more he could have accomplished had his nose not been in the Bible but had been studying science.\u00a0 But here\u2019s what they don\u2019t understand: it is his knowledge of the Bible that gave him an incentive to study science because in the Bible Isaac Newton discovered there is a creator God who runs the universe according to certain axioms or principles and as a devout Christian that gave him an inducement, an incentive to discover what those principles are.\u00a0 You see?\n\nAnd this needs to be taught to our children because what they\u2019re getting, usually, from the media, educational system, is science is on the side of the unbeliever; all of the smart people, all of the \u201cscientists\u201d are actually evolutionists, we\u2019re told, and people that are members of the flat earth society are the people that believe in a six day creation week.\u00a0 But the opposite is true; the whole thing that we have been fed is a giant lie; it is pure propaganda and I\u2019m so grateful for Henry Morris because he documents all of these men of science, people who we respect and look up to, and he shows their Bible beliefs in their backgrounds through their writings which gave them an incentive to study science.\n\nWhatever your discipline is, medicine, law,\u00a0 politics, government, teaching, academia, finance, business, marketing, management, whatever your gifting is I believe this, that if you will submit that to God and stop using your gifts as a way to promote yourself, which is what a lot of us do, sadly, we use our natural gifting to promote the holy trinity, me, myself and I.\u00a0 If I will submit that to God and I will consecrate that to God, God will take whatever abilities you have and He will just magnify and amplify.\u00a0 And that, in essence, is what is happening here with these Hebrew youths.\n\nNow he goes on in verse 17 and he describes what Daniel had; Daniel had a gifting even beyond what I\u2019ve just described, because at the end of verse 17 it says, \u201cDaniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.\u201d\u00a0 The three Hebrew youths had gifting in the literature of the Chaldeans, but Daniel had that and even beyond that he had an ability to understand dreams and visions.\u00a0 That\u2019s setting the stage for what\u2019s coming because in 9 of these 12 chapters Daniel receives some kind of vision.\u00a0 Many times he will have to, under God\u2019s power, interpret that vision that actually is coming up very quick in Daniel chapter 2.\u00a0 But make no mistake about it, God is in the knowledge business.\n\nToday we\u2019re told in our postmodern culture that knowledge is arrogant, if you claim to know the truth, which we\u2019re told over and over again you can\u2019t know the truth, which that in and of itself is a truism, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Saying I can\u2019t know the truth is a truth claim.\u00a0 But people say all the time you can\u2019t know the truth, and if you claim to know the truth you\u2019re arrogant.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is God is in the knowledge business; God wants to give you truth, not just in the Bible (as important as that is) but in all realm and all areas.\n\nTake for example Solomon, who lived a few centuries earlier than Daniel.\u00a0 It says this: \u201cNow God gave Solomon,\u201d in 1 Kings 4:29-34, \u201cNow God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore. [30] Solomon\u2019s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. [31] For he was wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite,\u201d [Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol;] and several others which I won\u2019t articulate here, \u201cand his fame was known<\/em> in all the surrounding nations.\u201d\u00a0 What kind of knowledge did Solomon have:\u00a0 [32] \u201cHe also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.\u201d\u00a0 He had abilities in literature, he had abilities in musical instrumentation.\n\nIt says, [33] \u201cHe spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish.\u201d\u00a0 So here\u2019s a man with insight into botany, biology, zoology, and it says there in verse 34 that \u201cMen came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.\u201d\n\nWhat makes you smart is the Word of God.\u00a0 Psalm 119, Earl Chandler is leading a study on Wednesdays through Psalm 119, the longest Psalm in the Psalter.\u00a0 This is what Psalm 119:99-100 says, it says, \u201cI\u201d David, \u201chave more insight than all my teachers,\u201d how can a student know more than his teacher?\u00a0 \u201cFor Your testimonies are my meditation.\u201d\u00a0 And then he says in Psalm 119:100, \u201cI understand more than the aged, because I have observed Your precepts.\u201d\n\nSimply because I am a student of what God has revealed in His Word I know more than the most erudite and acclaimed university professor in the country, is essentially what he\u2019s saying.\u00a0 I know more than people that have lived decades and decades longer than I have because the Word of God puts me way ahead of the learning curve.\u00a0 We think that knowledge comes from life experience; that largely is true, that largely can be true, but there\u2019s another way to acquire knowledge before your life expectancy even catches up and that\u2019s by meditating on the Word of God.\u00a0 God, make no mistake about\u00a0 it, is in the knowledge business.\n\nProverbs 1:7, \u201cThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of\u201d what?\u00a0 I did this with you guys last time and you got it wrong and\u00a0 you got it wrong again, \u201cThe fear of the LORD is the beginning\u201d not of wisdom, other verses say that, I\u2019m quoting Proverbs 1:7, I guess I should have told\u00a0 you what verse I was quoting, \u201cThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of\u201d what, \u201cknowledge\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Knowledge is the acquisition of information and the ability to understand it; wisdom is its application.\u00a0 Both are important, but the learning curve starts with depositing one\u2019s life in the presence of God and submitting to Him and saying to Him, \u201cLord, not my will but Your will be done.\u201d\n\nI\u2019ve used this chart many times in this church, it\u2019s our SAT scores, you\u2019ll notice that once they pass that line there, which in 1963, they take a nosedive.\u00a0 And you say what in the world happened in 1963, did radioactive material enter our water supply?\u00a0 What happened?\u00a0 Well, that was the\u00a0 year that the Supreme Court, a lawless decision by the way, absolutely no textual basis in the Constitution at all, threw out God from the public schools.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to throw out God, we\u2019re going to throw out the Bible, we don\u2019t want any references to Jesus Christ, and so God says okay, I\u2019ll be a gentleman, I\u2019ll withdraw myself.\u00a0 And what happened to the intellectual capacities of America\u2019s youth at that point?\u00a0 They almost took a dramatic nosedive.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because \u201cThe fear of the LORD\u201d respect for God in other words, \u201cis the beginning of knowledge.\u201d\u00a0 God is the one who set up the whole universe.\u00a0 So if you submit yourself to Him all of the laws that He has ordained that run the universe are accessible to you. If\u00a0 you\u2019re not in submission to the Lord you\u2019re in rebellion against the Creator.\u00a0 How smart is it to rebel against your Creator?\u00a0 Not too smart!\n\nAnd yet the great lie of the adversary is remove yourself from God and you\u2019ll get smart.\u00a0 Genesis 3:5, this is the first lie that Satan told to Adam and Eve, particularly Eve here, he says, \u201cFor God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.\u201d\u00a0 You want to be smart?\u00a0 Remove yourself from God.\u00a0 And yet the opposite is true, isn\u2019t it?\n\nRomans 1:21-22 says, \u201cFor even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks,\u201d so what happened, \u201cbut they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.\u00a0 [22] Professing themselves to be wise, they became\u201d what? \u201cfools.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThe fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.\u201d\u00a0 [Psalm 14:1, \u201cFor the choir director. A Psalm of David. The fool has said in his heart, \u2018There is no God.\u2019 They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.\u201d]\u00a0 God is in the knowledge business!\n\nJeremiah 33:3, God says to the prophet Jeremiah, \u201c\u2018Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 You say well, that hasn\u2019t happened in my life.\u00a0 Well, have you fulfilled your part of the condition?\u00a0 Have you called out to God and asked for understanding?\n\nJohn 15:14-15, Jesus in the Upper Room said, \u201cYou are My friends if you do what I command you.\u201d\u00a0 Submission.\u00a0 [15] No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.\u201d\u00a0 Everything that the Father is doing I want to reveal to you but you\u2019ve got to do your part first; you\u2019ve got to do what I\u2019ve commanded you to do under divine power.\n\nJames 1:5 says, \u201cBut if any of you lacks wisdom,\u201d anybody fit into that category, I fit into that category daily, \u201cif any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God, who gives\u201d what? \u00a0\u201cto all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.\u201d\u00a0 The Spirit inside of you will help you understand things you could have never understood before without the Holy Spirit.\n\n1 Corinthians 2:14 says, \u201cBut a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.\u201d\u00a0 We think at a physical level, we think at a soulish level but with the Spirit of God you can think at a spiritual level.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, \u201cUnless you are born of the Spirit you cannot see the kingdom of God.\u00a0 [John 3:5]\u00a0 You can\u2019t even perceive it.\u00a0 So there is no doubt that God is in the knowledge business.\n\nBy the way, are you smarter than a fourth grader?\u00a0 We\u2019ve looked at this before, Fourth grade, 1862, Chicago School District.\u00a0 By the way, this is before we had a Department of Education; this is before we had the NEA, the Teacher\u2019s Union, all of these millions and millions of dollars that we\u2019ve poured into education, this is when God was still involved in the system.\u00a0 What were they learning there in the fourth grade? \u00a0Have you ever asked yourself that question?\u00a0 How many degrees of longitude are there?\u00a0 How many degrees wide are the temperate zones?\u00a0 How are you doing so far?\u00a0 What is water-shed?\u00a0 Fourth graders\u2026 \u201cWhat is water-shed?\u00a0 Name the principal animals of the frigid zones.\u00a0 Name the different races into which humanity is divided.\u00a0\u00a0 What is a monarchy?\u00a0 I think I can get number 6 right.\u00a0 What portion of the people of the globe are pagans?\u00a0 What portion are Christians? You look at the fine print there, Chicago, March 27, 1862.\n\nWhat has happened to our minds is they\u2019ve deteriorated as we\u2019ve gotten away from God because \u201cThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Proverbs 1:7, \u201cThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.\u201d]\u00a0 What did God do with these youths at a very young age that consecrated themselves to God?\u00a0 The first thing He did for them is He took whatever natural abilities they had in the area of knowledge and He dramatically expanded it.\n\nThe second thing that happened to them is they passed their tests, because remember, they were to be trained for three years and then Nebuchadnezzar himself was to inspect these youths and see if they were really suitable for serving in the king\u2019s court.\u00a0 And notice, if you will, Daniel 1:18, \u201cThen at the end of days which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar.\u201d\u00a0 They didn\u2019t submit paperwork to Nebuchadnezzar as a written exam; Nebuchadnezzar himself wanted face to face contact, which is probably the scariest kind of exam you can have, is an oral exam.\u00a0 We\u2019re not really interested in what people say on paper because we can\u2019t see the stress that they\u2019re under to answer the question, we can\u2019t really see how long it takes them to answer the question, but if you have a face to face exam we can see right through what you know and what you don\u2019t know.\u00a0 And so that\u2019s what these youths faced, an oral exam before Nebuchadnezzar and the results are astounding.\u00a0 They\u2019re presented to Nebuchadnezzar in a face to face manner, these teenagers.\n\nAnd look at the results, verse 19, \u201cThe king talked with them,\u201d see, that\u2019s why when we hire someone for a job we want an interview, we want a conversation, what kind of personality do you have, what kind of temperament do you have.\u00a0 I can probe answers with people in a face to face interview.\u00a0 If they say one thing I can go deeper, I can push them to the point where their knowledge is limited and I can sort of tell, are they making things up or are they not making things up.\u00a0 This is what a face to face oral exam does.\u00a0 \u201cThe king\u201d Nebuchadnezzar \u201ctalked with them and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king's personal service.\u201d\n\nNotice what it says here, \u201cout of them all,\u201d out of everybody that went through this system of indoctrination these youths stood out because God blessed their knowledge. Why?\u00a0 It\u2019s not that they weren\u2019t gifted to begin with, they wouldn\u2019t have gotten into this group, they wouldn\u2019t have met the entrance requirements if they weren\u2019t gifted.\u00a0 Just because God took their natural aptitudes as He saw a heart that was submissive to Him He blessed and He opened up whatever their avenues were He dramatically expanded those.\u00a0 And consequently they entered the king\u2019s service\u2014translation, they passed the test.\n\nLook at verse 20, it continues to describe these four youths; it says, \u201cAs for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them\u201d look at this, \u201cten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm.\u201d\u00a0 Now here he\u2019s not just talking about people that went through this period of education, he\u2019s talking about everybody in the kingdom that had some kind of spiritual insight, the magicians, conjurers, which were apparently very common place in Neo-Babylonia.\u00a0 As Nebuchadnezzar inquired and tested and probed and analyzed he discovered that these four youths were not just better than their peers, they were better than everybody else in the entire kingdom of Neo-Babylonia.\n\nWhy is it that these teenagers knew so much?\u00a0 The answer is very simple, they\u2019re connected to the Creator.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you think the Creator understands the literature of the Chaldeans better than the Chaldeans did?\u00a0 Don\u2019t you think He understands finance better than the greatest financial wizards on planet earth?\u00a0 Don\u2019t you think He understands medicine better than the greatest doctors on planet earth?\u00a0 That\u2019s what gives you insight, that\u2019s what gives you the cutting edge, that\u2019s what puts you a step above and beyond everybody else, but again, I\u2019ll make it very clear, God did not just willy-nilly give these people, until they demonstrated a heart of submission.\u00a0 They set their own lives at risk, they honored God in everything, including diet, and these blessings followed.\u00a0 They passed the test.\n\nI don\u2019t know what kind of test you\u2019re facing in your life; maybe it\u2019s not an academic test, maybe it\u2019s a test of faith, maybe it\u2019s a relationship test, maybe there\u2019s some kind of financial deficit.\u00a0 All of us face impromptu pop quizzes from God, almost every day of our lives.\u00a0 Would you not agree with that?\u00a0 God brings into our lives all kinds of tests.\u00a0 In fact, the New Testament tells us that this happens so frequently that we shouldn\u2019t be surprised by it.\u00a0 It\u2019s the normal outworking of God.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what kind of test you\u2019re in; your test may be different than my tests, but I know this much, that God wants\u00a0 you and will empower\u00a0 you to pass that test with flying colors.\n\nJames 1:12 says, \u201cBlessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 2:10 talks about a test, there to the churches in Asia Minor who were about to experience death, martyrdom, think about that kind of test.\u00a0 We look at social media, we go on certain websites, You Tube channels, and we can see our brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world today being martyred, persecuted, beheaded, set on fire, put in cages only to be drowned in the ocean in that cage, terrible things that are happening worldwide against Christians.\u00a0 Christians all over the world are under some kind of test and yet what does it say in Revelation 2:10, \u201c'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.\u201d\n\nGod helps people pass tests, even the severity of martyrdom today.\u00a0 God helps people pass tests in academia; thank the Lord for that.\u00a0 I like what Ronald Reagan said, as long as there\u2019s tests there is always going to be prayer in public schools.\u00a0 Or health tests, or tests of faith, or whatever it is, your trials are different than mine; we\u2019re all under something.\u00a0 And God wants to help you pass that with flying colors.\n\nYou know these four youths knew that exam day was coming; they probably were nervous and experienced a lot of anxiety and in trepidation and probably taking this exam before the king was a joy because their abilities that God had given them to be showcased and God could demonstrate Himself to be faithful.\u00a0 They had knowledge, they passed their exam.\n\nThere\u2019s a third thing that these four youths were given by God; He gave them longevity.\u00a0 He expanded their life spans and the longevity of their service because of their consecration to God.\u00a0 You see that at the very end of chapter 1, verse 21.\u00a0 It says, \u201cAnd Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.\u201d\u00a0 We read that, it\u2019s just a piece of biographical information that we skip right over and we don\u2019t understand what just happened there.\u00a0 What year is it?\u00a0 It\u2019s the third year of Jehoiakim, 605 B.C.\u00a0 Daniel chapter 1 and verse 1.\u00a0 [Daniel 1:1, \u201cIn the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.\u201d\n\nThen where is, chronologically the first year of Cyrus the king?\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t happen until Daniel 10:1, the third year of Cyrus, and if you understand a little bit about Babylonian and Jewish and Egyptian chronology, what you learn is that day didn\u2019t come until 536 B.C.\u00a0 [Daniel 10:1, \u201cIn the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar; and the message was true and one of great conflict, but he understood the message and had an understanding of the vision.\u201d]\n\nFrom 605 where Daniel was as a fifteen year old God expanded his service and his life and his longevity from the age of 15 for 69 years is what it says there, God blessed, God blesses in all kinds of different ways.\u00a0 \u00a0The way God chose to bless here was in longevity of service, which essentially means that Daniel continued to serve the Lord until his mid to late 80\u2019s.\u00a0 Fifteen years he takes a stand for God and God says you know what, here\u2019s a guy that\u2019s going to be faithful so I will elongate, I will expand, I will grow his career.\u00a0 And we are so deluded into thinking the choices we\u2019re making now have nothing to do with the future of our lives.\u00a0 And yet the book of Daniel seems to say the opposite. The length of Daniel\u2019s service, verse 21, from Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s initial siege, 605 B.C. right up through the decree of Cyrus which basically means Daniel served God for 69-70 years.\n\nAnd beyond that Daniel served through two Gentile empires and four successive Gentile administrations because here is the political flow in the book of Daniel: Babylon is in power first, 605-539, the two antagonists are Nebuchadnezzar, chapters 1-4, and Belshazzar, not to be confused with Daniel\u2019s paganized name, Belshazzar in Daniel 5.\u00a0 And then we get to chapter 5 and you see a political sea change. \u00a0You know, there\u2019s a prophecy in Daniel 2:21 that God changes the times and the seasons and the epochs, He takes out one king and puts in another.\u00a0 [Daniel 2:21, \u201cIt is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.\u201d]\n\nI would argue that just happened in our nation\u2019s history, wouldn\u2019t\u00a0 you?\u00a0 How do you explain that election other than the sovereignty of God?\u00a0 All of these political pundits today walking around, taking credit for it, as if they had anything to do with it, sitting on cable television boasting of their plans and how they succeeded.\u00a0 It has nothing to do with them! God just made a decision, I think largely because this time around, probably more than any other that I can think of, God\u2019s people got on their knees and prayed.\n\nSo God takes one out and puts in another.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s going on in chapter 5.\u00a0 Suddenly the Babylonians\u2026 now the Babylonians, that\u2019s a worldwide empire, they\u2019re out, who comes to place?\u00a0 The Persians, and then comes the administration of Persia, first under a man named Darius, we\u2019ll read about him in this book, later under a man named Cyrus, we\u2019ll read about him in this book.\u00a0 And Daniel is serving God all the way through that whole time period, for 70 years, up into his 80\u2019s, through two empires and four successive Gentile administrations.\n\nCan I tell you something, that God wants to bless you in your old age.\u00a0 Deuteronomy 34:7, of Moses it says this: \u201cAlthough Moses was one hundred and twenty years old\u201d anybody here that old, some of you look that old but\u2026. I shouldn\u2019t have said that, sorry, take it back, [laughter] \u201cAlthough Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated.\u201d\n\nDon\u2019t you want to be like that when you hit the age of 120?\u00a0 Actually the way this world is going I don\u2019t know if I want to be around that long, but should the Lord tarry and I reach the age of 120 I want to be the kind of guy that\u2019s still serving God, still putting Him first, still consecrated to Him.\u00a0 I want to be like Joshua and Caleb, who were those seasoned citizens (as we call them) who entered the land along with the kids, and said to the kids, our generation messed the whole thing up; your generation doesn\u2019t have to.\u00a0 And we, as seasoned citizens, as 80 year olds amongst all these 40 year olds are ready to go. Don\u2019t you want to be that way?\u00a0 And that\u2019s what God did with Moses, that\u2019s what God did with Daniel, that\u2019s what God wants to do with you.\n\nI think it was G. Campbell Morgan who preached into his very late years and someone asked him how is it that you\u2019re still able to minister at\u00a0 your age?\u00a0 And his response was very simple, I\u2019m living off the dividends of a well-spent youth.\u00a0 I put good seeds into the ground as a young person; today I\u2019m reaping the benefit of that.\u00a0 It\u2019s never too early to stand for God.\u00a0 There\u2019s something else to say, it\u2019s never too late.\u00a0 Maybe those dividends the way you would like them to come won\u2019t come but there is never a better time to stand for God than the present.\u00a0 God can\u2019t wait to bless through consecration.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is, folks, God wants to bless you more than you want to be blessed.\u00a0 God wants to use you more than you even want to be used and He\u2019s just looking for a soft heart that he can disclose and empower and reveal Himself to.\n\nYou know, I was fortunate, I came to Christ as a 16 year old in 1983, I\u2019m 50 years old, I just turned 50 years old so I have been \u201cin Christ\u201d in my lifespan longer than I\u2019ve been out of Christ.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve lived just about long enough to see the blessing associated with walking with God.\u00a0 We disqualify ourselves, we say well, I\u2019m too young to be used for God.\u00a0 Read the book of Daniel, Daniel was 15.\u00a0 Jeremiah 1:6-7, this is Jeremiah\u2019s hang-up, \u201cThen I said, \u2018Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.\u2019 [7] But the LORD said to me, \u2018Do not say, 'I am a youth,'\u201d in other words that\u2019s not an excuse, \u201cBecause everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak.\u201d\n\nThis is why Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12, \u201cLet no one look down on your youthfulness, [but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.]\u201d\u00a0 We buy into the systems of the world which say you\u2019ve got to be at least forty years old to do anything, which is the way the world works.\u00a0 That\u2019s not how God works; God will use a very young person.\u00a0 The opposite is true; God will use a very old person, by human standards.\n\nDaniel is an example, he was used by God as a teenager, he was used by God in his mid-80\u2019s.\u00a0 Another character, John, how old was John when he received his greatest vision.\u00a0 He was about 90, 95 years old, not exactly in the Hilton suite, but in a place of exile on this little island off the coast of Asia Minor called Patmos, and God waited till John got to be way over the hill and then He said now I\u2019m going to use you; I\u2019m not just going to give you in that age time period Revelation, I\u2019m going to give you some other books, which he didn\u2019t necessarily receive at Patmos but he received around that same age the Gospel of John which he wrote, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is as long as there is breath in your lungs God wants to use you.\n\nIs anybody here dead?\u00a0 Well, if you\u2019re not dead you\u2019re useable; the reason you\u2019re not dead is God has you here to use.\u00a0 And people say well, Andy, you don\u2019t understand, I\u2019m retired.\u00a0 Show me the word \u201cretirement\u201d in the Bible.\u00a0 You know what retirement is?\u00a0 Heaven is retirement; you can rest when you get to heaven but in the meantime God wants to use you.\u00a0 Retirement, what does that mean?\u00a0 That means you\u2019re leaving one job which gives you more financial freedom so God can use you somewhere else; that\u2019s what it means.\u00a0 God always wants to use us as long as there\u2019s breath in this body.\n\nWhat do these guys have?\u00a0 What did they get at an early age because of their consecration to God?\u00a0 Number 1, knowledge.\u00a0 Number 2, they passed their exam with flying colors.\u00a0 And number 3, they were given longevity of service.\n\nTakeaway\u2019s from chapter 1: the Mosaic Law taught Israel how to live inside the land; now that they\u2019re outside of the land how are we supposed to live?\u00a0 Follow the example of these four Hebrew youths who consecrated themselves to God at an early age despite life threatening circumstances and they lived by faith from crisis to crisis.\u00a0 That\u2019s how you live for God.\u00a0 You don\u2019t necessarily have to have in your mind your escape route and how you\u2019re going to get through this one or that one.\u00a0 You just have to put God first and live by faith from crisis to crisis, and watch what the Lord will do.\u00a0 Watch what He\u2019ll do!\u00a0 You\u2019ll be astonished.\n\nWhat do we need here at Sugar Land Bible Church?\u00a0 We need fat Christians\u2026 no, I\u2019m not talking about Thanksgiving; F stands for faithful, A stands for available, T stands for teachable. Faithful! Available! Teachable!\u00a0 Make 2017 different; this is the year I\u2019m going to be faithful, available and teachable, and watch how God changes, not just the year 2017, watch how He changes the course of your entire life.\u00a0 Shall we pray.\n\nFather God, we are inspired by these men that stood for you; it cost them something but You blessed and I know You want to do that today because You\u2019re the same\u00a0 yesterday, today and forever.\u00a0 Help us to walk with\u00a0 you in this way as we complete 2016 and move into the year 2017 to be those great vessels and vehicles of the last days.\u00a0 We ask that You\u2019ll do this work in our midst.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t