Episode Transcript
Alright, Daniel chapter 1, God willing we'll be expounding verse 10 this morning.
How the mess this morning is standing out by standing up.
Daniel and his godly companions have been taken captive by Babylon and they've been carried away to serve King Nebuchadnezzar.
It was a very difficult time in their lives.
We left off in verse 9 last week which says, "Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.
When God brought Daniel into captivity, he also brought him into favor and tender love."
And how wonderful that was, I sure enjoyed that study last week.
In that verse we learned that God never lets us experience the world's darkness with also experiencing his kindness.
God always gives grace in the midst of our sorrow.
In Jesus Christ there's always something to celebrate when we mourn.
When Daniel was brought to Babylon, the king appointed Daniel a daily serving of the meat and wine that the king ate and drank.
But remember Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself by eating the king's food which had been sacrificed to idols and most probably also included animals that were forbidden to eat by God's law.
So Daniel told the prince of the eunuchs whom the king had set over the captives that he was determined to not defile himself by eating the king's food.
Now moving forward in our text this morning we move to verse 10 which says, "And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel," let's pray, "Father we thank you for your precious word.
Father I pray you remove all distractions this morning.
I thank you for each and every person who's here."
Some dear Lord God specific answers to my prayer and I'm so grateful.
And Lord I pray dear Lord God that all eyes and ears will be upon your word this morning.
You'll edify your people and glorify your name we ask in Jesus' wonderful name.
Amen.
"And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel," underscore if you would, "The prince of the eunuchs said."
"The prince of the eunuchs said."
Now Daniel had said his piece.
Daniel said, "I've determined to not defile myself by eating the king's meat and by drinking the king's wine."
Daniel has said his piece and now the prince of the eunuchs is going to speak.
Daniel's really rocked the boat.
He has.
He has rocked the boat.
He has refused to eat the king's food and now it's time to see how Daniel's Babylonian master, the prince of the eunuchs, is going to respond.
Will he be angry at Daniel?
Will he seek to have Daniel put into prison or killed?
Will he think Daniel is crazy and laugh at him for not wanting to eat the king's food?
Daniel probably didn't know how the prince of the eunuchs was going to respond to Daniel obeying God by not eating what God had forbidden him to eat.
You know, we have stories like this in the Bible because that's what happens to us.
We have stories like this in the Bible because we also don't know how people are going to respond to our obedience.
Do you know why we often don't do what we should?
I'll tell you why.
Because we don't know how people are going to respond to our obedience.
You think about that.
If I share the gospel with this person, are they going to look at me like I'm crazy?
How many of y'all, be honest now, how many of y'all have ever felt prompted in your heart to reach out to someone about sharing the gospel?
In the back of your head you start thinking, "Well, how are they going to respond to that?"
Hands up all over.
That's why we have stories like this in the Bible.
Don't overlook the simple things like the prince of the eunuchs said.
This is his response.
Again, he didn't know, but this is the reason that we don't act in obedience to God oftentimes is because we don't know how the world is going to respond to our obedience.
You know, if we're concerned about how people are going to respond to our obedience, we think to ourselves, "Well, if I share this gospel track, are they going to look at me like I'm crazy?"
If I take a stand and I don't join in with everybody else in doing this particular function, which I know God would not be pleased with, are they going to make fun of me?
If I speak out against something that's wrong, is someone going to get angry at me or offended?
Is it going to bother me at work and hurt me and maybe getting a promotion later on?
If obeying God's Word was always popular, then everybody would do it.
But it's not always popular.
And we hesitate sometimes because we don't know how people will respond to our obedience.
Daniel was practicing Jewish laws in a Babylonian world.
It was awkward for Daniel to do.
And we're practicing heavenly laws in an earthly world.
And it's awkward for us sometimes, you know.
God's commandments weren't popular in Babylon.
But you know what gave Daniel the courage to obey God when it wasn't popular?
It's this.
Like us, Daniel was uncertain about the prince of the eunuchs.
But he wasn't uncertain about God.
That's what matters.
And we have to put ourselves in Daniel's position here.
Here's a kingdom truth.
We don't know how people will respond to our obedience.
But we do know how God will respond to our obedience.
And I'll repeat that again.
We don't know how people will respond to our obedience.
But we do know how God will respond to our obedience.
There will never be a time when your obedience does not meet with God's approval.
Isn't that a wonderful thing?
I don't care how anybody else responds, rejects it.
You ever think about standing up, you're reading a post on Facebook or on Instagram or whatever you're on.
And you're on social media and you read a post and you think, "I want to comment this right here."
And you think, "What if everyone starts jumping on me if I do?"
"What if they start doing little laughy faces at me?"
"Well, maybe I shouldn't post that on there."
We don't know how the world's going to respond.
But we know every time how God's going to respond to our obedience.
There will never be a time when our obedience does not meet with God's approval.
Now, let's see how the prince of the eunuchs responded.
He said, "Look back in your text, 'I fear the Lord.'
I'm sorry, 'I fear my Lord, the King.'
Underscore the word 'fear' please."
Fear.
Isn't that something?
The eunuch was Daniel's master.
This eunuch, he had authority over Daniel.
He had authority over all the captives.
He was a very powerful man.
He was the prince of the eunuchs.
That means he had servants under him who weren't captives.
They were Babylonians.
And you would think that he would have been a fierce man to deal with.
But deep down inside, the man was afraid.
He was afraid.
He wasn't secure in his job.
He wasn't secure in his life.
He wasn't secure in his eternal soul.
Here he is working, but he's afraid of the one he's working for.
"I fear," he said, "sternness, haughtiness, anger, and even laughter often masks people's true feelings."
They often wear them as masks to cover their fear or to cover their insecurities.
"I fear my Lord, the King," he said.
And that's in great contrast.
Remember, we learned at the very beginning of this study that Babylon and the King of Babylon and the God of Babylon all represent the Satan, who's the God of this fallen world, and the earthly powers that yield to his influence.
And so it's always in contrast to Christ being King, God the Father being God of all, and his kingdom that we live in.
Daniel was from a different kingdom, living in a strange world.
We are from a different kingdom, living in a strange world.
We have to answer to earthly kings, but ultimately we answer to our heavenly king.
And so here's this great contrast between the servants of God's kingdom and the servants of the devil's kingdom.
We, Christians, are motivated by love and joy.
They are motivated by lust and fear.
We are motivated by love and joy.
They are motivated by lust and fear.
After the Queen of Sheba, remember the Queen of Sheba, she came to visit King Solomon in Israel.
In the golden age of Israel, she came to visit and see what was going on.
And in 1 Kings 10, verses 8 and 9, after seeing how Israel was run, and how King Solomon ran the kingdom of Israel, and King Solomon was a picture of Jesus.
A picture of Jesus during the eternal age.
And after she saw how he ran the kingdom, listen to what she said, 1 Kings 10, 8, 9, "Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.
Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel forever.
Therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice."
Do you know what that is?
Solomon's a picture of Jesus.
The Queen of Sheba is sitting here looking at him, and she said, "Happy are your servants, who stand before you continually."
That was a picture of you and me, who served the Lord Jesus Christ, and we're happy about it.
And she said, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made you king, to rule over Israel forever."
Forever!
You see, we, the church, are the true Israel of God, the Bible says.
This is all a picture of Jesus ruling over the church forever.
Ruling over the world forever.
Those who believe on him as their savior.
And they're happy in doing so.
Man, when Jesus comes back as king, none of us are going to go around and say, "I fear my Lord the King."
"Oh, I'm afraid he's going to take my head off."
"I'm afraid he's going to get me."
No.
He's the one who loved us, and gave his life for us, to give us everlasting life.
And a person with everlasting life can't fear eternal death.
We can't do it.
That's the difference.
The prince of the eunuchs, he lived in fear.
We live and serve in love and joy.
As we move further in this book, you're going to see that people were afraid of King Nebuchadnezzar.
They didn't love and respect him like we do Jesus.
They were afraid of that king.
They were scared of him.
And here's why.
People who live by lust, serve by fear.
People who live by lust, serve by fear.
Out of all the things the Queen of Sheba could have said about Solomon's kingdom, she said, "Your servants are happy."
I tell you, there's no people on earth any happier than the children of God.
I'm telling you, there's not.
The people who are serving this world, they're not happy.
My wife and I frequently check famous people sometimes, if someone comes to our attention, you know, we'll go to Wikipedia and just kind of get a little synopsis of their life.
And it's remarkable how many of these people struggle with drugs and marital problems and things.
And you look at Robin Williams, and he was a comedian.
He couldn't even make himself happy.
But praise God with Jesus, we are able to hear his wisdom, you know, and serve him in love in a world that lives in fear.
The prince said, "I fear the king," look back in your text now, "who hath appointed your meat and your drink."
The prince of the eunuchs was only following orders.
The king of Babylon was the one who had appointed his food and his wine to be consumed by his servants.
If the prince of the eunuchs disobeyed King Nebuchadnezzar's order concerning the food, then he could easily be put to death.
If Daniel disobeyed King Nebuchadnezzar, then he could be easily put to death.
The stakes were high.
King Nebuchadnezzar had appointed Daniel food to eat, but King Jehovah, the creator of all things, he had appointed Daniel food to eat, and Daniel had to choose to obey one of those two kings.
And he had to choose to obey God rather than men.
And that's what we have to do.
But the prince of the eunuchs, he didn't know God like Daniel.
So he was afraid of the king of Babylon.
He told Daniel that he was afraid for him to not eat the king's food.
Look back in your text, "For why should he," that is the king, "see your faces worse-liking than the children which are of your sort?"
This is a fascinating piece of this verse here.
The prince of the eunuchs didn't want the king to see Daniel and his friends looking worse than the rest of the servants, and then be angry at the prince for not feeding them the king's food.
And there's two things I want you to see here about this passage.
First, if you would, I'd like you to underscore "your faces worse."
Underscore those three words, "your faces worse."
The prince assumed that Daniel and his friends would be worse off if they didn't eat the king's food.
That's an assumption.
He didn't say, "What if he sees your faces worse?"
He says, "Why should he see your faces worse off?"
He assumed that Daniel and his three godly companions, who we've looked at in previous verses, that they would be worse off by not eating the king's food.
You see, the world assumes that it will be worse for them if they follow God's commandments.
They always assume that.
The devil wants them to assume that.
He wants us to view obedience to God as a sacrifice that we have to make, rather than the blessing we get to receive.
You see that?
The devil wants you, the devil wants the world, and it has been successful in making the world believe that obeying God is a sacrifice that people have to make, rather than a blessing that people get to receive.
The truth is, obedience to God is a blessing we get to receive, and it's not a sacrifice that we have to make.
They think, "Well, just look at all the things you don't get to do if you're a Christian."
That's what they think.
"Just look at all the things you don't get to do."
Tammy and I met two nice couples our age on our flight back from Florida last week, and interestingly, both of those couples were flying out of Florida.
One was flying to Texas, and the other was flying to Las Vegas, ultimately.
And they were going to concerts.
Both the couples we met were going to concerts in two different states.
One couple was going to Billy Bob's.
How many of you all like going to-- I'm not going to ask.
I don't want to know.
But one couple was going to Billy Bob's to hear a country band last night.
The other was going to Las Vegas to hear a rock band last night.
And they both thought it was exciting to go hear their favorite bands.
But I was just thinking how empty all of it was.
I really was.
I was just looking at them thinking how empty all of it was, how sad it was that at almost 60 years of age, they're still trying to relive their high school days.
You know?
And they're still going to honky-tonks.
The concert in Fort Worth started at 10 p.m. last night at Billy Bob's.
Brother Doug, 10 p.m. 60 years old in a honky-tonk waiting for a concert on a Saturday night to start at 10 p.m.
Listen, late Saturday night is not the time to start a concert.
It's the time to start getting ready for bed so you'll be ready to go to church Sunday morning.
That's what pleases God.
Even if you say, "Well, Brother Richard, maybe they went to church today."
Yeah.
No way.
But even if they did, you're up there and you're starting a concert at 10 o'clock.
And you're drinking and you're having a good time.
And by the time you get home and get in bed, you're not going to feel like getting up and going to church the next morning.
Why would you anyway?
If you can get all excited about the world's music, you don't need the churches.
We're singing about two different things.
Worshiping two different things.
But I tell you what, if they knew what I was doing this morning, what I wasn't doing last night-- Do you know what I was doing last night?
I was writing, working on a book to help pastors know how to share the gospel in my office while they're getting ready for a concert.
The other concert started at 8.30.
They really got started early.
That was the one in Las Vegas.
But they would probably think that we were missing out on life by being stuck at the house like that.
But the truth is, they are missing out on life because they missed the church of Jesus Christ today.
That's the truth.
They are no better off for hearing songs that minister to their dying flesh.
The songs they can hear for free on YouTube.
And then they go and they pay several hundred dollars per ticket.
I looked it up.
I was curious.
Several hundred dollars per ticket.
To hear songs that minister to their dying flesh.
Still singing about a girlfriend or someone breaking up with you.
Man, 60 years old?
Come on!
And they're no better off.
But you know what?
This morning we are far better off for hearing truth that ministers to our eternal souls.
Now underscore the words in Daniel 1.10.
Underscore the words "of your sort."
Of your sort.
Now in the Hebrew, the Hebrew word translated "sort" it literally means "circle."
Circle.
So, he's saying, "Hey, I'm afraid Daniel, for you to stand before the king looking worse than the other young men in your circle."
You see what he's saying here?
What Ashpenaz, the prince of the eunuchs is really saying, is quite sad.
Let me read to you again.
He says, "For why should he, the king, see your faces worse-liking than the children which are of your circle?"
Now to understand what he's talking about, and the significance of what he's saying, we need to remind ourselves of the context these words are spoken in.
So look back with me in Daniel 1.3-6.
Daniel 1.3-6.
Let's remind ourselves the context we're studying this in.
"And the king spake unto Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel."
The children of Israel, and of the king's seed.
In other words, specifically of the king's seed and of the prince's.
"Children whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them, the children of Israel, to stand in the king's palace, of whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
And the king appointed them the children of Israel, a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them, the children of Israel, who were taken captive, three years, that at the end thereof they, the children of Israel, might stand before the king.
Now among these, the children of Israel, who were taken captive, were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Ezariah."
Underscore "Now among these."
"Now among these, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Ezariah, were among these other children of Israel, who were taken captive to serve king Nebuchadnezzar."
That was Daniel's circle.
And Ashpenaz is concerned that these four men will look worse than the other Jews who were with him.
And you know what that means?
That means out of all the Israelites that were taken captive to serve the king, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Ezariah were the only Jews who determined in their hearts to obey God's law.
Four men out of all the ones taken captive, their fellow Jews were eating the king's meat.
That's got to be pretty depressing.
This really made Daniel and his friends look like a bunch of nutty radicals, you know?
"Well, what's the deal with you, Daniel?
What's the deal with you and your friends?
What about all the other Jews that we took from Judah when we conquered it?
They don't have any trouble eating the king's meat.
They're getting along just fine.
They're not stirring up any trouble.
They're not rocking the boat.
Why, Daniel, his friends look like a bunch of kooky troublemakers.
And you know what?
That's how we look to the world when we obey God's Word.
That's how we look to the world when we follow God's Word.
And all the other so-called Christians don't.
Oh, you all saw that so-called bishop wag her finger at President Trump the other day.
That's no bishop.
She's no preacher.
She's a false teacher.
But you know what?
When the world sees people dress themselves up as clergy, and they see other people here in Maybank, and they go sit in the house of God, they go over to a Baptist church, a Church of Christ, a popular church or wherever, and they see those people doing what God says not to do, but just kind of going along with the world, you know, kind of like traffic when you go to work.
You know how some people think?
Some people go to work and they look at the speed limit, they look at their speedometer.
Other people go to work and they look at how fast everyone else is driving around, they just keep up with the crowd.
And then they try to justify themselves by saying, "Well, if I don't, I'll just get ran over."
I haven't got ran over yet.
That's a bunch of baloney.
I've had a few fingers pointed at me, a few fists shaking at me, but I haven't got ran over.
And as Christians, our job is not to look at the rest of the world and travel along with them in step.
Our job is to look at the speed limit sign, is to look at God's Word, and then look down at the speedometer, look at our lives and see, are we in obedience with what God's telling us to do?
We measure ourself by the Scripture, not by the company that we keep.
But it's easy when you're just traveling along with everybody else, you think, "Well, I'm not rocking the boat, I'm kind of blending in."
And we do that in life, and that is wrong.
Daniel and his companions could not do that because they had to follow God's Word, but even if it meant people would be shaking their fists and pointing fingers at them.
We look like we're making things difficult in the world's eyes.
Daniel and his companions, they're just making things difficult.
These Christians, they're just making things difficult.
When I was a young highway patrolman, our group would go out sometimes, and they would have a party, have a little meeting and a party, and they would drink, and drink alcohol, and eat together, and stuff like that.
And there were two men, me and another man, Jimmy Dunklin, two men in two counties that would not go and participate in all that.
I made my living trying to save people who were getting killed by drunk drivers and alcohol and stuff, and I wasn't about to go in there and start drinking alcohol, and then drive to the house.
Not that they got drunk, but I wouldn't go participate in it.
Me and Jimmy weren't.
And you know what they thought about us?
They thought we were kooky.
So while they were having their fun drinking, me and Jimmy had to work wrecks in two counties.
We were the only two troopers out in two counties.
And you looked like you're troublemakers.
And like we're making things difficult, and in the world, the people who kind of go along, who claim to be Christians, because most of those troopers did claim to be Christians who partook in that, they look like they're taking the easy, sensible, and non-offensive approach.
The middle of the road, the sensible kind of thing to do.
Ashpenaz says, "If you guys stand before the king looking worse than the other Jews we captured," look back in your text now as we begin to close, "then shall ye make me in danger of my head to the king."
The king's going to cut my head off.
You see what's happening here?
They're worried about looking bad to the wrong king.
You see that?
If you do this, if you stand before the king and he doesn't like how you look, I could get my head cut off.
They're worried about looking bad to the wrong king.
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah weren't worried about how they looked to the earthly king.
They were concerned with how they would look to the king of kings.
That's how we have to concern ourselves with, not with what the world will think about it, not with what society will think about it, not with what my family or my co-workers will think about it, not what my political party will think about it, what will my God think about it?
Most people are concerned with what the world thinks about them, instead of what God thinks about them.
Most people are more concerned with the temporary judgment of an earthly king than the eternal judgment of the eternal king.
They assume that they're going to be worse off in this life if they refuse the world's program, the king's meat.
But the truth is, they will be far better off in this life and in the life to come if they embrace God's program, His word, His gospel for their lives.
And as we move forward in our study in the book of Daniel, we're going to see how Daniel and his three godly companions turned out compared to their disobedient brethren, the men in their circle.
And here's the Kingdom Truth I'll leave with you today.
There's never a time when God won't approve of your obedience, and there's never a time when God won't reward your obedience.
That will go ahead and close.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word.
Thank you, Father, for giving us the stories of men of God who were willing to take a stand.
To not wait for popular opinion to turn their way before they spoke up, but to speak up when it was unpopular.
To speak up, Father God, when they were viewed as troublemakers.
To not care, Father, about how they looked before the world, but how they looked before the God they served.
Thank you, Father, for loving us.
Thank you for sending your Son to die for us.
And thank you, Father, for your word that we can happily obey and be happy servants of King Jesus.
In His precious name we pray, Amen.
