Episode Transcript
Daniel chapter 1 verses 14 through 16, the title of the mess this morning is the excellence of obedience.
The excellence of obedience.
After being taken captive as the servants of the king of Babylon, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah determined in their hearts to follow God's word concerning what they ate during their captivity.
The other children of Judah, well they just partook of the meat and the wine that the king gave them.
They didn't seem to be bothered by it, but Daniel and his godly companions, they say we're going to follow God's word.
Daniel told his Babylonian master, Melzar, that they had determined to not eat what God had forbidden.
But Melzar was afraid the king of Babylon would put him to death if he didn't make them eat the king's food.
Because he assumed that Daniel and his companions would become skinny and unhealthy if they didn't.
And the king would notice that they were worse off for not eating his food.
And this is where Daniel and his three godly friends, this is where their obedience to God could become a testimony to their Babylonian captors.
Look with me now in Daniel 1, 11 through 13.
"Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had sent over, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 'Prove thy servants I beseech thee ten days, and let them give us pulse to eat and water to drink.
Then let our countenance be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion the kings meet.
And as thou seest, deal with thy servants.'
And we learned last week that to prove means to test.
Daniel said, 'Put us to the test.
Give us only vegetables and water to eat for ten days, and then you compare us to the people who ate the king's food during that time.'
And continuing that story in verse 14 this morning, the Bible says, 'So he, that is Melzar, consented to them in this matter, 'Father, we thank you so much for your precious word, and I pray all eyes will be upon you this morning, Lord.
Feed us with the word of God, and encourage our hearts.
Lord, change our hearts where they need to be, and set our feet steadfast in your word.
In Jesus' precious name, Amen.'
So he consented to them in this matter.
Now the Hebrew word translated 'consented' here means to listen intelligently.
In other words, Melzar understood the terms of the test.
He got it.
He knew what was going on here.
And here are the terms of the test broken down.
Number one, Daniel and his companions were servants of God.
Number two, as servants of God, they followed the Bible.
Number three, they claimed that the Bible is the way people should live.
So number four, in ten days, Melzar would find out if they would be better off for following the Bible, or if they'd be worse off for following the Bible.
That's the terms of the test.
Melzar consented to that.
Melzar intelligently understood what was going on.
So not only is Daniel and his companions on trial here, but the Bible is on trial here in this test, you see.
The God whom Daniel had an eye on, Mishael, and Azariah claimed to serve, is also on trial for the next ten days.
After which, Melzar will see if these men were better off for being Christians or not.
This trial would have never happened had Daniel never spoken up about his faith in God.
Had Daniel just followed the course and just stayed in the middle of the row, then there never would have been a test.
God's Word and God's person and God's people would have never been put on trial.
But because Daniel professed his faith in God and his desire to follow God's Word, now Daniel, God, and the Bible are at the center of Melzar's attention, who is surely an unbeliever at this time.
So here's a kingdom truth for you this morning.
You cannot take God's name without taking the world's test.
You cannot take God's name without taking the world's test.
If after ten days Daniel fares better than those who don't follow the Word of God, then his test will become a testimony to the excellence of our obedience to God's Word.
I'll repeat that again.
If after ten days Daniel fares better than those who didn't follow the Word of God, then his test will become a testimony to the excellence of our obedience to God's Word.
However, if after ten days Daniel fares worse than those who didn't follow the Word of God, then his test will become a testimony to the inferiority of God's Word and thus the lack of its credibility.
That's the terms of the test.
So when you take the name of God publicly, child of God, when you quote scripture or you hold a Bible in your hand or you tell people that you're a Christian, do you know what you're doing?
You're telling the world, "Prove me for ten days.
Prove my God for ten days.
Prove the Bible for ten days."
Anytime you go publicly as a Christian, you are putting yourself and God's Word and the God who gave it on trial before the world.
You are inviting the unbelieving world to compare you to them to see if you're better off for following God's Word.
So if you're taking on the name of God, then you better make sure you're following the Word of God.
While Daniel claims to be eating vegetables and water, he's privately eating the king's meat behind closed doors.
Then after ten days, guess what's going to happen?
Melzahar is going to come to the conclusion that Christians are just like everybody else.
Don't look any different than anybody else in here.
Christians are no different than anybody else.
Why should I be motivated to follow God's Word?
That's what a lot of Christians do.
They take on the name of Christ.
They put on a cross around their neck.
They claim they belong to a certain church over here.
They claim to be Christians.
They go out and live just like everybody else in the world.
And then everybody else in the world looks at them and says, "They're no different than we are."
What advantage is it to me to become a Christian?
And they invalidate the Word of God to those people's eyes.
But Melzahar is going to conclude there's nothing special about the Word of God compared to the Word of the King of Babylon.
It's just six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Look, they look the same.
Worse than that, if Daniel happens to take on an ungodly lifestyle during that time, that causes him to look worse than the other people at the end of those ten days, then Melzahar is going to conclude that Christians are a bunch of hypocrites and he'd be better off if he didn't follow the Bible.
But he's going to conclude that Christians are a bunch of hypocrites and he'd be better off if he didn't follow the Bible.
And he's going to conclude that Christians are a bunch of hypocrites and he'd be better off if he didn't follow the Bible.
And he's going to conclude that Christians are a bunch of hypocrites and he'd be better off if he didn't follow the Bible.
And he's going to conclude that Christians are a bunch of hypocrites and arrested for inappropriately touching a young person at church.
And you know what that does when they put that out on the news?
All them believing the world goes, "Yep, that's just what we... yeah, that Christian stuff.
A bunch of hypocrites.
At least I hadn't gone to jail for touching a child inappropriately and I'm an atheist or I'm a Buddhist or I'm this or that."
This is why it's so disgusting when well-known pastors or people who really put themselves out there as strong Christians and they get into sin or they get arrested and they get put on the news and that's when the unbelieving world looks and says, "See, I'm not a religious man and I'm better off than they are."
No, you're not better off than they are.
The Bible didn't help them out because they didn't follow it.
It's not God's Word, it's the people who claim to be following it who do not.
And when you take on God's name but you don't take on God's commandments, you're taking the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
And the Bible says, "The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."
So never take on God's name without taking on God's Word.
"Melzaher consented to Daniel's request," look back in your text now, "and proved them ten days."
When Melzaher put these men to the test for ten days, he put their God to the test for ten days, he put the Bible to test for the ten days, verse 15, "and at the end of ten days," and underscore in your text, "the end of ten days."
The end of ten days.
Thank God our test eventually come to an end.
Thank God.
Our trials eventually come to an end.
And you know what?
We're tried our entire life, aren't we?
Boy, you ever get through one trial?
You think, "Oh, thank God I've made it through that trial."
"Thank you Lord Jesus for delivering me from that."
And you get your breath and you say, "Here I go, man, I'm going to start serving the Lord."
"I'm going to start enjoying life a little bit."
And then, boom, here comes another one.
You get through that and your boat gets rocked and you make it through.
"Thank you God, thank you, thank you."
And then, boom, here comes another one.
The trial of ten days is the trial of a lifetime.
Every trial comes to an end and eventually all trials come to an end.
Revelation chapter 2 verse 10.
Revelation chapter 2 verse 10.
Listen carefully.
"Jesus told the church of Smyrna, 'Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.'"
Do you know what he's saying?
You're going to suffer some things.
Child of God, you're going to suffer some things.
Jesus didn't say, "Don't be afraid, you won't suffer."
He said, "Don't be afraid of the things that you are going to suffer."
And as children of God, we are going to suffer things for the Word of God that we follow.
He says, "Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried and ye shall have tribulation ten days."
What does he say?
"Be thou faithful unto," what?
"Death, and I will give thee the crown of life."
Now I want you to notice the connection here between ten days and what?
Death.
Their trial ended when their life ended.
When it comes to tribulation, ten days can last a lifetime.
You see?
It's not the number of days.
It's not that you go through some battle for two weeks, you say, "Lord, it's been 14 days.
What happened to ten?"
No, the ten days can last a lifetime.
The ten days means it is a trial, but thank God, the fact that those days are numbered means your trials on earth are numbered.
And God says, "Don't be afraid of any of them."
Don't be afraid of any of them.
When we get our crown of life, that's when the world will forever see that those who follow Christ truly do fare better in the end.
The Bible says, "At the end of ten days," look back in your text now, "their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat."
After following God's Word, Daniel and his godly friends were fairer and fatter.
Now, that is no approval to eat nothing but fried chicken and watermelon and chocolate cake.
They weren't obese, but they were fairer and fatter than those who didn't follow God's Word.
You know what that is?
That's the excellence of obedience.
The excellence of obedience.
Obeying God's Word may seem difficult in the beginning, but when did they seem to be, when were they proven to be better?
It was at the end.
At the end of those ten days.
So, the excellence of obedience means obeying God's Word may seem difficult in the beginning, but it will always prove to be better at the end.
And you know what?
It is the end that counts.
You ever purchase some cheap Chinese piece of junk because it was cheaper?
And then it breaks on you?
My wife has a saying, "Buy once, cry once."
In other words, go ahead and get good quality product the first time and cry once.
Instead of having to keep replacing that piece of junk.
But when does it matter?
It matters in the end.
It matters in the end.
Now, I want you to take your pens if you would.
And in this portion of Scripture we just read, underscore these three sweet words, "All the children."
All the children.
Daniel and his godly companions, the men of God who followed God's Word, were fairer and fatter in flesh than most of the children?
Than some of the children?
No, than all of the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.
Do you know what the word "all" means?
It means there were no exceptions.
They were fairer and fatter in flesh than everybody that ate the king's meat.
And you know what that means?
That means there is never an exception to the excellence of obedience.
Never.
Here's the kingdom truth for you this morning.
There is never a time when disobeying God's Word will result in a better outcome.
You can take that to the bank.
There is never a time, all the children, never a time when disobeying God's Word will result in a better outcome.
Because of Daniel's obedience, Melzar came to the conclusion that it was better for them to obey God rather than man.
Those sweet girls that are watching this morning, Avery and Clara, let me tell you something girls.
There is never a time when disobeying God's Word will make things better for you.
It doesn't matter what the world is telling you.
Always, always follow God's Word.
I guarantee you if I were to ask for a show of hands, there would be hands all over this church that would say they've never regretted following God's Word.
And there would be hands all over this church that would say they have regretted not obeying it.
Because of Daniel's obedience, Melzar has now come to the conclusion that it was better for them to obey God rather than man.
Look now in verse 16.
Thus, or on account of how they turned out better for obeying God's Word, Melzar took away the portion of their meat and the wine that they should drink and gave them pulse.
In other words, they got their vegetables and they got their water.
They trusted in God and guess what?
God did not let them down.
By faith, they obeyed God.
And now they knew by experience that they were better off for having done so.
By faith, they obeyed God.
And now they knew by experience that they were better off for having done so.
Romans chapter 5, 3b-4.
Romans chapter 5, 3b-4.
Says, "Tribulation or tests work patience and patience experience and experience hope."
That's exactly what we see here.
Their tribulation, it produced patience.
It allowed them to suffer in their obedience.
What did their patience do?
Their patience then, by suffering through that obedience, it produced experience.
They got to find out that God did not let them down.
And now, what did that experience do?
It gave them hope that the next time they get put to the test, the next time they're tempted whether or not to obey God's Word, whether or not they've got hope that God's not going to let them down again.
Praise God!
Tribulation works patience.
People say, "Well, don't pray for patience, you'll get tribulation."
That has nothing to do with what that text is talking about.
Patience means suffering under obedience.
That when you're put to the test to obey, you don't say, "Ouch, it hurts to obey, I'm going to stop."
No, you say, "I trust God, it's better to obey.
I will obey even though it's making me go, 'Ouch.'"
And that's the type of patience it's talking about.
It's not patience, not talking about patience with rambunctious children if it was.
Man, I would have flunked that a long time ago.
It's not talking about patience with people who talk too much.
I would have flunked that a long time ago.
It's talking about enduring.
Enduring suffering through obedience.
And when you do, it calls you to have that experience of knowing God sticks with His Word.
He'll never let you down when you follow His Word.
And now you have hope for the next trial that comes up.
Having put God's Word to the test and seeing God's faithfulness in His trials.
Now Daniel and his friends, they have an even greater hope for the trials to come.
Now they could continue to follow God's Word with hope that they would continue to fare better in the end.
Notice that "Melzar took away the portion of their meat."
You might want to underscore that, "took away."
"Melzar took away the portion of their meat."
Do you know what that means?
That means when you pass one test, God often takes that test away.
They're not going to be tested again when it comes to the portion of their meat.
That test was passed.
That test is taken away.
Now if you don't pass a test, you may keep getting that meat stuck out in front of you so you can pass that test.
But once you pass a test, God had that meat taken away from them.
They're not going to be tested the same again.
The same men will be tested, but the test won't be the same.
You getting that?
When you see "Melzar taking that meat away," that means the same men will be tested, but they won't be tested the same.
The meat and wine was taken away, but the next test will be coming soon.
And that's how it works with all of us.
Don't think just because you pass one test that God's going to, you know, you can now just keep taking that same test.
Man, if that's the way it was, then it really wouldn't be a test, you know.
God lets you pass one test, and then He'll put something totally different in your way.
A totally different trial, a totally different shock, a totally different fear to encounter, a totally different enemy.
Why?
To remind you that no matter what you face, even though that trial is different, you've got the same God who brought you through the last one.
So when God takes away the meat, thank God for it.
That trial's over.
But be prepared for the next one that comes your way, and you remember that as God delivered you from one, so He'll deliver you from all of them.
Joshua chapter 10, Joshua chapter 10, verses 24 and 25.
Now after Israel fought against several cities and won in battle, the Bible says in Joshua 10, 24, "And it came to pass when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, the kings of the enemy cities, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him."
So all the men of Israel come, and now captains over those men are now gathered from those people.
So you've got a bunch of spectators, a bunch of Israelites watching, and their captains coming out representing them.
Watch what he says here now, he says, "Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings."
And they came near and put their feet upon the necks of them.
Now watch what's happening.
Let's say that Brother Shepherd was a captain over a group of people here.
Y'all are all watching.
There's a king that God just got through, we just got through conquering that city by the grace of God.
And Joshua calls everyone near, y'all all come near, then he calls Brother Shepherd and he says, "Now Brother Shepherd as a captain, you come near."
And he tells Brother Shepherd, "You put your foot on the back of that king's neck."
When Brother Shepherd puts his foot on the back of that king's neck, he's representing all of the people under him putting their foot on the back of that king's neck.
You see?
Now watch what happens here.
You've got these kings that were in a cave.
He says, "Put your feet upon the necks of these kings."
And they came near and put their feet upon the necks of them.
Watch now verse 25, "And Joshua said unto them, 'Fear not, nor be dismayed, for be strong and of good courage, watch now, for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight, every last one of them.'"
Now when they put their neck on the backs of these kings, those kings are conquered.
Do you know what that means?
Just like the kings meet, it's going to get taken away from them.
They're not going to face those kings and battle again.
But Joshua lets them know, "Oh, you're going to have more enemies."
But you see how your feet on the back of that king's neck?
This is what God will do to all your enemies if you trust Him.
Don't be afraid, don't be dismayed, "For thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies."
No exceptions.
No exceptions.
Once Daniel put his foot on the king's meat, he knew that God could put his foot on all of the enemies.
Right?
Do you understand that?
Back to Daniel now.
Once Daniel put his foot on the king's meat, he knew God could put all his enemies under his feet.
Here's a kingdom truth.
We face many different trials, but we stand in the strength of the same victorious God.
We face many different trials, but we stand in the strength of the same victorious God.
The Bible is a road.
When we've been studying in the book of Proverbs, we keep seeing God's Word being called the way.
The way.
The way.
Meaning it is the roadway.
It is a road you walk on.
And God's Word is a road that travels over the necks of our enemies.
And all we have to do is follow it, and we shall stand on all of them.
With that said, we'll close in prayer.
Praise God I enjoyed God's Word.
Father, thank you so much for your precious Word.
Thank you for the stories of Daniel, Hananiah, Meshel, and Azariah.
Thank you, Father, for letting us know that as they stood on the necks of the kings, so they stood on the necks of the king's meat.
And so we, Father, in the name of Jesus, by following your Word, can stand on the necks of all our enemies that stand in our way of serving you.
And we thank you so much for that and help us too now to be strong and of good courage.
To be not dismayed and to fear none of those things that we shall suffer.
Because the end of ten days is coming for all of us.
In Jesus' precious name, Amen.
