Episode Transcript
If you take your Bibles and turn to the book of Daniel chapter 1 please.
Daniel chapter 1.
We had over 50 gospel contacts for the week.
And we had a really good time.
We had 56 gospel contacts for the week and that brings our subtotal for the year up to 230.
So keep passing those tracts out.
Keep sharing God's precious word.
Also remind everyone that we'll be having an adult, not an adult banquet, but a couples banquet to help strengthen marriages next month.
And if you're interested in going, please give Tammy, my wife, your information.
Let her know that you and your wife plan on coming.
You get more information from her.
Also this Wednesday my wife and I will be out of state going to see a new grandbaby.
So Brother Shepard will be filling in and if something happens and Brother Shepard gets called to do something at work, then Brother Richard will be preaching from long distance.
And I'll just preach and broadcast to hear to you.
But God willing, Brother Shepard will be here and be teaching God's word to you this coming Wednesday and we'll be back in the pulpit this Sunday.
All right.
Daniel chapter 1.
We'll be expounding verse 9 this morning.
If this is your first time visitor, then we teach verse by verse.
We start at chapter 1, verse 1 in a book and we teach every verse explaining each one till we finish that particular book of the Bible.
The title of the message this morning is "He Sends the Ravens."
He sends the ravens.
In verse 8, last week we learned that the king of Babylon had provided the meat and the wine that he ate and drank to Daniel and his companions.
They'd been captured from Judah when Babylon conquered Judah.
And they'd been brought to Babylon to serve the king.
And the meat and the wine that the king had given to them to eat and drink had been sacrificed to idols and was deemed unclean.
And according to God's law, Jews weren't supposed to eat and drink that stuff.
So we look here in verse 8 where we left off last week, but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's meat nor with the wine which he drank.
Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank you for your precious word.
Thank you God for those who came here today.
And I pray dear Lord that all eyes will be upon you this morning.
All distractions will be removed.
That your Holy Spirit will feed your precious people.
In Jesus' wonderful name we pray.
Amen.
Daniel was bound by his circumstances.
We learned that last week.
Daniel was bound by his circumstances.
He couldn't get himself out of captivity.
But we learned that when you're bound by your circumstances, you have to remain faithful to your purpose.
And that's what Daniel did.
He purposed in his heart to not defile himself by eating of the king's meat.
And this brought Daniel into a very serious and potentially dangerous situation.
Anytime you purpose in your heart that you're going to defy the order of a king who can issue an order and put you to death, that's a very serious situation.
We're in Daniel chapter 1 verse 9 to those who just walked in.
It's very good to see you by the way.
Daniel chapter 1 verse 9.
Daniel didn't want to defy the order of his captors.
He wanted to be a good servant.
But he was determined to obey God more than anything else.
The Daniel situation was a sticky one.
He had received a lawful order from the authority that God had set over him, the kingdom of Babylon.
But although the order was lawful and seemed good in the Babylonians' eyes, it was an order that went against the law of God that he had given to his Jewish people.
Here's a Kingdom Truth for you this morning.
Sometimes powers established by God impose laws that are condemned by God.
Sometimes powers that are established by God impose laws that are condemned by God.
The government will order it.
The people will approve it.
But God will condemn it.
Every political power on earth is established by God.
That's what we have to understand.
The book of Romans chapter 13 verse 1 says, "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers."
That means your city government, your county government, your state government, your federal government, at least if you're living in the United States.
If you're living in a tyrannical nation, that means you're a dictator.
But the powers that be, they are ordained of God.
God was the one who had set Babylon over Judah.
On account of Judah's sin, God had established that Babylon would be in power.
And so Daniel had to be subject.
He had to submit himself to that godless power.
But what do you do when the power God establishes impose a law that God condemns?
That's what Daniel had faced.
And the answer is, we yield to earthly powers because they are established by God.
But when the power over you defies the power over them, then that power is no longer acting in the power of God.
So here's the principle.
Obey the authority over you until it defies the authority over them.
Obey the authority over you until it defies the authority that's over them.
And that's what Daniel purposed in his heart to do.
And it put him in this uncomfortable situation.
Daniel wasn't looking for controversy, but children of God, you can rest assured of one thing.
If you're walking in the spirit of God, then controversy is going to find you.
Let's pick up in verse 9 now in our text this morning, which says, "Now God brought Daniel."
Let's pause there for just a moment.
Now God brought Daniel.
If you would take your pen and underscore the word brought.
Brought.
Who put Daniel in this situation?
God did.
Although the situation we see is because God had brought Daniel into that situation.
God brought Babylon against Judah.
God brought Daniel from Judah into Babylon.
God brought Daniel into captivity.
God had put him in that situation at that time.
Now the Hebrew word that's translated brought here was first used in the book of Genesis during the creation of the world.
If you're taking notes, you can write down your notes in your margin.
Genesis chapter 1, verse 16 and 17.
Genesis chapter 1, verses 16 and 17 says, "And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night.
He made the stars also and God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth."
The Hebrew word that's translated set in the creation is the same Hebrew word that's translated brought in Daniel chapter 1, verse 9.
God in all of his authority, in all of his wisdom, God in his eternal plan set the sun and the moon and the stars in their place and God set Daniel in his place at that time.
Oh man, do you ever go out and look at the stars?
Sometimes I'll go out, especially when it's one of those big pretty full moons.
I'll go out and I'll look at that moon sitting up there and I'll think, "There is nothing holding that moon up there but the word of God."
I said, "There's like no iron bars under it.
It's framed up there by the word of God," the Bible says.
God set it there by his word.
Do you ever go out there and think, "Well, that moon doesn't belong there.
It should be in Arizona or somewhere."
You never think that.
"That moon should be somewhere else.
So that sun, it should be somewhere else."
No, God set it right where it is.
God set those stars right where they were.
And I go out and I marvel at the beauty of the heavenly places that God set those lights.
How many of you all do that?
Do you know what else you can do?
If you can look up into the darkness and marvel at what God set there, then you can look at God setting you in the dark situation that you're in and you can marvel at that too.
There's beauty when light shines in the darkness.
And God put Daniel here in Babylon because God is about to shine his light in a very dark place.
Man, you can always rest assured that if you are walking in the Spirit of God, then God has set you in the place where you're supposed to be.
As out of place as it probably felt to Daniel, him being in Babylon at that time, it was just as proper as the sun being in the sky.
It's just right where Daniel was supposed to be.
What were the sun, moon, and stars supposed to do up there in the sky?
What were they supposed to do in the sky?
They were supposed to be what God created them to be in the place where God put them.
And no matter where God puts you in life, you be what God created you to be in the place that the circumstance that God brings you into, puts you in, sets you in.
They could have shined their light anywhere, but God brought them to the place where he wanted them to shine.
And if you're walking with God as Daniel was, and you find yourself forced into a very dark place in your life, then you can rest assured that God brought you there to shine the light he gave you where he put you.
Matthew chapter 5 verse 14 through 16, Matthew chapter 5 verse 14 through 16, Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world."
Now the sun, the moon, and the stars are the light of the second heaven.
But the children of God are the light of the world.
God set the sun, moon, and stars up there in that second heaven, and he set his people here on earth where he ordained us to be.
Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine."
And listen now, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
Now listen, light is only needed in a dark place.
If it's not a dark place, it doesn't need light.
Light is only needed in a dark place.
Speaking of Jesus going in among the Gentiles, the Bible says in Matthew chapter 4 verse 16, "The people which sat in darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up."
God will put you among men who sit in dark places.
You go to work, and you're among men in dark places.
You walk about this world, you're among people, men who are in dark places.
They walk in darkness, and God brought Daniel into this dark captivity.
God brings us into this dark captivity that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
When God brought Daniel into captivity, He brought him, look back in your text now, Daniel chapter 9, He brought him into favor.
You see that?
He brought him into favor.
You think, how can you bring someone to captivity at the same time bring them into favor?
The word favor means kindness.
Kindness.
It doesn't seem very kind to go into captivity, but God brought Daniel into favor when He brought him into captivity.
Captivity was a very difficult time for Daniel, you can rest assured.
By the grace of God, listen carefully now, Daniel experienced kindness in his darkness.
You see that?
By the grace of God, Daniel experienced kindness in his darkness.
You remember old Elijah?
Old Elijah, your brother Shepard preached on him not too long ago, or taught on him in Sunday school, when Elijah prophesied to King Ahab, he said that there's not going to be dew or rain in Israel except by my word.
I won't tell you now, old King Ahab and Jezebel was the worst one, but old King Ahab and Jezebel, they hated Elijah.
So Elijah had to hide in the wilderness from them.
And during that time in the wilderness, Elijah didn't have a roof over his head.
I like having a roof over my head.
Elijah didn't have a soft bed to sleep in.
Man I have got me a luxury bed at home.
Brother Doug, you hit that remote control, it's like you're in the hospital bed.
And I don't even have to pay the hospital bill, and I get all that treatment of all that stuff.
Elijah didn't have that.
Elijah didn't have any of the comforts of home.
It was a dark time in Elijah's life.
But in Elijah's darkness, he experienced God's kindness.
The Bible says in 1 Kings 17 verse 6, "And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook."
God didn't let Elijah starve or go thirsty in his dark place.
Elijah didn't feast, but God made sure that Elijah got fed.
Those ravens were instruments of God's kindness to Elijah in the midst of his adversity that he was in.
When God brought Elijah into the wilderness, God brought him into favor.
When God brought Daniel into Babylon, God brought him into favor.
When God brings us into our hardships, God also brings us into favor.
Look back in your text in verse 9, "And tender love."
When those ravens took that bread and meat to Elijah, that was God showing him his tender love.
The Hebrew word translated "tender" here in Daniel 1.9, that tender love, it means the womb.
Isn't that something?
No one cares for a little baby like its mama.
The idea of tender love, that womb kind of love, is when that baby is born, you know how everyone is so gentle with it.
"Oh, make sure and hold its head."
You know?
And they're so soft with that baby.
That's the kind of love that God brought Daniel into in Babylon.
That's the kind of love that God brought Elijah to by that brook.
That's the kind of love that God brings us into.
When we're in rough places, God gives us tender love.
Isn't that good?
When you're in rough places, God will give you tender love.
In my most difficult times in life, when I felt most alone, and Satan was trying to squeeze the very life out of me it seemed, God always sent me ravens with bread and meat.
He always did.
And if you'll look back over the times of your life, when you've had the most difficult times, God sent you ravens with bread and meat.
One day during a very dark time in my life, because you know what the devil always does when you're going through difficult times?
He'll want to say, "God's through with you."
Or "God's angry at you."
He'll want to say, "You're no good anymore."
And one day during a very dark time in my life, I received an email from a seminary student in Haiti who took my seminary course on evangelism.
And he wrote, I copied and pasted it into my sermon notes.
I'll just read it to you.
"Dear Brother Richard, my name is Ephraim Lindor, the senior pastor of El Shaddai Church in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
I've been doing the ministry for 35 years.
The Lord has now blessed the church with over 600 souls after 30 years of existence.
Conversion has been one of our priorities for the past 30 years.
However, by listening to your 35 lectures, I feel better equipped to present the gospel to the lost in a way that I've never done before."
You know what that email was to me when I read it?
It wasn't an email, it was a raven.
It was a raven.
It was God sending his tender love for me to eat in the morning when I read it.
It was God sustaining me, sustaining my soul and reminding me that God still loved me.
He was still using me to shine his light in those dark hours of my life.
Here's a kingdom truth for you this morning if you're taking notes.
When you are in difficult times, don't look at the difficulties, look at the ravens.
When you're in difficult times, don't look at the difficulties, look at the ravens.
God showed his favor and tender love to Elijah with the ravens.
And God showed his favor and tender love to Daniel.
How?
Not by raven, but look back in your text with the prince of the eunuchs.
That was Daniel's ravens.
God gave his love, his tender love, his favor to Daniel through the prince of the eunuchs during his captivity.
God used that prince like the ravens as an instrument.
You know, we expect people to feed birds, but we don't expect birds to feed people.
We expect our mother to show us tender love, but we never expect our captors to show us tender love.
God's tender love found Elijah in the wilderness.
God's tender love found Daniel in Babylon.
And that means God's tender love can find you.
Wherever your circumstances take you.
You're in a hospital bed alone.
God's tender love will find you there.
You're experiencing heartache, God's tender love will find you there.
When the devil is trying to squeeze the life of you, God's tender love will find you even there.
Thank God for his tender love.
Oh man, I can't help but think of when Israel was in, during the Roman times, they were being ruled by Rome.
It was a dark time.
They hadn't had prophets for a long time, about 400 years.
The dark ages of God's Word.
And here they were, stuck here, going nowhere.
And next thing you know, old John the Baptist shows up.
He says, "Get ready, the Savior's on his way."
And then Jesus comes.
And right there in that dark time, God's tender love showed up.
And every time the gospel is preached, his tender love flies in like the raven to our ear.
And we can feed on the bread of life and be saved.
You'll never find darkness without experiencing God's kindness.
You will never know harshness without experiencing God's tender love.
And I'd like to close the message out this morning.
I sometimes reduce the sermon to a poem.
And I did last night.
Wrote this poem.
In the strain of my sorrow, in affliction so sore, It's then Satan tells me, "God loves you no more."
In that great darkness, God's light I do bear, And God sends the ravens to meet with me there.
In the enemy's castle, a captive I'm brought, Yet through my affliction, God's love will be taught.
Out in the darkness, God's light I do bear, And God sends the ravens to meet with me there.
God sets me in places like the moon in the sky, To shine in the darkness, his glory on high.
Placed in the darkness, God's light I do bear, And God sends the ravens to meet with me there.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word.
Thank you for Daniel.
Thank you for bringing Daniel into captivity.
Because when you brought him into captivity, you brought every child of God through that story into captivity.
And when you showed him your tender love and your favor, You through that story showed every child of God your tender love and favor.
It may not be Babylon, it may not be the prince of the eunuchs, But God will send a raven, we know you will, Lord, To meet us wherever you take us.
And we thank you for that wonderful truth.
May it sustain us in our darkest hour.
In Jesus' wonderful name.
