you
you you
you
you you
I sent three charts to you online, I believe, one time through, two times through, and three times through, and obviously you can make your own chart that's just to try to be helpful for you.
And you do get a prize if you do the New Testament reading. We do have the candy or the chips. You get one for that as well.
So I believe that's it for announcements. At this time, we'll have Brother Marlon lead us in the song.
Okay, you've heard that song. That's the third to hit number twenty-five. Let's sing the song, Wounded for Me.
Hit number twenty-five.
Wounded for Me.
And where's my boy?
He's here.
He's not the same.
Oh, how I place you
He's only
me.
He's not the same.
Amen.
First reading goes over to your Bibles in the book of Daniel.
Daniel chapter one.
Please say amen if you're there.
Amen.
Daniel chapter one verse one.
Daniel chapter one.
85
jan.
Daniel chapter one.
At thisba Obama high school she
told the young kids
, one began Complex
Right at this time these children are being taken away to a foreign land at a young age
They better be prepared for it, right?
I mean, there's no time anymore after that to get good Bible training good preaching and stuff like that
The time has already taken place for that
You better be prepared or you're not going to be successful and look it's like this at
Anything in life if you're prepared you can be successful if you're not prepared you're gonna fail
Right who wants to run a marathon and
Not train for it. I'm gonna win the marathon. I'm gonna be the greatest marathon runner in the Philippines
It's like okay great. How often do you run? I never
I'm just gonna run and just my zeal and excitement's gonna win me that race
Look the only way you're gonna win that race you hop on a motorcycle or something like that
Because you're not winning that race on your feet if you don't train for it
Right, you're not gonna be successful
That's just the way it works. I mean, it's just common sense
I mean, I've been giving people a warning
Hey, you want to do this chess tournament practice the five-minute games because you need to practice, right?
Whatever you do in life, if you're going to be successful, you need to be prepared. That's just the way it works
You're not going to be successful just because of excitement or zeal you must be prepared
Otherwise you're gonna fail and they take these kids at a young age
They better be prepared to serve God because they're gonna be in a foreign land in a wicked country
No longer underneath the authority of their parents. They better be ready, right?
Now what it said was Ash Panaz was the master of his eunuchs now
when it comes to being a eunuch in our modern day being a eunuch is
not really that common and
Just basically I mean you can ask your parents for more details if you don't know what that is
But basically they don't have the ability to procreate as men now
I personally believe that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are amongst the eunuchs personally
I believe that they would fit under that category of basically being a eunuch
But this man Ash Panaz is the master of his eunuchs and oftentimes if you conquered an enemy
You would cause them to be a eunuch because you don't want them to procreate
That is one of the reasons another reason is because they wanted to have certain people that they could have watched over
The women where nothing would happen to them and they could trust that they wouldn't do anything
So they would need eunuchs for this job. Okay, and so Ash Panaz is the master of the eunuchs
Then it says here in verse 4
children in whom was no blemish but well favored and skillful in all wisdom and cunning in knowledge and
Understanding science and such as that ability in them to stand in the king's palace in whom they might teach the learning in the tongue
Of the Chaldeans. So what they're doing is picking specific children that physically have no blemishes
Well favored which would I would would say would indicate being, you know, respectful, you know, very well spoken
Skillful in all wisdom so they have intelligence cunning in knowledge
Understanding science and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace
The Bible does not tell us how old these kids are. I think they're under the age of 10, though
I don't think we're talking about children that are like 16 years old
I think we're talking about under the age of 10 most likely and so basically they're picking kids that are educated
intelligent and prepared and ready for life
Right now look when it comes to these kids being prepared
Primarily that's the parents job to make sure those kids are prepared
When a kid is three years old and four and five and six and seven and eight
It's the parents job to make sure they're in church
Right, you're not expecting the kid to stand on their own
That's the parents job to raise them teach them the Word of God help them be educated
Especially at this time you would presume that they were homeschooled by their parents. And so these kids are prepared
Okay, look if we want our kids to grow up and serve God and be successful in life and
Accomplish things in work. They need to be prepared
We need to make sure they're ready
We make sure we raise kids that are intelligent that love God that know the scriptures because it's going to be difficult
Going forward serving God, right?
Last I checked it's harder to serve God and be successful now than it was ten years ago
And look, I think it's only gonna get harder as time goes by these kids are prepared
They're ready because their parents prepared them
verse number five and
It says at the end of verse four in whom they might teach the learning in the tongue of the Caledon
So what it's saying at the end of verse four is they pick kids that were intelligent and now they're gonna brainwash those kids
Right, they're gonna teach them the language
But they're also gonna brainwash them and basically the customs and the teachings of the Caledon
Basically, they're going through a brainwashing session and look in 2022 our kids are going to be going through brainwashing sessions in their lives
It's just a fact that's what's going to take place. Now. What's interesting in this story is this is kind of unique in
2022 everybody's gonna get brainwashed. It's just the way the world works in 2022. We better make sure they're prepared then verse 5 and
The king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine which he drank
So nourishing them three years that at the end thereof they might stand before the king
Now when it says
The king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat when it says meat there that's not necessarily referring to steak
Chicken beef it's referring to the food that they're eating because the word flesh is used in the Bible to refer to
What we would know as meat just referring to what they ate
But I would imagine
Since this is coming from the king and they're basically eating the same thing that King Nebuchadnezzar is eating that they're getting nice meals
Doesn't that make sense?
I mean the king is obviously gonna eat nice food and you know what you'd imagine they're getting really nice food
Probably actual meat that they're getting really expensive food and nice food by the world standards
So the king is appointing them a daily provision of the king's meat
And of the wine which he drank now, it doesn't specifically tell us whether the wine is
Fermented or unfermented. Here's what I would say. Obviously Daniel says, you know what this is wrong. This is a sin
I'm not gonna eat this food. I'm not gonna drink this wine
There's two possibilities that I can think of one is that the meat is unclean and the wine is alcoholic
That's one possibility. Probably a good possibility
The other one could be that it's offered to a false idol. That's the other possibility or both could be the case
Okay, I would say probably the first one for the fact that they get alternative food
So you would think if this food was offered to a false idol so with the second food as well
But it doesn't specifically tell us but what we do know is that Daniel says I'm not gonna eat this food
I'm not gonna drink this wine because it would be wrong now
Here's the thing Nebuchadnezzar is not trying to be rude or mock their God by giving them this food
He's actually giving them nice food
It'd be like if your your boss gives you, you know, a big bottle of wine for Christmas
Well, obviously we shouldn't drink that as Bible believing Christians. I will say though that wine is a very expensive thing
And so if they give you a bottle of wine for 5,000 pesos, they're actually trying to do a nice thing for you, right?
They're not trying to be rude. They say well, you know, here's this, you know
Steak that you get to eat in this wine. I mean, it's actually nice food nice drink expensive drink
But obviously we shouldn't be drinking alcoholic wine
Right, and obviously there were certain unclean animals that they could not eat. So Daniel says I'm not gonna do it. Okay
What it said at the end of verse 5 was so nourishing them three years
So the idea is basically that they had a three year intensive training course to become like the Chaldeans
So they pick smart kids and for three years they went to brainwash those kids
Look, I believe these kids are under the age of 10 because if you're gonna try to brainwash someone you're gonna pick somebody young
They want to pick someone who has intelligence and is prepared
But if somebody's already 15 years old, they might have already made decisions in their life
It's gonna be kind of late to brainwash them when they're 15 years old
So I think it makes sense that these kids are pretty young they're picking but they're picking kids that are intelligent and
Educated that just know the basics of life. They're wise and then they're gonna brainwash them for three years verse number six
Now among these were of the children of Judah
Daniel Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah
unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar and to Hananiah of Shadrach
into Mishael of Meshach and to Azariah of Abednego
Now it's interesting because we always know Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They're new names
But Daniel we know him with his old name and probably the reason what well
Obviously the name of the book of Daniel is Daniel
But I would say this that in Daniel chapter 4 the name Belteshazzar is actually coming from a false god
And so even Nebuchadnezzar himself in Daniel chapter 4 says well this was his name
But then he starts referring to him as Daniel in that chapter because that's the chapter he gets saved
So obviously he doesn't want to name Daniel after a false god anymore, right?
That's probably why we refer to it as Daniel because it's not after the name of a false god
Whereas we refer to as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They're new names
Point number one is this
preparation being prepared now recently this week somebody messaged me and it was kind of just a good example for this sermon and
You know, they're in college right now in the US and they they felt
You know kind of convicted and guilty because at the college they're getting brainwashed by stuff, you know
They're a new student and they're learning about a lot of things that they don't feel comfortable with and they were asking
You know whether or not they should stick with college or not
And look I have people that ask me questions like this all the time online
Whether it's people at our church or outside of our church and you know what you should never make people's decisions for them
And I never do I'll give some various basic information
But I let people make their own decisions with difficult matters, right?
It's not my job to make the decision and I'm not against giving people advice
I mean you wanted some advice
But you know what?
I'm very hesitant to make people's decisions for them because honestly they have a better idea of their situation than I do honestly
But the thing is this you know what? I understand this idea of wanting to basically not be around worldliness and sin
but the problem is that you really can't take that strong of a stand throughout your entire life because you're gonna get
brainwashed in this life
And you know, obviously people make their own decisions, but I'm just saying this that you know when I went to my secular job
You know, it's just like I'm not in college, you know, I'm just doing math at my secular job
but then of course you have you know diversity training that lasts for several days where you basically have to sit in on a
Meeting and the whole meeting is about how love the LGBT
You know, don't be a sexist. Don't be a racist and love the homos. It's basically diversity training and here's the thing
I mean am I gonna just quit my job?
Because I have to go through diversity training because here's the thing
If you quit that job, guess what you're gonna have to do at your new job diversity training
Right. I mean, there's just really no way around it
I mean the Bible does not say that God has told us to avoid everything that's out there
Actually, we have to be ready to stand in difficult times. Now look, I understand sometimes you should separate from worldliness and sin
Just in reality speaking though, if you're gonna work in this world
You're gonna be attached to some things you probably don't feel comfortable with
It just is what it is
The job I worked for many years the main job I had because I work with pension benefits
But the main group that I work with was the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona
That's mainly the benefits that I did was working with a Roman Catholic Church
But that's what my job was
Now I had different assignments in different companies where I did benefits
But it's just kind of like and look sometimes you might be able to avoid doing certain things and you might be able to draw
A line or whatever sometimes you can't though and the reality is that at all of our jobs
They're probably gonna ask us to do certain things that maybe we don't want to do or we don't feel comfortable with certain training and
That's just the way the world is headed
Right Daniel and his friends. They were getting three years of intensive brainwashing
Now look if they didn't like it, then they could have just been killed right now look obviously
That can deal with difficult situations where you got to make decisions. I'm just saying you cannot fully avoid
The brainwashing of the world
Now I'm not telling you to go home and just watch it on TV and brainwash yourself as much as possible
I'm just stating that you cannot fully avoid this in 2022
And if you're able to then avoid it as much as possible, but it is what it is
Right I mean we just you just go to the grocery store in 2022 and people are going to be dressed inappropriately
Does that mean you're just not going to go to the grocery store
I mean you kind of have to to survive unless you're just gonna stay at home and have all the food delivered
It's just not always that practical right and so point number one is preparation
You need to be prepared to stand and serve God number two though is purposing making a desire or decision in your heart
Daniel 1 verse 8
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself for the portion of the king's meat
Nor with the wine, which he drank and so Daniel makes this decision. I am not going to defile myself
He says it would be a sin for me to eat this food to drink this wine
I am NOT gonna do this now look we ought to have certain things in our lives where we make
Decisions that you know what I purpose in my heart
I'm not gonna do this no matter what or I am gonna do this no matter what?
Look we're ending January, but I hope everybody is purposing in their hearts that in February you're gonna read your Bible every day I
Hope you're purposing your heart that you know what I'm gonna be committed to serving God going to church going soul-winning
Reading the Bible there ought to be things in our lives that we purpose in our heart
We've made a decision and no matter what we're gonna stick to it
Right we need to make this decision in life now
Here's the thing be prepared to serve God have your personal walk
But then purpose in your heart that no matter what the world throws at you. You're not going to sin and do wrong
Daniel 1 verse 8
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself for the portion of the king's meat nor the wine which he drank
Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself now look
When you are requesting you're basically asking trying to get permission
Daniel's already made a decision. He's not gonna eat this food. He's not gonna drink this wine
However, there's also a way to approach your boss about that, right?
Daniel is wise
He's made a decision
I am NOT gonna eat this food no matter what but instead of just going to his boss and saying how dare you make me?
Drink something sinful you should be ashamed of yourself
Right thus saith the Lord right instead of doing that what Daniel says is you know what hey, you know what?
I really appreciate it, but you know I'm requesting could I just eat something else instead doesn't that make sense of the best way to?
Approach a situation like that turn to Matthew 10, and let me give you an example of this
Matthew 10 Matthew 10
Look
There's many examples you could use I mean we talked about family in the in the first sermon
But let me just give you an example
Let's say you have a big family function, and there's a lot of drinking and people are getting drunk
I don't believe that's the atmosphere Christians should willingly put themselves in
But if your family's inviting you to something it doesn't mean that they're being rude to you
You can be respectful and just say oh, I'm sorry. You know I'm not gonna be able to make it
You don't have to be obnoxious to them
Just because you've made that decision now of course you ought to purpose in your heart that you're not going to do certain things
But it doesn't mean you have to be just really blunt and rude when you explain it
right
Matthew 10 verse 16
Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves
Be therefore wise as sharp wise as serpents and harmless as doves what the Bible says is he is sending us forth as sheep
in the midst of wolves
We're gonna be in the midst of wolves and you ought in 2022 you could say that
Right we live in a world where there are a lot of things that is Bible leaving Christians
We do not want to do we don't feel comfortable with and we are sheep in the midst of wolves
But the Bible says be wise as serpents though
be smart
Serpents don't attack everybody that they can
They don't just attack every single person now of course none of us are really fans of snakes
I mean they're kind of a creepy animal at least I'm not a fan of snakes. I think they're a creepy animal
I'd like to avoid them personally
But realize this that snakes don't just attack every single person or every single thing
They actually use wisdom when they strike what the Bible saying is we ought to be the same way
Right I mean of course the Word of God is powerful
And you can just get up and preach a sermon you know ten times a day every time you disagree with something
Right I mean you go to McDonald's and you know the one of the one of the workers is a homo
It's like thus saith the Lord and just start like yelling at them in McDonald's well if you want to do that you can I
Mean you're gonna get kicked out and never invited back to McDonald's or never allowed to come back
I just think it's kind of a foolish thing to just always get in all this friction and fights you got to use wisdom with
the battles that you fight and
When it comes to being a Daniel and serving God in 2022 and daring to be a Daniel yes Daniel purposed in his heart
But he also used wisdom on how he approached his boss about that because he's trying to be respectful right go back to Daniel chapter 1
Daniel 1
Daniel chapter 1
Daniel 1 verse 9
And what he did is he requested of the prince of the eunuch said he might not defile himself so basically just respectfully asked
And says hey, you know what I appreciate it, but you know this food
I'd rather just eat something else or drink something else is that okay? He makes a request
Right verse 9 now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs
So what the Bible is saying in verse 9 is that Daniel had a good relationship with his boss?
Why is that because he was not a jerk
Right that's the reason why he has a good relationship with his boss because he's actually respectful. He's not obnoxious
Okay, verse 10 and the prince of the eunuch said unto Daniel
I fear my lord the king who hath appointed your meat and your drink
For why should he see your face is worse liking than the children which are of your sort
Then shall you make me endanger my head to the king and you know what the prince of the eunuchs is saying to Daniel is
You know what I?
Understand you have some different beliefs than I do you have some different customs than what our culture has and everything like that
And he's basically saying that I think you have the right to your own free will choice
But here's the thing
My head could be taken off my body if I don't follow what the king says
Right he's saying if I don't follow what the king says and you end up getting sick, or you're not in very good shape
I could end up losing my own head. I could lose my job. I could be killed
It's just like I'm putting my own self in danger
And what he's basically saying is I think you should have free will to make your choice
But I'm not gonna live and die on that hill now. I'll be honest with you
Even though Daniel is right in this situation if I was the prince of the eunuchs
I would feel the exact same way and the prince of the eunuchs is not a bad guy
He
Just says you know what I'm not in a position where I can do this because I could lose my own head
Because his perspective is hey, I think you should have free will to do what you want
But I don't really think it's that big of a deal if you just eat the food. That's his perspective right now
Look, this is definitely applicable in 2022 isn't it?
And look I don't blame these people
There are I mean I would say most people here believe we should have free will to make our choices I
Believe most people think that but you can't really blame someone who says hey
I've got a family to feed if I don't listen to the orders. I've been given I'm gonna get fired
You can't blame them right. I mean if I was in their situation. I would feel the same way
Right I mean the prince of the eunuchs. He's got a family presumably has a family presumably
He's married as a family, and he's like I don't want to die
I mean it's like I got a wife and a couple kids coming home
And it's just like I think you should have free will but I'm not willing to die on that hill
You can't really blame them in that situation
Right now obviously Daniel is taking a stand on something that is a clear sin according to the Bible
But at the same time you can understand where the prince of the eunuchs is coming from and look I'll be honest
I do believe we should be compassionate to people that are in that situation and realize they're not our enemy
Right when people are fall
I mean, they're not they're not following orders for us to murder someone or something crazy like that. They're just following basic orders
They've been given like you know you can't enter here without this or whatever right you can't really blame them for just doing their job
They've got a family to feed
Makes perfect sense and you might think that's watered down. I'm just being realistic
That if I was a prince of the eunuchs. I would feel the same way because this is not a bad guy
Right when you're reading this this is not a bad guy
Daniel has a good relationship because Daniel obviously thinks he's a decent guy who knows Daniel
I'd have even gotten this guy saved
But this guy's just not willing to die on this hill and you can't really blame him and he literally could die on this hill
Well look if somebody has a job
Obviously, they're not just gonna forsake their job and break the orders
They've been given because they were hired for specific things and they were told this person must do this
They're just gonna follow those orders. It makes perfect sense, right?
You say what are you saying brother Stuckey? What's the answer then? Well, the answer is praying to God for freedom
Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty and what I believe is that the people in a country
get what they deserve and
Look that's a harsh statement because it means that wow, we deserve whatever we're getting but
That's reality
That's what you see in the Bible. And so if you want to have more freedom
What's the answer serving God doing right reading the Bible praying to God about it? That's actually the answer, right?
But you can't blame the prince of the eunuchs in this situation point number one. There's a preparation
Point number two. There's a purposing point three. There's a proving or testing
Daniel 1 verse 11 Daniel 1 verse 11
Then said Daniel to Meltzer whom the prince of the eunuchs had said over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah
Now if you notice in verse 11 if you're paying attention
Daniel's having a conversation with a different person than in verse 10
Right because in verse 10 is the prince of the eunuchs verse 11
It's Meltzer whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah
What that would now I personally don't believe that both these guys are standing here and then Daniel just turns to the other person
I don't think that makes much sense
What I think makes sense is he speaks to the prince of the eunuchs, which is the authority and obviously Daniel made a request
Basically gets rejected in a polite way
And then Daniel is going home and praying about it and thinking about it
I mean, there's some sort of time that's going by because Daniel's talking to a different person in verse 11, right?
It's very obvious verse 10 is the prince of the eunuchs verse 11 is Meltzer
I think common sense would say he doesn't just turn from one person. I'm talking to brother Ehrman. All right
Well Ehrman denied my request. Let me ask brother Gilbert, right?
It's just like obviously time has gone by and Daniel's probably praying about it
Maybe he had time to talk to his friends and he's considering his options and things such as that
But he speaks to Meltzer in verse 11
verse number 12
Prove thy servants
I beseech thee ten days and let them give us pulse to eat and water to drink and
So the decision that Daniel makes is this
He says can you just test me for ten days? I know you denied my request
But can you just give me ten days and then just look at how I look because here's the thing
It's a three-year trial period so what Daniel's saying is ten days is not going to harm me, right?
Ten days is not that big of a deal
Just give me ten days and see how I look and at the end of ten days make your decision
Pretty wise response from a young man, right? He says just test me for ten days and not just a young man
I mean, I don't even believe this this he's probably like nine years old or something. We don't really know
I mean, he's a young guy at this time and he says test me ten days and give us pulse to eat and water to
drink
Now look obviously water is very healthy for you
I mean if all you ever drank was water and probably actually really benefit you to be honest
I mean if all you drink was water, it'd probably make you healthier
Now I think the thing that he's concerned more about
Meltzer or the prince of the eunuchs would be concerned about would be the fact that they're eating pulse now
You say what is pulse? Well go to 2nd Samuel 17
2nd Samuel 17
Now I want you to realize that the Bible's classification for things is different than the world's
Classifications in our modern day, for example whale is a great fish according to the Bible
Right, and I mean it makes sense. It's in the water and it's it's a large, you know
Creature that is very similar to a fish, right?
So I guess the Bible system makes sense, of course in our modern day
We have a lot of different distinctions of mammals and a lot of different things like that
But same thing with dietary things in our modern day. We have basically five food groups, right?
We have dairy. We have bread slash grains or whatever you would call that
meat
Fruit and vegetables, right? Those are the classifications, but that's not really the classifications found in the Word of God though
Fruit and vegetables are kind of a tricky thing because many things we think are fruits are actually vegetables by definition and vice-versa
Generally when I consider something or fruit or vegetable I go by taste if it's sweet
It's a fruit if it's not it's a vegetable now, that's not a very good two plus three equals five definition
But that's just the way I see it, you know tomatoes to me are a vegetable regardless of you know
Technically if they're a fruit, that's my perspective
But in the Bible the classification is a bit different now. I've heard people say this before that pulse is vegetables and
It's not really wrong, but it's not really right
There's not the distinction of fruits and vegetables like we have in the Word of God
This is the definition of pulse pulses are a type of legume seeds that grow within pods
Pulses include chickpeas also known as garbanzo beans lentils and dry peas
pulses provide protein dietary fiber in many vitamins and minerals and
What I would say about pulse is that if what they're eating is pulse, it's basically specific
vegetables
Beans and things like that that could be alternative sources of protein
Because here's the thing if you're not eating any steak or chicken or beef or you know fish or any meat
You need to get some protein, don't you? I
Mean if you go on a vegetarian diet, you better make sure you're getting some protein in your diet
Now I believe that people that live during this time period were actually pretty intelligent
They might not have called it protein
But I think they understood the concept and what Daniel's saying is hey if I'm not going to be eating this food because although it
Says the portion of the king's meat and that's not technically meat as we think of as meat
I think what we consider meat is very much included in that because that's kind of a delicacy and expensive food, right?
So that's probably what the king's eating
I'd imagine King Nebuchadnezzar is eating steak and eating nice food personally, right?
And so what Daniel's saying is as an alternative
Can we have pulse because it's going to be something that has some protein in it
Here's what it says in 2nd Samuel 17 verse 28
2nd Samuel 17 verse 28
Brought beds and basins and earthen vessels and wheat and barley and flour and parched corn and beans and lentils and parched pulse
So pulse is linked right there with beans and lentils which would fit the definition that we have
Obviously, I looked at a secular definition
The word pulse is not mentioned much in the Bible so we don't have much to go off of
But it's mentioned right there with beans and lentils
So I would say that definition seems to fit and it logically makes sense to me that if they're not going to be eating any meat
Then they're going to need to get some protein, right?
You need to make sure you get 60 70 grams of protein or something a day rather than just 5 grams of protein
Right go back to Daniel 1
Daniel 1
I mean, I've never tried a vegetarian diet, so I guess I don't really know how that works
But if I was going on a vegetarian diet, I'd probably drink a lot of milk because there's protein in it
I'd have a lot of pulse
Right, I'd eat vegetables that have a lot of protein in them as alternative sources and you know
Obviously you need to have protein in your diet
You need to have a balanced diet
Which is why I would say I don't think it's a smart idea to go without meat in normal situations
Because meat is something that God gave us as part of our diet
Obviously, we have a special situation here in Daniel 1 though. Daniel 1 verse 13
Daniel 1 verse 13
Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee and the countenance of the children that eat the portion of the king's meat and as
thou seest deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter and proved them ten days
So look, Daniel and his friends get what they want. And the reason is because they use wisdom, right? They were smart
They were respectful and he agrees or consents with them that for ten days
I'm gonna test you and after ten days, I'm gonna look on your countenance and see how you look
So basically if after ten days
They're really thin and they've lost a lot of weight and they're sickly looking then obviously he's gonna say well
No, we're not letting you just eat pulse
But if they're in good shape and there's no problems then he's gonna say well, okay, it's it's fine, right?
This is what it says in verse number
15 and at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter and flesh than all the children which did eat the portion
Of the king's meat. Thus Meltzer took away the portion of their meat and the wine that they should drink and gave them pulse
So basically after ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter and flesh and you know what?
They're they're doing perfectly fine. And then Meltzer says, you know what it worked
Ten days you had your free will you just ate pulse and you're perfectly fine. We'll just keep giving that to you now, of course
People kind of debate about this. Is this a miraculous thing that after ten days
There's a noticeable difference or is it just that it's a really healthy diet in general
I would say that their diet is not really unhealthy
I don't think it's wise to go without eating any meat, but they're using alternative sources for protein and dietary fiber
That's the point of pulse
But I would say that for there to be a noticeable difference after ten days
Because it doesn't just say that they look the same after ten days
Because I mean you can change in ten days in terms of like, you know, I've been kind of sick recently
I've lost a little bit of weight the past couple weeks and you can make that sort of change in a couple weeks
But for everybody else to not look as in good of shape. I
Believe God actually kind of miraculously did that so he's actually gonna be able to keep doing this
After ten days for the course of three years. That's my personal opinion
But regardless either way Daniel and his friends are perfectly fine and they got their request
They got their wish and you say well, what's the what what's the secret of what I can do in my life?
well number one start with a good relationship with the people you're requesting from if
You have a bad relationship with someone you're requesting from
They're probably not going to honor your request
It's kind of like having a child if you have a good relationship with your child
Your child's obeying and doing right and they request something. It's like sure. I'll go to 7-eleven and get you Dutch meal. Okay?
Right, but if your child's in trouble, are you gonna listen to them?
No, same thing with you know, your bosses or whatever. If you have a good relationship, you're more likely to get what you want
Now I'm not saying it's a guarantee
But I'm just saying it would be a wise thing to try to have good relationships in life even with the unsaved
Right point are obviously very intelligent. He's the one that's testing their intelligence
So I'd imagine that he's asking questions like this
17 times 19. What's the answer right? That's that's what I imagine in my head right that these are our
Questions where Nebuchadnezzar knows the answer himself
He's educated on science and wisdom and all these things and he's testing them to see do they know the correct answers, right?
So these kids are being tested and all this stuff of how much knowledge they have and
Among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah
Therefore stood they before the king and in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them
He found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm
So Nebuchadnezzar quizzes these kids and he finds them ten times better
Than anybody else look ten times is a lot that's a huge difference
How is it that they were smarter than any of the other kids
Well, the only logical answer would be just like the Bible said that God gave them wisdom
They're getting the same training
I mean the Bible does not say that Daniel was just naturally born as the smartest person in the world
Is that what the Bible says?
The Bible doesn't say that about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They're just normal kids that got good training at a young age
They were prepared and then they purposed in their heart. They lived godly and you know what? They had special knowledge
They had special wisdom
You know what I found in my life is that people that serve God are intelligent
that's what I found and
What's interesting is this you talk to someone who's not serving God or unsaved or whatever?
And they might be smart in terms of doing well on a calculus test
But then you just kind of talk to them about basic stuff and it goes straight over their head
No wisdom
No common sense. They just don't get it and you're like, how is that possible?
Well, the way it's possible is that people that are serving God, God gives wisdom
That's what the Bible teaches
That's the provision that's being provided by God
You know what I believe in 2022 is that if we teach our young kids to serve him and have a daily walk with God and
Listen to good preaching and do right those kids are gonna grow up and be intelligent and successful in this world
You say why? Because God will give them the wisdom. God will give them the learning and the skill
that is what the Bible says and
Yes, it's a supernatural thing
I do believe that if you grow up serving God and doing right God will give you special wisdom
And there's a lot of people in this world that are very intelligent people by the world standards, but then on a practical sense
They know nothing
Right, and we understand that I mean if you've had any conversations with people in this world about stuff
I mean it goes straight over their head. I
I
Mean I remember just in a basic example, I remember my old job, you know
They were talking of they I was just kind of sitting down in the lunchroom and I was eating and I wasn't saying anything
I was just eating minding my own business and they were talking about how they were shocked
that somebody had won the lottery and they were dead broke and
You know, they're talking about how how does this happen which this always happens?
Everybody who wins the lottery ends up broken miserable. Their life is destroyed, right?
I mean just take it as a and I mean look you pierce yourself through with many sorrows when you love money
That's what the Bible teaches
But I remember I just usually I didn't say too much but I said well the Bible says wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished
and
Then everyone's just kind of looking around like it was the most profound thing like wow
That's like so intelligent right and and I just said when I gave a brief explanation
That basically when you get wealth by, you know
An ungodly means or not hard work that the Bible says that it will be diminished and you're gonna lose that money
Anyway, honestly, it makes actually common sense because here's the thing if you work really hard for something you value it. I
Mean if you work for 10 years to buy a car like you really saving up money and it takes 10 years and you finally
Get that car. You're probably not gonna drive it at 200 kilometers per hour on the road, right?
You're probably gonna be very careful because it's worth something
But you give a brand new car to a 16 year old kid that didn't work for it. Guess what they do
They crash it a week later
They race their buddies on the highway. That's what takes place
Right when people don't work for something
they just kind of take it for granted like it's no big deal and it's like this is oftentimes what you see with people that
work really hard and
sometimes they can make life a little bit too easy for their kids and then the kids don't really respect what they've been given because
They don't realize the hard work it took to get there, right?
But all I'm saying is this that if you're serving God and doing right and reading the Bible
It will make you an intelligent person
What I believe is that if somebody got saved today, and they're not naturally the most intelligent person
But they start coming to church and reading the Bible
I think we would be amazed at the difference in that person just in a year's time
and I know for myself personally that as I read the Bible and I
Learn these things and as I've been in church, you can just tell that you get more wisdom
You just understand things things make sense. You look at what takes place in the world. It makes sense to us
We understand where things are headed. The world's confused. They don't know what's going on
We understand the end times and things such as that. I mean it makes sense to us
You say why is that because if you're serving God and doing right God will provide give a provision of wisdom
He's gonna make you more intelligent
By all means I believe we should teach our kids the basics of math and grammar and all of those things
But number one is actually teaching them to serve God and do right and that is going to make them intelligent
verse number 21 and
Daniel continued even on the first year of King Cyrus. So
What we see about Daniel is pretty much his entire life is spent in an ungodly empire
Right, there's kind of this idea by a lot of people that we're basically well you can't serve God unless you're living in a godly
Area now, of course
We want to live in a godly area
I don't want to serve God in Sodom and Gomorrah, but that's kind of the way the world's becoming. Okay?
But I would just say this that you know what you could if you're a safe person living in North Korea
You can serve God in North Korea
I'm not saying it's easy
I'm not saying it's safe
I'm not saying I want to live in a Muslim country or North Korea or Communist China or wherever or something like that
I'm just saying that you can actually serve God anywhere because Daniel's proof of that and
Of course, we don't really read about Daniel preaching the gospel
But I mean it is the book of Daniel that talks about those that be wise shall shine as a brightness of the firmament as the stars
forever and ever
So I would say since the book of Daniel talks about soul winning
And he talks about wisdom given to those that are so winning I'd imagine Daniel probably gets a lot of his co-workers say
Probably some of his bosses saved. I believe he gets Nebuchadnezzar saved. I mean eventually Nebuchadnezzar does get saved
Obviously was either Daniel Shadrach Meshach and Abednego
I would say one of them got him saved eventually or at least preached the gospel and the seed was planted
They eventually got saved. So what I'm saying is this
You can serve God even in difficult situations in life and look don't misunderstand me because I'm not saying you should willingly be
involved in worldly situations and around sin
I'm just stating that you're not going to be able to completely avoid it in 2022 and
Instead of always just trying to avoid it because you can bounce around from job to job and every job
There's a problem because oh man. Well, I got ungodly co-workers. I got to quit
Well, you're gonna have ungodly co-workers everywhere
Right, I mean you say well, I mean at my job I have to do this
I have to have this diversity training you're gonna have that everywhere and if they don't have that everywhere now
They're gonna have it in the future. I
Mean look I've worked a lot of different jobs before a lot of different secular jobs every single job
I had there were certain things where it's just like I really don't want to do this
Right me. I really don't feel comfortable with this
but
Unfortunately, you have to be in those situations sometimes sometimes there's no way to avoid it and it's very easy to sit here and say
Well, I just avoid it and just tonight but you know
Even Shadrach Meshach and Abednego showed up when they're dedicating the false idol. They're kind of brought along for the ride
It's just when they got to that moment, they had to bow. They actually said no I purposed in my heart
I'm not gonna defile myself. So if you want to dare to be a Daniel in 2022, what do you need to do number one?
You need to be prepared
Anything in life to be successful you must be prepared you say brother stuck
Yeah, I want to be a great soul winner. You better start memorizing Romans 3 23
You better start memorizing Romans 3 10 better start memorizing the soul winning verses if you want to be a good soul winner
You got to be prepared
Right, you better start having your daily walk with God if you want to be successful, you must be prepared in life
You also have to make a purposing in your heart purpose in your heart make a decision. I am NOT gonna sin
I'm not gonna bow down. I'm not gonna do wrong
Say why do you have to do that because you're gonna be proved in 2022
You're not gonna live in this world and avoid anything worldly and anything wrong
You are going to be tested in 2022
but the good news is if we do things right and serve God he is going to provide things to us such as
Wisdom and skill and knowledge and the ability to be successful in this world. Let's close in a word of prayer your heavenly Father
Thank you for allowing us to be here today and giving us your word on this topic and ask you to help all of us
God to be able to stand for you in 2022 and do greater things this year than we did last year God
We pray this in Jesus name. Amen
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