Excelling in All Things II

Living by Principle (No Compromise)

I.     PRINCIPLED WHEN FACING DEFILEMENT

Daniel 1:8-16

⁸ But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s ^xmeat, nor with ^ythe wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. ⁹ Now God ^ahad brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. ¹⁰ And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. ¹¹ Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹² Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us ^cpulse to eat, and water to drink. ¹³ Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. ¹⁴ So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. ¹⁵ And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat. ¹⁶ Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.

      1.    The war was over defilement. v.8

-       Stain his outward testimony

-       Stain his conscience

      2.    Compromise would have been easy

-       Not in a Jewish Community

-       No family – nine hundred miles away

-       No church family to hold them in check

-       Everyone else around them was doing it

-       God was seemingly mean (unkind) to them – They could have felt forsaken

-       Disobedience to the King could mean death

-       Peer pressure from others in the club

-       Ceremonial rituals had been broken before and folks were not blamed (Jesus and Disciples corn Matt 12:3-5; David 1 Sam 21:6 hallowed bread)

-       Would look bad on their resume, hinder their promotion

      3.    Daniel requested with respect. V 8

      4.    Daniel cultivated favor before he needed it. V.9

II.   PRINCIPLED WHEN FACING TRIALS OF FAITH

Daniel 3

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. ² Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together ^ethe princes, ^fthe governors, and ^gthe captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellers, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ⁴ Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, ⁵ That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, ^mharp, sackbut, psaltery, ^†dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: ⁶ And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.. ⁸ Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. ⁹ They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. ¹⁰ Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image: ¹¹ And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. ¹² There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. ¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? ¹⁵ Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. ¹⁷ If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. ¹⁸ But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.¹⁹ Then was Nebuchadnezzar ^cfull of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. ²⁰ And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. ²¹ Then these men were bound in their ^ecoats, their hosen, and their ^fhats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. ²² Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. ²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. ²⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his ^lcounsellers, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. ²⁵ He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and ⁿthey have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. ²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth of the midst of the fire. ²⁷ And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellers, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. ²⁸ Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent ^uhis angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore ^xI make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. ³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon.

1.    Coming Gentile ruler

Daniel 7:8

⁷ And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

2.    He will demand for himself the worship that belongs to God

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

³ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Revelations 13:8

⁸ And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

3.    Those who refuse his worship will be killed

Revelatons 13:15

¹⁵ And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

        

4.    Antichrist will war against the saints

Revelations 13:7

⁷ And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

   III. WHAT ARE YOUR NON NEGOTIABLE PRINCIPLES

1). Devotion

2). Integrity

3). Physical

4). Marriage

5). Personal Development

6). Prayers 

EXCELLING IN ALL THINGS I

EXCELLING IN ALL THINGS I

Representing the King in Babylon

Daniel 1:1-21

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. ² And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.

³ And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; ⁴ Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and ⁱskilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding ^kscience, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach ^mthe learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. 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. ⁶ Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: ⁷ Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed-nego.

⁸ But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s ^xmeat, nor with ^ythe wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. ⁹ Now God ^ahad brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. ¹⁰ And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. ¹¹ Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹² Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us ^cpulse to eat, and water to drink. ¹³ Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. ¹⁴ So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. ¹⁵ And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat. ¹⁶ Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.

¹⁷ As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. ¹⁸ Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. ²⁰ And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all ^othe magicians and ^pastrologers that were in all his realm. ²¹ And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.

 

 

I.                   WE ARE LIVING IN A FOREIGN BABYLONIAN SYSTEM.

1.     Historical Babylon

 

Genesis 10:8-10

⁸ Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” ¹⁰ And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

 

Babel – (Arabic) Gateway of the gods

             Hebrew - Confusion

Nimrod – “the rebel”

 

Genesis 11:1-9

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. ² And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. ³ Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. ⁴ And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

⁵ But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. ⁷ Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

 

 

 

Nebuchadnezzar destroys Babylon

 

2 Kings 24:10-17

¹⁰ At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. ¹¹ And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. ¹² And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³ And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. ¹⁴ And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. ¹⁵ And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶ And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. ¹⁷ And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

 

Cyrus: Bright Light in Babylon at one point

 

Exodus 5:12-16

 

¹³ But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God. ¹⁴ And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one, whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; ¹⁵ And said unto him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in his place. ¹⁶ Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished.

 

2.     Spiritual Implications of Babylon

BABYLON IS NAME FOR SYSTEMS AGAINST GOD

 

1 Peter 5:13

¹³ The church that is at Babylon (Rome), elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.

 

Revelations 14:8

⁸ And there followed another angel, saying, ^zBabylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

 

Revelations 17:3-6

 

³ So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, ⁿhaving seven heads and ^oten horns. ⁴ And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: ⁵ And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. ⁶ And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

 

Revelations 18:1-24

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. ² And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, And is become the habitation of devils, And the hold of every foul spirit, And a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

 

3.     7 Manifestations of Babylon

i.                    The originator and progenitor of false religion. Rev 17:5

ii.                  She is enthroned upon the nations. Rev 17:15

iii.                The center of global commerce. Rev 18:3b

iv.                Ultimate symbol of human rebellion against God. Rev 18:7

v.                  Intoxicates the nations with sexual immorality Rev 17:2

vi.                Becomes obsessed with persecuting God’s saints Rev 17:6

vii.              Empowered by and paves the way for the Antichrist

viii.            Destroyed quickly and completely. Rev 18:10

 

                   1 Peter 2:11

          ¹¹ Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

 

                   1 Corinthians 4:3-4

                ³ But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: ⁴ In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

 

II.                 OUR CALLING IS TO REPRESENT OUR KING IN BABYLON

1.     We must come to terms with our calling

         

 

III.              EXCELLENCE REQUIRED

 

1.     Spiritual Excellence (Don’t let them change your name)

 

⁶ Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷ To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.

 

(“Daniel,” God my Judge,

“Belteshazzar,” that is, “Bel’s prince

 

Hananiah—that is, “whom Jehovah hath favored.”

Shadrach—from Rak, in Babylonian, “the King,” that is, “the Sun”;, inspired or illumined by the Sun-god.”

 

Mishael—that is, “who is what God is?” Who is comparable to God?

Meshach—The Babylonians retained the first syllable of Mishael, the Hebrew name; but for El, that is, God, substituted Shak, the Babylonian goddess, called Sheshach (Je 25:26; 51:41), answering to the Earth, or else Venus, the goddess of love and mirth; it was during her feast that Cyrus took Babylon.

 

Azariah—that is, “whom Jehovah helps.”

Abed-nego—that is, “servant of the shining fire.”

 

 

2.     Natural Excellence

 

⁴ young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had (Humble and Teachable) ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans

 

o   Development of natural skill (gifted)

o   Must play by the rule book of your area

 

3.     Realize the King has equipped us

 

 

4.     He is with us

Realize you are sent….