and your drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head from before the king. So Daniel said to the steward, whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, please test your servants for 10 days and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be examined before you in the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies. And as you see fit, so deal with your servants. So he consented with them in this matter and tested them 10 days. At the end of ten days, their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies. Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine which they were to drink and gave them vegetables. As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of days, when the king had said that they should be brought in. The chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar, and the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. And therefore they served before the king. In all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in his realm. Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus. 70 years later. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, we too long to be blessed by you in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that we might know how we might serve before the rulers of this day in the Babylon in which we live, that we might be a blessing that we might be able to negotiate and navigate through the difficulties that increasingly face us on various sides, to do so with winsomeness, with godliness, and in such a way that honors our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that you would impress these lessons upon generations of hearts to this day. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. We live under authority. And you know what? God often appoints people to be in authority whom we would not choose. Yes. Verse two. Who was it in chapter one, verse two, that gave Nebuchadnezzar rule over Babylon? It was, we read, the Lord that gave Jerusalem into Nebuchadnezzar's hand. And Daniel later says, the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he will, and sets over it even the lowest of men. God gives position and power to people whom we might not choose. And that means that there will be times that we will find ourselves in difficult situations, frustrated, maybe even in some conscientious disagreement with someone in authority over us. Maybe it'll be a parent or a teacher, an employer, a government official. What should we do when we find ourselves in this position where, as Peter said, we must obey God rather than man? Today we're going to consider this difficult matter and how we might live wisely, under authority, to the glory of God. First, let's very briefly review. George Washington said, few men have virtue to withstand the highest bitter. Most people have a price. Most people's principles are for sale. But Daniel and his friends are presented to us in this book, among that great cloud of witnesses, of people who walked with God in integrity. People whose principles were not for sale. They were faithful with little, And the Lord made them faithful with much. And so we learned in our previous studies that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had taken into Babylon with him some of the nobles' sons from Judah, the future rulers of Israel. to turn them into Babylonians. They experienced many trials, personal isolation, verse 3, intellectual indoctrination, verse 4, moral seduction, verse 5, religious confusion, verses 6 and 7. They were given a portion of the king's meat and wine as an indication of goodwill But we read that Daniel and his friends were resolved not to defile themselves by eating this non-kosher food which had almost certainly been offered to idols. So right away they are faced with a conflict between the claims of the state and the claims of God. They were living in a situation which was very difficult for believers. And the book of Daniel is written as a book of wisdom in part to teach us, as God's people, How to live in such a situation? How to prepare God's people who are coming to Babylon, and as we'll learn, who are going to be living under foreign domination for centuries, how they are to serve God in this difficult situation? Ultimately, of course, written to us. How are we to live in such situations to the glory of God? How could Daniel serve for 70 years at the highest level of government without compromising his allegiance to God. How could he get there? With all the difficulties and temptations, how easy it would be to try to compromise, but Daniel did not do so right from the beginning. They thrived because they understood how to submit to authority in such a way that ultimately pleased God. How to negotiate these difficulties. And so today it's going to be a more practical sermon. I'm taking it as a wisdom text. Next week, come back and we'll consider Christ in the book of Daniel, and we'll see this magnificent multi-layered kingdom and Christ at its head. But in the passage today, let's consider this as a wisdom passage. How are we, therefore, to live in this situation? Here in our passage, Daniel is determined that he won't defile himself with the king's food and drink. Now, how is he going to approach this conflict? What's he going to do? How would people today seek to resolve the conflict? Well, maybe Daniel and his friends could start a protest. Maybe they could have a march. They could make signs, Jews against heathen food. And he and his friends could have marched up and down outside the palace and made it absolutely plain to everyone in the court, they weren't going to eat the food. They could have thrown it on the floor. We're not going to eat your lousy food. I listened to one sermon on the passage by a man I greatly respect, and I don't understand a line. He said he just loved it when Daniel said, go tell the king we won't eat his food. That didn't make it into my translation. Daniel doesn't start by angrily defying the king to his face. Daniel is not a compromiser, and he's not afraid to die for his convictions. We'll see that. But he shows honor and tact and kindness to a man, a lower man in authority over him. It says he requested, requested the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself, and God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs, the chief steward under the king. So you'll notice that All through this book, Daniel is negotiating these difficulties, but people have a great affection for him and respect for him. He doesn't make threats. He doesn't show hostility. He's a statesman. And later in the book, Daniel has to bring some very hard truths. He has to rebuke kings. And he does so with aplomb. And as far as it depends upon him, he maintains the affection and goodwill of these people over him. Again, he says in verse 12, please test your servants for 10 days and then do as you see fit with your servants. Deal with your servants as you see fit. There is a humbleness and a graciousness in his speech. He's not being offensive. He is taking a stand. You say, what happens if this fails? I don't know. But he is doing his very best here to respect the man and his position of authority, which we read in verse 2, God had given him. He asks permission. He's willing to die. But this is how he begins. There are some people who are committed to God's Word, who are faithful and fearless, but they can be harsh. cold, combative, even rebellious, insensitive. People love to be rebellious and angry and defiant when they judge it to be for a good cause. I'm in the right, and that gives me the right to shake my fist at the authority and make my threats and show my hostility. There are times, as we said, when Peter has to stand before the great Sanhedrin, the rulers of the nation of Israel, and say, we must obey God rather than men. But even then, the first word out of his mouth in the Greek is obey. He begins to obey. It is necessary. God rather than men. And the last words of that defense are the same. The Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him. End of thing. He brackets his appeal by saying we're not rebels. We are obedient people. And we are obeying God. We are not walking around shaking our fists. We're not wearing question authority t-shirts. It's the very opposite. We are obedient people. And Daniel, here in this position of weakness, sets out his case before Ash-Phanaz, the master of the eunuchs, and he explains his position. And Ash-Phanaz said, No! I'm sorry! It might be my head. If the king sees you not being taken care of well, If you don't look as good as the other boys, he'll call me to account." But Daniel then, after getting a no, carefully considers what he hears. It all hinged on this matter. What if the boys looked unwell? So Daniel thought, and he found a way to satisfy the objection. He went to the one who signed right over him and said, look, why don't you give us a 10-day test? And I'm sure he went back and prayed like crazy for these 10 days. Give us that. Give us red cheeks, O God. The passage doesn't say there was any kind of miracle here, but God blessed them with health for these 10 days. And again and again in the book, we find Daniel praying and trusting in God, depending on the mercy of God. And this time, everything works out. Later, he'll be thrown to the lions. But the point is, he's living and walking with God by faith. And brothers and sisters, if you are depending on your own strength, right? Remember the first sermon, the most important lesson. If you are depending on yourself, your prayer and hope and source of strength is in yourself, you're going to be failing. But trust in the Lord and in His might. And the great point at the beginning of our series, lest you forget anything else, is that we must live in dependence on the Lord and the means He's provided for building us up. Okay, so there's the passage. Now, what I'd like to do is to look at this, as I say, intending to teach wisdom to the exiles in Babylon, how do you deal with this conflict? How do you make an appeal to one an authority? And this is a very practical how-to sermon today, taking it as a wisdom passage today. So I'm going to give you some steps. Let me introduce it to you for a minute. I suppose that most of you know the event that touched off the American Civil War. April 12, 1861, down in Charleston Harbor. You know how the Confederate soldiers opened fire of artillery on Union occupied Fort Sumter. No casualties, by the way, on either side. A bloodless beginning to America's bloodiest war. So you know how the American Civil War started. How about the English Civil War? Do any of you know what touched that off? What was the event? What was the artillery? In this case, The artillery involved was a stool. The one who launched it was a woman named Jenny Geddes. The field of battle was a church service at St. Giles Kirk in Edinburgh. For years, King Charles I had been encroaching on the Scottish Church, violating its constitutionally guaranteed religious freedoms, little by little, imposing bishops and ceremonies and other traditions of men on the Scottish Church, nothing earth-shattering, little by little. In 1637, the king had his archbishop, Laud, create a new liturgy, a prayer book for the Scots, modeled after the English prayer book. And one summer morning on Sunday, as that new liturgy, with all of its traditions of men, was going to be used for the first time in St. Giles in Edinburgh, a woman named Jenny Geddes had it. She stood up in the middle of the service, picked up the stool on which she was sitting, and threw it at the dean leading the service, and said, are you going to say Mass in my year? A riot erupted. Professor J.S. Blakely wrote a poem about this called The Song of Mrs. Jenny Geddes. Here's just a couple lines. "'Twas the 23rd of July in the 1637, on Sabbath morn from high St. Giles, the solemn Peel was given. King Charles had sworn that Scottish men should pray by printed rule. He sent a book, but never dreamed of danger from a stool. The stool missed its mark and did no harm, nor did the riot that ensued in Edinburgh that day. But, King Charles was not about to take that kind of resistance from the Scots. He sent his army north of the border to restore order, put down any resistance, and imposed this liturgy by force upon the Scottish Church. And Scotland decided that they would assemble their own army under General Leslie, which was more than a match for the royal forces, it turned out. who halted the king's progress. And the enraged king called the first English parliament in years to raise money so he could get a bigger army so he could go and invade Scotland. And parliament refused. They had their own grievances with the king. And the king was enraged with parliament and real soon both Scots and the English parliamentary forces were in open war. That was the story of the stool shot heard around the world. King Charles had sworn that Scottish men would pray by printed rule. He sent a book, but never dreamed of danger from a stool. It's quite a story, and there are monuments to Jenny Geddes. There in the church, there is a picture of the stool that she threw at the Dean that day. And you know, Scots are always up for a good fight. with the English especially, and a good riot at that. And so it feels so good when we can act bad for such a good reason. I suppose, though, however, as you could probably tell already, we are far too proud of that story. We are probably too ready to riot and to throw things rather than use other weapons such as wisdom, honor, and goodwill. Could King Charles have been overcome Or at least negotiated to some point that would spare the death of so many thousands? I mean, you know how it went on, right? Hundreds of thousands died. Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the Parliamentary Army, he ended up betraying the Covenant and then conquering the Scots himself, and he had himself. established as the dictator over the three kingdoms until his death. And when King Charles's son, Charles II, was then recalled to the throne, his first order of business was to betray the Covenant and to kill or exile some 1,800 Scots who opposed him. You know, the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Scotland had all of its ministers killed. We had no ministers. until decades later. There is a time that we need to fight and die. There is a time that we need to be willing to lay down our lives for the cause of religious liberty. We see this even in Daniel and his friends later in the book. But this book begins where we should begin. with a call to use wisdom, honor, and goodwill and make our appeal. And this isn't just an important question for those of us who are ready for a fight and who are living under heathen government. Making an appeal to authority is important in every one of your relationships. Children, to your parents, your teachers. We consider this in the Ladies Bible Study. How about at work, or at school, or at church? This is a matter of godly wisdom. And I'd like to consider briefly from this passage five points, which Peacemaker Ministries has put into a little mnemonic called PAUSE. If you're coming into conflict, pause, P-A-U-S-E. When you have to make an appeal to authority, first P, prepare your own heart. Prepare your heart. And this will take some effort, because when you are in this situation, you will typically be focused on what the other person has said, or done, or made you angry, or fearful, or anxious about. And you need to pray and purpose in your heart what you are going to do, verse 6, prepare to engage the other person in a way, verse 10 following, that is gracious, respectful, and controlled. If you go in on the attack, don't be surprised if there's a fight. I talk to people, say, you have to go talk to somebody about that. Oh, I don't like conflict. Well, I didn't say go have a conflict. I said, go talk to the person. P, prepare your heart. Daniel had resolved before God what he was going to do, and he went and he spoke in a humble, respectful, reasonable way. And when you have this matter, I put some questions in your notes for you to ask. When you're in this crisis, look at yourself for a second. What is God teaching me about myself? I mean, maybe you can't change your parents. Maybe you can't change your boss or your situation. But you can be responsible for your own heart. And maybe the Lord is putting a squeeze on you, as he was on Israel, by the way. to get you to recognize some important things about yourself. Why are you so angry, or anxious, or discontent? Are you at peace with God's will for your life, or are you seeking your own way? And is that why you are so mad? Have you found your ultimate peace and satisfaction and contentment in Him? Why don't we go on? But P, prepare your own heart. A. Affirm the relationship. Affirm the relationship. In a crisis, you see, people often give others the impression that they don't respect them, that the relationship isn't valuable, really that all they want to do is lash out and hurt the other person. And now we live in a society with more disposable relationships, so people just have this habit of, I'm going to blow up and then leave. I mean, you want to talk to your husband about something he's done, some decision he's made. How good it is for you to start off affirming your love and admiration and respect and thankfulness and commitment to him and to a good marriage. You want to talk to the elders about something we're doing. It's so helpful to start off, you know, we love you and we love Redeemer. And even if you're calling the customer service line somewhere to get some kind of resolutions. You know, Christians are a people committed to loving their neighbor as themselves. And how well it would go for you if you affirmed even that much in your relationship. And so time and time in this book, as in this chapter, we find Daniel with goodwill, cultivating goodwill, using the favor that God has given him with those in authority. and maintaining that favor. And in your situation, when you were faced with this crisis, asked, what have you done to give the impression that you have no respect for the other person, that you don't think that relationship is valuable, that you don't care? Or asking it the other way, what have you done to affirm the relationship? to show that you care about others and about other people's feelings and that that relationship is more important than even this conflict. How can you show your commitment to reconcile? Maybe by setting aside sometimes. Long before conflict arises, you should maintain and establish this goodwill as strong support for the relationship and especially strong support for someone in authority. You will be far, far more effective with the person in authority over you if you have a track record of being supporting and encouraging and having a good attitude. Do you know that? Kids, do you know that? You have a hard time under authority? Well, how is your relationship? Are you showing love and affection? Are you maintaining that love and openness? Or are you trying to just fight your way to victory? I put in your note question 127, teaching on the Fifth Commandment, what is that honor that inferiors owe superiors? Well, we owe superiors all reverence in heart, word, and behavior, prayer and thanksgiving for them, imitating their virtues and graces, willing obedience to their lawful commands and counsel, due submission to their corrections. Fidelity to, defense of, maintenance of their persons and authority and so forth, bearing with their infirmities, covering them in love, so that we might be an honor to them and to their government. As far as it depends on us, we are to affirm the relationship. Third, P, prepare your heart. A, affirm the relationship. U, understand the interests of the other party. Understand the interests of the other party. Too often when we get in the situation, we are ready to impute motives as though we could read other people's minds or tell the future. Well, you're just doing this because of that. Or there's no use making an appeal because he won't listen to me anyway. You don't know the other person's reasons unless you ask, and you don't know the future until you try. And do not excuse yourself from doing what you should do by just blaming the other person. It's his motive. It's not going to do any good. In the case of Ashpainaz, Daniel carefully considered the nature of his response. It all hinged on one thing. What if the boys looked unwell? I mean, this is a serious matter. These boys are kind of held for ransom in so many ways. In other words, Jerusalem won't rebel if we treat their sons well here. And it turns out this is not a matter of religious persecution. This isn't a matter of them trying to force the idol's food down their throats. They don't care about that at all. It's simply a matter of taking good care of these boys who are part of Nebuchadnezzar's insurance that Jerusalem won't rebel. And it's important that these boys look healthy and well cared for. Now, too often I hear people play the persecution card. Well, my boss doesn't like me because I'm a Christian. Well, how do you know? This government policy is written against us. It could happen. But how do you take in any steps to understand what's really important to the other party? And if you're going to make an effective appeal, try to negotiate something with someone in authority, you have to understand, listen to what the issue is and what is really in the best interests of all. And Philippians 2, don't look out only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. The Christian approach. So what motives, here's the questions then, what motives are you assigning to the other person? And what are the true interests of others? And have you even found out what's most important and considered carefully? Oftentimes, they're not even the issues that are on your radar. The issues haven't even surfaced from them. They require exploring and listening and understanding the other party. P. Prepare your heart. A. Affirm the relationship. U. Understand the interests of the other party. S. Search for creative solutions. In Daniel's case, the yes or the no wasn't going to come. So he had to come up with this 10-day test. And by God's grace, at the end of 10 days, they looked even better than the others. And they took away the food. And that's what the Babylonians wanted all along. And when Daniel was asked if he could eat something else, Ashton asked, can I have some other food? No. When he then asked to be tested whether to see some other diet might be even better, the answer was yes. I mean, maybe beforehand they said there was only, either they'll make us eat this heathen food or not. It's a matter of principle. Well, Daniel says, wait a minute, there's a third option. What if we let him put us to the test? And often, when we have to make an appeal, the real solution is to come up with a better idea. And Daniel is the prototypical wise man, right? Daniel chapter 1, he shows why he does become the prominent wise man in Babylon. Why he rises before kings. And why when the king talks to this man, he says, this is the man I want as my counselor. He knows how to navigate life. He knows the right action for the right situation. He knows the right word to affect the right result. So, Daniel 1, apart from everything else it teaches us, is a book of wisdom. It's not always a matter of principle, people. It's often a matter of wisdom. And so, when we read, when we're in this situation, ask yourself, what other possibilities are there? Is it a matter of yes and no? Or is there a third? Don't just try to win the point. Think, what can I do to contribute to a solution? What can I see the other party do to contribute to a solution? What have you done that's just complicating the solution? Search for creative solutions. Pause when you get into the situation. Prepare your heart. Affirm the relationship. Understand the interests of the other party. Search for creative solutions. And E, evaluate options reasonably, briefly. Evaluate options reasonably. When Daniel proposed his solution, he included a very reasonable way to evaluate it, and he did so with respect. I read this week about this, I don't know what happened, but it was a school district, made a policy, kids can't put down the windows on the school bus anymore, right? I mean, you know, it doesn't have air conditioning, somebody went, like I did, grew up on a school bus. Okay, I don't know what happened. But that was the policy. And the parents, of course, were vociferously complaining. The man in charge wasn't going to budge. Are they going to let us pull down the windows? Are they not going to let us put down the windows? We're going to get people off this school board and all this. And one man had the wisdom to ask the guy, would you just try riding in the back of the bus for half an hour with all the windows closed except for the drivers? And it was such a reasonable request, the man could not say no. And half an hour in that bus on a hot day, the man was ready to discuss other options. And the policy was dropped. Let's evaluate. Let's be reasonable. In the case of Daniel, let's just test 10 days. And when you make an appeal to authority, make sure that it's not just as this contest of wills. Have you made the situation clear? Are you evaluating it reasonably? Have you helped others to do the same? Don't just make an appeal and propose your solutions. Help others understand and evaluate what the best course might really be. Pause when you get into this situation. A how-to sermon. In conclusion, I would like to consider Two approaches, though, to society at large. Two approaches, especially to one's enemies, as advocated by Barabbas and by Christ. Barabbas, you remember, was a revolutionary who got into some trouble in a certain uprising. He was attempting to lead the Jews in a military uprising to throw off their Roman persecutors. It was hard for the Jews under the Romans. And Barabbas had failed and was arrested. But a few years later, others succeeded. In that very generation, the Jews did rise up and fight a mighty battle against Rome. And according to Josephus, one of the Jewish generals who was there, described what happened. Never did any people suffer the way that the Jews suffered in that century. And there's a very interesting contrast between how the 1st century Jews handled the persecution of the Romans and how the 1st century Christians handled similar persecutions in the same time. Christianity wasn't even legal by the 1960s. It was not legalized after the fire of Rome until the 4th century. In the meantime, Christians faced intense waves of persecution. Like the 1st century Jews, they were under the gun. They were under Roman persecution and enjoyed fewer legal protections, worse treatment than the Jews did. I mean, they crucified the Jews by the thousands. But they crucified the Christians by the tens of thousands. And the Christians too had good reason to be threatened, to feel threatened by the pagan world around them. So how do they relate? How do they respond to this world that was mercilessly threatening their very existence? Did they take the path of Barabbas? Christians were accused of sedition. From Christ onward, I suppose. Christians were in fact accused of rebellion, but in fact, their testimony before rulers, their written apologies, on and on, their very lives testified, they were the best citizens the empire ever had. Justin Martyr writes this in his first apology. We pray for our enemies. We strive to convince those who hate us unjustly, so that living according to the glorious teaching of Christ, they may obtain the joyful hope of a participation in the blessings which are prepared for us by God Almighty. Christ commanded us to use no violence and not to return evil for evil. He exhorted us by our patience and gentleness to convert all men. In many among us, we can show you that this has actually been done. In many, they have been changed from violent and tyrannical men and subdued. While they have either observed the steadfast endurance of Christian neighbors or have become acquainted with the extraordinary patience of Christian travelers suffering injustice, or have seen the conduct of Christians under various circumstances in the intercourse of life." From Justin. And he goes on and says, to answer the question that Christians are troublemakers, he says the truth is the very opposite. We are the most obedient, loyal, hardworking, productive citizens in all your empire. And of all people, we can be most counted on to obey the laws and pay the taxes, which you know could not be said of the ordinary citizens of the day. The empire, Justin concluded, would run far more smoothly if only there were more Christians rather than less. And from the early days, the Apostle Paul, heeding his injunction, the Church prayed for their rulers, even when suffering terribly at their hands, prayed for them by name, refused to lift arms, remained obedient, dutiful syndromes, gave witness by their word, and testimony by a godly life. And they refused to do wrong when it was demanded. They refused to worship Caesar as a god. And their refusal was made all the more powerful a statement. Because they had shown themselves in every other way to be such loyal, obedient, devoted citizens. And finally, as Augustine said in the City of God, the patience and faith of the saints wore down the fury of the Church's persecutors. They won the popular heart, and finally with Constantine, freedom. Now you may feel threatened by much of the increasingly forceful or hostile world around us. And perhaps you have good reason for that, as they did in the first century. How will you respond? Is it Barabbas or is it Christ? Are you meeting that threat with dishonor or honor? Rebellion or submission? Anger or wisdom? A little over a hundred years after the death of the apostles, Tertullian wrote, We are but of yesterday. And we have filled every place among you. Cities, islands, fortresses, towns, marketplace, palace, senate, forum. And we have left nothing to you but the temples of your gods. So may it be in our day. Amen. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we likewise find ourselves with fears, anxieties, anger. We do feel like rioting or throwing our stools around and we have not used better weapons and more effective. We pray that you would give us courage and faithfulness, that we might not compromise our integrity. We pray that you would give us also holiness and humility and a discerning heart that those who oppose us may be ashamed and they see our good works and glorify our God in the day of visitation. Our Father, may our love for all men be made manifest and may Christ shine more and more brightly in the darkness of the world. We pray it for his sake. Amen.