Continuing our series we have just began, we turn our Bibles this morning to the book of Daniel, chapter 1. Daniel, chapter 1. We had considered the first two verses at length in our first sermon. The sermon this morning is based on the verses three through seven, three through seven. I ask that that portion of scripture be paid particularly close attention to as we read the entire chapter. This is God's inspired word. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem and besieged it. 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 Shania to the house of his God. And he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God. 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, children in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace. and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. 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 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, and to Mishael of Meshach, and to Azariah of Abednego. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat. nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself." Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. 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. Then said Daniel to Melzah, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, prove thy servants. I beseech thee 10 days, and let them give us pulse to eat and water to drink. 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. So he consented to them in this matter and proved them 10 days. And at the end of 10 days, their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Thus, Meltzar took away the portion of their meat and the wine that they should drink and gave them pause. 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. 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. 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. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them, he found them 10 times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm. And Daniel continued even unto the first year of King Cyrus. Thus far we read from God's holy inspired word. May the Lord bless the reading of his word. Trouble. Troubles times for the church. Beloved congregation, that's what the word of God in verses one and two of Daniel one sets forth when it speaks of the very first assault upon Judah by King Nebuchadnezzar. For while that assault did not destroy Judah and Jerusalem, We are told that some of the vessels of the Temple of Jehovah, some of these vessels were carried back into Babylon and brought into the house of Nebuchadnezzar's idol gods. And even more importantly, it is in this assault that some of the very best youth and princes of the church had been carried away captive, including especially four very important ones, Daniel and his three friends. And so Babylon was assaulting the church and seems to have gained a symbolic victory at the very least in these verses. Well, just as it was then, she is also assaulting the church of Jesus Christ today, isn't she? Do we know that? Are we keenly aware and conscious that the devil and the world is assaulting us? My heartfelt prayer as your pastor is that you, and especially our young parents and children, might be made more conscious of the devil's assaults, of his schemes and strategies, and be made wiser and more diligent in the preparation of your children for this battle and warfare by our study in the book of Daniel. Continuing here with these verses we consider this morning, which records Babylon's assault of God's church. Let's take that for our theme this morning, Babylon's assault of God's church. Assault who? Assault in what way? And finally, assault with what result? The book of Daniel, in particular these verses we consider, sets forth Babylon's assault of God's church. That's right, God's church. To be sure, Israel is mentioned in verse three. Let me remind us of the first half of verse three. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel. And Israel, that Old Testament theocratic nation, was God's church. To Israel and to no other nation, God revealed Jesus Christ. He revealed Jesus Christ in all of their laws, in their civil laws, their ceremonial laws, their moral law. Jesus Christ was the end and goal of the law of God. To Israel and to no other nation were there all those bloody sacrifices offered to God in His temple and tabernacle, sacrifices which pictured Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. To the Israelites and to no other wrote the Apostle Paul in the New Testament in Romans chapter nine, pertaineth the adoption and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, the promises, whose are the Father's, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ. Christ. came. So, who was Babylon assaulting? God's church. The church of Jesus Christ. Make no mistake about it. This is, beloved, the battle of the ages. The line being drawn in the sand by God Himself in Genesis 3, verse 15, between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. As it was then, in the time of Daniel, so also is it now. If you are part of God's church, know that you are being assaulted by the enemy. And in particular, know that the objects of Babylon's assault, as we are told in our text, are the children. The children of the church. and not merely the children of the church in general, but especially children who were in their teen years, the youth of the church. And our young children will soon, young parents, become youth and teenagers before we know it. Time flies like an arrow. That being the case, we ask ourselves, Why does the devil have his eye especially focused on the teens and youth of the church? Why? I give two reasons this morning. First of all, because this is the most difficult and the most challenging time for the child of God. Isn't it? It's the most spiritually vulnerable time for the child of God. This, beloved, is an age where our children are growing physically all so very quickly. Suddenly they become so tall, so very quickly, maybe even taller than us in their teen years. but as well have a great need to play catch up in their spiritual growth. This is an age where good spiritual habits haven't quite sunken in yet. haven't quite developed and matured yet. This is the age where we are especially very impressionable. Impressionable and very easily impressed by what we are able to see and to know and to discover more of the world which we see and have contact with our flesh and earthly nature with. This also is an age where we learn and learn very quickly and not necessarily taking interest in the lessons at school or later on college or even catechism instruction and not necessarily learning very quickly good things either, isn't it? Parenting teenagers, and you young parents will soon have to do that, so prepare yourselves well for that, parenting teenagers has never been an easy thing. And all that I've said, of course, is not a criticism of you, young parents, or of you, dear children. It is simply recognizing what teen ages are. And Pastor Lee was a teenager, and not a very good one. But there is more. There's a second reason. Why else should the children of the church be assaulted? Well, because not only are they more vulnerable to the assault of the devil, but also because they are very, very, very, important to the church. They are the future of the church of Jesus Christ. And the devil knows it. And the devil knows this perhaps more keenly than us. Now, the devil and the Antichrist also assaults the other members of the church. Certainly he does. Ever so often you will see a very vicious assault upon adult members of the church, and yes, also very sadly, including leaders and men of the church who are in office, who have to be deposed from the office. That happens. But understand, beloved, that the fiercest most persistent and most consistent, continual assault upon the church by the devil, by the Antichrist, and by the world is upon the youth and children of the church." Children, are you listening? The devil has his eye on you. you are not only prone to assault, you are also a strategic target of the devil. Because if you are destroyed, then the church is gone. That was even clearer in Daniel's time, wasn't it? Just think, if the youth of the church that were carried away to Babylon were all destroyed, then Jesus Christ is not going to come, is he? And then the church would be but a memory, a long-forgotten memory on the face of this earth. And so, wisely, the Word of God is filled with godly admonitions and instruction for children and youth. Something which not only children and youth should take note of, but especially our young parents who are to guide their children in these truths and instructions. Many instructions, but especially I point out in Psalm 119, God inspired that young godly psalmist, didn't he, to have a good and godly desire to what? to cleanse his way. Such was the desire of the young godly psalmist that he wanted to be pure, pure in all his ways, pure in his thinking, pure in his speaking, pure in how his hands and feet acted. So how was he going to cleanse his way? How was he going to keep his way pure? The answer is provided in Psalm 119, in that second section, isn't it? By taking heed to the Word of God. As Jesus says, children, man shall not live on bread alone, but by every, every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And this is God's inspired Word. That's why you see parental training with the child in the Word of God from young, and I mean from very, very young, and not beginning in the teen years, is so crucial and important. For it is in this way that our children in their teen years, and later on in life as well, do end up making the right choices. making the right friends, having the right priorities in regard to their time, their talents, their resources, their everything, everything. It all begins with and must end with training and training in the Word of God. From young, for our children, and trained especially first by the parents. Proverbs 22, verse six, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not, he will not depart from it. What a wonderful promise to keep in our hearts, young parents, as we nurture our children. But moving on now more specifically, let's notice in the case of our text, who Babylon was assaulting. I read the second half of verse 3, certain children of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes. And then we read on in verse 4, children in whom there was no blemish, but well favored. skillful in all wisdom, cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace." In other words, as the Bible commentator says, the cream of the crop The cream always rises to the top, doesn't it? This is the cream of the crop. This is the very best of all the children of Judah. Best physically, but also best in their ability, especially in their intellect. Now, all of the children of the church, carried away captive to Babylon, came under the assault of Babylon, but understand that it is especially these ones who were handpicked to become court servants of, not Jehovah, of course, but of King Nebuchadnezzar. And such is this battle and assault that like every battle and war that rages, it is never described in general terms, is it? But it is always specific, always particular in nature, specific and involving particular persons And here in our text, it involves four particular young persons as we find God's Word telling us in verse 6. Children, are you listening? Remember these names of these four children? Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Those were their names. Their names given to them by their God-fearing, God-loving parents. And much unlike many names in the world and even in the church today, these names were of great religious significance. For those names, you understand, all speak of the one living true God, Jehovah, in one way or another. For you see, both Daniel and Mishael, I'll say those names again with emphasis, Daniel and Mishael, both ending with L, L which is an abbreviation of Elohim. the wonderful name of God that emphasizes His power, the display of His power, all speak of the powerful God. El, Daniel, Mishael, and then there's Hananiah, and Azariah. Note the endings there again, both ending with ya, and that is an abbreviation for Jehovah. Just like this abbreviation we find in Psalm 68, verse 4 of Jehovah. J-A-H. Yah. Let me read that verse. These names found their significance in reminding them of their covenantal God-given identity. Children, are you writing notes? If you are, take note of what these four names mean. You ready? Daniel means, my judge is the Almighty God. Isn't that a beautiful name? Kings and rulers are not my judge. God is my judge. I wonder if Daniel's name was key to helping Daniel be bold and daring in the witness of his faith. My judge is the Almighty God. This is what I'll do. I'll do it this way. My judge is the Almighty God. Hananiah means Jehovah is. Gracious. Gracious. That's our God. He's gracious. Mishael means who is like Almighty God. Who Perhaps that name helped Mishael and the four friends to be faithful to Jehovah and not be swayed and attracted to other idol gods in the land of Babylon. And then lastly, there's the name Azariah, last but not least, which means my helper. is Jehovah. What an encouraging name that is. In the midst of all distress, when we feel so helpless, Azariah's name itself reminds him and reminds us that my helper is Jehovah. And so, what wonderful names these are, aren't they? These names certainly reminded these children of their sacred identity in Jehovah, the one living true God, that they were His. And certainly they were purposed to give them comfort where they needed comfort, hope where they needed hope, strength where they needed strength, and vision where they needed vision in the course of life, even in their captivity. And now we ask, What did King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon do to these names? He obliterated them. He wiped them out clean. And he did so by replacing them completely. As we find in verse 7, and we'll get to that in a moment, but Here and now I want to say these were the particular youth being assaulted by Babylon. And as it was then, so also is it today. Such battles and assaults are never general and not just on a group of people, yes, the children of the church, but children in particular, you and you and you and you, you, you, you, The devil wants you. Do you know that? And do your parents know that? And do we as members of the church who are called to support one another morally and spiritually in our prayers, in all of our ways, know that? Is the very real assault of Antichrist upon the young of our church recognized clearly by us? The Reformed Churches have historically recognized it and it shows in various significant ways. Bible-believing, confessing Reformed Churches have always taken the sacred duty of catechizing the children of the Church very, very seriously. Still more, reformed consistories are to do their utmost to lead and guide the church to form Christian schools so that our children may be brought together as much as possible to be given a reformed Christian education consistent with the faith confessed by the church. And also, last but not least, in the list of questions asked by the church visitors of every consistory on a church visit, there is this question asked if extra care and attention is given to the youth of the church. And all of these are well and good. They are. But you see, the question here is not what the church has in terms of official and formal tasks and duties, but more so whether we as families, and in particular our youth-to-be children, especially our older children, know that they are the objects of assault by the Antichrist. Catechumens, do you still remember Genesis 3, verse 15? about the battle that goes on between the seed of the woman, that's referring to Jesus, right, children? And the seed of the serpent? Do you know that that's happening right now here on earth? And do you know that you are a very part of that battle? Is it therefore, children, your number one thing, number one thing to know the Word of God, to understand and know it well, and to use it well in battle and in your life. Parents with me, in the midst of all your busyness, do you realize that your children are being bombarded with attacks and assaults from the devil, the Antichrist, and the world? Recognizing and remembering that our children, we and our children are being assaulted continually is a very important first step in being preserved, and preserved in the way of faithfulness. For then our priorities in life will be right and good. That is to say, the priorities of parents will be right and good for themselves and their children. And also the priorities of the children, our children, under the diligent guidance of the parents also will be right and good. And how important that is! Because in what way does the enemy assault our children? In what way? Short answer, every. way, relentlessly, and according to the word this morning, an all-comprehensive three-pronged assault upon our children. The first prong of assault is that which we briefly mentioned a while ago in verses 6 and 7 with regard to the changing of the names of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, now to Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Now understand, beloved, that that wasn't just a wiping out of their most important, beautiful names in Jehovah of these children and giving them some kind of a random name. That would be bad enough. It was a replacing of their names with names that were associated with the idols of the Babylonian people. How so? Bel and Nebo, B-E-L and Nebo, N-E-B-O, are mentioned as idol gods by the word of God in Isaiah chapter 46. And which is what those blasphemous names Bel-Teshazzar and Abednego refer to. And very quickly, just a quick, accurate word study reveals that the names Shadrach and Meshach, notice the endings, derived from the moon god Aku. Nebuchadnezzar purposed to have the identities of these people all subsumed to his service. to his worldwide kingdom, to his universal religion. And the purpose of Antichrist in this is to make the children of the living God forget. Let me repeat that word again, forget. Forget about Jehovah and forget about their identity in him completely. So now also the anti-Christian world around us is causing our children to forget that they are the children of God, to forget that they are Christians, Christ's ones, who belong to Jesus Christ and not to themselves, isn't it? Our young children are being bombarded by the message of the world. They're being told by society today, you are your own man. Be your own man. Be your own woman. That's who you are first of all. That's what they say. True happiness lies in being your own man. Discover who you are in and of yourself. First of all, the Christ identity. which you hear of from your parents, your pastor, your church, is tying you down, is constraining you and limiting you from what you can be in all of your fullness. It's a hindrance. So get rid of it. That's the messaging of the world. But the enemy doesn't stop there, does he? He is unrelenting. There's also, therefore, a second prong of assault. He's not only going to make us want to forget our identity, he's going to wipe out every reminder of our need for Jehovah. and for His Christ, every reminder. And He's working hard to make you change your loyalty and allegiance in your heart from flying and raising the flag of Jesus Christ to flying and raising the flag of Satan. And that's what was being done to Daniel and his three friends as we find in verse five. Let me read that verse. 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 obviously we'll have more to say about this next time when we consider verses 8 and following, but today and now we will say that the Old Testament Israelites had been given strict dietary laws, that is, ceremonial laws, which when kept by them daily at all of their meals three times a day, reminded them morning, noon, and eve of their need for God and their need for Christ through the types and shadows of all those ceremonies. Now, on top of their names and identities being replaced, They would even now lose these precious reminders, morning, noon, and eve, and have them replaced by very pleasurable and attractive food. A daily provision of the king's meat. How do you beat that? And wine! Wine, too, for these youth and children which he drank the wine of the king. And with all that, of course, also the sensual, sinful, godless environment and culture of the king's palace. They were being groomed by the king for the king. And that's how the anti-Christian world today works too, doesn't it? It too seeks to wipe out every single daily reminder of our need for God and for our Christ, and seeks to have us enjoy the pleasures of sin, be distracted by them first, and then enjoy the pleasures of sin, at least for a season. Come, you are still young! All these things can come later, so enjoy yourself now! You have more important, you have more fun, more exciting things to do, starting with seemingly of course the most harmless things, which of course may not be wrong in and of themselves. And then moving on to questionable stuff. Questionable stuff. Then activities which start to give a lot of carnal pleasure. And then moving on to the horribly heinous. And of course our enemy is smart, isn't he? He's not stupid in tempting us, as he did with Daniel and his three friends. He will not tell you about all the bad consequences you and I are going to experience. He'll just sell. He's a good salesman. He'll just sell you the pleasures you will enjoy for the moment. Here it is. Come, says the devil. The devil bids you to come to him and come to him with open arms. And so, beloved, are you? And are you going to let your children fall straight into the arms and deadly embrace of the devil? Nor is that all. He isn't just going to wipe out the identity that we have in God. He isn't just going to be content with wiping out reminders of our need for Jehovah and for His Christ. The Antichrist is going to fill, and I mean fill, your world, crowd, overcrowd, saturate you with his unbelieving doctrine, with his unbelieving philosophy, eat, drink, and be merry, and the like, unbelieving thinking, about your entire life here on earth. He's going to do so in a systematic way. And how is he going to do that? By assaulting your mind. He's going to empty the minds of our children. of God and of Christ in this world. And fill it, fill it with Christless learning, Christless thinking, and Christless education. That's exactly what we find in the second half of verse four. And whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. There we read. Now of course don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong in and of itself of learning the tongue of the Chaldeans or any language in particular But you see all this learning or education of the Chaldeans in their tongue, their science, their math, their history, their geography, their whatevery was all going to be godless and Christless. All the learning and all the education that all these covenant youth carried away captive was going to have was going to be so radically different, you see, from the kind of learning, the Christian learning and education they would have received from their God-fearing parents. No God, no Christ. No God and no Christ in science, in math, in geography, in the languages, in anything. Their whole understanding of the world, their whole worldview would be empty of God and Christ. In other words, faithless. The assault of Babylon upon the church, and in particular her youth, would be an all-out, all-comprehensive brain and mind washing, an assault of the mind, the thinking of the child of God. And once our minds are so emptied of God and of Christ in our learning and education, then we would be unable, would be to be able to be properly thinking Christians. And so, beloved, this is the value and crucial importance of a thoroughly Christian-reformed training and education, begun early in the home by the parents, and continued throughout our children's development in their formative years, to train our children to be thinking, to be mindful, thinking, biblically thinking, reformed Christians, applying our knowledge, our rich biblical reformed heritage to every subject and sphere of life, every situation in life. And on the other hand, the alternative for not doing our utmost in training our children to be thinking, reformed Christians is to give up, is to raise the white flag, and to let the anti-Christian world assaulting us claim victory over us. And to be sure, Babylon's relentless assault upon the church in Daniel's time seemed to have a victorious result. It seems like it was a victory for Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar, isn't it? For where is any mention of the other elite children of Judah but these four particular ones? They were all subsumed into Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, weren't they? But you see, beloved, Satan failed. Satan never succeeded in relation to these four real, God-loving, Christ-loving children. of Jehovah, and the record of this book, inspired by the Holy Spirit through Daniel, speaks of the victory of God's covenant and kingdom in Jesus Christ. God's people prevailed. They prevailed through 70 long years of hardship and captivity, and they returned to Judah, didn't they? And waited and waited for Messiah, not in vain for He came. He came as He said He would. He came. God's promises never fail. And so we may be sure too that that is the same victorious result which you and I will experience in Jesus Christ. You and I will be preserved but only in the way of faithfulness, in the way of recognizing that we are in the midst of a fierce, relentless assault by Antichrist and by prayerful, wise, and hopeful laboring. Let us then, each one of us, labor faithfully. preparing our children as much as ourselves to dare to stand alone for God, just as these four youths were. Let us labor faithfully in our respective God-given callings and stations in life. As parents, yes, as grandparents too, in your support of the parents, catechism instruction in the preaching, The time we spend with our children, also when they are young, those bonding years are absolutely crucial for grounding them in the Word of God, to learn it, to know it, to take joy in it, even in the small little things, then to apply it even in the small little things, and then more and more as maturing thinking. thoughtful, mindful Christians living in a hostile, anti-Christian world. Beloved, let us labor faithfully, using our time well, remembering that we are but pilgrims and strangers sojourning in this world and laboring in hope, knowing that Christ who won the victory at Calvary will one day return for us. Come Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen. Bless this word, O Lord. We thank Thee for it, and we thank Thee for setting forth Thy word plainly in the Book of Daniel. Continue, Lord, to strengthen and bless us and our children. Make us to war the warfare that Thou hast called us to war in with greater skill and strength. having our full reliance on thee and thy weapons of war and not on ourselves and our weapons, cause us to put our trust in thee more and more. And yes, in all these things, may the love, the great love of thee, Algar, shine through in all our efforts, efforts of raising, nurturing our children, leading them in Thy ways, and also in our efforts of church building. May it be, O Lord, that the great love of Jesus Christ be seen clearly to the world in this church, and draw and attract some, even if it be Thy will, into our midst. Hear us, bless us, and forgive us, for Jesus' sake. Amen.