We don't deserve His grace. What is God's grace? His divine enabling, His unmerited favor, and we ought to be very thankful for that. Let's go back to Daniel chapter 1. I want to continue with what we looked at this morning, and we're going to be building. Each message is building on itself. We're going to be going forward. Sometimes before we get to the positive side of the equation, we have to deal with the negative side, right? And so we're gonna be dealing with some of those things as we did in the last service, but stick with me, there's gonna be some wonderful positive things ahead too, but we've gotta deal with this reality that we are sinners by nature, we have lusts that dwell within our members, and you are the prime age for the devil in this world to exploit that, or for Christ to be honored and glorified. That's just reality. And there are some of you, maybe you've already determined that you're not gonna go a certain way in life, and I'm happy for that. But you will be tested. But I also believe that there are some in the room today that are already on the fence as to which way their life is gonna go. Yeah, you go to church, you're at church teen camp. I understand that. But in your heart of hearts, You're on the fence. And you need to be purposed. You need to be decided. I want to be on the Lord's side. And there's a whole book of testimonies of people that have gone either way. You have living testimonies, people that you know that have gone either way. And you are making those decisions. It's your move. You're making decisions now that will affect the rest of your life. And we don't say that to scare you. I heard that when I was your age. And I took it to heart because it's very true. The decisions made in teen life can easily impact the rest of adult life. And so it is critical, it is key. Let's pray and we'll get going. We're gonna move on to the second part of this in Daniel 1. And I trust that God will lead you and put his finger on what he wants you to make a decision on, what you need to be purposed about. Father, thank you for allowing us to meet again. Thank you for the beautiful scenery here and just the display of your great power as we see your creation. Father, I pray for these, your creatures, these young people, that they would obey you as their creator, that they would be determined and decided, be purposed in their hearts to identify with you, to follow after you, and to make decisions and purpose in their heart what they will or will not do in their life. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Look back in Daniel 1, verse 8, for the Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself. And we could even stop reading there, and that's sufficient. But he gives an example with a portion of the king's meat. And like I said before, maybe that's like, oh, it seems like a minor thing. But it's the principle. The principle in Daniel's heart is that he would not put into his body, and I think by extension we could say he wouldn't do anything with his body, that would defile himself before his Creator. He did not want that. He was purposed not to defile himself. Go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians 6, a great verse on defiling the temple and how we ought not be in favor of this, but rather just the opposite. We want to keep the temple, the body, pure before God. And that has many applications. It says in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 19, what? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own. Now, a lot of times we wrestle with that. Wait a minute, no, this is my life. This is my body. I'll do with it as I please. What kind of a mentality is that? That comes from my own carnal nature. That comes from worldly philosophy and thinking, and even natural, sinful thinking. Hey, this is my life, my body. I'll do whatever I want. Have you thought that way? Yeah, of course you have. You're a human like me. But God says, what? Know ye not. And so there's a change of thinking that needs to take place and ought to come in salvation when the Spirit of God moves in and renews our thinking. Maybe you're not saved yet. This is what God will do in you when you do get saved. But even before you're saved, why not just agree with God anyway? Why not be on the Lord's side and therefore take His thinking? You say, what's God's thinking? It's right here. You want to know what God thinks about something? You'll find it somewhere in this book. And agree with God. Hey, He's the Creator. I'm one of His creatures. He knows what's best for me. Why do we wrestle with that? We do, right? Why do we wrestle with who knows better, me or God? Why do we wrestle with who knows what's best for my life? How does, you know, does God really know what I want? More than you understand. One thing I've had to learn in the Christian life is that his thinking is better than my thinking. In fact, you'd find that in Isaiah chapter 55. His thinking is better than my thinking. He loves me more than anybody else, including myself. And so when God brought me to this conclusion in the Christian life that he loves me more than I even love myself, he knows what's best, then there's no reason why I can't trust his thinking as to what to do. There's no reason he says what know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost So when we get saved and the Spirit of God moves in and seals us Permanently we are his children for all eternity praise the Lord by his grace My body this body this physical body is not my own it's his I It's the temple of the Holy Ghost, and He has a right to determine what I do with it. And you know what? God will never lead me to do something that's bad for me, but only what's good. Maybe tomorrow we'll look at, maybe tonight we'll see. But you know the commandments, I gotta say this. The commandments, all 10 of them, and everything that flows from them are all designed for my good. God never gives me a commandment that's to my loss or to my downfall, to my minimization. All of God's commandments are for my increase, for my good, because He loves me. He'll never, He'll never Have me do anything for the bad. All things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the call, the coordinates. God will work everything for the good and for the right. I can trust him. And when he says that it's the temple of the Holy Ghost, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price. It's the blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit. It's not just a physical thing. It's a spiritual thing as well. All of me, God wants for his glory, and that'll be the best life I can have. when I do it His way, when I go, when I take His thinking as my own, and therefore, when my actions match what He wants, life will be good. Life will be good. It may not be glamorous, like the world pretends to have on Instagram. One thing I've learned about social media is this. It's all a lie. 99% is making people think their life is better than what it really is. It's just reality. Because I know some of those people. And it's like, really? That's what you want to paint? Okay, okay. You're painting this picture of your life, but we know differently. And why do we do that? because of pride, the pride of life. Look who I am or who I'm pretending to be. Don't let, like I said before, don't let social media try to identify and even the pressure that exists out there through social media make you think you've got to be this and putting this identity upon you that's not real and not of God. Our bodies belong to the Lord. And this is what I believe is Daniel's thinking. My body belongs to the Lord, therefore I will not defile God's temple. I'm not going to defile it in any way, whether I put it into my body or do with my body. And when I understand this, I've got to have a surrendered heart, a mind, and my will's got to be in agreement that, yes, I'm going to do things God's way. You look, jump down to chapter 7, verse 1. It just follows. Now, concerning the things wherefore you wrote unto me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman, nevertheless to avoid fornication. In other words, in verse 1, he does not want people to be involved with fornication. Where does it go back to? Verse 18 of chapter 6. The Bible says here, fornication. And so God wants us to flee fornication. He wants our bodies to be for Him and to be right. And yet, verse 2 of chapter 7, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. God does have a plan for human sexuality, and it's called marriage. And I know that's, in modern thinking, that's such an archaic thing. It's such a wonderful thing. to do it God's way in God's time is a wonderful, wonderful thing. And anything else will slowly but surely defeat you in life. Marriage is a wonderful thing and there's wonderful benefits that come with marriage. And so we've got to be committed. We've got to be purposed and make decisions now to keep that on target. If you have determined, if you are decided, I'm going to be on the Lord's side when it comes to this. And I have purposed in my heart that I will not engage in any activity. In fact, even in my own heart, I'm not going to give my heart away to someone until this is who God has for me. And I have parents that can help me in that process who can be in agreement. I have a pastor or maybe pastors on both sides. And when everyone is in it and the Spirit of God's involved with it, it's a wonderful and beautiful thing. But don't let the world or your own flesh Deceive you in thinking, hey, I got this. I can do this on my own. I've got this figured out. And all along, it's your own flesh leading you the wrong way. Don't go there. Be determined. Be purpose in your heart. I want to do this God's way because this body is not mine. It belongs to the Lord. I identify as a child of God. Therefore, it belongs to Him. My body belongs to Him. With this mindset, I can make determinations. I can be purposed in my heart that I'm not going to drink alcohol. The Bible says in Proverbs 20, at least 20 verse 1, how wine is a mocker. Look over there with me real quick. In Proverbs 20, you say, oh, that's not a temptation for us. Not yet. That day may come. And if you're determined in advance that you're never going to drink the bottle, that's great. By the way, when we were in Swaziland, the government kept saying the main reason why COVID was spreading is because people were still sharing the same alcoholic bottle. That's what they do there. 15, 20 people stand in a circle and they pass the same bottle around and take a sip. That's disgusting, I agree. Even if it was Coca-Cola, right? It's still disgusting, amen. I like that. But that's cultural. Even if it was water, they'll use the same cup, and they'll just keep pouring water. Everybody shares the same cup, and so everybody gets sick at the same time. But long before you're tempted to drink, maybe in the future at a business Christmas party with your company, and everyone else is doing this. And you can take this principle and apply it anywhere. You've got to be determined in advance and be purposed in your heart. It says, wine is a mocker. Strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. I mean, how clear do you want God to be? That's very clear. Wine's a mocker. Wine will come back and make fun of you. Strong drink is raging. It'll destroy. And whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. It's that clear. It's that simple. We've already read in 1 Corinthians 6, 18, flee fornication. Flee it. When you see the potential coming, when you see someone trying to make move, so to speak, the Bible's encouraging you and commanding of you, flee it. Why? For your good. for your own good life. Flee it. Flee fornication. We already looked in 1 John 2 about love not the world and be careful the world is trying to pull you. In other words, you've got to be purposed. How about look at Psalm 101 with me? Psalm 101. Maybe something a little more subtle, a little more daily in our lives. You'll see when we get there. Psalm 101, in verse number three, Look at what the psalmist says here regarding what he would do with his eyes in life. Psalm 101, David writes here, verse 2, I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. And this prefaces verse 3 where he says, I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. And you could apply this many ways, but even in his own house, even at home, even when he's home by himself, or if it's a lady, when she's home by herself, what you do at home alone, in the privacy of your own bedroom, you say, that's my business. No, it's not. It's God's. And someone who's in agreement with God and has purpose in their heart to live for God will say something like this. I will walk within my house with a perfect heart because God knows, God sees, it's his temple. And what I do with my eyes, he knows, he cares. And if he does not want us to set any wicked thing before our eyes, it's because he loves us. And a wise young person would say, I want to do what's right with my eyes. It's true, men and women. This is true on both sides. And you know what? I understand this. Having things available on a tablet or phone at your disposal with Wi-Fi everywhere, high-speed Wi-Fi. The potential exists that within seconds, if you want it, you can get whatever you want to see. It's a great danger. I'll say this. I'm glad I was a teenager back then. You had to work hard. to satisfy the eyes, so to speak. You had to go out of your way. It wasn't readily available at your fingertips. And I do have great concern for your generation. It's right there. And even if you have a heart to not go looking for it, if you're on any kind of, you know, YouTube, I mean, it comes to you sometimes and you go, oh, scroll past that junk. I mean, this is the day in which we live, and you've got to be cautious. Here's the point. And I understand this. In your generation, technology's going to be part of your life. And so, because it's going to be part of your life, you've got to be prepared in how you're going to deal with that stuff. You've got to be purposed in your heart that you're not going to set your eyes upon things that defile the body. You've got to be determined. You know, parents can, I'm not here to say how parents should do it, but parents can put controls on devices. And I think there's a degree of that, that that's wise. Yet at the same time, I understand this. You'll be 19, 20 years old at some point on your own. And if you haven't learned how to control yourself, then the challenge is gonna set in as an adult. And I challenge you now to be purposed in your heart to agree with David, I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. You know, back in my day, it was cable television. You know, it used to be, I'm gonna really date myself here. Did you know back in the day, a TV used to have this thing called an antenna? It had two of them. And if you wanted the picture to be clear, you had to go up there and sometimes hold onto it the whole program. Anybody with me? Yeah, yeah, okay, you know what I'm talking about. And then this thing called cable television came out, where it was crystal clear. But what I found out with cable television came programs that were not monitored by the FCC. And there were things on there that you shouldn't be watching. And as a teenager, that was a challenge. And we had to make decisions as to what we're going to do when the parents are in bed, as to what we're going to watch on cable television. And all of a sudden, you pull your phone out, and you've got worse. It's there. It's available. You've got to be purposed. It's your move. You know, the Bible is telling you this. God's telling you this. You are defiling your own mind. You're defiling your future when you go down that pathway. Don't go there. Don't go there. You've probably heard this phrase before. It's easier to never have opened the door than to open it even a little bit and try to close it again. You've heard that before, I'm pretty sure. And it's so, so true. It's easier. It's easier for me because after 47 years, I've never smoked a cigarette. It's easier to say no than to have smoked a couple of packs a day and say, I don't want that anymore. There was a man that was saved up in the church in Fishkill, and he used to be on drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. And he says the hardest thing to kick was cigarettes. He kicked the other two out of his life, but the cigarettes were an everlasting challenge for him. Addictions are that way. The same could be said for pornography. The same could be said for all the glamor stuff that girls like to see and match up to and try to present their bodies just like they do on social media. What an addictive and dangerous pathway to go down. Look at Romans 12 with me. God says this about our bodies, and this ought to be our desire Romans 12, verse one, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. God wants your body to be a living sacrifice. Okay, God, here's my life, here's my body. What would you have me to do with it? because there's no greater purpose than for me to live for Christ, as we already looked at in Revelation chapter four. And remember this, the decisions that we make today have consequences tomorrow. Choose wisely. It's your move. Here's the last thing I want to look at. Look back in Daniel chapter one. Not only was Daniel purposed in his identity, he was purposed also in his body, what he would do with it, what he would allow into it. But how about his life as a whole, his direction in life? You know, these men were well gifted. Look back in verse four, it says, So Daniel and his three friends, these were sharp young men. These were men that they were smart, very intellectual. They were perhaps sociable. They were just like, you know, great guys. And that's who the king wanted. We want these kinds of young men as they come out of Judah. We want to take them and give them our language, give them our learning and use them for our purpose. But they were well gifted. They could have been very successful in life, in whatever life they chose, but they're captives. They don't have an option. Now, remember, their identity has not been taken from them. They're still children of God. And they still had opportunity to determine what they would do with their bodies. Because they identify with Christ, they're children of God, and they don't want to defile their bodies, because they love their Lord, and they will only go His way, even if it would cost them their lives. And guess what? Later in Daniel, that would be put to the test. These men could have been very successful, but they wanted to use what God gave them for the Lord. Let me challenge you with this last thought about the direction of your life. For what purpose? To whom will you give your life? What are you living for? What's the direction of your life? Let's leave the negative side of sin out of this. What is the direction? Where do you wanna go in life? What do you want God to do? Do you want God to have the glory from your life and be used by God to serve the Lord? Or are you just gonna live for yourself and some of the positive things of the world, right? Maybe you don't have the intention of going hog wild into sin in this world. But maybe you don't even have the intention either of really wanting to live for Christ. You just kind of want this neutral, on the fence, I don't want to be in sin, but I don't necessarily want to live for Christ. That was me before I got saved. I didn't, you know, I found this out in life, that, you know, like I said, around 10th grade, I'm like, you know what? I'm tired of trying to live the Christian life in the public schools I was made fun of, I was the object of many practical jokes, those kind of things, bullied a little bit, because I was trying to do the right thing. And so I'm like, 10th grade, I'm like, I'm done with that. Let me just go with the flow. Let me try to be cool. Let me try to fit in. And you know what I found out? The longer I went down that path, guess where it led me? Into sin. and a little more sin, and a little more sin. And I was content, if we liken sin to a pool, I was content to be waiting in the pool. Now, I didn't want to go in the deep end, but you notice that pools are usually shaped like this? And so, you know, you may be in the shallow end, but next thing you know, you're getting a little deeper, and it started to scare me. I'm getting in deeper than I want to be in. And so then I tried to reform my life and try to get back to this position, and then a year later I got saved. And God brought me over here. I don't want to live for sin. I don't even want to be on the fence. I want to live for Christ. That's the purpose. That's why God created me physically and created me spiritually to live for Him. And nothing else satisfies me. I think sometimes my kids think that I'm a bump on a log. Because I just don't get excited about even the fun things of life, like going to amusement park. I mean, I don't mind going to amusement park, but I don't care. What? You're weird. I've done that already. Do I like it? Yeah, I'm a thrill guy. I like jumping from airplanes and things. I've only done it once. Say, why'd you only do it once? Because I knew I'd get addicted to it. So I determined in advance I would do it once and get it out of my system. Did it once. And I couldn't afford it either, besides that. Listen, we've got to make these decisions in advance. What are we going to do with our lives and where are we going to go? We've got to have some purpose and direction. What are we going to do? You want to go deep into sin? A lot of times we want to be right on the fence. That's a dangerous place to be because that's what allows the circumstances to tip you either way. That's what allows peers to influence you either way. But if you're well over here, it's going to be hard to influence you because you've determined in advance what you're going to do. These men were well gifted. They could have, well, they're captives, but let's say they weren't captives. What would they have used their gifts for? You know, God gives gifts unto men. He gives us, He provides us with things. What will you do? Look at 1 Corinthians 15 with me. Listen to what Paul said about his life. And you know Paul, he was a very proud man as a lost religious man. And then God saved him. and he counted all of his religious stuff as nothing. This is what he says in 1 Corinthians 15, 10, he says, Paul understood one thing very well. It's only by God's grace that he's saved. And then he says, "...and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." God has given you talents, gifts, abilities. The question becomes, what are you going to do with that? Are you gonna wanna take your gifts? I mean, you can take, if God's given you a good mind, you could take that mind and invest it in the world of sin and be very successful and devious and go down that path. I mean, there's some really intelligent criminals out there. And I say to myself, if they would just take that mind and use it for the Lord, what a different life they would have. There's some smart people out there, but they're using it on the wrong side. God's given you a brain, a mind. What are you going to use it for? God's given you a body. What are you going to use it for? I mean, thank God. If you've got two legs and you've got two arms, you've got a mouth that works, you can do so much for God. These men were well gifted, and if God has given you gifts, if God's given you abilities, the question is, what do you do with it? Like Paul said, hey, it's the grace of God, and I labored, I did something with the grace He gave me to serve Him. What are you gonna do? These men were determined they were gonna be that way. They were going to do that. Look back in Daniel. Verse 17, it says, And as for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom, and Daniel an understanding in all visions and dreams. And you know what happens in the book of Daniel. God mightily uses Daniel with the interpretation of dreams to lead to Nebuchadnezzar's salvation and his testimony going throughout the world. And it started with a young man, years before, who was purposed in his heart to live for the king. Not King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of kings. King Nebuchadnezzar was just a way and an avenue in which he could serve the king of kings because he was a captive. He was there. He still had his identity in Christ. He was still determined and purposed in his heart to live for the Lord. He would not defile his temple. He would take the talents that God gave him for good use in however God wanted it to be. And God mightily used them. The others were with him. Look at verse 19. It says, And the king communed with them, those four, and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore stood they before the king. Of all the captives, of all the perhaps hundreds of young men, these four, These four stood before King Nebuchadnezzar and God used them to influence the entire world. Think about that for a minute. because King Nebuchadnezzar was the king over the first global empire. And we won't take the time, but later on in Daniel, in chapter four, let's go there. Chapter four, verse one, Nebuchadnezzar the king unto all people, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied unto you. And he goes on to describe what God did in his life. He jumped down to verse 34. And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest thou? Even look at verse 37. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, By the way, this is the king of the world. I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the king of heaven, all whose works are truth and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. That's what the king of the world had to learn. that when you walk in pride, which is one of the three things the world wants to get you with, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, when you are proud, when you have self-identity, look who I am, therefore you're not really committed to Christ, you're not purposing things in your heart, and you will find yourself going down the wrong path like King Nebuchadnezzar did. But there is a God who loves you so much to even humble you and put you on your face or on your back, however it goes, before Him to try to rescue your heart from continuing down a wrong pathway. And that testimony of Nebuchadnezzar went throughout the world. That's pretty incredible. And it all began with four young men who were purposed in their hearts. Look at Philippians with me, Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, verse 12, it says, Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Turn that verse apart for a minute. He says, I haven't attained, I'm not perfect, even though God's mightily using Paul already as he's writing to the church in Philippi, he says, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend. What does it mean to apprehend? Someone tell me. What does it mean to apprehend? get a hold of, right? The police apprehended the suspect. It means to get a hold of. And Paul says, I want to get a hold of why Christ has a hold of me. He says, I want to apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. God wants to get a hold of your life, which includes your identity, which includes your body. so that your direction in life is controlled by God. And Paul says, I wanna get a hold of why Christ has a hold of me. He wants to use your life. He wants to extend his love to you. He wants your life to be godly and holy and joyful and peaceful. And so he apprehends us. But the real joy comes when we get a hold of that truth. I want to apprehend, I want to get a hold of why He's got a hold of me. How about you? It's your move. Why do you have life? Oh, my life exists for me. I want to have fun. I want to be cool. I want to be popular. I want people to turn their heads when I walk by them. I want everyone to think that I'm charming, I'm funny, I'm just, there's so many ways in which we think life would be good. You ever notice that famous people have to disguise themselves when they go out? I wouldn't want that in life. You know, in Swaziland, Americans are singled out because they think they're walking ATM machines. And I don't care for that. I love being back in America. I'm a nobody. I like being a nobody. I don't want to have to wear sunglasses everywhere I go or a hat on and just try to disguise. I just want to go about life. I don't want to be famous. I don't want to have money. I don't want to be rich. I have no desire for that. I just want my life to be used by God in this world. I've got one life to live. I want it to count for Christ. I don't want a life of sin. I had that already and it did nothing for me. I don't want to be on the fence. I don't want to be there. I want to be where I am getting a hold of like Christ has a hold of my life. the direction of my life. And I still, by the grace of God, have some couple decades or so ahead of me. And so I haven't attained this. I haven't arrived yet. In some ways, I feel like I'm just starting out. But you're really just starting. I got a couple laps on you. You just start now. Apprehend, get a hold of why Christ has a hold on your life. He wants your life for your good, for His glory. God doesn't want to get a hold of your life to give you misery and destruction. No, no, no, no, no. He wants to get a hold of your life for your good, for His glory. The question is, what have you purposed in your heart? Live for Christ or live for yourself? Live for this world. Your move. Father, thank you for the time. Thank you for these truths. Thank you for the example of Daniel and his three friends that were purposed in their heart to identify with Christ, to live the life that their bodies are vessels in your hand and they're not being defiled. and they were determined and purposed to live for the King of Kings. I pray for these young people. They make those decisions and be purposed in Jesus name. Amen.