Father, we come to you this morning with our hearts full of the truth that we have sung about, the truth that we have seen in your scripture already. We thank you, Lord, for providing us with your truth, with your word. You save our souls, but you do not leave us to our own devices. And for that, we are grateful. You give us guidance. You give us purpose. Your word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. And truly, Lord, the path sometimes is dim or dark, and we do not see clearly how you are moving and how you're working. As we even just sung about, the path that you have for us is often riddled with obstacles, with trials, with hindrances, with weaknesses, and we struggle. And Lord, I pray that you would use these things for your purposes. It is often, if not always, by your design exactly how the trials and the difficulties that come. They are not accidents, but they are used by you to draw us to yourself, mold us into your son's image. And even as we go to the text in a moment, Lord, and we consider your word as it is preached, May we see your greatness. May you be magnified and lifted up in our minds and hearts May we see you afresh And Lord, I pray if there are any that Only know you by name But don't know you for who you truly are and what you have offered through your son in salvation. I pray that today Lord would would be a day where they come to know you personally as a result of your finished work of your son on the cross. We pray all this in Christ's name. Amen. Text today is from Daniel chapter one. Daniel chapter one. I encourage you to get there if you're not there already to read along with me the passage. We are going to read the entire chapter. Daniel chapter one, verse one. It says, in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his God. And he brought the articles into the treasure house of his God. Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king's descendants and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish but good looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time, they might serve before the king. Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. To them, the chief of the eunuchs gave names. He gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach, and to Azariah Abednego. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord the king who has appointed your food and drink, for why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you endanger my head 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, and 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 ten days. And 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. The steward took away their portion of the delicacies and the wine that 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. Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. Then the king interviewed them, and among them all, none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore, they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them 10 times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in his realm. Thus, Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus. Good morning. We're already in the book of Daniel, and I have a question to start with. Who is the book of Daniel about? First, you look at the book title and you think, you know, it's about Daniel. His name's right on the front of it, right? Makes sense, it's logical. If you asked, took a poll, I think a majority would say Book of Daniel's about Daniel. It's by Daniel, about Daniel. Every chapter talks about Daniel. Well, every chapter except chapter three has Daniel in it. That's the whole story about the fiery furnace and Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah being thrown in there. I'm not sure where Daniel was, but if this book is about Daniel, why is he not there? Makes you think. Where is Daniel in Daniel chapter three? Why is he not there? If the book of Daniel is about Daniel, where's Daniel in chapter three? We could probably edit that, remove that one right out of there, because we need the biography of Daniel. But that's not what God intended with this book. Because the book of Daniel is more about someone else than about Daniel. In fact, the book of Daniel focuses on God himself. God is the main character in the book of Daniel, and we see it from the very beginning of the book. Daniel chapter 1 verse 1 introduces the antagonist, the bad guy, Nebuchadnezzar, in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. It's not about him. What's he doing? He's just going down. It says, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. This was a bad time for the people of Israel, and Nebuchadnezzar was being used of God to punish God's people. See this map here, Babylonia, or Babylon there, it's that big section there in the middle. It had been at war for a long time against Egypt, and Babylon fought against Egypt, and of course, what country's in the middle between Babylon and Egypt? Israel, and so back and forth, there's battles going on. Israel decided to, well, actually, they got overtaken by Israel at times, by Egypt at times, and then they'd ally with Egypt at times, and it was a total mess. This was the second major empire that had fought against Egypt and come through Israel. In fact, the first one was Assyria, and Assyria had totally destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and taken away the people captive. And Israel itself, Judah itself, the southern kingdom, it was shrinking and shrinking and shrinking as Babylon took more and more over that until finally Jerusalem was kind of like an island that had not yet been taken over. And in 605, the Battle of Carchemish happened. Babylon defeats Egypt, and then he comes down to Jerusalem and besieges Jerusalem. That's what he's talking about here, verse one. Nebuchadnezzar comes, he besieges Jerusalem. And look at verse two. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand. Nebuchadnezzar wins, but look at how it's phrased here in verse two. It's not saying Nebuchadnezzar was stronger and beat Jehoiakim. No, he says the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand. And here we see the battle that's gonna come, we're gonna see throughout, that you can see throughout the book of Daniel from chapter one all the way to chapter 12. It's God, well at first against Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man in the world. God versus the empires of this world. And a question is being asked and answered in the book of Daniel. Is God truly sovereign over all the earth? Is he able to raise up and put down whomever he will? He makes that claim, and in fact, actually in verse two, this is the first time you see it in the book of Daniel. The Lord gave Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, into Nebuchadnezzar's hand. Was that really God working? Or was it, you know, it actually looks a little bit like God failing. The people of Israel are His people. Jerusalem is His city. His temple is there. And here comes Nebuchadnezzar. And he destroys the city, enters the temple. Had God lost? We look here at Daniel chapter one and often we look past the intro here and we look straight to the part about the vegetables. This story here in Daniel chapter one is not about vegetables. That's a side plot. This is a much bigger story. It's the beginning of a much bigger story about how God works in the affairs of men and women. How God works in the affairs of the politics of this world. It's a much bigger story than Daniel and his Dietary habits. Is God truly sovereign? Did he really put down Jehoiakim and raise up Nebuchadnezzar? Daniel's there in the middle of this. I'm sure he's feeling like, oh my goodness, we are losing. Everything is going completely out of control. I'm a little peon in the middle of a vast empire shift. Is God really in control? Have you ever felt like that? You look at what's going on in the world, maybe during the pandemic. Is God in control? You look at the different world powers shifting and showing their power, whether it be in Ukraine or in East Asia, and you wonder, what is going on in this world? Is there a World War III coming up? What's going on? Is God in control? The book of Daniel answers that question. And Daniel chapter one introduces it. In Daniel 1, it looks like the deck is stacked against God. First of all, you've got Nebuchadnezzar winning over God's people. Now, we can read in the Old Testament, we've seen this a long time coming. If you study 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, it's the history of how Israel failed in following God. God told them what He expected and they did not do it. God gave them leaders and those leaders turned bad for the most part. They did not follow God. They ignored God. They went to worship other idols. Everything seemed to be more important than the God who had given them that land. God warned them. He sent prophets. He warned them. They heard his message, and they turned their back on God. They could have looked in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, and seen, God told them already what would happen. If you turn away from me, if you break the covenant of Moses, what's gonna happen? God is gonna exile them from the land. They did not take it seriously. Many of them did not even listen to the word of God, even know that that was the consequence. Kings for a time did not even know that that was a possibility. And now it happens, just like the prophet said. Harry taught us through Habakkuk a year or so ago. That message is very clear. Babylon's gonna come and God's gonna use this bad nation to punish his people. And now it's happening. But if you'd been there, if you'd lived through it like Daniel and Hananiah and Azariah and Mishael, You probably would have thought, well, is God really in control? As the people are hauled off, like this relief here on some kind of carving there shows, you got the Babylonians there in their lovely huge beards, and the slaves there, probably Israel there being hauled off. Daniel was in the first of three groups that were hauled off out of Israel. But before he hauled off people, he first took some stuff. This is very interesting. Look at Daniel chapter 1 verse 2. The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand with some of the articles of the house of God which he carried into the land of Shinar, that's Babylon, to the house of his God, his name was Marduk, and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his God. What's going on here and why is it important? He went to Israel, Jerusalem, the temple, took gold vessels out of the temple, take them back to his temple of his God and sticks them there. What is he saying? He's saying, my God's stronger than your God. My army beat your army, that means my God's stronger than your God, and so we're going to take your God's stuff, put it in our God's temple, and everybody knows the strongest God now. Who's the strongest God? It's Marduk. Although even as you read how this says, it says, the Lord gave Jehoiakim into his hand with some of the articles of the house of God. The king of Babylon, he's not thinking that God gave him this. The king of Babylon, he's thinking, I got this, I won, my God's stronger. All the people are watching like, yep, Babylon God's stronger. Even the people of Israel probably are starting to think, oh, maybe their God is stronger. Not only that, he didn't just take stuff, he took people. I already mentioned Daniel gets hauled off, but he takes the best and the brightest from Israel, the children of the highest in society. Verse three says, then the king instructed Ashpenaz, master of the eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel, and some of the king's descendants, and some of the nobles. And look how he describes them. Young men in whom there was no blemish, but good looking. So we got the most beautiful people, then gifted in wisdom, possessing knowledge, and quick to understand. We got the smartest people, the highest IQ, the best SAT scores. that may be anachronistic, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. They have the ability to learn other languages and learn a completely different culture. The idea is take the best and the brightest, the smartest, the most beautiful, and bring them and enculturate them in the Babylonian culture and make them work for Babylon instead of Israel. Make them work for Babylon's God instead of Israel's God. And so Daniel is hauled off with his three friends and probably quite a few others. These four are the only ones mentioned here because these are the four that stood for God. He hauls them off. They go there. They're under the charge of the master of the eunuchs, which makes you think that probably they were made to be eunuchs. Odd topic for Father's Day, I know. But this is humiliating. Their country is defeated. They're hauled away as slaves. And now it gets worse. They want to erase their culture, their heritage, their religion, and so they give them new names. You see the names they had originally, they're all pointing to the God of Israel, Daniel. The L at the end of Daniel is the word for God, Elohim. Now we hear the name Daniel, and we're like, yeah, we know a lot of guys named Daniel. Daniel, Dan, we don't pay attention to the L at the end. But people who speak Israel, they'll recognize that L at the end, that is, That's God's name there. Daniel's name means God is my judge. Hananiah also has the name of Jehovah built in there. It means Jehovah's gracious. Mishael, who is what God is. Azariah, his name means Jehovah has helped. All these names are pointing to God. And so what do the Babylonians do? Give them all new names with some new gods attached. Belteshazzar is Daniel's new name. That bell is a false god. Hananiah becomes Shadrach, a reference probably to a moon god that they worship. They were polytheistic. Mishael, his name now becomes Mishak. I know a guy named Meshach. But anyway, Meshach, his name, built into that name, you can't really hear it very well in the English transliteration here, but the name of Aku, another false god is built into there. Azariah becomes Abednego, and Abednego means servant of Nebo. All these false gods there, what they're saying is, hey, we're going to take away your land, take away your temple stuff, take you out of the land, we're going to change your name. Doesn't look like God's winning here, does it? It looks like God lost. His people are going to be assimilated into the Babylonian kingdom. They're not going to look anything different. They're not going to think anything different than their conquerors. It looks like a lost cause. Why would you stand up for God in that kind of situation? Is God really sovereign over all the earth? Are things out of control? You often wonder today if you should keep doing right and serving God. Does it really make any difference? God gave us the book of Daniel for times like this. We wonder, where is he? Maybe we're even asking that. We're praying to God, where are you in my situation? Why am I having this employment issue? Why do I have that boss? Why do I have this sickness? Why is the world so chaotic? Why is there so much evil? Are you even there? I'm sure Daniel and his peers are thinking these kind of thoughts as they're trudging across the desert. They probably took a northern route away from the desert, but trudging for a very long time from Israel to Babylon. Where's God? Often in the dark, we're forced to make a choice. Are we gonna remain faithful to God? or give in to the pressures and the environment around us. God wants us to choose sides, even when it looks dark. Are we going to remember that He is sovereign, that He is in control, even when it looks like...these circumstances don't look like God's in control. Where is God? Did God lose? Is He God at all? Daniel in chapter 1 verse 8 says this, well, but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank, therefore requested of the chief eunuchs that he might not defile himself. So what's happened so far? Daniel, he's got a new address, he's got a new name, got a new occupation, he's in school for the next three years, he's learning languages, he's being forced to become like the people around him. Then they bring in the food, and this story is not about the food, but there's food in the story, bring out this food, and I think it's probably meant by the Babylonians to be an honor, we're gonna give you good food, the king's delicacies, that seems like a good thing. But Daniel looked at this food and realized that if he took and ate this food, it would be one more step of leaving his identity as one of God's people. Because part of the Mosaic Covenant involved what they eat and what they don't eat. People looked at it and they know, hey, you're a Jew, you're from Israel. Jews don't eat pork. If he eats pork, what does that mean? He's turned his back on Judaism. Many of these things there was nothing he could do about. And maybe there was nothing he could do about this one, but he purposed it in his heart. He remembered his God. He remembered what he was taught as a young man, as a child, because really right now he's probably just a teenager. And he purposed it in his heart. He would not defile himself. The word defile, he says it twice here in verse 8, the word defile just means to make unclean, disdain. He's not thinking, like, hey, I'm better than everybody else, so, you know, I'm not going to defile myself by eating that, whatever, what you're eating. The idea, he's not looking at them with disdain. What he's seeing is, I am consecrated to God. I am set apart to Him. God says, I should not eat this kind of thing. And so because God commanded me not to do it, I'm not going to do it. I care more about pleasing God than about pleasing the human emperor. But that's a very, very dangerous choice to make, especially when it looks like to everyone around him that God is lost. Who's the power in the universe? Nebuchadnezzar. He says, eat that food. You better be eating that food. But the problem really wasn't about the food. It was what changing his diet signified. that he had given up serving Jehovah and following his commands. But Daniel hadn't given up. Daniel did not concede that Jehovah had lost. Daniel believed that God was sovereign even in the dark times, even when the vessels of the temple were in a false god's temple, even when he's got another name he's got to answer to with a false god built into it. He did not concede that Jehovah had lost. It's like he said, you can take my home, my family, my name, but you can't take my God. And so he purposed in his heart that he would obey God's command. And you know, doing something like that, that's a lot of risk. It's hard to remain faithful when there's risk involved, when you could lose something. You know, he's in a group of young people. You don't want to stand out. You're a captive. You don't want them to keep their eye on you. And yet he stands out and says, I want to do something different. No, no, no, no, no, no. That's a bad idea. I've lived in Asia. This is an Asian culture. I don't know about, you know, this is 600, this is about the year 605 B.C., so 600 years before Christ. I don't know if things were the same there, but you know, in Asian culture, it's not a good idea to be the one, the yellow one there in the group of gray. You all want to be gray. You want to have harmony. In Eastern cultures, this is a very, very important thing. You don't want to be the one that sticks his head up, because you know what's going to happen? They're going to put you down. Either the authority is going to do it, or the peers are going to do that. Nobody stick your head up. No, get back in line. But in order for Daniel to do what God wanted him to do, he had to stick his head out. and take a risk. In fact, we see three risks. First one's kind of private. He's going to go and talk to Ashpenaz, the leader of the eunuchs. That's his authority there. He's going to go talk to him first. Then he's going to, you know, well, let's take a look at these two risks. First risk, that's the first risk. So he goes, look at verse 9, actually verse 10. So he goes to the leader of the, the chief of the eunuchs. He says, hey, can I not eat that? Can I just eat some vegetables instead? Because he wants to, you know, he wants to follow his God. And in verse 10 it says, the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord king who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king. Daniel's willing to take this risk, but Ashpenaz is not. He says, my head is very important to me. You don't want to mess with the emperor of the known world. He says, eat that food, you eat that food. But Daniel says, I want to please God, even above the emperor. But he's not being defiant. He very politely comes to this guy. This guy says, no, no, no, no. I'm more afraid of the king than I am of God. But Daniel is saying, no, no, no. I'm more afraid of God. I fear and respect and reverence Him more than this human authority. That takes some risk. Even today, there's pressures. for us to do wrong, to make compromises, to cut corners, to do things to please an earthly boss, or earthly family member, or just our peers around us, just to fit in and not be looked at a little bit strangely. Who do you want to please more, God or others? Who do you fear more, God or others? Ashpenaz, he didn't follow Jehovah of Israel. Of course he was going to fear the king more than this God he didn't know anything about. But Daniel knew the one true God. He knew he was sovereign over all. And even in this dark time when nobody else is going to pay attention or care, except for maybe to put him down, even in this kind of situation, he was going to please God first, fear him above all. So he took a risk. Well, the chief of the eunuchs, he says, no. So Daniel's not done. He doesn't give up. He doesn't say, well, that guy wants to keep his head, so no choice. I got to eat this. No, he goes to a guy actually lower down. You look at verse 11. So the king said to the, so Daniel said to the steward, some translations say Melzar, but it means the steward. It's a lower guy down, whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. And he says, please test your servants for 10 days. Give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. And then you can, you know, see, do we look bad? Are we going to endanger your head? You know, just 10 days. So this guy, I guess, I don't know, maybe he didn't like his head quite as much as the first guy. I don't know. Maybe he trusted Daniel a little bit. I don't know. He decided, well, 10 days. What could go wrong in 10 days? Eat the food. And so now, we get risk number two. Other people are going to look at Daniel's plate in the cafeteria and go, what do you got? Who gave you the asparagus? Where's your bacon? You don't like bacon? What's wrong with you? There's definitely something wrong with you if you don't like bacon. And so his peers are now watching. I'm sure that the Bible doesn't speak about the peers here, but for 10 days they're eating something different. And not just Daniel, he's got three friends who are now following him. Daniel does the conversation, but now three others are standing up for God along with him and eating that veggie platter. But the greatest risk comes next, because they're going to have to stand before King Nebuchadnezzar. Now, they passed the test between the steward. They were able to continue eating the vegetables. Now, they're pleasing God. They're following God's commands, even in this very strange, very different environment. They're trying to follow God. Daniel purposed in his heart, and he put action to that purpose. It wasn't just, hey, this is my religious belief, but it doesn't really affect my daily life. No, no. His religious belief, what he decided, what he believed, was affecting how he lived his life. And he's able to eat those vegetables. But now he stands before the king. If you come down in verse 18, it says, Now at the end of the days, when the king had said they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. Then the king interviewed them, and among them all, none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they served before the king. There's none like them. Daniel took a risk. He's going to follow God. He's going to please God more than the king. So if you're going to do that, what's going to probably happen? You're going to go down, not up. Because the king is going to say, hey, who's following me? Like all these guys wearing gray. How about the yellow guy? Well, he's not really doing everything okay. He's going down, not up. But God's different. What happens here? Daniel follows God. He chose to follow God's revealed will. That was a risk. But he worked within the authority structure above him. He wasn't defiant. He didn't get in their face and say, hey, you're terrible people. He didn't accuse them of stuff. No, he worked within the system. And what did God do? God opened doors, doors that Daniel probably never thought would open. In fact, I skipped over some very, very important verses, where once again we see that the main character in this story is not Daniel. It's God. We saw God already at work in verse 2, but look at verse 9. God was giving him a chance. And he took that chance to stand before God. Look at verse 17. And as these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill and all literature and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. God was giving them the tools they needed to do the job that he had placed them in. Why were they better, 10 times better than all the rest of the young men who were being trained? It wasn't just because they were diligent. No, it says God gave them knowledge and skill. Daniel is just a tool that God used, just like Ashpenaz was a tool the king used, Daniel was a tool that God used. And he could use him because he was faithful, because he had not forgotten that God is sovereign, because he had not conceded that God had lost, even though circumstances looked so unpromising. Daniel's courageous actions stem from his heart for God. Why did he take these risks? because he knew who God was. He knew God had not lost. And so he remained faithful. We too, today, must remain faithful in heart and deed through hard times, trusting God's sovereignty, because God truly is sovereign. In fact, we see that in the very last verse in this chapter. I love verse 21. Verse 21 says, thus Daniel continued unto the first year of King Cyrus. That doesn't seem very exciting, does it? Seems like a postscript. Seems like, okay, we just got to say something at the end to kind of tie everything up, and yep, we're done. We're going to go to chapter 2. Chapter 2's got a cool giant statue. No. Verse 21. Very important verse. Thus Daniel continued unto the first year of Cyrus. Who's King Cyrus? First of all, he's a different king, not Nebuchadnezzar. So what he's saying here, Daniel got raised by God up to a high position. And when the kings changed, who was still there? Daniel. God raised up this vegetable-eating teenager who wanted to follow God above all, please God above all, even if it involved risks. God raised him up. It's unlikely that this would work, but it did. God raised him up and he stayed there. The kings changed, but Daniel was still in his position. In fact, a lot of kings. Nebuchadnezzar, he died in 562. Then his son, evil Murdoch, what a name. Evil Murdoch, he rules for a couple of years, then he's gone, but Daniel's still there. Next one is Nergalasur, he ruled for about four years, but guess who's still there? Daniel. Then we've got, I can't even read this guy's name, Labashi Marduk. He only lasted for one year, but Daniel, he's still there. Then you've got Nabonidus, guess what? He dies, Daniel's still there. And then, finally, Belshazzar, which ruled, he ruled under Nabonidus at the same time, they overlapped, but guess what? He's the guy there where God writes on the wall. Who's still there? Daniel's still there. The king's changed, but Daniel is still right where God put him. And not just kings. King Cyrus, I didn't say his name. King Cyrus, guess what? He's not Babylonian. Not only did kings change, but the entire empire changes. The Persian empire defeats Babylon, and guess who's still at a high position? Daniel, which is unthinkable. Usually you get rid of anybody in the previous empire's government, but Daniel's still there. God raised him up and nobody's moving him. because God is sovereign, and he raises up whom he will. It's just like God says in, let's see here, I'll get there in a moment, but if you'll flip over, Daniel chapter two, Daniel says to the king in Daniel chapter two, verse 20, blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his, and he changes the times and the season. He removes kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness and light dwells with him. He's the one who changes times and seasons and rulers. He's the one who raises some up and puts some down. He raised up Nebuchadnezzar as he put down Jehoiakim of Israel. And he raised up Daniel and he stayed there. Though kings changed, though empires changed, why did he stay there? Because God is sovereign, even in the darkest times. And not only that, This reference to King Cyrus is very, very interesting. He talks about the first year of King Cyrus. Now, Daniel, he's going to work beyond the first year. If you look at Daniel chapter 10, Daniel's still going in the third year. The point is, he's there with the transfer of power. And with this transfer of power in the first year of Cyrus, look at what happens. Turn your Bibles to the book of Ezra. We don't go there very often. You could look at the screen, but the writing gets a little bit small. Ezra chapter 1. Ezra chapter 1 is talking about the same first year of Cyrus, king of Persia. Ezra 1 verse 1, now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord came by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, and actually Daniel knew about that, he referenced that in Daniel 9. It says, The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, all the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me, and he's commanded me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Now, how does he know all that stuff? Who told him all this? Who was in a very high position in his government? Who could talk to him? Daniel, now the Bible doesn't specifically say that, but Daniel's there until the first year of King Cyrus. Now, first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus is saying all these things about the God of Judah. Verse three, who is among you of all his people? May his God be with them and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is God, which is in Jerusalem. Daniel, he was there, he was one of the first to be kidnapped, to be taken as captives from Israel. Now he lives to the point where he is standing beside the king who is sending the people of Israel back just as God promised. Not only that, jump down to verse seven and eight. Ezra chapter one, verse seven and eight. You remember those gold vessels that the king took and put them in the false god's temple to show that false god is stronger than the God of Israel? Ezra 1, 7 and 8. King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods. And Cyrus, king of Persia, brought them out by the hand of Mithrath, the treasurer, and counted them out to Sheshpezar, the prince of Judah. He gives them back to take back to Israel to rebuild the temple and stick those things right back in there. Is God in control? When Daniel chapter one verse two says the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, who was in charge, Nebuchadnezzar or the Lord? The Lord was. When verse two says the Lord not only did that, but hey, was with some of the articles of the house of God which he carried into Shinar? Had God lost control? No. He had a plan for God's people. He had a plan even for the gold stuff that came out of the temple. He's putting it back. because God truly rules in the affairs of man. The book of Daniel asks this question and answers this question. Is God truly sovereign over all the earth and able to raise up and put down whom he will? Well, he raised up Daniel. It's unlikely, but hardly earth-shattering. But what about governments? Well, yes, he's in control. What about emperors, kings, presidents, prime ministers today? Things often seem very much out of control. Think of the names there, Putin. I'm thinking of forgetting all the names of the leaders, but they're not good. But you know, in Daniel chapter 1, God only had just gotten started showing His sovereignty in Daniel's present. Notice, for us, we're looking back and we see God's sovereignty, what, 2,600 some odd years ago? I mean, for us, it's ancient history. But for Daniel, no, he's living this, and he's seeing God's sovereignty. If God is this sovereign now, what about the future? In fact, Daniel has a lot to say about the future. God gives him visions to tell about, not just Babylon when he was there, and Persia, but he also talks about Greece, and Roman Empire, and looks ahead to God's kingdom. Can we trust that God's kingdom will come as he promised? Is God sovereign enough to make that happen? That's still future for us, like it was future for Daniel. When you look at this passage, well, God in the past did exactly what he said. He was sovereign and showed his power then. Can we not be confident that he's sovereign today? Can we not be confident that he will be sovereign in the future and work things together and set up his kingdom in this world? Yes, we can. Daniel. I read chapter two, verse 20, but look at chapter four, verse 17. Daniel writes this book that the living may know, the living, that's us, anybody living on this earth, that the living may know that the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he will and sets over it the lowest of men. Hey, there's a lot of low-based men that are ruling in this world. Look at our recent presidents. I think they all fall in that category. And yet, God also raises up faithful people like Daniel and Esther for such a time as this and works through them. And He works through events and circumstances through which we can see His hand guiding and directing. And sometimes, like in the beginning of Daniel chapter one, you wonder, where is God? Is He really powerful? But even in those dark times, we can remember his character, remember what he's done in the past and know God is sovereign. God did not lose. And so I'm gonna live my life like God wins, not like God is losing. I'm gonna take risks for him. I'm gonna obey him even when it's not popular. I'm gonna obey him even when others around me are not and they think it's kind of stupid to do it. Because God is in control. He's in control over who's above you, whether it be in your family or your job or whether it be in government. We look at our country today and you see a country that raises fists against God in many issues. They raise flags against God, but God's still in control. It's a country where people question elections, but God is still in control. Just think about the past, just in my own history of when I voted, you think, hey, remember when Bush and Gore and that whole situation there, who won the election? You know, God was in control back then. You've got Obama, you know, trouncing all the competition, God was still in control then. Trump beat Hillary, God's still in control. Biden beat Trump, God's still in control. This November, whether Trump returns to power or fails, some people are gonna mourn, some people are gonna cheer, and God's still gonna be in control. And let's not just be focused on America. The world is so much bigger than just America. You look at dictators in the East, you look at religions in the Middle East fighting for dominance, spreading, God's still in control. There's nuclear weapons. The whole place could go crazy, but you know what? God's still in control. Another pandemic could come, maybe this fall, but God is in control. No matter what happens in November, God is in control. If World War III breaks out, guess what? God's still in control. God controls who's above us. We don't control that. Maybe we feel like Daniel, and Hananiah, and Mishael, and Azariah, and feel like, hey, we got no name. We got no power. There's nothing we can do. You know what? We serve the God who has all the power. He is in control. No matter what crazy things happen, no matter what your political views are, God's still in control. And not just over the huge big picture either. Because we see in Daniel chapter one the big picture, but we also see the little guy. Daniel, now I know he becomes a big guy, but he starts out as a little guy, a teenager, worried about what he's eating on his dinner plate. That's a little guy. And God cared about him. And you know what God did? He placed Daniel just where he wanted him to serve. And God does that with each one of us today as we follow him. He's the one who puts us in the neighborhoods where we are, who puts us in the families that we grew up in, who provides for us a job. And, you know, sometimes we got good bosses, sometimes we got bad bosses. But you know what? God's still in charge and He wants us to serve. Whether it be a good environment, He wants us to serve Him. Or it's a bad environment, He wants us to serve Him, represent Him, be known as one who is purposed in their heart to obey God, even if other people think it's kind of dumb or even if it involves risks. This morning, do you stand out because of your commitment to God? because of the holiness He is working in you? Do you stand out because you're faithful when other people aren't? Do you stand out because of your bold willingness to obey even when it's not popular? How's your heart? I think it's very interesting here in verse 8. It talks about Daniel's heart. It's not just about, hey, what he did. It all started with what was going on inside him. If his heart was not right with God, wanting to please God above all, he never would have taken these risks. He would have just assimilated and been like the ungodly world around him. But you know what? He purposed in his heart that he was going to obey God. Is that you? How's your heart this morning? You know, your deeds are not going to be right if your heart's not right with God. What you do comes out of your heart. Remain faithful in heart and deed through hard times, trusting God's sovereignty. No, you're not in control, and you shouldn't try to be, but God is. The story in Daniel chapter 1, it's not about vegetables. It's not about Daniel. It's about God who is in control, who is looking out for us, a God who, even when it looks like He's not winning, is going to win, and a God who is worthy of our trust. This morning, are you faithful to Him? God raises up kings and puts them down. He raises up us to certain places and then we go through cycles, we come back down sometime. Most importantly, as we look in Scripture, we see that God raised up Jesus Christ. Raised Him on the cross, and one day will raise Him up to be the King. This morning, if you've never trusted Jesus as your Savior, if you don't know this God, who is sovereign over all, you can't. You think, a God that big, that strong, in control of everything, He's not going to pay attention to me, an individual, but that's exactly what He does. He sent his son. John chapter 3, 14 says this. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. He's talking about lifted up on the cross there. That whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. He says it twice. He makes this offer. If you believe on Jesus, you'll have everlasting life. God's in control. He knows what He's saying. And He made one way for us to know God. Now we're born not knowing God. So if you've never heard this message before, it's not unusual. All of us at one point in our lives did not know God. That's how we all start. We're sinners. As soon as we start making decisions for ourselves, we start making some bad ones. The Bible said, all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way. Turning to your own way, that's sin, because we don't naturally follow God. We go our own way. We break His commandments. We disobey what He says. Things we should do, we don't do. Things we shouldn't do, we do. The Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We come short. We don't measure up to His standard, and we can't. But that's why God sent Jesus. He made one way for us to know Him and have eternal life. Jesus is God's perfect Son. He came to earth, lived a perfect life. He's our example. But also, He came to die for us, to take our place. He knew that we could not pay the penalty for our own sin and avoid hell. No, He died and took your penalty for sin. He took your punishment on Himself. He didn't deserve it, you did. The Bible says He died for us, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. And He says if you believe on Him, you won't perish. That means you won't go to hell, but you'll have everlasting life. You must stop trusting yourself. Turn from that. Realize you're not good enough. You can't measure up. Stop trusting yourself and trust Him alone. He says, if you believe in Him, you'll not perish but have everlasting life. Have you done that? Have you stopped trusting yourself and anything else and turned to Him and said, I trust Jesus alone. He died for me on the cross. If you've never done that before, this is the way to know God. The Bible says, for by grace you've been saved through faith. Not of yourself, it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. Have you received that gift of eternal life? You can only receive it by believing on Him. And if you've not done that before, if you have questions about that, afterwards come talk to Pastor Jim, talk to myself. We'd love to answer any questions you have about that. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for your goodness to us. Thank you that you are God, even when it doesn't look like You're here. Even when things are dark, even when it looks like you're losing, Lord, we know you're not. You're in control. You have a plan. Help us to trust you when it's hard to trust you. Help us to remain faithful and to trust and obey. Lord, we know You can sustain us. You can increase our faith as we look to You. And Lord, help us to be faithful and to be known as Your followers. Lord, help us to want to please You more than anyone else. And Lord, I pray if there's any here today who's not trusted You as their Savior, that they'd realize their need for you and stop running from you and turn to you in faith. Give them the boldness to come and talk to Pastor Jim and myself and not to put it off to some other time. In Jesus' name, amen. Hello, my name is Jim Ganam, Senior Pastor of Bethel Baptist Church. I'd like to take a minute to thank you for streaming our service. We hope and pray that it was truly a blessing to you. You know, we live in a day where we have access to the preaching of God's Word with just a phone or a tablet, or with a couple of clicks on our