In this opening chapter of Daniel, we read about four young Jewish men who together with others were set aside to serve the king in his palace. Four men, young men, in the providence of God were appointed, chosen, set aside, and trained for special service. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It was a strange providence that brought them to this land, for they were captives from the land of Israel and had traveled all these miles and yet they are brought in the providence of God to serve the king, the king of Babylon. It has to be said it was a suffering providence. Let's not forget what these young people have come through. Their city and their country was attacked, besieged. plundered, their hopes have been dashed and put into disarray, as princes they would one day have become rulers in their city. But that's all gone, it's something of the past now. They witnessed the battle, they saw the ruination of Jerusalem, they saw the plundering of the temple, and many of the holy vessels taken away, and they themselves had to leave their city and their homeland. Day after day, week after week, they traveled on. Something in the region of 1,000 weary miles they traveled, and the dear city and home of their childhood is lost to them forever. Forever. A suffering providence. But it was also a sovereign providence. The hand of God was in it all. Directing, superintending, guiding every step of the way. There was a divine purpose. God was working out his purpose in their lives. The four of them and the other young men. He was working out his purpose, not only in their lives, but through them in the life of King Nebuchadnezzar. Yes, even the empire of Babylon. A sovereign purpose. These young men stand firm. We see that. Read the verses, but from verse eight onwards, you see this, 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. Don't know what the problem was with this meat. We know the Jews, of course, were those that gave special attention to what they ate and certainly what kind of meat they ate. Was it meat that had been offered to idols? They would not partake of it. This was an idolatrous country. Was it the flesh of the swine or the pigs that Jews were forbidden to eat? We don't know. Or some other reason, but they were not going to defile themselves. They may have changed their name, and they did, but They weren't going to change the nature of these young men, or their loyalty and their faithfulness to God, and so they refused the king's meet, and they were taking a firm stand for the Lord in the midst of this country. And favor was shown, and this is remarkable, really, when you read verse nine. Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. Well accepted, well accepted, this man favored him. and did favors for him, looked after him and his friends. And of course, the Lord gave to them over the period of time that they were trained fitting skills. In verse 17 onward, we're told that God gave them knowledge. and skill in all learning and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Verse 20, in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the keen inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm, right across this great empire of Babylon. There was nobody found with such skill and learning and understanding than Daniel and his three friends. God raises up men, often young men, to do his pleasure and to fulfill his will, to be in the place of his choosing and to work out his purposes in the earth. And God is still looking for men today, all these years later, and women too. You're not excluded. He's looking for them in the local church to serve God right here where the Lord has placed you. And he's looking for them in the ministry. I don't need to remind you of the many vacant pulpits that we have. Maybe a bit of good news along with that is this, seven first year students have entered into the Whitefield College of the Bible this year. And that's been a great encouragement. Two of them are ladies wanting to serve the Lord and doing the missionary course. Another one is an external student from across the water. But it's just tremendous to see that seven this year compared to three last year are now in the Whitefield College of the Bible with a desire to do the will of God. The Lord's looking for young men in the ministry. And He's looking for young men and women in the mission field. We think of the greatness of the mission field that is before us. He's still looking down and He's still seeking to call unto Himself such ones. Well, it is the prayer of the session. of this church that the Lord will call young men from Hebron, that he will be pleased to put his hand upon you in this service, or maybe somebody listening in today on sermon audio, that the Lord will appoint you, he will set you aside, he will train you for the work that he calls you to, that there will indeed be a Daniel somewhere here in the church. or a Shadrach, a Meshach, an Abednego sitting here this very day upon whom the Lord will place his hands of deity and call you into the work. In fact, it may be the right thing for you and I as a congregation to pray to this end, to pray that God in the light of this chapter, that he would raise up four men or four men and women in the very near future, in the next year or two. Not just one, that would be a blessing, not just two, but to purposely ask the Lord to give us four young men, young choice men from this congregation to do the will of the Lord in the coming days. Or more, if that's the mind of God, but remember there were more here, not just the four, but we read in verse six there, now among these children, now among these, were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So we know there were other young people that the Lord had appointed. But especially these four, there is a need for men. There's always been a need for men to be sent by God, women too, in every age and every generation of the church. The lamentation has been made, the laborers are few. That line first falling from the lips of the dear Savior. When he spoke to the disciples about the great work and the great harvest fields of the earth and the souls of men that need to be gathered in, the Savior himself lamented, the laborers are few. And that's been so through the centuries of God's work, right to the present time. And in the light of it, Jesus said to the disciples, and here's the answer, you're to pray. Pray to the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his harvest, and therefore it becomes the membership of the body of Christ to pray to this end. Because the laborers are few, you and I are to pray. Pray that the one who is the Lord of the harvest would put his hand upon men and women, young people especially, and call them into the work. That's our responsibility as God's people. So we should pray earnestly. And I see no reason whatsoever why we shouldn't pray for four. I trust that many of you will take upon your heart this prayer. And you will ask God, give us four young men this year, the next two years, to go into God's work. Four choice young men. Notice with me as we seek to develop the subject just a little, the standard that was sought. Verse four, you read these words, I'm sure you thought about them as we read down the verse. 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. The best of the young men were sought after. children who came from royal stock and nobility, for they were to be of the king's seed and of princes." It's very possible that such young people of this quality, of this purity, of this personality, were not to be found in the whole empire of Babylon. among the Chaldeans, a godless and an idolatrous nation. So here's the chance for Nebuchadnezzar to have the best and the choicest of young people around him to serve him in the palace. And so the king gave directions concerning the virtues and the qualities that must mark out the young men who were to be specially trained as his attendants. Now note the standards given by the godless king. And he was a godless king at this time. They were to be children, young people. And the word children that is used here is often used to describe those of adolescent years. It's reckoned that the four that were chosen, they were probably around their mid to late teens, 16, 17, 18, 19 years of age. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And of course, choosing children means that such young people would be pliable, they would be easier to work with, they could be molded and shaped and taught. You know how it is when you get older, you get a wee bit cranky, a wee bit harder to work with? No, I don't really mean that. Nobody could work better with you folks. You're good people. But young people, they're pliable in the hand of tutors, pliable in the hand of instructors. And so they were to be children. They were to be young people. Yes, even in their teens. No blemish. And the term here that is used by this keen, of course, referred to their physical frame. They were to have no deformity, no disease, no imperfection in their bodies. This is what the keen was looking for. They were to be well favored. What does that mean? It means that they were liked by other people. They were easy to get on with. That's what it is to be well favored, to have favor with people. And they were to be skillful in all wisdom, wise young people. They were to be cunning in knowledge. He was looking for knowledgeable, intelligent young people, well-taught and educated. And they were to have understanding in science, whatever the science was of that day. And they had to have the ability to stand in the king's palace. They would not only in fact be attendants to him, but they were those who would take charge of his affairs. He had great hopes for these young people. This is the way they're going to be trained to do the business of the king in the empire of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was the sovereign of the Babylonian empire. He was a military man. He was a godless man. He was a ruthless man. We know that from history. He was an egotistical man, a man that went on to make an image of himself and wanted people to bow down before it. And I want to put it to you today that if such a king as this, a godless man, a man of might and power, was looking for such qualities in young men that might attend him and serve him and take control of his business affairs in the empire of Babylon, how much more should we be looking for the best of our young people to go into the service of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We sometimes hear God's people pray in the prayer meeting, Lord take the best of our young people, take the choicest of our young people, and that certainly is a prayer that we ought to make. God can use anyone, I have to say that. He can cause, He can call the meanest and the weakest of all the people of God. He called me, so I'm living proof of that. He can put his hand of might and power upon the most insignificant creatures of the earth and use them for his glory. There's no doubt about that. And he has done in the past. Men that were just so ordinary, you might say, in and of themselves the nothings of this world, but he used them mightily. He took David from the sheepfold. His brothers were men that were involved in military campaigns, but David, he was just the one that tended the sheep there on the mountains. But he took David, that was God's choice, and he made him into the king of Israel. Gideon argued with God. You remember when the Lord called him, and he said, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. When you think of my tribe, the tribe of Manasseh, the Lord, we're the poorest of all. And when you think of the family that I belong to, well, I'm the least in the family. Why me? And the Lord chose Gideon and he did exploits for God and used him mightily. Peter and Andrew, from their humble little fishing boats were called to to serve the Lord, and the Lord made them fishers of men. Some of the other disciples, too, came from very humble backgrounds. And so it has been down through the ages, people like Gypsy Smith, who came from a very mean and despicable background, but God was pleased to put His hand upon such individuals and use them. And Paul, he speaks of this, doesn't he? In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, it's been a great encouragement to me when I read Those final verses of the chapter, verse 26, the apostle writing to the Corinthian church, he says, for you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the fullest things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised. hath God chosen, and things which are not to bring to naught things that are, that know flesh, the glory in his presence." God is pleased to put his hands generally upon the foolish and the weak and the base and the nonexistent things almost, and use them for his glory. But I want to say that God can also use our young people who have great ability and who are blessed with many talents and good education and scholarship too. The Apostle Paul who wrote these words in 1 Corinthians 1 and tells us not many mighty men after the flesh and goes on to speak about the foolish and the weak and the base things and the non-existent things. The Apostle Paul was a mighty man. He was a scholar. He was a man of intellect. He was a man of great learning. He had the best of teachers, first of all in Tarshish where he belonged, and then he went to the universities in Jerusalem. He sat under able men that taught the apostles. So there's no doubt he was a brilliant man. He had many qualifications. We need to pray that God will call the best of our young people, irrespective of their background, the best of them. It doesn't matter what their qualifications are. But may the Lord put his hand upon them. We think of the standard here. We have to see some kind of application to the modern day. If we're thinking of these four choice young men, there's bound to be some kind of application. Children, they were to be children, young people, those that were in their teens, those that can be molded and shaped and taught the things of the Lord and grow up to serve the Lord. No blemish. And though the godless king had in mind, of course, the physical appearance, when we think of the word noblemish, we're thinking about young people that are holy, young people that are walking uprightly, young people that are godly, that have high standards when it comes to the Christian life. We're thinking here about young people who are an example that can be looked up to and emulated and followed for their holiness of life. God's looking for holy young people this day, and it says they're well favored. It's good to have that gift to be liked by others, easy to get on with, to be like the pied piper If you get into children's work, to have that attraction that children will just flock around you and you have natural gifts there, you're well-favored among the children. Or in any aspect of God's work, the same application is there. Skillful in all wisdom, and always looking for wise young people. And if any man lack wisdom, let's ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and abreateth not. He's looking for those that are cunning in knowledge. knowledgeable young people. You know, it's sad. It generally belongs to some of the other denominations today, and I trust it's not in the free church, but it could be, that some of our young people go through their education and they do well. But if they don't get the job that they wanted to get, the second option is, well, we'll just go into the ministry, or we'll just go to the mission field. And that's happened in some of these other denominations. It's not a call, it's just a career. But we want the Lord to put his hand upon young men that have knowledge, young men that are educated, young men who from the very beginning say, I want to serve the Lord, I want to be a minister of the gospel, and that is the call of God in their life. An ability to stand in the King's palace, that's another qualification, we'll come to that just in a moment. May the Lord call you today, young people, we covet you for Jesus Christ and his work, the standard. standard that was sought. But then I want you to see the service that was intended. Look there at verse 5, just at the end of verse 5. It says that at the end they're off. And remember they're coming from royal descent, they're coming from the princely line. These are young men who possess these qualifications already that we read about in verse four, these were the ones to be sought and then they were to be given another three years of training in the schools of Babylon, that at the end thereof, they might stand before the king. These young men were so selected and they were to be so trained to the highest standard possible for one great object in view. to stand before the king, to serve Nebuchadnezzar. They were to be employed in the highest business of the empire, serving the greatest king in the world, working in the affairs of the mightiest power of the earth. And that was the greatest kingdom ever, the kingdom of Babylon in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. We want young people today who are able to stand before the King. Not King Nebuchadnezzar or any other monarch of this earth, but King Jesus. Young people to be taught and instructed and trained that they are able to stand before God in the service of the greatest master. We want them to have the ability to stand before the King as intercessors. young people that God will put his hand upon that can pray, can intercede with God, that love to be at the throne of grace, young people of power with God, young people that can pray to God for the work that the Lord has called them to, and intercede on behalf of those that are perishing in their sin, to stand before God as intercessors. We want them to stand before God, before the King, as ambassadors, representatives. Every Christian is an ambassador for the Lord. You ought to be. You're a representative of King Jesus. But in a very special sense, those upon whom God puts his hand, calls into the ministry, brings to the mission field, they're out there as an ambassador, a representative of King Jesus. We want young people like that that can represent the Lord on earth as his ambassadors. We want them to stand before God as preachers, to declare the whole counsel of God's word, and to preach Christ and him crucified. We want them to stand before the King as soul winners, to have the joy of pointing men and women to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We want them to have the ability to stand before God as worshipers, to worship God, and to lead congregations in the worship of God. And so this is the service that was intended, to stand before the King. Young people, the Lord wants you to stand before Him in the service of King Jesus. And then finally, there is in verse six the selection that was made. Verse six tells us among these were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. It is their Hebrew names that are noteworthy, not their heathen names that were given to them when they went to the land of Babylon. These young men had the name of God They had the name of God in their name. Some part of the name of God, whether it was some part of Elohim or Jehovah, it was in their name. Daniel means God is my judge. Hananiah means the grace of the Lord. Or it can mean Jehovah is gracious. Mishael means that he that is the strong God. Azariah means the Lord is my helper. You know how special Jewish names were. You know how careful parents were in choosing the name, and all parents have to do this, to choose the name of their child. But if you were a Jew, and very often it's the same as a Christian, we choose the name of our children, not just because it sounds well, but because there's a special significance in that name, and that's how the Jews did it. And these names all had the name of God in their name, to remind them who they were and who they belonged to. And those names would remind them about God in the midst of the heathen and idolatrous system into which they entered. And in the midst of any trial that they had to face, and they had to face trial we'll mention in a wee minute. We think of the fiery furnace and we think of the lion's den, we want young people in this sense, to have the stamp of God upon them. If it's not in their name, in their character. The stamp of the name of God upon those young people. It's a good thing to know in the service of Christ, as we think of the names that we've just mentioned, that God is our judge. As we serve the Lord, it's good to know He's on the throne. He's in supreme control. He's the sovereign God. He's the judge of all the earth. And the judge of all the earth will do right. That gives you confidence when you go to serve the Lord. It's good to know He's the God of grace. It's only by grace we can be saved. It's only by grace we can continue in the Christian life. It's only by grace we can serve the Lord. And here in one of the names we have this thought that He's the God of grace, that God is gracious to man. It's good to know he's the strong God of power and dominion. That gives you confidence too to serve him. And he is our helper. The meaning of the other name. God is our helper. Praise God for that today. Keep these things in mind as you serve the Lord. Let these names, these thoughts thrill your heart in the good times. Let them comfort your soul in the hard times. For in Christian work and service there will be both. Daniel and his friends had good times, there's no doubt about that. Blessing of the Lord rested upon them. Despite all that they'd come through being brought into captivity, God gave them favor in the palace of the king, blessed them abundantly. But they also had their hard times. As it is today, there'll still be hard times in God's work. The three Hebrew captives faced the fires of the great furnace. Heated seven times hotter than usual because they refused to bow before the golden image. In Daniel chapter three. Will not take time to read it, but I do commend these verses to you from verse 16 down to verse 27. Tells us the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being cast into the fiery furnace and how God wonderfully delivered them. Lord was there in the hard time. And then we go on to read in chapter six about Daniel. It's now the Persian king who's on the throne, Darius. And there was a plot and a scheme against Daniel because he was so well favored and so well liked in the kingdom. There were others who schemed against him and that led him to be thrown into the lion's den. What a trial that must have been. We read about it in chapter six and verse 16 to 23 especially gives the story. The Lord is our keeper. The Lord is our shield upon our right hand. The Lord is our high tower in Christian service. He is our rock. He is our pavilion in which we can hide in the midst of the storms of life. We must trust in the Lord at all times. You know, the theme of the book of Daniel, just as we close, let me mention this, is all about the sovereignty of God. You read this book and that's written across every chapter, every story that you read. It's all about God's sovereignty. The book proclaims the great truth. God is still on the throne. And more than likely, the two key phrases of the book are There is a God in heaven, chapter two, verse 28, and the most high ruleth in the kingdom of man, chapter four, verse 25. And if you link those two lines together, you get the key word, the key thought of this entire book. There is a God in heaven, the most high ruleth in the kingdom of man. And these four young men proved that to be so. The God who was in their names was on the throne, a sovereign God, in absolute control. And this is the confidence that we have in the Lord today. As we look for the four choice young men, men that have these qualities that the scripture mentions, As we look out for them in God's work and trust that God will raise them up, this is the confidence that we have, that we serve a sovereign God who's on the throne. And this God will work out his purposes in all that he calls us to do. And so let's pray. Let's pray earnestly that God will give us these four choice young men. Make it a prayer every day if you can. And may the Lord be pleased to answer it and call young people from this congregation into his work. Let's pray.