4 SWORD OF THE LORD June 11 , 2021
You Too Can Say “ No ”
I read from Daniel , chapter 1 :
“ And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king ’ s meat , and of the wine which he drank : so nourishing them three years , that at the end thereof they might stand before the king .
“ Now among these were of the children of Judah , Daniel , Hananiah , Mishael , and Azariah :
“ Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names : for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar ; and to Hananiah , of Shadrach ; and to Mishael , of Meshach ; and to Azariah , of Abed-nego .
“ But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king ’ s meat , nor with the wine which he drank : therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself .”— Vss . 5 – 8 .
From this chapter I take verse 8 as my text : “ But … he would not defile himself with the portion of the king ’ s meat , nor with the wine which he drank .”
This young man , Daniel , was really on the spot . He had been carried away captive from his own land into the land of the Chaldeans , over to the city of Babylon , more than a thousand miles away from home . A thousand miles then was a long way from home . This young Daniel was only about seventeen ( maybe not quite that ), a captive at the hands of an invading king , a slave , now carried into a strange land .
It was the custom of the kings of Babylon , when they conquered a people , to select the finest , most promising , most intelligent young people of that conquered land to give them an education in the University of Babylon and prepare them to take a place of leadership and responsibility in the govern - ment of that country .
So here is this young captive , Daniel , who now has a chance at an education in the world ’ s greatest university . Remember , he is a slave ; and if he makes good in this three-year university course , he will be given a place in the government , which will mean not only that he will be out of slavery for the rest of his life but also that he will be financially secure the rest of his life . He will have a place of honor and prestige , and he will be somebody !
But this young man has con -
The Preacher ’ s …
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wide , and dry most of the time , his increasing breadth had not compensated for his increasing shallowness . Gradually he was losing his freshness , his material was becoming stale , and its effect was becoming superficial .
The minister can give abundantly only as he receives abundantly . And in his busy life he is never free from the urge to give beyond that which he has received . Eager to serve , he can hardly find time to prepare . Yet upon that pre - paration depends the fruit of his service .
The student minister , impatient to get into full-time service , may well remind himself that God was not wasting time when He kept Saul of Tarsus in Arabia for three years and Moses in the wilderness for forty years .
— Charles Koller
DR . JOE HENRY HANKINS
victions . He loves God . He has been taught from his childhood that the followers of Jehovah God should not eat meats that have been offered to idols and that they should not defile themselves with strong drink .
The Babylonians believed that a person could not be brilliant or healthy without eating certain kinds of food and drinking certain kinds of liquors . So the king appoints this diet and these drinks for these young men during the three-year university course .
I . DANIEL CAME TO THE CRISIS OF HIS LIFE
In his teens , Daniel came faceto-face with the crisis of his life . Now he must choose . If he refuses to fall in line and take the diet and the drinks that are set before him , chances are ten to one that it will mean he will be deprived forever of this opportunity and it will mean slavery for the rest of his life . Now what are you going to do , Daniel ?
“ Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself ,” regardless of what the conse - quences might be .
Convictions are the most expen - sive things in the world , the most inconvenient things in human life . But the only things that really make human character worthwhile are some real convictions .
Three verbs govern most of human life and relationships : One is to get , another is to have , and the third is to be .
But what you are is far more important than what you get or what you have . What you get you might not be able to hold , and what you have you may not be able to use properly ; but what you are is your big asset in life . You know you have to live with yourself all of your life . And if you can ’ t look yourself in the face and respect yourself , you are already defeated .
The saddest day in a young person ’ s life is when he has to cover up something and therefore loses his self-respect .
Let ’ s look into this young man ’ s temptation . When Daniel came face-to-face with this crisis , the Devil came right on the spot in that conflict . I can imagine some of the things the Devil had to say .
II . THE DEVIL BIDS FOR THIS YOUNG MAN
His First Bid : Compromise His Convictions
The first thing the Devil said was , “ Now , Daniel , don ’ t be a fool and throw away the biggest opportunity of your life . It is a chance that comes to a young man only once in a lifetime . And , Daniel , you can ’ t afford to play the fool now . Better to compromise some things than to forfeit an opportunity like this .”
Was the Devil correct ? Is it better to compromise than to lose some opportunity ? Or is it better to stand foursquare for God , for right and righteousness and principle ? Is it better to go down fighting for the right or to succeed by com - promising ?
Daniel knew what he be lieved , and he “ purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself .”
Oh , I respect a young fellow who will take a stand and say “ no ” until it makes both the Devil ’ s ears ring and tingle the rest of his days ! Oh , to say “ no ” so it can be heard and understood ! One of the things you need in your Christian life is to know how and when to say “ no ” and to take a stand and stay put .
His Second Bid : “ Everybody Else Does It ”
I can imagine the Devil ’ s saying again to Daniel , “ Daniel , now this is the way everybody does it .” How many times have you heard it : “ Everybody does it ”?
We are mortally afraid to be dif - ferent from the rest of the crowd . Oh , how we are afraid of men , afraid of public opinion , afraid of the scorn of the crowd !
One of the things that has de - stroyed more lives and wrecked more souls is the fear of man . Proverbs 29:25 says , “ The fear of man bringeth a snare .”
The fear of man made Peter deny his Lord that tragic night . One of the saddest chapters in that apostle ’ s whole life was when , before the accusations of the mob , Peter faltered , was afraid and finally swore with bitter cursing that he never knew our Lord .
The fear of man caused Pilate to turn the Lord over to the Jews to be crucified . One of the saddest things in the Gospel of John is where John said , “ Many believed on him ; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him … For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God ” ( John 12:42 , 43 ).
At the head of the list of those cast into Hell are “ the fearful ” ( Rev . 21:8 ). I think there is a significance between “ the fearful ” and the “ unbelieving .” I think God means to teach us there are more people in Hell because they were afraid of man than for any other one reason .
So God heads the list of that crowd with “ the fearful ”— afraid of what people think , afraid to cut loose from the crowd , afraid people will think you strange .
Just as certainly as you take an out-and-out stand for the Lord , the whole world is going to think you are strange . This Book of God says , “ Yea , and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution ” ( II Tim . 3:12 ).
But multiplied millions go to Hell because they do not have the courage to cut loose from the crowd . They are swept on by the crowd because they do not have courage to take their stand for the Lord .
It doesn ’ t take a bit of courage to go along with the crowd . It takes no courage to be like other folks . But it does take real , honestto-goodness courage and backbone to cut loose from the crowd , to give up friends when you know God is calling in another direction . It does take real courage to face the scoffing and the frowns of the ungodly crowd .
The lowest-down , sorriest piece of humanity can wallow in the mire , live in sin , die and go to Hell . It doesn ’ t take character , manhood , womanhood , courage or anything else to go to Hell .
“ Daniel , everybody else does it ,” the Devil said . If it is wrong , the fact that the whole world does it doesn ’ t make it right . The whole world ’ s doing it is not going to cause God to overlook it . He proved that in the Flood . All the world turned its back on God , except one family ; and God de - stroyed the rest of them . Sin is sin .
Whatever the world thinks about sin and however the world looks on it , it is still as hideous as it ever was . We cannot coddle and dabble in and play with sin and get away with it any more today than people could back in the beginning .
It is still the slimy serpent it always has been ; it still in the end
“ biteth like a serpent , and stingeth like an adder ” ( Prov . 23:32 ) in this day just like it did in the Garden of Eden . It will wreck , ruin , condemn , break hearts , destroy everything you live for and drag you down to Hell now just like it always has , regardless of what people think about it .
Sin is still the deadliest , most destructive thing in all human life . It is still a cancer which eats out the human soul . Sin is still the thing that destroys everything worth - while in human life .
No matter if “ everybody is doing it ,” you had better leave it alone .
His Third Bid : “ It Is the Custom ”
I can imagine the Devil said to Daniel , “ It is the custom .” We are bound by social custom ; but if social custom is wrong , God give us courage to forget it and stand for Him .
Charles Lindbergh became famous because he made the first transatlantic , nonstop flight from New York City to Paris . He was at the height of his popularity ; he was being entertained in the court of the king and queen of Sweden as their honored guest .
That night when he sat down at the table with other guests , a glass had been placed at each plate , ready to receive the liquor . The butler came around pouring the liquor , after having already poured for the king and queen ; but when he got to Charles Lindbergh , that stripling of an American boy had courage to turn his glass upside down !
O slave to custom , if it is wrong , if it dishonors God , take courage and stand for God . Stand for right . Regardless of what anybody else says , right is going to win . Right will come out on top after awhile .
The poet said , “ Truth crushed to earth will rise again .” You may keep it down awhile , but you can ’ t keep it down for long .
His Fourth Bid : “ There ’ s Honor in It ”
Then I can imagine the Devil said to Daniel , “ Daniel , there is honor in it . You will be somebody . You will have a position of honor in this government . You will be a states - man of this land . Daniel , don ’ t throw away that kind of an opportunity .”
His appeal was to Daniel ’ s pride . Oh , the pride of the human heart !
Get victory over your pride and vainglory . Be willing to be a nobody if need be in order to be a real man or woman of God . To be right with God , to have the blessing of God upon your life , is infinitely more worthwhile than to have the honor the world can bestow upon you .
His Fifth Bid : “ There Is Money in It ”
Then again I can imagine the Devil said , “ Daniel , there is money in it .”
Oh , how many have sold out to the Devil for a little bit of money , and they are now trying to satisfy their souls on it !
Jesus Christ never spoke a greater truth than when He said , “ A man ’ s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth ” ( Luke 12:15 ).
You cannot satisfy human life with things . Everybody ought to read the Book of Ecclesiastes through at one sitting . It is the account of the life experience of Solomon . In his old age he is telling of his search for something to satisfy life .
First , he found wisdom ; but he found that , without God , “ he that increaseth knowledge , increaseth sorrow ” ( Eccles . 1:18 ).
Then he tried pleasure . He put on some party ! He got men and women singers and musicians . He entered the happy whirl of society . But when all was over , he had to say , ‘ All is vanity and striving after the wind .’
Then Solomon imagined that some people got real joy and happiness out of drink , so he tried that . But this too was vanity .
Others seemed to get satisfaction out of big business , so he bought land and built houses and got servants and maidens and gained great possessions . His ships brought gold from Ophir and made silver as common as stones in the street . Again he said , ‘ Vanity ! Vanity ! All is vanity !’
Hear that man ’ s recipe for hap - piness : “ Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth , while the evil days come not , nor the years draw nigh , when thou shalt say , I have no pleasure in them ” ( Eccles . 12:1 ).
III . GOD TOOK CARE OF DANIEL
God won ’ t let you down . Look at the young man Daniel . After the battle with the Devil , after being put on the spot and having to make such decisions , did things happen like the Devil said ? No !
Look at Daniel . His physical health was better . I tell you now , if you follow God , you will not only have better health , but you will live longer . The wicked live out only half of their days .
If you have walked with the Lord , you are not coming to the sunset ; you are coming to the sunrise !
“ But the path of the just is as the shining light , that shineth more and more unto the perfect day .”— Prov . 4:18 .
God literally meant it when He said , “ But seek ye first the kingdom of God , and his righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto you ” ( Matt . 6:33 ). If you have the courage to put God first , God will take care of the results . There will be a happy life without regrets .
Nothing is sadder in human experience than to come down to the end and look back with bitter regrets . There can be a life without them , a sunrise without a cloud . There will be glory all along the way and victory every step of the way with the Lord Jesus Christ .
It pays to serve Jesus . It pays to be a Christian . It pays glorious dividends not only to be a Christian but to be out-and-out for the Lord .
Did God take care of Daniel ? Yes ! God gave him honor , position and wealth . God gave him a long and useful life . When he was cast into a den of wild lions that had been kept for days without food , God delivered him .
The next morning when King Darius returned to the lions ’ den after a night of waiting and won - dering if Daniel ’ s God was going to take care of him , we hear him shout , “ O Daniel ,… is thy God , whom thou servest continually , able to deliver thee from the lions ?”
And the answer came back from the cavern , “ O king , live for ever . My God hath sent his angel , and hath shut the lions ’ mouths , that they have not hurt me ” ( Dan . 6:20 – 22 ).
Dear friend , God will see you through . God will never let you down if you have the courage to cut loose from the crowd and refuse to compromise with the Devil , re - fuse to bow your knee to Baal , but continue to walk with the Lord . You can count on God . ❚