CHURCH IN THE PARK JULY 28, 2024

 

July 28, 2024                NOTES NOT EDITED
Church In The Park
Living Under God While Surrounded By Evil
Daniel 1:1-21, esp. 8-20

SIS— Living Under the Influence of God requires a deep determination and commitment to risk whatevery it takes to give the gospel of salvation to the world.

I’ve been saying the Pledge of Allegiance from at least the age of 6. That year I started first grade and every day started with the Pledge of Allegiance and the prayer of the teacher.

The most memorable phrase in that Pledge (added in 1952) are the words, “One Nation Under God.” I remember I would often get a “tingly feeling” when I came to those words. I didn’t really know what it meant at first to live “Under God,” but I knew it was the key to everything good in life—including “Liberty and Justice for all.”

Nothing is clearer from the writings of our Founding the Fathers, and even the rulings from our Supreme Court—America is a Christian nation. You can dislike that fact, but you cannot deny it. Yet, I can see the foundation of our nation—AND EVEN THE WORLD—beginning to crumble as more and more people—even in America—begin to openly rebel against God—and even blaspheme Him publicly and proudly.

What we have come to accept as “Gay Pride” was on clear and demonstrative display at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics last Friday.

If you haven’t heard, the ceremony opened with the likes of the singer, “Lady Gaga,” and even “Celine Dion.” But what really it getting the press is a bizarre display of debauchery involving Drag Queens, a Naked Blue Man, and what appeared to many people as the Drag Queens reenacting a version of the Last Supper by DaVinci.

The Drag Queen part of the ceremony clearly invoked the worship of the Greek God, Bacchus, or also known as the Greek counterpart,  Dionysius. Here’s one description of Bacchus (or Bacchanalia the festival): Bacchus is the Roman god of wine, agriculture, fertility, revelry, and intoxication. “Revelry” is the code word for, “sexual activity and lude behavior.  Drunkenness and elicit sex are celebrated.
So, this is what our world has come to when at the Global Sports event in history elicit sex and open mockery of the faith of 2.4 billion Christians are the “opening ceremony.”

This made me think of the phrase which became the title of this sermon: “How do I live “under God” while surrounded by a world that is blatantly and increasingly evil. The answer is very simple; one word in fact: INFLUENCE! Who and/or what will I let influence my mind and heart?

I am boycotting the Olympics. I’m not going to watch a single day of it. I do not want to be complicit, or supportive, of any celebration of a Roman God promoting “drunkenness and fornication while mocking the sacred Last Supper of the Lord.” I don’t want that garbage in my house and certainly not in my head.

One Christian magazine has warned the church saying, “Many of us who are Christians have gotten caught up in this increasingly bankrupt culture.  We have adopted many of the values of the world around us.” And I would add: most of us don’t even realize it.

The essence of godliness is determine Who or what will influence our lives.  Culture is constantly seeking to “assimilate us” into the ways of the world.  We must resist being so assimilated to the world that our faith in God is obliterated.  Today, we are looking at the life of Daniel and three of his friends.  King Nebuchadnezzar, the leader of the Babylonian Empire (including modern day Iraq and regions to the west), invaded Israel about 605 BC.  The City of Jerusalem was completely destroyed and Nebuchadnezzar carried of the treasures of the temple of God.  The King also carried off the very best of the young men of Jerusalem to be trained in the ways of his pagan kingdom, including the “Chaldean language and literature.”  Among these young Israelite men were Daniel, Haniah, Mishael, and Azariah.  We know Daniel’s friends by their Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  (see Dan. 1:1-6).

We will pick up the story of the stand for righteousness taken by Daniel and his friends.  READ Daniel 1:8-20

Living under the influence of God has three components.

1.  Living Under the Influence of God Requires RESOLVE (8a)

⁸ Daniel determined that he would not defile himself
with the king’s food or with the wine he drank. 

Scholars are divided on the reason that Daniel “determined” (“resolved,” NIV, ESV) not to eat the king’s food or drink his wine.  The most common reason is the fact that ancient people would dedicate the food in the markets to the pagan gods.  Some scholars suggest that we continue this same basic idea by saying a “blessing” before our meals.

In Daniel’s case, eating this food would “defile” him by eating this food dedicated to gods that Daniel did not recognize as God.  This is probably not a sufficient answer for what Daniel was doing because in verse 12 David asked permission to “be given vegetables and water.”  It is quite possible, almost certain that these vegetables would have also been dedicated to the pagan gods.  A more likely reason is that Daniel was rejecting the extravagant and luxurious lifestyle of the king.  In other words, Daniel was making a statement against the culture in general, not necessarily just the pagan gods of the culture.  Whatever Daniel and his friends’ reason, it is clear they were very conscious of how easy it is to become accustomed to the ways of the world, without even knowing it.

There’s a legendary story about a frog in a kettle that illustrates how easy it is to become accustomed to things that are actually harmful, even deadly, to us.  The story goes that a frog was placed into a pot of boiling water.  Immediately the frog started kicking his legs and waving his hands.  The frog did everything it could do to get out of that pot of boiling water.  The kind lab technician conducting the experiment rescued the frog before he became soup.  The technician took another frog and placed it in a pot of water at room temperature.  The pot was sitting on the burner of a stove.  The frog just swam around seemingly not having a care in the world.  The technician continued to raise the temperature of the water slowly.  The frog did not even notice the change in temperature.  Finally, the water was boiling and this frog did become frog soup.

This is how it is with so many Christian.  Christians do not usually jump right into worldliness in one big step, but it happens slowly over time.  Worldliness influences what we think is funny;  it influences what we find entertaining; it influences how we spend our time and money; worldliness begins to influence how we speak; and, before long, we are living under the influence of the world instead of living under the influence of God.  We become “intoxicated” by culture and culture, not God, directs our lives.

Daniel rejected the ways of the world represented by the feast that the king wished to provide in order to “influence” Daniel and his friends into the ways of Babylon.  Daniel “resolved” to “not defile himself” by letting the pagan culture influence him.

The word, “resolved” (“determined,” HCSB), in English means to “take a strong stand.”  The Hebrew word has that same idea but also has an element of “planning” associated it.  It means that Daniel “put in place in his heart boundaries” to guide his decisions when issues arise where culture fights for influence in his life. 

Beginning in our youth: we need to “put in place in our heart holy boundaries” and never allow yourself to be put into a position where you will be tempted needlessly.  One such boundary would be to “never drink or try drugs.”  If you make that resolution, I absolutely guarantee you will never become an alcoholic or drug addict.

Bad influences in our lives usually develop over time. We don’t always immediately see the consequences of bad behavior. No drunk starts drinking down on Skid Row but ends up there one bottle at a time. Sin is like cancer, it spends 80% of its time in your body and only 20% being treated or killing you. Don’t let the world’s influence start you down a path of depravity, despair, and finally death.

There are many areas in our lives where we need to “put in place holy boundaries in our hearts” so that we can influence culture and not be influenced by it. Have the resolve and determination of Daniel to “build boundaries for your heart and mind” against worldly influences.  Also, Living Under God requires

2. COMMITMENT AND RISK (8B-10)

David’s resolve to live a godly life would come at great risk. 

So he asked permission from the chief official not to defile himself.  ⁹ God had granted Daniel favor and compassion from the chief official, ¹⁰ yet he said to Daniel, “My lord the king assigned your food and drink. I’m afraid of what would happen if he saw your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men your age. You would endanger my life with the king.” 

Living Under the Influence of God requires the deepest commitment, sacrifice, and even risk.  What Daniel was proposing is to “defy the king’s directive.”  At the very least Daniel risked insulting the king.  Kings were tyrants.  They did not deal well with insults.  The king’s supervisor over Daniel and the others realized the danger involved

¹⁰ yet he said to Daniel, “My lord the king assigned your food and drink. I’m afraid of what would happen if he saw your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men your age. You would endanger my life with the king.” 

The words, “endanger my life,” literally mean, “make me guilty of my head” or “cause me to forfeit my head.”  We have become all too familiar with how tyrants in the Middle East deal with those that offend them.  Almost daily in Syria and other Muslim countries, Christians are being beheaded for their commitment to God.
Daniel’s decision not to “live under the influence” of God required a significant commitment which brought a great deal of risk. 

Someone has said, “That which we attain too easily, we esteem to lightly.”  Perhaps Christians in American have so little influence on our culture because it is “too easy” to be a Christian in America.  Christians in America have never really been challenged in regard to living in a way that “does not defile ourselves by living like pagans.”  There’s little cost to being a church member in the typical Christian church.  Members can do almost anything, or do nothing, and there is seldom any consequences.  True Christianity takes real commitment and sacrifice, often with great risk. 

In a message on Daniel 1, Pastor Greg Groeschel declared, “We can’t halfway follow Jesus.”  He went on to point out that we can’t get in shape by going to the gym once a week; we can’t get healthy by eating one healthy meal a week and junk food all the rest; and we are never going to be devoted followers of Jesus with one hour of church every week.

Devotion to God is costly and dangerous.  I can’t think of anything more often demonstrated in Scripture by both example and exhortation than the idea that living under the influence of God takes significant commitment.  I think we take the words of Jesus too lightly when He said in Luke 14:26:

²⁷ Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 

This is such a critical issue in discipleship that the Lord spoke even more bluntly a few verses later saying (v33):

Therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to all his possessions cannot be My disciple. 

Daniel’s “overseer” was in danger of losing his head. Daniel and his friends were likely in danger of losing their lives. Following Jesus takes commitment and sacrifice like nothing else we do in life.

Sadly, too many believer’s lack the kind of commitment to the Church of Our Lord to take any risks to see the Kingdom of God flourish. LIKE A WOMAN ONE THANKSGIVING: Paul Harvey reported that during the 1995 Thanksgiving Season, a woman purportedly called up the Butterball Turkey Company's hotline and asked whether it was advisable to cook a turkey that had been in her freezer for 23 years. The customer service rep advised her that as long as the freezer had maintained a below-zero temperature, it would probably be ok. However, she was warned that the turkey would be less than tasty. The woman responded, "Oh, that's what we thought. We'll just donate it to the church."

Everybody eventually says “good-bye” to all his possessions—a devout follower of Jesus just does it while we are still alive!  It is not so much “how many things does a person possesses, as it is, how much the things possess the person.”  I can tell you one thing I know for sure:  “No matter how much any of us is giving of our time, talents, and treasures to the work of the kingdom of God—it ain’t enough!”  What Daniel did involved a significant amount of commitment and risk.  Another component to Living Under the Influence of God is that it

3.  Yields GOD’S FAVOR (11-16; 17-20)

What is the second greatest opportunity than being the king?  It is being favored by the king.  In verses 11-16 we see Daniel’s proposal:

¹¹ So Daniel said to the guard whom the chief official had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹² “Please test your servants for 10 days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then examine our appearance and the appearance of the young men who are eating the king’s food, and deal with your servants based on what you see.” ¹⁴ He agreed with them about this and tested them for 10 days. ¹⁵ At the end of 10 days they looked better and healthier than all the young men who were eating the king’s food.  ¹⁶ So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.

Let me sum up the benefits to Living Under the Influence of God instead of living under the influence of the world:  “it is better and healthier.”  It’s good to be the king—but it is also good to be favored by the king.

Now, look at the results of gaining the favor of God in your life:

¹⁷ God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood visions and dreams of every kind. ¹⁸ At the end of the time that the king had said to present them, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ The king interviewed them, and among all of them, no one was found equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  So they began to serve in the king’s court. ²⁰ In every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king consulted them about, he found them 10 times better than all the diviner-priests and mediums  in his entire kingdom.

First of all, the only true “education” is founded upon devotion.  As the writer of Proverbs declared so long ago:  ^1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.  Notice that there education in “every kind of literature and wisdom” (v17), did not come from reading literature but from “loving the Lord.”  “God gave it to them.” 

Second, notice that the pathway to understanding was not limited to just what they could read in a book.  There was a supernatural element to their knowledge.  Verse 17 also says, “They could see what eyes could not see.”  The default setting for what most people count for truth and knowledge is limited to the five senses:  what they can see, what they can hear, what they can smell, what they can taste, or what they can touch.  But, so much of what is “real” in our world cannot be accessed through the human faculties.  You cannot see beauty.  You cannot smell love.  You cannot touch mercy.  You cannot taste hope.  You cannot touch peace.  So much of what is most “real” and what is of the highest value can only be accessed by God’s revelation. 

Our highest understanding comes from only one Book, the Bible, and our Greatest Teacher is the Holy Spirit. 

I think most Christians are unwilling to make the decision to Live Under the Influence of God, not because they do NOT UNDERSTAND the significance of commitment and the degree of risk, but because they DO UNDERSTAND!  They do a cost/profit analysis and simply do not place a high value on the favor of God.

Psalm 1 offers a cost/profit analysis of it’s own in regard to the value of resolving in one’s heart to Live Under the Influence of God:

¹ How happy is the manwho does not follow the advice of the wicked or take the path of sinnersor join a group of mockers! ² Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. ³ He is like a tree planted beside streams of water

that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

 

Living Under the Influence of God GAINS GOD’S FAVOR, which is the second best thing to being God—something we can never be.

 

I was really saddened to see the debauchery paraded BEFORE THE WORLD by deviant people who hate God. The Olympics had a reputation as “high as the peak of Mt. Olympus itself.” But, deviant people and a defiant, woke lifestyle has completely infected the entire globe. Our world is literally dying before our eyes.

 

The only hope for our world—for the lost souls wallowing in the muck of sin—the followers of Christ living Under the Influence of God—a holy nation, a royal priesthood.   

Daniel and his friends “resolved to Live Under the Influence of God.”  This resolve, or determination, led them to take a stand, and pay whatever price had to be paid, trusting that gaining God’s favor meant more than all the riches in the world.  Will you make such a resolution today not to defile your life with worldly living?  I think of that great hymn of the church:

 

I am resolved no longer to linger,

Charmed by the world’s delight,

Things that are higher, things that are nobler,

These have allured my sight.

 

Daniel would not defile himself by letting the world influence his character.  He was willing to risk even his life to serve the One True God.  We should follow Daniel’s example and Live Under the Influence of God.