Six Challenges from the Life of Daniel (Gratuate Recognition Service)

Well, take your Bible and turn back to the book of Daniel, where we were earlier. I did mention that we were going to be in chapters 1 to 6. Obviously, not reading all of those scriptures. I'm leaving some for you to read during your own personal study throughout the week, but I will read certain portions that really have come to the surface as I have studied this book throughout the years. But this morning we are having a unique worship service in that we are recognizing our students, our teenagers, who are graduating from high school. And this type of service is usually called a graduate recognition service.

I think most of you have been a part of a service like this. I was making a few comments to Christie last night about how we've seen different churches do it different ways. Some churches make a little too much of the graduates, I think, and some do not make enough of the graduates. I hope we strike a good balance. But these are good things to do, I believe. I think these are good things to do in the life of the church. But this morning we are recognizing three graduates. We have Chad Robinson, we have Annie Shepherd, and we have Josie Summers. And y'all are spread out, you know, so I kind of have to look up if I'm going to preach at you.

Annie's right in the middle. We have Chad, most of you know Chad, all of you know Chad, you know Annie, and you know Josie. Now, Josie, Annie, Chad, this is the time when we put up some of those embarrassing pictures, okay? Could you handle that? I thought about that. Y'all would kill me, y'all would get up and run if I put up pictures. As a matter of fact, one of these would kill me because I live with them. But we're not going to do that. I'm not going to embarrass you with pictures. But I do want to make a couple of observations about high school graduation that I want to all listen to, especially you who are graduating.

I want us to describe what's happening here. And I've been thinking about this really for several weeks. When someone graduates from high school, it can be called a great milestone in their life. That is a simple way of saying that high school graduation is a significant achievement, a significant time in the life. Some of you know what an actual milestone is. A milestone is a stone or a marker that is set beside a road and it's meant to mark distance in miles. We see milestones or mile markers along roads in many countries and in many cultures in the world today.

But this term milestone can also be used to speak of a significant achievement or a particular point in one's life. I think we're familiar with that term. It is a common colloquialism. But also high school graduation can be seen as a great dividing line in the life. If I can use another illustration here, it can be seen as the continental divide in life. Some of you know what the continental divide is. Some of you may have seen the continental divide. The continental divide is a tall mountainous range that runs north and south along the crest of the Rocky Mountains. It runs from Mexico north into New Mexico.

It continues north into Colorado and to Wyoming and Montana and even into Canada. And the term the continental divide is not used to describe an even division of the North American continent. Simply for us, the term is used to refer to all the rainfall and rivers that fall on the east side of the divide and they're going to the Mississippi River and even into the Rio Grande River. And the rainfall and the rivers on the west side of the divide, they go into the Pacific Ocean. So when one graduates from high school, it is a significant milestone in their life. When one graduates from high school, it is a dividing time in their life.

Not evenly, but when someone graduates from high school, you can divide everything in their life before graduation and everything in the life after graduation. So Chad, Annie, Josie, I want you to see that you have achieved and you are experiencing a great milestone in life and you should be proud. Graduation from high school is a great milestone and you should be proud. But also you three need to see that it is a very important dividing line in your life. It is the continental divide for you. You know, I thought about this as I was studying. What can I say to you this morning that would make a spiritual impact on you and in your life?

What can I say? You've heard me say a lot. I've taught you in my home. I've taught you in small groups. I've taught you at youth camps. I've taught you from this pulpit. Some of you I've taught a lot more than others. But what could I say to you this morning that would make a tremendous impact in your life? In many ways, there's really nothing new I can say, but God can. And I trust that God will and that's why I'm here this morning. But this morning I want to offer you a challenge from the life of a well-known figure from the Old Testament. Actually, I want to offer you six challenges that come together to form one big challenge.

And all of this comes from the life of Daniel. All of this comes from Daniel and his life that is recorded in the Old Testament book, the book of Daniel. Now a question or two we need to ponder before we really get into the message. First of all, who was Daniel? And also what was happening in the book of Daniel? One of the mistakes that some pastors and preachers make is to just grab verses without giving it context and explaining who and what we have here. And this will help you. First I want to give you a quick overview of the book of Daniel. The book of Daniel was written of course by Daniel. Now we know this for several reasons.

First of all, there's some verses in the book that name Daniel as the writer. And also parts of the book are very obviously autobiographical. But the biggest reason is Jesus said that Daniel wrote the book. Daniel, Jesus said this in Matthew 24, 15. But who was this individual Daniel? Daniel is probably most remembered by his connection with the individuals I read about earlier in our scripture reading. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And he is also remembered as the one who spent a night in the lions den. Daniel was a young Jewish nobleman who was taken into Babylonian captivity really as a young teenager.

As a matter of fact, he would have been very close to the age that you are, those of you who are graduating from high school. He was from the southern kingdom of Judah. Israel was the northern kingdom. It was comprised of two tribes. And Judah was the southern kingdom and it was comprised of two tribes. The nation of Israel had split about 200 years prior under King Rhea Bohem's reign. And when the Babylonians invaded as a part of God's judgment on the Jews, Daniel was taken into captivity in the first deportation of the Jews into Babylon. And scholars tell us this took place about 605 BC.

And Daniel lived out the remaining days of his life in Babylonian captivity. The scholars tell us that he probably lived into his 80s when he died. A full life, but a full life in captivity. But Daniel was a strong and godly man from the time of his youth all the way through to his death. He was very, very successful in Babylon and God opened two doors of service for him. The first will surprise you. The first door was a political door. Politically, he rose to a position in a royal capacity. He had a royal officials capacity and he was a personal advisor to more than one king.

He was very successful within working with two world powers, the Babylonians and the Medo-Persians who conquered the Babylonians. But then spiritually, spiritually, he was a great prophet for God. But what is the background of the context of the book? Some of this I've touched on, but this will be good for you. The book begins in 605 BC when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and they took Daniel and many others into captivity. The Babylonians were used by God to execute judgment on Judah. Prophets like Jeremiah and Habakkuk and Zephaniah had warned the Jews of their sin and their rebellion.

Earlier prophets like Isaiah had warned the people of the danger of judgment, but the people continued in their sin and in their rebellion against God. The Babylonians conquered the Assyrians, then they conquered the Egyptians, and then they came to Judah and conquered Judah in 605 BC when they overran Jerusalem, bringing God's judgment on Israel and Judah to completion. Daniel the Northern Kingdom, those ten tribes, they had fallen over a hundred years earlier to the Assyrians. And the Babylonians took captives back to Babylon in three ways. If you want to know those dates, that happened in 605, 597, in 586 BC.

And Daniel was among the first wave of captives that were taken into captivity, Babylonian captivity. Now, what's the purpose of the book? Daniel wrote for his own people, a people who were in exile. He wrote to encourage them as they and much of the world was dominated, dominated by cruel pagan gentile powers. And Daniel emphasized God's sovereign control over all of the affairs of the world. He emphasized God's control over the nations and over the kings, and the fact that one day God's true king, that would be Jesus, would replace them all.

Now at this point I want to show you how I want to approach the message, how I'm going to take this message. I'm not going to focus on Daniel's prophecies. Many of you are familiar with his prophecies. Some of you probably hope I'm going to get into the prophecies. I'm not. And I'm really not going to focus on his great accomplishments. I want us to look at Daniel the man, Daniel the young man. I want us to see why he was so very successful spiritually, but more than that, I want us to see how he lived a very victorious spiritual life while he was living in a very wicked pagan land.

And I want us all, all of us, not just our graduates, to really see the spiritual characteristics and the habits that he had in his life. So we're going to look at the man. Now before we get into the message and the verses, I want to give you some instructions. First of all, I'm not going to put any information on the screens. And also I'm going to ask you not to take notes. I want you to follow me. Now when I say that, I know some of you just can't help it. You're going to write notes. That's okay. That's okay. But what I'm aiming at is this. At the end of the message, I'm going to give you six words, six words that come out of this message.

And with God's help, if you do remember the words, I'm telling you, God will help you remember the six challenges and the overall big challenge from this message. So we're going to be dealing with chapters one to six. I'm going to read some verses along the way, and I'm going to make six observations about Daniel, the man, not his accomplishments, not his prophecies, but the man. Number one, I want us to see that he remained pure. We're going to see out of chapter one that he remained pure. He remained undefiled. Now we're going to get to that in verses six to 14, but before we get to the verses, let me explain what's happening here.

In taking the exiles back to Babylon, the goal of the Babylonians was to make them, the exiles thoroughly and completely Babylonian. In chapters one verses six to seven, those verses show us that Daniel and his companions, remember his friends, they received new Babylonian names. You see all of their Jewish names related to their one true God. And then named Daniel, it means God is my judge, but his Babylonian name, Belt Shajar, it means Baal protect my life. Baal was a pagan deity. And that is just one way that the exiles were expected to become Babylonian. Daniel and his companions were to learn Babylonian customs.

They were to acquire Babylonian names and they were to ultimately worship the Babylonian gods. In every way they were expected to become Babylonian. Now here's where I want us to look at the verses and we will see how they were expected to become Babylonian. And then we're going to see how Daniel pushed back to remain pure and undefiled. Let's look at verses six to 14. Now among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Those were their Jewish names of the tribe of Judah. The chief of the eunuchs gave them new names, Babylonian names. To Daniel, Belt Shajar, to Hananiah, Shadrach, and to Mishael, Meshach, and to Azariah, Abednego.

We probably learned those names in vacation Bible school. But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I feared my Lord the king who has signed your food and your drink, for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who were of your own age?" In other words, the eunuch feared for his life for not obeying the king.

So you would endanger my head with the king. Then Daniel said to the steward, that's the eunuch, whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel and Hananiah and Mishael and Azariah, "Test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. And let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you," in other words, a comparison, "and deal with your servants according to what you see." So he listened to them in this manner and he tested them for ten days. Now notice what we see here in these events. Daniel had a crisis, a major crisis.

He was at a crossroads of decision. Now what was the crisis? Was it a new language that they needed to learn? Was it their Babylonian education that they were expected to receive? Was it these new Babylonian names? No that wasn't the case. That wasn't the crisis. The problem revealed in verse 8 was with the Babylonian food and the problem was those foods were forbidden by the law of Moses. The only way to eat their food would be to break God's Word. To eat Babylonian food would have made them ceremonially unclean. He would have violated God's Word. He would have violated his relationship to God because it would have been sinned.

So that was the crisis. That was the crossroads. It wasn't the names, it was the food. Well Daniel and his companions, they had a choice. They could break God's Word and get along or they could not break God's Word. They had a choice and they were choosing to remain pure and to remain undefiled and they took risks. They took risks. Simply Daniel was refusing to become Babylonian. And what was the result of this first act of defiance? God gave him favor. God gave them all favor with the officials, verse 9 tells us. God gave them favor in their physical appearance, the text says. God gave them favor in their intellectual ability, verse 17 says.

God gave Daniel and his friends favor before the king, verse 19 tells us. And if we read the rest of the account, we will see that they were 10 times better, 10 times better than who they were compared to. Well this brings us to the first challenge. Josie, Annie, Chad, all of us. The first challenge is this, purity. What did Daniel say? I can't defy myself. I can't break God's Word. He says I've got to remain pure. I can't do what the world says to do.

And this is the challenge for you and this is the challenge for all of us because see our culture is headed faster and faster and faster one way, but God's Word says that God's people are to live another way. Sin and immorality and all types of sin and immorality abounds more and more and more. Things are going on now in our culture that were unimaginable 20 years ago. The acceptance of homosexuality and transgenderism and all sorts of perversion has become the norm. It's become the norm. And so what I'm saying to you is this, as the culture goes one way, will you draw a line in the sand and say, no, I will not violate God's Word.

I will remain undefiled. I will remain pure. I'm speaking to our three graduates right now. How are you going to do that? Because this is what your mom and your dad have told you? Is it because of what I'm telling you? Is it because of your upbringing and maybe what your grandparents told you? No, that's not how you're going to do it. The only way you're going to remain pure and undefiled in this fast becoming wicked world is by the power of God. It's only by the power of God.

The only reason a young Daniel could go into a pagan land without his mother, without his father, without his pastor, without all of his spiritual support, the only way he could go into Babylon and remain pure was God. God was in his life. God was in his heart. God was in his mind. The Word of God was who he was. And so for you, you must say that the only way that you're going to remain pure and undefiled is by the power of God. And then number two, our second observation, I want us to see that he was a true witness. We'll get over into chapter two here. I want us to see that he was a true witness and we'll see this in verses 25 to 30.

But let me explain what's happening here. Daniel found himself in a unique situation. The king, the king Nebuchadnezzar, that real long word there that's in your Bible, he had a dream. He would usually tell his sorcerers and magicians and his conjurers his dreams. And then he, the king, would allow them to interpret his dreams. That was the norm. But this time Nebuchadnezzar required his sorcerers and magicians and conjurers to tell him the dream and then give him the interpretation. Of course, they could not do it. The text says they couldn't.

But Daniel goes to the king's official and he declares that he could tell the king his dream and he could interpret the dream thus ultimately sparing the lives of these pagan sorcerers, magicians, and conjurers. So right here I want us to look at chapter two verses 25 to 30. Verse 25. Of course, this is just part of the story. And Aruch brought in Daniel before the king, Nebuchadnezzar, in haste. And he said, "Thus to him, I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation." But the king declared, the king declared to Daniel whose name was Belshazzar. That's the Babylonian name.

Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen in this interpretation? Daniel answered to the king and said, "No, wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show the king the mystery that the king has asked. But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries and he has made known to the king, the king Nebuchadnezzar, what will be in the later days. Your dream and the visions in your head as you lay in your bed are these." And notice what he says.

"To you, O king, as you lay in bed, come thoughts of what would be after this and he who reveals the mysteries made known to you what is to be." But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me not because of any wisdom that I have more than all of the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king and that you may know the thoughts of your mind. Now I want us to see how Daniel was a true witness here. Remember we're not focusing on the prophecies or the dreams, but Daniel. First of all, I want us to see that he witnessed with his actions. But to see that we've got to back up. Remember what happened earlier?

Daniel and his friends would not take the king's food and the king knew this. See he remained pure in his actions before the king. He wouldn't violate God's word before the king. So Daniel witnessed to the king first by his actions. Well next he witnessed in his words. Here in chapter two, we see that Daniel was bold, timid but bold, respectful but bold. He was up front. There were these difficult circumstances that God had ordained for him and Daniel went before the king not on his behalf but on God's behalf. Didn't he say no man can interpret the dream? He said God can.

And get this, Daniel was a witness with his actions long before he was a witness with his words. Daniel was a witness with his obedience to God's word and his personal holiness first. And then he was a witness with his words before the king. Then when it involved risk. Now here we come to our second challenge. And the challenge here is this, to be a witness. To be a witness. And again I'm speaking to you Chad and Annie and Josie. You are to be a witness. You are to be a witness. But first you must be a witness by how you live.

If you open up your mouth to be a witness with words but it doesn't line up with how you live you are what's called a hypocrite. And Josie, Chad, Annie, you know that you have friends who are hypocrites. You go to school with friends who are hypocrites. They go to the church camp and they make all the promises and they wear the t-shirts and a month or so or a few weeks later they're living like everybody else. See their actions don't line up with their words. And you must see that you must be a witness first with how you live. And then second you must be a witness with your words. You must share Christ. You must share the gospel.

But look you are not sharing just information. You must be willing and able to share how God has worked out the gospel in your life. But how are you going to do it? How? The only way you're going to do this properly, biblically, the way we see here with Daniel is if the gospel has made a difference in your life. If you're not converted to Christ you're wasting your time sharing Christ because you don't have what you're sharing that is hypocritical in and of itself. So if you're going to be a witness you must live it. You must own it. You must possess it.

You must be a true Christian converted to Christ and then you must live it out in your actions by what you say and what you don't say, what you do and what you don't do and then your words will line up with your actions. So you must be a true witness, not a false witness. And I put that word true witness in my notes on purpose. Then third I want us to see that Daniel worshiped at all cost. Daniel, he worshiped at all cost. And we will get into chapter 3 here. We'll look at verses 1-12. Now let me show you what's happening here before we get into the verses. Some of you know this but chapter 3 contains one of the most famous Bible stories.

It's definitely one of the most famous Bible stories in the Old Testament. Here we have the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were thrown into the fiery furnace. In all of these events, centered around worship and a big question. Now here's the question. Were Daniel and his friends going to worship a pagan idol or were they only going to worship the one true God? This is the crisis. They're at another crisis. And that's the question. Where are they going to worship? Is everybody else the pagan idol or were they going to worship the one true God? Now here I want us to read verses 1-12.

That's a good portion of scripture but it will be good for us to look at all of the verses. Of course I'm not reading it all now. I'm leaving some of you, leaving some homework for you in your own time. Chapter 3 verses 1-12. Then King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits and its breadth was 6 cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. And then King Nebuchadnezzar sent together his governors, satraps and prefects, and the governors and counselors and treasures. Some translations use different words there. But those are just government officials.

And the text says all of the officials of all of the provinces to come and he had them to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, and the counselors and treasures, the justices, the magistrates, and all of the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that the King had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

And the herald proclaimed aloud, "You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the trigon, the harp, the bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning, fiery furnace.

Therefore, as soon as all of the peoples heard the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the trigon, the harp, and the bagpipe, and every kind of music, all of the peoples, the nations, and the languages, they fell down and they worshiped the golden image." Let me pause there. It's not a very Christlike way to get people to worship, is it? But that's what he did. Verse 8, "Therefore, at the time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews, and they had declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, O King, live forever.

You O King have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the trigon, the harp, the bagpipe, and every kind of music shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoever does not fall down and worship, they should be cast into the burning, fiery furnace." They're repeating it back to the King. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon. Who is he talking about? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O King, they pay no attention to you. They do not serve your gods, little G, or worship the golden image that you have set up.

What does the text say? Nebuchadnezzar became furious. And I think most of you know the rest of the story. But I read all of those verses because I want us to see just how worship costs Daniel, and not just Daniel, but his companions. Now I want us to look at his worship. First we see that the King's declaration in verses 4-5, and in that declaration we see that they were ordered to worship the golden image. How were they ordered? They were threatened by death. And then we see the risk. This was a horrible risk, a horrible death, a great death. Earlier I said he twisted their arm.

They could have died if they had not worshiped the golden image. And the penalty here was a horrible, horrible death to be thrown into the fiery furnace. But then we see in verse 12 and the rest of the verses their obedience. That's what some of the King's officials complained about. The Jews and these people would not worship the golden image. But more specifically, these three young men, they would not bow down and they wouldn't worship the image that the King had made. Not because it was a bad idea. Not because of any cultural issues. Not because of popular opinion.

They would not bow down and worship the image because again they were obedient to God's word. Simply Exodus 20 verse 3 says that they would have no God's little gee before God, the one true God. Simply they only worship God, the one true God in perfect obedience to God's word. But there's a seeming problem here. If you pay attention to the verses, Daniel doesn't seem to be there. Where's Daniel? He is not mentioned here and we really do not know where he is. But notice, we do know that Daniel and his friends were administrators under the King and Daniel was in the King's court.

We do know that many of the Jews besides these men were refusing to obey the King's command. Daniel had always been a leader but we don't find him here. But I think it's safe to say that Daniel was a part of this group and he was taking in this great risk. Now this is the third challenge and the third challenge is about worship. And Josie, Annie, Chad, this challenge is about worshiping God and worshiping God only. But let me show you something here. You worship what you love. We don't have golden images today but yet we do. Listen there are men who worship bass boats. There are men and women who worship their bank accounts.

Josie, Annie, Chad, some of your friends worship their image or their boyfriend or their girlfriend. See you worship what you love. Now does that mean we don't love other things in the world? No. But what I'm showing you is this. We worship what we love and if you don't love God because you've been converted to Christ you're worshiping a whole host of things. You're worshiping everything that the world parades in front of you and those idols change week in and week out. You're worshiping everything else but the one true God. You know I want to say something here and I'm going to sound a little sarcastic. Josie, Annie, Chad?

You really can't go off to college according to song. You really can't go off to college because there are some that will say you know you're going to fall away. But look I want you to see something not if you love God. If you truly love God and you've been converted to Christ. If you are truly born again and he lives in your heart and your life and you truly do worship him you will worship him at all cost no matter where you go. How did Daniel and his companions make it in Babylon? Their mother wasn't there. Their father wasn't there. Their Sunday school teacher they weren't there. They were all alone.

They could have lived like the world and been more accepted. But why did they worship at all cost? God was there in their heart and in their life. And I say that sarcastically to help you to see that you will only worship and worship God the way you should at all cost if you know God. So the question of how? The only way you're going to worship him and worship him at all cost is if you know him. Then number four. Our fourth observation I want us to see that he was truthful in tough circumstances. We see this in chapter four. He was truthful in tough circumstances. Now again I want to show you some things here before we read the verses.

Simply Daniel finds himself in similar circumstances. He just stayed in hot water did he not? The king had another dream and he must interpret the dream. Daniel does not want to give the king the interpretation of the dream this time. We will see from the text that Daniel was apprehensive in giving the king the interpretation of the dream. But in the end Daniel did tell the king the proper interpretation of the dream and the dream spoke of God's judgment on King Nebuchadnezzar for his pride and for taking credit for what God had done for him. Now with chapter four here I want us to read verses 19 to 27. Chapter four verses 19 to 27.

Again a good portion of scripture but we do need to read these verses. Then Daniel whose name was Belshazzar, there's the Babylonian name again, was dismayed for a while and his thoughts alarmed him. He was always alarmed. He was in these crises. The king answered and he said Belshazzar let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you. Belshazzar answered and said my lord may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies.

The tree you saw, this was part of the dream, which grew and became strong so that its top reached to the heaven and it was visible to the end of the whole earth whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant and in which was food for all under which beasts of the field found shade and in whose branches the birds of the air lived. It is you, O king, you have grown and you become strong. Your greatness has grown and reached to the heavens and your dominion to the ends of the earth.

Because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying chop down the tree and destroy it but leave the stump for its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field and let him be wet with the dew of the heaven and let his portion be with the beasts of the field to the seven periods of time pass over him.

This is the interpretation, O king, it is a decree from the Most High God which has come upon my Lord the king that you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field and you shall be made to eat grass like an ox and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven and seven periods of time shall pass over you till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that heaven rules. Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you.

Take off your sins by practicing righteousness and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity. Now these verses show us the position that Daniel was in. There's a lot I know, but notice what's happening here. Right away we see that Daniel was very alarmed by this dream and the interpretation. Now why was that the case? Daniel was very close to Nebuchadnezzar. He had served under the king for many years by this point. He had been used of God in a great way during those years, but there's more. Daniel was sorry for this interpretation.

Daniel showed us his great sorrow by saying that he wished that this was applied to his enemies. But there's more. In it all, Daniel was truthful. We saw that in verse 27. I've got a question here, what could have been the king's reaction? What could Nebuchadnezzar have done to Daniel? Did Daniel risk losing his friendship with the king? More than that, he risked losing his life and his friendship. Daniel was truthful. Even when it cost him. He had security and he was being used of God with the king and in the king's court, but Daniel had to be truthful no matter the circumstances, no matter the cost, no matter the risk.

He had to be truthful. Now here's our fourth challenge. Truth and truthfulness. Josie? Chad? Annie? The question is this, will you be truthful? In a land when no one seems to want to be truthful, even our political leaders are rarely truthful. Your classmates are not truthful. They cheat on tests before your very eyes. Who in the world is truthful today? I have said this before. I usually get my news off my telephone. Certain websites. I was reading this morning about a major BBC reporter who had been caught reporting lies, misinformation. Those who are supposed to be truthful are not truthful today.

But listen, truth, truthfulness and honesty is rare. It's God's way. It is always God's way. No matter the risk, no matter the risk, truth and honesty and truthfulness is always God's way. I'm going to ask you a question, Josie, Annie and Chad. How are you going to be truthful? How are you going to be honest? How are you going to be truthful in the toughest of circumstances? It is if you have a love for God and a love for His Word. If you love God and if you love God's Word. You will only be truthful God's way if you know God. Listen number five, the fifth observation. I want us to see that he was strong in prayer.

We see this over in chapter six. We're just going to read two verses here. But Daniel, he was strong in prayer. Now as we get into chapter six, we're going to see that the world scene changes. The Babylonians were ultimately conquered by another power, the Persians, and they were led by King Darius. That's why in the scriptures you'll see King Darius now. King Darius set up his governors and he set up his commissioners over the governors. And Daniel was one of the three commissioners. Daniel immediately began to successfully serve Darius, just like he had served Nebuchadnezzar. And God was with him. But again, he found himself in a crisis.

He was again at a crossroads of decision. The commissioners and the satraps, they came to Darius and they urged him to sign into a law that no person could pray to any God other than Darius. And if so, they were thrown into the pit of lions. Now here's where I want us to read those two verses. Many of us are familiar with these verses, this story. Verse nine, "Therefore King Darius signed the document," the injunction. Verse 10, "And when Daniel knew that the document had been signed," what did the document say? That they could not pray to anyone but Darius.

And when Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber and he opened them towards Jerusalem. And it says that he got down on his knees three times a day and he prayed and he gave thanks before his God as he had done previously. Now notice, notice that Daniel prayed even when it risked his life. The verses clearly say that he knew that the law had been signed into effect. But then notice that he prayed just like he had always prayed. Verse 10 says that he had always been doing this. He had done this previously. And get this, Daniel did not pray only when he was in a jam.

He did not pray only when it was legal. He prayed like he always prayed. When there was a problem, he prayed. When he was in a crisis, he prayed. When it risked his life, he prayed. Or when it was easy, he prayed. Simply Daniel was a man of prayer. And look, this was his vital connection to God. And Daniel always prayed. Here we have the fifth challenge. Be prayerful. I'm calling you to be prayerful. And listen, Chad, Annie, Josie, your lifeline to God is prayer. Your lifeline, your life's blood comes through prayer. You must be men and women, young men and young women of prayer. I thought about an example.

How would my marriage be if I never talked to my wife? How would your marriage be if you never talked to your spouse? It wouldn't be much of a marriage. Wouldn't be much of a relationship. Now our relationship to God is not like our marriage, but it is a good example. And what I'm trying to show you is this. Our prayer life is our lifeline. Daniel knew that he had to have his lifeline to God. And it is the same for us today. And here's a challenge for you with this challenge of prayer. Study the great men and women of God that God has used in the past and study their prayer life.

One of the things that I've been doing in my own personal life is going back through the diary of David Brainard. He never meant for those things to be published. But what we find here in the life of a man like David Brainard and so many others is this. Not only did they accomplish great things for God, they accomplished great things for God because they were great men and women of prayer. Now let me say this to you, Josie. Chad, Annie, how are you going to pray? Only if you know God. If you don't know God, it's just a religious exercise. And no one wants a religious exercise. So we see the challenge to be prayerful.

And then six, our last observation is Daniel, he served God constantly. He served God constantly. And we see this in chapter six, verse 16 to 23. Now before we get into the verses, let me show you what's happening here. Of course we know what happened. Daniel was thrown into the lion's den. We know that. But God protected Daniel. But God haunted King Darius. Isn't that amazing? He haunted King Darius, but he protected Daniel. The king was deeply disturbed that he had been tricked by his officials, but his hands were tied. His hands were tied by the very law that he signed. He was not able to eat.

He was not able to sleep until he saw what happened to Daniel. So I want us to look at these verses. Verse 16 to 23. It's going to take a little bit of our time, but it's worth it. Verse 16 to 23. Then the king commanded and Daniel was brought and he was cast into the lion's den. The king declared to Daniel, may your God whom you serve continually deliver you continually. Notice that. And a stone was brought and it laid on the mouth of the den, the lion's den. And the king sealed it with his own signet, with the signet of his lords that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. In other words, his fate was sealed.

Then the king went to his palace and he spent the night fasting. No diversions were brought to him and sleep fled from him. In other words, he couldn't eat. He couldn't sleep. Then at daybreak, the king arose and he went in haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish, heartbreak. The king declared to Daniel, oh Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you serve continually. That's the second time he said that. Has your God whom you serve continually been able to deliver you from the lions? Then Daniel said to the king, oh king live forever.

My God sent his angel and shut up the lion's mouth and they have not harmed me because I was found blameless before him and also before you. Oh king, I have done no harm. Then the king was exceedingly glad and he commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the lions den and no kind of harm was found on him because he had trusted in his God. And I encourage you to read the rest of that story. But notice that the pagan king saw that Daniel served God. But notice what he said. Darius said that Daniel served God sometimes. King Darius said that Daniel served God when it was easy.

Did he say that Daniel served God when it was church revival time? No. Two times the king said that Daniel served God constantly. But there was more. It wasn't just the testimony of the king here because the Old Testament says that this was the case. And if the Old Testament says it, God is saying it. God was saying that Daniel served God constantly. And we have the king. So this is a double testimony that Daniel served God constantly. And notice what we have here. I've used this phrase before. It's a well known phrase. Daniel had both reputation and character.

It's often said by some and in different ways that reputation is what others say about you. But I've said character is what God says about you. And what did Darius say about Daniel? And what does God say about Daniel? Both Darius and God said that Daniel served God constantly, continuously. Here's the sixth challenge. Serve God constantly. Amy, Chad, Josie, you must serve God constantly. And it is easy for you to serve God when you're living with your parents and you're in elementary school or junior high school. It is easy for you to serve God in your home when you have the rules of your parents.

It is easy for you to serve God under your parents' authority when you're at revival services and at youth camp. But listen, you must serve God no matter where. You must serve God constantly. You must serve God when you're at college. And no one's watching. When all of your friends are doing it and mom's not there. Again, there are some that say that our teenagers can't go off to college. Well, if they can't go off to college, they can't go off to work either. Why? Because the world is out there. We can't lock ourselves up. How did Daniel and his companions serve God constantly? It was because they knew God. Church, listen.

If we can't raise up our teenagers to serve God constantly, we will never be able to send a missionary into a pagan land. I've been to a pagan land and temptations abound. There are more things that a man can get involved in in a pagan land than you can imagine. And the only reason a missionary can serve God constantly around the world is the same reason and same way that Daniel did. And you teenagers, you must see that the standard is to serve God constantly. The Bible doesn't say you just go out and sow your wild oats and come on back.

The scriptures do not say that you make a profession of faith and you go out and sow your wild oats and then you come back later. No. And look, again, this question, how are you going to do that? Only if you know God. Only if you know God. Only if you walk with God and you serve God and he is in your life. Daniel served God constantly. And what did he say? He was king. King. Don't worry about it. My God was with me in the lions then. Now here I want to get you to write down these six words. If you paid much attention, you probably figured them out. Purity, witness, worship, truthful, prayer, service, six challenges, six words.

Josie, Chad, Annie, these six words form six challenges that are really one big challenge. Live a life of purity. Be a witness for Christ Jesus. Worship the one true God. Be truthful and serve God constantly. Now, Mom, Dad, I'm going to aim at you. You got to model it. If you're not modeling this before them, you're a hypocrite too. You have to model it. You have to speak it. You have to pray this for them. You've got to teach this. This is the standard, folks. This is the standard. And it starts with us at home. But then you as Grace Life Church. This is what we must model. This is what we must teach. This is biblical Christianity, folks.

Now again, I'm going to revisit the question how. And I'm going to answer the question how in a similar way, but I'm going to add to it. And my graduates, Chad, Annie, Josie, I want you to listen to your pastor and I want you to listen well. How are you going to do all this? First it starts with being converted to Christ. You must be converted to Christ. I'm doing some of my reading in David Brainard's diary. I got a glimpse of early American Puritanism. And when you start reading those old heroes of the faith, they will use terms like being thoroughly converted.

And you will think sometimes they are advocating two classes of Christianity, those who are kind of converted and those who are thoroughly converted. As a matter of fact, men like Wesley and Edwards and Whitfield, preach sermons called the almost Christian because there are some people who are almost Christian, but they're not Christian. And look, Josie, Annie, Chad, the only way you'll live this is if you are thoroughly converted to Christ. Not a halfway Christian, not an almost Christian. We got churches full of those. Then second, you can only do this out of a healthy local church. You must have a healthy local church.

This is a healthy local church. We are growing. God is working. We are a healthy local church. Do we have areas we should work on? Sure. But we are a healthy, biblically healthy local church. And you must be anchored to a local church. I was talking with a friend of mine this week from another state. A leader in his church, and he was heartbroken. His son had been raised in a healthy local church, and his son moved off, and he was putting his life into a sick church. And he was lamenting because he was not in a healthy local church. You must have a healthy local church. And then the third thing dealing with the howl.

You see, this howl deals with the why. You do it all for the glory of God. All for the glory of God. You don't do this for self. You do this all for the glory of God. And Josie, Chad, Annie, you're young, but Psalm 90 says your life will go by this fast. Psalm 90 says that a thousand years is like one night watch in the night to God. The scripture say in Psalm 90 that one day God will command you to go back to the dust. He's God. What I want to leave you with is this. You have all three reached a great and significant milestone in life, and you have come to a great continental divide in life. And as your pastor, I say congratulations.

And I say live like Daniel did in the pagan world that we live in. Be used of God for God and ultimately for his glory. And then when you get to the end of your life like Daniel did, you'll be able to look to heaven and say, God, I've done it for you.