Daniel's Conviction

Let's bow in a moment of prayer. Father, thank you for today, and we're grateful for all the things you do. We're grateful for tonight and a chance to be together and to worship you. We thank you, Lord, that you watch over us. We know that there are many people in our congregation that are sick or not feeling well. We pray for them, Lord, as they recover. Peggy, of course, is not feeling well. We pray for her. We continue to pray for Frances and Abel. You do a mighty work in Frances's life, and we thank you that she's home and that people in our church have given meals and are able to be a part of that ministry into their lives.

We are grateful. We thank you, Lord, for how you've supplied our needs. You are a faithful God, and we are grateful for the things that you've done. We're grateful, Lord, for everybody who's here tonight. You brought them here safely. We pray for them, Lord, that all of us, that our hearts and minds and ears would be open and receptive to all that you have for us tonight, that truly, Lord, we would be blessed by the things that we hear. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, if you got your Bible, Daniel chapter 1.

Daniel 1 verse number 8. One verse, one virtue, leads to many victories. Did you get that? One verse, one virtue, leads to many victories. Daniel chapter 1 verse number 8 reads as follows. But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank. So he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. This verse is what we want to cover this evening because it opens the door to us for understanding how God wants to use us as we seek to make an impact, not just in the community in which we live, but with the people we come in contact with.

Daniel, as you recall, had been taken captive along with 60 or 70 other individuals. No one knows the exact number. It's around there. It could be more, it could be less. No one really knows, but these young men that were taken were part, some of them were part of the royal family there in Jerusalem. Others were taken because they were good-looking, they were in shape, they were educated, and the king wanted to put him in his service. He wanted to train them in the culture of Babylon, and that they might be in the king's court, in the king's service, because there would be subsequent besiegement of Jerusalem and more would be coming.

So Daniel is around 15, maybe 16 years of age. We really don't know how old he was, but the very first thing that jumps off off the page at us at the very outset in chapter one is that Daniel was a man of supreme character, and that character would determine his convictions, and those convictions would determine the choices he would make every single day.

Daniel was a man who was principled, and he's 15 years of age. At the outset, you see him completely separate and apart from everybody else. Even Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, although they've already been mentioned and their names have already been changed, Daniel's mentioned apart from everybody else because he is uniquely different than everyone else. And verse eight tells us exactly why. He would not defile himself. In fact, twice it says that. Now Daniel is going to face a test. Now, you'll note there's a test in chapter one, there's a test in chapter two, and there's a test in chapter three.

The test in chapter one deals with the walk of the believer. The test in chapter two deals with the witness of the believer, and the test in chapter three deals with the worship of the believer. But there are three consecutive tests, and they they are passed greatly. In fact, Daniel stands as one who is not going to flinch in the face of temptation and adversity. He stands strong. He stands bold. He stands apart. He stands above everybody else. Simply because of verse number eight, he would not defile himself.

Now this test dealt with Daniel's walk, his conduct, his his lifestyle. And we talked to you on Sunday about the walk of the believer. We talked to you about the fact that it's so important that we walk uniquely different than everybody else. We talked about the quality of life in which we live. We walk worthy. We walk brightly. We walk lovingly. We walk wisely. We walk truthfully. We walk faithfully. And the list goes on and on in terms of the quality of life in which we are to portray. But uniquely we are to walk completely separate from everyone and everything else.

That's what the believer does. He is uniquely separated from the world. So we read to you on Sunday, if you're with us, Ephesians chapter 4 verse number 17, which says, So this I say and affirm together with the Lord that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk in the emptiness or the futility or the vaneness of their minds. In other words, this is the way you used to walk, but you don't walk that way anymore. Why? Because you walk in newness of life as Paul says in Romans chapter 6. You are a new creation.

You have a new heart. You have a new mind. Everything about you is new. Why? Because you've experienced a new birth. So because you walk in newness of life, you walk separately from the world. This was Daniel. Daniel was one who would not compromise. Now remember, he's 15 years of age. It's not like he's 25, 35, 40 years of age. He's down the road. He's gone through some adversity. No, he's a young teenage boy. And he would not compromise his convictions. So ask yourself, who do you know that's 15?

I have a daughter, my youngest daughter, 15. All right. Who do you know that's 15 years of age? Would they be able to stand against the most powerful ruler in the world and say, I'm not doing that. I can't do it. I will not defy on myself. That's where Daniel was. And the question is, how did he get there? What brought him to that place? How did he obtain these convictions? But the unique thing about Daniel is that he lived a life that was uncompromising. I think that's just so important. You know, I think that if you look at a person's life, if you look at the essence of what manhood is, every man that is strong in the Lord is one that is uninhibited in his calling.

He knows what God's called him to do and he is uninhibited in his calling. He also is one who is unyielding in his creed. That is, he knows what he believes. And he will not yield. He will always stand strong based on what he believes. So not only is he uninhibited in his calling, but he's unyielding in his creed. Thirdly, he's unbelievable in character.

Fourth, he's unusual in conduct, unashamed of the Christ, unparalleled in his commitment, undaunted in his course, and uncompromising in his convictions. Those eight principles make up true manhood. If you're having trouble living as a man, it's because you've compromised in one of those eight areas. But he was uncompromising in his convictions. That's important. That's the way it was with Moses when he stood before Pharaoh. That's the way it was with Paul when he stood before Felix and Festus and Agrippa.

That's the way it is with Daniel when he stands before Nebuchadnezzar. Uncompromising in his convictions. A person who compromises is one who is making a conscious choice contrary to his own belief and own conviction that consequently lead to disaster. Think about way back in the book of Genesis and the man named Lot. Lot learned how to compromise. He learned. Where did Lot learn how to compromise? From father Abraham, the father of our faith. I'll talk to you about this on Sunday, but just as a preview, remember Abraham had been called and the man of God is uninhibited in his calling, right?

He was called to where? From Ur of the Chaldees to the land of promise. So when he got to the land of promise, the place that God had led him to, the place that God called him to, there was a problem. A famine arose in the land. Now just because God called you someplace and there's a problem doesn't mean now you just leave the place he called you to. You can't do that. Unless God leads you on. God never led him on. God never moved him on. He never once beseeched the Lord. He never once cried out to the Lord.

He never said, Lord, what do you want me to do? Instead, logically, he says, you know what? We're going to move and go down to Egypt because there's food in Egypt. And I'm not going to put my family through a famine. My family doesn't need to experience a famine. My family doesn't need to experience hardship. I don't need to experience hardship. After all, I've been called by God. I'm going to be a father of a great nation. I can't afford to die now, especially because there's not enough to eat. So I'm going to go down to Egypt.

God gave me a great mind. Therefore, I think logically. Therefore, because there's a problem, I'm moving to Egypt. Well, he takes his nephew a lot with him because his nephew came from Ur of the Chaldees and they went down to Egypt. Later on, we'll realize in Isaiah 31, God says, woe to those who go down to Egypt.

Cursed is everybody who goes back to a lifestyle that does not trust in me. And so he goes down to down to Egypt and then they come back. Of course, Abraham gets right. He repents. That's 13. He calls on the name of the Lord, right? So fast forward to Lot. Lot learned something while I was down there. Remember what happened while they were down there. Abraham says to Sarah, listen, you know what? Because you're so beautiful and I'm not, what's going to happen is that they're going to want to take you as their wife.

So you tell them that you are my sister. Now, she was literally his half-sister, but a half lie or half truth is a whole lie, right? And so you tell them that you're my sister because I don't want to die. I can't die, Sarah. I'm going to be the father of a great nation. So if you die, it's okay. If you have to compromise your purity, it's okay. I just can't compromise my life because I'm too valuable. I'm the father of a great nation. So honey, lie. It's going to be okay. Sure enough, she lied. Of course, a great debilitating disease came upon those in Egypt and the leader of Egypt, the king of Egypt was upset with what took place and got mad at Abraham and gave Abraham lots of livestock, lots of sheep, lots of all kinds of animals to go back.

See, the problem is when Abraham compromised, it worked out well. See, so why do you compromise again? And he does. Genesis chapter 20 does the same thing. Same old thing. Tell Sarah to lie one more time. Why? It worked out once, it'll work again. That's the problem with compromise. It's successful. Therefore, when it's successful, I'm more ready to do it again. That's exactly what happened with Abraham. Oh, by the way, so did his son Isaac. Did the exact same thing. Lied. Because compromise is very contagious.

Fathers, mothers, remember that. Compromise is very contagious. If you're not a principled person living by convictions, your children will begin to compromise just like you do and probably take it even further down the road. So here was Lot. Here was Lot. And he learned something. He learned to compromise while in Egypt. So when he came back and he had to make a choice as to which way he was going to go because Abraham gave him a choice. You want to go that way? If you do, I'm going that way. But if you want to go that way, I'll go this way.

Choice, Lot, is yours. So where did Lot choose? He chose the plush land. He chose looking toward Sodom. So what he learned in Egypt was how to look toward Sodom. Which caused him a little later in Genesis 13 to lean toward Sodom. Once he leaned toward Sodom, he lived in Sodom. Once he lived in Sodom, he began now to lead in Sodom. If you read the account correctly, he was one of the men in the gates. So he's the leader in Sodom. And yet through all that he'd realize his compromise caused him to lose everything in Sodom.

He lost his testimony. He lost his city. He lost his family. He lost his credibility. He lost it all. But he learned from Father Abraham how to compromise. Don't think for one moment our children don't learn how to live each and every day by looking at our lives. And it cost Lot greatly. All that to say is that Abraham, I mean Daniel, he never compromised for 70 years. He never compromised his convictions. He would always stand strong on his convictions. So what is it that caused him to be that kind of person?

Well, I want to cover several points with you this evening. The first one is the presence of convictions.

The presence of convictions. The very first thing you notice is that Daniel had them. He had convictions. Why and how did he develop convictions? It's because he understood and knew the Word of the Lord. He knew that some animals were permitted and some animals were prohibited when it came to the nation of Israel. He knew what Leviticus 11 says. He knows what Leviticus 17 says. And therefore he knows that there are some animals that you can't eat because they've been offered to idols. He knows others because they haven't been cleansed properly.

Can't eat those either. He knows this. Why? Because he's steeped in scripture. Everybody who is strong is because they are steeped in scripture. They know the Word of the Lord. I'm sure he even knew what the Bible says concerning what Solomon said in Proverbs chapter 23.

When it said, when you sit down to dine with a ruler consider carefully what is before you and put a knife to your throat if you are a man of great appetite and do not desire his delicacies for it is deceptive food. Maybe you learn from from the wisdom of Solomon and realize the the difficulty of sitting down and eating the delicacies of the king because they were offered the best food. They were offered the choice food and they also offered the best of all the wine. And so here was Daniel who when offered the best of what the king had when it came to eating and drinking he said, you know what?

No. Now this is very important. Why? Because it's not like it's some big decision you got to make. It simply deals with eating and drinking. What does the Bible say? First Corinthians 10 31.

Whether you eat, whether you drink, do all through the glory of God, right? In the most mundane things of life you either will stand strong or compromise because if you compromise in the little things, guess what? It's so easy to compromise in the big things. It's just not that you just wake up one day and just compromise on big issues in life. It's because over time you've compromised a little bit here a little bit there a little bit here a little bit there and all of a sudden the strength of convictions has has waned.

And when big choices come you make the wrong choice. And so Daniel is very clear. He could not defile himself. He had to remain clean and holy before the Lord. He had King Josiah. He had Habakkuk. He had Zephaniah. He had prophets who taught the word. He had Jeremiah. So he knew the word of the Lord. We know that from Daniel chapter 9 verse number 2 that one day when he was reading the prophet Jeremiah how long they would be in captivity to be 70 years. He knew that and that's what led him to his prayer in Daniel 9.

We're studying the prophecy of the 70 weeks in Daniel 9. But he we knew he's a man of the word. He knows the word of God. In other words the presence of his convictions were there because he was constantly in the word. Remember now he's 15. He's a young boy. And yet he knows what God's word says and doesn't want to compromise that authority in his life. Wouldn't it be great if we were all like that at our age and we're not, you know, 15. Or we'd be down in the youth ministry right now.

But the bottom line is he stood strong because he was a man of principled conviction. It was based on what God's word actually says. See my convictions are not based on on what I think God's word says. My convictions are based on what God actually does say. My convictions are not based on my opinion about life. They're based on what God actually does say. We know that faith is the assurance of things hoped for. The convictions of things not seen. But they're the convictions of things that have been said.

You might not see what God says, but because God said what he means you believe what he says and your convictions are based on that.

They're rooted in the truth of God's holy word. That's where Daniel was. He was a principled man because he knew the word of the Lord. He knew what the Bible said about about drinks. He knew over in the book of Proverbs, even though he is offered the wine of the king. He knew that over in chapter 31 of Proverbs, these words are spoken. It says, it is not for kings, O Lemuel. It is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire strong drink. For they will drink and forget what is decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.

He knows that because the book of Proverbs had been written. He knew about the law and the prophets. And so he would know the dangers of strong drink. And he didn't want to defile himself. He knew that kings could not have their their minds altered so that the decisions would be perverted decisions. Same was true for the priests. If you go back to the old testament, the priests were not allowed to let wine touch their lips. Why? Because they were involved in giving people spiritual counsel and they had to give the right counsel, not the wrong counsel.

And they didn't want to have any cloud in their thinking. They wanted to be true and pure. Well, Daniel knew that. And Daniel wanted to make sure that those he was with he'd be able to speak clearly and truthfully with. Over in the book of Proverbs chapter 23, it says this. Those who linger long over wine, those who go to taste mixed wine, do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly. At the last it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things and your mind will utter perverse things and you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.

They struck me, but I did not become ill. They beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I wake? I will seek another drink. Well, he knew that. He knew what the scripture says.

He did not want to defile himself. So we need to look at our lives and ask ourselves, do we know what the scripture says?

Do we know what the bible says so that I can have ironclad convictions? Because my convictions are given or are believed because they're based on absolute truth. An objective truth outside of myself, which is God given that says this is what I believe because this is what God says.

Because God said it. I don't do this. That was Daniel. Unfortunately, we think, you know what? God said it, but maybe he doesn't really mean it. Or maybe the consequences are not going to be that severe. Maybe I'll be okay if I compromise just a little bit. It'll be okay. But we don't really take God serious. But Daniel did, see? He took God very serious. And he was just a young, young teenage boy. But it would cause great strength to envelop Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego because those with convictions impact and influence others.

And that's what Daniel did. And so we see the presence of convictions is simply because of the strength and the truth of God's holy word. Remember what the bible says?

Book of Psalm, Psalm chapter 17. It says this, Let my judgment come forth from your presence. Let your eyes look with equity. You have tried my heart. You have visited me by night. You have tested me and you found nothing. I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. As for the deeds of men, by the word of your lips, I have kept from the paths of the violent. By the word of your lips, by what you said God, I have kept from the paths of the violent. My steps have held fast to your paths. My feet have not slipped.

Because the psalmist knew that he would hold fast to the pathway that God provides for him through his word, he does not slip. He does not falter. Because he would stand strong on the word of the living God. If you go a little further in the psalm, Psalm chapter 37, it says these words, The law of his God is in his hearts, is in his heart, excuse me, his steps do not slip. The righteous man has the law of God in his heart. Therefore, his steps do not slip. The psalmist said in Psalm 119.11, that word I've treasured in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.

The psalmist was saying in Psalm 119 verse 104, from your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. In other words, your precepts give me the understanding that I need to hate that which is an error. 133 of Psalm 119, establish my footsteps in your word and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me. In other words, Lord, if you establish my footsteps according to your word, then I won't be engulfed with iniquity. I'll be able to stand strong on what you've already said. It goes on to say in verse number 165, those who have kept your law have great peace and nothing causes them to stumble.

Verse 167, my soul keeps your testimonies. Verse 168, I keep your precepts and your testimonies for all my ways are before you. That was Daniel. He could read the Psalms. He would know about keeping the word of the Lord. That's what he did. Convictions were present in his life because the word of God was present in his life. We can only be men and women of principled conviction because we know what God says.

We know what God says about life. We know what God says about death. We know what God says about quality of life.

We know what God has given us in his word to obey. So we know what to obey. We know how to follow him because he gives us his word. Because he does. It's called letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly, right? Colossians 3.16. Let it be at home in your hearts. So many times the word of God is a stranger to our lives. It should never be a stranger. It should always be at home in our hearts. So the text says, but Daniel. Not Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, just Daniel. Now he would influence those men.

He would lead those men and they would follow because they would follow a man of conviction. But it was Daniel who took the stand. He had to stand alone. Nobody stood with him. See, we forget this about wanting to be a leader. It requires you always stand alone. You can't make decisions based on the convictions of God's word and expect to have a lot of friends. You just can't. If you're a man of conviction, you're going to say no to a lot of things. And you're going to upset a lot of people. You're going to make decisions according to what God says is right.

And when you do that, those who don't want to do what is right are not going to side with you. Daniel stood alone. And you know what? He didn't care. As far as I know, Daniel had no friends. Except for maybe she had Rackham, Sheck, and Abednego. And maybe they were younger than he was. I don't know. But outside of those three guys, Daniel had no friends. Because he was a man who stood on conviction and would stand alone apart from everybody else and ultimately stand above everybody else. And listen, when you stand above everybody else, you're up there all by yourself.

There's nobody up there with you. But you can't stand above unless you stand apart. And you can't stand apart unless you stand alone. But see, we don't want to do that. Why? Because we want friends so bad. We want friends so bad. We want companionship so bad. I will compromise some of my convictions to have friends. Daniel didn't care about that. Nope. I'm standing strong on what God's Word said. Point number two.

Not just the presence of convictions, but number two, the place of convictions. What was the place? His heart. But Daniel purposed in his heart. But Daniel made up his mind. In other words, in the inner part of a man, that's where convictions are. They're in the depths of your heart. You've treasured the Word of God in your heart that you might not sin against the living God. It was something that was a part of his life. That's why he knew what Solomon said. Proverbs 4.23, guard your heart for out of the flow all the issues of life.

We need to be constantly protecting, watching over, guarding, keeping our heart. Why? Proverbs 23.7, as a man thinks within his heart, that's the way he is. Well, how do we know how Daniel is? Because he is thinking within his heart. And his heart is a central place of his convictions. It wasn't something that he just thought about every once in a while. No, these convictions were indelibly etched in the heart and soul of this man. As a teen, he would make his way through life of 70 years and be under the leadership of five emperors, five of them.

And under the direction of five different emperors, never once did he compromise. In fact, his testimony became so strong that word would go forth that everyone would know about the man who was principled in his convictions. That's the way Daniel was. Now, what's that tell you? It tells you that the decisions you make when you're young will affect the way you live when you're old. One man said it this way, practically every life-altering decision that we make has been made when we were young. The friends that we choose, the life's companion that we marry, the habits that we acquire, the vocation that we follow, almost all of these decisions are made when we are young and they are.

Think about it. Think about when you begin to formulate in your mind your future and what you wanted to do, where you wanted to go. The friends you choose, the person you want to marry, the job you want to obtain, they're made when you're young. That's why we have to realize that our children need to be need to be bathed in Scripture so they can make decisions based on convictions that are rooted in truth. This is so important. And so Daniel, whether he's from the line of Hezekiah or not, we're not sure, but maybe he was one of the other royal family, but his parents somehow had invested into him.

Teach him those first 15 years what the prophets of old said. Made sure he read the Scriptures, made sure he studied the Scriptures, because all of a sudden he's carted off to Babylon. He's carted off to the big city. It's like when you're 15 years of age, you're taking captive to go to New York, right? That would be a horrible thing to do right now.

But carted off to New York or to Chicago or LA. Having to live on your own at 15 and make decisions. Based on what? The convictions that you hold dear in your heart. Spurgeon said it this way. Very much of our future life will depend upon our earliest days. Now think about the cultural pressure. The culture wasn't a Christian culture. It was a pagan culture. We're talking Babylon. The birthplace of idolatry, right? And so it's a place that had no respect for the laws of God. No, no, no respect for the Lord God of Israel.

That's why they changed their names, right? We talked about this last week. Why was, was, was, uh, these, these, these Hebrew boys, why was their name changed after the gods of their days? Because they wanted to rid the God that they believed out of their life. That's the culture they lived in. So in this culture he goes. That has no respect for God, no respect for the law of God, and yet he's able to stand strong on that law and with his God. What about the peer pressure? Can you imagine the peer pressure?

Let's say there's, there's 70 of them that went, okay? And Daniel chooses to stand alone. Doesn't want to partake of the king's delicacies. Doesn't want to partake of the king's wine. You can hear the conversation now.

Daniel, it's no big deal. It's okay. It's only for a while. It's not forever. And after all, this is good food. I mean, you could be eating the food of a prisoner, but no, you got good food. It's going to be okay. It's not that big a deal, Daniel. It's just some meat here, some meat there, some wine here, some wine. It's not a big deal, Daniel. Come on, man. Can't you be like the rest of us? Daniel says, no, I can't. I won't. And off in the corner were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and they're watching everybody else and they're thinking, that's the guy we got to follow right there.

He's strong. We got to follow what he does. We got to be like that guy because that guy's not afraid of anybody. He's not afraid of anything. That's the man who's got conviction. But can you imagine the peer pressure that Daniel must have faced? You know, we need to be able to train our children to stand against the cultural pressure, the peer pressure they face every day. Because listen, if you can't do it while you're young, you won't do it while you're old. If you learn to compromise when you're young, you'll compromise when you're old.

So learn to stand strong at a young age, learn to have convictions at a young age, learn to handle peer pressure and cultural pressure at a young age, so the older you get, the stronger you stand. And Daniel was that way from very early on until the very end of his life. He never compromised. He stood, he stood strong. The righteous, it says in Psalm 112, will be remembered forever. The righteous will be remembered forever. Of those 70 plus young people that were taken, we only remember four names because only four stood for righteousness.

It's like Joshua and Caleb. We remember their names, but we don't remember the other 10 spies, do we? Why? They compromised. They were weak. Nobody wants to remember the weak. Everybody wants to remember the strong, those who stand, those who live for Christ. That's why Joshua and Caleb have names that have been written down in history that we always remember because they were strong and courageous. But the other 10, they weren't, they compromised. So we have these four Hebrew boys that we can remember and we can emulate, but the rest, the other 66.

Who cares who they are? They don't teach us anything except how to compromise, how not to stand strong, how to be weak. Who needs that for an example, right? But these four boys, we can remember their names because we're going to follow their direction. So from the presence of convictions to the place of convictions, look at the particulars of his convictions.

He would not defile himself. He would not defile himself. It says he was adamant. He was dogmatic. I will not. I won't compromise. This is not going to happen. There's a man who would stand strong. He would not defile himself with the king's food. Listen, this is not about diet. Okay? Now we know, we know that God gave dietary laws to Israel. We know that God gave clothing laws to Israel, all these different ceremonial laws. He gave them all these laws so that they would be completely different than the people in the land of Canaan.

He wanted them to live, look, and act differently than everybody else because they're his people. This is not about diet. Well, if you eat like a vegetarian, you're going to live longer and feel better than a guy who eats red meat. It's not about that. It's about holiness. It's about purity. About not defiling himself that something goes against the law of God. He was so in tune with God's law. He did not want to compromise anything. It's not about his diet. It's about holiness. It's about purity.

That's what he did not want to compromise. And yes, some could say, you know what? You're just too dogmatic. Can't you be, can't you flex a little, Daniel? Can't you ease up just a little bit? Do you have to be so hard-nosed, Daniel? The answer is yes. When it comes to the word of God, you got to be hard-nosed. You got to stand strong. You got to be black and white when it comes to what God's word says you can do and what God's word says you can't do. And that's the way Daniel was. He was black and white.

He wasn't going to compromise. He would stand strong. When you think about what scripture prescribes for us, for Daniel, is what he could eat, what he could not eat. But God's word prescribes all kinds of things for us. For instance, God said to Adam and Eve, you can eat of any tree that you want. Except one. Just one. Every other tree in the garden, help yourself to. But there's only one that you cannot help yourself to. So guess which one they wanted to help themselves to? The one that God said you can't do that.

So Adam compromised God's law, followed his wife into sin, and lost paradise. Abraham compromised the truth, lied about Sarah, and almost lost his wife. Sarah compromised God's word, sent Abraham into Hagar, who bore Ishmael, and destroyed the Middle East. Esau compromised for a meal. Jacob had prepared. He lost his birthright. Saul compromised God's divine word, kept the animals, but lost his kingdom. Aaron compromised, and he and the people lost their privilege of entering the promised land. Samson compromised his devotion as a Nazarite, lost his strength, his eyes, and his life.

Israel compromised the commands of the Lord, lived in sin, and the fight in the Philistines, they lost the ark of God. David compromised the standard of God, committed adultery with Bathsheba, murdered Uriah, lost his infant son. Solomon compromised his convictions, married foreign wives, and lost the United Kingdom. Ahab compromised, married Jezebel, lost his throne. Israel compromised the law of God with sin and idolatry, lost their homeland, went into captivity. You always lose when you compromise.

You never win. The problem is at the time you think you're winning, but eventually you're always on the losing side. The fourth thing I want you to see is the proclamation of his convictions. He respectfully approaches Haspinus, the one in charge. He wasn't rude. He wasn't arrogant. He wasn't belligerent. Didn't stand up and hold a sign, march around the kingdom. He just simply said, I can't do that. He just said that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank.

So he sought permission from the commander of the officials. I'm sure he went to him privately. I'm sure he didn't stand up in front of everybody else and say, you know what, I'm not doing that, as if he was to be better than anybody else. Daniel wasn't that kind of person. I'm sure he went privately, asked permission, and said, you know what, I can't do this. I'd ask that you'd respect my beliefs. You'd respect my commitment to my God. I cannot do this. And so he goes and he proclaims his conviction to a pagan leader because Ashpenaz was put in charge by Nebuchadnezzar.

It could not be easy for him. He's 15. He's a young kid. And so he has to go and make a statement. That says, I cannot do this. You know, when you think about that, you think about the people who did things like this. I mean John the Baptist, remember him? He called Herod out because he married his brother's wife. You can't do that. Herod's wife was outraged. She wanted him dead. They threw him in prison. You know the story. He ended up losing his head. But John the Baptist wasn't going to compromise truth just because he was speaking to the king.

You're wrong, Herod. You can't do this. You violate the law of God. You're in sin. He was thrown in prison, lost his head. You gotta admire people like that. That will not back down from that which they know to be true. And Daniel's influence, his impact was great because Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would hear, learn, listen, and follow. There's always somebody out there who's not nearly as strong as you are but will glop onto your strength and say, I want to be like that. I want to follow that person.

I want to be like that guy is. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they were those kind of guys. They sat back and watched and said, I want to be like Daniel. He didn't back down from anybody. I want to be like that guy. So that's exactly what they did. And they began to follow. So, in this hostile environment that was completely pagan, would have nothing to do with Israel's God, all these young boys were taken captive, and there was one guy who stood above because he stood alone and apart from everybody else.

Because he would not compromise the truth that was in his heart that he had treasured, that he studied, that he learned. Because God's Word does something in the life of a believer. God's Word is so powerful. And that Word he was committed to. He could not defile himself. He could not become impure. Because God had laid out the lessons for purity. He knew Leviticus 1744. You should be holy for the Lord your God is holy. That's the way he was. I want to be holy. I want to be separate. I want to be consecrated.

I don't be like everybody else. I want to be what God wants me to be. That's why James says in James 1 27, what? That those who have pure and undefiled religion visit the widows and orphans in their affliction and keep oneself unstained from the world. That's true religion. You don't want to be stained by the things of the world. That's the way Daniel was. He did not want to compromise. And number six, the power of his convictions. Look at this.

It helped him overcome temptation. The temptation for promotion, the temptation for popularity, the temptation of the the lust of the flesh, all those things. Because the power of conviction affects everything that you do. He could have lost the opportunity to serve in the king's court. Took that risk. He could have lost the popularity among the people. Maybe he wasn't that popular to begin with, but you know what? Didn't make any difference. It wasn't about popularity. It was about his purity. That's what was most important.

And the temptation was great. It was great. He'd been taken from his home. He'd been taken from his parents. His homeland would be destroyed. He was put in a place. He had no idea what was going to happen. And it's at that time that satan brought the temptation. And you know what? When he was down, when he was at his lowest point, he stood to the highest level. Because he was a man of principled conviction. And his emotions did not get in his way. Did not sway him. He just said, I cannot be defiled.

I will not be defiled. So he went and asked permission from the king. Now remember, this is the greatest kingdom in the world led by the most ruthless king in the world, Nebuchadnezzar. He's 15. And he stands. Would it be that we would be like that? So what is the principles that we learn from this? Let me give them to you real quick.

There are five of them. You want to be like Daniel and stand on conviction? First of all, you got to be focused.

You got to be focused on that which you know to be true. And that's just God's Word. Now remember, Daniel couldn't do what we can do. Hebrews 12, having fixed our eyes upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, Daniel couldn't do that. But he could focus on that which he knew to be true, the Word of the living God that was passed down from the prophets of old. And Daniel was a man who was supremely focused on the inspired Word of God. We focused on the incarnate Word and the inspired Word.

He focused on the inspired Word. For us to stand strong like Daniel, we must be completely fixed and focused on that which we know to be true. Once you lose that gaze, once you lose that focus, who knows what's going to happen? But keep yourself focused on the truth because that is what keeps you on the straight and narrow. So, number one, be focused on that which you know to be true.

That's why, how many times have we said it? Proverbs 23, 23, buy truth and do not sell it. Buy it. Spend whatever it takes. Spare no expense on the truth and never compromise it. The only way to do that is to be focused on it completely, entirely. We need to saturate ourselves in the scriptures. It is our lifeline for daily living. We cannot function without that focus. So, be focused. Number two, number two, be faithful.

Don't just be focused, be faithful to what you're focused on. Who can find a faithful man? Who can find a trustworthy man? Paul said in 2nd Timothy 4 that he was faithful to the faith. The faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. That allowed him to be faithful then to the fight, which was a noble fight, a good fight, because it's a fight for the kingdom of God, which allowed him to be faithful all the way to the finish. Daniel was faithful all the way to the finish because he was faithful to the faith that was given to him and passed down from his parents to him, from the prophets of old to him, that he could read in the scriptures.

He was faithful to it. Be focused, be faithful. Number three, be fearless. Be fearless. Listen to what the Bible says, Proverbs 14, 26, in the fear of the Lord, there is great strength and confidence.

In the fear of the Lord, be fearless. Fear only God and fear no man. Only fear God. And you can be fearless about everything else around you. Why? Because in the fear of the Lord, there is strong confidence. Strong confidence. Psalm 115, verse 11, you who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord, for he is your help and your shield. Don't you think Daniel knew that? He knew Psalm 115. Trust in the Lord. Fear only the Lord. Don't fear Nebuchadnezzar. Don't fear the consequences of your stand. Only fear the Lord because he is your shield.

He is your helper. He is your defender. You see, we don't take stands because we're afraid of what we're going to lose. Forgetting the fact that God is our defender and protector. He'll watch over us. So I can be fearless. I love what it says in Proverbs 19, 22, the fear of the Lord leads to life so that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil. Remember Psalm 112? How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments. He will never be shaken, verse 6. He will not fear evil tidings, verse 7.

The man who fears the Lord is never shaken. He is never going to falter because he stands strong on truth. And therefore, he stands fearless before pagan kings, be focused, be faithful to that which you focus upon. And then you can be fearless to all those who come against you, which allows you then to, number four, be firm. Be firm. Say no. Say no. How many times have you heard me say, say no at least three times a day, whether you need to or not. Just say no. Okay, I'm not doing that. Nope. Nope.

Nope. Just get used to saying no so that when temptation comes you say no. It's not happening. But we don't say no enough. We always want to say yes. We always want to give in. We don't want to stand. Say no. Be firm. Taney was firm. Nope. Not doing that. We have to live a life that centers on the word no instead of the word yes. Because most of life is living saying, I'm not doing that. I won't do that. I can't do that because of what God has said. You got to be firm, but you can't be firm unless you're fearless.

Because you see, the reason you don't say no is because you're fearful, not fearless. You can't say no in compromising situations, because you're afraid of what people are going to think about you. You're going to freeze. You're going to lose your friends. Thinking about your friends. Stays true to what God's word says. There's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. He's not your neighbor. He's the Lord God of Israel. And so be firm. You can be firm because you're fearless. You can be fearless because you're faithful.

You can be faithful because you're focused. And lastly, be futuristic. Always anticipating the future. Looking toward the future. Well, this is evident in Daniel chapter one. All throughout the rest of the book, we're going to see Daniel in chapter two. Learning to look toward the future. And the coming of the king. And all that's going to happen when the Messiah arrives. We need to not just focus on our Lord, but have our eyes fixed on the hope that's going to come. And when that happens, you live futuristically.

It's not about what happens today as much as what happens tomorrow. The decision you make today is going to affect your tomorrow, right? Make wise choices today, and you'll live a better life tomorrow. Make bad choices today, and you're going to live a difficult life tomorrow. So live futuristically. Always be futuristic in terms of your approach to life. Thinking, okay, the decision I'm going to make today, how will it affect my family tomorrow? My children tomorrow? We read earlier to you, Proverbs chapter 14, verse number 26.

It says these words. Proverbs 14, verse number 26. It says, in the fear of the Lord, there is strong confidence. And his children will have refuge. You want your children to be safe? You want your children to be protected? You want your children to have refuge? You must fear the Lord. Listen to this, verse 27. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life that one may avoid the snares of death. Daniel 1, verse number 8. One verse, one virtue, will lead to many victories in life. And the rest of the book of Daniel is all about the victories.

Because he stands on one virtue, he will not compromise his convictions. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today. And the opportunity you give us to study your Word. It's only a brief moment in the week. But our prayer, Lord, is that it would be more than just a brief moment in our minds. But the things we learn about your Word would be so indelibly etched in our minds. It would govern every decision that we make. Lord, help us all to make wise choices today. Based on what your Word says. Help us not to compromise our convictions.

Compromise is such a devastating word. Because it brings heartache, and pain, loneliness, and sadness in so many ways. And the Scripture is filled with people who compromised. Lord, help us not to do that. If we have compromised in the past, help us to learn from that, that we might stand strong today and tomorrow. And we might go back and say, Lord, beginning today, I want to stand strong on the convictions of your Word. I want to be convinced about what your Word says. And never compromise it. With my family, my friends, in my church, at work, wherever I might go.

And I might glorify your precious name. We ask this in the name of our soon coming King, Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.