DANIEL’S DEMONSTRATION OF FAITH PROMISE

DANIEL’S DEMONSTRATION OF FAITH PROMISE

Daniel 1:1-8 (KJV)

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.

And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.

And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes;

Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.

Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

In my mind Daniel is one of the greatest figures in all of human history.

He is one of only a small hand full of people in the Bible of whom nothing negative is ever said.

We will find repeated over and again, through the book of Daniel, evidence of such godly character that Daniel is set up more than once in the Bible as an example of the great believers.

Ezekiel 14:14.

Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God

Ezekiel 28:3.

Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee 

This is phenomenal indeed when we remember that Daniel had this testimony in a strange land, having been stolen from: 

·  His home 

·  His family and 

·  His spiritual heritage.

Daniel is a Joseph type person.

·  He was unjustly taken

·  In his youth

·  To a foreign land

·  Where instead of being bitter 

·  He surrendered his situation to the Lord and 

·  He prospered for God’s glory

People come up with all sorts of excuses why their: 

·  Sins, or 

·  Shortcomings or 

·  Failures 

are acceptable.

But if we put them up next to Daniel, their excuses pale and they are left with the plain truth, they have not measured up to God’s standard because they chose not to.

Before we can properly understand Daniel’s testimony, we have to understand something of the history of Israel.

The Bible says God chose to set His love upon the people of Israel, 

·  Not because they were the biggest

·  Not because they were the most godly

·  Not because they were the most wonderful people on earth

God chose to love them because He chose to love them.

God’s love toward these people led to some amazing blessings:

·  God gave them a land flowing with milk and honey

·  God enabled them to defeat the people of Canaan supernaturally

·  God blessed them with great leadership under men such as Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, and Solomon

The trouble was, they got to a place where, as a nation, they thought they really were better than the other nations and that God could not help but love them and bless them.

They could not fathom God ever judging or punishing them.

§They were, after all, the apple of God’s eye

§They were the only nation of people who worshipped the living and true God

§They were the children and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob

They were so sure that God would bless them that they forgot that His people should also obey Him

And though God was gracious a very long time with them, there came a day when, like the Canaanites, their cup of iniquity was full.

God sent a particular prophet, Jeremiah to warn them that they were about to face the chastening hand of God and that they should submit to that hand.

God, Jeremiah said, was about to send Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, to conquer them and to send them into captivity.

Jeremiah’s counsel, under the direction of God, was that Jerusalem should surrender to Nebuchadnezzar.

If they did, God said, they would not suffer much

And after a period of about 70 years, they would be allowed to return home from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Remember; Nebuchadnezzar was being sent as a chastening rod from God. 

§Israel had sinned against God

§She had been sinning against God for years.

If she had humbled herself and repented and accepted her judgment, we know exactly what God would have done.

1 Peter 5:5-6

…. God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:(KJV)

The record of God’s word is that the Jews rejected Jeremiah’s preaching.

The Jews refused to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, so God allowed him to soundly defeat the Jews, and they went into captivity anyway – only this time it was after much heartache and loss of life.

Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem three times.

It was during the first of those raids that the story of Daniel begins. 

He and several other children of royal blood were captured and taken to be trained for the service of Nebuchadnezzar.

His practice was to use people of the defeated nations to aide him in ruling those nations. Because they were from that country, his logic was that the oppressed people would be less likely to rise in rebellion.

But he had to train these young people to rule for him and try to take the rule from him. That involved: 

·  Changing their names

·  Changing their clothing

·  Changing their lifestyle, including the foods that they ate.

He wanted to teach them to appreciate being taken – to see it as a major improvement in their standard of living.

The Bible says,

Daniel 1:8 (KJV)

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

I see in Daniel a lesson that we can apply to our faith promises this year.

Notice firstly,

I. DANIEL PURPOSED IN HIS HEART

Daniel 1:8a (KJV)

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: …

Haven’t we said that a faith promise is really a faith purpose?

2 Corinthians 9:7 (KJV)

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

The similarity in the phrases between Daniel 1:8 and 2 Corinthians 9:7 can’t be ignored.

Notice that Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself. 

·   He could not purpose in his flesh

·   He could not choose to refuse the food

·   He was not in control

A faith promise offering needs to be something we can’t do in our flesh. It needs to be something out of our control.

Faith Promise is one of the very few times we Christians in America can really learn what it means to trust God for what we can’t do.

Unfortunately, very few of us really do that.

And then, if at one time we did press ourselves beyond our measure to give above the tithe in Faith Promises, it’s been long enough that God has taken care of us that we have forgotten that He has done it.

One of the benefits of an annual faith promise is that every year we are once again challenged by the Lord – 

·   Are we really willing to step out in faith?

·   Are we really able to trust God to help us do what we cannot do?

By the way, Faith Promise is not faith presumption.

Sometimes we can’t do what we want to do.

Faith Promise is doing what God tells us to do and not what we wish we could do.

I wish I could give - $100,000 – to missions.

But I didn’t promise that. 

If you will listen to God and sincerely promise what God tells you, and then if you will faithfully give it, He will provide it.

And I am convinced, He will account that as if you gave what you wish in your heart you could give.

Notice secondly

II. DANIEL PETITIONED THE PRINCE

Daniel 1:8 (KJV)

… therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

In Daniel’s case the prince is no picture of God, but in our case we may consider that, regardless of our circumstances, we can pray. 

We aren’t in a position to do anything else, and if we are, we ought to do it, but we can pray. No circumstance can stop that. 

There are at least two ways we can pray concerning missions and Faith Promise:

We can pray concerning what we promise

Have you ever prayed and KNEW God answered?

Some groups of Christians call it “praying through.”

You’ve prayed and prayed and prayed for a thing and then suddenly, unexpectedly and inexplicably, you know God has answered.

It might be that you have not received the thing you have prayed for but still, you have peace and a spiritual confidence, it’s been granted.

God has done that for me on a number of occasions. The first time was when I was a brand new Christian.

Had had the habit of chewing tobacco and I really wanted to quit it.

It happened that I met Anita just before I stated going to church.

Anita was a school teacher, a city girl.

I knew she wasn’t going to appreciate my chewing tobacco.

Whenever I knew I was going to see her I would brush my teeth about a dozen times, chew gum all the way from my house to her house and wear a new pair of pants that didn’t have the imprint of my tobacco can in the back pocket.

But the very moment I left her house I put a chew in my mouth.

Even Anita wasn’t enough of a reason to quit chewing.

I wanted her to be, but I couldn’t quit just because I didn’t think Anita would like it.[1]

And then I started attending Cornerstone Baptist Church in Kennewick, WA.[2]

I started praying every morning that God would deliver me from my habit.

I learned about Roman 13:14[3]and stopped carrying chewing tobacco with me. But the habit was strong and there were plenty of people at work I could “bum a chew” from. So, for the most part I stilled chewed as much as ever.

I even had an uncle who chewed that lived a half mile or so away from my place so I could get chew from him when I wasn’t at work.

One in a while there was no one to bum a chew from so I would go to the store and buy some so I could have one chew. Them I would throw away the rest of the can so I wasn’t “making provision for the flesh.”

And every day I would ask God to deliver me from the addiction to chewing tobacco.

One afternoon I was home alone[4]and the craving for the chew got hold of me.

I had none

My uncle wasn’t home

So, I was going to go to the little grocery store down the road.

I was going to buy a can of tobacco and a half gallon of ice cream. I was going to take one dip of chew and throw away the rest of the can. (But I was going to eat all of that ice cream by myself!)

Just before I left the house I got on my knees at the couch in the mobile home I shared with one of my uncles.

I told God I was having a nicotine craving and I was about to give in.

I told Him, as I had done dozens and dozens of time over the previous few months, that I did not want to give in and that I wanted to be free of the addiction to tobacco.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, inexplicably, the craving was gone. 

God had answered my prayer and what’s more, I knew it. I knew I would never crave chewing tobacco ever again.

I got up from that prayer and called the uncle who also chewed and that I would visit whenever I wanted to bum a chew from him and told him that God had delivered me and that I was no longer addicted to tobacco.

He of course didn’t believe me, but I have never ever wanted to chew since then.[5]

What I want to tell you is that God has answered my prayer year after year after year when I ask Him what we should give as a Faith Promise.

I can’t remember if there are times that I He has given me an amount to promise and I didn’t give that amount.

But: 

·   I can tell you that He has always given me an amount to promise. And 

·   I can tell you that he has always made it possible for me to give it. And 

·   I can tell you that we have always survived even after giving it.

Secondly, we can pray specifically for the missionaries.

Notice finally,

III. DANIEL PROVED HIMSELF

Daniel 1:9-13 (KJV)

Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.

And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.

Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.

Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.

He asked and received permission to do in the flesh what he desired in the heart to do. 

And then he proposed that the prince put him through a test.

Prove him – see if it wouldn’t work.

Ten days, just ten days.

Let him eat pulse and water, let him refuse the kings meat for just ten days, and see if God wouldn’t bless him. (and in the process, bless the prince and the king too.)

The Christian should expect, and welcome, proving. 

We’ve talked about this sort of thing before.

If you commit to coming faithfully to church, you can expect that things will get in the way of coming to church.

·   Someone will come to visit on Sunday

·   Someone will schedule a family birthday party one Sunday

·   Someone will call you just as you start toward the door to go to church

Or it will be Wednesday.

I am interested in a number of things and, if I could go to them, I think I could be a witness. But so many of them happen – on Wednesdays.

·   I belong to Tacoma Sportsmen’s Club – their business meetings are Wednesdays

·   I would love to be on the committee that runs the Roy Rodeo. Their meetings are on Wednesdays.

·   It’s shocking how many children’s sports games are Wednesdays

·   Even Baskin Robbins has their free cone days on Wednesdays.[6]

You ought to expect that your Faith Promise, if it is honestly a Faith Promise and not just an amount that you decided you can afford to give, is going to test you.

It’s not always going to be easy to do.

There will be weeks you are tempted to skip it and not give it.

After all, 

·  No one is going to ever hold you accountable for it.

·  Nobody really knows even how much you promised.

Nobody but God.

Daniel and his friends were proven for those ten days and the Bible says,

Daniel 1:15 (KJV)

And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.

Conclusion

I am certain that the reason some Christians never really grow, never get victory over sin, never are happy in their faith, is because they have never put themselves in a position that God led them to but only God can get them through.

And one of the clearly Biblical places where God want to do that, is in our Faith Promises to God for missions.

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[1]At first, I didn’t think she knew I chewed. I was wrong but a guy can hope.

[2]I had gotten saved watching a TV evangelist a couple of years earlier, but I had not gone to church.

[3]Romans 13:14 (KJV)

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

[4]This was way before Anita and I were engaged.

[5]I do sometimes have a nightmare where I still chew and forget to spit it out before I preach. J

[6]They must know that the people most likely to claim a free ice cream and not buy something else will be those Christians who are committed to going to church on Wednesdays. J