The following is a manuscript of the sermon presented by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson on Sunday, April 28, 2024 at our Missouri City campus.

The farther you go down in the ocean, the more pressurized the ocean becomes. The farther you go down, the more you will be squashed. If you go down deep enough, the ocean’s pressure will flatten you out like a pancake. The deeper you go, the greater the pressure is.

When the divers went looking for the Titanic, they had to make the trip in a small, pressurized submarine. It’s a little podlike thing that a diver sits in when he intends to go deep. If a diver went to investigate the Titanic on the bottom of the ocean without a submarine, he would be totally destroyed because the pressure in his body is less than the pressure in the water. His body would collapse because of the outside pressure in the water. Even though the water is squeezing against the submarine trying to collapse it, it cannot because the sub has been pressurized. The diver can go deeper and deeper, and still remain safe and secure because the pressure on the inside is greater than the pressure on the outside.

We live in a world full of pressure. So many of us are under pressure at work, at home, and in our finances. Add to that the cultures pressures that come against us. It’s a pressure cooker that we are navigating every day. And Satan is trying to collapse us.

Here’s the thing—we cannot tell the ocean to stop pressurizing us. That’s the nature of going deep under water. The deeper you go, the more pressure you are going to get.

Likewise, the world can’t help but pressure you. But greater is the pressure inside of you than the pressure outside of you. If you go deep on the inside, then when you’re pressured on the outside, you won’t cave in.

We are going to be studying the book of Daniel and then at the midway point, of Daniel, we will study the book of Revelation. These next six weeks are called Into the Fire. They emphasize the narrative portion of Daniel and in these stories, we see both God’s faithfulness as well as Daniel’s faithfulness. These lessons are so important for the life we are living today in the culture in which we live, but they are also an example for the kind of faithfulness the church is to embody in the book of Revelation.

As we begin our study, I want to put before you a vision of what we hope for, and the one word that we will be coming back to throughout the study this year.

Look at these words of Jesus in Matthew 25.

Matthew 25:23

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’”

Look at this word here in verse 23. It’s the word faithful.

Do you see it?

FAITHFUL

Our goal is to be faithful to God and to experience God’s faithfulness.

So, let’s dig into Daniel 1 and see what it is we need to learn about being faithful.

Here is the first principle I want to share with you about faithfulness.

Faithfulness…

1. Comes from a Sure Identity.

I. Faithfulness comes from a Sure Identity.

Daniel 1:1-8

“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. 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.”

So, here’s the story.

It’s 605 B.C. Babylonian troops lead by Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egyptian forces, led by Pharoah Neco in a battle that marked the beginning of the end of the Egyptian empire as a world power.

Notice these words from Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 46:1-2

“The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. About Egypt. Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:”

On this conquest to conquer the Egyptian empire, Nebuchadnezzar and his army laid siege to Jerusalem. That’s what we see in Daniel 1:1.

It says here that Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem and he besieged it.

During this siege, the temple was desecrated and many of its fine vessels were taken to Babylon as a tribute.

Additionally, as we have just read, many members of the royal family, and the upper class of the kingdom of Judah are taken into exile. And it is here that we are introduced to Daniel, the one that is going to be considered the prophet of the exile. We are also introduced to his companions and we learn what it is when our lives are exposed to deep and profound external pressure.

Now, let me give you a few more tidbits of context and then I want to unpack this principle.

Daniel and his companions arrive in Babylon as young men…teenagers most likely. He served four different kings, and it appears he lives to be at least 80 years old. So, he is taken into Babylonian captivity, and he lives to see the Jewish people return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (the book of Ezra), and the walls of Jerusalem (the book of Nehemiah).

Pastor Mark tells me that with the exception of Joseph, no other man among the children of Israel held such a high position of honor and influence in a foreign state as Daniel did, as Cyrus, king of Persia gave Daniel a high position in the Persian empire when the exiles were released back to Jerusalem.

Now, let’s get back to our text. Let’s pick up at verse 3.

Daniel 1:3-7

Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Here we have the chief eunuch who is charged with developing the next generation of wise men from this conquered kingdom. I would imagine that this was their strategy. It was par for the course. Go in, invade a country, destroy the cities, and take their best and brightest captive and we will indoctrinate them into our ways and we will retrain them for our purposes.

So, notice how they do it.

1. New Eduction

First, it involves a new education. Verse 4 says…

Daniel 1:4

youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.

The king is instructing the Chief Eunuch to get the National Merit Scholars…those who will be competent to stand in the king’s palace… and let’s train them in our literature and our language.

1. New Food and Drink

Daniel 1:5

The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king.

Beyond a new education, they were to get a new diet…food from the king’s table, and after a three-year period, they would be presented to the king.

Now, let’s be honest, I’m sure some of these young people are like, “Sweet…if we have to be enslaved, and put into a new country, at least we are in the kings service and we get food from his table…things could be a lot worse.”

And that is accurate. And I bet that might be the exact reason many of them went along with it.

But notice this last element of what changes…it’s not just a new culture with its language and literature…it’s not just new foods from the king’s table. Look what else happens.

1. New Name

Daniel 1:7

And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Look at this shift in their lives. He renames them. And look at the names he gives them.

Renaming the Four

Daniel — “God is my judge”           becomes   Belteshazzar — “Baal or Bel protect me”

Hananiah — “God is gracious”     becomes   Shadrach — “Command of Aku” (moon god)

Michael — “Who is God?”               becomes    Meshach — “Who is Aku?”

Azariah — “God hath helped”       becomes.   Abed-nego — “Servant of Nebo” (science god)

What is going on here? It’s really simple. It’s an Identity Change. That’s what is happening. The Babylonians are trying to change the very identity of the Jews. The strategy is to tear down one identity and to establish another.

Tremper Longman states…”Nebuchadnezzar’s “purpose with Daniel and the others was to train them in Babylonian ways for political and propaganda purposes. These members of the elite classes would become enamored with Babylonian ways and customs and either return to positions of influence at home or stay in Babylon in important positions.” Simply put, “they were to be ‘reprogrammed.’” This reprogramming, however, came not just in what they learned but in what they ate and who they were. Both their diet and their names would be changed. “Though we cannot be dogmatic on the details, it appears that in their attempt to give the Judean youths a new identity and allegiance, they bestowed names that associate with them with Babylonian gods.”

That is the same effort that is being thrust at our children today. The pressure of the culture is to try to get them to redefine their identity…the way they see themselves.

And why is that? Because if they can get them to change the way that they seem themselves, they can give them their worldview. The culture can get them to view the world a certain way. That’s why they are trying so hard to educate them…to indoctrinate them…to confuse them and their identity…because if they can change their identity, they can control them.

So, here is the attack of the culture…there aren’t two sexes…there are as many as you want to make up.

The culture screams:

• Choose your pronouns
• Choose your sexuality
• There is no real definition of woman…men are now women. Men can compete as women. Men can dress as women.

But look at what the word of God says:

Genesis 1:27

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Deuteronomy 22:5

“A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.”

We must know these things. We must study these things. We must impress them on our children.

Pastor Mark shared this with us the other day in our Teaching Pastor’s meeting. He talked about the process to change thinking on a mass level. And he outlined this simple process:

To Change Thinking on a Mass Level

• Decriminalize
• Neutral
• Acceptable
• Preferred

This is how it works.

But notice what verse 8 says.

Daniel 1:8a

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.

To resolve is to set your heart. It’s to be certain or sure. When the pressure comes, Daniel isn’t waiting for someone else in the crowd to step up. No, he was willing to stand on his own if that is what it took.

Q: Now, why did Daniel think the king’s food and drink would defile himself?

A: It’s because he knew who and whose he was. This goes back to identity. He is a Jew…of the people of Abraham. He’s not just EXPOSED to the law of Moses, he is ESTABLISHED in the law of Moses.

Defile — The verb defile denotes religious defilement. In other words, he wants to keep kosher.

Now, there are several reasons the food brought to Daniel might defile him and his companions. I’ll just give you three. But the devout Jew would abstain because:

1. The palace’s food and drink likely came form the temple after being offered to the diety. They were not to eat food sacrificed to idols.
2. The palace would not observe rules in the Torah about which animals can be eaten and how they are to be killed and cooked. Remember, Jews were not to eat meat with the blood still present.
3. Meat and wine are festival food, and abstaining from it is a sign of mourning or penitence; it would be appropriate in exile.

So, Daniel and his friends were resolute. We don’t want to defile ourselves. And so, he took a stand.

Now, we will see in just a moment how he did this. But here are a few things for us to think about.

1. You can’t wait for the pressure to prepare. If you are waiting to form your character for when you need it, you are late and you won’t stand up for who and whose you are.
2. Are we raising sons and daughters who will take a stand? The entire premise of success of this program is that these would just go along! If we are going to raise children who stand, then we must model that we are willing to take a stand.
3. When was the last time you took a stand for what was right in the midst of a culture that was trying to redefine everything?
4. Are we living resolute lives? Are we resolved not to defile ourselves?

The second principle I want to share with you about faithfulness from Daniel 1 is this:

Faithfulness…

1. Comes from a Sure Identity.
2. Bets on God to Show Up when the Pressure is On.

II. Faithfulness bets on God to show up when the pressure is on.

Notice what Daniel does here. Look at Daniel 1:8b-13.

Daniel 1:8b-13

“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 fear my Lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”

Notice in verse 8 that in standing up, he simply went to the one in authority, the Chief Eunuch, asking him to rethink their diet.

And look at what it says in verse 9…

Daniel 1:9

“And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.”

Now, notice something with me. Daniel doesn’t come unhinged. I don’t think he could because he again, he was in captivity. But what we can learn is simple: approach those in authority in a gracious way, because you are betting on God. You believe that God is the great difference maker. You believe that God is the one who is going to move the heart.

You see…

• You can be gracious and stand.
• You can be gracious and be resolute.
• You can be gracious because God can put his grace in the hearts of others. That is what favor is.

God gave Daniel favor…his grace was put upon the heart of the Chief Eunuch.

God gave Daniel compassion…the man felt a gut-level agitation to want to serve Daniel…there was just something about him and his companions.

Application: So, remember this when your life is under pressure…THE FAVOR OF GOD IS THE GREAT DIFFERENCE MAKER.

But what happens? The Chief Eunuch says, “You are asking me to put my neck on the line for you. Look, I’ve got three years to get you in the best shape possible. You need to be highly educated in our literature, our language, and our culture. If I fail, I’m a dead man.”

You see, we must keep in mind that there is a reason for the struggles from the opposition. They have their reasons why they are taking the actions that they are taking.

So, here is where we bet on God…we offer some sort of testing period. You see, when we are betting on God, there is always a TESTING that happens in our lives.

Daniel offered a test — a 10 day period of trying this diet that would not defile him or his companions.

Pastor Chris Hodges says…“When we follow God’s guidance and we’re living according to his purpose for our lives, we will be tested. We will be tempted to give up. To take the easy way out. To run away from trouble. But those tests become stepping-stones to growing stronger and stronger, to becoming all that God wants us to become.”

So, Daniel bets on God…God’s favor and compassion come…he offers a testing period, and here is what we see. Look at Daniel 1:14-15.

Daniel 1:14-15

“So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food.”

Now, you can look at this one of two ways…

Moms in the room will say, “See kids…eat your vegetables.”

But kids in the room will say, “But look mom, it says that they were fatter in flesh…Vegetables make you fat!”

But here is what we see. In an effort to not defile themselves, to honor their identity as children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, these men took a stand. They bet on God doing something in their midst that only He could do, and they endured the test.

Which leads me to my third principle on faithfulness.

Faithfulness…

1. Comes from a Sure Identity.
2. Bets on God to Show Up when the Pressure is On.
3. Leads to Gifts from God.

III. Faithfulness leads to gifts from God.

Look at Daniel 1:17-21.

Daniel 1:17-21

“As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.”

Look at the gifts that they now get to steward.

Verse 17 — God gave them…

• Learning and skill in literature and wisdom
• Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

Look at verse 20.

Daniel 1:20

And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom.

10X — Ten times better! Ten times more effective! Ten Times what these others had!

When I moved my oldest son, Brady, to Atlanta, to start his new job in private equity finance, I told him…

“Brady Jack, make sure you start your career tithing.” We had a long drive from Houston to Atlanta, and we talked about a lot of things. And I came back to this and said, “You want to give God something that He can bless. You want to position yourself in a place of dependence upon Him. But here is what He will do for you — He will advance you faster. He will put a spotlight upon you. He will favor you in the sight of those in authority over you. Give God something He can bless.”

You see, when we tithe, we are betting on God. We are saying, “Lord, I believe that what you can I can do with my money is better than what I can do with it on my own.”

And when we are faithful to God, guess what? He returns our faithfulness with gifts that we couldn’t get on our own, and he expects us to steward them all the days of our lives.