Daniel Purposed In His Heart by Byron Smith

Daniel 1

1. INTRODUCTION:

Suppose that a young man, who is a Christian, enlisted in the service and was sent to a foreign country. Perhaps he was stationed in a country in which there were no faithful churches. What would he do? Would he make the effort to continue to serve the Lord faithfully, to worship the Lord on the first day of every week, even starting a church to enable him to do so? Or, would he excuse his not worshiping God on the basis of his youth and circumstances? These questions are posed for consideration because we see youth placed in similar circumstances in the book of Daniel.

In approximately 606 B.C. in the third year of the reign Jehoiakim, and during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Daniel was taken into Babylonian captivity. He was in the first of three deportations. Daniel was one of the young aristocrats taken into captivity and given special training to serve the king of Babylon (1:1-5). He was young, healthy, handsome, and intelligent. "The youths were probably from 12 to 15 years of age at the time when they were carried captive." (ISBE, Vol. II, p. 782). Among those taken were, also, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (1:6,7).

In preparation to serve the king, these young men were given a daily portion of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank (1:5). There was something about these delicacies that defiled a Jew. Perhaps the delicacies were sacrificed to idols, included unclean foods, or included intoxicating beverages (cf. Lev. 11:1-3). For whatever reason, a Jew could not be faithful to God and eat this food. "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank...that he might not defile himself" (1:8). In this we see:

1. DANIEL AS A COURAGEOUS EXAMPLE OF FAITHFULNESS TO THE LORD.
1. Daniel's example is most remarkable when one considers his circumstances:
1. He was away from home. Many young people, who are faithful when under parental supervision, allow their stand to weaken when they get out on their own.
2. He endangered his life and risked his position to be faithful (not in a position to be making demands; captive).
1. His decision not to eat the king's food jeopardized his position as a court servant.
2. He could have been demoted to a common laborer (or less), imprisoned, or executed.
3. He risked the lives of others to be faithful to God. The man in charge of Daniel feared for his life because Daniel refused the food given to him (1:10).
4. His faithfulness was in matters which most would consider trivial (seemingly not a factor in Daniel's decision).
5. Through all of this he could have reasoned: "Who would listen to me as a teenager?"; "Making a stand will only bring me trouble. I'm lucky to be alive and chosen to serve the king"; "Surely God would overlook my disobedience in this situation."
6. Yet, he remained faithful to God. How under such circumstances?
2. Daniel had purposed in his heart to be faithful to the Lord.
1. He knew that faithfulness to God does not occur by accident or by a flippant decision.
2. It requires commitment, sacrifice, and a predetermined resolution.
3. What is this idea of purposing?
1. "Purpose" defined: "something one intends to get or do; intention; aim,...resolution; determination...." (Webster's).
2. "Purpose" illustrated: If I were to ask Lars where he would be five years down the road on a Wednesday night at 7:00, I have confidence that he would say that he would be a church services. The reason is because he has already purposed to be there.
4. Daniel was ready to make the sacrifice necessary to obey the Lord!
1. Sometimes we might excuse our failures, negligence, disobedience, etc. on the basis of our circumstances (inconvenient, tired, too busy, etc.).
2. He requested the overseer give him, and his three friends, herbs to eat and water to drink, rather than defile himself (1:11-13).
3. The overseer consented to try them for ten days. At the end of ten days, the friends, and Daniel, looked better than the other youths (1:14-16).
4. The Lord blessed Daniel and his friends because they put Him first in their lives (1:17-21; cf. Mt. 6:33).
5. The above is the preface to a lesson primarily addressing the young--Daniel was young when he purposed (youth is the best time to begin serving the Lord; Eccl. 12:1).
2. YOU MUST PURPOSE IN YOUR HEART TO:
1. "Cleave unto the Lord", KJV (Ac. 11:22-24).
1. "Cleave"(prosmeno) is defined to mean "to remain with, to continue with one...to be steadfastly devoted to the Lord...to hold fast to...." (Thayer's).
2. This definition is better seen in other translations: "that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord" (NKJV); "with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord" (NASV).
3. You need to resolve, or purpose, in your heart now (not when challenged) that you will not allow ANYTHING, or ANYBODY, to interfere with your faithfulness, your worship, and service to God (e.g. sporting events--either attending or participating; extra-curricular activities at school--band, chorus, ball practice, jobs, etc.).
1. Young people need to purpose not to allow ANY of these activities to take precedence over the worship services; this takes commitment (e.g. Adrian during our engagement worked at a small cafe. After telling her boss she would not work of Wednesday nights he would constantly schedule her and she would constantly have to go to him).
2. Like young Daniel, you need to go to your supervisors, or teachers, to make clear that you will not be missing worship services. Usually, those who oversee will respect your conscience and work in accordance with it as was done for Daniel.
4. When you leave for college, again you need to resolve "with purpose of heart" to "cleave unto the Lord."
1. Many young people quit worshiping God when they move away to college.
2. How wonderful, when we hear that a young person has become active in the local church where he, or she, now lives.
5. When families are moved from one area to another by their employer, they need to "purpose in their hearts" to "cleave unto the Lord."
6. When elderly couples retire and move to Florida, or some other place, they need to "purpose in their hearts" to "cleave unto the Lord."
2. "Keep yourself pure" (I Tim. 5:22; cf. 4:12).
1. God demands purity--in our society this can be a challenge (bombarded by impurity by association, media, etc.). Because it is a challenge, you need to purpose!
2. Before they go on their first date, young ladies and young men should determine just what is and what is not acceptable conduct, and purpose to keep themselves pure.
1. Understand that premarital sexual relations is sinful (Heb. 13:4).
2. Understand that lust is sinful, thus those activities that incite lust are sinful (Gal. 5:19).
3. Your body is a temple, not a playground, and should not be used for immoral purposes (I Cor. 6:19).
4. "But, I love him and he loves me" -- not by God's definition of love (I Cor. 13:5).
3. Waiting until you are in the passion of petting is too late to make decisions about proper conduct (reasoning is not sound, mind is not focused on doing right).
4. You should have already resolved:
1. Not to allow a young man to be free with his hands.
2. To dress modestly before each other (discourages lust).
3. What type of movies you will watch.
4. Not to put yourself in a situation where you might be tempted to compromise on what you know to be right.
5. Not to go to parties where there is drinking, dancing, or drugs.
6. What conversation is decent and what is indecent.
5. It has been suggested to take a Bible with you on your date and place it between you and your date, because it will remind you, and your date, that God is watching you. Also, he will not climb over Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to get to you.
6. Joseph was a young man away from home who refused to be seduced by a wicked woman (Gen. 39:9).
7. All of us need to purpose to keep ourselves pure by reading, seeing, and meditating on that which is pure (Phil. 4:8; Prov. 4:23).
3. Control your tongue (Ps. 17:3).
1. There are many sins we may commit with our tongues, such as, cursing, taking the Lord's name in vain, teaching false doctrine, lying, gossiping, etc.
1. Untold harm can come when we choose to sin with our tongue.
2. Examples:
1. Teaching false doctrines--will cause countless souls to be eternally lost.
2. Gossiping/slandering/backbiting (hits right at home)--this church has suffered set-backs because of our eagerness to tell what we heard about brother so and so (has even gotten to the point where you do not know who to believe--this is all nonsense and is of the devil).
1. The gossipers often begin their tales of woe with well-worn phrases, such as, "They say." "Have you heard?" or apologetically, "I hate to tell you this, but..." And thus the tale unfolds.
2. Read: Lev. 19:16, 17; Prov. 6:16-19; 10:18; 18:7, 8; 20:3, 19; 26:20; 17:4.
2. It is very difficult to keep the little tongue under control, but it can be done (I Cor. 10:13).
1. The fact, that the Bible teaches that the tongue cannot be tamed, does not mean that it cannot be controlled (Jas. 3:7, 8).
2. This means that we cannot so train our tongues to speak the right words that we can turn them loose without carefully considering what we shall say. The tongue cannot be tamed, therefore it must be restrained!
3. We cannot trust our tongues (we have proved it too many times and God's word confirms it), therefore, we should want the Lord to set a guard before our mouth to keep corrupt words from being spoken (Ps. 141:3).
3. Since God holds us responsible for what we say, we can, and must, keep our tongues from speaking ungodly words (Mt. 12:36, 37; Ps. 34:13; 39:1).
4. One does not accidently control the tongue, but controls it by purposing in his heart that he will speak only words which please God (Eph. 4:29; Col. 4:6).
4. Not abuse your body with alcohol and other harmful drugs.
1. You should purpose in your heart that you will not defile your body with intoxicating drink ( Prov. 23:29-35).
1. Drunkenness is sinful (Eph. 5:18; Gal. 5:19-21); your friends may say it is fun and the thing to do, but God says that it is sinful.
2. God wants you to be sober-minded (Tit. 2:1-6, 11-12).
2. Some might reason:"What if I don't get drunk, I just do a little social drinking? Is it not true that the Scriptures condemn drunkenness, and not the drinking of alcohol in and of itself?"
1. It is true that there might be a proper use of alcohol; medicinal purposes (I Tim. 5:23).
2. However, when such reasoning is used to justify "social drinking" (not the use of alcohol in and of itself) it is totally futile. Numerous principles condemn as sinful every aspect of "social drinking."
3. Principles enumerated:
1. Will it violate my conscience?
2. Will it cause others to sin?
3. Will this action cause the weak brother to stumble?
4. Will it hinder my influence?
5. Will this action take me among evil companions?
6. Does it interfere with my friendship with God?
7. Would Jesus do it?
8. Does it suggest a conformity to the world?
9. How does this course of action seem after I have prayed about it?
10. Does it suggest abstinence from evil?
4. Take away every Scripture that applies to "social drinking" and these principles will still apply (there is nothing good about it).
3. Do not be enslaved to tobacco or any other addictive drugs (I Cor. 6:12).
4. Be firmly resolved NOT to pollute you body, mind, and soul, but be strongly determined to offer up you body as a holy sacrifice to God (Rom. 12:1).
5. Become and elder, deacon, preacher, bible class teacher, song leader, or the wife of such a servant of God (purpose to serve God in one of these capacities).
1. If someone asked you, "What would you like for your future to hold in your service to God? What would you like to be?" How would you answer that person?
2. Have you ever heard someone respond, "I want to be an elder, or an elder's wife, etc."
1. Such a response shows future plans in serving the Lord (not just serving the Lord today, but I am going to be serving him in the future).
2. Young people should be encouraged, by those who are older, to seek to serve the Lord in these special ways (understanding that this is pleasing to God, cf. I Tim. 3:1).
3. The time, to commit yourself to the plan of becoming one of these servants of the Lord is in your youth.
1. So that you can use your energies and effort to this end.
2. Requires preparation (I Tim. 3:1-13)
1. E.g. must be a teacher of God's word which requires hours of diligent Bible study.
2. Not a qualification one can gain over night.
4. The time, to commit yourself to the plan of becoming one of these servants of the Lord is before you choose you marriage companion.
1. Your spouse will largely affect whether you will be able to meet your goals.
2. "They will make you or break you" (Mama).
5. Have you purposed in your heart to be the best child of God you can be?
3. CONCLUSION:

Jehovah's actions are purposefully performed (Isa. 14:24-27; 19:12; Jer. 51:29). The Lord wanted the knowledge of what He intended to do to the inhabitants of Judah to cause them to repent so he would not have to punish them (Jer. 36:1-3). It was according to God's "eternal purpose" to send His Son to earth. He acted on that purpose, Jesus built the church, and the manifold wisdom of God was thus seen (Eph. 3:8-12).

It is God's purpose to save your soul from the eternal torment of your sins (I Tim. 2:3, 4; II Pet. 3:9). Will you permit Him to carry out this purpose by obeying Him (Mt. 7:21)? Will you be baptized into His Son's death so Christ's blood can wash away your sins (Mt. 26:28; Ac. 22:16)? Will you be faithful to Him so He can give you the "crown of life" He has waiting for you (Rev. 2:10)? Will you purpose in your heart to give your life to the Lord? Make your resolutions to be faithful to God in every circumstance and situation, not allowing the pressure of the moment to keep you from obeying God. The same God that sustained and exalted Daniel will be with you.