EATING MORE AND ENJOYING IT LESS? B7-28-5P

Dan. 1:8 (read cpt.)

INTRODUCTION:

A. Old cigarette commercial, "Smoking more and

enjoying it less?"

1. Commercials no longer allowed on TV

2. Why commercials for alcohol?

3. Is. 55:2, "Wherefore do ye spend money for

that which is not bread? and your labor for

that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently

unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and

let your soul delight itself in fatness"

B. Judah was taken captive to Babylon

C. The princes of Judah were made eunuchs

1. Fed & taught to be Chaldeans

2. Not ALL of the food was unclean

3. Most of the princes were glad to eat it

4. These four said "NO!"

D. They are a striking message to us today:

1. They had been DEFRAUDED, DEGRADED,

DECAPITATED & DEDICATED to a heathen god

2. But they refused to be DEFILED!

3. Gal. 5:9, "A little leaven leaveneth the

whole lump."

I. THEY WERE DEGRADED BUT NOT DEFILED

A. The scribes "went not into the judgment hall

[to accuse Jesus], lest they should be defiled;

but that they might eat the passover."

(Jn. 18:28) hypocritical and useless

B. Mt. 15:18, "those things which proceed out of

the mouth come forth from the heart & they

defile the man"

C. 1 Cor. 3:16-17, "Know ye not that ye are the

temple of God, and that the SEpirit of God

dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple

of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple

of God is holy, which temple ye are."

D. "Looking diligently lest...any root of bitter-

ness springing up trouble you, and thereby

many be defiled" (Heb. 12:15)

E. James 3:6, "The tongue is a fire, a world of

iniquity...it defileth the whole body, and

setteth on fire the course of nature"

II. THEY WERE DEDICATED TO A HEATHEN GOD BUT THEY WERE

NOT DIVERTED FROM TRUE WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH

A. When all the wise men were to be slain, Daniel

and the 3 children were able to call upon God

and learn the secret (2:18)

1. Daniel praised God in prayer: "I thank

thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my

fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might,

and hast made known unto me now what we

desired of thee." (2:23)

2. Daniel praised God in public: to the king

"there is a God in heaven that revealeth

secrets" (2:28)

B. Their obedience and worship brought blessing

1. King confessed, "your God is a God of gods

and Lord of kings" (2:47)

2. Daniel was made a great man and given gifts

and made ruler over Babylon

3. The three Hebrew children were made gover.

III. THEY WERE DEFRAUDED BUT NOT DISCOURAGED

A. Belshazzar took them out of their offices

and he had even forgotten who they were

B. Perhaps they were in jail--but they were still

serving God

C. When the handwriting was on the wall, there

were some who remembered:

D. "These is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the

spirit of the holy gods" (5:11)

IV. THEY WERE DISCIPLINED BUT THEY WERE NOT DEFEATED

A. In the furnace (3:17-18), "If it be so, our

God whom we serve is able to deliver us from

the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver

us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be

it known unto thee, O king, that we will not

serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image

which thou hast set up.

B. In the lion's den (6:21-22) "O king, live for

ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath

shut the lions' mouths"�

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Index of Preacher's Help and Notes

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