YP Sing Address—J. Kaiser
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
00:25:55
41.
Before I pray, I'd like to look at 2 scriptures.
So to occupy, or shall we say, prepare our minds.
1St as in Ezekiel 14.
Ezekiel 14 and verse 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 these three men, Noah, Daniel and Joe and then a verse in James.
Chapter 5.
00:30:08
And verse 10.
Take.
My brethren.
The prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord.
For an example of suffering and patience.
Take.
The prophets for an example, God just offered you a gift. I'm not referring to the gospel meeting where there was a wonderful presentation of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior of sinners. And I can't, I don't feel I can or should add to that.
But in this verse we just read, God says take.
Take.
So I hope everyone here is willing to take to receive from God tonight.
An example because we need them.
Now I read a verse in Ezekiel.
Refers to three.
Outstanding men, Noah, Daniel, and Job. Reminds me of how in Second Samuel 23 we get a catalogue of David's mighty men, but it says there were three that excelled, and it says one was chief among three. And I'm not going to say who was chief among three, but you ever think about these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job?
Two of them.
Have failures recorded?
Noah and Job, there's one remarkable person I'd like to bring before you this evening.
Of whom I'm not aware of any recorded failure. Now there may have been one.
But it's not a glaring failure.
His name was Daniel. They were named Daniel means my God.
Is judge. His parents gave him that name.
Because I believe they were God fearing people.
Don't know much about them, but let's go back.
2600 years because there's nothing new under the sun. Let's go back 2600 years and see what we can learn in the first chapter of Daniel.
Let's start reading with the first verse. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. Now Jerusalem was God's holy city. Babylon was the epitome.
Of pollution in the world.
Babylon is associated in the Old Testament and in the New Testament with excess of corruption and wickedness.
And Babylon, one Babylon came against Jerusalem, and the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, he was not actually king at this time, if you know anything of secular history doesn't tell us that here. But Nebuchadnezzar came to Babylon 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 treasury House of his God.
And the king spoke to Ashpanaz, the master of the eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, of the King's seed, and of the Princess, children in whom there was no blemish, but well favored, skillful in all the wisdom, and in all wisdom and cunning, and 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. If you ever wonder where the name Jew comes from, that's where it comes from. These were Jews that they're aware of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Michel and Azariah, unto whom the Prince of the eunuchs gave names. For he gave unto Daniel the name Belshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Michiel of Meshach, and to Azariah of Abednego.
00:35:10
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a 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. Will stop there for a minute.
I've learned some expressions from some of my boys.
I'll come home from work, right?
Some night and say how'd things go today and they say, man, what a bummer. Actually, that's not a new expression. It was current when I was your age, but it's still it's interesting to me that it faded out and came back the expression. What a bummer. Anybody here have an experience where things really didn't turn out the way expected? You ever been disappointed or frustrated? Do you ever feel like the odd personality? Do you ever feel like your plans have been ruined?
And maybe somebody else did it. Maybe you did it.
Maybe there's somebody here tonight. You feel like your life is hopeless.
Care to trade places with Daniel?
Daniel was probably a teenager.
He was taken by force from his family. He was captured by people who were renowned for their cruelty and for their wickedness. He was taken away to the land of Babylon with no hope of ever seeing his family again. He even lost his identity. He was given a new name.
He was destined to the life of a slave.
Notice what it says here. The king spoke to Ashburn as the master of his eunuchs and I believe is the same person that's mentioned as the Prince of the eunuchs later in the chapter.
Why was David committed to that person? Because.
The Babylonians weren't really kind people.
They when they got a slave, they wanted to really make a slave and they would castrate all the males.
This kind of.
Spoiled things for the man.
And it ruined their hopes of a normal life. It meant that even if they ever escaped.
And by the way, it destroyed their desire to escape, because if they ever escaped, went back to Israel.
They'd be a social misfit. Israel didn't have a place.
For eunuchs. So it means that Daniel and his friends were stuck and now we don't know for certain. The Bible does not say what happened to Daniel. It says he was committed to the Prince of the eunuchs.
Suggests what happened. God doesn't tell us because that's not the issue.
But Daniel's position was bad.
Maybe you came in here tonight thinking you.
You could sing and put on a good front, but inside you're crushed.
I've been there.
And you say my life is ruined, I've made a mess of things. What do I do now?
Or maybe you feel may you blame somebody else. We don't know that Daniel was said. We don't know that Daniel did anything wrong to deserve this. The Bible pictures him as one of the three outstandingly righteous men. You don't. You don't start, you don't get to be that way by starting late in life. Righteousness is a habit that's cultivated.
But maybe you're looking at your life right now and say it's a shambles.
I don't know what good could ever come out of my life.
Would you still care to play trade places with Daniel?
I believe he is in worse, was in worse circumstances than anyone here in this room. You're here among friends. You're here among people who care for you and pray for you.
But it may be that you don't see what God can do.
And I know Daniel didn't.
But he was about to learn.
What you say, if you're in a circumstance like that, what do you do now? In our society, you'd say, well, we'll protest. You didn't do that in Babylonian society. They'd make you a sacrifice to their gods, no problem. They weren't democratic.
00:40:12
Well, you say, I'll make the best of it.
Well, what is the best of it? No doubt it says they took a group of young people from Israel. We only hear about four of them. I'm sure there are more than that. There were some who said, I we're going to cave in, I'll make the best of it. And so when?
They can't. The Babylonians came out with the program, the guy said. OK, well, we'll do what needs to be done and we'll make the best of it. Maybe some committed suicide.
What did Daniel do?
Daniel did the best thing he could have done. He did what he could do that he knew would please the Lord. What did Daniel do?
Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself. Now there's a limit to how much we can do in life, But Daniel says, as far as I'm concerned, I will not defile myself.
With the King's meat, and we don't know what was wrong with the King's meat. Maybe there's a way it's prepared. Maybe. Maybe it was filthy. I don't suppose it was. This is the King's meat. But Daniel knew there was something defiling about it. He was an intelligent person and he said this I can do or this I can try to do it anyway, right? Scripture says as much as lieth in you live peaceably with all men. It says no man that Christ is called as a soldier entangleth himself.
With the affairs of this life, sometimes we meet circumstances we can't deal with.
But Daniel said I'm not going to defile myself. Daniel purpose in his heart he would not defile himself with a portion of the King's meat.
You say, what good is that going to do?
Daniel knew his only hope was in God.
And he had two options. He could either cooperate with the Babylonians, or he could cooperate with God. And he chose God. And each of us are faced with a choice. We can cooperate with the world or we can cooperate with God.
What's your choice tonight? Well, we never hear about the ones that cooperated with the Babylonians. They fade out. We never hear about them. We hear about Daniel.
2600 years later we hear about Daniel. Why? Because he made the right choice. He purposed in his heart. He would not defile himself with a portion of the King's meat, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested. He requested, you know the wisdom which is above his first pure, pure. There's some people here who might be proud of the knowledge they have of this Bible.
40 years ago I was in a jail.
I was about 15 years old. I met another 15 year old boy in that jail.
And he knew the Bible better than I did, and he was in there for murder.
Knowing the Bible is not.
Everything there is, it's important.
The Wiz in which is above is first pure, pure and then peaceable.
So Daniel Percy would not defile himself. And then he went to.
The Prince of the eunuchs and requested he was peaceable. He didn't mark up to the.
March up to the Prince unit, say I ain't going to have that stuff.
He didn't condemn it. He says, please, may we try something different. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable. I want to talk about this, about this matter of purity.
It's very important.
It's first pure. We live in a very defiled and defiling world. Are you pure tonight? Are your thoughts pure? Is your heart pure? Is your mind pure? Is your history pure before the eye of God?
Because, you see, that's where everything starts. God uses pure, clean vessels.
So Daniel came to the Prince of the eunuchs.
Says in verse nine, now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the Prince of the eunuchs.
Very interesting here. If you'll notice this word brought.
In verse nine and then look at verse two and the Lord gave Jehoiakim.
In the Hebrew, that's the same word God brought Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, into.
00:45:02
His hand, or now God gave Daniel into favor with the tender and tender love of the Prince of eunuchs.
The hand of God that brought Daniel to Babylon brought him into favor with the Prince of the eunuchs. You see, God is behind the scenes working in Daniel's life, and Daniel didn't know it.
And God is behind the scenes working in every life here tonight.
You may not, you may think God's forgotten you, or you may say, yeah, I realize God, God's there and doing something, but God is personally interested in every person here tonight. God doesn't love, didn't love Daniel any more than he loves you or me. God is intimately involved in every detail of our lives. The Lord Jesus said the hairs of your head are counted. God doesn't do that out of sheer boredom. And I speak reverently. God does it because he cares.
He's interested in every detail of your life. He was working behind the scenes in Daniel's life.
And he brought Daniel into favor with the Prince.
Of the Unix.
And the Prince of the eunuch said unto Daniel, I fear, my Lord, the king which hath appointed your meat and your drink, For why should he see your face as 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 said over Daniel. Hananiah, Michelle, and Azariah, prove thy servants, I beseech thee 10 days, and let them give us pulse to eat and water to drink.
Then let our countenance 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, so he can send it to them in this matter, and prove them 10 days. And at the end of the 10 days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which should eat the portion of the King's meat. Then Melzer took away the portion of their meat and the and the wine that they should drink, and gave them pulse.
Pulse I understand is beans.
I love beans.
My children, consequently, don't.
And while we may disagree on beans, we both agree that a steady diet of beans wouldn't necessarily make you look any better than anybody else. This was a miracle.
God does miracles.
He does the mall, the time actually, and we don't realize it because we're involved right now in spiritual warfare.
And the fact that we are still here, enjoying the grace of God.
That's all a miracle.
We had nothing to do with it.
But I want to focus on this is just the beginning. By the way, some of you, most of you know the history of Daniel. I strongly suggest you, now that you've been reintroduced to it, you read it. It's wonderful how God, God uses Daniel. Daniel, we suppose.
Was a eunuch a misfit? A social misfit? But it's interesting when Daniel stands up for the Lord. It says in in the third chapter or the 4th chapter. Let's see.
And find it.
Oh yes, very interesting. Daniel chapter 2 verse 25. The king had a dream and and the Lord revealed the matter to Daniel and Daniel goes out and finds Arioch this this person and tells Ariac I've got the answer. And Ariac goes to the king and says I found a man. He didn't find Daniel found him, but he wants to get the credit. He says he's honest. He says I found a man.
And later in the toward the end of Daniel may look at that too.
Umm.
Daniel chapter 910 to chapter 10 verse 19. This is what God says to Daniel. Oh man, greatly beloved.
Daniel may have been considered a social misfit.
But he had the favor of God, and God used him in a wonderful way. Why? Because Daniel purposed in his heart. He would not defile himself. And this is what I want to close with.
00:50:03
There's two important things we want to be used by God. There's two important things. Cleansing.
And communion. And you can't maintain cleansing without communion. Why do I say cleansing in your communion? In chapter one, Daniel did what he could. He cleaned up, made sure he was cleaned before the Lord.
And then in chapter 2, God.
Spoke to me.
There's a principle in Scripture God doesn't give.
His truth.
To defile vessels, the Lord Jesus told his disciples, Don't cast your perils before swine, and God does not.
Fill dirty vessels with his truth. He doesn't do it. He doesn't reveal his mind to unclean people. There's a principle. Let's look at it very brief. I can show you a number of places and sworn out in Scripture, but just I want to leave 2 verses with you in Second Timothy.
And if I have gone over my 15 minutes, I apologize. I don't wear a watch. I'm sorry. I hope you'll bear with me.
Second Timothy, just two verses.
You want to be used by God, and I think most of us do.
The first prerequisite is cleansing First Timothy in Second Timothy chapter 2 and verse 21. If a man therefore purged himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet or fit for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
As preparation.
We did that tonight. How many here look for a dirty plate to put their food on and supper? We don't do that. We were glad they had stacks of clean plates out there. We're used to that.
We want clean vessels for our food. God wants to use clean vessels.
And if we're clean, he can use this.
What next? Chapter 3?
This is the other half of the preparation.
Verse 15 And from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for a correction, for instruction, righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect or complete, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. This is the other half of preparation. Clean vessels. When God has a clean vessel, you can show it, and he will.
Given the opportunity, you know, I said we live in a defiled and defiling world. We live in the days of Daniel. Daniel lived in the middle of Babylon and there was every corruption available there.
I'm going to be very plain.
*********** is a big problem.
You encounter it everywhere.
And girls think this is a guy problem. I'm going to tell you the other side of it.
They have what they call romance novels. Guys are interested in the physical side, girls are interested in the social side, and they have these romance novels that portray.
Improper social interaction.
And that's defiling too. It perverts the mind.
*********** is not just a guy thing.
We have a choice.
The King's meat is beautifully prepared.
It's there's a lot of variety there.
Are you going to defy yourself with the King's meat, or are you going to be consecrated to the Lord?
Going to be prepared, cleansed and prepared for His use and for His blessing.