Title: Man of Faith (Daniel 06:10-23)
Content It is not that difficult for a person to be recognized by one person. It can be done in a month or even a year. However, it is extremely difficult to be recognized by many people for such a long time, 10 or 20 years.
However, ‘Daniel’ in today’s text has been loved and respected by many people from childhood to adulthood.
He was a young man from a noble family taken into captivity at the time of the fall of Judah in the Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C. It is very difficult to maintain religious fidelity in this captivity. However, Daniel’s faith and life did not change from the beginning to the end, and he was exemplary and practical. He had never been shaken by circumstances, doubted God, or discouraged.
In general, people turn away from their faith when circumstances change, and there are many who fall.
Whether you suffered from a major illness, failed in business, graduated from high school, entered college, entered a job after college, enlisted in the military, or was discharged... There are very few people who leave the church.
Especially among the students, after failing the entrance exam, some students become discouraged and stop living their faith, saying, “It is impossible to believe in Jesus.” In fact, most students who are exemplary in church are exemplary students in school as well.
However, students who fail to do it right in faith blame themselves if things go well, or the church if things don't work out. So, if something goes wrong, they complain and complain about not being able to study because the worship time is long and there is a lot of time to gather. Students who do not study hard usually say this after only an hour of worship.
However, students who have studied hard on a regular basis do not need to worry even if they offer their offerings to God all day on a Sunday. Rather, it improves performance the next day. The reason is that God helps.
More importantly, God helps students who obey by faith.
Just because a person enters a university or a top-notch university is not enough. If God does not help, in the end everything will be in vain.
However, some people come to church in difficult times and pray earnestly. Then, when things are going well and things are going well, some people become proud and go out into the world.
In any case, changes in the environment bring crises. Although Daniel faced many crises and tribulations, he continued to live a life of faith that loved and relied on God. Rather, his faith shone even more.
Whether he was in a lowly and lowly position as a prisoner of war, or when he became a high-ranking prime minister, his religious life was still the same. He was truly an exemplary person in the life of faith.
God is pleased with such people and uses them as precious vessels.
Hebrews 3:14 says, “If we hold fast to the end what is certain from the beginning, we will become partakers of Christ.
The meaning of the name ‘Daniel’ is ‘God is my judgment’. As the meaning of this name suggests, Daniel's life was always open to God's judgment seat.
1. Daniel was a man filled with the Holy Spirit.
Verse 3 says, “Daniel was agile in heart, and he excelled over princes and princes, so the king set him up to rule over the whole country.”
Here, it is said to be ‘agile’, but if you look at the original meaning of the Greek, it means ‘because he possessed a very wonderful spirit. In other words, it means ‘a man of the Holy Spirit’.
Daniel had wisdom and excellent judgment because the Spirit of God was in him. That's right. Because he was a man full of the Holy Spirit, no one else could match him in wisdom, understanding, and judgment. Because he trusted and obeyed God completely, the Spirit of God's wisdom was with him.
So he was recognized by the king and even appointed to the position of prime minister of that great country.
The king of Babylon divided the kingdom into 120 provinces, and each province appointed a prince to rule over that province. During the reign of King Ahasuerus, the number was increased to 127 weeks.
And three prime ministers were appointed to oversee 120 provinces. Of the three prime ministers, Daniel was selected as the chief prime minister. This is surprising.
Daniel is not a politician from Babylon. He is a prisoner of war.
And in a situation where people who are jealous of him and jealous of him are everywhere, he was appointed as the chief prime minister because his heart was agile and excellent by the power of the Holy Spirit.
He never paid bribes like fortresses to get a job or a career, never lobbied, and never sought human means. But he was favored by the king because he was a man of great ability, judgment, and drive.
He was recognized before the king because God had given him an agile heart as a gift. “Agile” means that you are intelligent, have clear judgment, and have the ability to process quickly. In the fortress language, he was a quick-witted person. It is wise and skillful. However, he was not a person who abused this to fit in with the market price and lined up according to the trend.
When he was first taken captive to Babylon, the king of Babylon decided to select some young men to train in the elite. He favored them, allowing them to eat the king's food and wine. If you just close your eyes and eat and drink what the king gives you, the path to success will be opened. However, for Daniel, it was more important for Daniel to become a clean vessel and become a person God uses. So they refused the food and wine that had been sacrificed to idols and requested only vegetables.
Disappointed by this, it was the god who was in charge of his health. Because if you insist on eating only vegetables, and if your face is hurt or your body becomes numb, you will receive a rebuke from the king.
But Daniel succeeded in carrying out it. No matter how favorable the conditions and favorable opportunities were, he never tolerated what God hated.
Compared to those who turn away from ethics, conscience, faith, church, and God when it comes to money, fame, success and advancement, Daniel was literally a man of the Holy Spirit.
Even today, we do not know how many people who made money by multiplying their fortunes through unjust means and living as slaves to the supremacy of career advancement. Reform is needed to purify this. But it's not just politics. God must help. There should be many people of the Spirit who are quick-hearted like Daniel in the script.
2. He was clean.
As Daniel became the king's favourite, and his popularity, fame, and status increased, enemies began to arouse him to get rid of him.
Verse 4 says, “Then the prime ministers and princes tried to get an opportunity to accuse Daniel about the affairs of the state, but they were unable to find any chance or any wrongdoing…”
The 120 princes and other prime ministers saw Daniel as a thorn in his eyes. Daniel is from captivity and is a Gentile. Their political lines are not the same.
Moreover, he does not agree in the slightest with compromise or scheming. Thus, he was faced with a strong challenge from the so-called water polo forces and conservative forces. And they started an internal investigation to find Daniel's faults or faults. But I couldn't find any cracks or faults in him.
He was a man who really didn't get dusty when he shaved. How beautiful is Daniel's life?