God’s Sovereignty in Suffering (Justin Peters)

Today on the wrap report is Justin Peters message from the conference that we recently had on Suffering it was the sanctification through suffering conference. Justin will go through Daniel and This is really gonna be helpful.

I think for a lot of people seeing the Message he provides out of Daniel with Daniel's friends. Specifically some of the things you're gonna see what they went through is gonna be very very helpful to us as we go through many trials in life, so Get ready for this one.

Introduction to the Sanctification Through Suffering Conference Message

Welcome to the rap report with Andrew rap report where we provide biblical interpretations and applications. This is a ministry of striving for eternity. More content or to request a speaker a seminar for your church go to striving for eternity dot org.

Okay, so today on the rap report We're gonna give you a message from Justin Peters out of Daniel and this is gonna be extremely helpful for you. Before we do it just want to give a quick shout out. So folks are aware that this is a ministry of striving for eternity this rap report podcast.

You can help us you can go to Striving for eternity org slash donate to give a donation there. What will that do? Well one thing it's gonna do is by the time you're listening this Justin and I are only a couple of weeks away from flying out to the Philippines we're gonna be going to help out the new apostolic Reformation is running rampant over there and Justin and I will both be going there to be able to Train up pastors.

We'll be doing a Workshop for many of the pastors there. I'll be doing something on church discipline and Justin will be doing something on Child-to-conversion then I'm going to be leading on the another day.

I'll be doing an open-air evangelism conference then we Justin and I will be speaking at the Conference snatch them from the flames which will be a conference about discernment. We will do it both in Manila and we'll have another one that we'll do in Cebu Philippines.

So here's the thing. We need your help to get to the Philippines. We still haven't raised all of the funds to pay for the trip. We're trusting God and You can help us get there to help get the gospel and solid teaching around the world so you could do that by going to striving for eternity org slash donate and Help us out now without further ado.

Here is Justin's message from the conference the sanctification through Suffering conference. I hope that you find this helpful. Please share it with others and subscribe to this podcast. Thanks All right.

Justin Peters and the Need to Hear His Exposition of Daniel

So For folks who maybe who weren't here last night didn't hear us introduce Justin Peters for for many I should hope he doesn't need an introduction, but Huh. You're just tonight. So, let me let me give you this as an introduction Justin and I coming back from the airport this this Thursday night Thursday night.

Yeah, I took a phone call of Someone who have how many of you have seen the movie? American gospel. Okay, good Justin raises his hand. Justin saw it from the other side of the camera. I got to see it from the other side of the Justin from the camera because I was there when I filmed it but You know, we we have a woman who was in Bethel Church and went to their school of supernatural.

I forget the full name school.

Bethel Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry Ministry. Yeah and so.

She actually was in there and Watched that and she was going to refute it and she had her notes and she's taking notes and she eventually got to point. She put her notes down just watched it and realized Everything was right.

And so the driving down We got to talk to this 18 year old woman Who really is sounding very very solid in the scriptures having been saved three years and? Much of it in false teaching. And in the last three months has just been gathering as much as she can from Justin from John MacArthur from others and It's sounding really solid now coming out of the NAR and and that's a big part of what Justin's ministry is.

But you won't hear him talk about it here because we don't let him and the reason being is he's one of the better exegetes of scripture and we I never Want him speaking on NAR and stuff because he handles the word so well and people don't know that.

So I want you to be able to sit under his his teaching and hear how he exegetes scripture. He is a great brother those of you who've gotten to know him this week. That's why we like to do these smaller conferences.

You get the time to sit and talk and.

So I'll give the rest of time to you. Well, good morning. Good morning. Hope everyone is doing well this morning. It's a joy to be with you. Let's go to the Lord. In a word of prayer and we'll begin. Father we're so grateful to be able to come before your throne of grace.

We're so grateful for the fellowship that we have with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and even though Many of us are meeting for the first time. We love one another because we are. We're family.

We are brothers and sisters. We have been adopted into your family by the merits of Christ. And we pray that you would go with us now as we look to your word. We pray that our mouths would be open. So that you would fill them and the Word of Christ would dwell richly within us all to the praise of the glory of his grace.

It's in his name. Amen. Yeah. Well, I invite you to take your copy of God's Word and open to the book of Daniel. Daniel we're gonna go OT this morning. So book of Daniel. This is a message I've entitled sovereignty and suffering.

Sovereignty and suffering. So Daniel chapter 1. We'll read the first eight verses time permitting. We may work our way through the rest of the chapter, but let's read the first eight verses here. Daniel chapter 1 in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand along 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 he brought the vessels into the treasury of his God.

Then the king ordered Ashkenaz the chief of his officials to bring in some of the sons of Israel Including some of the royal family and of the nobles youths in whom was no defect. Who were good-looking showing intelligence and every branch of wisdom endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge and who had ability for?

Serving in the king's court and he ordered him to teach them the literature in the language of the Chaldeans. The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king's choice food and from the wine which he drank and he appointed that they Should be educated three years at the end of which they were to enter the king's personal service.

Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah. Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them and to Daniel. He assigned the name Belteshazzar to Hananiah Shadrach to Mishael Meshach and Azariah Abednego.

But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank. So he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.

May God bless the reading of his word. So to set the setting here just a little bit the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC. Israel of course was the northern kingdom. Judah was the southern kingdom.

So Israel fell to Assyria in 722 BC. Judah held on a little bit longer. They fell to the Babylonians beginning in 605 BC. There were three waves of Babylonian captivity and as Daniel opens We are opening here in 605 BC the first wave of Babylonian captivity.

This the second one and the third one the third one would be completed in 586 BC. So this is the first of the three waves of Babylonian captivity and we're looking at Judah the southern kingdom and a contemporary here of Daniel was the prophet Jeremiah already been mentioned this morning the weeping prophet and The reason that Jeremiah was weeping is that he had been warning Judah for years and years and years to repent of their sin and they would not do it and Because they would not repent then God brings them judgment and this is what we're seeing.

This is this is God's judgment coming for the unrepentant sin of Judah. Beginning in 605 BC. So that's that's the setting here. So let's look at the text in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah.

Judah Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. The first thing that we need to know about this Babylonian captivity about this judgment is that it was because of sin and Their suffering.

Judah's suffering was a direct result of sin and dear friends. We need to acknowledge the role of sin. That that that sin plays in our suffering. We must acknowledge sins role in our suffering. Jeremiah did not hesitate to put Judah's suffering squarely where it belonged and that was on her sin.

In Lamentations chapter 1 verse 5 Jeremiah says that this suffering this Captivity came because of the quote the multitude of her transgressions Judah's transgressions. That's why this was happening and that she sinned so greatly her sin was so great that it even It it outpaced the sin of Sodom he says in chapter 4 and as wicked as Sodom was Jeremiah says that the sin of Judah was even more so and so Jeremiah does not hesitate to place the responsibility of this suffering this captivity squarely at the feet of Judah because of her sin and so we must recognize the role that sin plays in Our suffering now not all suffering is directly related to our personal sin all suffering in a general sense is related to sin because we live in a fallen world and the reason that I have cerebral palsy is because of sin not my personal sin, but the sin of Adam and Eve and.

So all suffering is a direct result of sin, but it's not always our personal sin. Many times it is. But not always. John chapter 9 the man who was born blind Jesus and his disciples were walking along they saw the man and The disciple said master who did sin this man or his parents that he was born blind.

The disciples just assumed that the reason this fellow was born blind is because had to be because of his sin or his parents sin. And Jesus says neither it was neither this man sinned nor his parents, but it was so that in order the works of God might be displayed in him and.

Yet in the aggregate in the whole all suffering is a result of sin living in a fallen world and Dear friends we speak of the the mercies of God you hear a lot of people talk about God's Mercy you hear the even sometimes the prosperity preachers will talk about the mercy of God.

But the mercy of God makes no sense. Until we first understand the wrath of God. And it is only when we understand the wrath of God that the mercy of God becomes precious to us. If I were to come up to to one of you, let's say Jimmy.

I met you Last night right for the first time. I said Jimmy. I've got great news for you. I'm gonna give you mercy. Jimmy would look at me like What are you talking about? I haven't done anything to you.

Why would you give me mercy? So it is not until we understand understand that our sin has earned God's wrath that the mercy of God becomes precious to us and so when we consider suffering we've got to understand that all suffering is a result of sin and even though My cerebral palsy may not be a direct result of my personal sin.

I'm still a sinner. And I have broken God's laws. Only God knows how many times I've broken his laws over the course of of my life and because I am a sinner I Am NOT owed Anything from God. I am NOT owed mercy.

The only thing that I am owed the only thing that my sins deserve is wrath. And I was having lunch with my pastor a couple years ago and he and I were talking about All matters theology and we were talking about sin and how so many people don't don't understand that they're sinners.

They don't understand that they deserve the wrath of God and and my pastor Jim Osman said He said if God were to take away from me everything that I own all of my possessions Destroyed if he were to take away my wife Take away my children and were to leave me to die a cold slow painful death Alone in a ditch and then send me straight to hell.

He would have done me no wrong. Does that encourage you? You know, that may sound harsh, but you know what that's right. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. That's what you deserve. That's what I deserve and that's why The mercy of God becomes so precious when we first understand the wrath of God and so when we consider suffering we need to we need to keep in mind that all suffering is a result of sin and None of us is owed anything, but judgment and so anything short of hell in our lives is God's mercy.

Anything short of hell is the mercy of God. So when we suffer no matter how Difficult the suffering may be dear friends. It would behoove us to keep in mind That we do not deserve anything less when we suffer we do not suffer unjustly.

Anything short of hell is God's mercy towards us. So let us acknowledge sins role in Suffering verse 2 the Lord gave Jehoiakim King of Judah into his hand along 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 brought the vessels into the treasury of His God.

Now the writer here Daniel is being very careful About the names that he uses and the name that he uses for Lord here when it says the Lord. This this word Lord is the word Adonai and Adonai means ruler it means Boss, it means one who is in control and it says that the Lord Adonai the one who rules the universe he gave Jehoiakim King of Judah into the hands of the evil King Nebuchadnezzar this is not something that caught God off guard.

This is not something that took him by surprise in the mindset of the ancient near Easterners. When ancient near Easterners people back in this day and age when they looked at war when two Opposing forces came in to do battle.

Whichever side won the war had the stronger gods. That was their mindset. So whoever won the war, you know that that team has the stronger gods. So put yourself in the shoes of someone in Babylonian captivity and you look up in Judah and Jerusalem has been besieged by pagan by a pagan nation for all The world it would have seemed like to you that Yahweh had been defeated.

That the Babylonians had the stronger gods. Because Yahweh Adonai had been defeated. But no the writer here of Daniel is being very very careful he is saying this is Adonai. This is the one who is in control.

This is not something that Adonai just permitted to happen. This is something that he caused to happen. This is something that he orchestrated. This is something that he did Adonai the ruler the boss.

He is the one who is doing this he is in Control. And dear friends when we go through suffering we need to remember that no matter how bad it is. That God is in control no matter how Circumstances may be no matter how much Circumstances would seem to indicate otherwise God is in control.

Both in the world at large and in our own personal lives. And you know sometimes when you look at the world at large when you look at our society It almost seems like we're in just a moral freefall, right?

I mean, it was just ten years ago that even California voted down homosexual marriage and now almost I mean It's written in the law. I mean nobody hardly anybody even questions it now and now we look at what some states are doing like New York and Virginia there was another one I think here recently and and They're they're actually encouraging Babies to be left to die who were born alive.

It just seems like our country isn't just moral Freefall and it almost seems like the wheels are coming off doesn't it? But no matter how bad things may seem. Either in our country or the world at large no matter how bad the doctor report may have been.

No matter how bad the family situation may seem God is in control. Working behind the scenes in ways that none of us can understand. This is not something that called God off-guard in Daniel chapter 1 and nothing that comes our way Catches God off-guard today.

God is in control. Even though it may not seem like it even though circumstances might seem to indicate otherwise God is in control. It is only through a healthy understanding of the sovereignty of God That we can truly face trials in our lives.

I want to read a few verses to you. Let me begin with a quote from Thomas Boston a Puritan preacher. Thomas Boston said this he said quote. God has by an eternal decree immovable as mountains of brass.

Appointed the whole of everyone's lot. The crooked parts thereof as well as the straight in other words the pleasant times and the difficult times. All of these things are appointed by God and they are in as immovable as mountains of brass.

Thomas Boston says. Job 23 verse 14. Job says for he performs what is appointed for me in many such decrees are with him. The decrees of God psalm 33 verse 11 the counsel of the Lord stands forever the plans of his heart from generation to generation.

If you've never done a study on the attributes of God as we've mentioned, please do yourself a favor and do that and one of God's attributes his Immutable attributes is his decree. Everything that happens happens by the decree of God.

I'm gonna read a couple other verses for you. May make you squirm a little bit. Amos chapter 3 verse 6 if disaster befalls a city has the Lord not done it. Lamentation chapter 3 verses 37 through 38 who is there who speaks and it comes to pass unless Yahweh has commanded it.

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth. Does that make you squirm? Isaiah chapter 45 verse 7 I am Yahweh and there is no other the one forming light and creating darkness.

Causing well-being in creating calamity. I am Yahweh who does all these things. Does that make you squirm makes me squirm a little bit. Because God is not the author of sin, right? That's right. He's not.

God cannot do anything. That's evil, right? That's exactly right. That's exactly right. And yet we see in these verses that God is the one who does all these things. He creates well-being. He creates calamity and from his mouth both good and ill some translations say evil go forth.

This is God speaking and Yet first John 1 5 says God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. So, how do we square these things? Dear friends. God is not the author of evil. He is not the author of sin.

Oftentimes we think in terms that God can do anything. He can't Kenny. There are some things that God cannot do. God cannot lie not that he won't lie. He can't lie. If God lied every atom in the universe would cease to exist.

All of us would be vaporized instantly. God cannot sin. God not that he won't he can't he can't sin. God cannot change. He's the same yesterday today and forever. So there are some things that God cannot do.

So, how do we make sense of this? Even though God is not the author of sin and he does not Create evil in some way in ways that our finite minds cannot understand somehow in God's eternal decree. He even though he's not the author of these things.

He still is sovereign over them and even evil even suffering is Part of his eternal decree and yet he's not the author of it. Now does that scramble your brain a little bit scrambles mine? You know, I Charles Spurgeon said as well as might a finite creature Seek to come as well.

No I said as well might a gnat G and 80 as well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean. So might a finite creature seek to comprehend the eternal God and I'm really really glad that Deuteronomy 29 29 is in the Bible.

The secret things belong to the Lord. There are some things that we just cannot understand this side of heaven. It's like the the Trinity God is one and yet he's three persons. I My finite brain can't I can't fully grasp that God is sovereign in salvation.

Predestination election. He has his people his sheep his elect predestined chosen from before the foundation of the world and yet man is held responsible and no one will go to hell and because God has sent him there man will go to hell because he wants to go to hell and he Chooses to go to hell because he loves us in he hates the darkness or excuse me He loves us in he hates the light chooses darkness.

And so he will go to hell by his own free will. Man is responsible, but yet we're chosen. How do you make sense of that? God makes sense of that. Both of these things are true because the Bible teaches both they're both true and So we just have to resign ourselves that we're not gonna fully understand everything this side of heaven.

But here's what we do rest in the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God and nothing can come our way dear ones. That does not pass through his sovereign hand. God did not just allow this. Come to Judah.

He caused it. And you know, I don't take a great deal of comfort in a weak passive God. I Take great comfort in a strong sovereign God and God is strong and he is sovereign even in our suffering and Our suffering comes from him.

Sin is responsible and yet it comes from God. Salah we rest in that Verse 3 then the king ordered Ashkenaz the chief of his officials to bring in some of the sons of Israel Including some of the royal family and of the nobles youths in whom was no defect.

Who were good-looking showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge and who had ability for serving in? The king's court and he ordered him to teach them the literature in the language of the Chaldeans.

So what is going on here? Is that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon? He had sent his forces down into Judah laid siege around Jerusalem besieged it and so Jerusalem is now captive and What Nebuchadnezzar wanted to do as was common with the Babylonians when they conquered a people?

They would take some of their people and bring them out of their home country and take them back to the To the king's palace and this is what Nebuchadnezzar was doing. He got some of the young men of Judah the cream of the crop.

These were some sharp young men and best we can tell probably somewhere between 15 and 17 years of age that neighborhood 14 to 17 that that neighborhood. He took some young men who were strong handsome good-looking.

Very intelligent very well educated. He took the cream of the crop and he took them from their home Hundreds of miles away and Had them deposited in his own court and he wanted to use these young men for his own purposes and he figured that this this period of brainwashing notice it says that that he that this period of brainwashing would would last about three years there in verse 5 says the king appointed for them a Daily ration from the king's choice food from the wine which he drank.

He appointed that they should be educated three years. At the end of which they were to enter the king's personal service. So this three years this is a period of brainwashing these young men teenager.

We would call them today, but these young men they had been taken from their home. Everything that they had ever known has just been stripped away from them. And they are now hundreds of miles away in a strange land in a in a strange court in.

The king is gonna spend three years brainwashing these young men. He's gonna give them a new system of education. They're gonna be taught the literature and the language of the Chaldeans pagan people.

They're gonna be given a new diet they he appointed for them a daily ration from his own choice food and the wine which he drank and So stripped from them everything that they've ever known. Re-educate them and use their talents for his own personal service.

Three year period of brainwashing now watch verse 6. It says now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah. Now a couple of points here in verse 6 notice that these young men did that group was not comprised totally of Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah says now among them now.

We don't know exactly how many young men the Babylonians took. I've seen estimates anywhere from 50 to upwards to 600. We don't know. But it wasn't just Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah. They were just four of a much larger group.

Let's go with the conservative number. Let's say 50. Let's say 450. So among this group of 50 Daniel Hananiah Mishael in Azariah then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them to Daniel.

He assigned the name Belteza are to Hananiah Shadrach to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abednego. Now the author here Daniel is being very careful again and including these names. These names mean something.

I want to walk through these names. What these names mean now. Daniel's name means God is my judge. That's what Daniel means. God is my judge. Hananiah's name means Yahweh is gracious Yahweh is gracious Mishael name his name means who is what God is who is what God is.

And Azariah's name means Yahweh is my help. So their original Hebrew names all point to God. They say something about him something about his character his nature. They all point to God. Their new names also mean something.

Daniel's new name Belteza are means protect the king's life. In other words Nebuchadnezzar's life. Hananiah's new name Shadrach means command of a coup a pagan Babylonian God moon God. Mishael's new name Meshach means who is what a coup is now.

Mishael's original name means who is what God is. His new name means who is what a coup is. This was deliberate. This was a this was a slap in the face. This is they didn't just pull a name out of a hat and say okay, we're gonna call this one George.

No. This is a direct affront. This is a direct challenge to God. The gauntlet has been cast down. Who is going to emerge supreme? The pagan Babylonian gods or Yahweh. Who is what a coup is? Azariah's new name Abednego means servant of Nego another pagan king.

So their Hebrew names all point towards God. They say something about God something about his character something about his nature. Their new names they're all point to pagan kings or pagan deities. And now if I were to Take a room of a hundred at least professing Christians have some kind of religious background.

I suppose. You know raise your hand if you've ever heard of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego. Probably most hands would go up. If I were to have said raise your hand if you've heard of Hananiah Mishael and Azariah.

Probably not a lot of hands maybe a few. But you know, everybody knows who Shadrach Meshach and Abednego is right? I mean we have we were taught about them in Sunday school. We have songs. You know their names have a certain rhyme and cadence to them and you know.

Isn't it ironic? That we know these men by their pagan names. It's kind of sad isn't it that we know these guys by their pagan names. This is part of the brainwashing now look at verse 8. But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or With the wine which he drank so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.

Now that's a very interesting verse of Scripture. Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself With the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank. It's kind of a surprising statement when you think about it because up until this point Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah and all the rest of them Had pretty much gone along with everything.

Want to give us a new system of education? You want to teach us the literature and the language of the Chaldeans? Okay, knock yourself out. Want to give us new names? All right, whatever floats your boat.

We'll go along with the new names, too. But when it comes to the king's choice food and the wine which he drank Daniel and his friend said no. We're not gonna do that. That's a bridge too far. We're drawing a line in the sand.

Now when you think about this, this is really kind of totally counterintuitive, isn't it? It had I been in their shoes if I had been one of these young men that had been taken away from my home. My parents my siblings are gone.

Everything that I've ever known is Gone, and I'm hundreds of miles away in a pagan kingdom. And I don't even speak the language and I'm being given a new system of education. They've even changed my name.

But I've been offered the king's choice food and the wine what you drank. I would like that would be the lone bright spot right in an otherwise very unpleasant situation. I Mean, I'd be thinking well, at least I'm gonna get a good meal out of this thing.

I mean the king's prime rib over there is looking pretty good. That would be the one bright spot of the whole situation and yet that's where they decided to draw the line. Why I Think for a couple of reasons one is that the king's choice food had been sacrificed to pagan deities and Daniel and his friends were gonna have none of that was they didn't want to give homage to any pagan deities and.

Also, I think of course we have to remember Daniel was a prophet, right? I think even now Daniel knew that he and his friends were about to be tested. And I think he knew they were gonna pass that test and He wanted all of the glory to go to the one to whom it belonged to God.

He didn't want any of the credit to go to Nebuchadnezzar because of the choice food and the wine which he drank. And so he drew a line in the sand. It says Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself.

Couple of points about that. Just as Daniel and his friends were absolutely resolute against sin. You and I need to be that resolute as well. We don't need to wait until we get into a place of temptation to then decide What we're gonna decide to do about this temptation and whether or not we're going to give in to the sin.

We need to make up our minds beforehand. And Do not let ourselves be placed In a situation in which we are unduly tempted now temptation comes. Oh, you can't avoid it it comes. But you know what? Do yourself a favor and don't allow yourself to get into a place where you know, you're gonna be tempted.

Make up your mind beforehand. You know if you have been saved out of alcoholism don't go hang out at a bar if you've been saved out of Fornication take whatever steps you need to take to remove that temptation from you.

Make up your mind. That would you will not defile yourself. With these temptations make up your mind now and also as it comes to trials and as it comes to suffering and difference. Think these these were young men 14 15 16 17 tops years of age.

You think this wasn't a trial? They had been stripped from everything. Everything that they had ever known is gone in an immediate intense Trial, but Daniel and his friends made up their minds. They were well-prepared.

Have your theology of suffering in place. Before you get to a place of suffering the time to build a house is not in the middle of a storm. You build your house before the storm. So when the storm comes You'll be safe.

Don't wait until you are in an intense trial of suffering to begin studying about What God has to say about suffering. It's one of the reasons we're having this conference to help equip you. Don't wait until the storm comes.

Read and study God's Word beforehand. Study study what God's Word has to say about suffering and trials before The intense trial comes. Don't wait until you're in the midst of it. Prepare yourself now prepare yourself now.

And I pointed this out a minute ago Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah four young men out of a group of at least conservatively at least 50. All 50 of them had come from the same place. All 50 of them had the same upbringing.

All 50 of them had the same religion. All 50 of them had been taught the same scriptures. They were all Cookie cutter as far as their background goes. But out of the 50. How many of them said? No, we will not defile ourselves.

With the King's choice food or with the wine which he drank the other 46. Succumbed to the temptation they succumbed to the prime rib. But not the four. Why just four out of 50 when they all had the same background.

There's a lot of people who claim to be Christians. They come from the same religious background go to the same church. And been taught the same scriptures but for a lot of people. Their head knowledge is nothing more than just that head knowledge.

And there's nothing like a good intense acute trial as We talked about last night to really test you and to see what you're really made of. To investigate you to find you out to find me out. What are we really made up.

And it was in this acute trial that just four out of the fifty Were shown to have not only head knowledge, but that head knowledge had penetrated their heart. That's why it's so important that we be very very careful before we baptize little five six seven eight year old kids.

Just because they've made intellectual ascent to a few basic gospel facts. All raised in the same church go to the same vacation Bible school here the same thing. Yeah, they've made intellectual ascent just like this group of 50 had but on for only four of them.

Was it truly in here? Was it truly in their heart? Nothing like a good trial. Nothing like good suffering. To expose us to see what we're really made of to see what's really on the inside of us. You're not gonna be able to tell that in a little child.

Five six seven eight years of age. Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the King's choice food or with the wine which he drank. So he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.

God’s Sovereign Rule Over Babylonian Captivity and Human Suffering

Now look at verse 9 now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials. In the commander of the officials said to Daniel I am afraid of my lord the king who has appointed your food in your drink.