If you have your Bibles, I would like for you to turn this morning to the book of Daniel chapter one. While you're turning there, I would tell you that this is a very solemn message that I am sharing with you this morning. It's a warning to us as people of God. It has some very somber tones that relate to the state of America today as we see the state of Babylon back in the days of Daniel, 2,500 years before Christ. But the good news is there are applications that we can bring over and challenge our hearts to live for Jesus. Daniel chapter 1 verse 8. But Daniel resolved. I want that word to just stay in our minds this morning. Daniel resolved. That means he made up his mind not to defile himself. Did you get that phrase? Daniel resolved. And he resolved this as a very young person, a young man, the age, very age of some of you this morning, he made this resolution. and it stayed with him all of his life. And so Daniel resolved not to defile himself, he made up his mind. And then going clear up to just hundreds of years following that when the Apostle Peter wrote to us in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 11, I urge you as sojourners and exiles Do you see the role that you and I are to have today and the thinking that is to be in our mind today? We're not here for a long period of time, are we? We're here for a few short years and then it's off to eternity either with Jesus or apart from Him. Now as I stated, this is a solemn message, so buckle your seatbelts, here we go. I want to share some thoughts and insights that the Lord has placed on my heart of what I see taking place in America today. I want to do this without talking about politics or political parties, without belittling or bashing our government or our president or any members of any political party. the judgment that those individuals will stand before God just as you and I will and we must leave their judgment into his hands. But I simply want to look at some scriptures that record the day and age in which the prophet Daniel was living and the time in which we are now living and draw some parallels that ought to challenge us as believers to awaken and commit ourselves to holy, godly living in this wicked hour in which we find ourselves. If you are here this morning and are tuned into the word of God and into the world situation, you are certainly aware that the shift from God to godliness is taking place in America today. If you are of any years, this is a different America today than what most of us grew up in. The values are different, the philosophy is different, society is different, and there is an attempt to culturize us, to assimilate us into modern secularism away from the Word of God and away from the very foundation of the things that our nation has been predicated upon. how many of God's people today are keenly aware and some are even overwhelmed by the reality that we as believers are no longer a majority in our society. Our views are no longer as believers considered acceptable and even expressible in an ever-growing intolerant atmosphere. The idea that America is a Christian nation and one nation under God is no longer believed or accepted by millions and millions who live under the banner of secular humanism. Their motto is, we are going to do our own thing. We are going to cancel your culture. We're going to rewrite history and we will serve our gods and we will not bow down to any god of Israel. Pastor Tim Keller describes it this way, we are entering a new era in which there is not only no social benefit to being a Christian but an actual cost to being a believer. In many places, culture is becoming increasingly hostile toward faith and belief in God. Truth, sin, and the afterlife are disappearing in more and more people, and sadly, even in some Bible-believing Christians, so-called. Two, the cancel culture is producing people for whom Christianity is not only offensive, but incomprehensible and even intolerable. As people of God, we are now living with the awareness that we are being pushed hard, and if possible, human secularism and modern paganism are not only pushing us, but if we allow us, they will push us over the cliff of destruction and extinction. We Christians are starting to sense the awareness that the persecuted church is no longer only in third world countries, but it is drawing closer and in fact is even in our society here today. an individual that was in the first service visiting with us from another state. As he went out and said, oh, how I needed that. He's a manager in a large company. He said, you know what the motto in my company as a manager is? They are teaching us as managers and as supervisors, they have a new mantra now. It's called global diversity and inclusion. Now that sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Global diversity and inclusion. What's wrong with that? Except global diversity and inclusion in this company, he said, has no tolerance whatsoever for Christianity. We are told that we must tolerate every other ism, every other theology, every other practicum, but we are not to push Christianity onto anyone or even speak of it because it is not inclusive, it is exclusive. And you know what? They're exactly right in that regard. Christianity is an exclusive religion. Jesus is an exclusive savior. There are not many ways to heaven. There's one way to heaven. And Jesus said, I am that way, the truth and the lie. So it's starting to dawn on us in that old Christian hymn that we have sung without even thinking of it, that it may actually be true. This world is not our home. We are just passing through. Our treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. And my brothers and sisters, my word to you this morning, in this solemn hour is, you and I better prepare that if Jesus tarries his coming, we better prepare that things are gonna get a lot darker in the days to come. And you better make up your mind, you better resolve, even as Daniel did, that you will not defile yourself with the king's meat, with the king's creed, with the prevailing philosophy of this day. The issue before us is what does a Christian live? How does a Christian live in this day? How do we stand for God in a day and age in which there is so much infiltrating, in which there is so much assimilation of ungodliness into our society? Well, the good news is we have a blueprint. And the blueprint is found in the book of Daniel. And the key to Daniel living for God and having an impact over 60 years over four or five different pagan kings is the same key that you and I must have today. And that is he made up his mind that he would not bow down to the God of Babylon. You and I are in that same way. You see, choices and decisions are before us every day. It was Robert Frost who said, two roads diverge into the yellow woods, and I took the one less traveled, and that has made all the difference. As we come to this text, we find Daniel as a teenager facing a crisis in Babylon. The decision he's about to make will radically change his whole life. And when you read about it, it doesn't sound like a very big deal in one respect, but it turned out to be a big one because the rest of his life, his fruitfulness and his usefulness depended upon this decision, I am resolved not to bow my knee to Baal, so to speak. But there he is now, he and his friends are in Babylon, having been torn away as teenagers from their families in Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar and the mighty Babylonian army. Because these young men came from noble backgrounds, the king, follow this now, The king ordered them trained to enter his service. These are God-fearing Jewish teenagers ripped out of everything they have known, now being trained by a pagan king. That's what I call operation assimilation. I'm telling you friends, that's taking place in America today like never before. Operation assimilation is an attempt to get us as believers in Christ to buy into, to include all kinds of things as acceptable and normal that the word of God says are abominable and reprehensible and that those who practice them will not be participants in the kingdom of God. And we as Christians need to wake up and smell the coffee and take our stand for Jesus in this time. They had a great education. So let's go to this little outline that I put in there. First of all, Daniel was tested. And I'm telling you, you will be tested as well. Don't think you aren't and that you won't be. Even as that manager of this large company over in Salt Lake told me today, He said, I am being tested. Pastor, pray for me as to I will know where to draw the line as to my job. He said, my job could be at stake, my whole future could be at stake, my retirement plan could be at stake, and I am not sure of where to draw the line. Well, I want to help you with that this morning. Remember that course, I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. That's a beautiful course. This is a crucial event, the turning point of his entire life. Although it might not seem important to us, what Daniel did shaped the following 60 years of his life. That's why I encourage you precious young people, those of you that are collegians, those of you that are little kids sitting here, make up your mind now, I'm going to serve Jesus, I'm going to take my stand. People may make fun of me, I may be excluded, I may be an outcast, but I will stand bravely and I will stand strongly. Even if I stand alone, I know that God will stand with me. And I'm not only talking to the teenagers here when I say this, I'm talking to you employers and employees. Make up your mind that you are going to follow God and the tenets of the Christian faith, no matter what the cost might be to you temporarily, keep eternity in mind. Because eternity is only a breath away for all of us. Daniel was tested. Why did Daniel refuse? Now here's something here. There are at least three problems. Here's some things that are kind of interesting. Daniel had to make three important decisions every day. First, he had to take part in a pagan education. He was well educated in history and science under King Nebuchadnezzar. submit to a pagan education. Secondly, he had to be put up with being called a pagan name. They gave him a name that was totally different. It meant totally different than what he had been given. Thirdly, he had to eat pagan food. And at that point, He couldn't escape what that represented. I find it fascinating that what it seems to us to be an unimportant issue was the most important to Daniel. But that young man had a proper sense of his priorities. He knew that eventually, You've got to draw a line in your life. You've got to draw a line in your standards. You've got to draw a line in what you will stand for and what you will not tolerate as an individual or in your family. Now, why did Daniel refuse? Let's talk about that for a moment. There were at least three problems with the food. First of all, it certainly would not have been prepared according to the kosher laws of the Old Testament. Much of it would have been ritually unclean. Now you see, if Daniel had not been taught the Old Testament, he wouldn't know about that and he wouldn't care about that. Do you see the modern application parents? Do you see the modern application moms and dads and grandpas and every one of you? That's why it's important to attend a Bible-believing church and encourage your friends to do the same. If you don't know something is wrong based on the Word of God, society today is going to make it seem like you are the intolerant one. You are the one that needs to be educated. You are the one that needs to come in line. But stand for the Word of God. Much of it would be unclean. Secondly, all the wine and most of the food would have been previously offered to pagan gods. And then after they offered it to the pagan god, they brought it in and ate that. To eat that food in that situation would have given tacit endorsement to paganism. Third, Daniel knew what sharing a meal at the king's table represented in sharing the king's values. Even today, sharing a meal with someone has a huge symbolic meaning. To eat together implies friendship, support, endorsement, and shared values. Don't you agree with that? You don't take enemies out to eat. You take friends out to eat. You take acquaintances, people that you're trying to reach for the Lord or already know the Lord. In the end, Daniel felt that he could obey the king and even serve in his government, but he could not pretend to be his friend. To eat that food in that situation represented a moral compromise of everything that he believed, and he made up his mind he would not do it. Now, in other words, there was a conclusion in his convictions. This is hugely important because it teaches you cannot corrupt a man from the outside. If he knows the Word of God, if the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you, society can throw its garbage on you But the Holy Spirit will say, don't believe that for a second. That's anti-Christ. That's anti-biblical. Don't you dare buy into that. But you've got to know the word of God in order to have a foundation to stand on, or you'll be swept out into the sea of this modern secularism that's taking place. Daniel may have looked like a pagan, but on the inside, he was a servant of the living God. Even the mighty Nebuchadnezzar couldn't do anything about that. I think we should pause at that point and recognize the risk that Daniel was taking because you're going to have to take some risks too. You see, he risked angering the king who wouldn't appreciate some little bean-headed teenage boy from Israel who didn't want to eat at his table. He wasn't just going to pat him on the head and say, oh, that's okay, Sonny, I understand. He could have his head cut off in the very next instant by one of Nebuchadnezzar's henchmen. And so he was putting his life on the line. He was spoiling his own chances for advancement. We all know the saying about how to get along to go along. We know that saying, don't we? It's part of our society today. You can't climb the ladder while you're rocking the boat. All of the things that this society today tells us, just roll over, play dead, it'll all come out in the end. I want you to see now some excuses that Daniel did not use that you and I have to be careful that we don't use as well. Let's flip this around. He could have said, after all, I'm a long ways from home and nobody back in Jerusalem is going to have a clue what I'm doing. They're all captives back there just like I am here. They don't see what I'm doing, they don't know what I'm doing, therefore, it's all right. I want to tell you something, my brother and sister, you're never more godly than when you're alone. What you tolerate and what you do when you're all by yourself is truly who you are and what you are. Did you get that? With your cell phone, on the television, if some of you businessmen that travel and go place, whatever you tolerate in your personal life, that's what you really are in your heart when you're all by yourself. What's down, I go back to Pastor Rich's statement again, what's down in the well comes up in the bucket. And what's down in the well will manifest itself when you don't think there's anybody else around. Nobody heard that. Nobody sees that. Nobody knows that. Well, I want to tell you something. God sees. God hears. God knows. And you and I are being held accountable for that. He didn't use that excuse. You see, here's the point that I put in here. You can always find an excuse when you don't want to do the right thing. You can always come up with some justification. You can always have something that will fit the bill. Well, I don't want to alienate them or I don't want to be approved or I've got a lot of friends and they've got a lot of different beliefs and I just have to go along to get along. I want to tell you, you can always find an excuse to keep you from doing the right thing. But Daniel didn't need an excuse. He had already decided to do the right thing no matter what. Remember, he purposed in his heart. and that leads me to a point that I made earlier. The Babylonians changed everything around him. They changed his diet, his location, his education, his language, even his name, but they couldn't change his heart. Why was that? Because his heart belonged to God, and it didn't belong to the society of his day, and neither does your heart or your mind belong to modern secularism that's taking us away from God today. And then God rewarded Daniel. I want you to notice that and to see that, that Daniel was rewarded. Look, do you see that in verse 17? The story comes to a positive end and I wanna be careful here because sometimes your reward could be you're gonna get your head cut off. John the Baptist was a faithful servant of God. He's in heaven today, and he got his head cut off in between. So just because you do the right thing, don't look for the world to pat you on the back. Don't look for them to say, oh, I'm so glad that you're a person of conviction. They're going to call you an intolerant bigot. They're going to call you, unwoke, they're going to call you a lot of things in our society today, but I'm telling you friends, you better make up your mind that there's a reward for those who serve God. Sometimes it does come in this world, but most of the time in the day and age in which we're living, I'm convinced standing for Jesus is going to mean you get your reward in heaven, not here on earth. All right, look at verses 9 and 17. It says, God gave these four young men wisdom and understanding. My advice to that man today says, what should I do when this is being pushed on me as a manager and I'm supposed to promulgate this to my employees? What am I going to do? And I said, that's where you need to ask God for wisdom. You see, for Daniel that meant not eating the king's food at the king's table. It doesn't matter that we today don't fully understand his decision. What happened is he drew a line, he went along with some things that he knew he could tolerate and it wouldn't have any affectation on him. But finally there was some that was going to affect his personal convictions. And it was going to ruin his testimony. And he said, I cannot and I will not do that. So you've got to be wise and ask God for insight and understanding. And here's the key, my dear brothers and sisters. Think ahead. Decide what you won't do. and then don't do it. Did you get that? Decide in advance what you won't do and then don't do it, no matter how much pressure is put on you, no matter what it comes at and what angle, what threats are made to you. We have to know our own limits, number three, and establish, must do, Let me start again. We must know our own limits and establish biblical boundaries and we must not do what we know is wrong. The lines, Daniel knew the lines that he could cross and it would be okay but he also knew the lines that he could not and would not cross. I just want to tell you that this operation of assimilation is in our minds today more than if you have a television, if you have a cell phone, if you have a computer, you will see the whole world's attempt to normalize what God calls sinful. Have you noticed even in the commercials how they're trying to work in two men and two women and present that as a normal aspect of life anymore? Have you noticed that? I tell you it's, and it's just subtle, it's just there for a few seconds and then it's gone. In fact, I'm going to depart here a little bit. I don't know, the time that's up there got me a little confused as to how long I've been speaking. It says 58 minutes and I know that's not quite accurate, even though it may seem that way to some of you. Now I think I lost my train of thought. Oh, now I got it back again real quickly. The man that was speaking to me this morning said, pray for my daughter. She works in a secular workplace. She has a lot of friends who are lesbian and who are homosexual. And she said she gets invited all the time to their weddings. She has a dilemma to know that if she goes to the wedding, it'll look like she's approving of it, which she isn't. But if she stays home, it'll look like she's a total prude, that she doesn't understand, that she doesn't care. He said, what should she do? I said, that's a very good question. She has to answer that question. She has to pray, Oh God, give me wisdom because we all have different convictions. We all have different approaches as to how we will approach situations and only we can decide because we're going to be the ones that are judged before God. Some could go and some won't go. Does that make one more spiritual than the other? Not at all. Sometimes I even get lambasted for marrying couples that have been married and divorced before. I get taken to task for that. In fact, I did one just yesterday up in Pinedale where a couple had been previously married, each of them, their grown kids were there. And people say, why? How can you marry couples that have been divorced? I'll tell you why. Because when Jesus was at the well in John chapter four, he met that lady where she was and brought salvation to her. And I want to tell you something, my brother and sister. Anytime we get so sanctimonious and we get so proud in our own lives that we cannot reach out to the people that need Jesus because they don't meet our spiritual standards, we better evaluate whether we're standing on the word of God or our own prejudices. And therefore, I always have them in. We counsel three or four times in three or four different counseling sessions. They profess Christ. I believe they'll live for Jesus. But I tell you, I'm committed to meeting people where they're at and sharing Christ with them rather than coming into a holy huddle on Sunday morning and then just saying, what a fine bunch we are. It's wonderful to be here, friends. But if we don't take what we hear and what we learn here and take it out, then we just as well have stayed at home and turned into some radio preacher. because it should serve to stimulate us, and it should serve to help us emulate the things of God in the lives of others. Now, here's the last part. Godly convictions. Yield God-given rewards. Did you get that? That's number four. God protected Daniel when he proposed the test. God prospered Daniel during the test afterwards, and God promoted Daniel in the eyes of the king. Now, I told you in the beginning that this was a crucial event of Daniel's life. It may not have seemed important at the time, but his decision not to eat the meat changed the next 60 years of his life and gave him a life of outstanding service for Christ. Now, here's my challenge to us this morning in these final couple two or three minutes, and that is this. Have you made up your mind? Are you just going along with the flow and clucking your tongue and saying, oh, this is terrible. I don't know what this is going to come to. Friends, there's two or three things that we can do. First of all, we should pray down the Holy Spirit of God in convicting power upon sin and unrighteousness and ask God to convict sin and sinners everywhere, no matter what form. We are in operation assimilation. Modern-day paganism, secular humanism is brainwashing us. And I'm surprised sometimes at how little alarmed we as believers are. I'm not saying that we should just run around in a frenzy in a circle, but I'm telling you friends, it ought to drive us to our knees in behalf of our children and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren They're the ones that if Jesus tarries are going to have to grow up in an ever increasingly hostile world. Do you believe that or not? And therefore that doesn't mean we throw up our hands and say the whole world has gone to hell in a handbasket. It just simply means God is on the throne and God is sovereign. I'm approaching Him. I'm asking Him to set a hedge of protection mentally, emotionally, and physically around my children and my grandchildren that they would live for Jesus in these days of time and that they would have the courage to stand for Christ. Well, you've got to do that in advance. You cannot just decide in the moment. You know, that's why when we talk to teenagers about purity, when do we tell them to decide? In the moment of temptation? No, decide in advance. Decide in advance and then The victory is nearly won. All you do is affirm the victory. And it's the same way with honesty. It's the same way with integrity. It's the same way with lying and truthfulness. Decide in advance, those things are not going to be a part of my life. Well, I know that in terms of scientific progress, the world has changed since Daniel's day, but God has not changed. God's word has not changed. And therefore, the encouragement that I want to share with you in this last moment, in these closing moments of this service is, Daniel lived in a wicked time. He lived under wicked rulers, not just Nebuchadnezzar, but the five that followed him. And yet, He stood strong, he stood stalwart, he lived out his convictions, and the reason that we read about Daniel in the lion's den in the later years of his life, that he had the courage to face down the lions with God's help, the reason that we hear about that is because he resolved when he was 16. He decided in advance, no matter what the test, no matter how heavy it was, or how hostile, or how life-threatening it was, he was going to serve God all the days of his life. And the decision that he made then is the reason we read the book of Daniel now. And friends, I pray that those who follow after us, if Jesus tarries, I pray that those who follow after us will say, I had a daddy, I had a mommy, I had a granddad, I had a grandmother that lived for Jesus. They weren't always popular, but they didn't seem to care. I had a lady tell me just yesterday at this wedding, she said, my grandkids make a lot of fun of me. And I said to her, you let them mock. Someday if they don't change their ways, if Jesus tarries, they'll be crying out, Grandma, tell me, please. I need to know. I want to know. She said, it saddens my heart because my children are not living for God and now their children are not living for God. And I want to tell all of you parents every time I've told you this before, You young parents, thank God for you. Thank God that you're here with them, that you bring them to the house of God, and that they're standing upon the word of God. It's not going to be easy to brainwash them because you're living for Jesus both at church and in your home. So that's my challenge to you. And the final thing is this. The final thing is this, are you standing for Christ today? Have you resolved? I have determined to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back. Is there any difference between your life and the people that you work with? Do you tell the same stories? Do you laugh at the same jokes? Do you turn away from the things that they say? I'm just asking you, does anybody at your work know that you are a born again believer? If not, I say to your shame, you better get with the stick. You better get on the job and start to live for Christ. I'm not saying you have to take your Bible, stand on a pulpit outside the plant. I'm not saying that. I'm saying let your light shine for Jesus. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, and no man has a light that's supposed to be under the basket. Whether you're an employer, an employee, whether you're a college student, my heart goes out to you if you're a student at one of these secular colleges. I'll tell you, every one of your friends has philosophies, or not everyone, but 90% of them have worldly philosophies. One guy told me just recently, he said, my daughter went off to college, very foundational in her faith, and she came back a wild-eyed liberal. He said, my heart is broken. You know what had happened? Operation assimilation had worked in her life. She had been assimilated by ungodly views and by worldly demonic paganism, telling her, if you think Jesus is the only way, and if you think that's how you stand for Christ in this day, you're wrong. you've got to be far more inclusive. So you know where I stand, you know where the Word of God stands. Live for Jesus. Never apologize for Christ. Never apologize for your faith. Live valiantly, victoriously, but live kindly. Don't live as a snob. Don't live as an aggressive, arrogant individual. Just take your stand and live faithfully and fruitfully for Jesus all the days of your life. Will you bow your heads in prayer? I want to ask you, with your heads bowed and your eyes closed, how many of you would say, Pastor Larry, I know. I know that I've been lax. I know that there have been times when I've chickened out. I know that there have been times when I have just, I've just bowed my head and kind of slogged on and I haven't taken my stand. But God being my helper, God being my helper, I'm going to determine once again today, renew my determination once again today, I am resolved not to defile myself with this world's paganism or modern secularism. Would you pray for me that God will give me courage and strength to stand faithfully for Him all the days of my life. If you feel that way, that you need a touch in your courage bucket this morning, lift your hands. I see one already. I see several. All right, there's just a whole host of you. Thank you for your honesty. You see, if we don't admit our need, it's hard for God to meet the need. But just a whole host of you have lifted your hands and say, Yes, that's me. Not every one of us is perfect. I put myself in the hands of those who's raised because I have coffee over here at Burger King with a lot of people that have solely different divergent views than I do. Sometimes I listen as long as they, and sometimes they take their jigs at me, but you know what? It's a small price to pay for standing for Jesus. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for these precious people today that have lifted their hands and said, I need a re-fortification. I need like Daniel to resolve anew that I will stand for him no matter what the cost. Father, help me today to be a fearless, faithful, fruitful servant, I pray in Jesus' name. And now with your head still bowed, just a moment. Is there anyone here this morning that you do not know Jesus as your Savior? And you would say, Pastor, I've come to church today, I'm in quest of a Savior. I need a Savior. I know, I've heard what you said, my heart agrees with it, but I want to know Christ as my Savior. I don't want my head just to affirm it. I want my heart to be in a right relationship, and I need Jesus as my Savior. If you'll lift your hand and acknowledge that, I'll pray for you from up here, and you will receive Christ right where you're seated. Lift your hand quickly if you're going to, because I won't tarry long, give you the opportunity that could make the difference of where you spend eternity. Father, I thank you for the Spirit of God that we have sensed here present this morning. I pray, I pray, send us forth as Daniels, and we have to keep making those decisions, not just as young people, but Daniel made them all the way to his old age. He threw open the windows every day and prayed to the God of heaven. Lord, help us to pray to the God of heaven and to be faithful to the God of heaven, whether we're 18 or 80. We pray in Jesus' precious name, amen.