Godly Success

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 65:1-5
• Hymn — Come, Christians, Join to Sing
• Prayer of Invocation
• Reading of the Law — Deuteronomy 6:4-9
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — 1 Peter 2:24
• Confession of Faith — Apostles' Creed
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn — All the Way My Savior Leads Me
• Scripture Reading — Daniel 1:8-21
• Sermon
• Lord's Supper — Hymn — Behold the Lamb
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14
• Gloria Patri

---

Sermon Title: Godly Success in a Godless World

Scripture: Daniel 1:8-21

I. Godly Success Requires Personal Holiness

A. Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the king's food or wine (Daniel 1:8)

1. The Hebrew verb "to set or place" appears in both v. 7 (the chief eunuch renaming Daniel) and v. 8 (Daniel setting his heart) — the contrast is deliberate and emphatic
2. The Babylonians sought to fully assimilate Daniel through renaming and diet; Daniel purposely set himself apart

B. Possible reasons for refusing the king's food

1. Mosaic food purity laws (Leviticus)
2. Food offered to idols — eating would be partaking in idol worship (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:20)
3. The deeper issue: refusing to be enslaved by the luxuries of Babylon (1 Corinthians 6:12)

C. Satan loves general Christianity — vague profession without purposeful commitment

1. C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters: the demon Screwtape advises Wormwood to keep his subject from openly acknowledging the conflict between his faith and his new worldly friends; through shame and social pressure, the subject gradually becomes what he was merely pretending to be
2. Commentator Veldkamp: "The devil is an even greater danger in the world's dining room than in the den of lions."

D. Application: Identify specifically what is creeping up to assimilate you into the culture; purposely set your heart against it — do not rely on vague, general Christianity

II. Godly Success Is Dependent on God's Grace

A. God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief eunuch (Daniel 1:9)

1. When an enemy is kind to you, it is the grace of God in action
2. Daniel would not have experienced this grace had he not first committed his way to the Lord

B. Daniel is a pursuer of grace, not merely a passive recipient

1. When the chief eunuch refused, Daniel did not give up; he sought another avenue through the steward
2. God miraculously made Daniel and his friends healthier and better nourished than those eating from the king's table
3. Making your calling and election sure through holy endeavors (2 Peter 1:10)

C. Two competing "graces": the favor of Babylon vs. the favor of God

1. Daniel had to starve himself of the world's favor in order to be fattened by God's favor
2. Illustration: At a Brazilian steakhouse you must fast all day to fully enjoy the feast — so too, fasting from the world's delights opens us to enjoy God's abundant grace
3. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9: God's power is made perfect in weakness; his grace is sufficient

D. Application: If you are not experiencing God's grace, consider whether you are too full of the world to receive it; begin fasting from the culture's delights

III. Godly Success Experiences Ultimate Victory

A. God gave the four youths learning, skill, and wisdom; Daniel received understanding in visions and dreams (Daniel 1:17)

1. Parallel to Joseph: rise from exile to right-hand man through interpreting dreams (Genesis 37-50)
2. Parallel to Mordecai and Esther: tables turned, the people of God vindicated
3. Daniel's rise is compressed into a single chapter — the brevity is instructive: God's power over the greatest empire is displayed swiftly

B. The final verse seals the victory: "Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus" (Daniel 1:21)

1. Cyrus (539 BC) destroys Babylon and issues the edict restoring Israel to the land
2. Cyrus is called "the LORD's anointed" — the Messiah — in Isaiah 45:1
3. In one chapter: exile → faithfulness → victory → restoration through the anointed one

C. Matthew 1 is the compact New Testament complement to Daniel 1

1. Matthew 1:17: from Abraham to David, 14 generations; David to the Babylonian exile, 14 generations; exile to the Messiah, 14 generations
2. From exile to restoration through Messiah — Christ wins

D. Application: Jonathan Edwards resolved to live every moment as though judgment were imminent; Daniel 1 asks whether you want to be on the winning side of history

1. Commit your way to holiness; consecrate yourself from the world
2. Empty yourself of the world's pleasures to be fattened by God's grace
3. Revel in the victory of Messiah — crucified, resurrected, exalted, and coming again