Welcome to Babylon High

Daniel 1:8-21 September 22, 2024 Pastor Ricky Alcantar

Thesis Faithful navigation of complex decisions in a hostile culture requires daily asking 'What honors God?' in mundane matters, trusting that God is worthy of such devotion because he proves himself faithful to those who depend on him.

Series

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Type

Expository

Tone

pastoraldidactic

Method

grammatical-historicalredemptive-historicalapplicatory

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

34 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #4

"Applies the Babylon High metaphor to the entire congregation by appealing to the Petrine category of 'elect exiles.' Establishes that all Christians live in the 'already/not yet' tension between Christ's inauguration and kingdom fulfillment, making exile the universal Christian condition. Listeners face the same assimilation pressures as Daniel in daily decisions."

Doctrinal loci· 12 surfaced

Sanctification · 10 Ethics / Moral Theology · 5 Providence / Sovereignty · 4 Eschatology · 3 Theology Proper · 3 Bibliology · 2 Christology · 2 Soteriology · 2 Covenant Theology · 1 Ecclesiology · 1 Pneumatology · 1 Spiritual Warfare · 1

Bible citations· 17

Illustrations· 4

personal story · unit #8 — Personal anecdote about a child identifying lunch as favorite school period. Serves to humanize the tension—even for kids today, lunch is the high point. Sets up the contrast: Daniel's lunch period becomes the site of spiritual crisis rather than relief.
cultural reference · unit #14 — Anecdote about a husband claiming to make 'big decisions' in marriage but never encountering one because life is comprised of small decisions. Serves the preceding claim: big moments of character are formed by daily small choices, not sudden heroism.
hypothetical · unit #25 — Concrete application: the impulse to explode in anger at a boss, spouse, or coworker. Self-control honors God, but self-control requires trust—trust that God works all things for good (Romans 8:28), trust that God will execute justice (Romans 12). The theological architecture: trust in God's control enables human self-control.
personal story · unit #27 — Extended personal story about learning to boulder. Natural impulse was to stay upright (self-reliant posture), but correct technique requires hanging with full body weight (posture of dependence). The weight that feels like a liability is actually what anchors the grip. The counterintuitive wisdom: dependence produces security.

Theological claims· 9

The question 'What honors God?' derived from Daniel 1 clarifies all complex life decisions by reducing them to something straightforward, though not easy. unit #5
Every decision we make is a spiritual decision relating to our relationship with God; there is no sacred/secular divide, as Daniel demonstrates by treating even food choices as matters of religious defilement or purity before the Lord. unit #11
The real test Daniel faces is not external performance but internal orientation: asking 'What honors God?' in every mundane moment, which becomes his true north for the entire book. unit #15
Daniel's true 'greater' was not Nebuchadnezzar but the living God; Daniel lived for the final exam of standing before God at the end of his life to give account, not the exam before the king. unit #18
The character quality that allows Daniel and his friends to navigate complex situations is trust in God, which produces relentless courage even in the face of death. unit #23
Trust in God is the foundation for asking 'What honors God?' because only those who trust God to care for them and keep his promises can prioritize his honor over self-preservation. unit #24
The Christian life's posture is not mostly self-controlled with occasional trust in big moments; this is a common but mistaken approach. unit #26
The deeper reality in Daniel and all of Scripture is not merely that God's people trusted God, but that God has never proven himself untrustworthy when trusted—a pattern that extends to the present and is supremely demonstrated at the cross. unit #29
The cross demonstrates God's ultimate trustworthiness by showing he will do anything—even die—to keep his promises, fulfill justice, show mercy, and save his people. unit #30

Quotations· 1

"In summary about this story. He says this in many ways, Daniel's usefulness in the kingdom of God throughout the rest of the book depends on this single decision. Had he not made it or even left it until later, while he had maneuvered for a position of bargaining strength, he would not have found himself in the positions he later occupied, nor would he have been faithful enough to cope with them as he did. Instead, from the beginning, in what to others seemed a trivial matter, he nailed his colors to the mast." — Sinclair Ferguson (unit #32)

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Full transcript

27,735 characters 34 units ~31 min reading time Listen instead →

0 · Introduces the central conflict of Daniel: God of Israel versus gods and king of Babylon, localized in the hearts of four young exiles

Daniel, chapter one. We're going to be reading verses eight through 21 as we continue to see the ground laid for the central conflict that will take up this entire book, which is the conflict between the God of Israel, the king of heaven, and the gods of Babylon and the king of Babylon. See this conflict not just on a high level, but in the hearts of four young men who find themselves in a foreign land.

1 · Full reading of the primary text (Daniel 1:8-21), delivered with liturgical framing ('this is God's very word') and closing with a call to prayer

Daniel one eight. As we read, let's remember this is God's very word. But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank. And therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion. And the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear, my lord, the king who assigned your food and your drink, for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king? And then Daniel said to the steward, whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat, in water to drink. And then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you and deal with your servants according to what you see. So he listened to them in this matter, and he tested them for ten days. And at the end of ten days, it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables. As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of the time when the king had commanded that they should be brought in. The chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar, and the king spoke with them. And among all of them, none was found. Like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Therefore, they stood before the king, and in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus. This is God's word, and let's pray.

2 · Opening prayer after scripture reading

Father, we pray that you would give us wisdom and insight. Help us to see your word. In your name, we pray. Amen.

3 · Casts Daniel and companions' situation in contemporary terms—unwilling foreign transfer students in 'Babylon High

Well, imagine, just for a minute, being placed in the position these young men were. Were. If you were to put this in contemporary language, they find themselves as transfer students, foreign transfer students, being, well, unwillingly transferred from their country into the university or the high school of Babylon. They don't speak any of the language. They are going to be under intense scrutiny from when they arrive to their entire. To when they leave. They have three years before they stand before the king himself. And they have to learn everything from scratch. Mathematics, babylonian history, art, culture. They have to navigate their relationships with their teachers and peers and superiors and everything. Everything in Babylon's educational system is designed to do one thing, to assimilate them, to change them. Remember, we saw last week that Babylon is not just trying to conquer land. Anybody can take land. But Babylon is aiming to conquer cultures. And not just cultures, but religions. Not just religions, but minds. Not just minds, but hearts. Babylon wants these young men to go from nobles out of Israel to being nobles, reshaped in the image of Babylon to help them rule. That is what it's like. Welcome to Babylon high.

4 · Applies the Babylon High metaphor to the entire congregation by appealing to the Petrine category of 'elect exiles

If you're a high schooler, this is like, oh, this is for me. Yes, it is for you. But in many ways, it's not just for you, it's for all of us. Because the reality is that the Bible often refers to christians as exiles. Especially the apostle Peter loves to use that phrase, the elect exiles, those chosen and loved by God, but exiled away from their homeland. We live in between the coming of Christ and the inauguration of his reign as king and the advancement of his kingdom is happening now. But we live between that and the fulfillment of his kingdom, the new heavens and the new earth. We live between the garden of Eden and the garden city of heaven. For now, we all live in exile. And whether you know it or not, you are in the university of Babylon or Babylon high. You are facing all of these same issues to navigate what to believe and how to live and who your friends will be and what to think about the entertainment and what you wear and what you eat. All of this you face on a daily basis.

5 · Introduces the sermon's main thesis: Daniel 1 yields a single three-word question—'What honors God?'—that clarifies (though does not simplify) all complex decisions

Now, the text, though, takes the complexity of the world around us and reduces it down to a profound, difficult, life giving and challenging question. One question I'm gonna introduce with three words in it that will take the most complicated, complex decisions we face in the world and not make them easy, but make them at least straightforward. And this question relates to everything from how we work and where we work and why we work to how we study, to who we marry, to how we educate our kids and train them. To what online content we watch to what we wear on a daily basis. All of it. One question should be asked. This is what we get from Daniel, chapter one. This three word question, what honors God. It takes all of the complexities of life and reduces it not to something easy, but something clear, something straightforward.

6 · Structural hinge announcing the sermon's three-part architecture

So three sections. Today, as we are welcomed into Babylon High, the first section is this. The test is not what you think it is.

7 · Returns to Daniel 1:5 to expose the narrative setup: royal food provision during three-year education culminating in appearance before the king

Now go back to verse five, if you would. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate and of the wine that he drank. And they were to be educated for three years. And at the end of that time, they were to stand before the king. Now, these young men are facing all kinds of challenges. But I think the one place they were not expecting to challenge them was the lunch period.

8 · Personal anecdote about a child identifying lunch as favorite school period

I one time asked one of my kids friends, I won't say who, like, hey, buddy, what's your favorite period in school these days? And he looked at me and he just said, lunch period. And I was like, okay, yeah, I walked into that. That was. I set the bar too low with that question. And he really enjoyed lunch.

9 · Contrasts typical cafeteria food with the lavish provision Daniel received—food from Nebuchadnezzar's own table, 'Michelin star' quality

And maybe Daniel and his friends were looking at their long day of coursework and thinking, okay, I know we're going to get pushed and pulled by Babylon every moment of the day, but at least we get to eat from the king's food, right? Listen, if anybody's ever looked in a cafeteria through the glass at a thing that you're going, what is that? And the lunch lady just shrugs like you. That's the opposite of what Daniel and his companions are facing. They know, however hard the day is, what's going to be served at the lunch period is stuff from the king's own table. The stuff from the king's storehouse of wines. I mean, this is Michelin star like food that they are about to enjoy. And so it's unexpected that that is the place they will face their first test.

10 · Exposes Daniel 1:8's key term—'defile'—and addresses a common misreading: treating the passage as a diet prescription

And here's the test. You see it in the. In what Daniel says in this language. But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself. Now, it's important to note something here. Sometimes christians looking at this passage get off in all these weird directions that are like, oh, yeah, this is the diet we should all be eating, right? Or maybe if you're a fitness junkie, you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, this is right. I've been pushing keto for a long time, or I've been pushing, you know, we're high protein or in minute fasting, and somebody's like, no carnivore. Diet's the way to go, right? And you're thinking, okay, well, what does Daniel say we should be doing? That's not why this text is in our Bible, okay? That is not why it's there. We have to ask the question, well, why would the Lord put this in our Bible if it's not to give us a guide to gotta get shredded? What. What is this doing here?

11 · Articulates the theological payoff of 'defile'—it's a religious category, meaning Daniel treats the menu as a God-question

Because we see in Daniel's impulse how a complicated situation becomes clear and straightforward when one simple rule is applied. Does this defile me before the Lord? Now, that category of defilement is a religious category. And in that, we find something profound. Because often, here's what we do, especially as Americans, we divide up our lives between, this is the spiritual part of my life, and this is the normal part of my life, right? So the spiritual part of my life gets activated when I go to church or when I go to a Bible study. But the rest of life is just normal life. Here is what this text teaches us. Every decision we make is a spiritual decision. Every decision we face, from the. The biggest to the most mundane, relates to our relationship with God. It flows from our relationship with God. And Daniel's question about even the menu of the cafeteria. Is this what honors or dishonors God? What defiles me in God's sight? Or allows me to be religiously pure in God's sight?

12 · Surveys three speculative interpretations of Daniel's refusal (food offered to idols, dietary law violation, voluntary fast) and explicitly names the hermeneutical limit: Scripture does not specify which is correct

Now, there's a lot of speculation about what Daniel's conviction is about here, why he won't eat these, these fine meats and have these wines. Some speculate. I'm gonna give you some of the speculation. Some speculate that the meat and wine had been offered to false gods before they came to the king. So the food chain was kind of. They're offered to the gods and then to the king, and then to the other people like them. And so Daniel was saying, no, that's one option. It's possible. Others believe that the meat was prepared in a way that violated Old Testament dietary laws, but the vegetables did not violate the Old Testament laws, which is also possible. Others believe that this diet was actually an intentional diet, that it was a partial fast, that Daniel and his companions were trying to refrain from eating meat and from eating of the bounty of the king's table and only wanting to eat of what was of the Lord's table, in a sense, the purest form of that, just vegetables. Now, you know what the real answer is. We don't know, because here's the reality. We have not been given the answer to exactly what about the meat? And this is, let me just say this is a really important rule when you're reading the Bible and you're like, but I really got to know what the answer to this is. Sometimes the Lord doesn't give you the answer. Okay, so then you ask, well, why is this in my Bible then? What is the Lord intending to teach me with this?

13 · Establishes what Scripture does reveal: Daniel's sincere conviction before the Lord that the food dishonored God

We know one thing from this text, that Daniel sincerely before the Lord, was convinced that whatever the circumstances, that meat and that wine dishonored God, and therefore he would not participate in it. That's what we get now, during Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, as you know them, or Hananiah and the rest, as they're known with their hebrew names, while they are in Babylon, they will face great challenges, right? Everybody knows about the story of Daniel in the lion's den, pretty much, right? Or you know the story of the fiery furnace, or maybe the big finger riding on the wall of the ruler. You know those stories. And you know how these men showed themselves to be men of courage and conviction in those stories. But this story is their origin story. What produces men that can be thrown into a furnace and refuse to bow the knee to a pagan God? What produces men unafraid of going into the lion's den? What produces those men? Men who. And women who in a hundred decisions on a daily basis, ask the question, what honors God over and over and over again? Because you don't become the Daniel that says, I'm unafraid to be thrown to the lions without a lifetime, which happened, by the way, when he was really old, as we'll see. You don't get there without a lifetime of over and over and over in big and small matters, every day asking, what honors God? What honors God. What? Honors God. That's what I'm gonna do.

14 · Anecdote about a husband claiming to make 'big decisions' in marriage but never encountering one because life is comprised of small decisions

I remember years ago hearing a story about a married couple that had a unique approach to their marriage, and somebody asked them, do you ever fight about decisions in your marriage? And the husband said, you know, we never fight because we made an agreement years ago when we got married that I would take care of making the big decisions and she would take care of all the small decisions. And after we made that call, we've never fought. And so somebody asked, wow, okay, well, I mean, so how many big decisions have you had to make? And the guy goes, well, I haven't run into one yet, but she's going to let me know, right? Meaning, okay, it's funny, but you get the point of the story, right? That life is actually made up of little decision after little decision after little decision. And those form the big decisions, right? What to eat, how to talk to the person in charge, how to work things out. All of those tiny decisions you make, they become the big decisions of your life.

15 · Synthesizes the first section: 'What honors God?' is Daniel's true north throughout the book

And so this is Daniel and his friends true north for this whole book, what honors God. That's the test. That's the real test that's present in every one of these mundane moments.

16 · Structural hinge announcing the second major section: 'The greater is not who you think it is

Second section. The greater is not who you think it is. The test is not what you think. The greater is not who you think he is.

17 · Exposes the immense weight of the final exam before Nebuchadnezzar: the most powerful ruler in history to that point, builder of a wonder of the world, commander of a deadly army

Now, Daniel had a lot of curriculum, but only r1 major final exam. And what a final exam. After three years, they would stand before the king of Babylon. Now, you have to understand this. Nebuchadnezzar is not just like a powerful ruler. Among the powerful rulers of the ancient world, he is the most powerful ruler that up until this time in history, had ever lived, commanding the deadliest and most powerful army whose culture and art were spreading and influencing the world. He was, during this time, building one of the seven wonders of the ancient world in Babylon. Okay? This is who they're standing in front of. And the stakes of that moment were not, do you get an a or a b? They were not, do you pass or do you fail? The stakes were, will you live or die? Right? Because if Nebuchadnezzar doesn't like the look of you, he's like, ah, let's just start over. Kill these guys. We'll get some warm. You know, it's not hard. And so, can you imagine going in knowing, okay, this is your final exam. It's in three years. What's going to be on the exam? Anything. About anything. What? Yup. What happens if I pass? Oh, you live. What happens if I don't pass? Then you wouldn't have to worry about it for very long, you know? And that's, I mean, wouldn't you wake up thinking about that moment? Wouldn't you go to bed thinking about that moment? Wouldn't you, while you're eating your broccoli at lunch, think about that moment? You're like, it's gonna be, you know, two and a half years now, two years now, a year now. Like, it's that, that would overshadow everything, this final exam.

18 · Argues from Daniel's behavior (refusing the king's food despite needing favor) that his true 'greater'—the authority he fears—is not Nebuchadnezzar but the living God

And yet I, what this story reveals is that all along, that is not the greater. If you could say it that way, that Daniel is preoccupied with. He's not thinking, trembling, worried about what Nebuchadnezzar thinks of him, because if he is, he wouldn't ask the question, hey, can I just not have the king's food? He would be like, sure, I want to give me all the king's favorite foods. Give me everything the king likes, anything I can do, anything to give me a leg up. That way, at least when I meet him, I can be like, hey, hey, how about the rib last Thursday, right? I mean, like, I'm looking for anything. And Daniel, look at the phrasing. Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself. Who is he concerned about? He's not concerned about defiling himself before Nebuchadnezzar. He's worried about defiling himself before the living God. His greater, if you could say it that way, that he is worried about is not Nebuchadnezzar. It is the God of the universe. And that, brothers and sisters, is instructive for us because he did live concerned about a final exam. But it was not the exam when he stood before Nebuchadnezzar. It was the exam at the end of his life where he would stand before God himself and God would ask him questions and he would give an account for all that he has done. That is what Daniel's concerned about.

19 · Applies the theological claim to contemporary anxiety: job evaluations, parental approval, peer acceptance, artistic achievement, public reputation

And isn't that clarifying about what really matters in life? Because so much of our lives we spend worried about this or that and what they say about us, right? We're worried, what is my job evaluation gonna be at work? What is my, you know, maybe you've lived your whole life for your parents approval and you could never get it. And you're just thinking, if I could just get this degree or do this thing, then maybe, maybe they'll accept me and be proud of me, right? Maybe it's, it's. If this group of people accepts me, then I'll feel good. Or maybe if I produce a work of art or produce this thing or achieve this, then I'll be able to stand in front of people with my head held high. That is not what Daniel's concerned about. He's concerned about when I stand before the Lord himself, what is his evaluation of my life going to be? And friends, let's make no mistake, we all face the same evaluation. Nobody is going to get out of that. So the question is, what grader are you concerned about as you live your life?

20 · Structural hinge announcing the third and final major section: 'The critical ability that Daniel and his friends have is not what you think it is

And third, last section, the critical ability that Daniel and his friends have is not what you think it is.

21 · Addresses a potential misreading: attributing Daniel's success to political savvy, charm, or social maneuvering ('like a West Wing kind of show')

Now, Daniel and his friends are going to navigate a dizzying array of complicated, difficult situations in this book. And you might be wondering, okay, how do they do it? What are we meant to learn from them? And this is the thing I love. It's very likely that Daniel himself wrote all or most of this book, and he wants to, right from the get go, eliminate some things. You might be thinking, okay, you might come to the book of Daniel and think, they're savvy guys. Daniel and his friends, they know how to work a room. They know how to charm a person. They know how to kind of move the levers of power around and become popular and have some weight. Maybe that's how they did it. They just were, you know, kind of navigating with ease these complex political machinations, like a west wing kind of a show. And this person and that person. Nope. Look at verse nine. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, meaning any favor they have, anybody that goes, okay, yeah, I do want to help you. Where did that come from? It wasn't because Daniel was savvy or charming. It was because the Lord gave him favor.

22 · Addresses a second potential misreading: attributing success to natural intelligence or academic excellence

And then you might be tempted to think, well, I bet it was because Daniel was just smart. Just one of those smart guys, you know, the top student, the person that just, you know, was an obvious valedictorian. He just excels at everything. She excels everything. I bet it was just that they were so smart that they. It just overcame. Anything else? No. Look at verse 17. As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill. So Daniel wants you to know, hey, it's not because we're smarter. He actually says that to the king later in the book. It's not because I'm smarter or just kind of more knowledgeable than anyone else king. It's that the Lord's given me the ability to do this, that's all it is.

23 · Having eliminated savvy and intelligence as explanations, isolates the true quality: trust in God

So what then are we supposed to take from the life of Daniel and his friends? What quality do they have that allows them to navigate all of these crazy, difficult, complex situations? They have one quality highlighted over and over and over and over again. You know what it is? They trust God. That's it. That's the character quality we're meant to take away from Daniel and these guys. They trust God. And their trust in God allows them to be relentlessly courageous even in the face of death itself. They just trust the Lord.

24 · Synthesizes the sermon's two major threads: trust is the foundation for asking 'What honors God?' Because as long as self-preservation dominates, you ask 'How do I survive?' not 'What honors God?' Trust in God's care and promises liberates the question of God's honor

Now these two things, honoring God, asking what honors God, and trusting God are related because trust in God is the foundation for being able to ask the question, what honors God? Because you're not concerned about honoring God unless you trust that God is gonna take care of you and your life, right? As long as you're worried about your life, like I gotta take care of me, I gotta take care of my life, I gotta do this and this, this. You're not asking what honors God, you're asking how do I get out of this? How do I do this? How do I survive? These guys are thinking, what honor is the Lord? Why are they doing that? Because they trust that the Lord's gonna take care of them. They trust that the Lord is gonna keep his promises to them.

25 · Concrete application: the impulse to explode in anger at a boss, spouse, or coworker

Let me give you just one example. Maybe there's a moment that you want to explode in anger at a boss or a spouse or a coworker, but you ask the question, what honors God? And you know that the reality is self control is what would honor God in this moment. But if you're gonna exercise self control, what do you have to have as the foundation of that? You have to trust that God will take care of you and work all things for good, for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purposes. You have to trust that God's going to see justice done in the end. You have to trust that romans twelve is right when it says, do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's justice. Right. If you're going to exercise self control, you have to trust that God is going to be in control. Trust is the foundation for being able to ask the question of what honors God.

26 · Corrects a common posture error: treating trust as an emergency measure ('trust God in the big moments') rather than the default Christian posture

Now I can say much more about this, but let me just say this. The posture of the christian life is not one in which we're mostly in control and then trust God in the big moments, okay? That's the way often I would like it to be.

27 · Extended personal story about learning to boulder

Listen, I'll give you one illustration that illustrates my lack of athletic ability, which most of my illustrations do. Because what I found is when I'm learning a new athletic thing, whatever my impulse to do is, is the exact opposite of what you're supposed to do. And a number of years ago, I was learning to do bouldering or climbing with John Vogen, who's the guy leading singing today. And my impulse in learning to climb, you know, those rocks in the climbing gym was I wanted to stay upright as much as possible, right? So the route would, like, start down here. And I'm like, oh, that's easy. I'm just gonna stick here. And then I would be trying to climb like this, keep my head as high as possible. Cause, like, I don't want to be hanging. That seems. That feels crazy. So I'm, like, trying to climb like this, and everyone else in the climbing gym is going, you know, like. And in my mind, it made sense. I'm trying to get up there, so I'm gonna be as high in the air as I can be, and gently. I don't know if it was John or Ben, our friend from the gym, or someone else that gently was like, hey, man, do you notice that nobody else is doing that? What you actually need to do is if the route starts down here, you need to get as low as you can and hang with as much of your body weight down as you can. And in my mind, I'm like, that doesn't make sense. I'll be really heavy, you know, like. And they're like, no, no, no. What actually what it does is the weight anchors your grip on the rocks you're holding, right? So you need to trust your hold and let your body weight fall so that you can grip. That's how you make it to the top. And so I started doing that, and it didn't make me a great climber, but it made me a far better one.

28 · Applies the climbing illustration to Christian life

And I think for so many of us in the christian life, we want to be like the guy going like, yeah, I don't want to be dependent. I don't like the posture of dependence. I don't like this posture. I like this posture. Right? But the reality is this. Daniel and his friends demonstrate that the way you navigate complex, difficult decisions is by being in a posture of trust in the Lord and fully trusting him enough to ask the question what honors him.

29 · Elevates the sermon from 'we should trust God' to 'God is trustworthy

Now, here is the resounding truth that we're going to see throughout the book of Daniel. The reality that we see in the book of Daniel is not just Daniel and his friends trusted the Lord. The even greater reality that we will see written across this book and written across our bibles is this, God is trustworthy. There is not a moment in the book of Daniel that God's people trust him, that he proves himself untrustworthy. There is not a story in the Bible that God's people trust God and he proves himself untrustworthy. And there will not be a moment in our lives today that we will trust God and find him untrustworthy. Over and over, as we hang with all of our weight on the Lord, he shows himself trustworthy, and we have the benefit that Daniel and his friends did not have, that we see this story on the other side of the cross.

30 · The cross as ultimate demonstration of God's trustworthiness

We see that on the cross God himself showed that he will do anything to keep his promises, that he will do anything to fulfill justice, that he will do anything to show mercy to the people that he has set his affection on, that he will, at the cost of his own life, save his people even unto death. That, friends, is a trustworthy God.

31 · Final application synthesizing the sermon's claims

And that is the kind of God that you can stand on the edge of a fire, stand at the edge of a pit of lions, and go, okay, everything in me wants to ask the question, how do I preserve myself? But instead, I already know the Lord's going to do that either now or in eternity. So my only question is, how do I honor him until then? That's it. The cross helps us see just how trustworthy our God really is.

32 · Conclusion synthesizes the three-part sermon architecture, then introduces Sinclair Ferguson quotation arguing Daniel's later usefulness depended on this first decision

Let me end with a final quote, as we saw that the test is not what we think it is, the greater is not who we think it is, and the crucial ability is not savvy, it's not smart, it's trust. Well, Sinclair Ferguson, in his excellent commentary on the book of Daniel, which I would recommend, says this. In summary about this story. He says this in many ways, Daniel's usefulness in the kingdom of God throughout the rest of the book depends on this single decision. Had he not made it or even left it until later, while he had maneuvered for a position of bargaining strength, he would not have found himself in the positions he later occupied, nor would he have been faithful enough to cope with them as he did. Instead, from the beginning, in what to others seemed a trivial matter, he nailed his colors to the mast. And what that means is, let me just end with explaining that. So in old naval warfare, you'd have two ships duking it out on the ocean, and often what would happen is you'd have the two ships would be exemplified by say the british flag and the spanish flag or whatever their nations were. But if the battle started to go poorly, you would grab an ensign and say, okay, pull down our national flag and run up the flag of surrender because none of us can swim. Which was a real thing. I don't know how sailors didn't know how to swim. I'm not understanding that. Somebody historically can explain that to me. But it's like, hey, we're gonna go down. None of us can swim. Run up the flag. We're gonna surrender. But if a captain was determined to fight to the last man and sink the ship before surrendering, he would tell the ensign, he would give the ensign a hammer and a handful of nails and say, nail the colors to the mast. And that ensign, in the middle of gunfire on this swaying ship, would go all the way to the top, take their national flag and nail it. Because that way, even in a moment of weakness, if they wanted to surrender, they couldn't. We are. And it was basically a statement of, we will go down with this ship for the sake of our king and the sake of his kingdom. That's what Daniel and his friends do. But it happened not in a big final moment, but it happened in the mundane. It happened in the small moments, the moments that you and I, brothers and sisters, so often live our lives.

33 · Final charge

So let us, like Daniel, resolve to ask the question, what honors God? Amen.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Aug 11, 2024

The Loudest Singing Church

Singing is a non-negotiable mark of the people of God—rooted in conviction rather than convenience, involving all believers rather than select performers, driven by giving thanks for God's grace rather than waiting to feel thankful, and expressed through whole-person engagement that causes the joy of the Lord to spread to those around us.

Nehemiah 12:27-43

Sep 15, 2024

God in the Waste Land

Despite all appearances to the contrary, God remains sovereign over history, and trusting Him means believing His promises before we see the end of the story.

Daniel 1:1-7

Sep 16, 2024

Why Have Hope for Hopeless People

Christians should have hope for themselves and others not because of human merit or performance, but because of God's unbreakable faithfulness to sustain and glorify all who are in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 1:4-9

September 22 · This sermon

Welcome to Babylon High

Faithful navigation of complex decisions in a hostile culture requires daily asking 'What honors God?' in mundane matters, trusting that God is worthy of such devotion because he proves himself faithful to those who depend on him.

Daniel 1:8-21

Earlier in the corpus · January 12, 2025

A prior sermon on Daniel 12:1-4

You preached this same passage — 19 Daniel 1 citations in that earlier sermon. Worth re-reading before the next time this text comes around.

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

In Daniel 1:8, Daniel 'resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food.' What do you notice about the *timing* of this decisi…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week we follow Daniel's posture of trust—from the foundational question 'What honors God?' through the daily choices that shaped his character, to the unshakeable conviction that God alone is worthy of our devotion.

Prayer

Prayer: Asking What Honors God in Babylon

Father, we gather before you as exiles in a culture not our own, surrounded by voices telling us what to believe, how to live, what to desir…

Family table

What Honors God?

This sermon centers on a single question Daniel asked himself in Babylon: 'What honors God?' Help your family practice asking that same ques…

Couples

What Honors God in Us?

What small decision this week—about food, entertainment, time, or friendship—did the sermon make you see differently? How might asking 'What…

Memorize

Daniel 1:8

This verse is the sermon's hinge—it captures the foundational question 'What honors God?' in a single resolute decision. Daniel's resolve to refuse the king's food demonstrates that every choice, from the mundane to the monumental, is a spiritual decision; memorizing this verse anchors the listener's own daily navigation of 'Babylon High' in the same God-honoring clarity that sustained Daniel through exile.

Memory verse this week

Daniel 1:8

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.

Why this verse: This verse is the sermon's hinge—it captures the foundational question 'What honors God?' in a single resolute decision. Daniel's resolve to refuse the king's food demonstrates that every choice, from the mundane to the monumental, is a spiritual decision; memorizing this verse anchors the listener's own daily navigation of 'Babylon High' in the same God-honoring clarity that sustained Daniel through exile.

Draft · pending review

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

In Daniel 1:8, Daniel 'resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food.' What do you notice about the *timing* of this decision—why does Daniel decide this at the beginning of his exile in Babylon rather than waiting to see what pressures would come?

Daniel 1:8

→ What does his early resolution suggest about how he was thinking ahead to the choices he would face?
The sermon describes Babylon's educational system as designed to *assimilate* Daniel and his friends—to make them think like Babylonians and forget their identity. Where do you see similar pressures today in 'Babylon High'—places where the culture is subtly (or not so subtly) trying to reshape what you believe and how you live?

1 Peter 2:11 (elect exiles)
Daniel could have reasoned that eating the king's food was 'just food'—a small compromise that wouldn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. But the sermon argues that Daniel saw this decision as *spiritual*, not just practical. Why would Daniel treat a meal decision as a matter of defiling himself before God?

Romans 12:1-2

→ How does this change the way you think about small, everyday choices—decisions about what you watch, read, or participate in?
The sermon claims that the real test Daniel faced was not external performance ('Can you pass the king's exam?') but internal orientation: asking 'What honors God?' in every mundane moment. When you face a complex decision this week, how would that single question—'What honors God?'—actually help you navigate it?
Daniel's later courage in the lion's den (Daniel 6) and the fiery furnace (Daniel 3) came from a lifetime of asking 'What honors God?' in small, daily matters. What does this suggest about how spiritual courage is *built*—is it something that suddenly appears in crisis, or is it forged in advance through smaller acts of faithfulness?

Daniel 6, Daniel 3

→ What small act of faithfulness might God be calling you to right now that could be strengthening your trust in him for bigger tests later?
The sermon ends with the claim that God has 'never proven himself untrustworthy when trusted,' and that the cross is the ultimate proof of God's trustworthiness. How does knowing that Christ died to keep his promises to you change the way you think about trusting God enough to ask 'What honors God?' even when it costs you something?

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

Monday Romans 12:1-2

Paul begins by calling us to present our bodies—our whole selves, including the mundane stuff—as living sacrifices. This is exactly what Daniel did when he said no to the king's food: he saw even eating as a choice about who he belonged to. When we ask 'What honors God?' about school, work, friendships, entertainment, we're doing what Paul calls a 'spiritual act of worship.'

Tuesday 1 Peter 1:1-2

Peter writes to 'elect exiles' scattered across hostile territory—the exact posture Daniel inhabited in Babylon. We are not waiting for exile to end before we live faithfully; we are living faithfully *as* exiles right now. The pressures to assimilate, to blend in, to take the king's offer—they're the same pressures you face this week in school, at work, on social media.

Wednesday Daniel 6:1-28

Years after the food decision, Daniel faces the king's decree to stop praying. He does not hesitate; he prays openly. Where does that courage come from? It comes from a lifetime of asking 'What honors God?' in things no one was watching—his diet, his study, his posture toward God in secret. The big test wasn't bigger because he'd already trained his heart in the small ones.

Thursday Romans 8:28

Paul promises that for those who love God, all things work together for good. Daniel lived this conviction: he could say no to the king's food because he trusted that God would be faithful. He couldn't see the future, but he could see God's character. When we ask 'What honors God?' we're betting on the same God who has kept every promise—who even kept his promise at the cross to die for us.

Friday Daniel 5:17-23

Daniel, now aged, stands before Belshazzar and refuses to flatter the king to get a reward. He's lived his whole life asking 'What honors God?' instead of 'What earns me favor?' That question—*whose approval are you living for?*—is the one that determines everything. The king's approval is temporary and corrupting. God's evaluation is eternal and true.

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

Prayer: Asking What Honors God in Babylon

Father, we gather before you as exiles in a culture not our own, surrounded by voices telling us what to believe, how to live, what to desire. We confess that we often drift toward the easier path—the path of assimilation, of fitting in, of choosing what preserves our comfort over what honors you. Like Daniel's companions, we face daily tests in small decisions: what we watch, what we read, how we spend our time, where we place our trust. We are tempted to believe these choices don't matter, that there is a sacred realm where you care and a secular realm where we can do as we please. Forgive us for compartmentalizing our lives as if you are not Lord of all of it.

Yet here is the good news: you are worthy of our devotion in every moment, in every decision, no matter how mundane. You have proven yourself trustworthy across all of Scripture and supremely at the cross, where you gave everything to keep your promises and save your people. Because you are faithful, we can ask "What honors God?" even in small things, knowing that such faithfulness plants the seeds of courage for greater trials. You are not asking us to preserve ourselves by our own strength; you are asking us to trust you with our whole lives, from the food we eat to the entertainment we consume to the friends we choose.

Grant us, we pray, the grace to ask "What honors God?" as our daily north star. Strengthen us to depend on you fully, not occasionally—as those who hang with our whole weight on your promise, not those who merely rest a hand upon it. When we are tempted to compromise for acceptance, remind us that we will one day stand before you to give account, not before the kings of this age. Give us the character of Daniel—not the character of self-control alone, but the character of trust that produces relentless devotion to your honor. And as we navigate the complex decisions of life in exile, remind us that you have never proven yourself untrustworthy, and you never will. To you be the glory, now and forever. Amen.

Draft · pending review

Sunday-evening family table

What Honors God?

For the parent

This sermon centers on a single question Daniel asked himself in Babylon: 'What honors God?' Help your family practice asking that same question about the everyday choices they face. Listen for where kids see this question at work in their own week.

Daniel had to decide what food to eat at a royal school in a country that wasn't his home. He asked himself, 'What honors God?' This week, you're going to face choices too — what to watch, what to say to a friend, how to spend your time, what to do when nobody's watching. Pick one choice you made today or this week. What would it have looked like to ask 'What honors God?' instead of just asking 'What do I want?' What changed when you asked that question?

Works for ages 8+ — younger kids can listen and answer with parent help; teens can reflect on more complex social choices

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

What Honors God in Us?

What small decision this week—about food, entertainment, time, or friendship—did the sermon make you see differently? How might asking 'What honors God?' change how you approach it?
Where do you feel pressure to assimilate to 'Babylon High' as a couple—to believe, look, or live like the culture around you? How can you help each other stay anchored to what honors God instead?
Daniel trusted God enough to risk the king's displeasure over a meal. What area of your life together needs that same kind of trust—where you're holding something loosely because God is worthy of your devotion?

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Cross of Grace Church

About us · What we believe

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# Cross of Grace Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [The Loudest Singing Church (Nehemiah 12:27-43, 2024-08-11)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2024/08/the-loudest-singing-church)
- [God in the Waste Land (Daniel 1:1-7, 2024-09-15)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2024/09/god-in-the-waste-land)
- [Why Have Hope for Hopeless People (1 Corinthians 1:4-9, 2024-09-16)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2024/09/why-have-hope-for-hopeless-people)
- [Welcome to Babylon High (Daniel 1:8-21, 2024-09-22)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2024/09/welcome-to-babylon-high)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
- [Plan a visit](/visit)

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