City Life Church San Diego

Daniel 1:8-21 Three Keys to Faith That Leads to Favor

• Dale Huntington

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Do you ever feel like everything you believe is being challenged by the culture around you?

That's exactly where Daniel found himself—a teenage exile in Babylon, pressured to conform and abandon his faith. Yet somehow, he not only survived but thrived.

This powerful exploration of Daniel 1:8-21 reveals how a young man facing incredible cultural pressure maintained unwavering faith without becoming bitter or isolated. When offered food that would compromise his religious convictions, Daniel didn't just refuse—he respectfully proposed an alternative that ultimately showcased God's faithfulness.

Through Daniel's example, we discover three transformative principles for thriving spiritually in challenging environments: maintaining conviction without compromise, showing respect without retreat, and surrounding ourselves with faithful friends who strengthen our resolve. These principles aren't just ancient wisdom—they're practical strategies for navigating a modern world where cultural recipes often take portions of truth while eliminating crucial spiritual ingredients.

Guest Preacher-- Ruben, masterfully connects Daniel's ancient struggle to our contemporary experience, where culture often tells us "you don't need God, just balance, healing, and your own truth." Just as Daniel knew his Torah (his cookbook), we're challenged to know our Bibles well enough to recognize when cultural offerings substitute salt for sugar or leave out essential components of spiritual nourishment.

Whether you're facing workplace pressure to compromise your integrity, navigating relationships with those who don't share your faith, or simply trying to maintain spiritual conviction in a world that increasingly marginalizes belief, this message offers hope and practical wisdom. Daniel's story reminds us that God remains present even in our most challenging moments—whether literal lion's dens or the metaphorical furnaces of cultural pressure.

Ready to develop a tenacious faith that stands firm while engaging respectfully with those around you? Listen now and discover how your faith can seed favor even in the most unlikely circumstances.

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Speaker 1:

The stories of the prophet Daniel are riveting, full of adventure and the miraculous. But what if we're telling these stories the wrong way? Yes, god saved his people and shut the mouths of lions, rescued those thrown into the scalding furnace. But maybe it's less about stopping wild beasts and power-hungry, egomaniac kings and it's more about humbly following our God when the world around us laughs. Maybe it's more about being faithful and kind when not promised deliverance from every king and executioner who threatens us, because our God never leaves us when the heat is turned up. He will never forsake us when the world demands we deny him. Daniel was obedient when he expected to die for his faith. Jesus obediently chose death for us. Today, the word of God challenges us to humbly follow our good and loving God, no matter what happens next. You may already be in the lion's den, but God will always be with his children. Join us for Daniel and the Upside-Down Kingdom.

Speaker 2:

We're going to be in Daniel 1, verses 8 through 21 this morning. That's Daniel 1, verses 8 through 21. And then I have to say this three different times here we go. If you need a Bible we we got some dope study Bibles Feel free to grab one on either end of the sanctuary. If you have a few bucks to give for that Bible, we would appreciate it. If you don't, if that's not how your bank account is set up, take the Bible anyway. We want you to have it.

Speaker 2:

Here comes the Spanish Muy buenos dias, familia y amigos. Les invito a abrir sus Bib. Last time I promise, yeah, duolingo. Thank you, duolingo. It's only $8.99 a month, so it's not too bad. It's not too bad.

Speaker 2:

My wife hates it. It's like 9 pm. She's like what is that ringing noise? And I'm like 9 pm, we're trying to sleep and I'm still. I'm a procrastinator, so Awesome. Well, every Sunday morning or Saturday morning, my wife and I like to get coffee and I was a little upset this morning because I don't know what it is about San Diego, but we have a wealth of coffee shops but they all open like at nine and I'm like, bro, that defeats the purpose of wanting a coffee, like in the morning. Just a show of hands. Who wakes up around six is three hours, way too long to have your first coffee, I think so. Right, anyways, I was upset but I'm going to let it go. Thank you, jesus.

Speaker 2:

All right, we're going to be talking about the culture real quick. So if you have your Bibles open to Daniel, we'll get to that in a second. But if you know what the culture is, it's not your ethnical or national culture. We're talking about the pop culture. Okay, the pop culture is what sets the trends right. It builds the narratives, uh. It decides what's cool and it cancels what's not. Culture arms the working class with witty, raw humor, the kind that makes those memes of corporate pizza parties, uh, and 2% raises, despite corporate profits being 200% right.

Speaker 2:

Culture unapologetically embraces spirituality, but not God. It'll burn sage, it'll read stars and it'll charge crystals, but it'll scoff at scripture. Culture will tell you what's funny and when. It will rage against racism, sexism, injustice and abuse, as it should, but sometimes seeks reparation without revelation. It's a cry for justice, but not a call to Jesus. Culture gets a lot right, but it also gets a lot wrong. And the most dangerous lie it's produced over time is this you don't need God, you just need balance, healing and your own truth. But the culture is fickle. The moment you slip up or say something against the masses, belonging turns into backlash. The same culture that lifts you up on Monday might cancel you by Friday. That's why we need something deeper friends, not cultured faith, not performative faith, but tenacious faith, like Daniel had in Babylon, because when the culture around you keeps shifting, you need a faith that does not.

Speaker 2:

This is not an attack on the culture or the people in it. Many in the culture have good intentions shaped by real pain. In fact, a lot of what culture longs for, which is justice, equity, honesty, are things that the church should have always championed. Regrettably, the culture was nurtured in some of the wounds caused and ignored by some Christians Hurt, innovation and the reliance on self grew. So now we find ourselves in an exile. So now we find ourselves in an exile, not physical, but spiritual, and so culture became a safe space for the wounded, but without God it has become a volatile space. The culture began taking some of God's word and making their own recipe with it. They liked the sugar, but thought the spice was too convicting. Some chefs loved the spice, so they took out the sugar completely. Some chefs even decided this recipe is so good, but it needs a side dish to make it better. Eventually, there were different cookbooks that were like God's recipe but are not his recipe. I mentioned this to you because the culture has no shortage of recipes to offer you, but none of them are truly going to sustain you. And that's where we find ourselves today, not as enemies of the culture, but as people trying to live faithfully within it, looking for the right food to eat.

Speaker 2:

And this is Daniel's story. He didn't grow up in Babylon, he didn't ask to be there. He found himself in a culture that didn't believe what he believed, a world that tried to rename him, retrain him and reshape him. And yet he was offered so much food, but Daniel knew that the recipe was off. Let's get into the word. This is Daniel one eight through 21. In case you came in late that happens sometimes Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the King's food or with the wine he drank.

Speaker 2:

So he asked permission from the chief official not to defile himself. God granted Daniel kindness and compassion from the chief official, yet he said to Daniel I fear my Lord, the king who assigned your food and drink. What if he, the king, sees your faces looking thinner than the other young men your age? You would endanger my life with the king. So Daniel said to the guard whom the chief official had assigned to Daniel, hananiah, mishael and Azariah please test your servants for 10 days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then examine our appearance and the appearance of the young men who were eating the king's food and deal with your servants based on what you see. He agreed with them about this and tested them for 10 days. At the end of 10 days, they looked better and healthier than all the young men who were eating the king's food. So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables. God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood visions and dreams of every kind. At the end of the time that the king had to present them, the chief eunuch presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king interviewed them and among all of them no one was found equal to Daniel, hananiah, mishael and Azariah. So they began to attend the king In every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king consulted them about. He found them ten times better than all the magicians and mediums in his entire kingdom. Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

Speaker 2:

This is God's word. Let us pray, god. Thank you so much for your word. May we understand its instruction, wisdom and history a little more clearly today, lord. May we learn to exercise our faith even in exile. Today we see nations facing real oppression and physical exile, and we also see our nation and many others exiled in faith, living separately from you and your word, god. Yet people hunger for a truth and justice. Only you, our Lord, can provide. God, bless those who grieve today. Bless those who are exhausted and poor in spirit this morning. Bless those who are seeking peace and bless those who come today desiring to be pure of heart. May our hearts be softened, may our ears be open. May our souls be naked and unafraid. Teach us how to carry a tenacious faith in these changing and trying times. May the thoughts of our hearts and the words of my mouth be pleasing to you, and all God's people say amen.

Speaker 2:

So I just want to give you guys a little bit of context, because I like giving just a little bit of what exactly is going on. So I think we have a map slide that I put together, um, just so you can kind of see what the layout was back then. So Babylon was like the biggest kingdom under Nebuchadnezzar the second, just kind of taking over everything. And, as you can see on the map there, jerusalem is right there on the left side, and then Babylon is on the right. So what happened is is that Babylon conquered Jerusalem and then began to deport people in nobility, like Daniel, and moving them from Jerusalem to Babylon. So today's context is all going to be taking place in the palaces and the courts of Babylon, and then I believe we have some terminologies as well, because there's a few words I'll be saying.

Speaker 2:

I like doing this, but Torah is the first five books of the Bible, originally the foundation of Jewish laws and tradition. Babylon is an ancient empire. Can anybody tell me where Babylon is today in modern terms? Anybody know Iraq? There we go Exactly right, and then right, uh, and then we have Jerusalem, uh, and then the word defile, which is to make unclean. Awesome, you guys are with me. So far, great.

Speaker 2:

Let's talk about what went down, okay, so the book of second Kings 24 and Jemiah 39, which are very difficult reads. We're not going to get into those hinted at us that Babylonians were brutal toward resistors, especially to men in military or political positions. We don't get direct confirmation, but we can only assume Daniel's family has either been killed, enslaved or left behind so he is cut off from them. Daniel, who gets renamed Belteshazzar, hananiah to Shadrach, uh, daniel, uh, who gets renamed Belteshazzar, Hananiah to Shadrach, mishael to Meshach and Azariah to Abednego, are estimated to be somewhere between 14 to 17 years of age. Uh, from noble or royal families in Judah. They're smart, good looking and full of potential, uh, and they were taken from their homeland to Babylon as a part of a strategy to reprogram and reassign them for government service.

Speaker 2:

This reeducation program included new names that usually honored false Babylonian gods, a new language, which I believe at the time was Aramaic. Reeducation for three years and then meals and wine from the king's table, likely offered to idols. Idols means gods that are not the God that we worship. This matters because Babylon did not just conquer in the form of war. They would purposefully take adolescent children of nobles as a deterrent for rebellion and to destabilize any lingering leadership. They would indoctrinate loyalty through reeducation, and this was not a kindness. It was an early form of compliance through comfort. The poor, on the other hand, which you can read in Jeremiah and 2 Kings, had a much different experience. Daniel, about 14, potentially witnessed death through warfare and may or may not know his family's destiny, the state of his home or city, and is now being taught what to think, believe and do.

Speaker 2:

This whole section in Daniel is about how faith seeds favor, even in the direst circumstance. So today I have three principles needed for your faith to harvest favor, and our first one is this conviction before compromise. Conviction before compromise, verse eight. Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief official not to defile himself. So Daniel's not just turning down the baby back ribs on the plate, all right. He's making a spiritual decision not to cave in just to fit in, even if it meant it could cost him comfort, opportunity or even favor among the Babylonians. He made a conscious choice based on his faith and it is safe to assume that he prayed to God about this and he approached the situation with humility. He did not make demands, he did not escalate the matter. He sought permission. Verse eight again. Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the King's food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief official not to defile himself. Sorry, one second, I'm getting my bearings here. You guys get to see all this awkwardness. See, the good thing about leading worship is that the line tells me what I say next, versus when you write it yourself. All right, here we go. So Daniel didn't turn down the food because it was bad, but because it wasn't for God. He drew the line before it was crossed. He had conviction, therefore would not compromise. The chief eunuch reports to the king, so Daniel asked him for help. When that didn't work, he actually goes to the guard who reports to the chief. And Daniel wasn't being stubborn, he was being persistent in his faith. Daniel was faithful in his conviction and it harvested a crucial decision. The application we have today to ask ourselves is where are we quietly compromising in our lives right now? When culture offers you a feast, do you identify the recipe before it's put in front of you? Daniel knew the 20-hour smoked tri-tip from Bowleggett wasn't the villain and that bottle of Merlot wine wasn't the threat. It's when good things have been marinated in the false worship that these good things become spiritually filthy. Why is this important? Daniel being raised in a Jewish faith, he grew up adhering to what we knew as kosher laws. This means certain foods are prohibited, but also eating certain foods and how they are prepared is crucial. Daniel knew that the Babylonians sacrificed meats and fish, offered and offered wines to the names of false gods. This would make Daniel unclean, unfaithful. He would defile himself. Daniel understood this because he knew his Torah. A portion of what we have is the Old Testament. Daniel had the recipe. If you have a physical Bible, hold it up for a second. You got the recipe. If you have a phone, that's fine too. If you read your Bible on your phone, hold it up. You got the recipe. He knew what he should eat and, just as importantly, how it should be prepared. If you don't read the cookbook, you won't know what God's promises are supposed to taste like. I'm going to say it one more time. I'm going to get Pentecostal up in here. If you don't read the cookbook, you don't know what God's promises are supposed to taste like. I love it. For us, this means you won't notice when they replace salt with sugar. You won't catch it when they leave ingredients out. We're surrounded by variations of God's recipe and we must look to the cookbook to know when it's the original thing. Some serve God as only sugar. He's only love, no truth. Others serve him as only spice, all wrath, no grace. Study your cookbook. It allows you to rest on solid ground. It helps you hold fast to your convictions. But it must be done the right way, which leads us to our second principle respect without retreat. Respect without retreat, verse 11. So Daniel said to the guard whom the chief eunuch had assigned to Daniel Hananiah, mishael and Azariah, please test your servants for 10 days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then examine our appearance and the appearance of the young men who were eating the king's food and deal with your servants based on what you see. So here's the city life translation. Daniel was rejected by the chief, so he went to the guard assigned to him and his friends and asked respectfully hey, yo, give us 10 days Let us see what honors God just veggies and water and then compare us to the dudes eating the King's rich food and meats. And if we're out here looking weak, do what you got to do. But if we look, all right, let us stand on business LLC. Daniel's faithfulness to keep asking seeded the favor needed to honor God. I realized I'm starting to get old, bro, because it's crazy, I, I, I. Sometimes you think you're cool and then you realize now, bro, you're almost 30. These kids don't know what you're talking about. Man, all right, that's good, that's good. So quick recap Was Daniel mad? No, did he disrespect anyone? No, did he get what he wanted? Yes, yes, it's all right, we'll get there. We'll get there. Daniel was able to operate in a pocket of respect because he knew that the cookbook doesn't just give us the recipe, but how to cook, doesn't just give us the recipe, but how to cook, knowing your Bible without seeking to apply. It is like calling yourself a mechanic and never working on a car a day in your life. It's like wearing a Metallica shirt and you can't name a single song. And no, hotel California is not one of them. It's like putting cinnamon, milk and rice next to each other on the counter and then telling people hey, I made Ochata, come get some. Yeah, last one. Reading the cookbook but never turning on the stove is not obedience, it's performance. How do we stand on business but walk with love? We have respect without retreat. How do we respond to challenges? We have respect without retreat. We are called to be in the world or the culture, but not of it. So let me advise you on what respect without retreat does not look like. It is not clapping back in the comment sections to defend Jesus the wrong way. We may be called to defend the faith, but in these situations he needs representation. Proverbs 15, one a gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath. It is not mocking people who disagree or calling them lost causes. Collagens 4 6 says let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt. It is not hiding behind truth as an excuse to be rude or insensitive. Ephesians 4 15 tells us speak the truth in what love. It's not about being loud, aggressive or dismissive in the name of boldness. And then James tells us let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. When culture says you're broken and some Christians might say you're beyond fixing, we say Christ. Jesus came into the world to save sinners and I am the worst of them. 1 Timothy 1 15. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person. Colossians 4 6. Now, as you excel in everything, in faith, speech, knowledge and in all diligence in your love for us, excel also in this act of grace. Second Corinthians eight through seven. We are empowered to speak truth and love, to speak with respect, without retreat. The last and most important thing to notice is that Daniel, throughout his entire exchange, was never alone. By his side, and behind him, in all confidence, was Hananiah, mishael and Azariah. We can confidently have convictions without compromise and respect without retreat, because we have community that affirms and corrects us as needed, which is our third principle. You need to keep faithful friends, verse 19,. The king interviewed them and among all of them, no one was found equal to Daniel, hananiah, mishael and Azariah. So they began to attend the king. The most important thing I have in bold is no one was found equal. Daniel wasn't standing alone. His boys were right behind him in every step. When he spoke up, they backed him. When he chose obedience, they chose it too. They didn't just ride for each other, they rose together. And when the king looked them over, he found nobody like them. Not because they were loud, but because they were rooted, not because they played the game, but because they stayed faithful together. You've heard the phrase right. Show me your friends and I'll show you who you are. Psalm 1, 1 tells us this how happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers. Instead, his delight is in the Lord's instruction and he meditates on it day and night. Let me read off what good friendship looks like. According to your cookbook, they stand with you. Ephesians four, nine through 10,. Two are better than one. If either falls, his companion can lift him up. Proverbs 27, six faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy. James five, 16,. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. Ephesians four, 29,. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement. Galatians 6, 2,. Carry one another's burdens. In this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ. Hebrews 10, 25,. Do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. We invite you to city groups and Sunday service, not to fill a room, but because the enemy fills the empty spaces we neglect. Make no mistake, the enemy does not skip church. Why do you ask yourself this today, when you go home and pray for your friends? Who feeds my faith? Who needs faith? Who can I ask how to be praying for them? Who around me does not know Jesus yet? Remember that as Christians, we need to have faithful friends as a foundation, but our mission is to have purposeful friendships. This means seeking out relationship with those who don't believe Friends. What if the only glimpse of Jesus someone ever gets in their life is you. What if the only sermon they'll ever hear is the way you treat them? If someone met Jesus through the way you speak, love and live, would they want to know more? Faithful friends seed favor in those relationships and strengthen each other's faith. So just to recap the principles for a life that seeds favor not a perfect life, not a comfortable life. A faithful life. Conviction without compromise, respect without retreat. Keep faithful friends. When the culture a platter of promises, confirm it with the cookbook. When the culture tells you the only truth is the one they offer, confirm it with the cookbook. To keep and maintain faithful friendships. Confirm it with the cookbook. Maintain faithful friendships. Confirm it. With the cookbook, some of us have eaten what the culture has offered for so long and we're still starving. Some of us sit in here feeling malnourished today, hoping for food that might satisfy the hole we feel in the stomachs of our, our soul. And God sees this and that's why he gave us his word, a living recipe, bonded in 66 books, pointing to the bread of life himself. And that is the message of the gospel, my friends, the promise to deliver people, not just from Egypt, babylon or Rome, but from the greater exile behind all exiles Sin. God has sent down Jesus, his only son, fully man, fully God, to not only witness and relate to the sufferings of our humanity, but to offer us a way out of our losing battle with sin, our humanity, but to offer us a way out of our losing battle with sin. Jesus lived a sinless life, tempted by culture, yet remained in his convictions. Mocked and gossiped about, yet remained respectful. Betrayed by a friend he loved, yet remained faithful. Jesus healed the broken, preached the kingdom and willingly bore the cross that the culture condemned him to. And amid his suffering, he endured it, knowing his sacrifice would become the bridge to eternal life. I'm going to repeat that because I butchered the endured word. He endured it, knowing his sacrifice would become the bridge to eternal life with God. But Jesus didn't just die. He rose on the third day, proving his authority over sin and death. His resurrection is the proof, the receipt, that God's promise is real and paid in full. He said whoever believes in him will have everlasting life. And this was God's recipe from the start, before we wrote our own recipes and served our own broken versions of his truth. When we chose to worship false gods and turn away from him, when we dishonored his deliverance out of Egypt, he remained respectful without retreat. When we chose sin in our lives, every day, over a relationship with him, never calling, never seeking him, gossiping about him, minimizing him to just a thought. Like disloyal friends, we ghosted him in the crowd, silent. While he was mocked, god remained a faithful friend. God modeled the very thing that he asks of us, even when we did not follow through, and he did it gladly, out of love. For what other insane reasoning could there be but the insurmountable, unmeasurable, overwhelming and sovereign love of God? All right, I'm about to land the plane. We're gonna be be at Texas Roadhouse in about 20 minutes. Okay, praise God. I like really had to practice timing it out, because I know I get excited. And my wife took me to a coffee shop, didn't order me a decaf. Caffeine with ADHD, not a good mix, not a good mix. Dale knows. Dale knows, dale knows. We're going to pray now and in this prayer, for those of you who are ready to accept Christ in your life, you can pray this with me silently. God, some of us have been starving for so long. We've consumed drugs, alcohol, spirituality, ethical morality. We have tried in our own strength to do the right thing and somehow none of these things that culture accepts makes us feel any better. God, I need you. I am unsure about the state of my life tomorrow, but I am sure about this Nothing else is satisfying me and I need something real. I asked to receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior. I believe he came and redeemed a sinner like me and I want to turn from my old ways and learn how to live a life centered in Christ. From my old ways and learn how to live a life centered in Christ. Lord, if I couldn't pray that prayer yet, because I'm unsure or even ashamed, I pray that you work within me, that you stir up a conviction in me that only you can place in my heart. I don't know if I'm ready to accept Jesus yet, but I know something has to change For those of us who already believe, whether we've walked with you for days, lord, or decades, we lay our sins down again at your feet and quietly confess them to you. God, help us lean on your word and walk in your truth. As we step out of this building and into into the world, may we carry more conviction, respect and faith, just as Christ Jesus has taught us to Amen.