The Daniel Mandate
THE DANIEL MANDATE: DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE!
Live Your Life for the Kingdom that Matters Most
Texts: James 4:14; Ecclesiastes 11:9 – 12:1; Psalm 90:12
James 4:14 – Describes the Brevity of Life
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
Psalm 90:10 – Instructs us on How to Approach Life
10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away . . . 12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Ecclesiastes 11:9–12:1 – Tells us When to Strive for a Life of Wisdom
9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. 1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;
Question: How should I respond to the death of Charlie Kirk? What does God want to produce in me as I consider the death of someone who was one of my contemporaries and a faithful servant of the Gospel, regardless of how I may feel about certain political issues he advanced?
Let me be clear –
- As an American, I valued, appreciated, and identified with many of his conservative political beliefs. But that is not my interest this morning, nor should it be yours. Not every faithful Christian will feel the same way about all of the political views he advanced.
- As a Christian, I celebrated and embraced his advocacy and defense of Biblical moral and ethical values. While all of us should appreciate his bold stand for biblical values in the public square (i.e., right to human life, divine design of marriage, gender, and human sexuality), that is not my focus this morning.
- What most impacted me and was most important to him was his bold, unashamed, clear public commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
And that is what I want us to consider this morning. How might God use the very public death of one of His servants to stir up and motivate many more of His followers to dedicate their resources, time, and even their lives to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ clearly, compellingly, and unashamedly in places where it is not welcome?
Where can we find someone in our Bible who shared the same commitments, lived by the same Biblical moral and ethical values, and spoke truth openly to the most powerful political figures of his time in an effort to bring them to repentance and submission to the true and living God? We find such an example in the life of a young Hebrew slave who spent his entire life in a place he never wanted to be, living with faithful integrity before God, who placed this servant in the highest political offices of his day.
God used this humble servant as an ambassador who represented the values and advanced the purposes of the Kingdom of Heaven in the Kingdoms of Babylon and Persia! And when He was done, one of those kings (Nebuchadnezzar) had become a true worshipper of YHWH; another of those kings (Cyrus) signed a decree and made provision for the restoration of Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple; and the entire earth had been made aware of the power and authority Daniel’s God.
If you want your life to count – to make a powerful impact for Christ in the lives of the people around you – then you must be marked and shaped by five indispensable qualities that will enable you to use your life to advance the gospel of the kingdom that really matters even in the face of relentless opposition and ruthless persecution. Like Daniel, we must be marked by and known as people who are:
- Genuinely ____________ (1:8-9, 17)
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. 9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs . . . 17 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.
- Remarkably ____________ (2:17-24)
Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. 21 He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; 22 he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. 23 To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.” 24 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”
- Unusually ____________ (5:11-12)
There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”
- Fearlessly ____________ (4:27; 5:22-23)
Boldness to proclaim the Grace of God for ____________ (4:27)
Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.”
Boldness to proclaim the Judgment of God for ____________ (5:22-27)
And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored. 24 “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
- Consistently ____________ (6:4-5; 22)
4 Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.” . . . . 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”
- Reading Scripture Carefully and Submissively (9:1-2)
- Praying Biblically Shaped Prayers Fervently (6:10; 9:4-19)
- Trusting and Obeying at all Times and at all Costs (6:16).
Conclusion: Needed – Modern Daniels and Esthers who will count their lives but a small price to pay to advance the Gospel of God in the kingdoms of men in our day!
WILL YOU BE ONE?