Sermon(Dan 1): The power of holy life

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025286961

 

>> ... 3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 youths without blemish, handsome and skilful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to serve in the king's palace, and to teach them the letters and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the rich food which the king ate, and of the wine which he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. .... 8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's rich food, or with the wine which he drank; therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. .... 12 "Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's rich food be observed by you, and according to what you see deal with your servants." .... 17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all letters and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. .... (Dan 1)

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Augustine left great pieces of work thanks to his extraordinary brain. Indeed, he was a genius. As a young man, he was a prisoner of promiscuous sexual desire, and begot a son. But he wrote the most inspiring writings in the world as the cleanest soul in the world after he found the truth and served the God. I weighed how the world went, and discovered that, once God decides to grant someone his grace, he concentrates his help and grace on him, giving him great ability. Look at Mozart. Look at the apostle Paul. And, of course, look at St. Augustine. His writings full of inspiration have contents so broad and rich. His writings are clean and profound. They give us deep impression. Why are his writings so clean and pure? Why are his writings so pure and profound despite his prodigal life when he was young? That's because he grew up eating clean food. The clean food was his mother Monica's clean life, clean devotion to God, and long, clean and earnest prayer for her son Augustine. Augustine couldn't forget his mother Monica's prayer in tears for him. God turned almost all his blessings and help such as a lot of wisdom and ability to Augustine who had grown up eating clean food.

 

One day I gave deep thanks to God. It's because I realized that he had fed me on clean food indeed. My family wasn't rich even in the village. My father had passed away even before I was one year old, so my family was in a difficult situation. However, my mother, in such a difficult situation, worked hard and had me receive university education. I studied with the money for which my mother, a weak woman, worked hard. I realized it and cried out, "My God, what am I that you have raised me with the tears and sweat of a woman?" Some bring up their children with the money they earned from real estate speculation, some with the money earned by theft and fraud. Some bring up their children even with the money from prostitution. How dirty the food such children ate was! Compared to that, my mother brought up me with the money she earned by honest labor. How clean the food I ate was! I am a very happy man who was fed on clean food. When I realized that, I could not help but thank God, and respect my mother.

 

Yes, my brethren! God says that you, God's people, must be holy because he is holy. This God gives his people clean food. How can a man who has been brought up with defiled food be a holy one? The money earned by the sweat of one's brow and the grain gained by honest work are the clean food. Those who have grown up eating such food are ones who have grown up in the love of God. Do you buy several lottery tickets every week in order to build church if you should win the lottery? Wouldn't the Satan laugh at the church if it was constructed by the money that a lot of people, (dishonestly) wishing to be rich suddenly, paid? Did you earn a lot of money by real estate speculation, and do you hate to contribute money to the construction of the church? I suspect that you had such a stingy heart because God did not want such money, so he hardened your heart. If you do not have any thought to help a poor theological student when you see how he suffers from destitution, you'd better check out your heart to see if you have such a stingy heart thanks to your filthy money. Because God's servant should eat clean food. On the contrary, he, who has earned a lot of money by working honestly, willingly offers up a part of his wealth for the work of God. God wanted to use the holy wealth for his plans, so he made the man's heart meek and voluntary.

 

When you think of Daniel, it will immediately come to your mind that he refused the king's unclean food but ate clean vegetable food. Judah was destroyed by Babylon, and many were taken captive to Babylon. The king of Babylon chose some handsome, talented, and intelligent youths, taught them the knowledge of Babylon to be king's servants in the palace. They were chosen ones who were favored by king. It was the policy of the Babylonian king to choose some youths, grant them all kinds of privileges, and make them good officials. So he allowed them to eat the king's rich food.

 

But Daniel and his friends said that they would not eat king's delicacies and wine. The eunuch overseeing them told them that if so the king would kill him for they would grow lean then. Daniel and his friends suggested to the eunuch that he should give them only vegetables for ten days, then compare them with other youths. The outcome was: "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 rich food. (Dan 1:15)" So they were allowed to eat only vegetables.

 

Daniel and his friends refused king's food because they didn't want to be defiled by the food whose ingredients were beasts offered to idols. Anyway, the important thing is that they didn't want to be unclean before God, even though they were taken captive to the country that was serving idols. My brethren, do you know what's really important to Christians? Is it a great achievement in the world? Is it to give a lot of money to God? Is it to preach the gospel to many people? There is one thing greater than all these. It is the purity of spirit and body. It is holiness. On an internet portal site, a netizen eagerly preached the gospel. But he said he was a homosexual. My brethren, isn't it funny to preach the gospel with a body dirtier than maggots? Rather, isn't it an abominable sin to preach the gospel with such a dirty body and such a dirty soul? Isn't it funny if someone despised and criticized by many people appears on CTS TV to give a holy sermon? Isn't it a little ridiculous if a man, who inherited his father's church in spite of everyone's opposition in the denomination, gives a sacred sermon on Christian TV? The pastor who is the son preached, "You must deny yourself and live only according to the will of Jesus." Your brazenness knows no bounds!

 

My brethren! Your purity is more important than your positions and achievements. Abandon your greed. It must be a great favor of king to eat king's dainties when many suffered hunger outside the palace. However Daniel and his friends gave up greed. They gave up their privileges. They thought that it was okay if they were expelled from the palace and to live as miserable captives as others. Why? Because what was important to them was to be holy before God. Perhaps the reason why they took such a firm stance was that they realized why their homeland had been ruined. Why did Israel (the north kingdom) and Judah (the south kingdom) perish? Because they served idols (other gods) and became unclean before God. I think that therefore Daniel and his friends realized that the key to Judah's restoration was 'the purity before God'. Maybe they thought that the restoration of Judah would be impossible if the Jews lost their holiness when they assimilated to the culture of the Babylon. That's why they, as the leaders of the Jews, decided to keep their holiness. They had the hope that they would certainly be set free someday and return home to serve God freely, if they keep their holiness though in captivity. This hope bore fruits. Like this, there is hope for the future for us as long as our leaders are awake. The hope for the future of Korean church lies in the holiness and clean conscience of the church leaders. They should always abandon greed, and themselves keep holiness, and live only for the glory of God.

 

It's not easy to reject someone else's favor. But if that favor defiles and hurts your faith, you must firmly reject it. Daniel and his friends refused king's favor, not because they despise the king, but because they didn't want their faithfulness to God to be undermined by what the king provided. They did so because they thought the God to be a higher king than the king of Babylon. My brethren, make the God your King. This is the first wisdom of life. Israel and Judah perished because they didn't acknowledge the God as the King of kings. They were destroyed when they, thinking the king of Assyria, the king of Babylon, and the king of Egypt to be supreme kings, went to one of them for help and flattered him if necessary. But some kings of Judah who recognized the God as the king of kings could defend themselves even when they were invaded by the strongest army. Foolish kings do not recognize God as King and seek only his help, so they are deserted by God and destroyed by nations to which they usually paid tribute. It looks like a sure way to turn our back on God and to seek for help in the world, but it is a foolish choice. If we depart from God, the world will try to swallow us up. We'll never fall when we turn to God for help.

 

You have to eat well to be healthy. Especially, in the past when there was not enough food and medicine, you need to eat sufficiently to keep your health. Daniel and his friends received the blessing of health the more when they refused rich food to keep their holiness before God. Good complexion means good health. They looked best even though they had eaten only vegetables. "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 rich food. (v. 15)" My brethren, if you suffer a little for God, God rewards you double. (Please serve your church as a teacher of Sunday school when you are a member of the youth group or the college department. Do not go to library or play around on Sunday!) The widow of Zarephath served Elijah with what little flour she had, and God paid her back hundreds of times. It is an infinite glory to be used by God, so obey gladly whatever God wants you to do. If God says he needs your sacrifice, pleas do it with joy.

 

If the king should notice that they refused king's food, they could be punished or killed, or become slaves who would be treated as the lowest. But that didn't happen. Because God was the king of kings. It is God who moves king's mind. Far from going wrong, Daniel and his friends took up high offices. However, no matter how honestly they work, some people in the world lose their lives or jobs, or are banished to a remote place because of others' envy and slander. Daniel and his friends had opponents and were slandered by them, but God kept them even from fire or from the mouths of lions. As the enemies increased, the king's trust in them became stronger and stronger day by day. All these happened in God's care. How faithful he is! My brethren, believe in this faithful God, and keep firmly your holiness and faithful faith in him. Envy, jealousy, and slander cannot harm us who live in God. If we take a little care to please God, he will make our whole life a garden of joy.

 

Who can gain wisdom beyond the worldly wisdom, and can know secrets that the world cannot know? He who keeps his body and spirit holy and lives in the Holy Spirit can attain to the wisdom and the secrets. The Holy Spirit of truth, knowledge, and wisdom comes upon those who live a holy life. "As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all letters and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. (v. 17)" "And in every matter of wisdom and understanding concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. (v. 20)" From old times, those who revered and obeyed God were like trees planted by the streams. They suffer no want in anything. If you live according to God's words, you become not a tail but a head in the world. My brethren, from now on give up the life of petty tricks, pretexts, and hypocrisy, but rather thoroughly obey God's will and be faithful to him. Why do you try to swim across the Pacific Ocean when you can get to New York by airplane from Seoul? Live in the grace of God. He will lead you to the streams where you can rest. English word memory is not wisdom, and the ability to solve math problems well is not so much wisdom as skill, and tricks are not wisdom. It is true wisdom to fear God and live a holy life so as to gain his guidance, care, and help.

 

Believe that the blood of Jesus on the cross cleans up your sins and sanctifies you. May you all live a holy life before God and receive abundant blessings.

 

Chong Tack Kim

                              - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -