MAINSTREAM COUNTERFLOW

Our monthly theme is EMPOWERING THE YOUTH AND KIDS. The basis
of my message is about the friends who stood up for their faith in God
despite the crisis.

Let us pray.

The Decision of Youth

Life is a series of decisions. Every day of your life you live on the basis of
the decisions that you make. You make literally hundreds of decisions
every day. You decide what you are going to do that day. You make a
decision about how you are going to respond or react to the things that
come to you. Life, every day of our life, is a series of decisions.

What I am today is on the basis of the decisions that I made in my past.

What I am going to be tomorrow will be determined by the decisions I make
today. Life is a series of decisions. Interestingly enough most of the major
decisions of your life are made while you are young. Most people decide for
the Lord Jesus while they are young. You make the decision for your life's
mate, normally, when you are young. Maybe in your early teens or early
twenties. You decide who your mate is going to be. You make a decision
about your friends. The friends you have may be your friends for life. You
decide what your vocation is going to be. You make decisions about where
you are going to live. The major decisions of your life you make while you
are a young person.

Apparently, parents' decisions have greatly affected the totality of their

children.

Daniel and his friends, you recall, is at time of crisis in their lives. They are
getting ready to make the greatest decision they will ever make in all of
their lives. They have been stripped away from their homeland, carried into
a strange land hundreds and hundreds of miles away from their home.

These young people's decision have brought great impact to the Christian
faith.
Hebrew Youths Deported to Babylon (1:3-5)

Since Babylon forces Judah to become a vassal state, it is customary to

extract tribute to be carried to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar takes plunder
from the temple, and demands young men from the nobility and royal
families to be deported to Babylon to be trained for service in
Nebuchadnezzar's court. They probably also serve as hostages to ensure
that Judah doesn't rebel against Babylon.

"3  Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in
some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility[10] -- 4  young
men[11] without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for
every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified
to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and
literature of the Babylonians. 5  The king assigned them a daily amount of
food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three
years, and after that they were to enter the king's service." (1:3-5)

Wise rulers who seek to control the world don't rely only on their own
wisdom. They seek counsel from those who understand the lands they
have conquered, who can advise them and become part of their diplomatic
corps. Ashpenaz is looking for men with the following qualifications:

1. Young men.
2. From royal families or nobility.
3. Without any physical impediment.
4. Handsome.
5. Showing intellectual aptitude, well-informed, quick to understand. 
6. Ability to function in a king's court.

Names (1:6-7)

"6  Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and
Azariah. 
7 
 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name
Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to
Azariah, Abednego." (1:6-7)
One of the elements imposed on these four Hebrew young men is the
imposition of Babylonian names, several of which include the names of
Babylonian gods. For the Babylonians this is a matter of convenience
rather than ideology, but for the Hebrews, who believed a person's
character and future could be prefigured by their names, it is probably very
difficult.

Hebrew Name Babylonian Name

Daniel, "God is my judge." Belteshazzar, "Protect his life" or

"Lady, protect the king." Belet was
the wife of Bel, a Babylonian god
(4:8).[14]

Hananiah, "Yahweh has been Shadrach, "command of Aku"

gracious." (Sumerian moon god) or "I am very
fearful (of god)."

Mishael, "Who is what God is?" Meshach, "I am of little account."

Azariah, "Yahweh has helped." Abednego, "Servant of the shining

one," perhaps a word play that
includes the god Nabû.

Pinalitan man ang kanilang mga pangalan, hindi nagbago kung ano ang
laman ng kanilang mga puso.
Nagbago man ang paligid nila, hindi nagbago ang kanilang paniniwala.

Ito ngayon ang matinding problema ng mga kabataan. Dahil sa matinding

pagbabago na ating nararanasa, tila nagbabago na rin ang idelohiya ng
mga kabataan.

ROMANS 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good,
pleasing and perfect will.

Mainstream Counterflow
(Explain)

There are a lot of temptations arising specially to our young people.

Technology is one of the major causes of conflicts and crisis among our
youth. The trend they see in the social media affects their lives and can
change their thought in an insight.

TRANSITIONAL STATEMENT:
It is my desire to impart the story of Daniel and his friends to be a guide for
our young people to maintain their identity despite the crisis.

I. IN WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING

Daniel Resolves Not to Defile Himself (1:8-10)

"8  But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine,
and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this
way. 9  Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to
Daniel, 10  but the official told Daniel, 'I am afraid of my lord the king, who
has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse
than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head
because of you.'" (1:8-10)

Daniel emerges as the leader of the four young men here.

Daniel and his friends have suffered deportation, change of their name, and
education in the occult knowledge of Babylon. But when it comes to the
food[16]they are given, Daniel balks. He is concerned with defilement.[17]

What defilement was Daniel concerned about? We aren't told, so there has
been a lot of speculation. Here are the possibilities:

1. Food offered to idols.

2. Eating unclean animals,
 3. Undue obligation to the king. "So some believe Daniel was
rejecting dependence upon the king."
4. Honoring God. Daniel is concerned to attribute good health to God,
not to the king's excellent food.
5. Dietary guidelines. Some suggest that Daniel's diet is to model the
superiority of a vegetarian diet and abstinence from alcoholic
beverage, though later in life Daniel seems to have eaten meat and
drunk wine, except when fasting (10:3).

This talks not only about the actual or literal food, but also to whatever we
feed our minds.

A Ten Day Test (1:11-16)

But Daniel doesn't give up. Notice the wisdom with which Daniel
approaches this problem. He doesn't go on a hunger strike. Instead he
proposes an experiment, a test.

"11  Daniel then said to the guard[22] whom the chief official had

appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12  'Please test
your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and
water to drink. 13  Then compare our appearance with that of the young
men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with
what you see.' 14  So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. 15  At
the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than
any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16  So the guard took away
their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them
vegetables instead." (1:11-16)

The steward or guard assigned to them agrees to give it a try for 10 days,
and after the 10 days, the Hebrew young men look more robust than the
other young men in training in the palace.

God-Given Insight (1:17)

Daniel and his friends are subjected to an intensive education. Their

overseer is charged: 

"... to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.... They
were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the
king's service." (1:4, 5)
When this course of instruction is complete, the young men are well-
educated.

"To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all
kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and
dreams of all kinds." (1:17)

Notice that the narrator attributes their intellectual grasp and wisdom not to
their education, but to God. "God gave knowledge and understanding....
I've found that it is possible to educate people -- or indoctrinate them -- but
it is not easy to teach them wisdom. The four Hebrew men are blessed with
a command of all that the Babylonian empire can teach them, but they are
also taught wisdom by God.

Daniel has all this plus a prophetic gift. He has the ability to "understand
visions and dreams of all kinds." God gives him this ability so he can
influence the kings he serves under, but also to see into the future to inform
the Jewish people of what is to come, and to inform Christians concerning
the Last Days, the resurrection, and the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Nakita natin dito ang wisdom ni Daniel na hindi lahat ng inaalok ay dapat
tanggapin. Mukhang mabuti sa umpisa ngunit sa bandang huli ay pwede
nating ikasira.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT! WE ARE WHAT WE FEED OUR MINDS

II. IN WORKS AND SERVICE

The Hebrew Youths Begin their Service (1:18-21)

"18  At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official
presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19  The king talked with them, and
he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they
entered the king's service.[27] 20  In every matter of wisdom and
understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten
times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole
kingdom. 21  And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus."
(1:18-21)

Not only were they educated, but they "graduated at the top of their class."
"Ten times better" is a way of saying that they greatly excelled their peers --
a fact that caused jealousy and persecution later (2:49; 3:8; 6:3-4). 
All four Hebrew youths enter the king's service and be came part of the
palace court. But Daniel, the writer tells us, serves so long that he serves
not only in the Babylonian court, but also under the Medo-Persian rulers as
well, as we'll see in chapter 6.

Being complacent in the work place is not a true mark of Christianity.

Even if the friends were at the wrong place, they did their best. We do not
need the perfect time and place to do what is right. Preach the Gospel in
season and out of season.

Napakaraming tao ang kumikilos lang ayon sa sahod. If the workplace is

not good, they tend to do less. But God's desire for us is to do things
excellently. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the
glory of God.

III. IN WORSHIP AND FAITH

Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So

13 

these men were brought before the king, 14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it
true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the
image of gold I have set up? 15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither,
lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the
image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately
into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not

16 

need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing
furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us  from Your
[a]

Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we
will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

These Hebrew friends did not lower their standards even in the midst of
crisis. We are actually in the midst of crisis and people have a lot of choices
what to do.

Some young people have compromised their faith and were being flown
away by the winds of doubt. It is true that sufferings can be strong that tend
to create doubt in our minds.
Lessons for Disciples

As we look for lessons we can apply to our lives as disciples of Jesus, we

can see several:

1. Though our lives may take wrenching turns (such as Daniel's exile),
God knows these things and works through them to achieve his
purposes.
2. We must learn flexibility to live in the culture or circumstance we are
placed in, without being unfaithful to the Kingdom of God to which we
pledge allegiance -- the fine art of compromise without capitulation.
3. Daniel seeks compromise with gentleness, not confrontation. In fact,
they did not compromise. They stood firm to their beliefs. 
4. True education and wisdom, when aided by God, doesn't restrict us,
but can cause us to have more wisdom and breadth than our peers.

My challenge to the youth:

May the Lord find us faithful despite the change that we are experiencing.
Some young people actively participating mobile or videogames but seldom
they involve themselves in the ministry.

Others can make a way going to parties but no challenge in making a

solution on how to attend worship services.

Young people were exposed to movies or other worldly allurements

through the internet, but could not find time to spare for church activities.

Like Daniel and friends, they did not conform to the pattern of the world but
rather they stick to the pattern of God. Though their lives are at risk, they
did not hesitate to do what is right.

How I love to see young people bearing the same integrity. No amount of
pressure nor threat can cause them to change their faith in God. Instead, in
times like these, the more they believed in the power of God.
Young people, wake up! Let us counterflow the mainstream of doubts,
fears, weaknesses and sin. Through you, God's glory be revealed. In
Jesus' name.