"Young Man, Will You STAND" by Joe Root | KFW 2025

Lesson Transcript

Thursday morning, I woke up, and I don't know if you've ever experienced this before, but when you wake up in a different place, sometimes it takes a couple of moments to realize, "Where am I?" And Wednesday evening, we had flown from the capital of one country to the capital of another country and landed in Washington, D.C., leaving our car and a few things in Mexico City. My wife and I left and had driven up four hours north to Mexico City, spent the night, and then flew to Washington, D.C.

We woke up in a different country, in a different capital, in a different place. I don't know if you've ever experienced that. I've experienced it a number of times in my life where I wake up in the morning and think, "Let's see, where am I?" And several years ago, after driving several thousand miles south with a few of our things and moving into a rented home, I can remember the reality beginning to dawn on us that we no longer live in the same place.

Now, today, I want to call your mind to a young man who did the same thing, a young man that we find in the Bible, a young man who woke up in a different spot. And we're going to talk about him today, and I'm praying that that will be a motivation and an inspiration and a call to each one of you and to me again. Young man, will you stand? Young woman, will you stand? We've been talking this week. We've been remembering some courageous young men who took a tough stand upon the Word of God.

During these last several days, we've been thinking about them, men like Muntz, and men like Grebbel, and men like Blaurock, and men like Sattler, and men like Hutter, and men like Ammon, and men like Mack, and other men like that who took a stand in their day for the Word of God and for the Lord Jesus Christ. But the question for us today is, young man, young woman, will you stand? And I want to jump clear back, clear back across the pages of history to a young man we find in the Bible. And that's right.

We don't believe in a flat Bible, but we do believe that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's profitable for doctrine and for reproof and for correction and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God, that the woman of God may be perfect. That means mature, complete, thoroughly furnished, completely equipped, totally ready for all good works. So would you join me in looking at a young man who took a stand?

We're going to take a look at a young man by the name of Daniel for a while this afternoon in this youth message. God bless all of you, those of you who are young and those of you who are here because you're young at heart. God bless you. How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were? Have you ever thought about that? God bless you. Well, I want to start out as I think about this title, this question, "Young man, will you stand?

Radical faith in the midst of contemporary culture." I want to start with some familiar verses in Ephesians 6:14, 13, 14, where the apostle writing to the church at Ephesus says this, "Wherefore taken you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day? Withstand," there's that word, "and having done all to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girded about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

And above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Did you see that word, stand? I think I heard it at least three times, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day.

Are we in the evil day today, 2025, the year of our Lord, 2025? And throughout the years of history, the graph of change has been gradual, but now it's no longer gradual. It's changing. Things are changing fast. Our world is changing fast. It's changing. And God did not place you here in 2025 by accident. You're here by the divine providence and will of God, and God has a plan, and he will use you if you will let him. Young man, will you stand? Young woman, will you stand?

Praise God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand, therefore. That's the emphasis of the message today, is a call to stand. Now, I hope you have your Bibles. This isn't just a time of history lesson, but if you don't, you can listen carefully or share with someone nearby and go back in your Bible to the last of the major prophets, the book of Daniel. Remember, there were four prophets that we call major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.

And they weren't major because the scripture there is somehow more important or more inspired. Absolutely not. We call them major prophets because they have longer messages, longer prophecies. And then after that are the 12 minor prophets all the way through Malachi, and then 400 silent years, and then the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So if you'll jump back with me to the book of Daniel, we're going to look at one short chapter, chapter one of the book of Daniel, with this theme.

I think you're going to be fascinated at how similar the situation of Daniel was to your lives today. I think you'll be amazed if you'll stop and think about it, how similar circumstances he might have been facing. Look with me at the book of Daniel. You'll turn there. I'm not going to read this whole chapter all at once, although I'd like to, but I don't think I better because of time. We're just going to look at the verses as we go here this morning. Young man, will you stand? A look at the life of Daniel.

Young woman, will you stand? We're going to look at the life of Daniel for just a little bit, a young man, probably between 15 and 20 years old, who woke up one morning in a different city. We're going to talk about what he faced and how he stood. So I want to look at three things this afternoon with you. Young man, will you stand? Radical faith in the midst of contemporary culture. And we want to talk about standing in change. Then we want to talk about standing under pressure.

And finally, we want to talk about standing with purpose. Standing in change, standing under pressure, standing with purpose. Is this mine, brother? Thank you. As cold waters to a thirsty soul. So is good news from a far country. Well, let's consider. Young man, will you stand? Can you imagine this young man, Daniel? And let's stop and pause that this is a respected man even in the Bible. The Bible refers to Daniel and the book of Ezekiel as an example of faith and righteousness and wisdom.

In Ezekiel 14, we read that God said, "Even though Noah and Daniel and Job stood before me as I live," saith the Lord, "they would only deliver their own souls because of their righteousness." In other words, God's holding them up as an example of righteousness. Later in Ezekiel 28, actually referring to what we consider to be a passage about the devil, about Satan, God says, "Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel." Wow. Daniel is a standard of wisdom, apparently. God was warning about how astute the devil is.

Jesus himself referred to the prophet Daniel in his writing with confidence and certainty, warning people to be aware of the coming abomination of desolation that is spoken by Daniel the prophet. He said, "He that readeth, let him understand." Daniel, a man of God. So let's take a quick look at the life of Daniel. Remember, shortly, we're going to look at three points: standing in change, standing under pressure, and standing with purpose. And I'd like you to join me in thinking carefully about that.

And brothers and sisters, we're looking at Daniel, but I'm thinking about you, and so is God. He's looking at you. The prophet told King Asa one time that the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the whole earth. That means God's eyes are circling the globe, circling the globe, circling the globe to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. God's eyes are circling the globe.

Your community, your church, your background, I don't know what situation you were if you stood up this morning during that message. Doesn't matter. God's not so worried about that, that his eyes are circling the globe to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Well, I want to read the first two verses of Daniel chapter 1. I hope you have your Bibles nearby. If not, listen carefully.

Daniel chapter 1, verse 1 says, "In the third year of the reign of Jehoachim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoachim, king of Judah, into his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his God, and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God." Going to need a lot of water today.

So those two verses, I want to invite you, as you study your Bibles, young people, don't just pass by those introductions. Slow down and take a look and think about what is being said there. We want to talk a little bit about those first couple of verses. Shall I say this?

It says, "Came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem and besieged it." History of the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC, 605 years before Christ, which was the third year of the reign of Jehoachim, king of Judah, this Nebuchadnezzar, the rising, conquering Babylonian king, finally came against Jerusalem and besieged it. Judah had failed to hear the warnings of God through the prophet Jeremiah and others. And over the next few years, God at last lifted his protection.

God lifted his protection over Jerusalem and over his disobedient people and gave Judah, it says, into the hand of Babylon. 2 Kings 25 reveals to us that Nebuchadnezzar not only destroyed Jerusalem and the beautiful temple of Solomon, but he robbed many of the beautiful sacred vessels of the house of God and took them to the land of Shinar, where was the city of Babylon, and put them in the treasure house of his God.

So he took God's vessels, the gold and silver vessels, out of the temple at Jerusalem—excuse me, I have throat trouble, I think—and put them in the house of his God, his God, over in the land of Shinar, the treasure house of his God, which would have been the god Marduk, the chief Babylonian god. Among all of this plunder, we find also that Nebuchadnezzar brought certain captives over to Babylon. And among these captives, he brought some Hebrew royalty back to his capital city of Babylon.

Among these young men, we have four listed by name in the prophecy of Daniel, including Daniel himself and then three other friends named Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Today, I want to primarily consider Daniel himself, although we may refer a little to the other three young men as well. Again, the title is, "Young man, will you stand? Young woman, will you stand?" We want to look together at these three points, these three areas, these three aspects of Daniel's life where he was called to stand.

And as we do that, my friend, please remember that this is more than a history lesson. If all we have this weekend is a history lesson, we failed. This is a call to you, and it's a call to me. Young man, young woman, will you stand? So let's start with point number one: standing in change. Standing in change. Verse 1 and 2, we read here that the Babylonian Empire had conquered Jerusalem. We read about Nebuchadnezzar, a very powerful king. You can read about him in other history as well.

We recognize how God rules in human history. It says, "The Lord gave Nebuchadnezzar into or gave Jerusalem into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar." We read about the sacred vessels taken from the temple. And I'm going to go ahead and read on about verse 3 and 4 as we think about standing in change a little bit more.

It says, "And the king spake unto Ashpenaz, the master of the eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel and of the king's seed and of the princes, children in whom was no blemish but well-favored and skillful in all wisdom and cunning and knowledge and understanding science. Such had ability in them to stand in the king's palace in whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans, the Chaldeans." So think for a moment with me.

We have the tragedy of being taken from home and family, and we have the impact of a foreign culture and other things. Four fine young men, the Bible says clearly, they were of the king's seed. That means they were probably of the tribe of Judah. These were of the king's seed. These were royal seed, the king's seed, these boys. The Bible says they were children in whom there was no blemish, verse 4. Do you know what that means? It literally means these guys were good-looking. These were handsome.

These were guapo young men, Dale. They were good-looking men, children in whom there was no blemish. And not only that, they were apt to learn. They were good potential for Babylonian society. The Bible says, "Children in whom there was no blemish but well-favored and skillful in all wisdom and cunning and knowledge and understanding science, such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace." These were quite the boys, quite the young men. But think about the change. Think about the change a little bit.

That's our first point: standing in change. Have you ever experienced a radical change in your life? I don't know most of you, so I don't know. Some of you probably have. A big change. It might be moving to another location. It might be a tragedy that happened in the family. It might be a crisis that happened in your personal life. I don't know. Big change, standing in change. So we start out with atmosphere change.

I've already mentioned what it was like, and I've had times that it was really dramatic where it took me a while to think, "Where am I? Where am I?" Oh, yes. Oh, yes. I'm in Mexico. That's the way it must have been for Daniel. Imagine the atmosphere change from a religious environment to a cosmopolitan environment.

Babylon, the biggest city in the world at that time, located roughly 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq today, at the center of culture and education and science and art, Babylon, oh, Babylon, a beautiful city with huge fortified walls surrounding it, walls so thick that you could ride a chariot around on top of the walls and look down at the city and look out. And not only that, they were so thick that if you happened to meet another chariot, there was room for both of them. Those were big, giant walls.

This was the biggest city in the world. Babylon, a beautiful city. Babylon, with its beautiful Ishtar Gate, it was blue in color, blue tiles, the main entrance to the inner city of Babylon. The portal was decorated with bright blue glazed bricks with pictures of bulls and dragons and lions and amazing relief. This was an incredible city. I don't know about you, but I enjoy.

I don't like to necessarily it isn't my first love to live in the city, but I enjoy seeing cities, even as we visit different cities from time to time in Mexico. The colonial cities with the architecture, it's beautiful. It's awe-inspiring. And I think back hundreds of years when they actually made all that stuff. But can you imagine waking up in Babylon, the biggest, grandest city on planet Earth at that time? And there was Daniel and his friends.

This Ishtar Gate gave way to the city's big processional way, a half-a-mile decorated corridor used in religious rituals to celebrate the new year. Babylon, Babylon, we're in Babylon with its many luxurious palaces and its hanging gardens, which was declared one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, which King Nebuchadnezzar supposedly made for one of his wives who was from a forested country, and she missed all the plant life.

So he said, "Fine, we'll just build one." And he made a big mountain with a series of hanging plants that could be watered, a watering system. This is Babylon. Babylon, amazing. Imagine the huge, disorienting change for these boys when they woke up after being captives, woke up, and the sounds are different, the smells are different, the sights are different. Everything's different. Standing in change. We've talked about the atmosphere change. We can think about the educational change.

The Bible says here not only that these were children in whom was no blemish but well-favored and skillful in all wisdom and cunning and knowledge and so forth, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. Wow, very near to the same area described in Genesis 11 as the plain of Shinar, where, remember, men decided they were going to get together and they were going to build something. Do you remember that in the plain of Shinar?

You can read about it in Genesis 11. They said, "Come, and let's make us a name, and we're going to build a tower." And they called the name of that tower Babel, or it was called that later because the Lord confused the languages. Babel. Now here, very near to that same area is the city of Babylon. Babylon, Babylonian science. Thank you, Clark. May God bless you. Babylonian science, we're talking about now educational change. We talked about atmosphere change.

Let's think for a moment about the educational change these boys faced, this advanced mathematics. We can read about it today. It's still preserved. Some of the Babylonian mathematics was used to divide farmable land into plots. It wasn't just 1 plus 1 equals 2. They had advanced mathematics.

In fact, fortunately, modern scholars know quite a bit about it today, about Babylonian math, because of their calculating methods and their multiplication tables and so forth were inscribed on clay tablets that have been preserved. They showed their work, as Brother Paul said. It's interesting. Babylonian mathematical tablets do happen to show that they were the first to get the idea of using 60, and we still use it today. How many seconds in a minute and how many minutes in an hour?

The whole mathematic system of 60 was developed by the Babylonian people. So we're in the biggest city in the world, the most cosmopolitan, the most amazing, beautiful, spectacular city in the world, Babylon. What a change. But this is also the place that's leading in science and knowledge and education. How appealing, how exciting, how important. Very interesting place. All the new ideas and intelligence are going on here in Babylon. We got it.

And not only that, as you think about this educational change, but think about language change. It says right here in the Bible, verse 4, "And whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans." So not only has Daniel and Azariah and Mishael, see, just about lost their names here, Ananias, Mishael, and Azariah, not only are these boys enrolled in the University of Babylon now, but they're also being taught language. Dong, dong, it's language lesson, young men. Come here, please.

We're going to work on Chaldean today. We're going to start working on the structures of sentences and who knows what. Maybe some of you have had the experience of learning another language. I was a little old to try and learn another language, but God is gracious. Language change. Language and culture are very entwined. That's one of the things we study, Brother Joel, isn't it, in All Nations Bible translation, that when you learn another language, you're also learning the culture of the people.

There's a lot contained in words. Words have power. Words have influence. Language and culture are very combined. And so these boys that went from a very religious society and now they're in the middle of a very cosmopolitan society, again, history would say that these young men, it calls them children in whom there was no blemish, were probably between 15 and 20 years old. And now they're in the most amazing city on Earth.

And now they're in the University of Babylon, and they're learning all the latest learning of the Chaldeans. And not only that, they're learning a new language, another language. Standing in change, that's what we're thinking about. What about diet change? Well, we'll read on about that in a moment. But whole different world, different smells, different foods cooking. What about all that? Royal food, idolatrous meals, exotic drinks, all kinds of stuff available in Babylon.

And not only that, but there's a name change. We're talking about standing in change. Maybe we'll just glance at that down here at verses 5, 6, and 7 real quick. I want to work through this chapter. I hope you got your Bibles. If you don't, listen carefully and bring them next time. Don't ever come to a service without your Bible. 5, 6, and 7, "And the king appointed them a daily " in fact, don't go anywhere without a Bible. I always kept a Bible in my work truck.

And sometimes when an inspector would need to get in with me, I would open the Bible beside me, sometimes just for my own protection, sometimes just for my own to make it clear right off the bat who I am. And I'd be downtown in the city of Seattle sometimes years ago and picking up an inspector for the King County, for the city of Seattle area, and going to look at an invasive species of noxious weeds.

And before that inspector ever rode very far, I wanted to make sure they knew that I was a Christian and that I was married. Standing in change. These young men faced education. The atmosphere changed, educational change, language change, diet change, and now name change. Take a look here.

We were getting ready to read that, verse 5, 6, and 7, "And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them three years that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, unto whom the prince of Eunuchs gave names.

For he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar, and to Hananiah of Shadrach, and to Mishael of Mishach, and to Azariah of Abed-Nego." So let's just stop there a moment and think this about name change. The call right now, young men and young ladies, is I want you to see that here's a young man in the Bible your age. Just like some of these men we've been talking about this week were young men. And this young man, Daniel, was called to decide whether or not to make a stand and along with his friends.

And remember, there were a lot of other Jewish young people. This was four out of the midst of them. And the king changed their names, changed their identity. That's a way to change their names. So he changed Daniel, which means God is judge, to Belteshazzar, which means Bel, the god Bel, Belteshazzar. Bel protects his life. Wants that to be reinforced in Daniel's mind.

Every time you're tempted to think about the God of your homeland, just remember that me, Nebuchadnezzar, the great and powerful king, I conquered you all, and Bel is now the one that protects your life, Belteshazzar. And he changed the name of Ananias. I'm sorry. Yes. Hananiah is what I meant to say. Hananiah, which means Jehovah is merciful. It's related to the name Ananiah later. Jehovah is merciful. That's what that word meant in Hebrew. They changed his name to Shadrach.

Shadrach means Akkuh is in command, Akkuh. Shadrach, Akkuh is the one in command. That's another Babylonian god. Mishael, that means who is God? They changed that to Mishach. That means who is Akkuh? Not who is God. It's who is Akkuh, our God. And they changed the name of Azariah, which means Jehovah has helped. Azariah, Azariah, Jehovah, Yah has helped. They changed that name to Abed-Nego, servant of Nebo, the servant of Nebo, another Babylonian god. So these boys have experienced a lot of change.

They've experienced atmosphere change. They've experienced educational change, language change, diet change, name change, and now opportunity change. Look here. It says, "So that at the end thereof, nourishing them after several years, they might stand before the king, nourishing them three years, a three-year university education for these boys, language training three years, all kinds of training and change three years, and you're going to stand before the king." What an opportunity, boys. What an opportunity.

So what about that change, opportunity change, money, position, respect, and power? Physical change? That's debated. Were these boys made eunuchs? There's some indications that could have been. It's not clearly stated. It could have been either way. I won't focus so much on that right now, but I'm just going to say they were in a whirlwind of change. And if you've ever had dizziness, if you've ever had vertigo and experienced a lot of change, you can feel like, "I don't even know where I'm at.

I don't even know what to do." These boys experienced change. But the call is, and what they chose to do was to stand, stand in change. Now let's think a little bit after this extremely disorienting change. Let's think about standing under pressure. We're going to have to really hurry. Standing under pressure. They stood under change, standing under pressure. And the question is, what about us?

I want you to be thinking all the time, what about me in 2025, the year of our Lord, 2025 in Babylon, in the United States of America, or wherever you live in the midst of this cosmopolitan society where every opportunity in the world is at your touch of a phone or wherever you can experience just about anything you want in this world, standing under change. Now let's think about standing under pressure. We're going to speed up a little bit. We're going to go back over some verses a little bit.

Let's notice, first of all, that Daniel understood the sovereignty of God. He didn't blame. He wasn't complaining. He wasn't angry or upset. Sorry, I kicked this off. I mean, he I'm sure had his grief and sadness to begin with. I don't know how this works. Maybe someone can give me a hand here. Or just set it here. I don't care. Yeah, that's fine. Standing under pressure, we notice God Daniel understood. Daniel wrote this, Book of Daniel. And what did he say?

He's writing it years later, and he's recounting what happened. "In the third year of the reign of Jehoakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, under Jerusalem and besieged it, and the Lord gave Jehoakim, king of Judah, into his hand." Daniel was clear on that. The prophets had came. The prophets had prophesied. Isaiah and Jeremiah had prophesied, "If you don't turn from your sins, my people, I'm going to deliver you into the hands of the king of Babylon." It was clearly prophesied.

It was predicted. And God's people, with a few little revivals, they kept turning back into idolatry and turning back into the things that the nations around them loved. And finally, God lifted his protection, and in came Nebuchadnezzar, standing under pressure. But Daniel realized it was God, the Lord, who gave Judah into his hand. The Lord allowed Jehoakim to be conquered as a result of their sin and idolatry.

And in verse 3 and 5, 3 to 5, 3, 4, and 5, we see cultural pressure, standing under pressure, certain of the king's seed and the prince's children in whom was no blemish, all this wisdom and knowledge and cunning and science. And they're going to stand in the king's house, standing under pressure. Think about the cultural pressure. What cultural pressures are you facing today? My wife and I have lived in southern Mexico for seven years now, just the two of us. And we're not as young.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend that for everyone. The two of us and others, God is there, and others are there. And perhaps there will be others in the future. But there are men and women of God who have came to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, praise his name, and others that are interested in hearing. But my point is, it's a whole different culture.

And now, instead of getting invited to a kind old brother and his wife's home for Sunday dinner, where they stretch out the long table and have a good old Anabaptist meal complete with gravy, which I enjoyed the other day, we don't have gravy down there. We have all kinds of hot salsas. But instead of that, now we're sitting at the table of a lawyer whose wife is a woman of faith. And she loves to come and hear God's word. And the tears run down her cheeks as she underlines her Bible and asks questions.

And he doesn't come, but he's a friendly man. They invite us over. And before long, they're pouring the wine and pouring whatever. And we choose not to participate in that, but we're glad to sit with them and have a nice fellowship meal together and make friends and then have them to our home. We have the same old table that stretches out to serve 26 people around that table. It was made right here in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. And then it went out to Washington for quite a few years, has a bunch of boards.

When we moved to Mexico, Melanie said, "I don't think we'll need that." My son-in-law said, "I think you will." And he put it in, and we've got it, and we use it every single day. There's people, people of a different color, people with a different background that surround that table. But there's a certain amount of pressure that goes with that, even for a 60-year-old man and woman, cultural pressure, change, standing under change, standing under pressure, pressure.

The world is powerful pressure, my young man and my young woman, college pressure. These boys are now in the University of Babylon. What a great learning opportunity, learning a new language. But there's pressure. There's pressure that goes with that, new words. But be careful. Some of those words carry ideas. They carry thoughts. They carry philosophies. Be careful, boys, as you stand under pressure, language pressure, food and drink pressure, very real. "I'll just blend in. Not a big deal.

Yeah, we kind of enjoy this and kind of enjoy that. No big deal." Background pressure. "Don't worry about that. You've got new names, Belteshazzar and Shadrach, Mishach, Abed-Nego. You're with us now. You're here in Babylon now, standing under pressure." What about the other boys? In chapter 3, we read about certain Jews being accused, these young men. People still knew who they were, but they were trying to acculturate these boys, trying to get them to fit in.

And the Bible says, "Among whom," in chapter 1, were Daniel, Azariah, Mishael, excuse me, and Azariah, Hananiah. Among whom, that means there were a whole lot of other Jewish boys that were also brought. But these four decided to stand, standing in change, standing under pressure. And we're going to have to quickly move to the last point. But I just want to mention this pressure yet, huge compromise pressure, just bow to the image, this great big image.

"Everyone, we're going to play music, and everybody's going to bow. It's just going to be great. And after that, you can go." Nope. Three boys, "We will not bow. We will not bow." I don't know where Daniel was in that scene. He was already rising in the kingdom. He may have been off on the king's business. But the other three boys, they weren't going to bow, standing under pressure. "Do you mean before my image, you're not going to bow? Do you know the consequences? Listen, boys, I like you guys.

Let me give you another chance," standing under pressure. What about a few years later? "Hey, we've got a new law for 30 days. We're only going to pray to the king." And Daniel had a habit. What's your habit? Daniel's habit was three times a day, he opened his window and prayed toward Jerusalem.

That was a promise you can read about in the prophecies that, "If my people will turn and call unto me toward this place, then hear thou in heaven." Solomon prayed at the dedication of the temple, and God did, and God would. But just 30 days, maybe you could take your prayers inside a little bit quiet. No, Daniel opened his windows just like he always did. He stood under pressure, standing in change, standing under pressure. Let's end with standing with purpose. Look with me now at verse 8 here in Daniel chapter 1.

Verse 8 says this, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's meat nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore, he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.

And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, 'I fear my Lord the king who hath appointed your meat and your drink, for why should he see your faces worse-liking than the children which were of your sword? Then shall you make me endanger my head to the king?' Then said Daniel to Melchizar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 'Prove thy servants. I beseech thee ten days, and let them give us pulse to eat and water to drink.

Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat. And as thou seest, deal with thy servants.' So he consented to them in this matter and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days, their countenances appeared fair and fatter in flesh, then did all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.

Thus Melchizar took away the portion of their meat and the wine that they should drink and gave them pulse, standing with purpose." You see the holy resolution of Daniel and the young people. This was a test. We want you to eat this. And Daniel, there was something in his conscience. I don't know exactly what all was included there or if that continued for the rest of his life. But at least at that point, in these young 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, maybe-year-old boys, they decided, "No, we can't eat that.

We watched the idolatrous sacrifice. We're not going to eat it." So they appealed to this prince, this man who was in charge of their education and their acculturation, this man Melchizar. And Daniel asked him. And he said, "Now, the Bible does give us a little parentheses. It said, 'God,' and God does this, 'God had brought Daniel into tender favor with the prince of the eunuchs.' God still does things like that. This was a man way up in the Babylonian kingdom. And he liked Daniel. He liked these boys.

There was something about them. God had done that, brought them into tender favor with the prince of the eunuchs." But he said, "Daniel, I'll be in trouble with the king. I fear my head. If you just eat vegetables like you're at, and you're not going to look you're going to look you guys are going to look puny. You're going to look you're not going to look tough and ready like the king once." Daniel said, "Faith," look at his faith, standing with purpose. He said, "You try him ten days.

Would you try him?" Look at his respectful appeal. I want to recommend that to you, young people. When you have a question, when you have a difference, take a look in the Bible at respectful appeal. That's what Daniel did. He respectfully appealed to Melchizar. He said, "Would you try it for ten days and then take a look?" And we know what happened. At the end of ten days, they looked better than all the rest. And therefore, Melchizar said, "Fine, we'll feed you what you want." He considered to them in this matter.

Well, standing with purpose, verse 17, "As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill and all learning and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding and all visions and dreams. Now, at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, and the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king communed with them. And among them, all was none found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore, stood they before the king.

And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm. And Daniel continued even unto the first year of King Cyrus." That's the end of chapter 1. I need to finish up. Daniel purposed. This verse 8 says, "Daniel purposed in his heart." So my young man, my young brother and sister, my young man and woman, may I invite you. You live in a time of change. The world is whirling around this.

It's changing rapidly. It's changing fast. But you don't need to be afraid. You stand in the middle of change. Maybe you're in the midst of education. Maybe you're in the midst of some other changes. But you can stand in change with the power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, just like some young men back in 1525 that we've been reading about this week or talking about did as well.

You can, too, in 2025, 500 years later, just like Daniel, this young man, 15 to 20 years old, stood in change, stood under pressure, and stood with purpose. Daniel purposed in his heart. What is purpose? Purpose is to resolve, to determine. Look at it again, verse 8, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself." Are you purposing in your heart in 2025, in a time of change, in a time of pressure? Will you stand with purpose not to defile yourself?

There's a lot of stuff out there to defile yourself. It doesn't take very long. It's very easy. And praise God for the sin-cleansing blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. If there's someone here that has defiled yourself, I want to invite you that the grace of God is sufficient for you. You can turn to Him. You can repent of your sin. You can be cleansed. And you can stand in change and stand under pressure and stand with a new purpose by the grace of God.

I want to invite you and assure you of that because our God is a good God. He's a gracious God. But Daniel purposed. Remember what Barnabas had counseled when they came? It says, "And when he came to a place called Antioch and he saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all, but with purpose of heart, they would cleave unto the Lord." Purpose, standing under purpose.

Jesus said, "Even as faithful in that which is least shall be faithful also in much." And Daniel, notice, he influenced his three other friends to stand with him. So Daniel counseled. We can see I'd like to take you to all these examples, but it's time to close. We can see how Daniel counseled with the others. We can see how Daniel prayed both in chapter 6 and in chapter 9. It emphasizes his prayer. We can see how Daniel repented in chapter 9, even repented for his people.

"We have sinned," he said, speaking of his people. Daniel read the Bible. Chapter 9 tells us it's so interesting to look how Daniel said, "I was reading, and I saw by books the number of the years that the prophet Jeremiah had prophesied, and he realized our captivity is about over, and he started getting excited." Daniel was a Bible reader. He already was reading the prophet Jeremiah. Daniel counseled. Daniel prayed. Daniel repented. Daniel read the Bible.

Think of all the pressure, the personal pressure, the mental wrestling, all of that. Just remember, young people, Bible teachings are lost in the heart before they're lost in actual practice. So purpose in your heart to hang on to the Word of God at any cost. And I just want to encourage you to be more about what you're for than what you're against. You get excited about what you're for, and that's going to take care of a lot of things. It wasn't my primary goal to leave Mexico City on Wednesday afternoon.

My goal was to go to Washington, DC, so we could drive up here. That was the goal. But in order to do that, I had to leave Mexico City. And that's the way it is sometimes. We can be more about what we're for than what we're against. Because I'm for certain things, then I'm automatically going to leave certain things behind. But let's be more focused on the goal than, "I don't want that. I don't want this. I don't want that." And we can get all bogged down, but let's make sure we're for.

We're servants of Jesus Christ right now, right in the midst of a crooked and a perverse generation. One last comment, and I must sit down. Daniel kept a good attitude. The Bible several times speaks about it, his spirit, for as much as an excellent spirit was found in him, excellent wisdom, a superior and excellent spirit, that was what Daniel had. He had an excellent spirit. That means to me a good attitude.

Young people, I have watched the blessing of God come over people with all kinds of struggles, young people with all kinds of situations and backgrounds. But if they'll keep a good attitude, an excellent spirit, an humble heart, be Bible readers and prayers, watch God work, Daniel stood. Daniel stood. So, young man, young woman, will you stand? Will you stand with radical faith right in the midst of contemporary culture? Maybe you're in school. Maybe you're in college. Maybe you're learning things.

Maybe your work is bringing you into other influences. But will you stand? The invitation is to stand, stand in change, stand under pressure, and stand with purpose. May God bless.