Childlike Purity
Use these materials to go deeper into this message on your own, or with your small group.
Series Overview
Common Ground Workbook
Good morning Chapel family. We’re taking this fall to focus on “The Faith of a Child.” And we started this whole thing by focusing on a group of children in Malawi, Africa. So I just have to show off the girl who chose us. I’d like to introduce you to Aisha—isn’t she beautiful? She’s five years old; she’s an only child; she loves dancing and reading. But she’s living in an area with lots of challenges—high rates of malaria and HIV, crowded schools, child labor, child marriage still takes place. So life is not going to be easy for her. But we really believe this sponsorship will make a difference in her life. So we are diving in: I got the World Vision app on my phone; we’ve already written her a letter and sent her a few more family pictures. We have decided to be actively involved in this relationship. And I want to encourage you to do the same thing—if you are one of the 450 Chapel families who are sponsoring a child, make it a priority—make it a real relationship, and you will be so blessed by that.
So that’s how we kicked off this series…and then we turned our attention to the children of the Bible. Jesus said, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” So the only way you even get into God’s family is by humbling yourself like a child, admitting you’re totally dependent on your heavenly Father, and receiving his grace. That’s where it starts. But then, to keep growing spiritually, there are certain childlike qualities we need to take on. So we talked about Childlike Listening in the life of young Samuel; then we saw Childlike Courage in the example of young David, and last week we saw Childlike Boldness in the life of young Esther. So today, we’re going to focus on a young man named Daniel, and talk about Childlike Purity.
When I say that word “purity,” what comes to mind? I think for a lot of people, it has a negative connotation. We think of Puritans who were always scowling and never any fun, because they were trying to be so pure. We think of legalistic Pharisees in the time of Jesus who were self-righteous and used their purity as a weapon against others. Or maybe someone in your life who’s very strict and judgmental—and you can’t stand being around them. So for a lot of us, purity is not something we’re striving for. But that’s because we misunderstand it. We’ve been given bad examples of it. The real thing is beautiful and powerful. The world we live in today is hungry for people who live with genuine purity…and Daniel is a great example of what the real thing looks like.
So—today’s Scripture is Daniel chapter one. Let’s receive God’s Word…
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— 4 young men 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.
6 Among those who were chosen 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.
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 compassion 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.”
11 Daniel then said to the guard 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.
17 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.
18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, 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. 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. This is the Word of the Lord.
The book of Daniel starts at a dark time, because Jerusalem was being conquered. The year was about 600 BC; Babylon was the strongest kingdom in the world; and they just overpowered Israel. Now, usually, conquering nations would make their captives forced labor. But King Nebuchadnezzar realized that this conquered nation had some sharp people. So why not re-program them and incorporate them into our leadership? So he brought in just the cream of the crop—young men, in great physical condition, quick learners—and put them through a crash course in all things Babylonian. And we get introduced to four of that select group: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
Keep in mind, these are young guys—probably around 17 years old. And all of a sudden, their world is turned upside down. They’re forcibly taken from their homeland and brought to a strange place. For the first time in their lives, they realize they are now the outsiders; they are the minority; they are the aliens. And in this new place, everything is different: The temple of God isn’t here. The laws of God mean nothing to these people. So here’s the challenge—here’s the ethical dilemma they faced: how do you live for God when everything around you is so anti-God? That was their question, and that question is incredibly relevant for us.
Let’s explore that question under three headings: The Call to Purity, The Pursuit of Purity, and The Power of Purity. The call to purity, the pursuit of purity, and the power of purity.
So first: The Call to Purity. As faithful Jewish men, Daniel and his friends knew that God called them to be different from the world. For example, when everyone else worked seven days a week, God’s
people took a whole day off—Sabbath. That was unique. When everyone else worshiped all kinds of deities, God’s people worshiped only the One God. God’s people were restricted from eating certain foods, and that dietary purity represented their distinctiveness as a people. So now Daniel had to figure out: “How do I maintain that purity, living in this hostile culture?”
So…what does this have to do with us? A lot. Remember what Jesus said about our status in the world? He said if we follow him, we’ll be “in the world,” but we’ll no longer be “of the world.” In other words, even though we’re still living here on earth, our true identity is now in a higher kingdom. In Philippians, it says our true “citizenship is in heaven.” In the book of Hebrews, it says the heroes of our faith “admitted they were foreigners and strangers on earth.” Kind of like Daniel in Babylon, right? In Peter’s first letter, in the New Testament, he addresses his readers as “exiles scattered through the world.” Just like Daniel. So here’s the reality: when you’ve chosen the kingdom of God, you will not feel completely at home in this world.
Especially because, as exiles, God is calling us to live with purity. Not in exactly the same ways as Daniel, but in similar ways. Look what it says to us in 1 Corinthians 14:20…In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. So when it comes to evil things, you should be as experienced with evil as a little baby is. Have nothing to do with it. That’s a call to purity. Look what Paul says to his young friend Timothy—1 Timothy 4:12…Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in (what’s that last word?)…purity. So as followers of Jesus, we are called to live lives of purity. And when we choose to do that—especially in a world that’s become very anti-God—we will often be reminded that we’re not of this world.
Do you know that feeling? That feeling of not quite belonging? You see something on TV, or you have a conversation with somebody at school; you read an Instagram post, and you see all these people agreeing with it and liking it, and you go, “Man, I feel so different.” Do you know that feeling? “I feel like I don’t fit in this world.” I can remember my first year at college, standing at fraternity parties, surrounded by noise and laughter and drinking—lots of drinking. And I should have been having such a great time, but there was something in me that said, “I don’t think I totally belong here.” That’s how Jesus said we would feel, and that’s what Daniel and his friend were experiencing. The strange status of being there, but knowing your heart belongs somewhere else.
So in this strange new world, Daniel and friends knew they were called to purity, but what did that mean in a practical way? How should they respond to the opportunities presented to them: a Babylonian education; a Babylonian diet; Babylonian names? I mean if they received those things, would that be betraying God? And if they refused those things, would that basically be a death wish? The position they were in—and the position that we are in—calls for discernment, and courage. How do we live for God, when everything around us is so anti-God?
And that leads to our second point: The Pursuit of Purity. Living for a God in an anti-God world is hard, especially because social pressure can be so powerful. We are wired to crave the approval of the community. And especially the approval of the powerful people around us, right? It feels good—it feels safe—to be accepted by the important people in our lives. And you know Daniel and his friends felt that pressure to conform. So what did they do?
Well, when it came to their new Babylonian names, it seems like they were okay with that. Maybe they decided names just didn’t matter that much. Call me whatever you want; that doesn’t change who I am. Okay, how about the Babylonian education? They received that too. That doesn’t mean they accepted everything they were taught. But they took it all in—they sat in the classes about
Babylonian history and language and culture, and some of it was probably fine; other stuff was Babylonian propaganda and Babylonian religion, so they had to sift some of that out. But in general, they were okay with the education.
But there came a point where they drew the line. Verse 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. Why? Why the food? Well, the key word is that word “defile.” It means to become unclean or polluted before God. And there could have been two reasons for that. Probably, some of the food was on the “unclean” list for Hebrews—it was off-limits for God’s people. But also, probably some of that meat and wine had been used in the worship of Babylonian gods. And these faithful, Hebrew men just could not, in good conscience, receive that. So they made a hard choice.
Let me ask you something: When’s the last time you made a hard choice like that? I mean, specifically, as a follower of Jesus, living in this world, when is the last time you made a choice that was culturally risky? Just like Daniel and his friends refused the food and wine from the king’s table, are there ways that you’ve refused to conform to what our culture expects of you? It’s so easy to blend in, right? It takes courage to be different.
But it’s really important to see how Daniel expressed his differentness. Pick it up in verse 9: 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. (Remember that line—“I am afraid of the king”—we’ll come back to that in a minute). Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.” 11 Daniel then said to the guard… 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. So he proposes this little experiment. But I want you to see two things. First, how did Daniel relate to his captors? Sometimes in our pursuit of purity, we can dismiss and demonize people, right? We can come off as superior to them. Daniel could have said, “I’m not going to eat your filthy food.” But he didn’t. Verse 9 says the official showed “favor” to Daniel; the Hebrew word for “favor” is hesed, which means a relationship of loyalty and commitment. So Daniel obviously treated this fellow human with love and respect. He probably asked about his family and prayed for him and genuinely cared about him. They were actually friends. That’s really important.
But here’s the more important thing: remember the chief official said, “I’m hesitant to do this…why? Because I fear the king.” Do you realize that what you do and what you don’t do…what you risk and what you don’t risk…is ultimately determined by what you fear the most? The official feared the king more than anyone else—which made a lot of sense—the king was powerful. I’m sure Daniel had some fear for the king also. But here’s the thing—and this makes all the difference: Daniel feared God more. He feared God more. That’s where his courage came from.
If you find yourself easily caving in; never taking a stand; always conforming to what the people around you expect, ultimately it’s because you fear people more than you fear God. It’s that simple. So when push comes to shove, you do what’s expected of you. But Daniel had somehow developed such a respect and reverence for God, and he also had such an affection and love for God, that the idea of disappointing this great God was unthinkable. That was Daniels’ secret. He loved and feared God more than anything else in the universe. And that drove his pursuit of purity. It wasn’t about making himself stand out; it was all about God.
So the more you cultivate that kind of relationship with God, the more you will develop some backbone—some spine—to live for God in this anti-God world. Because listen: as an exile in a strange land, we probably shouldn’t receive everything offered to us, right? Some things are like the
Babylonian name and education—they’re fine. But some things are more like the king’s food and wine, and we should refuse it. And knowing the difference is going to take wisdom, and prayer, and knowing Scripture really well. But ultimately it comes from our love and reverence for God.
Maybe you work in an industry that puts profits ahead of everything else, or that uses some other kind of unethical business practice. Or you work for a company that’s breaking environmental regulations because it’s more convenient. And you realize God is calling you to stop defiling yourself with that. Just like the king’s food would have defiled Daniel, that job is defiling you—and God is calling you to draw a line—whether it’s confronting the ethics, or trying to make changes from within, or even leaving the job and trusting God to provide a new one. It would be risky—like it was for Daniel—but God calls us to purity.
Or maybe you have a secret porn habit, and it’s damaging your marriage or your future marriage, and it’s actually supporting an industry that exploits and commodifies women. And it’s so difficult, because it’s an addictive behavior. But it’s defiling you, and it grieves the Holy Spirit, and God is calling you to purity. The temptation is strong, but God is so much stronger.
Or maybe it’s not porn, but you find yourself always watching Amazon Prime and Netflix series that might have interesting story lines and good acting, but they always seem to treat sex cheaply. And it’s defiling you. And God is calling you to purity—like it says in Psalm 101, I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.
We’re getting close to election season. And maybe everyone you hang around with regularly mocks and demeans the other side. They don’t just disagree with their policies; they have disdain for them as people—and it’s clear in the way they talk about them. And you’re being defiled by talking about your fellow humans in that way. And God is calling you to purity.
I have a good friend who was just about to buy tickets to a certain Broadway show for this weekend, and it’s supposed to be really funny, and she and her friends were so excited to go. But then she started reading the reviews, and she realized the show was extremely crass and mocking of God—to the point of blasphemy. It was clearly defiling and impure. So just like Daniel led his friends, she led her friends to change their plans and see a different show. A decision of purity.
Where is the Holy Spirit stirring in you? For Daniel, it was clear that he would dishonor God if he ate from the king’s table. Where are you dishonoring God? Where is he calling you to purity, in this world that’s so anti-God? Because it’s so easy to blend in, isn’t it? But God calls his people to be different.
When we do that—when we make a “Daniel” choice like that, something happens. And that brings us to our last point: The Power of Purity. Now: by God’s grace, Daniel’s risk pays off. Even with just vegetables and water, God gives them amazing health—after ten days they look better than any of the other young men. (And no—this does not mean the Bible is telling us to be vegetarians, thank God; this is a supernatural blessing for their act of obedience). Verse 18: 18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, 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. 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. And then look at this—verse 21: 21 And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
You know what that means? It means that Daniel stayed there—serving—in prominent roles—having influence as an exile—for, you ready? How many years do you think Daniel was there? About 65 years.
65 years! He showed up there as a teenager, and at the end of the book he’s an old man. That’s a long time to be an exile! But in that time, he had incredible influence on the people around him. He continued fearing God, he continued loving the people around him, and God used Him in huge ways.
When we have the courage to walk in purity in a godless world, something happens. Doors open that would never be open if we just blended in. People develop deep respect for us. People seek us out, because people respect courage. We also make some enemies! But we have influence. And it’s an influence we can use for God’s glory, and for the good of people.
You guys know my story: if it weren’t for people who chose purity, I would not be here today. If it weren’t for a couple of guys who decided to live out their faith in Kappa Sigma fraternity at Virginia Tech in the mid-1980s, I would not be here today. They weren’t perfect, by any stretch. But just like Jesus calls us to be in the world, but not of it, and just like Daniel was in Babylon, but not of it, they made a decision to be in the frat, but not of it. They loved he guys in the fraternity, but they realized some of the stuff done in fraternities would defile them, so they answered the call to purity, and as a young, impressionable college freshman, that caught my attention, and that’s why I’m here today. And I’ll bet many of you would say the same thing: the people who most influenced your life were the people who weren’t afraid to be different—to live for God in a godless world. Because when we choose purity, for the right reasons, powerful things happen.