Notice that Daniel's refusal to compromise or conform to the "way of Babylon" didn’t mean that he divorced himself completely from the new culture. God had brought him to Babylon for a purpose. He accepted the name the Babylonians gave him (v7). He learned their language. He adapted to some things in their lifestyle. He even wrote part of the book of Daniel in Aramaic, the Babylonian language. He wasn’t a Babylon U dropout. He studied hard, and with the Lord's help he graduated at the top of the class (vs17-20)!

How should we do this? Thankfully the New Testament shows us how, and it shows us that an exemplary approach to the Bible is gospel-centered too. And being a truth agent is a big part of what it means to be conformed t the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:29), follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21) and walk as He walked (1 John 2:6). When Jesus was being grilled by Pontius Pilate and asked Who He was, His answer was something we sometimes forget. We readily understand that Jesus came to serve and seek and save the lost (Mark 10:45; Luke 19:10). But Jesus’ response to Pontius Pilate spoke of declaring God’s truth as being central to His purpose: Eleventh, to dare to be a Daniel means to leave a legacy of godly influence that continues once you are gone – Daniel 7-12. Daniel was “greatly beloved” by God. And God gave Daniel a legacy to pass on. It states: Ninth, to dare to be a Daniel means to include other believers in opportunities God provides – Daniel 2:49 and Daniel 3. Daniel did not hog the spotlight. He involved others and delegated authority to them: And the first is that the heart must he set. “Daniel purposed in his heart.” He looked the matter up and down, and he settled it in his heart. Before he asked Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego anything about it, he had made up his own mind. Oh, for a made-up mind! Oh, for the man who knows how to look at his compass, and to steer his vessel whither he ought to go! God grant you grace, young man, to nail your colours to the mast, and to be determined that you will keep to the right course, come fair wind or come foul. Daniel had settled it in his heart. The grace of God is a great heart-settler. Where it comes, men become firm and positive, for the Lord teaches them to profit.

Fifth, to dare to be a Daniel means to praise God for answered prayer; to have a thankful heart – Daniel 2:19b – 23. Daniel did not get so caught in God’s answer or the victory that he forgot to praise and thank God. Daniel was not like nine lepers who were healed by Jesus and then forgot to give God thanks. Daniel was like the one healed leper who returned to thank Jesus for his healing (Luke 17:11-19). Daniel praised God for answer to his prayer:

In two future posts I will be turning to the Old Testament to see how we can apply the principles described above to texts that are not explicitly mentioned in the New Testament. Many of you may be facing a situation that’s similar to Daniel's situation. Maybe you've just started college, or moved to a new town, or started a new job. You're in a different environment - maybe a different culture. Everything has changed. No one talks about God. Christians are definitely in the minority. Home is far away. The pressure to conform to the new group is so great! It would be so easy to compromise - "Just a little."

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Then, the temptation seemed the road to honour. To consent to eat of the king’s meat, and to drink of the king’s wine, seemed to be the way to get on in Babylon. They would say to Daniel, “Surely, if you begin by objecting to what the monarch sends you from his table, you will never get on at court. People with a conscience should not go to court.” I do not say that to-day; but I do think that they ought not to be members of Parliament. It must be wonderfully hard for a man with a conscience to go in and out there. But for Daniel to begin with a conscience like this, so particularly tender that it was offended by a glass of the king’s wine, or a morsel of the king’s meat, why, any good old fatherly man would have said, “My boy, you will never get on; your religion will always stand in your way. I am sure you will never come to be much.” That would have been a great mistake, however, for Daniel became a great ruler, and he prospered in the world through that very conscientiousness which it was thought would spoil all his prospects. The book of Daniel was inspired by God and passed on to His people to encourage them. It was also given to God’s people to guide them, to challenge them, to dare them to be a Daniel. What does it mean to “Dare to be a Daniel”? What was Daniel like? What did he do? What does being a Daniel look like? We need to answer that question before we can decide whether or not we will dare to be a Daniel. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank.”— Daniel i. 8. I could continue long at this point, but I have given you the general principle which you can work out for yourselves. Christians have meat to eat of which the world knows not. We have our re-creation–that is the way to pronounce recreation–re-creation. We go to our Creator and He makes us anew. We have our nights of holy mirth. We have our days of delight. There is a King, a portion of whose meat we rejoice to eat, and of whose wine we delight to drink. But as to questionable things, things of the world, and all that tends towards departure from the living God, we say that, by His Grace, we determine not to defile ourselves with them!

The next thing, dear Friends, is that we must prove that the old faith produces much love of our fellow men. You know that, nowadays, the watchword is, “the enthusiasm of humanity.” It is a curious thing that those churches that have such a wonderful “enthusiasm of humanity” speak of us as if we were always talking of God and forgetting men. Well, well, which of these new-fangled churches has an orphanage? It is very fine to talk about Christian socialism and what you are going to do for the poor–but what have you done? Much of it is just chatter, chatter and nothing else! But the godly, who feel that God is All, are, after all, those who care most for men. And those who believe most firmly that the unbelieving sinner will be lost are the men who are most anxious to have him saved! Those who believe that there is no salvation but by the precious blood are determined that Christ shall see of the travail of His soul. Those who believe that salvation is all of Grace, from first to last, are moved to preach it with heart and soul wherever they have the opportunity. And, when God makes up His last account, it shall be found, I trust, that the best lovers of men have been those who were first of all the best lovers of God! By your help, by your kindness, by your benevolence, prove it, so that when they come to look at you who have eaten nothing but vegetables and who have drunk water, they may find that, after all, you appear fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children who ate the portion of the king’s meat and drank his wine. Let our labor for the conversion of souls be incessant! Let us abound and superabound in it! I am going to talk just now, not so much about Daniel, as about the whole subject of a spirit of decision in such a time as this. Our first head will be that, there are temptations to he resisted by us, as there were by Daniel; secondly, there are right methods of resisting temptation; and, thirdly, there are certain points which will have to be proved by experience while we are in this process of fighting against temptation.

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I am going to talk just now, not so much about Daniel, as about the whole subject of a spirit of decision in such a time as this. Our first head will be that there are temptations to be resisted by us, as there were by Daniel. Secondly, there are right methods of resisting temptation. And, thirdly, there are certain points which will have to be proved by experience while we are in this process of fighting against temptation. God was working behind the scenes for these faithful individuals. " God granted Daniel favor..." (v9). " God gave them knowledge..." (v17). Daniel’s God is always working behind the scenes for His followers who are determined to be faithful to Him - even when He doesn't appear on center stage! Tenth, to dare to be a Daniel means to consistently obey God no matter what – no compromise – We see this with Daniel’s three friends who when threatened with a fiery execution boldly told King Nebuchadnezzar: So often we feel good about God and trusting him when everything is going well for us -- when we have good health -- when the people think that we’re brave heros -- when we’ve got a 20 game winning streak. But Daniel shines in foreign territory.