What Daniel Teaches Us About Staying Faithful | Phil Kniesel

Daniel lived in a world that pushed against his faith—but he stood firm. His story reminds us that when you stand on your convictions, you never stand alone.

This week, Pastor Phil continues our Uncomfortable series by showing how Daniel’s courage and faith can inspire us today. In a culture that pressures us to compromise, we can choose conviction over comfort and trust God with the outcome.

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Transcript

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- Hey, this is Phil Kal, lead pastor at Hope City Church. Thanks for tuning into our podcast. My prayer is that this helps and encourages you, gives you some practical ways to live out your faith and ultimately fills you with hope. Enjoy the message.- Amen. You know, a number of years ago there was a show called What Would You Do where Hidden Cameras captured how people responded to awkward or even alarming public situations. And the premise was simple, would you step in or would you step away? Would you help or not? And they staged all kinds of scenarios. Things like three teenagers taunting a homeless man. Would people get involved or would they just keep on walking by? There was a woman at a pharmacy who couldn't afford her medication. Would people step up to pay or just pretend not to notice? There was a restaurant scene where an atheist got angry and confronted a Christian family because they prayed before a meal. Would people step up or just silently, watch this go down? What would you do? Some people got involved, but it's amazing how many didn't. How many chose inaction over action? And yet there are certain moments that just jolt us outta passivity. If you see a kid run into the street with a car coming, you don't form a committee or consult ai. You move. If someone falls, you help them. If someone rear ends you, you don't just wave and drive off. That is unless you're driving an oh three minivan and you're secretly hoping for an insurance payout. Here's the thing, we all have convictions. We all have those things. We are sure of the things we value and the things we stand for. And I think most of us would like to believe that when faced with a scenario of whether to act or not, we would engage. But sometimes it's hard to live out your convictions. Sometimes it's easier to do nothing. We're in week two of our series entitled Uncomfortable, where we're talking about what it means to follow Jesus faithfully in a world that isn't exactly faithful to him. And in this series, we're wrestling with a big question. How do we live as Christians in today's culture? To help us answer that, we're looking at the story of a guy from the Bible named Daniel, a guy who knew exactly what it meant to live out his faith. He faced the same tension we do. How do I stay true to God in a place that doesn't share my convictions? I think we would all agree that Canada is a really great place to live. Come on, we've got poutine and we've got the best hockey teams. , Oilers need a little bit of help. So if you pray for hockey, you can do that today. All right? But at the same time, our culture often celebrates values that don't line up with what God says is best for us and that can make following Jesus uncomfortable. Sometimes it's stirs up fear or anger or a confrontational spirit in us, but we learned from Daniel that we can be calm in the middle of a cultural storm. You don't have to swing to extremes like isolating yourself completely from the world on one side or blending God's word to fit the world on the other. I've heard it said that every time you walk into a room, you're either a thermostat or a thermometer. You either set the culture or reflect it. Daniel set the culture and his story is found in the Old Testament self-titled book Daniel. And it takes place in a city called Babylon that's modern day Iraq. But in scripture, Babylon is more than a locality. It's a mentality. It's a spirit that's been around since the beginning of time. This mentality was Satan's biggest lie. And it started all the way back in Genesis. Upon the creation of man and woman there, he tried to diminish God and elevate humanity. His message was basically, follow me. And it's all about you follow God and it has to be all about him. And from the very beginning, the temptation for humanity has been the same. Make life about you. Make it work without God. Make it so you don't need him. And that same lie keeps on showing up throughout scripture. If you read on in Genesis, you'll come to the story entitled The Tower of Babel. Their people said, let's build a tower that reaches heaven. Why? So we can make a name for ourselves. In other words, we don't need or want God, we wanna do life on our own. That's why it was called Babel, which is the root of the word Babylon. And it literally means confusion. God stepped him and he mixed up their language and it symbolizes what happens. Anytime we try to live life apart from God. It gets confusing. And that's what the Babylon mentality does. It tries to convince us that life is better without God, but it only drives confusion. If you fast forward to the end of the Bible, there's a book called Revelation. And in two chapters chapter 17 and 18, you'll find these chapters describing the same mindset. It's everything that's wrong with the world outside of God, self-centeredness, pride, indulgence, all flowing from this one idea, it's all about me. And this mentality is not just a back then thing, it's still alive and well. Today. The devil's greatest trick hasn't changed. He keeps trying to convince us that yeah, we know better than God, that we can run life on our own terms. And every time we fall for that lie, it brings confusion and pushes God out of the picture. And maybe, maybe that's how you lived your life to this point, friend, I just want to encourage you, man, change that nothing will satisfy you in this world. Like living for Jesus does nothing matches this reality. To find clarity, to find peace, we need to make the best decision of our life, which is to follow Jesus. And maybe, maybe you need to do that today. Here's what the Bible tells us about Daniel. He was a young guy from Israel who is taken from his hometown called Jerusalem and forced to live in exile in Babylon. And he wasn't alone. His entire nation was captured. And among the captives, Daniel was with a handful of others who stood out. The Bible tells us they were smart, strong discipline, good looking and full of potential. King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, saw this potential and decided to put them to work for him rather than leave them to rot in a prison cell or somewhere else. And here's where it gets interesting. As a sign of control, the king changed their names. You can read about that in Daniel chapter one. This was more than a name change. It was an identity change. He then also brought them into the palace to teach them the language, culture and values of Babylon. In other words, he tried to reprogram them to replace the truth of God with the values of Babylon friends, listen, a godless culture will always try to redefine God's ways it believe things are better outside of the way. God designed it. And let's be honest, we've seen it and we're experiencing this in our lifetime. There's the redefinition of identity, of morality, and even truth itself, we've been told right and wrong are just personal preferences. The world preaches if it feels right, it must be right. And that's the Babylon spirit. It's a me over God mentality. And so Daniel and his friends, they arrive in Babylon and this system is trying to change everything about them. They got new names, new surroundings. And then it tells us they even get new food. The king allows these fine young men to eat the food from his table. He's kind of rolls out the royal buffet. There's steak, there's wine, there's definitely cheesecake. You know all the good stuff. This wasn't prison food. It was a five star menu. And it sort of sounds like a dream. You're an exile and you're eating like a king, but there's a catch. This food that the king served would've been offered to idols, breaking the dietary laws. God gave his people. So Daniel and his crew, they had a choice to make. Do we go along with this or do we not? Let's check out what Daniel did. Daniel chapter one, verse eight says this, but Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine. That word resolve means He made a firm decision, a conviction that would not break under pressure when the moment came to compromise. When the moment came for Daniel to step up or step away, Daniel didn't hesitate. And I believe it's because before that moment ever came, Daniel had resolved something in his heart. Friends, listen, there's always gonna be those moments that attempt to stray you from God's best. It can be a shortcut, a look, a click, a compromise. Babylon will whisper. Hey, it's no big deal. Everyone's doing it. That's why you must decide before the moment comes. Because when temptation knocks, when that text, that drink, that purchase or compromise presents itself, you can't start deciding then it's not gonna work. You must pre decide who you are and where you stand. Core convictions are anchors that hold you steady when things try to unsteady you and listen, your core convictions are driven by your worldview. Your worldview is the lens through which you see life, your filter for what's true, what's valuable, what's right or what's wrong. And here's an interesting thing. Most people don't see things as they are. They see them as they are, meaning our experiences, relationships, and culture shape our conclusions. And some of that is really good. But some of that needs to be refined because your worldview, remember it impacts everything. How you see money, how you see sex, how you see work, how you see time, how you see truth itself, it shapes how you think, what you value and what you tolerate. And here's the thing, our our worldview is constantly being shaped by the worldviews of others. Meaning every song you hear, every show you watch, every social media scroll, it all preaches a worldview. And that means some of what's shaping us most likely doesn't belong there if we're wanting to live for God. It's not truth, it's noise. Barna research did a study on people who consider themselves deeply spiritual, so Christian, and they asked, how do you make moral decisions? 31% said, I just do what feels right. 18% said whatever's best for me. Only 14% said I base my choices on what the Bible says. These are people who call themselves deeply spiritual Christians. So that means a lot of believers are living with non-Christian worldviews. Pastor Chris Hodges said it perfectly, we don't need a new worldview, we need a word view. Meaning meaning our world needs to be based on God's word and what he says. And that's what Daniel had his convictions. Listen, they weren't situational, they were settled on what God said he had decided long before the test came what he would and wouldn't do. He was determined, he was resolved, he was anchored. He didn't re wait to see how others around him reacted. He simply stood firm and remember this, he was a captive. He had no power. He had no leverage. His life could have been taken in an instant, yet he chose not to compromise. That's what faithfulness looks like in a world that's not faithful to Jesus. It chooses not to compromise. And yes, it's uncomfortable at times, it's costly, but as you will see, it's powerful. So how can we be like Daniel? How can we be people who step up instead of stepping away and doing nothing? How can we stand on biblical convictions and not allow the culture to sway us, to tempt us or compromise us? Daniel shows us what we need to follow our convictions. And the first thing is this courage. Daniel needed courage to follow his convictions. I mean, he could have shut up and said nothing, but he didn't. He resolved scripture says not to defile himself with the royal food, which meant he then had to have the courage to ask the chief official overseeing him if he could eat something else. And so he does that. And this is what we read next. Now, God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, I'm afraid of my Lord the king. That's King Nebuchadnezzar, who is assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men of your age? The king would then have my head because of you. Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel Hennia, Michelle and Azariah, those are his three buddies. Please test your servants for 10 days. Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. And so hold on a second, Daniel. You don't want burgers, you don't want steaks. And it's because of what I said earlier. The meat would've been defiled, meaning it would've been sacrificed to idol. So he didn't want to compromise what God told them they should do. And then he says this, so we're going to eat vegetables and water to drink. 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. So he being the official agreed to this and tested them for 10 days. Man, we can read that. But listen, it takes a lot of courage to do what Daniel did and notice he led the way for him and his friends. It doesn't say that they spoke. It says that Daniel spoke. Daniel led the way with courage. It takes courage to live your faith in a culture that doesn't own your faith. It takes courage to stand up for what you value and believe in for what you are sure of. See, Daniel was standing on the words that the patriarch Joshua heard. And this would've been in his nation's history. Joshua led the nation of Israel and when God called him to lead Israel, this is what he said to Joshua, be strong and courageous. Why? For the Lord your God is with you. Daniel had courage because he knew the Lord. His God was with him. I love how Paul says it when writing to Jesus followers in a place called Corinth. He says, be on your guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be what? Courageous. Be strong. Those are commands and and we've all been there moments that need some courage moments where we need to step up instead of step away. And it could be at work. And you don't want to compromise your integrity even though the whole team wants you to. It could be your friends and your choice of entertainment. It could even be at a restaurant. This is so little, but it's so big to some of us. You wanna pray before the meal, but you find it a little bit embarrassing. So you kind of do the half bath that you got for this food. Amen. You know like it as quick as you can do it. We've all been there moments that need courage moments where you need to stand up for what you believe. Listen, even as I speak, there are believers in certain parts of the world who are losing their lives for their faith in Jesus. I read this past week of Christians being jailed and of Christians being executed in different parts of the world. It's so sad. Living by your convictions takes courage. Daniel, he had to talk to the guy who had the power to take his life and he had to say, listen, I don't want to do what you're telling me to do. I got a better plan here. Talk about pressure. He didn't wanna go along with the crowd. And so he was faced with a decision and it wasn't that he was not fearful, but hopes that he listen. Courage isn't the absence of fear, but it's standing firm. In spite of fear, Daniel, he didn't shrink back. He stood up not only for himself but for his friends. He had the courage to speak and we read that God caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel. You know what that tells me? In your courage, God goes before you. In your courage, God orchestrates the impossible In your courage, God honors the grounding of a conviction based on his word hope city. Listen, my prayer is that you may have courage to follow convictions based on God's word. May you have the courage to stand firm. May you step up instead of stepping away and and don't be rude about it. We're called to be salt and light to the world. But if a moment calls for it, may you have the courage to say, this is who I am. This is what I believe. This is what God says matters. I'm a Jesus follower and this is what Jesus followers do. Last week, Marla and I, we went to a concert and it was at a venue in our city and I had no idea who the opening band was or who they were going to be in fact. And as they came out, they were this very energetic kind of country bluegrass band. They had a guy in a fiddle that was going nuts and all the songs was actually kind of cool, but five songs in, all of a sudden they start playing a song. And I'm like, I look at Marle. I'm like, we know this song and here they are. And you know this song they're singing. So I throw up my hands and praise you for all that. I am a lot better than me, by the way. But I want you to imagine this. There's a place filled with people who don't go to church and they brought church to the people with that song. And then after that song, it doesn't end there. The lead singer, he gives his testimony of how he came to Jesus and then he tells everyone, Hey listen, I believe you need Jesus and you can start by just calling out to him right now. It was super powerful. And here's what struck me in the middle of this place where hundreds of people didn't know Jesus. This young adult guy, he was in his early twenties, gets up and boldly proclaims Jesus. Talk about courage. Courage, yeah, it can be scary at times. It can cause some fear. But friends, listen to what scripture says. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power coincides with courage, love, and self-discipline. Listen to what scripture says. The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. Listen to what scripture says. If God is for us, who can be against us? See, courage doesn't try to figure out all the answers and refuse to act until it understands. Courage is doing what you are afraid to do, but not allowing fear to rule your decisions. Courage looks up, stands up and speaks up. So first off, Daniel needed courage to follow his convictions. Friends, you're gonna need the same. Secondly, Daniel needed faith to help him follow his convictions.'cause he didn't just make a bold decision, he made a faith-filled one. He said, test us with this diet of vegetables comparing us to everyone else. That's not just confidence, that's conviction anchored in faith. And faith does three things. Number one, faith believes God is bigger than the pressure you are facing. Daniel was in Babylon, the most powerful empire on earth at that time. They took him into captivity, they wanted to feed him a certain way and he says, no, I got a different plan. I want to try this. He believed God was bigger. His faith wasn't in babylon's approval, it was in God's authority. And sometimes our challenge isn't that we don't know what's right, it's that we're afraid of what doing right will cost us. But Daniel's faith reminds us the size of your God determines the strength of your conviction. Faith believes God is bigger than the pressure you are facing. Secondly, faith, trust that God has gone before you. This means you trust God is working behind the scenes. You trust that God has already been there. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah writes on behalf of God, these words, I will go before you and make the crooked places straight. That's faith, that's acting and trusting that God is making a way. It's believing that God is on your side. And maybe for you that just looks like stepping into a difficult workplace conversation or standing for your integrity in a culture that bends truth. Or parents just teaching your kids to follow Jesus. When the world says faith doesn't matter, faith, trust that God has gone before you. And thirdly, faith leaves the outcome to God. That's the hardest part because we all want control. We wanna know how everything's gonna turn out. But faith says, I obey God even if I don't know the outcome. Daniel didn't know how this diet was gonna work. He didn't have any proof eating vegetables and no meat while all the others ate a hearty meal filled with like who knows steak in the works. It seems counterintuitive. But Daniel was willing to trust if he did what was right, God would handle the rest. And that's faith. Acting in courage while leaving the outcome to God. Friends, is there an outcome in your life that you need to leave with God? Is there something you need to act upon and just trust God with the rest? Faith believes that God is orchestrating the outcome. And listen to how Paul says it. He said it this way, for to me to live as Christ and to die as gain. That's the ultimate statement of faith. If I live, I will serve God. If I die, I will be with him. Either way, I win later. Paul writes this, the Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. That's faith before the outcome. It's leaving it all to God. It's saying, God, I'm gonna trust you with my whole life that you will orchestrate what needs to happen. So Daniel, he needed both courage and faith to follow his convictions. So what happened? Well, let me read you what happened after he put this ultimatum out to the chief official. This is what we read at the end of the 10 days. Remember, this was a test for 10 days. At the end of the 10 days, they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. The courage and the faith to stand on his convictions brought visible blessing. God brought favor in an unexpected way. And the same is true for us today. When we choose courage over compromise and faith over fear, God's favor will find us in unexpected ways. So hope city, may you have the courage and the faith to follow your convictions. May you step up instead of stepping away. May you understand that courage and faith actually fuel each other. Courage is what steps forward. Faith is what sustains the step. Faith believes God is able. Courage acts like it is true. And when those two things come together, you're not only gonna survive Babylon, you're gonna stand out. And the world doesn't need more believers who blend in and needs Daniels, who stand firm, who live by God's design, who trusts that God is and will still be in control of all things. Is there an area where you need greater courage or greater faith to live out your God based convictions? I'm gonna ask you to stand if you are able to in a moment I'm gonna pray for you. But listen, we don't. We don't gather each week just to come sing a few songs, feel good and go home. My prayer is that when we gather, you are filled with courage and you are built up in your faith. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit speaks to you and gives you the confidence to live your life based on God's word. My prayer is that fear diminishes and you walk forward in faith that you leave church saying yes, I'm called to influence others. I'm called to influence our city. I'm called to bring hope where there's none to reach people with the powerful message of Jesus. My prayer is that you have the courage and the faith to live your life the way God's word tells us to.'cause here's the thing, when you follow your convictions, you're not standing against something, you're standing for something. And we're not a church of obsessed with what's wrong in culture. We're a church focused on what's right in Jesus. And so as we wrap up, I want to challenge you. Step up church, instead of stepping away, stand for something we're standing for. Live by your biblical convictions. Be men. Be women of courage and of faith. There's this moment, it's in the New Testament book of Acts where a guy named Steven stepped up. He stood on his God based convictions and as a result, he was actually killed for his faith as he was being stoned to death. Scripture says he looked up and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And here's what's really cool about this moment, okay? Everywhere else scripture talks about Jesus being in heaven. And when it talks about him in heaven, it says He is seated at the right hand of God. That makes sense because his work is finished. And so he's sitting down. But in this moment with Steven, when Stephen stood, Jesus stood too. And here's the truth. When you stand on your convictions, friends, you never stand alone. Jesus stands when you stand. So hope city. My prayer is that you may have the courage and the faith to always do so. Let me pray for you. God, I thank you for this incredible challenge that you have given us in the life of Daniel. I thank you that he was someone completely surrendered to you and was able to stand on his convictions, on your word, on your truth, in the midst of mass pressure. And so I pray over my friends today, that same resolve, that same determination, those deep biblical convictions that go so far deep in their life. God, I pray for those that need courage. Maybe they're facing something this week and they just need your courage. I pray for that in Jesus' name. May they know God, you go with them. I pray for those who say I need some faith. I need to believe that God is here. He orchestrates the outcome. And so today I ask for their faith to increase, surround them, empower them, equip them. May we be a church who stands on biblical convictions for your glory and for your honor, God, you know, maybe you're joining us today online at one of our campuses or in the house and you don't know who Jesus is personally. Friend, let me tell you, Jesus went to the cross. He died for your sins. He rose and he offers you both life now and forever. It is the best decision you can make to follow Jesus. And if you're joining us, you just say, yeah, I want to do that. I'm gonna pray a prayer that helps you put it to words, the beginning of that journey. Let's pray. Jesus, today I see my need for you. I thank you for going to the cross, for dying, for my sins, for rising and offering me life and hope both now and forever. So today I put my hope in you, my faith in you, my trust in you. I believe in who you are. Help me to make you Lord and leader of my life. Help me to follow. And God I pray over every individual, every couple, and every family as they go into this week. I ask that you surround them, that you strengthen them, that you equip them. I ask that your Holy Spirit speaks to them, motivates them, and empowers them. And I pray that hope city may be filled with men and women who are full of courage and faith for the glory, for the honor, for the praise of you, Jesus. And I ask this all in your powerful name, Christ. Amen. If you prayed that prayer of surrendering your life to Jesus this morning, can I ask you to scan the QR code on the screen please? We'd love to get a digital booklet in your hand, talks a little bit more about knowing and following Jesus. And it's our way also of connecting with you. If you're in the house and you want prayer over anything, we're gonna have a prayer team available down at your front, left, right here. They would love to pray over and for you, hope City know this. I pray for you lots. I love you lots. God bless you guys. May you go forth with courage and faith this week. Thanks for being in church today. Have an incredible week.