Now, I'll direct your attention
to the book of Daniel, chapter 1. Daniel, chapter 1. Now, I've entitled the message
this evening, Ten Times Better. And I took that title from verse
20, where it says, And in all matters of wisdom and understanding,
that the king inquired of them, that is, speaking of Daniel,
and uh... shadrach meshach and abednego
those four men especially daniel he found them ten times better
than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm all
his kingdom ten times better what's the significance of that
well as you recall uh... daniel and his three friends
along with as the bible says here the The noblemen, the royal
line, and the princes of Judah had been basically kidnapped,
captured, conquered by the king of the Babylonian Empire, Nebuchadnezzar
and his army, and they had been whisked away to Babylon, to a
place called Shinar, which is modern-day Iraq. And there Daniel
and his three friends, his three brethren, were commissioned in
the court of nebuchadnezzar and they joined the company of the
eunuchs that's what they were made and it was there that the
king decided to keep the best for himself the best minds and
even even as the the scripture here tells us all all the best
of judah in his court to be his advisors but at first uh... before he did that you know he
he had to brainwash them he had to teach them And as you know,
the king, as we saw last time, he made a decree that all these
captives, all these servants in his court should eat of his
food, his meat, his meals, and drink of his wine so that they'd
be strong and ready to serve him. Well, to eat of that food
and to drink of that wine would be to go against God's word.
God's word in the law, to eat unclean things, but most of all
it would have been to eat things that were associated with idolatry. And you remember back in verse
8, look at verse 8 of chapter 1, it says, But Daniel purposed
in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion
of the king's meat or meal. nor with the wine which he drank,
therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he
might not defile himself." Daniel purposed in his heart, and I
dealt with that in depth to show that Daniel was a man of grace. Daniel was a man of faith. Daniel
was a sinner saved by the grace of God who trusted in the Lord
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was a born-again person. He
was one who looked to the promise of the coming Christ. And he
dedicated himself to do what was honoring to God, and not
just that which would save his own hide, because in any other
instance, this would have been death for Daniel, it would have
been death for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego too. But God in
His providence is working His will. He's working His sovereign
will. And you know, what we see here
is the grace and the power and the work of God in sustaining
His people through men like Daniel and through men like Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. God's going to give them favor
in the court of the king, and through that providential means,
God is going to preserve His people, the people of Judah,
in captivity for 70 years, and we know exactly why God meant
to preserve them. Because He said it. He said it
so many times, and we've referred to it so many times going through
the minor prophets, that the scepter was not going to depart
from Judah until Shiloh come. He was going to keep that nation
together until Christ would come. And so verse 9 says, now God
had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince
of the eunuchs. So God gave Daniel this favor
among these idolaters. And as I said, remember this
now, Daniel was in the world, just like we're in the world,
just like you all have to deal in the world with unbelievers. in some way, in some fashion,
whether in family, or in work, or whatever. Well, Daniel wasn't,
but he's not of the world. He's not, and neither are we.
And so, all of this is by the working will and power of God. It says in verse 10, and the
prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king
who hath appointed your meat, your meal, and your drink, this
is the king's commandment. He said, for why should he see
your faces worse liking than the children which are of your
sort? In other words, there were others
of the Jews, like Daniel, who gave in to Nebuchadnezzar's command. And so what he's saying is here
your countrymen who've been captured and put into the service of the
king, they're going to look healthy, they're going to look strong.
But you're gonna look downcast, you're gonna look unhealthy.
So he says, then shall you make me endanger my head to the king?
King's gonna say, well, what'd you do? Didn't you tell him?
Didn't you command him? So look at verse 11. Then said
Daniel to Malzahar, that's the name of the prince of the eunuchs
here, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, that's Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, right here is their Hebrew names, Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah. And it says, prove thy servants,
put us through the test, Daniel's saying, I beseech thee 10 days,
a completion of 10 days, and let them give us pulse, which
is either wheat or barley or vegetables, let them give us
pulse to eat and water to drink. And it says, 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 what you see. If whatever you see, if
you're not satisfied with it, then you deal accordingly. And
verse 14 says, He consented. The prince of the eunuchs consented
to them in this matter, and tested them, proved them ten days. He
gave them ten days. And at the end of ten days, that
completion of that time, And their countenances, their appearance,
appeared fairer and fatter, and remember I told you that's a
good fatter now, that's healthy, that's what that means. They
appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which
did eat the portion of the king's meat. And thus, Melzar took away
the portion of their meat and the wine that they should drink
and gave them pulse." Now again, what we see there is the grace
and the power and the work of God in sustaining His people,
His servants, in their loyalty and their obedience to Him. That's
an amazing story, isn't it? Because they would not compromise
with worldly ways. worldly doctrines, worldly methods,
idolatry, other ways of salvation. You see, that's what he's saying
here. That would give credence, it would give credit to do that,
to give in to King Nebuchadnezzar and his commandments in this
area now. You know, there's a lot of ways
we can deal with the world, the unbelieving world, and not compromise
the gospel, not compromise the glory of God. But there are other
ways we cannot, and this is one where Daniel and his friends
could not compromise here because that would be idolatrous. It
would be going against the revealed commandment of God. And so, because
they wouldn't compromise with these other ways, other ways
of salvation, other ways of righteousness, like Nebuchadnezzar, you know,
the world has its way, and its way may appear harmless. I imagine
some of their Jewish brethren would say, well, what's the big
deal? You know, we're just trying to
get by here. You know, we're just trying to get along. We
want peace, you know. It may seem okay, but it leads
to destruction. And that's what needs to be said.
It's like a false gospel. There are many ways that come
under the name of Christianity that are false ways, ways of
work salvation, religious ways that appear righteous and okay,
but we cannot compromise with those ways because those are
the ways of death. And so Daniel and his friends,
they survived on pulse. wheat, barley, vegetables, and
not the lavish meals and the best wine that the king had to
offer. And I'll put this down. Someone
said that perhaps spiritually, we today are going through days
of eating pulse instead of the meat and wine of the world and
its religion. But you think of the eternal
ends of it all. Christ said, I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. And here's these young men, Daniel
and his friends, stood out among the others. Why? By the grace
of God, they remain faithful to God. They remain faithful
to Christ. And I'll tell you how we'll stand
out. We'll stand out only by the same way, the grace and mercy
of God in Christ. We're sinners saved by grace
alone. And that's our separation. Right there. It's not what we
wear. It's not in how we look outwardly, it's not what we own,
it's salvation by the grace of God. That our one and only desire
is to be found in Christ, not having our own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ. Well, look at verse 17 now. It said, And as for these
four children, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, God gave
them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom, and Daniel
had understanding in all visions and dreams. Literally, he gave
Daniel to understand, or he made Daniel to understand all visions
and dreams. So God granted Daniel and his
brethren knowledge and wisdom, just like he did Solomon. And
this is wisdom here to deal with things in the world. As I said,
Daniel's in the world, but he's not of the world. But mostly,
and more importantly, wisdom in the things of the Lord. Now,
you know, a man can be wise in a lot of ways, but a fool when
it comes to the things of the Lord. That's why the scripture
talks about in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 how Christ is the wisdom
of God. Proverbs chapter 8 speaks of
Him as the eternal wisdom of God. We have no wisdom of salvation,
no wisdom of the ways of the Lord without Christ. He's the
embodiment of the wisdom of God. He is our wisdom, our righteousness,
our sanctification, and our redemption. But it also says He gave them
skill in all learning. What that means literally is
He gave them skill in literature, and in life. In other words,
they had book sense, but they had life sense, too. Have you
ever seen anybody who's got a lot of book sense, but they couldn't
hardly walk down the street and chew chewing gum at the same
time? Well, that's what he's saying. They had both. He gave
Daniel and his friends wisdom in learning, in literature, in
reading, in books, but also in life. They weren't fools. sins and common sense, but mostly
and more importantly, skill in the word of righteousness. I
want you to go over the book of Hebrews with me. Look at Hebrews
chapter 5, and this is a good lesson for us because one thing
that we all need, not just up here behind the pulpit, and I
know, and listen to me, I mean, I know that God gives gifts,
just like He did Daniel and these three men. And He doesn't give
everybody the same gift. as far as ministry goes. Various
gifts in the church. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 talks
about that. How there are various members
of the body of Christ and each member has their special gift
and their special place in the body of Christ. And I know there
are gifts of ministry, public ministry, such as preaching.
There's even a gift, one of the gifts, it has to do with skillfulness
and knowledge with interpretation of the scriptures, to see things
in the scripture. But one thing I believe we all
need is what's written down here in Hebrews chapter five. When
the Apostle Paul is admonishing the Hebrew believers because
they had refused to grow up, They had refused to grow in grace
and knowledge of Christ. And he says, look at verse 12
of Hebrews chapter 5. He says, for when for the time
you ought to be teachers. Now that doesn't mean that everybody's
got to stand up behind a lectern with a class in front of them.
You may not have that gift. You may not have that office
or even that skill. But what he's talking about is
witnessing and being able to tell somebody who Jesus Christ
is and what he did and why he did it and where he is now. The
gospel. And he says, you have need that one teach you again
which be the first principles of the oracles or the word of
God. In other words, you have to always go back to your ABCs.
When I was teaching school, I found that many times I had students
in my class that didn't know the fundamentals. And I had to
stop and take time and go back to things that I shouldn't have
been teaching in the grade that I was teaching. Because they
didn't learn the fundament. And this is what the Word of
God is saying here, this ought not be. He says, and are become
such as have need of milk and not of strong meat. Now, the
Bible says, desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may
grow thereby. There's nothing wrong with feeding
on the milk of the Word. But there's also the meat of
the Word too. And if you're feeding only on
the milk of the word because of a bad attitude or a bad way,
you're not growing, then that's wrong. So he says, now look,
for everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of
righteousness. In other words, if all you feed upon is milk,
you're not going to grow. You're not going to be able to
discern. You're going to be unskillful in the word of righteousness,
the word of Christ, the word of the gospel. For he's a babe. In other words, it's like a person
who is a babe and remains a babe. But he says in verse 14, but
strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, mature,
even those who by reason of use. Now you know what reason of use
means? It means exercise. Just like
physical exercise. I don't physically exercise enough,
and my body will let me know, too, and it'll tell me. Well,
the same thing is with spirituality. You know what you're doing here
tonight? Listen, we're worshiping the Lord. That's what we've come
here for. But in doing so, we use the means. and that means
we go into his word and we get into his word and we study his
word. I didn't come here to not prepare
a moral pep talk for you. Listen, there's going to be morality
in this. That's part of the lessons of
God's word. Daniel was a man of faith, a man of courage. He
was a man of grace. We ought to be people of faith
and courage and grace by the will of God and the power of
God. Somebody said, we want to follow Daniel's example. Yes,
because he followed the example of Christ. He followed Christ. So there's morality here. But
I didn't come here just to give you a moral pep talk. I came
here to worship the Lord with you in studying his word. And
what we're doing is we're exercising our spiritual senses, our ears,
our eyes, our minds, our affections, our wills by reason of use. Now, if you don't use them, what's
going to happen? They're not going to grow. And so he says,
by reason of use, have their senses exercised to do what? To discern, to judge between
both good and evil. You ever heard something wrong? Fundamentally wrong now. I'm
not just talking about disagreements. Something fundamentally wrong
in a message and other brethren just didn't catch it? And you
have to point out, what's wrong? Reason of use. They haven't been
using their senses to discern both good and evil. Well, they're
not listening well enough. But see back here, look back
at Daniel 1. He gave them skill in all learning and all wisdom. And he specifically gave Daniel
this gift. And you're going to see this
as we go throughout the book, how marvelous this gift is and
how God used it. to preserve Daniel, to preserve
that nation, and to glorify himself. Visions and dreams. Think about
it. All of these things. Now, visions
and dreams. That was one of God's ways to
communicate with men in that day. Sometimes even unbelievers. In fact, most of the dreams that
Daniel interprets are Nebuchadnezzar's dreams. Who gave him those dreams?
God did. But not all dreams and visions at that time were from
God, but the Lord did use this way of communication at times
to accomplish His will. Now, I don't believe God uses
this way today. And the reason I don't believe
that is because we have the completed revelation of God in His written
word. Right here, from Genesis to Revelation.
And it's so complete. What we have in the Bible is
so complete That is, here's what God tells us. This is how complete
it is. Listen to, let me just read to you Revelation 22, verses
18 through 19. These are some of the last words
of the Bible. And John, writing here, as he's
inspired by the Holy Spirit, he says, For I testify unto every
man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. And
he's not just speaking of Revelation. Because Revelation is full of
Old Testament types and pictures. It's talking about the whole
Bible. And he says this, he says, if any man shall add unto these,
these words written in this book, he says, if any man shall add
unto these, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written
in this book. And if any man shall take away
from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take
away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city
and from the things which are written in this book." Now, he's
not talking about God sitting up there with a pen and a pencil
or something erasing names or anything like that. He's just
simply saying that anybody who claims to have a part in the
Lamb's book of life but who adds to or takes away from this revelation
They reveal that they have no part in the book of life. But
let me show you the bottom line. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 8.
Here's the bottom line to it all, and I'll tell you what.
Now, Isaiah 8's where I want you to go. I said, I don't believe
God communicates that way today to give His revelation. I'm not saying that he didn't
give dreams and stuff like that. I'm saying if you want to learn
anything about God, from God, you go to his word. Don't go
to anybody's dream or vision today. But I really don't argue
with people about it anymore. I don't. And I suggest you don't
either. I mean, because people, you know, they'll all the time
want to tell you their dreams, their visions, their feelings, their experiences
and all that. Well, here's the bottom line to it all. Look at
Isaiah chapter 8 and look at verse 16. Isaiah 8 and verse 16, he says,
he says, bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples. Bind it up means that it's sealed
up, there's nothing to be added to it. And I will wait upon the
Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob and I will
look for him. Behold, I and the children whom
the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel
from the Lord of hosts which dwelleth in Mount Zion. And when
they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar
spirits," now a familiar spirit is a lying spirit, "...and unto
wizards that peep," that means to peer, they're seers, they
see more than you do, or they claim to, "...and that mutter,"
that's their chants, "...should not a people seek unto their
God for the living to the dead?" To the law and of the testimony,
if they speak not according to this word, it is because there
is no light in them. So that's the bottom line, right
there. Whatever dream, vision, experience they talk about, whatever
feeling they have, to the law and of the testimony, if they
speak not according to this word, there's no light in them. Mark
it down. Well Daniel, back here in Daniel
1, he was a man of the word of God. And he spoke what God revealed
to him. And you know something, and I
know one more thing about this written word, you know, Peter
called it a more sure word of prophecy than what they had even
back then. That's what he said in 1 Peter
1 and verse 19, we have a more sure word of prophecy, where
until you do well that you take heed as a light that shineth
in a dark place until the day dawn. Well, look at verse, chapter
1, look at verse 18 of Daniel 1. He said, now at the end of
the days that the king had said he should bring them in, now
this is at the Nebuchadnezzar, he made that decree and he's
going to say at the end of so many days I'm going to bring
them in, look at them. He said bring them in, then the
prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar
and the king communed with them, he spoke with them, and among
them all was found none like Daniel, or Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah. Therefore stood they before the
king." None like Daniel and his brethren. They were unique. They were different. And I thought
about that quite hard. You know, Christians are unique.
We are different. Peter described it this way in
1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9. He said, you're a chosen generation. That's election. God chose you. And you're a generation. You're
the generation of Christ, the seed of the King. You're a royal
priesthood. We're made both kings and priests
in Christ. We have free access, liberty,
to enter the holiest of all by the blood of Christ, by His righteousness
alone. That's different. That's unique.
Other people try to approach God upon other grounds. in other
ways, for other reasons. But, just like Daniel and his
three friends, those who truly have Christ are unique. And we
stand out, not just because of how we appear. He says you're
a holy nation. You know what holy means there?
It means separate. What separates you? Well, you
don't watch TV anymore. No, that doesn't separate you.
Or you don't cut your hair. No, that doesn't separate you.
You won't use telephones. You want to ride in a horse and
a buggy. No, that doesn't separate you. You're a holy nation. You're separated unto Christ. Separated unto the gospel of
God. You're a peculiar people. That
doesn't mean weird. Some of you may be weird. But
that's not what that means. That means purchased. You're
bought and paid for. Bought with a price. the precious
blood of Christ. That's why Daniel was where he
was. He was bought and paid for. He's a willing, loving bond slave
of Christ. And he says, for this reason,
that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You're people
of the light. Walk in the light. And not in the darkness of sin
and false religion. But they stood out. But now look
at verse 20. And in all matters of wisdom,
wisdom, understanding, it says 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 all his king. Ten times better.
God's purpose in all this, again, was to preserve his people through
this trial of captivity, because he had a plan and a purpose to
bring Christ into the world. So he used Daniel and his friends
in a great way to accomplish that, and he gave them favor
among this king, this heathen, idolatrous king. God made them
his obedient servants, and he blessed them in his obedience.
Scripture tells us that, if any man serve me, Christ said, let
him follow me, and where I am, there shall also my servant be.
If any man serve me, him will my father honor. That's not service
aimed at earning God's favor, but it's the service of love
and obedience. It's obedience to the gospel, and it always
brings God's blessings. Daniel and his friends existed
on Pulse, the most meager of food. Scripture says in Proverbs
15 and verse 16, better is little with the fear of the Lord than
great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where
love is, the love of God, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. A stalled ox means you have enough
meat for the whole winter. Better just have a little vegetables
and that. And he brought them to this king and they made an
impression on this king. What's going on here? I'll tell
you exactly what's going on. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord as the rivers of water. He turneth it whithersoever
he will. Proverbs 121. And not only did they make an
impression on this king, But the king himself found them ten
times better. Ten times better. What significance
is that? Well, ten, as you know, in the
Bible, is one of what we might call the perfect numbers of the
Bible. There are a few numbers that
are associated with perfection. For example, the number three
is associated with the perfect nature of God, the unity of God. And we think of the Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We think of the number seven
as the perfection that God brings man into by His work. And we
think of the seventh day as being the Sabbath rest. The work's
completed. The work's done. Perfection. Ten is the number of completeness
which shows this, that there is nothing lacking. The whole cycle is complete.
And in this area of God's providential work to carry out His purposes
and His will, Daniel and his brethren stood before King Nebenezer
as everything and all things that God had made them, nothing
lacking. They were ten times better than
the magicians. The magicians were lacking a
lot of things. The astrologers were lacking a lot of things.
But Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, in the eyes of
this king, they lacked nothing. They were a perfect ten. That's
what he means. And here we have a great picture
of our salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you realize
that? That in Christ, we're all perfect
tens. We're imperfect in ourselves.
We're incomplete in ourselves. I see that bumper sticker sometimes.
It says, be patient with me. God's not finished with me yet.
Well, there's some truth in that. We're not yet glorified. We still
have this warfare of the flesh and the spirit. Sin still contaminates
everything we do. But in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and this is what that bumper sticker fails to Pronounce that. This is the message of salvation.
This is the message that should cause all of us to shout. In
Christ, we're complete. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and we're complete in Him. Just like Daniel,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego standing before that King. We
stand before the Father in Christ as perfect tens. Complete. Lacking nothing. The Lord is
my shepherd, I shall not want, I shall not lack, is what that
means. And why is that? Number one,
because Christ is a perfect Savior. He's a complete Savior. Christ
is all that God requires of me, given fully to me. Everything
God requires of me for my salvation, I find a perfect 10 in Christ. In the book of John, for example,
and I could go through the Bible on this all night. But let me
give you just one example. You know, we think about this,
how Christ is the great I am. And the book of John brings that
forth beautifully. I am, I am, I am. Well, there
are ten I am's there. He says, first of all, I'm the
bread of life. He's all the bread we need. He says, I'm the bread
of life which came down from heaven. He's all that God has
given freely. He says, I'm the living bread.
He's all life, complete life, nothing lacking. In other words,
you don't have to make up where he left off. It's not that he
did his part, now you do yours. No! He's the complete, perfect
ten of our Savior. He says, I'm the light of the
world. Everything that we know to be true as to the honor and
glory of God and our salvation by God's grace, we find perfectly
in Christ. You won't find it anywhere else.
And anything you think you know or anything I think I know without
Christ in that realm is a lie. It's sadly lacking. He says,
fifthly, he says, I'm the one that bear witness of myself.
What's he saying there? He's God in human flesh. Sixthly,
he says, I'm the door of the sheep. He's the only way the
sheep enter into the fold. Seventh, he says, I'm the good
shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. He's
the complete atonement. He's the complete satisfaction.
His work on the cross is a perfect tent. It's finished, he said. For by one offering, he hath
perfected, completed, finished, forever them that are sanctified."
He's our perfect righteousness. That's why we must stand before
God in His righteousness imputed. Any other righteousness is lacking. Sadly lacking. Filthy rags, in
fact. It's on the negative scale, I'll
put it. But His righteousness imputed to me is a perfect tent. In the eighth place, He says,
I'm the resurrection and the life. He says in the ninth place,
I'm the way, the truth, and the life. In the tenth place, he
says, I'm the true vine. All of that. So Christ is a perfect
Savior. Secondly, Christ has freely given
us a complete salvation. Now you see, look here, he says
in verse 20, he says that the king inquired of them, he found
them ten times better. It's not that Daniel and his
brethren were better than everyone else in themselves. That's not
the way we look at ourselves. I'm not going around here saying
I'm better than you or better than the people out in the world. I'm not better. I'm a sinner
saved by grace. But you see, it's that word grace
that makes the difference. It's not I'm. The word I'm doesn't
make the difference. I'm not better. Paul said that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am
chief. So I'm not better than anybody, but I'm a recipient
of the grace of God, and that makes all the difference. It's
not that we're better in ourselves, we're sinners. But Daniel and
his brethren were better. And we're better, why? Because
Christ is better. That's why. All else leaves men
wanting and lacking. Idolatry, false gospels leave
men lacking salvation, lacking righteousness, lacking eternal
life and glory. But Christ is all and in all. And if you have him, you have
it all. And if you have it all, you don't need anything else.
That right? you know the whole book of hebrews
talks about how christ is better He's the better revelation of
God. He's the complete revelation
of God. He's better than the angels. He's better than Moses.
He's better than Aaron. He's better than that earthly
priesthood. He's better than that earthly tabernacle. He's
better than those earthly sacrifices. The blood of bulls and goats
can never take away sin, but Christ took away sin completely,
a perfect ten. So that no sin can be charged
to God's elect. Why? Christ is better. We're
members of a better nation, a heavenly nation, a better city, a heavenly
city, a better covenant, better promises. Why? Because Christ
is better. Infinitely better. You know,
when I first read that, and I thought about this in terms of a believer,
and our salvation in Christ and what Christ is to His people.
Unto you therefore which believe He is precious. The first thing
that popped in my mind, and if you're like me, you probably
say something like this or think something. It says ten times
better, and you say, Christ is ten times better. The first thing
that came to my mind, oh no, He's ten billion times better. But you know, I got to thinking
about that. You know why we have to say it
that way? It's because we have to exaggerate
to get beyond these finite minds. That's right. We have to exaggerate.
We have to put it in those kind of terms because our language
and even our viewpoint is kind of lacking. We still see through
a glass darkly. But God doesn't have to exaggerate. God just
has to say it. And it's said. It's finished. Ten times better. That's complete
in the infinite mind and way of God. That's everything. And we can exaggerate it up,
that's okay. I'm not saying that's wrong,
but I'm just simply saying is that in God's infinite mind,
and for the sinner saved by the grace of God, ten times better
is everything. It's everything. It's all. And
again, If you have Christ, you have it all. And if you have
it all, you don't need anything else. You're a perfect ten. And so we stand before God in
Christ as perfect ten. Ten times better. Well, that's
the way Daniel stood before Nebuchadnezzar. And it's an amazing story from
here on how God used him. He was about 15 years old when
he was first brought into the kingdom of Babylonia, Babylon. And he lived there throughout
most, if not all, of the 70 years of their captivity, until he
was about 85, 87. It says in verse 21 of Daniel
1, it says, And Daniel continued even unto the first year of King
Cyrus. And King Cyrus was the king of
the Medo-Persian Empire that conquered Babylon. about five
hundred years before christ and that's when they let the he's
the one who by the decree of god even through uh... uh...
before that allowed him to go back and rebuild the city of
jerusalem and rebuild the temple but what a what a career of grace
that daniel had as god's prophet is god's man in babel