AN EXCELLENT SPIRIT

Trevor S. Ferguson

September 1, 2012

Daniel 5:10 -12 (KJV)

¹⁰ Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:

¹¹ There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;

¹² Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.

Daniel 6:1-3 (KJV)

¹ It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;
² And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.
³ Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

INTRODUCTION

The world today is achievement oriented. People are judged by what they produce and what they achieve with little emphasis on how they achieved it. Concepts often used in this competitive arena include the following: “By any means necessary!”; “What really matters is the bottom line!” “The end justifies the means!”

Today I want us to begin to focus beyond (or above) the bottom line, as we reflect on Christian character and Christian ethic. Let us look not only on the final results but also evaluate how the race is run. We will use Daniel as our character reference as re reflect on the theme: AN EXCELLENT SPIRIT

EXPOSITION

Daniel is one of the most outstanding bible characters. The Book of Daniel chronicles the life of Daniel from he was a teenager until he was over 90 years old, yet, a remarkable phenomenon is that in the over seventy years on record Daniel emerges with an unblemished character. (Note that the bible is frank on the character of his heroes; if he had messed up it would be recorded.)

Some of Daniel’s outstanding achievements are listed include the following:

1. He spoke up when offered the kings food – he would not allow even the king to violate his values
2. Along with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, he out-performed all the other students while training in the kings palace in Babylon – they were 10 times better than the others
3. He interpreted the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar twice
4. He interpreted the writing on the wall for Belshazzar
5. He was Chief Minister in Babylon under Darius
6. He was among the leaders in Babylon until the reign of Cyrus
7. He is one of the major prophet – with remarkable prophecies related to world history and the end times

Underlying Daniel’s outstanding achievements was an impeccable character. He was a model of excellence! He demonstrated excellence in academics, excellence in work and excellence in ministry. Most importantly however, he had AN EXCELLENT SPIRIT. This description is used for Daniel both in Daniel 5 and 6. This was part of the reason why he was called to interpret the writing on the wall and the chief reason for his promotion under Darius.

WHAT IS AN EXCELLENT SPIRIT?

The word translated ‘spirit’ here is the Hebrew equivalent for the word ‘mind’. A person’s mind corresponds to his way of thinking or his way of doing things. Therefore Daniel had an excellent way of thinking and an excellent way of doing things! He was not concerned only with the result or with his achievements; he was concerned about how things were done.

The text of Daniel 6:4-5 provides an excellent illustration of this point:

⁴ Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. ⁵ Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

When Daniel’s work was scrutinized they could find no fault or flaw. He had done everything the right and proper way. His work was characterized by flawless integrity!

We see Daniel’s excellent spirit in his several addresses to kings and people in authority, including, Ashpenaz (the master of the eunuchs), Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar and Darius. Daniel was never disrespectful even though he spoke to these persons at some of the lowest points in their lives.

Daniel’s life was also characterized by prayer, fasting, study of the word and intercession. When the princes in Babylon sought fault against him, the only fault they could find was in the regularity of his prayers. When he needed answers from God we see Daniel engaged in extended fasting. When he learnt by studying the book of Jeremiah the appointed time that Israel should spend in Babylon, Daniel engaged in intercessory prayer for his people, confessing their sins before God and seeking God’s forgiveness and deliverance for Israel.

APPLICATION – DEVELOPING AN EXCELLENT SPIRIT

Let me suggest some ways of achieving this excellent spirit.

We must:

1. Commit ourselves to God
2. Ensure that we have a personal conviction regarding the things of God and not just following church rules or traditions
3. Do the right thing (all the time)
4. Do things right (all the time)
5. Do everything to a standard of excellence
6. Develop your spiritual disciplines: regular prayer, regular bible study, regular fasting
7. Practice right attitudes and right motives
8. Never settle for mediocrity

CONCLUSION

Although we live in a results oriented world, God still requires his people to live to a higher standard. That standard requires an excellent spirit.  This must be backed up by a strong foundation of spiritual discipline.  

Let us put these principles into practice so when we are being evaluated (whether by God or by man), it can be said of us ‘an excellent spirit is in him/her!’