WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.339 We began looking a few weeks ago here at Daniel and the reality of the circumstances that he had 00:00:09.339 --> 00:00:15.759 ! when those that were in authority alongside him were envious of what was going to happen. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:22.480 ! But let's go ahead and if you found Daniel chapter 6 this morning, we'll pick up here in verse 1. 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:27.679 We'll read down through this again just to refresh our memory and then we'll get back into our lesson 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:33.259 here and Lord willing get that finished up here this morning. But it says, it pleased Darius to set 00:00:33.259 --> 00:00:39.880 over the kingdom 120 princes which should be over the whole kingdom. Now if you remember that was 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:47.560 Darius was a new king and Daniel was going to be was chosen to continue on into a new kingdom which 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:53.920 of itself is a pretty unique thing because normally you know if somebody was conquered they didn't take 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:59.219 the counselors from the previous king. You know that it was most of them were usually put to death 00:00:59.219 --> 00:01:05.480 historically but notice this is, and over these three presidents of whom Daniel was first 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:12.280 that the princes might be given account accounts unto them and the king should have no damage. 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:21.079 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because of an excellent spirit was in 00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:28.299 him and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. You know we see Daniel's testimony. 00:01:29.340 --> 00:01:34.599 You know he actually got promoted you know it's like okay I'm going to set you with three and then 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:41.620 I'm going to put you over I want to move you up to over everything including those three and so we're 00:01:41.620 --> 00:01:47.319 going to see here what takes place in verse 4 because we see the envy that takes place. 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:51.819 And the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom 00:01:51.819 --> 00:01:58.379 but they could not find none occasion nor fault for as much as he was faithful neither was there any 00:01:58.379 --> 00:02:05.399 error or fault found in him. You know here's Daniel's second testimony that we talked about 00:02:05.399 --> 00:02:11.699 is the fact that he they couldn't find a fault in how he managed and oversaw the king's affairs. 00:02:11.699 --> 00:02:17.019 You know politically today we know that's not an easy thing to do when somebody looks at everything 00:02:17.019 --> 00:02:23.719 examines everything's hey we can't find anything. This guy's upright he's doing what he ought to do 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:29.859 but notice what they did and then verse 5 then said these men we shall not find any occasion against 00:02:29.859 --> 00:02:36.359 this Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. And then the presidents and 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:42.740 princes assembled together to the king and said unto him King Darius live forever. All the presidents of 00:02:42.740 --> 00:02:46.800 the kingdom and the governor and the princes and the counselors and the captains have consulted together 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:53.540 to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god 00:02:53.540 --> 00:03:02.620 or man for 30 days save of thee O king he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now O king establish the 00:03:02.620 --> 00:03:08.000 decree and sign the writing that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:15.039 which altereth not wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. And when Daniel knew that 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:20.939 the writing was signed he went into his house and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem 00:03:20.939 --> 00:03:27.960 he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his god. And we notice at 00:03:27.960 --> 00:03:36.360 the end of verse 10 some point as he did what? A four time. In other words things changed around Daniel 00:03:36.360 --> 00:03:44.080 but Daniel didn't change his relationship with God. Daniel stayed the same. And so we're going to see 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:52.319 here as we saw that Daniel was a man of character. You know we we looked at the fact that Daniel had been 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:57.959 dealing with this his whole life as a young man as he was taken into captivity. If you remember 00:03:57.959 --> 00:04:04.699 that he purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself. In other words he says I'm going to keep 00:04:04.699 --> 00:04:11.439 myself right before God. That was his priority. And in doing so he was going to do what was right before 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:20.639 his responsibilities here. And we see as Daniel did that and Daniel's captivity and things how he served 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:27.759 and we saw the timeline of Daniel and we see what how God used Daniel in a mighty way. But we see these 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:34.800 individuals moved with envy. You saw the first point there was that mandate against Daniel. The mandate 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:41.719 that was there and this ungodly envy that they had. You know what? People are going to be envious of what 00:04:41.719 --> 00:04:48.779 you have in Christ. They're going to want to tear down. You know they're going to want to destroy. And we see 00:04:48.779 --> 00:04:54.059 that if you're doing what's right you know what? People want to tear you down. If you're trying to 00:04:54.059 --> 00:04:59.579 be honorable and do honorably there's going to be people who won't stand against you doing honorably. 00:04:59.699 --> 00:05:03.000 You know why? Because not because of what you're doing it's because it makes them look bad. 00:05:04.619 --> 00:05:09.239 You know you'll find oftentimes that's the problem. It's like slow down a little bit. You know this is 00:05:09.239 --> 00:05:14.119 not making the rest of us look good. They're not concerned about right. They're concerned about how is it 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:21.540 making me look or what I want to accomplish. You know but I want you to understand that there are 00:05:21.540 --> 00:05:27.519 times when ungodly people plot against Christians. It's not because they've done it we've done anything 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:32.459 wrong but because we're trying to please God. That we're trying to do what's right. You're going to 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:39.840 find even today a lot of things that take place are the people have a hatred of the things of God. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:44.560 You know and you're going to find that if you take a stand as a Christian there's going to be sometimes 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:45.779 people just don't like you. 00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:55.560 I mean I remember back when I was in the you know working full time and you know there was times I had 00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:58.659 to come to a reality. There's times you're going to find people that just don't like you. 00:06:00.359 --> 00:06:04.259 They don't like what you believe. They don't like what you stand for. It just ruffles their feathers 00:06:04.259 --> 00:06:10.879 the wrong way. You know and just I want you to understand that you have to understand that's 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:16.659 going to take place and keep a right spirit and a right attitude about it because you need to turn 00:06:16.659 --> 00:06:23.500 that over to the Lord to deal with it and continue to do what you're supposed to do. Let God deal with 00:06:23.500 --> 00:06:30.060 it because the reality is going to happen but we see their faithful testimony in Daniel. You think 00:06:30.060 --> 00:06:34.839 about that they couldn't find any fault in him. You know so what did they do? They went after 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:42.720 his relationship with God. They said hey we know this is an area that we have to find a problem 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:50.639 in his life to cause a conflict in his life. Because I want you to understand sometimes this is we see 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:57.860 with Daniel is people that what they choose is to create a conflict with what you believe with what's 00:06:57.860 --> 00:07:03.520 expected. Now let's just throw something out there. One of the things you saw in my lifetime I've seen 00:07:03.520 --> 00:07:10.920 people move from where Sundays was a sacred day to where people say if you don't work on Sunday you 00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:19.000 don't work here. What's taking place? They're taking what you deem important and say well if you're 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:24.520 going to earn a living here this is what you're going to do. Now I want you to understand there are 00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:29.620 some jobs that just require people to work on the Lord's day. I mean that's just a fact. There's 00:07:29.620 --> 00:07:35.159 certain functional things that just must happen. But general business doesn't have to happen on the 00:07:35.159 --> 00:07:40.659 Lord's day. What do they do? It's all about money. You know you got to choose between money and your 00:07:40.659 --> 00:07:45.019 God. You know that's really what they're asking. Are you going to be obedient to God or obedient to 00:07:45.019 --> 00:07:50.479 your pocketbook? You know and we can talk about some more of that later but you know we see here that 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:56.439 what they do. They came and flattered the king. The one in charge and they began to cause a conflict 00:07:56.439 --> 00:08:06.220 within the kingdom and they wanted to cause a conflict of loyalty. You know because think about 00:08:06.220 --> 00:08:11.660 what are some situations in which you might be required to choose between loyalty to Christ 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:18.319 and to be accepted by the world? You know stop and think for a moment. What are some other, I mentioned 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:23.259 one, what are some others that we face? It's an open question. Daryl? 00:08:25.779 --> 00:08:28.120 Yeah. Okay. Matt? 00:08:31.219 --> 00:08:31.779 Yeah. 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:45.220 Yeah. I mean they want to try to make that be a conflict between those things. What are some others? 00:08:45.220 --> 00:08:48.620 Anybody got anything else? You guys just live conflict-free lives, right? 00:08:51.300 --> 00:08:51.519 Yeah. 00:08:51.940 --> 00:08:52.240 And 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:59.860 Okay. Trying to force instruction. 00:08:59.860 --> 00:09:15.440 Well, it's, but it is a challenge because sometimes people intentionally do that though, especially 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:22.680 like with Daniel, to try to usurp or to cause a conflict. But you know, we're going to learn 00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:32.459 from Daniel how do we deal with those things. How do we walk through those things and how 00:09:32.459 --> 00:09:39.819 we work through those dynamics. And so, but we want to see here the mandate against Daniel, 00:09:39.819 --> 00:09:45.539 but also we talked about the ministry of Daniel because notice what he did. He prayed. You know, 00:09:45.539 --> 00:09:56.379 we have a lot of conflict today that people want to stir up. I mean, that's a, people's first thing is, 00:09:56.519 --> 00:10:08.240 how much, how much problem can I stir in and about something instead of looking at what does God have 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:14.600 for me to do and to turn to God first? I mean, you think about this today, you know, how many rallies 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:19.240 do we see today? Everybody thinks something's unjust. And so we're going to rally, get a rally 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:23.320 and get a bunch of people and a bunch of signs and we're going to scream and we're going to yell. 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:31.220 You know what? The one thing you never find Daniel did was gather a bunch of others and try to make a 00:10:31.220 --> 00:10:38.060 point. Even in his early life, the three others that joined with him, they made the choice to join with 00:10:38.059 --> 00:10:44.079 him. And I want you to understand that they weren't forced to do that. They made a choice to do so. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:49.099 And I think it's good when people choose to do things together, especially for the Lord, because 00:10:49.099 --> 00:10:52.779 we find encouragement with one another, but our primary encouragement ought to be the Lord, 00:10:53.899 --> 00:10:59.559 ought to be what God would have. And when he prayed, we talked about that, you know, the reality 00:10:59.559 --> 00:11:06.079 of prayer, but it was a planned prayer that Daniel did. You know, I notice as we look back here at 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:12.580 verse 10, it says, as he did aforetime, you know, Daniel knew this was signed and what'd he do? 00:11:12.800 --> 00:11:16.879 He said, I have a scheduled time with God and I'm going to go spend time with God. 00:11:17.800 --> 00:11:25.420 He says, I'm going to take care of those things and turn them over to God and let God deal with it. 00:11:25.780 --> 00:11:31.220 You know, he prayed and gave thanks before his God. You know, Daniel knew this was going to be a problem, 00:11:31.220 --> 00:11:37.300 but yet he still continued to do what he always did and said, God has it under control. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:43.019 Because remember at this point, Daniel was probably about 80 years old. When this was taking place, 00:11:43.139 --> 00:11:48.279 Daniel was about 80 years old. When he first got brought into Babylon, he was probably a young 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:59.040 teenager or in his mid-teens. You know, he saw a few things in life and I think he understood that God 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:06.519 can take care. You know, when we realize the importance of prayer, you know, oftentimes instead 00:12:06.519 --> 00:12:12.779 of getting all worked up, the best thing we can do is take it to the Lord. Seek God for guidance and let 00:12:12.779 --> 00:12:18.879 God work through those things. And, but we notice here that Daniel interceded, you know, he prayed 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:27.699 towards Jerusalem. He did it because this is what they were instructed to do in the scripture for him, 00:12:27.700 --> 00:12:35.240 to pray for Jerusalem, to pray for the people, to pray for God, to forgive the people that had sinned. 00:12:35.300 --> 00:12:41.600 You know, Daniel perpetually recognized it wasn't just his sin, but the sin of the people that had 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:47.360 brought them to that place. And he said that I need, we need to turn to the Lord. You know, 00:12:47.379 --> 00:12:52.500 it was a diligent prayer, but it was habitual. You know, he had a habit of it. Daniel didn't start 00:12:52.500 --> 00:12:59.659 a prayer life when things were signed. You know, Daniel didn't go run to the Lord for the first 00:12:59.659 --> 00:13:04.759 time in six months to say, hey, Lord, there's a problem now. He was doing the same thing he always 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:14.000 did. Daniel's pattern underscores the importance of consistency in our spiritual habits before those 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:22.360 practices are under attack. You know, you can, you can withstand things when you're prepared to withstand 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:32.360 them. When things spiritually are in place in your life to deal with it, you know, think about the 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:38.019 impact of people, you know, just a few years ago, we had mandates that, oh, we can't gather together. 00:13:38.019 --> 00:13:44.460 You know what? People that didn't already have a faithful attendance began to avoid coming to 00:13:44.460 --> 00:13:49.519 church. You know why? Because they didn't have any conviction about it to begin with. If it's convenient, 00:13:49.659 --> 00:13:55.919 we'll come. If it's not convenient, we won't come. And, you know, it wasn't something that they did 00:13:55.919 --> 00:14:03.000 and thought was a priority. You know, the same is true. If you're not already reading and studying the 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:09.500 scriptures, it's unlikely to begin when the Bible begins to be looked down upon. And there's coming a day 00:14:09.500 --> 00:14:15.320 very soon, I think, the Bible's going to be looked at as hate speech. There's already other places in the 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:20.360 world that this is taking place. What are you going to do with your Bible when they don't like it? They 00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:24.759 already don't like it. What are you going to do when they pass laws against it? Those decisions are made now, 00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:34.039 not in the moment. The priority is placed. And we see here that Daniel had a plan to that, a consistency 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:42.659 that gave him stability in the midst of the situation. You know, he was a prepared persecution. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:49.100 You know, Daniel's conspirators waited with bated breath for him to break the mandate. You know what? 00:14:49.819 --> 00:14:54.539 He was so consistent, they knew he was going to do it. Ever thought about it? They knew exactly. 00:14:54.539 --> 00:14:58.919 I believe they were probably standing across on the other side, gawking out the window, 00:14:59.319 --> 00:15:02.039 saying, he's going to do it. Yeah, he's going to do it. No, I don't think he'll do it. I will. 00:15:02.279 --> 00:15:07.799 And you know what? It's interesting because Daniel prayed with the windows open. 00:15:09.819 --> 00:15:15.299 Just as he always did. He said, guys, go ahead and watch. You're not going to impact my relationship 00:15:15.299 --> 00:15:21.099 with my God. Daniel made a clear statement. You know, we talked about a little bit last time. 00:15:21.100 --> 00:15:29.600 Look over quick again to Psalm 37. Psalm 37 and verse 32. You know, we see here this. It says, 00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:35.279 the wicked watches the righteous, which is very true. People pay, if you live for the Lord, 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:39.480 people are going to have their eye on you. It says, and they seek it to slay him. 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:47.639 You know, there's going to be people looking to tear down your testimony, to tear down your 00:15:47.639 --> 00:15:55.240 relationship with God. And we see this taking place. And notice verse 11, back in our text there 00:15:55.240 --> 00:16:00.340 in Daniel chapter 6, it says, and these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making 00:16:00.340 --> 00:16:06.320 supplication before his God. And then they came near and spake before the king concerning the king's 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:12.340 decree. Thou hast not signed a decree that every man that hath asked a petition of any God or man 00:16:12.340 --> 00:16:18.140 within 30 days, save thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions, asking according to the law, 00:16:18.220 --> 00:16:23.480 the Medes and the Persians with altars not. You know, when you read this text, it's interesting 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:28.180 because I think they got the thing signed and they went right down the street to Daniel's house. 00:16:28.500 --> 00:16:32.440 You know, I think part of the problem with this is, as we see when it comes to Darius, the king, 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:39.480 Darius realized that the ink wasn't dry yet and they were already fulfilling the plot that they had. 00:16:40.820 --> 00:16:46.120 And we're going to see this as he's there and it tells him what's going to happen. And the king 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:51.460 was beside himself. Notice in verse 14, then the king, when he heard these words, 00:16:51.580 --> 00:16:59.140 was sore displeased within himself. You know, Darius said, hey, I just got chumped. I just got played by 00:16:59.139 --> 00:17:05.819 these guys. Now I'll give you a little clue. This probably tells us what happens later on in the 00:17:05.819 --> 00:17:11.220 story and why it happens. Because when you mess with the king and try to trick him, it probably 00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:15.299 is not going to end well for you. Because we're going to see what happens here. Because notice, 00:17:15.819 --> 00:17:21.639 and he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him, and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver 00:17:21.639 --> 00:17:27.019 him. Then these men assembled unto the king and said unto the king, know, O king, that the law of the 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:32.799 Medes of the Persians, that no decree nor statute which the king established may be changed. When 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:38.220 the king commanded that they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions, now the king spake 00:17:38.220 --> 00:17:49.859 and said unto Daniel, thy God whom thou service continually, he will deliver thee. Now, I want you 00:17:49.859 --> 00:17:54.699 to see here, why did Darius see such an excellent spirit in Daniel? Blue? 00:18:06.639 --> 00:18:15.259 Yeah, I mean, you see, the king wasn't shy about the fact of what Daniel believed. He fully understood 00:18:15.259 --> 00:18:21.220 it. He said, matter of fact, you'll see here, you might use this term today, respect. 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:28.460 You know, he might not have believed in Daniel's God, but he respected Daniel and Daniel's God. 00:18:30.220 --> 00:18:38.819 Because he said, there's something different about it. You know, Darius expressed a confidence that God 00:18:38.819 --> 00:18:46.859 would deliver Daniel. You know, think about that. Thy God whom thou service continually, he will deliver 00:18:46.859 --> 00:18:53.339 thee. You know, think about that statement. Imagine the judge standing there. It's like, hey, you know, 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:58.960 we got to do this, but God's going to deliver you. Kind of an awkward moment, you might say. 00:19:00.099 --> 00:19:05.019 Verse 17, the stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own 00:19:05.019 --> 00:19:10.480 signet, and with the signet of his Lord's, that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:18.000 You know, we find this dynamic, the mandate against Daniel, the ministry of Daniel, and we find the 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:27.420 message throughout Daniel here. The message was this, of Daniel, how God delivered what seemed impossible. 00:19:29.059 --> 00:19:35.000 How Daniel trusted God in the midst. Turn to Psalm 37 again. Psalm 37, 00:19:35.019 --> 00:19:41.940 look down in verse 40. Psalm 37 in verse 40, we find here, it tells us this, it says, 00:19:42.059 --> 00:19:47.660 and the Lord shall help them and deliver them, and he shall deliver them from the wicked and save them 00:19:47.660 --> 00:20:00.299 because they trust in him. You know, God helped Daniel. He did it in a way that sent a powerful message 00:20:00.299 --> 00:20:06.819 of his care and ability to deliver. You know, throughout the book of Daniel, I want you to 00:20:06.819 --> 00:20:11.700 understand some things because sometimes we'll read these accounts and say, well, why doesn't God 00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:17.799 deliver miraculously me like he did Daniel? Why doesn't he solve my problem like he did Daniel's 00:20:17.799 --> 00:20:24.220 problem? I want you to understand, trusting God says, God, I don't know what your choice of outcome 00:20:24.220 --> 00:20:29.079 is going to be, but I know it's going to be the one that's needful, the one that's best. Think about 00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:33.240 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Remember what they told the king before they were thrown into the fiery 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:40.200 furnace? Basically, hey, we don't know what's going to happen here, but rest assured, we're going to 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:47.839 trust our God no matter what. Whether we die in the furnace or we don't, that's up to God. It's not up to us. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:52.139 So I want you to understand, just because people say, well, I trust God and things ought to work out 00:20:52.139 --> 00:20:57.079 the way we think it ought to work out, I want you to understand that's not always the case. It's going 00:20:57.079 --> 00:21:04.059 to work out according to God's will, not our will. God had a statement he was making in this. 00:21:05.220 --> 00:21:12.659 God helped Daniel. He did it in a way that did deliver a powerful message because we see here the 00:21:12.660 --> 00:21:19.040 king. It spoke to the king that even when situations are outside our control, we can know that God is 00:21:19.040 --> 00:21:27.100 always in control. Think about Proverbs 21.1 where it says the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. 00:21:28.220 --> 00:21:34.960 Think about that. God directs things. God guides things. We certainly see God's work in King Darius' 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:42.540 heart as Daniel gets thrown into the lion's den. Notice here in verse 18, 00:21:42.660 --> 00:21:48.860 of our text. And the king went before his palace and passed the night fasting, neither were instruments 00:21:48.860 --> 00:21:54.940 or music brought before him. And his sleep went from him. And when the king rose up very early in 00:21:54.940 --> 00:22:01.240 the morning and went in haste under the lion's den. And when he came to Daniel, he cried with lament, 00:22:01.620 --> 00:22:08.759 with a lamentable voice under Daniel. Now, I'll just give you a little clue that that word lamentable 00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:15.140 means he was sad. In other words, when he cried out to Daniel, he wasn't really truly expecting a 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:21.700 response. Now, think about logically, should he have expected a response? No. Daniel just spent all night 00:22:21.700 --> 00:22:30.339 with the lions. Logically, a response wasn't expected. It was a sorrowful request that he was 00:22:30.339 --> 00:22:36.059 making. It's like, Daniel, are you there? And the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, 00:22:36.059 --> 00:22:42.379 servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou service continually, able to deliver thee from the 00:22:42.379 --> 00:22:46.599 lions. You know, think about it. He refers to Daniel as a servant of the living God. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:55.679 That's Daniel's testimony again before the king. Daniel's testimony was there. He knew 00:22:55.679 --> 00:23:02.899 that Daniel's greatest allegiance was to God. You know, when you think about it, wouldn't that be 00:23:02.900 --> 00:23:08.580 what we ought to desire as Christians? To say that when people that know us and are around us, 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:16.160 that our greatest allegiance is to the Lord. That our allegiance is to God. That God is the 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:23.440 priority over everything else. It's obvious to them. It ought to be something that's obvious to them 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:27.860 whom you serve. You know, all of us are going to serve something. You know, these people, 00:23:27.859 --> 00:23:35.539 I'm free. No, you're not. You're serving something. The Bible makes it very clear that you're either a 00:23:35.539 --> 00:23:41.859 slave to sin or you're a free servant of God. I mean, there's something going to have power that's 00:23:41.859 --> 00:23:46.899 going to direct you, that's going to prioritize you. You know, what do they know about your faith 00:23:46.899 --> 00:23:51.659 in Christ? Does it go above everything else? Does it take priority over hobbies? I know preachers 00:23:51.659 --> 00:23:57.639 dance in dangerous territory, stepping on toes, right? You know, things that we do, the things we choose, 00:23:57.640 --> 00:24:04.080 even the fun activities we do, we need to ask, are they taking a place priority over God? 00:24:05.900 --> 00:24:12.040 God doesn't say we can't enjoy some things in life, but we got to be careful those things we enjoy 00:24:12.040 --> 00:24:20.300 don't supersede God. Because what have we done? We've taken what we like and prioritized it. We placed it 00:24:20.299 --> 00:24:28.700 as an idol above God. You know, putting things in the right priorities, you know, responsibilities, 00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:37.399 you know. Does your true and deepest loyalties go to Christ and that every other aspect of your life 00:24:37.399 --> 00:24:43.639 is subject unto that? You know what? Think about for a moment, what does Proverbs tells us? That if we 00:24:43.640 --> 00:24:51.320 trust the Lord, He's going to do what? He's going to direct our paths. You know what? If you serve God 00:24:51.320 --> 00:24:55.620 first, you know what else? It puts everything else in the right order. Because God knows that we have 00:24:55.620 --> 00:25:01.800 different priorities, that we are responsibilities. You know, we've talked about that a few, you know, 00:25:01.860 --> 00:25:08.600 weeks ago when we talk about family. You know, dads, you have a responsibility to your family. 00:25:08.599 --> 00:25:14.500 You have a God-given responsibility to your family. But you know what? God says family should never 00:25:14.500 --> 00:25:20.099 usurp Him. God says if you're in the right relationship with me, your responsibility to 00:25:20.099 --> 00:25:23.899 your family is going to be in the right place. Your responsibility to your kids are going to be 00:25:23.899 --> 00:25:27.500 in the right place. Your responsibility to your job is going to be in the right place. The one thing we 00:25:27.500 --> 00:25:37.079 see about Daniel is he put the priorities in the right place. And he kept God first. And he testifies 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:47.339 about it here. Notice, look back at our text here in verse 21. Daniel, as he testifies here 00:25:47.339 --> 00:25:55.220 before the king, and then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live forever. My God has sent his angel and 00:25:55.220 --> 00:26:02.460 shut the mouth of the lion's mouth that they may not hurt me, or excuse me, that they have not hurt me 00:26:02.460 --> 00:26:11.180 for as much as before him in his sea was found in me. And also before the O king, have I done no hurt? 00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:20.480 You know, Daniel experienced a very similar deliverance years before unto the king Nebuchadnezzar. 00:26:21.259 --> 00:26:29.420 You know, when we see that dynamic, you know, Daniel chapter three talks about Shadrach, Meshach, 00:26:29.420 --> 00:26:34.580 and Abednego, and it says, when they told him this in verse eight, if it be so, our God whom we serve 00:26:34.580 --> 00:26:40.400 is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, that he will deliver us out of, out of the thine 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:45.440 hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:51.560 the golden image which thou hast set up. You know, the reality is they said God's going to be the priority 00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:59.019 and whatever God does, God does. To trust God to take care of it, God is still going to deliver us 00:26:59.019 --> 00:27:06.859 today. You know, when situations come and people rise up against the truth of God's word, we need to 00:27:06.859 --> 00:27:12.539 trust that God has already got things under control. That we need to be faithful. It doesn't mean we're 00:27:12.539 --> 00:27:18.500 going to be comfortable. God's blessing doesn't mean comfort. God's blessing means that we are secure 00:27:18.500 --> 00:27:23.900 and protected in his hand. But we have a mindset today that God's blessing is equated with comfort. 00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:27.759 You know what? Daniel understood God's blessing isn't equated with comfort. 00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:35.940 God's blessing is equated with faithfulness and consistency. You know, you still are deliver. 00:27:36.099 --> 00:27:40.799 You know, think about what David said in Psalm 18. Psalm 18 verse 2 says, 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:47.440 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust, 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:53.640 my buckler, the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be 00:27:53.640 --> 00:28:02.160 praised. So shall I be saved from mine enemies. You know, we need to trust the Lord. God didn't promise 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:10.980 to always bring physical deliverance. You know, think about what, think about Hebrews chapter 11. 00:28:10.980 --> 00:28:17.839 Hebrews 11 is a chapter of faith. Beginning of there, it talks about the things that they conquered, 00:28:18.039 --> 00:28:23.160 you know, that through faith they did this and through faith they did that. You know, but look 00:28:23.160 --> 00:28:28.120 toward Hebrews chapter 11 for a moment. Let's look down at verse 33, because in that same chapter, 00:28:28.180 --> 00:28:30.640 it mentions some other things. Verse 33, it says, 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:36.880 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:42.260 quenched the violence of the fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:48.840 waxed valiant to fight, turned the flight of the armies of the aliens, and women received their dead 00:28:48.840 --> 00:28:54.620 raised to life again. Boy, that sounds like, whew, all right. That's a good thing. Now look at the rest of 00:28:54.620 --> 00:29:04.320 that. Others were what? Tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection, 00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:11.079 and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings. Yea, moreover, the bonds and imprisonments, 00:29:11.159 --> 00:29:16.419 they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted and were slain with the sword, they wandered in 00:29:16.419 --> 00:29:22.759 sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. 00:29:23.339 --> 00:29:29.179 They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and in caves of the earth. Have you stopped to 00:29:29.180 --> 00:29:35.000 think that God made just as much about their faith as He did about the things that we see physically, 00:29:35.220 --> 00:29:41.420 the victories that they saw physically? He said, the faith of those that were willing to say, 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:47.080 I'm going to serve God no matter what. They may have been tortured or martyred for their faith, 00:29:47.180 --> 00:29:54.519 but they were no less loved by God than those who had been delivered. One may have experienced a 00:29:54.519 --> 00:30:01.259 physical deliverance and the other did not, but both groups experienced God as their refuge and 00:30:01.259 --> 00:30:08.559 their strength in the moment of need. You know what? Daniel trusted God in his moment of need. 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:13.359 There's a lot of trust when Daniel got lowered down into the lion's den. Let's go back to our story 00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:19.099 for a moment. Look back in verse 23 here in Daniel chapter 6. And when the king was exceedingly glad 00:30:19.099 --> 00:30:24.799 for him and commanded that they should take up Daniel up out of the den, so Daniel was taken up 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:31.379 out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him because he believed in his God. 00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:39.119 Now verse 24 tells us how the king was upset for being tricked. Notice verse 24, 00:30:39.199 --> 00:30:44.319 the king commanded and they brought those men that which had accused Daniel and they cast them into the 00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:48.959 den of lions and the lions had the mastery of them and break all their bones in pieces, 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:57.519 or wherever they came at the bottom of the den. You know, Daniel was delivered by God put judgment 00:30:57.519 --> 00:31:02.299 upon the others. You know what? The same is true today as a believer. We will be delivered 00:31:02.299 --> 00:31:09.160 and God will hold those to account who need to be held to account. To trust the Lord in those things, 00:31:09.240 --> 00:31:16.140 we should not be surprised when we encounter envy and oppression and persecution for our faith because, 00:31:16.140 --> 00:31:22.640 you know, you think about Jesus told his disciples, he said, if the world hate you, you know that it hated 00:31:22.640 --> 00:31:29.380 me before it hated you. We live in a world that doesn't love the one who created it. We need to 00:31:29.380 --> 00:31:37.460 understand that perspective, but Jesus also gives us a promise. That promise is very clear. He says, 00:31:37.460 --> 00:31:42.000 I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. No matter what, he's with us. You know what 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:50.700 Daniel understood? That his God was with him no matter what. He said, I'm going to serve God because 00:31:50.700 --> 00:31:55.279 God is with me. God supports me. God's going to take care of me. God's going to provide. God's going to 00:31:55.279 --> 00:32:01.259 protect. God's going to deliver. I need to trust him. You know, if we're to move forward for God, 00:32:01.259 --> 00:32:07.420 if we are to dare to be like Daniel and stand strong in the face of opposition, persecution, 00:32:07.420 --> 00:32:15.200 or difficulty, we need to understand the importance of relying upon God by prayer, to live with 00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:21.940 resilience, to understand the importance of even maintaining our testimony, that excellent spirit 00:32:21.940 --> 00:32:29.599 under oppression. And we need to be people that call and trust and ask God for guidance. Our greatest 00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:36.719 victories for Christ are not won publicly. The greatest victory you'll win for Christ is in private with 00:32:36.719 --> 00:32:46.679 him because that's where your confidence in God is built and your trust is displayed to build you 00:32:46.679 --> 00:32:55.119 with the Lord. And so we see those things with Daniel and in Daniel's life of how he trusted God. 00:32:55.119 --> 00:33:02.899 You know, we need to trust God and to be resilient in the day in which we live and the challenges 00:33:02.899 --> 00:33:12.500 which we face to stand true to God's word. So, you know, amen. Trust me. Good. We've got just a few 00:33:12.500 --> 00:33:19.919 minutes here. Maybe we have some thoughts or questions there from the lesson here on Daniel. And so 00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:26.700 we'll take a few moments here. Anything stand out to you? Maybe kind of made you think a little 00:33:26.700 --> 00:33:34.039 different or maybe just encourage you as we went through that? Your testimony is definitely important. 00:33:34.980 --> 00:33:40.759 You know, we need to have a good testimony with those around us. It's key. Anything else? 00:33:40.759 --> 00:34:03.680 Devil seems to love those dynamics. Take a stand. Yes. 00:34:03.680 --> 00:34:24.700 Yeah. Our choices impact more than ourselves. Darrell? 00:34:24.699 --> 00:34:37.500 You know, testimony is a big thing with Daniel 00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:40.879 of keeping a testimony and keeping it right 00:34:40.879 --> 00:34:42.299 no matter what's going on. 00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:45.319 Because even though he was wronged, 00:34:45.319 --> 00:34:48.679 he didn't change his testimony. 00:34:50.219 --> 00:34:50.960 Stayed true. 00:34:54.699 --> 00:35:01.159 Well, if you read the rest of the chapter, 00:35:01.319 --> 00:35:02.980 you'll find that God had a plan. 00:35:03.919 --> 00:35:05.099 Because you know what Darius did? 00:35:05.139 --> 00:35:07.379 He published a decree throughout the whole land 00:35:07.379 --> 00:35:09.960 talking about Daniel's God. 00:35:11.179 --> 00:35:11.839 Think about that. 00:35:11.899 --> 00:35:13.859 God put Daniel in that circumstance 00:35:13.859 --> 00:35:17.199 that a decree might go forth declaring who he is. 00:35:18.699 --> 00:35:18.879 You know? 00:35:19.879 --> 00:35:23.460 Faithfulness represents the Lord right 00:35:23.460 --> 00:35:26.840 and God can use that in our life.