WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.500 We've made our way to Daniel chapter 6. Let's open up our Bibles to Daniel chapter 6 this morning. 00:00:09.620 --> 00:00:15.120 This will be our last week in the first half of Daniel. We're going to take a break for the summer 00:00:15.120 --> 00:00:20.580 and go through some Psalms together, and then in the fall we'll jump back into the second half of 00:00:20.580 --> 00:00:25.740 Daniel, Lord willing, after the summer. But when you've found Daniel chapter 6 in your Bibles, 00:00:25.739 --> 00:00:29.899 let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word. Daniel chapter 6. 00:00:37.619 --> 00:00:43.840 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom, 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:49.879 and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give an account, 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:55.719 so that the king might suffer no loss. Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the 00:00:55.719 --> 00:01:01.200 other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king planned 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:07.039 to set him over the whole kingdom. Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find ground 00:01:07.039 --> 00:01:12.060 for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint 00:01:12.060 --> 00:01:19.140 or any fault because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. Then these men said, 00:01:19.140 --> 00:01:25.180 we shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel, unless we find it in connection with 00:01:25.180 --> 00:01:31.480 the law of his God. Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:37.099 him, O King Darius, live forever. All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the 00:01:37.099 --> 00:01:43.000 satraps, the counselors and the governors, are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:49.200 an injunction that whoever makes petition to any god or man for 30 days except to you, O King, 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:55.099 shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O King, establish the injunction and sign the document 00:01:55.099 --> 00:02:00.599 so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked. 00:02:01.740 --> 00:02:07.480 Therefore, King Darius signed the document and injunction. When Daniel knew that the document had 00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:13.280 been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. 00:02:13.980 --> 00:02:18.599 He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he had 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:24.780 done previously. Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his 00:02:24.780 --> 00:02:31.659 God. Then they came near and said before the king concerning this injunction, O King, did you not sign 00:02:31.659 --> 00:02:37.439 an injunction that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within 30 days except to you, O King, 00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:43.620 shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing stands fast according 00:02:43.620 --> 00:02:49.479 to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked. Then they answered and said before the 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:56.759 king, Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O King, or the injunction you 00:02:56.759 --> 00:03:03.099 have signed, but makes his petition three times a day. Then the king, when he heard these words, was much 00:03:03.099 --> 00:03:08.239 distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:14.959 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, No, O King, that it is a law of the 00:03:14.959 --> 00:03:21.000 Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed. Then the 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:27.759 king commanded and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:34.539 May your God, whom you serve, continually deliver you. And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth 00:03:34.539 --> 00:03:40.459 of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lord's, that nothing 00:03:40.459 --> 00:03:46.139 might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting, and no 00:03:46.139 --> 00:03:53.859 diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. Then at break of day, the king arose and went in 00:03:53.860 --> 00:03:59.760 haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:06.620 The king declared to Daniel, O Daniel, servants of the living God, has your God, whom you serve 00:04:06.620 --> 00:04:13.600 continually, been able to deliver you from the lions? Then Daniel said to the king, O king, live forever. 00:04:14.380 --> 00:04:20.920 My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:28.520 blameless before him. And also before you, O king, I have done no harm. Then the king was exceedingly glad 00:04:28.520 --> 00:04:34.780 and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind 00:04:34.780 --> 00:04:42.100 of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. And the king commanded, and those men who 00:04:42.100 --> 00:04:48.600 had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions, they, their children, 00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:54.520 and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke 00:04:54.520 --> 00:05:01.879 all their bones in pieces. Then king Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell 00:05:01.879 --> 00:05:09.260 in all the earth, peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in all my royal dominion, people are to 00:05:09.260 --> 00:05:16.960 tremble in fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:24.099 never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues. He works signs and 00:05:24.099 --> 00:05:31.180 wonders in heaven and on earth. He who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions. So this Daniel 00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:40.000 prospered during the reign of Darius, in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. God's word is a lamp to our feet 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:47.980 and a light to our path. Let's pray once more. Father, we ask now again that you would teach us as 00:05:47.980 --> 00:05:55.339 we open your word. Give us clarity that we might understand it, Lord, and give us a heart that we 00:05:55.339 --> 00:06:01.680 might respond to you in worship and obedience. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:12.459 Amen. This morning we have come to what is probably the most well-known passage in the book of Daniel, 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:19.360 and maybe one of the most well-known passages in all of the Old Testament. Daniel and the lion's den. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:25.399 If you grew up coming to church, I'd be willing to bet that this was a familiar story to you growing 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:31.120 up. It's excellent children's ministry material. There is a faithful, good, moral example. 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:37.319 There's danger and a threat. There's an enemy. There's animals, and there's a happy ending, 00:06:37.540 --> 00:06:43.060 right? There's a lot of material here to work with. It's a wonderful story. You may have even 00:06:43.060 --> 00:06:49.280 grown up singing the song, Dare to Be a Daniel. Anybody know that song? Dare to stand alone. 00:06:50.220 --> 00:07:00.180 Dare to have a purpose firm. Dare to make it known. Daniel has come to be known as a model of faithfulness 00:07:00.180 --> 00:07:06.100 for us. He shows us. He shows us what it looks like to live faithfully as a citizen of the kingdom of God, 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:14.199 living here in the kingdom of man. And let me just say, I want to be like Daniel. I want to follow his 00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:21.480 model of faithfulness. I want you to be like Daniel. I want this church to be made up of Daniel's. 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:28.780 But what I hope to do this morning is to deepen our understanding of this familiar story so that 00:07:28.780 --> 00:07:35.040 we understand and we see that the point of this book and the point of Daniel's life, the point of 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:43.180 Daniel chapter 6 and this familiar story of Daniel and the lion's den ultimately is not Daniel and his 00:07:43.180 --> 00:07:51.560 faithfulness. But that Daniel and the lion's den ultimately is about Jesus and his faithfulness 00:07:51.560 --> 00:08:00.980 and his victory over the grave and his kingdom and his glory. So to that end this morning, we're going 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:07.680 to see three lessons in faithfulness. Three lessons in faithfulness. If you're taking notes, this will be 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:15.259 our outline this morning. We'll see three lessons in faithfulness. First is that your faithfulness will be 00:08:15.259 --> 00:08:24.500 hated here in the kingdom of man. Your faithfulness to the Lord will be hated. Look there starting in verse 00:08:24.500 --> 00:08:30.980 one. Once again, we have a new king. We've been through this over and over again. We had Nebuchadnezzar and 00:08:30.980 --> 00:08:37.360 then we had Belshazzar and now we have Darius the Mede. A lot has changed over six chapters of Daniel. We've been 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:44.720 through seven decades that have come and gone. Again, Daniel is now about 80 years old. But through all of 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:51.480 this, Daniel has proven himself to be faithful. He's trustworthy. And once again, we see that he's 00:08:51.480 --> 00:08:57.919 rising up in power here in this fallen kingdom of man. In fact, we're told that Daniel was just one of 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:04.019 one of just three high officials whom Darius set over the whole kingdom. In verse 3, it says that Daniel 00:09:04.019 --> 00:09:09.319 became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps. Why? Because an excellent 00:09:09.319 --> 00:09:17.860 spirit was in him. And the king had plans to set him over the whole kingdom. Daniel was a man of 00:09:17.860 --> 00:09:23.879 character. He was a faithful man. He was a genuine man of God. He was an honest man. Listen to this. He was a 00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:29.659 trustworthy, God-fearing, honest politician. Okay? If you can even imagine such a thing. 00:09:29.659 --> 00:09:37.699 Verse 4, of course, tells us that that didn't sit well with the rest of the officials. Verse 4 00:09:37.699 --> 00:09:43.000 tells us that the high officials and the satraps, they sought to find ground for complaint against 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:51.579 Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they couldn't because he was faithful. No error or fault was found 00:09:51.579 --> 00:09:57.559 in him. So they said, well, we won't find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in 00:09:57.559 --> 00:10:02.759 connection with the law of his God. Don't you want that to be said of you? 00:10:04.099 --> 00:10:11.819 This is blamelessness. And they hated him for it. They did not like that he was a blameless man of God, 00:10:11.959 --> 00:10:18.259 that he, a Jew, had a position of authority in their kingdom, but they couldn't dig up any dirt on him 00:10:18.259 --> 00:10:22.939 and that just made them all the more mad. Now, I'll tell you a quick story because this is 00:10:22.940 --> 00:10:27.280 this is a real life experience here. There's a pastor who I know 00:10:27.280 --> 00:10:32.100 who had upset someone with a decision that he made, right? Imagine that. 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:37.920 He hadn't done anything wrong, but the guy was mad and eventually 00:10:37.920 --> 00:10:44.180 the pastor found out secondhand that this upset individual had hired a private investigator 00:10:44.180 --> 00:10:49.820 to look into the pastor and try and dig up whatever dirt he could find on him 00:10:49.820 --> 00:10:55.460 so that he could turn and use that against him. And as I talked to him, you know, of course, we were, 00:10:55.560 --> 00:11:02.140 we were sad for the whole situation and sad for this individual that he would, he would stoop to that 00:11:02.140 --> 00:11:06.879 level, but we had to laugh because we just said, you know, this private investigator, he's going to be 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:15.600 bored stiff because there's no scandal to be found. There's no secret life. There's no, no hidden agenda. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:21.320 There's, there's no secret affair, no double life. The investigator, if he was out there following this 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:26.740 pastor around, all he would see was, was a man waking up, having a cup of coffee and going into 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:31.779 his office, praying, reading the words, studying, meeting with members, going back home, maybe stopping 00:11:31.779 --> 00:11:37.960 for gas on the way, play with the kids, kiss his wife goodnight, wake up, do it all again the next day. 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:46.980 The scheme didn't work because, because the pastor in this matter was, was blameless. And that's exactly 00:11:46.980 --> 00:11:52.480 what's going on here, here with Daniel. So these men, they had a bright idea that, well, we'll just use 00:11:52.480 --> 00:12:00.500 his faithfulness against him. We'll use his connection, his devotion to the law of God against him. So verse 00:12:00.500 --> 00:12:05.759 six, it says they came by agreement to the king and they, they start pandering to the king. Look at this, 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:13.200 verse six. Now, oh, King Darius lived forever. All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects, 00:12:13.379 --> 00:12:19.279 and the satraps, the counselors, and the governors are all agreed that the king should establish an 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:24.899 ordinance and enforce an injunction that whoever makes petition to any god or man for 30 days, 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:31.519 except to you, oh king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now sign it, quick, right? Put it into law, 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:35.519 quick, so that it can't be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:40.059 cannot be revoked. And we read this, we can see right through their plan, can't we? 00:12:41.079 --> 00:12:47.039 They're puffing up the king. They're, they're once again appealing to the pride of the king. And we've 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:52.799 seen this with Nebuchadnezzar and with Belshazzar, the pride that runs through all, all of the kingdom 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:59.139 of man. And now we see it again with, with Darius. He's, he's biting the hook that they've set with this 00:12:59.139 --> 00:13:05.740 bait of pride. And they're telling him that the king ought to set himself up in the position of God, 00:13:06.259 --> 00:13:13.319 that he should receive the people's prayers, that he should be the ultimate authority and judge of 00:13:13.319 --> 00:13:19.139 those who refuse him, that his word ought to be unchangeable and cannot be revoked. You see how 00:13:19.139 --> 00:13:24.779 they're, they're elevating this king into the position of God alone. And he takes the bait. He 00:13:24.779 --> 00:13:33.699 signs it into law. Their hateful plan is working. And here's the truth of it all. And we've seen this 00:13:33.699 --> 00:13:42.000 over and over and over again already, six chapters into Daniel, right? God's people will be hated here 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:48.539 in the kingdom of man. Let me say that again. I want to make sure this is clear. God's people, 00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:56.199 if you're faithful to the Lord, God's people will be hated here in the kingdom of man. Why? 00:13:57.339 --> 00:14:05.360 Because by the grace of God, we no longer belong to the kingdom of man. Jesus told us in John chapter 15 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:13.899 that if you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, 00:14:13.899 --> 00:14:22.559 but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. If you are faithful to the Lord 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:30.939 here in the kingdom of man, people might hate you. Now I wonder, are we prepared for this? 00:14:32.579 --> 00:14:39.779 The enemy hates you. If you would be faithful to the Lord here and now in the kingdom of man, 00:14:39.779 --> 00:14:46.879 you will be hated here. Are you prepared for this? So here's what this might look like. It might look 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:53.399 like maybe you used to go out every weekend with your friends and you would party and drink and 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:58.699 drink yourself drunk and have a good time. But now you've, by the grace of God, put your faith in 00:14:58.699 --> 00:15:04.439 Christ and now you want to honor him with your life. And so you say, I'm no longer going to be a part 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:11.060 of that. I'm no longer going to do that. Your friends may respond really well to that or they 00:15:11.060 --> 00:15:17.880 may hate you for that. They may resent you for that and say that you're now holier than thou and 00:15:17.880 --> 00:15:22.680 you think you're better than them and they may turn against you for that. I wonder if that's happened 00:15:22.680 --> 00:15:29.280 to any of you. Or here's another example and maybe you felt some of these tensions in the workplace. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:37.699 It's the last Sunday in May and in our country here in the year 2024, the month of June, is nationally 00:15:37.699 --> 00:15:49.699 recognized as LGBTQIA plus pride month. It used to be LGBT pride month. Now it's LGBTQIA plus pride month. 00:15:49.740 --> 00:15:56.799 And this is a real struggle for people who work, for Christians who work in the secular workplace. 00:15:56.799 --> 00:16:03.699 It presents some real tensions for those who interact in a daily basis here in the kingdom 00:16:03.699 --> 00:16:09.539 of man. That plus at the end of that acronym is a good indicator that is an ever-expanding 00:16:09.539 --> 00:16:17.459 and ever-increasing definition of what must be approved of and accepted or we're deemed to 00:16:17.460 --> 00:16:28.200 be hateful and bigoted and mean-spirited and non-tolerant and hypocritical. I wonder if we're 00:16:28.200 --> 00:16:35.379 prepared. What will it cost you to not participate in whatever pride month has for us in the month of 00:16:35.379 --> 00:16:40.700 June? God's people, we have to understand that faithfulness to the Lord here in the kingdom of man, 00:16:40.700 --> 00:16:48.940 it will earn us hatred. But it's times like this when the pressure is turned up. These times are 00:16:48.940 --> 00:16:57.680 times when our faith is tested and the genuineness of our faith is proved, which is the second lesson 00:16:57.680 --> 00:17:06.960 here. Second, our faithfulness here in the kingdom of man will be tested. I love how Daniel responds to 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:13.120 all of this drama. Look there to verse 10. It says, when Daniel knew that the document had been signed, 00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:19.420 he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem, and he got down 00:17:19.420 --> 00:17:25.259 on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God just as he had done 00:17:25.259 --> 00:17:31.460 previously. In other words, this is a test of Daniel's faithfulness, and what does he do? 00:17:31.460 --> 00:17:39.620 Daniel doesn't change a thing, does he? He proves the genuineness of his faith here in this test, and 00:17:39.620 --> 00:17:45.980 I want to focus in here on Daniel's prayer for a little bit. We've talked a lot about prayer this 00:17:45.980 --> 00:17:50.000 year. I don't know if you remember at the beginning of the year, we said this was going to be a focus 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:56.920 for us. We want to be a praying church. I don't think that anything we seek to accomplish by the 00:17:56.920 --> 00:18:02.460 grace of God is going to be accomplished apart from prayer. So let's learn from Daniel's prayer here. 00:18:02.539 --> 00:18:10.220 For one, this is a rebellious prayer. It's a rebellious prayer. Daniel's faced with a choice. 00:18:10.320 --> 00:18:17.140 Do I listen to the king, or do I listen to God? And again, we saw this. We faced this issue with 00:18:17.140 --> 00:18:22.860 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, didn't we? And what did we learn? We learned that we are called to obey, 00:18:22.859 --> 00:18:28.799 we're called to obey our earthly authorities, except, do you remember? Except in two cases, 00:18:29.699 --> 00:18:37.779 when they command us to do something God forbids, or they forbid us to do something God commands. 00:18:38.679 --> 00:18:43.679 We're called to obey our earthly authorities, except in the case where they command us to do something 00:18:43.679 --> 00:18:49.619 God forbids, or forbid us to do something God commands. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they were 00:18:49.619 --> 00:18:55.839 commanded to do something God forbids. They were commanded to bow down to an idol. Well, Daniel here, 00:18:55.899 --> 00:19:02.979 he's forbidden to do something God commands, to seek him in prayer. At first glance, you know, 00:19:03.019 --> 00:19:08.199 the reasonable thing might be, it seems like it might be, well, maybe I'll just lay low. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:14.519 Maybe that might be the approach you would take. It's just 30 days. Maybe I'll just go pray quietly 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:19.619 without anybody seeing me. I won't open up the windows and go pray in public, but that's not 00:19:19.619 --> 00:19:26.359 what Daniel does. He doesn't let these threats and these laws change anything about his devotion to 00:19:26.359 --> 00:19:34.180 the Lord. He went up, opened up the windows three times a day, just like before, and he prayed. 00:19:35.420 --> 00:19:41.420 It's a rebellious prayer. And think about this. Daniel made the decision, he was resolved, 00:19:41.420 --> 00:19:47.740 that he would rather be thrown to the lions than to change anything about his prayer life for 30 days. 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:54.800 I wonder if we feel the same way. This was a rebellious prayer. It was also clear this was a 00:19:54.800 --> 00:20:01.779 regular prayer. This was a regular prayer. This was a habit for Daniel. This wasn't a new discipline 00:20:01.779 --> 00:20:07.120 that he started up at this moment in response to the test. He just did what he had always done. He 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:13.259 prayed just as he had done before. Daniel was prepared for this moment of defiant prayer. Why? 00:20:13.619 --> 00:20:21.299 Because he had flexed this muscle of prayer day in, day out, three times a day for something like 80 00:20:21.299 --> 00:20:28.679 years. He was disciplined in prayer so that when this weight of resistance came against him, that muscle 00:20:28.679 --> 00:20:34.759 of prayer was so strong and so developed that for him it's lightweight. He just carries on just like 00:20:34.759 --> 00:20:42.579 he had done before. And I think it prompts us to ask the question, Christian, how regular is our 00:20:42.579 --> 00:20:52.119 prayer life? How frequent are we coming to the Lord in prayer? How strong is the muscle of your 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:57.420 prayer life? Or let me ask it a different way. Would anything change about your life if you were told 00:20:57.420 --> 00:21:05.180 for 30 days you had to stop praying? This is rebellious prayer. It's regular prayer. It's also 00:21:05.180 --> 00:21:12.200 remembering prayer. Look how Daniel prays. Do you notice this? He opens up the windows and it says he 00:21:12.200 --> 00:21:20.039 prays toward Jerusalem. Now why in the world would he do that? The city of Jerusalem is in rubble. 00:21:20.039 --> 00:21:28.019 It's been destroyed. The temple is gone. His home is burned to the ground. Why is he praying in the 00:21:28.019 --> 00:21:37.220 direction of Jerusalem? Well, Daniel is praying, remembering God's promises. He's praying. In prayer, 00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:44.279 he would be reminded again and again and again and again that this earthly kingdom that he's a part of 00:21:44.279 --> 00:21:50.819 is not home for him. Now whoever happens to be seated on the throne in this phase of the kingdom 00:21:50.819 --> 00:21:58.119 of man, ultimately that the Lord is king. He's remembering the promises of God. His prayer is 00:21:58.119 --> 00:22:06.000 putting all things into perspective for him. You see, Daniel, he was successful in Babylon. He could 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:10.960 have been comfortable. He could have had whatever he wanted there. There was only one or two or three guys 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:17.160 in the whole kingdom that were more influential than Daniel, but here he is faithfully praying and 00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:26.500 reminding himself that this isn't home for me. That God has something better ahead of me that's not a 00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:31.779 part of this kingdom of man. He's remembering his true treasure. He's remembering his true hope. And, 00:22:31.860 --> 00:22:38.200 you know, that's one of the powerful effects of prayer, isn't it? Prayer helps us to maintain an 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:45.240 eternal perspective regardless of what's happening here in the here and now. Whether you're extremely 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:51.559 successful here in the kingdom of man like Daniel, or whether you have nothing whatsoever here in the 00:22:51.559 --> 00:22:59.600 kingdom of man. Prayer, it reminds us of our true identity and our true eternal hope. We're reminded of 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:10.980 God's promises. So, lastly here, we see this was a responding prayer. A responding prayer. Verse 10 00:23:10.980 --> 00:23:21.159 says, Daniel gave thanks to his God just as he had done previously. It's a prayer of thankfulness. 00:23:22.019 --> 00:23:28.199 A prayer of thanksgiving. You just think about this, right? If anybody had the right to pray a prayer of 00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:37.160 of panic or desperation, if anybody had the right to pray an anxious prayer, it was Daniel. What in the 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:43.680 world did Daniel have to give thanks for? He's stuck here against his will in a kingdom that he does not 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:50.000 want to be a part of. He has threats against his life. He knows that if he prays this prayer in public, 00:23:50.080 --> 00:23:55.680 he's going to be thrown to a den of lions. And yet, what's the posture of his prayer? It's one of 00:23:55.680 --> 00:24:05.519 thankfulness. Gratitude. Response to who the Lord is and what the Lord has done. Paul tells us in 1 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:15.000 Thessalonians chapter 5, rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. 00:24:16.140 --> 00:24:23.660 For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. This is what we're called to, church. 00:24:23.660 --> 00:24:31.000 And we're called to seek the Lord with a posture of thanksgiving. And you may not be going through any 00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:37.060 sort of testing of your faithfulness right now, but you will. So, church, let's commit right now 00:24:37.060 --> 00:24:46.380 that we will be a faithfully praying church. Will you do that with me? Now, I'll give you an application 00:24:46.380 --> 00:24:51.500 here. I just want to give you one application here before we move on. For the month of June, 00:24:51.500 --> 00:24:59.940 I want to give us sort of a reverse edict of Darius's command here. Okay? So, for 30 days, 00:25:00.019 --> 00:25:05.619 there's 30 days in the month of June. It starts Saturday, June 1st. This church, for 30 days, 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:14.980 I want us to commit to pray. Three times a day. We will seek the Lord. This Saturday gives us a few 00:25:14.980 --> 00:25:20.640 days to prepare. Saturday, June 1st is when we start. But for 30 days, let's commit to one another. 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:27.580 Let's commit to the Lord. Let's commit to ourselves that we will get on our knees and pray to the Lord 00:25:27.580 --> 00:25:35.800 three times a day. Is that a high ask for us? Let's commit that we will ask the Lord to save our 00:25:35.800 --> 00:25:46.100 neighbors. Let's commit that we will ask the Lord to grow His church. Let's commit that we will ask the 00:25:46.099 --> 00:25:51.039 Lord to sustain us through trial, whether we're in the midst of it right now or whatever might be 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:56.240 around the corner for us. Ask that the Lord will sustain us through suffering. That we would ask 00:25:56.240 --> 00:26:04.759 that the Lord would magnify the glory of His name in the gospel of Jesus Christ among us here at Seawee Bay. 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:11.019 And for 30 days, let's commit that we will give thanks to the Lord in all circumstances. Whatever it is 00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:16.319 that is going on in our life that we would remember His promises and give thanks for who He is and what 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:18.960 He's done. Can we commit to do this in the month of June? 00:26:21.460 --> 00:26:27.039 If you will, here's what I want you to do. I want you sometime before Saturday, okay? We have a few 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:32.819 days, six days to work this out. Sometime before Saturday, I want you to take pen and paper and I want 00:26:32.819 --> 00:26:38.879 you to write down some specific prayers that you want to see the Lord answer. And it's very practical 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:44.220 here. Write down some specific prayers. Start with yourself. Move out to your family. Move to your 00:26:44.220 --> 00:26:49.280 church family. Move to your neighborhood and your community, to the world. And we want to pray physical 00:26:49.280 --> 00:26:56.720 things. Of course, that's important. But emphasize spiritual things. What do you want to see the Lord do 00:26:56.720 --> 00:27:04.040 spiritually in your heart? How are you asking the Lord to grow you and to change you more into the image 00:27:04.039 --> 00:27:09.659 of Christ? Who are you praying that the Lord would draw to Himself? What are the ways that this church 00:27:09.659 --> 00:27:15.139 needs to grow? 30 days of prayer. Let's see what God does. 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:23.819 Pen and paper and then set three alarms. It could be on your watch, on your phone. 00:27:24.879 --> 00:27:28.519 Alarm clock at home. I don't really care what it is, but when those alarms go off, it's time. 00:27:28.519 --> 00:27:36.059 Whatever else you have going on. Pause. Put it off to the side. Commit yourself to prayer. Church, 00:27:36.099 --> 00:27:42.759 let's build up this muscle of prayer so that when trials come, we will be ready to simply do as we've 00:27:42.759 --> 00:27:51.819 always done. Amen? Church, our faithfulness will be hated. Our faithfulness will be tested. But third, 00:27:51.819 --> 00:28:00.179 and lastly, in the end, Daniel teaches us that our faithfulness will be vindicated. Our faithfulness 00:28:00.179 --> 00:28:07.639 will be vindicated. Our ultimate hope and our confidence is that although is hated here in this 00:28:07.639 --> 00:28:13.559 kingdom, our faithfulness to the Lord will ultimately be vindicated in the kingdom to come. 00:28:14.019 --> 00:28:20.439 Look there to verse 11. Verse 11, it says that these men, they came by agreement and they found 00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:26.420 Daniel praying and pleading before God. And so in their minds, their plan had worked. And they come 00:28:26.420 --> 00:28:31.140 to the king and they reminded him, hey, hey, didn't you sign one of these unchangeable laws that anyone 00:28:31.140 --> 00:28:36.160 who prays to a God but you would be thrown to the lions? And he says, yeah, that was your idea. I signed 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:43.960 that law. And they told him, Daniel has rebelled. He doesn't listen to you. He continues to pray three 00:28:43.960 --> 00:28:51.019 times a day. And at this, to his credit, the king is distressed. He doesn't wish harm upon Daniel. He 00:28:51.019 --> 00:28:56.340 sets his mind to deliver him. He labored till sun went down to deliver him. But the men come again 00:28:56.340 --> 00:29:02.480 by agreement. And they say, well, oh king, let me just remind you that it's a law of the Medes and 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:07.980 the Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king has established can ever be changed. So his 00:29:07.980 --> 00:29:14.319 hands are bound. And verse 16 says, the king commanded and Daniel was brought and cast into the 00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:24.460 den of lions. As he goes down, he shouts, may God, whom you continually serve, deliver you. And a stone 00:29:24.460 --> 00:29:32.019 was brought and laid on the mouth of the den. And to everyone watching, Daniel was as good as dead. 00:29:32.019 --> 00:29:42.940 But, but, verse 19, it says, as soon as morning came, the king jumps out of bed and he rushes to 00:29:42.940 --> 00:29:47.559 the den of lions. And it says that he cried out in anguish, oh Daniel, servant of the living God, 00:29:47.680 --> 00:29:52.599 has your God whom you serve continually, has he been able to deliver you from the lions? 00:29:52.599 --> 00:30:05.139 And he hears a voice. It's Daniel's voice. And he says, oh king, live forever. My God sent his angel 00:30:05.139 --> 00:30:11.179 and shut the lions' mouths and they have not harmed me because I was found blameless before him and also 00:30:11.179 --> 00:30:18.959 before you, oh king, I have done no harm. Daniel was brought out of the den. No harm was found on him. 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:29.160 Why? Because he had faithfully trusted in his God. This is a vindication of Daniel's faithfulness. 00:30:29.259 --> 00:30:35.920 It's because of his blamelessness. It's because of his trust in the Lord that the Lord delivered him 00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:43.860 from the sentence of death. This is a miracle. But not only this, once again, look, see what happens. 00:30:43.859 --> 00:30:50.740 Verse 24, the king commanded and those men who had accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of 00:30:50.740 --> 00:30:55.919 lions, they, their children, and their wives. And before they even reached the bottom of the den, 00:30:55.979 --> 00:31:00.000 the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones into pieces. 00:31:02.539 --> 00:31:09.219 King Darius issues a new edict to all the peoples, nations, and languages, and all the earth. He says, 00:31:09.220 --> 00:31:15.440 in all my royal dominion, people are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God 00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:22.960 enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and 00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:29.680 rescues. He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth. He who has saved Daniel from the power 00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:35.460 of the lions. Let's zoom out again of this familiar story for just a minute. 00:31:35.460 --> 00:31:46.059 The faithful are hated. The enemy tries to snuff them out. But in the end, they are vindicated, 00:31:46.259 --> 00:31:53.299 they are redeemed, they are exalted and promoted, and their enemies are judged, and God is praised in 00:31:53.299 --> 00:32:00.420 all the earth. Haven't we seen this story before? We're cycling again and again. This is the story of 00:32:00.420 --> 00:32:11.320 all of God's people here in the kingdom of man. This is our story. Daniel, again, is a model for us of 00:32:11.320 --> 00:32:17.519 what faithfulness looks like to the Lord here in the kingdom of man. But as I said at the beginning 00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:24.980 of our time together this morning, all of this is not ultimately about Daniel. All of this story is 00:32:24.980 --> 00:32:33.660 pointing us forward to the perfect faithfulness of Jesus Christ. My boys have a book. It's called 00:32:33.660 --> 00:32:36.200 Jesus in the Lion's Den. 00:32:37.900 --> 00:32:43.559 And it's meant to teach them that the story of Daniel, and all the Old Testament really, but the story of 00:32:43.559 --> 00:32:51.620 Daniel is ultimately pointing us forward to Jesus. It's not just moral lessons of how to act and how to be, 00:32:51.619 --> 00:32:57.839 how to be better, how to be like Daniel, how to dare to be a Daniel. Daniel isn't about Daniel. Daniel is 00:32:57.839 --> 00:33:05.399 about Jesus. And so the book, it has us look for what it calls Jesus moments. And this is, 00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:10.879 anytime in the story of Daniel that something is happening that points us forward to Jesus, and 00:33:10.879 --> 00:33:16.239 so on the pages, every time you see this image of a special lion on the page, you know that there's 00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:23.380 there's a Jesus moment that we're supposed to be looking for. I wonder if, as we read through 00:33:23.380 --> 00:33:32.079 Daniel chapter 6, if you heard any Jesus moments in Daniel's story. Any echoes of the work of Christ 00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:40.480 to come. Daniel was committed to faithful obedience to the Lord. Even though he lived here in enemy 00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:47.319 territory, he sought the Lord consistently, constantly, faithfully, so Jesus, the true man of God, 00:33:48.120 --> 00:33:54.539 fully and perfectly obeyed the Lord in every moment. Although he was tempted and tried in every way as we are 00:33:54.539 --> 00:34:03.720 yet without sin. Daniel was completely innocent in this matter, but the enemies of God hated his 00:34:03.720 --> 00:34:09.059 faithfulness. They conspired against him. They conspired and made a scheme to put him to death, 00:34:09.119 --> 00:34:16.940 much like Jesus, who never sinned, who was truly and totally innocent, and who was put to an unfair 00:34:16.940 --> 00:34:26.260 trial and condemned to death as a criminal, although he had done no wrong. Daniel was thrown to the lions, 00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:33.659 and Darius shouted out, may your God save you. Jesus was hung on a cross, and they shouted, he trusts in God. 00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:43.599 Let God deliver him now. They rolled the stone on top of the den of lions, and Daniel was as good as dead, 00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:50.539 but by the grace of God, death did not overcome him. God rescued him. He was vindicated. The very next day, 00:34:50.619 --> 00:34:56.039 he was brought out of the pit, and his enemies were judged, and no injury whatsoever was found on him 00:34:56.039 --> 00:35:05.300 because he had believed in his God. So Jesus faced the sentence of death. He took on the kingdom of 00:35:05.300 --> 00:35:11.739 darkness. Not a bone was broken, but there is a difference. Jesus didn't escape death. 00:35:11.739 --> 00:35:23.079 He took it head on for us, for our sin. And Jesus truly did die. He truly did bear the wrath of God 00:35:23.079 --> 00:35:34.000 against sin, not his sin, but our sin. But death could not hold him in. He had no claim on him. Jesus 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:41.280 Christ alone was completely blameless. Jesus Christ alone faithfully obeyed the Lord all his life, and so 00:35:41.280 --> 00:35:48.579 Jesus Christ on the third day rose from the grave never to die again. He crushed the powers of sin and 00:35:48.579 --> 00:35:56.380 darkness, nailed our sin to the cross, destroyed the kingdom of man, emptied it completely of his power, 00:35:56.380 --> 00:36:03.240 and when he comes again, listen to this, all who put their faith in him will be vindicated, and all his 00:36:03.240 --> 00:36:10.840 enemies will be judged. In a way that makes this devouring of the mouth of the lion, breaking all the 00:36:10.840 --> 00:36:19.880 bones into pieces look small. The schemes of the enemy will be undone at last, and God will be praised in 00:36:19.880 --> 00:36:25.039 all the earth when our Lord returns. Friend, this story is about Jesus. 00:36:27.900 --> 00:36:34.860 So here's where we close. If you are not a believer, and you're here with us this morning, 00:36:35.980 --> 00:36:40.220 the response for you isn't to try harder to be more faithful to God. 00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:46.360 The response to you is not to try to be like Daniel. That will never work. 00:36:46.360 --> 00:36:51.099 If you're here, and you're not a believer this morning, the response for you 00:36:51.099 --> 00:37:01.420 is to put your faith in Jesus Christ. Put your faith in the one who totally, completely obeyed where 00:37:01.420 --> 00:37:08.400 all of us have failed, and totally, completely defeated sin, death, and the devil on our behalf, 00:37:08.539 --> 00:37:15.120 for all who put their faith in him. And as you live here trusting in him, believer, whatever 00:37:15.119 --> 00:37:21.019 test lies ahead of us, the response for us is cling to Jesus. 00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:33.699 Remain faithful to Jesus. Seek Jesus. If you have failed to be faithful to the Lord, and we all have 00:37:33.699 --> 00:37:39.339 failed to be faithful to the Lord, if you have failed, remember that you're standing before God. 00:37:39.340 --> 00:37:49.240 Your hope of eternal life is not based on your faithfulness, but on the perfect faithfulness of Jesus Christ. 00:37:49.380 --> 00:37:57.539 So cling to him. He has delivered us, and he will deliver us again when he comes at last. 00:37:58.460 --> 00:37:58.980 Let's pray. 00:37:58.980 --> 00:37:59.000 Let's pray. 00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:16.800 Lord Jesus, we praise you for the good news of the gospel that we see so clearly here in the book of Daniel. 00:38:16.800 --> 00:38:24.560 Daniel, his faithfulness, his faithfulness, his obedience, his suffering, and his victory over the grave 00:38:24.560 --> 00:38:28.340 is just a small glimmer of the work that you have done. 00:38:29.480 --> 00:38:35.400 That's our only hope, God, is that you sent your son in our place to die, to live, to rise. 00:38:35.400 --> 00:38:43.519 And so we pray, Father, that we would live faithfully for your glory and honor, trusting in him completely to save us. 00:38:43.580 --> 00:38:45.740 We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:38:45.739 --> 00:38:45.879 Amen.