WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.660 Amen. 00:00:01.260 --> 00:00:05.339 I'm going to read scripture now from the book of Daniel. 00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:06.400 ! This is the passage. 00:00:06.740 --> 00:00:09.919 Corey's going to come and preach to us very shortly. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:09.919 ! 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.219 And over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should 00:00:36.219 --> 00:00:39.380 give account so that the king might suffer no loss. 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:44.000 Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, 00:00:44.200 --> 00:00:46.140 because an excellent spirit was in him. 00:00:46.760 --> 00:00:48.799 And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 00:00:49.500 --> 00:00:54.579 Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel 00:00:54.579 --> 00:00:56.120 with regard to the kingdom. 00:00:56.119 --> 00:01:01.640 But they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:03.320 no error or fault was found in him. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:09.159 Then these men said, we shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel, unless we 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:11.579 find it in connection with the law of his God. 00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:17.179 Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, O 00:01:17.179 --> 00:01:18.479 King Darius, live forever. 00:01:19.219 --> 00:01:24.140 All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the councillors and 00:01:24.140 --> 00:01:29.340 the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction 00:01:29.340 --> 00:01:35.480 that whoever makes petition to any God or man for 30 days except you, O King, shall be 00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:37.299 cast into the den of lions. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:44.000 Now, O King, establish the injunction and sign the document so that it cannot be changed according 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:47.340 to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked. 00:01:48.099 --> 00:01:51.659 Therefore, King Darius signed the document and injunction. 00:01:51.659 --> 00:01:56.739 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had 00:01:56.739 --> 00:01:59.700 windows in his upper chamber towards Jerusalem. 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:05.859 He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as 00:02:05.859 --> 00:02:06.819 he had done previously. 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:12.439 Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:18.039 Then they came near and said before the king concerning the injunction, O King, did you not 00:02:18.039 --> 00:02:23.199 sign an injunction that anyone who makes petition to any God or man within 30 days except you, 00:02:23.359 --> 00:02:26.319 O King, shall be cast into the den of lions? 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:32.079 The king answered and said, the thing stands fast according to the law of the Medes and the 00:02:32.079 --> 00:02:33.519 Persians, which cannot be revoked. 00:02:34.299 --> 00:02:39.280 Then they answered and said before the king, Daniel, who's one of the exiles from Judah, 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:45.159 pays no attention to you, O King, or the injunction you've signed, but makes his petition three times 00:02:45.159 --> 00:02:45.520 a day. 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:51.680 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:52.079 Daniel. 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:55.400 And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 00:02:56.300 --> 00:03:02.039 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, no, O King, that is a 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:06.460 law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be 00:03:06.460 --> 00:03:06.879 changed. 00:03:07.539 --> 00:03:11.840 Then the king commanded and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:17.520 The king declared to Daniel, may your gods, whom you serve continually, deliver you. 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:23.020 And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:27.920 own signet and with the signet of his lords that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:32.219 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:37.000 No diversions were brought to him and sleep fled from him. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.960 Then at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:46.580 As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:52.000 The king declared to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:54.159 continually, been able to deliver you from the lions? 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:58.159 Then Daniel said to the king, O King, live forever. 00:03:58.920 --> 00:04:02.099 My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths. 00:04:02.099 --> 00:04:05.900 And they've not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him. 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:09.280 And also before you, O King, I have done no harm. 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:15.159 Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:19.860 So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, 00:04:20.279 --> 00:04:22.620 because he had trusted in his God. 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:23.860 Amen. 00:04:24.100 --> 00:04:25.759 This is God's holy word. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:25.920 Amen. 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:36.920 I've been wrestling with a tooth abscess for a few days, and I'm losing the battle. 00:04:37.520 --> 00:04:42.780 And that means that my diction may be worse than normal today, even more American. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:49.060 And it also means that I may have my head in my notes a little bit more than normal. 00:04:49.400 --> 00:04:50.480 So pardon me for that. 00:04:52.100 --> 00:04:53.600 It's a very familiar story. 00:04:53.780 --> 00:04:55.520 Daniel 6, Daniel and the lion's den. 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:56.639 It's so famous. 00:04:57.259 --> 00:05:01.560 It's a bedtime story, a story that lots of people know in and outside the church. 00:05:02.099 --> 00:05:04.459 That's part of the problem, is that it is so famous. 00:05:04.620 --> 00:05:08.899 And so when stories are very famous, we miss what's so distinctive about them. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:10.180 We often miss the details. 00:05:11.139 --> 00:05:17.859 Just to get your historical bearings on where we are in Daniel, Babylon had conquered Jerusalem. 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:24.060 Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Jerusalem and brought exiles in 605 B.C. over to the city of Babylon. 00:05:24.060 --> 00:05:28.040 But now Babylon has been defeated by the Persian kingdom. 00:05:28.379 --> 00:05:29.399 And Darius is king. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:33.060 And Darius is 62 years old, and he's a Median. 00:05:33.379 --> 00:05:39.579 The Medians, the Medes, were part of a separate kingdom from Persia that Persia took over at some point. 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:45.879 This is all in the location we now know is Iran today, near Kurdistan, where we would know Kurdistan today. 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:50.699 And Darius is ethnically a Mede, but leading the Persian kingdom. 00:05:51.379 --> 00:05:52.699 And he's the king here. 00:05:53.399 --> 00:06:01.000 And the subplot, one of the subplots, it's not the main point today, but a subplot throughout this book is that you will have seen power is always shifting. 00:06:01.620 --> 00:06:04.560 Whoever leads today will not be leading tomorrow. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:12.420 And it's very important to realize that the rise and fall story of the kingdoms is all present throughout this book. 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:19.639 And it teaches us that we've got to look for a better kingdom than the shifting sands of political leaders will give us. 00:06:20.340 --> 00:06:23.879 Whoever leads today will be gone tomorrow, and that's very present throughout this book. 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:28.300 So here we are, a brand new kingdom, the Persians instead of the Babylonians. 00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:38.340 Now the literary context, so important to remember if you've been around, you'll have heard this several times already, but chapter 2 to chapter 7 is in Aramaic, not Hebrew. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:46.259 And in this Aramaic section, it's called a chiasm, meaning the different chapters correspond to each other. 00:06:46.420 --> 00:06:49.420 It works like this, A, B, C, C, B, A. 00:06:50.019 --> 00:06:52.379 So chapter 2 and chapter 7 are in parallel. 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:55.460 Chapter 3 and chapter 6, that's where we are today. 00:06:55.900 --> 00:06:57.000 Chapter 4 and chapter 5. 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:00.060 So we've already reached the middle, and now we're working our way back out to the corners. 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:03.939 And today, chapter 3 and 6 are the ones that correspond. 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:05.620 And you'll hear why immediately. 00:07:05.899 --> 00:07:07.899 Chapter 3 is about the fiery furnace. 00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:10.060 Chapter 6 is about the lion's den. 00:07:10.060 --> 00:07:16.319 So in chapter 3 and chapter 6, you've got these young men who are faithful to the real God, the Lord, 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:21.500 who are asked to bow down and worship a king as a god, and they refuse. 00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:23.980 And so they're sent into the pit. 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:27.759 The fiery furnace on the one hand or the lion's den on the other. 00:07:28.279 --> 00:07:30.420 And the question is fairly obvious. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:38.959 It's something like, are you willing to count the cost of faithfulness to the real God, even if it costs you everything? 00:07:39.740 --> 00:07:41.000 Even if it costs you your life? 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:43.339 That's the question of chapter 3 and chapter 6. 00:07:43.339 --> 00:07:48.519 But the fact that we've got two of these stories, and they're parallel to each other, 00:07:48.779 --> 00:07:54.720 the author is trying to get us in this chiastic structure of the correspondence between all these chapters 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:58.199 to ask what's different about the other story. 00:07:58.939 --> 00:08:01.879 So what's distinct in each of them that makes them different? 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.759 What's different in the fiery furnace and the lion's den? 00:08:05.339 --> 00:08:06.379 So let's ask that. 00:08:06.379 --> 00:08:08.819 I think that's what the author wants us to ask. 00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:11.899 Here it is. 00:08:11.959 --> 00:08:13.399 Here's the answer to the question we need to ask. 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:15.939 What got Daniel into the lion's den? 00:08:16.120 --> 00:08:18.740 That's what makes the story distinct from chapter 3. 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:19.560 What got him in? 00:08:20.180 --> 00:08:25.620 And then we'll see the cost of his integrity, and lastly, hope in the man of integrity. 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:30.540 So first, what got Daniel thrown into the lion's den? 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:32.100 Did you see that? 00:08:32.139 --> 00:08:33.059 Did you pay attention to that? 00:08:33.899 --> 00:08:35.419 The answer is simple. 00:08:35.419 --> 00:08:38.199 I can say it very briefly, and it's this. 00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:41.659 He did excellent work at his day job. 00:08:41.939 --> 00:08:43.179 That's what got him thrown in. 00:08:43.259 --> 00:08:48.039 He was a very good worker, and he just did a wonderful job working for the king. 00:08:48.479 --> 00:08:54.259 And so if you look down at verse 1, you'll see this organizational chart we're given here. 00:08:54.379 --> 00:08:55.879 There's a king. 00:08:56.419 --> 00:08:59.360 There's 120 satraps, regional governors. 00:08:59.740 --> 00:09:02.819 And then there are three high officials or presidents. 00:09:02.820 --> 00:09:07.560 Each of the three rule 40 of the satraps or the governors. 00:09:08.379 --> 00:09:17.160 And so the king, three vice presidents, 120 regional vice presidents or governors in modern corporate terms. 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:23.079 But then we're told here that Daniel, verse 3, distinguished himself. 00:09:24.419 --> 00:09:25.480 He distinguished himself. 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:26.159 How did he do it? 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:33.659 Well, if you look back at verse 2, it says the structure existed so that the king might suffer no loss. 00:09:33.719 --> 00:09:39.759 Meaning the king wanted to make sure that the government was well ruled so that he didn't miss out on any tax money. 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:46.259 It probably means that the satraps were shearing the sheep twice, as they say. 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:49.740 You know, skimming on both sides, taken from king and commons. 00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:52.559 They were probably pocketing tax money. 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:55.960 They were, it's implicit, but they were very likely very dishonest. 00:09:56.259 --> 00:09:58.299 But Daniel distinguishes himself. 00:09:58.799 --> 00:09:59.840 And so just look at verse 4. 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:03.300 It says there was no fault found in him. 00:10:04.180 --> 00:10:05.840 They couldn't find any guilt in him. 00:10:05.920 --> 00:10:07.860 There was no ground to complain about him. 00:10:08.379 --> 00:10:09.320 He was faithful. 00:10:09.580 --> 00:10:11.960 There was no error in anything that he did. 00:10:12.500 --> 00:10:17.820 And so the reason that all this happens is because Daniel was so good at his job. 00:10:17.820 --> 00:10:25.060 And another way to say it, we've been saying all along that this book is about wisdom. 00:10:25.180 --> 00:10:26.060 It's a wisdom book. 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:31.440 And alongside the word wisdom in the book of Proverbs is a very important second word. 00:10:31.540 --> 00:10:32.720 And that's the word integrity. 00:10:34.020 --> 00:10:35.160 Wisdom and integrity. 00:10:35.900 --> 00:10:36.820 And they go together. 00:10:36.940 --> 00:10:39.920 The wise man or woman in the book of Proverbs also has integrity. 00:10:40.440 --> 00:10:46.460 And this is a passage that's distinctive from chapter 3 because it's really trying to get us to focus in on Daniel's integrity. 00:10:46.460 --> 00:10:47.260 What is integrity? 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:53.559 The Hebrew word for integrity is a word that means wholeness, holistic, one thing. 00:10:54.620 --> 00:10:56.439 Integrity, it's the same as the word. 00:10:56.500 --> 00:10:58.319 We get the same root from the word integer. 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:01.519 So you math people know the word integer. 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:02.399 And what is that? 00:11:02.419 --> 00:11:05.759 It means a whole number, one thing, a holistic thing. 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:08.019 And that's the biblical idea of integrity. 00:11:08.019 --> 00:11:17.100 Integrity is consistency, wholeness, between the disposition of your heart and the life you live publicly. 00:11:18.179 --> 00:11:24.379 Integrity is when what you believe inside, internally, matches the way that you live on the outside. 00:11:24.379 --> 00:11:32.179 And this is so famously simple, this idea of the call to integrity, that it's almost cheesy to say. 00:11:32.340 --> 00:11:35.840 But sometimes things are cheesy because they're very true. 00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:37.399 And this is very true. 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:38.039 And it's this. 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:41.699 Integrity is doing what is good when nobody is watching. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:45.000 And Daniel is being commended here. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:52.600 Darius is putting him in the number one position because he was a man of honesty and integrity. 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:53.980 That's what we're being told. 00:11:54.540 --> 00:12:00.000 Jonathan Edwards is very famous for, this is the American preacher during the Great Awakening. 00:12:00.139 --> 00:12:02.060 Jonathan Edwards is famous for his resolutions. 00:12:02.500 --> 00:12:06.580 As he would ride around on his horse, he would think of something where he would say, 00:12:06.759 --> 00:12:09.019 Be it resolved, like a New Year's resolution. 00:12:09.159 --> 00:12:12.800 And he would write it down and sew it into the inner lining of his jacket. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:22.079 And one of the famous resolutions of Edwards is, Be it resolved, I will do whatever I think will be most to God's glory today. 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:29.819 Integrity is what the New Testament calls being single-minded, not double-minded. 00:12:29.820 --> 00:12:34.140 So it's having this holistic, singular focus and purpose. 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:39.280 And then living out of that in every sphere of life, every department of your life. 00:12:39.980 --> 00:12:41.000 And Edwards nailed it. 00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:45.020 He said, What is the single-minded focus that grounds biblical integrity? 00:12:45.640 --> 00:12:51.580 Be it resolved, I will do whatever I think is most to God's glory today. 00:12:52.400 --> 00:12:54.380 That produces external integrity. 00:12:54.740 --> 00:12:57.380 It begins with that wholeness, that singular focus. 00:12:57.960 --> 00:12:59.040 I live for God's glory. 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:00.639 Daniel lived for God's glory. 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:01.899 He was a great worker. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:02.899 He was an excellent worker. 00:13:03.799 --> 00:13:08.399 J.I. Packer says it like this, Wisdom is the ability to see what is good, 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:12.839 to see the highest ideal, serving God. 00:13:13.099 --> 00:13:18.179 But then he says, Integrity is the willingness to live by that goal in actual life. 00:13:18.620 --> 00:13:19.899 So wisdom and integrity go together. 00:13:20.339 --> 00:13:24.939 Wisdom says, Wisdom, the wise person can see the highest ideal, 00:13:25.339 --> 00:13:28.099 the thing to curate your entire life around. 00:13:28.100 --> 00:13:30.240 And integrity actually pursues it. 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:35.220 Where the inner life matches the public life, the public life matches the inner life. 00:13:35.300 --> 00:13:38.500 Now, how did Daniel become this person? 00:13:39.060 --> 00:13:41.899 And the key word, I think, is in verse 3. 00:13:41.899 --> 00:13:44.939 It said that he had an excellent spirit. 00:13:44.939 --> 00:13:56.879 Now, does that mean Daniel had so much integrity, was such a great worker for King Darius because he was an excellent person? 00:13:57.079 --> 00:13:58.199 His soul was excellent. 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:05.379 Or does it mean, as some commentators say, that it's referring to the Holy Spirit's work in his life, making him excellent? 00:14:06.040 --> 00:14:08.920 And the language, I think, the answer, I should say, I think is yes. 00:14:08.919 --> 00:14:16.099 And the reason that I think he had an excellent spirit, it means he had the Holy Spirit in him, 00:14:16.100 --> 00:14:27.840 who over many, many years of his life made him excellent, is because of one factor, one connection that we have not yet pointed out in the series on Daniel. 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:35.639 And that's that we could have gone through the whole book of Daniel so far and pointed out how almost every narrative about Daniel is in parallel, 00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:40.740 not only to another part of Daniel, but also to the Joseph story in the book of Genesis. 00:14:41.439 --> 00:14:46.159 And maybe you've picked up on that, if you're a Bible reader and you've read through Genesis, 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:51.179 you might have picked up on the parallels, the connections between Joseph and Daniel. 00:14:51.259 --> 00:14:53.000 Remember Joseph in Genesis? 00:14:53.199 --> 00:14:59.860 Joseph was thrown into a pit by his brothers and sent into exile in a foreign land as a slave. 00:14:59.860 --> 00:15:06.659 And when he got to that foreign land as a slave, he rose up to the second most important person in the kingdom. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:07.279 How? 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:10.460 By interpreting the king's dream, just like Daniel. 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:15.120 And then, well, I won't go through all the parallels because we could do a whole sermon on them. 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:16.340 So I won't do that to you today. 00:15:16.899 --> 00:15:21.620 But what we learn about Joseph in Genesis 41, this is what Pharaoh says about Joseph. 00:15:21.620 --> 00:15:22.180 He says, 00:15:22.179 --> 00:15:31.279 It says, 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:39.259 The writer of Daniel is pointing us subtly to that connection and saying, 00:15:39.719 --> 00:15:43.219 when he says excellent spirit, he's saying this is like a new Joseph. 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:49.799 He had an excellent spirit because he walked in step with the spirit who was with him all his life. 00:15:50.379 --> 00:15:51.439 Daniel's an old man. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:52.760 This did not happen overnight. 00:15:53.340 --> 00:15:58.200 This was slow formation over decades and decades of walking in step with the spirit. 00:16:00.160 --> 00:16:02.540 What is an expression of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life? 00:16:02.580 --> 00:16:08.560 If you're a Christian today, one of the things we learn here is one expression of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life 00:16:08.560 --> 00:16:12.000 is that you are becoming more and more a wonderful worker. 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:19.660 An excellent, honest, just, helpful worker in the workplace like Daniel was here. 00:16:19.659 --> 00:16:25.100 It's a single-minded ambition that whether you're at work or family or church or wherever it is in life, 00:16:25.319 --> 00:16:25.919 that you say, 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:32.600 Today, be it resolved, I exist to do whatever I think will most glorify God in this moment. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:34.980 I love the way one theologian puts it. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:35.959 He was asked once, 00:16:36.439 --> 00:16:37.620 What is the Christian ethic? 00:16:37.779 --> 00:16:38.319 And he said, 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.600 By the power of the Spirit, do the next right thing. 00:16:42.319 --> 00:16:44.079 Do the next right thing. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:45.460 That was Daniel's life. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:47.840 Now, how do you become a person like that? 00:16:49.900 --> 00:16:52.240 Press pause on that question for two minutes, 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:57.240 and I want to say one word about the case for integrity. 00:16:59.160 --> 00:17:02.040 Today, some of you will know this very well, 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:04.400 but there are a lot of famous people recently, 00:17:04.539 --> 00:17:08.180 famous public intellectuals who have become Christians in the last couple of years. 00:17:08.180 --> 00:17:11.380 Larry Sanger, the founder of Wikipedia, 00:17:12.220 --> 00:17:14.420 earlier this year publicly professed faith 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:17.080 and wrote his testimony out on Wikipedia that you can read. 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:18.420 It's a beautiful story. 00:17:19.060 --> 00:17:22.000 Very famously, even more than him, probably Ayaan Hirsi Ali, 00:17:22.740 --> 00:17:28.420 who she's been called the fifth most famous atheist in the world until 2024. 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:32.039 And Ayaan was born and raised in Somalia. 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:33.900 She was part of the Muslim Brotherhood. 00:17:33.900 --> 00:17:38.019 She fled that, and she landed in the Netherlands 00:17:38.019 --> 00:17:42.780 and became the fifth of what's been called the four horsemen of the new atheist movement, 00:17:42.980 --> 00:17:46.200 alongside Dawkins and Hitchens and Dennett and Harris. 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:48.840 And last year, Ayaan came to faith in Christ. 00:17:49.860 --> 00:17:53.880 And she just recently debated Richard Dawkins in Oxford over this. 00:17:54.140 --> 00:17:56.940 And Richard Dawkins, the very famous public atheist, 00:17:57.080 --> 00:18:01.920 wrote an open letter to her last year when she professed faith that read, 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:04.940 quote, Dear Ayaan, seriously? 00:18:05.380 --> 00:18:05.880 A Christian? 00:18:06.140 --> 00:18:06.820 Question mark. 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:07.779 End of letter. 00:18:09.340 --> 00:18:12.700 Now, I point these couple of folks out just to say one thing, 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:17.160 and that's this, that one of the reasons a lot of public intellectuals have been coming to faith, 00:18:18.360 --> 00:18:22.519 one writer says they begin as reality respecters. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:24.779 Reality respecters. 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:26.340 What's a reality respecter? 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:32.699 It's a person who begins to see that something like integrity is actually real. 00:18:34.159 --> 00:18:40.059 So who among us wouldn't want to go to a workplace and work with people of integrity? 00:18:40.659 --> 00:18:45.419 Who among us doesn't want to live with somebody who has honesty and integrity in their hearts and lives? 00:18:45.420 --> 00:18:53.380 But if you desire that, you have to be willing to say that what integrity points to a moral good, 00:18:53.940 --> 00:18:55.779 where honesty is better than lying, 00:18:56.700 --> 00:19:00.440 where laws like do good unto others as you would have them do unto you, 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:05.519 where laws like it is always good not to torture people actually exist. 00:19:06.300 --> 00:19:06.920 A reality. 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:09.620 They were, Ayaan began as a reality respecter. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:12.740 Listen to C.S. Lewis talk about his own conversion in this way. 00:19:12.740 --> 00:19:14.359 He said, 00:19:14.460 --> 00:19:18.740 My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust, 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:22.839 but how had I gotten an idea of just and unjust? 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:29.019 A man does not call a crooked line crooked unless he first has an idea of a straight line. 00:19:30.120 --> 00:19:34.299 A person cannot call something unjust unless they first have an idea of justice. 00:19:35.220 --> 00:19:36.099 And this is what he says, 00:19:36.099 --> 00:19:38.279 Whenever you find a person today who says, 00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:40.699 I don't believe in real right and wrong, 00:19:40.819 --> 00:19:45.899 you will find them in the very next moment going back against this in the way they live their life. 00:19:46.439 --> 00:19:49.219 None of us wants to live in a world where there is no real right and wrong. 00:19:49.339 --> 00:19:51.679 Reality respecters point us to something, 00:19:52.019 --> 00:19:56.219 and that's that God made the world morally upright. 00:19:56.459 --> 00:19:58.980 A place where you can respect integrity. 00:19:59.879 --> 00:20:01.819 And so you've got to, in order to long for integrity, 00:20:01.819 --> 00:20:02.839 you've got to believe in integrity. 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:07.559 And to believe in integrity, you've got to believe in a God, a moral lawgiver who made it. 00:20:08.179 --> 00:20:09.079 We all want that. 00:20:09.139 --> 00:20:11.639 It's a deep evidence for the existence of God. 00:20:12.059 --> 00:20:13.599 Now, back to the main plot. 00:20:14.339 --> 00:20:17.299 How do you become a person with an excellent spirit like Daniel? 00:20:18.059 --> 00:20:20.059 And let's see, secondly, the cost of integrity. 00:20:21.339 --> 00:20:25.899 Why did the satraps, the officials here, then turn and want to kill Daniel? 00:20:26.059 --> 00:20:26.959 And we've already said it. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:33.500 It's because they looked at his honest, excellent work, and they were deeply, fiercely jealous of him. 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:40.920 They hated him because of how well he worked and how much respect he had garnered from that. 00:20:42.019 --> 00:20:45.640 They could find, we learn here, they could find no legitimate reason to accuse him. 00:20:46.220 --> 00:20:49.319 His justice was a shining light on their injustice. 00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:54.059 They hated that being exposed by his light as they walked in darkness. 00:20:54.740 --> 00:20:59.939 And here in the passage, it's very implicit, but his honesty is being compared with their dishonesty throughout. 00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:01.000 And they hated him for it. 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:04.220 There's a connection between Daniel 3 and Daniel 6. 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:08.839 And we didn't read this far, but the very next verse, chapter 6, verse 24, 00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:15.500 where it says that the accusers of Daniel that tried to get him killed, they maliciously accused him. 00:21:15.659 --> 00:21:19.240 The Aramaic text literally says, they ate up his pieces. 00:21:19.679 --> 00:21:27.240 The same exact phrase occurs in Daniel chapter 3 for the accusers that threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. 00:21:27.619 --> 00:21:29.579 They sought to eat his pieces. 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.639 Meaning, it's a fierce, beastly image that they were the actual lions. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:38.200 They wanted to eat him up like a lion eats up the pieces. 00:21:38.860 --> 00:21:42.560 These are the accusers, and they hate him for his integrity. 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:43.920 They hate him for his honesty. 00:21:45.100 --> 00:21:51.480 Now, this Daniel is an example, then, of something that occurs all throughout the Bible, also in the New Testament. 00:21:52.100 --> 00:22:00.460 Listen to the way Paul calls the Christian to live in the new covenant world that we live in. 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:02.140 Listen to what he says, 1 Timothy 5. 00:22:02.140 --> 00:22:07.460 Give no opportunity for the adversary to speak reproachfully of you. 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:09.680 Titus 2, 78. 00:22:10.060 --> 00:22:15.300 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, integrity, dignity, sound speech, 00:22:15.420 --> 00:22:22.640 that you could not be condemned so that any opponent that seeks to condemn you would be put to shame. 00:22:23.620 --> 00:22:25.020 This is my favorite, 1 Peter 2. 00:22:25.660 --> 00:22:30.960 Live as exiles with honorable conduct amongst outsiders, non-Christians. 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:35.299 And the word honorable conduct there is the Greek word beautiful. 00:22:36.180 --> 00:22:42.860 So Peter's call is live a life of such character and integrity that it's fiercely beautiful life. 00:22:43.340 --> 00:22:50.440 So that if anyone seeks to destroy you because they're fiercely upset with your honesty and justice, 00:22:50.660 --> 00:22:53.600 they won't find any complaint to be had in you. 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:55.779 It says they'll be ashamed. 00:22:55.899 --> 00:23:01.319 In other words, they'll be proven wrong, not able to find anything in the Christian that they can charge. 00:23:01.459 --> 00:23:04.519 That's exactly what we see in this example of Daniel. 00:23:05.319 --> 00:23:10.879 And so the pattern we're given in this passage is live with such integrity that if anybody accuses you, 00:23:10.939 --> 00:23:14.000 seeks to destroy you, they're ashamed because there's nothing to find. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:19.819 Don't give colleagues, employers, neighbors, the boss that you work for a reason to speak negatively of you. 00:23:20.599 --> 00:23:25.980 Now, if you read early church literature, I know we all love that. 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:28.619 Early church literature, early church books, 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:33.759 one of the real distinctive things you'll see is that they're constantly writing apologetics, 00:23:33.980 --> 00:23:35.460 arguments for belief in God. 00:23:35.460 --> 00:23:39.299 And in the early church, one of the most constant arguments was this, 00:23:40.539 --> 00:23:43.700 look at the lives of the Christians in the city. 00:23:44.840 --> 00:23:46.500 It was one of the first arguments they always said, 00:23:46.660 --> 00:23:50.579 look at the distinctive life, the honesty, the integrity, the service, 00:23:50.940 --> 00:23:52.900 the willingness to give themselves away for other people. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:54.019 Look at their lives. 00:23:54.519 --> 00:23:58.400 That was what's been called the first apologetic, the apologetic of love. 00:23:58.500 --> 00:24:01.420 Love as a Christian witness in the early church. 00:24:01.420 --> 00:24:06.779 And Daniel is modeling it for us here, and it's exactly picked up on in the New Testament. 00:24:08.019 --> 00:24:11.380 There's a great movie, A Man for All Seasons. 00:24:12.019 --> 00:24:16.920 It's about King Henry VIII and his many wives, his many divorces. 00:24:17.620 --> 00:24:21.920 And in that story, Cardinal Woolsey was the archbishop at the time. 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:26.120 And Cardinal Woolsey calls in Sir Thomas More to his office. 00:24:26.119 --> 00:24:32.359 And Thomas More is a just nobleman, a man of integrity, a devout Christian. 00:24:33.500 --> 00:24:36.799 And Woolsey says, Thomas, the king wants another divorce. 00:24:38.059 --> 00:24:42.259 And we know from Henry VIII's story, these are very unjust reasons for divorce. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:48.039 And Cardinal Woolsey says, but the pope refused to grant it to him. 00:24:48.859 --> 00:24:50.919 And he says, Thomas, we've got to find a way. 00:24:51.899 --> 00:24:54.259 We've got to do whatever we can do to make this happen. 00:24:54.259 --> 00:24:56.680 And Thomas More says, I cannot support this. 00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:03.359 And Cardinal Woolsey says, you constantly disappoint me, Thomas, if you would just learn to bend a little bit. 00:25:04.180 --> 00:25:09.379 Woolsey, why do you have to be so, and this is the language, he says, why, Thomas, do you have to be so irreducible? 00:25:09.940 --> 00:25:10.619 That's the word. 00:25:11.259 --> 00:25:20.740 Why do you have to be so single-minded, so focused, so irreducible, unable to be broken, unable to be bent, unable to be fragmented? 00:25:20.740 --> 00:25:26.079 You see, Thomas More had this singular devotion to God's glory that wouldn't allow him to be bent. 00:25:26.180 --> 00:25:30.319 And so later on, Thomas is talking to his sister, Margaret, in the story. 00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:31.160 And this is what he says. 00:25:32.180 --> 00:25:33.160 Meg, he calls her Meg. 00:25:33.259 --> 00:25:40.160 Meg, when a man takes an oath, he's holding his own self in his hands like water. 00:25:41.019 --> 00:25:45.400 And if he opens his fingers, he needn't hope to find himself again. 00:25:46.120 --> 00:25:46.960 What is he saying? 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:54.240 He's saying, when a man makes a promise to serve, a vow, a man, a woman, to serve the Lord, or any other vow in life, 00:25:54.579 --> 00:25:59.220 he's saying, all it takes is a little bit of an opening of the fingers and the water, of course, will slip out. 00:25:59.340 --> 00:26:03.059 Meaning, integrity is so easily lost. 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:05.539 It can slip away so quickly. 00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:09.779 Woolsey said, just, why won't you ever just bend a little? 00:26:11.120 --> 00:26:14.360 And that would be like opening the fingers and the water just comes pouring out. 00:26:14.359 --> 00:26:17.740 How did Daniel never bend? 00:26:19.059 --> 00:26:24.240 And there's two marks here in the story of an integrated life, an irreducible life, 00:26:24.279 --> 00:26:30.599 a life so holistically focused on God's glory that he didn't break in the moment of persecution. 00:26:31.539 --> 00:26:38.979 And we learn, one, these guys can't crush him in any way except by criminalizing his religion. 00:26:38.980 --> 00:26:41.299 No dishonesty could be found in him. 00:26:41.360 --> 00:26:45.440 So they say, we've got to make the God he worships a criminal act. 00:26:45.980 --> 00:26:51.180 So they say, for 30 days, if anybody bows down before anyone but Darius himself as a God, 00:26:51.799 --> 00:26:53.579 let them be cast into the lion's den. 00:26:54.299 --> 00:26:55.079 It's very obvious. 00:26:55.180 --> 00:26:55.759 It's very simple. 00:26:55.900 --> 00:26:58.599 It's the same thing that happens in Daniel chapter 3. 00:26:58.599 --> 00:27:02.519 But the first way is that no matter what Daniel says, 00:27:02.599 --> 00:27:04.559 I will be committed to worship of the true God. 00:27:04.639 --> 00:27:06.500 It's more important to me than anything else in my life. 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:10.419 It's a simple call, friends. 00:27:10.879 --> 00:27:17.559 But Daniel's testimony is a singular focus that I will worship the real God only in my life, 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:19.659 no matter what, even if it costs me everything. 00:27:19.660 --> 00:27:26.860 The second way we see here throughout the passage is that as soon as he hears about this command, 00:27:27.100 --> 00:27:31.700 that if he were to worship anything else but Darius, he's going to be cast into the lion's den. 00:27:31.800 --> 00:27:36.500 We learn in verse 10, he immediately, immediately went to the house where he lived. 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:38.000 His windows were open. 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:40.640 He got down on his knees three times a day. 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:43.700 He prayed and he gave thanks for all that God had done for him. 00:27:43.700 --> 00:27:50.620 And the real key to an excellent spirit or walking in step with the spirit that produces an excellent spirit 00:27:50.620 --> 00:27:54.319 is a commitment to prayer without ceasing. 00:27:54.920 --> 00:27:58.799 What we learn here, this is one little example in the Old Testament and New Testament 00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:06.440 of the consistency of praying throughout the day, of praying morning and noon and evening. 00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:10.620 This is a practice that we as modern Christians have had less focus on, 00:28:10.779 --> 00:28:13.100 but that is very present throughout the Bible. 00:28:13.700 --> 00:28:18.480 And you can read a place like Psalm 55 where the writer says, 00:28:19.120 --> 00:28:22.059 morning, noon, and night, I cried out to the Lord. 00:28:23.080 --> 00:28:24.799 That was the pattern, morning, noon, and night. 00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:30.000 Jesus' own testimony of going out in the early morning away from everyone else to seek prayer. 00:28:30.120 --> 00:28:34.360 How do you walk in step with the Holy Spirit and grow into a person of excellent spirit? 00:28:34.620 --> 00:28:36.680 And the testimony is simple in Daniel. 00:28:37.100 --> 00:28:40.240 It's a resolute commitment to say, no matter what I'm asked to do, 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:45.200 I will only worship the real God and my heart will be, I will not give my heart away. 00:28:45.299 --> 00:28:46.299 That was Daniel 1 and 2. 00:28:46.380 --> 00:28:47.640 I will not give my heart away. 00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:54.620 And then here, and the way I protect that is because I commune with God in friendship without ceasing. 00:28:55.920 --> 00:29:00.660 Do you have a prayer life that is throughout the day? 00:29:00.660 --> 00:29:06.320 That's the biblical testimony, the biblical call, the way to protect your heart, 00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:07.880 the way to commune with the living God. 00:29:08.700 --> 00:29:13.400 You know, that communion with God as friend is the great point of Christianity. 00:29:14.420 --> 00:29:16.360 It's the essence of really what it's all about. 00:29:16.519 --> 00:29:23.160 Prayer is the highest pinnacle in this life until we see him face to face of real relationship with the living God. 00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:24.860 Do you pray morning, noon, and evening? 00:29:25.180 --> 00:29:25.720 Try it. 00:29:26.560 --> 00:29:28.040 It's witness to here. 00:29:28.200 --> 00:29:31.360 It's the way of walking in step with the Spirit that we learn here. 00:29:31.900 --> 00:29:37.220 Now, lastly, briefly, hope in the man of integrity. 00:29:37.960 --> 00:29:43.940 What happens here is that this singular devotion is going to cost Daniel everything. 00:29:44.600 --> 00:29:46.420 He's going to be cast into the den of lions. 00:29:46.420 --> 00:29:56.600 One of the things we see here is while the satraps and the officials sought to divide, compartmentalize, fragment Daniel's life, 00:29:57.000 --> 00:29:58.600 Daniel absolutely refused that. 00:29:58.700 --> 00:30:04.840 So one of the things here is we see the satraps seek in Daniel's life a sacred, secular divide. 00:30:06.039 --> 00:30:08.100 Daniel, you can be a Christian. 00:30:08.300 --> 00:30:13.640 You can be a believer in the Lord in private, at home, but do not come out in public, right? 00:30:13.640 --> 00:30:16.800 But Daniel, there is no such thing as the sacred, secular divide. 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:19.580 Daniel refuses to worship anything in public. 00:30:19.640 --> 00:30:20.680 He has a public faith. 00:30:21.280 --> 00:30:26.960 The satraps wanted to separate work Daniel from worship Daniel, and they couldn't do it. 00:30:27.400 --> 00:30:29.620 And that's a calling and an invitation to us. 00:30:30.020 --> 00:30:31.600 And so they manipulate Darius. 00:30:31.800 --> 00:30:35.200 One of the things they do in verse 7 is they go to Darius and say, 00:30:35.820 --> 00:30:42.420 all of the officials agreed about this law that anybody who worships anything but you should be thrown into the lion's den. 00:30:42.420 --> 00:30:44.160 But of course Daniel didn't agree to that. 00:30:44.279 --> 00:30:47.580 They're manipulating, they're lying, they're carrying him along. 00:30:48.800 --> 00:30:55.519 And it's an invitation to ask as we bring this sermon to a climax, this passage to a climax. 00:30:55.880 --> 00:30:57.300 The invitation is this. 00:30:57.360 --> 00:30:57.860 Think about this. 00:30:58.340 --> 00:31:02.360 Do I, do we, do you fragment your life, compartmentalize your life? 00:31:03.300 --> 00:31:09.000 Do you have a singular-minded devotion for the glory of God in every sphere of your existence? 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:11.839 Or is there fragmentation in your life? 00:31:12.339 --> 00:31:13.279 Now here's how it plays out. 00:31:13.339 --> 00:31:14.099 He gets thrown in. 00:31:15.779 --> 00:31:17.500 He gets thrown into the lion's den. 00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:19.220 It cost him everything. 00:31:20.200 --> 00:31:25.299 And if you were around for Daniel chapter 3, you may remember that the fiery furnace, 00:31:25.720 --> 00:31:30.059 a literal furnace that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego got thrown into, 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:33.619 also stood for more than just the furnace. 00:31:33.859 --> 00:31:37.180 The furnace is an image across the whole Bible for suffering. 00:31:37.180 --> 00:31:40.580 And so the question there was, will you count the cost? 00:31:40.700 --> 00:31:42.980 Will you be faithful to the point of even entering the furnace? 00:31:43.660 --> 00:31:48.360 In other words, is there any hope for deliverance in the midst of your suffering in this life? 00:31:49.140 --> 00:31:53.620 The lion's den is very similar, but it does have a slightly more precise point as well. 00:31:54.120 --> 00:31:55.840 The furnace was all about suffering. 00:31:55.960 --> 00:31:58.360 What is the lion's den pointing us to? 00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:04.259 And if you look at the details of the lion's den, you can see they put him down into a pit. 00:32:04.259 --> 00:32:10.019 They sealed that pit with a stone. 00:32:10.900 --> 00:32:16.539 The king came and stuck his signet ring against the stone, sealing the stone with the image, 00:32:16.879 --> 00:32:18.160 the emblem of the king. 00:32:18.599 --> 00:32:19.339 What is this? 00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:19.859 The lion's den. 00:32:19.960 --> 00:32:21.220 This is a tomb. 00:32:22.339 --> 00:32:23.599 It's been sealed shut. 00:32:24.279 --> 00:32:28.519 It was sealed with the signet ring, meaning there was some type of wax seal or something put around it 00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:30.139 so that it couldn't be broken. 00:32:31.099 --> 00:32:32.220 This is a tomb. 00:32:32.359 --> 00:32:37.700 This is calling us to the point of seeing death being wrought by the enemies of God in this passage. 00:32:38.200 --> 00:32:42.700 The ultimate cost of integrity in this story is Daniel is being brought to the point of death. 00:32:42.759 --> 00:32:45.259 He's being put into a tomb for his faithfulness. 00:32:45.259 --> 00:32:53.099 And the hard reality that I think this story is calling us to ask or see is this. 00:32:54.640 --> 00:33:02.720 There is loss in this life because of faithfulness that this earthly life may never heal. 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:11.000 If you are a singularly devoted believer in the Lord that is striving to walk in decompartmentalized, holistic, 00:33:11.740 --> 00:33:19.860 a life of integer in every sphere, there will be pressure in your life, losses in your life, 00:33:19.860 --> 00:33:25.220 that eventually will be things that this earthly life will never heal. 00:33:26.460 --> 00:33:30.960 That only something beyond death could possibly heal. 00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:33.160 It may not be. 00:33:33.559 --> 00:33:39.840 The Nigerian Christians this week, 29 of them were murdered during worship, some of them. 00:33:41.000 --> 00:33:42.440 They entered into the lion's den. 00:33:42.600 --> 00:33:46.980 And there was a commitment to God in their lives this week that cost them everything. 00:33:47.059 --> 00:33:47.880 They entered the lion's den. 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:48.600 It was a tomb. 00:33:50.039 --> 00:33:55.740 And there are things in this life that faithfulness to God will cost you that this earthly life cannot fix, cannot heal. 00:33:57.039 --> 00:33:59.059 It very likely won't be like that for us. 00:33:59.059 --> 00:34:05.379 Instead, there very probably is somebody in this room, and we may face, all of us could face this at some point, 00:34:05.599 --> 00:34:09.259 where you will not climb the professional ladder that you always dreamed about 00:34:09.259 --> 00:34:15.159 because you will not comply to the pressure of the culture of the corporate entity that you work for 00:34:15.159 --> 00:34:16.320 because you simply won't gossip. 00:34:17.340 --> 00:34:21.679 And you know how much climbing the ladder requires casting other people back down it. 00:34:22.039 --> 00:34:23.360 And that is the faithfulness. 00:34:23.420 --> 00:34:24.099 That's the pressure. 00:34:24.099 --> 00:34:27.839 You may never get that promotion because of your faithfulness. 00:34:27.960 --> 00:34:29.199 It's entering the lion's den. 00:34:29.339 --> 00:34:36.860 There are relationships, jobs, even death itself, things that we have to face in this life because of faithfulness 00:34:36.860 --> 00:34:39.440 that this earthly life can never heal. 00:34:40.380 --> 00:34:42.480 And that's what it means to enter into the tomb. 00:34:42.579 --> 00:34:43.599 That's Daniel's story. 00:34:44.059 --> 00:34:47.920 Even the king, you know, the king, Tarius, was desperate to fix the situation. 00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:52.740 He didn't want Daniel to die, and he couldn't do it because of the law of the Medes and Persians. 00:34:52.820 --> 00:34:57.639 Not even the king of power, the man they were supposed to be worshiping, could fix the situation. 00:34:58.360 --> 00:35:04.760 There is law sometimes in this life that cannot be fixed in this life because of our faithfulness to God. 00:35:05.539 --> 00:35:06.220 And so what happens? 00:35:06.280 --> 00:35:12.619 In Daniel chapter 3, you remember when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast into the fiery furnace? 00:35:13.200 --> 00:35:15.019 They were commanded to worship a man. 00:35:15.200 --> 00:35:15.720 They didn't. 00:35:15.719 --> 00:35:19.279 In Daniel 6, Daniel was commanded to worship a man. 00:35:19.359 --> 00:35:19.819 He didn't. 00:35:20.239 --> 00:35:25.199 In Daniel 3, because they refused, they were cast into a tomb, into death. 00:35:25.279 --> 00:35:29.399 In Daniel 6, because he refused, he was cast into a tomb, into death. 00:35:29.639 --> 00:35:37.419 And in Daniel 3, Nebuchadnezzar said, but I saw a fourth, an angel, one like the son of the gods. 00:35:37.779 --> 00:35:41.559 And in Daniel 6, Darius wakes up the next morning, and he says, 00:35:41.559 --> 00:35:44.599 Daniel, have you been delivered? 00:35:44.599 --> 00:35:48.759 And Daniel says, yes, there was an angel. 00:35:49.480 --> 00:35:50.119 The angel. 00:35:50.559 --> 00:35:51.500 Who is this angel? 00:35:52.259 --> 00:35:54.639 This angel is the son of God. 00:35:55.299 --> 00:36:00.920 The son of God condescended in the Old Testament before he took on flesh as Jesus Christ. 00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:02.880 And he came and he saved Daniel. 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:06.519 And the tomb, the stone, what did they lay over the seal? 00:36:06.660 --> 00:36:07.420 The stone. 00:36:07.740 --> 00:36:09.519 And we see the stone was rolled away. 00:36:09.900 --> 00:36:10.980 Daniel walked out. 00:36:11.200 --> 00:36:11.440 How? 00:36:11.579 --> 00:36:14.220 Because the son of God came and delivered him. 00:36:14.660 --> 00:36:19.640 Jesus Christ alone can deliver us from everything. 00:36:19.980 --> 00:36:24.619 Look, there are things in this life that you will lose because of faithfulness to Jesus. 00:36:24.619 --> 00:36:27.400 But Jesus Christ is the deliverer. 00:36:27.460 --> 00:36:28.460 He can deliver you. 00:36:29.099 --> 00:36:30.679 What is this story pointing us to? 00:36:30.739 --> 00:36:33.159 It's asking us to see that the resurrection. 00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:35.259 What does Daniel do? 00:36:35.480 --> 00:36:37.519 He walks into a burial chamber, a tomb. 00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:38.539 It's sealed with a stone. 00:36:39.079 --> 00:36:42.319 And the next morning, as the sun rose, he walks out again. 00:36:42.460 --> 00:36:43.460 The stone was rolled away. 00:36:43.460 --> 00:36:46.220 All because of the son of God, Jesus Christ with him. 00:36:47.360 --> 00:36:49.500 This is calling you to hope in the resurrection. 00:36:50.780 --> 00:36:54.740 To say, there are things in this life that I will lose because of faithfulness to Jesus. 00:36:55.099 --> 00:36:57.300 And only the resurrection can satisfy me. 00:36:58.320 --> 00:37:01.440 Only the resurrection can get me up out of the tomb of death. 00:37:01.579 --> 00:37:04.820 That this life may bring to me in all sorts of ways. 00:37:05.860 --> 00:37:07.159 Let me close with this. 00:37:09.860 --> 00:37:13.440 It's not, this passage is not just saying that 00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:17.059 we can look at ourselves and say, we're like Daniel. 00:37:17.400 --> 00:37:19.579 We can be faithful to the point of great cost. 00:37:20.260 --> 00:37:24.900 And the angel of Yahweh, the true son of God, he will deliver us in resurrection. 00:37:26.320 --> 00:37:27.880 There's one more thing that it's saying. 00:37:28.059 --> 00:37:29.460 Maybe you've thought about this already. 00:37:31.420 --> 00:37:35.760 You could say today, boy, I want to be like Daniel. 00:37:35.940 --> 00:37:37.539 I want to be a person of integrity. 00:37:37.980 --> 00:37:42.599 But when I look at my life, I know that I'm a little bit more like the satraps than Daniel. 00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:45.820 That I opened my fingers and the water came out. 00:37:45.960 --> 00:37:50.280 You know, who among us can say, I have lost my integrity? 00:37:53.500 --> 00:37:55.880 I've not always been an excellent worker, honest. 00:37:56.639 --> 00:37:59.019 And it's not just that Daniel is an example. 00:37:59.200 --> 00:38:01.159 In this story, Daniel is also a type. 00:38:02.159 --> 00:38:03.619 He is also a symbol. 00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:06.639 He is also pointing to something bigger than himself. 00:38:06.639 --> 00:38:08.259 Just think about it for a second. 00:38:08.500 --> 00:38:12.839 The famous commentators, the church fathers of old, they all say it. 00:38:13.159 --> 00:38:17.500 The burial of Daniel looks like the burial of Jesus himself. 00:38:18.539 --> 00:38:20.019 It's not just that Daniel is an example. 00:38:20.139 --> 00:38:21.059 He's also a type. 00:38:21.940 --> 00:38:23.819 Daniel was cast into the pit of death. 00:38:23.940 --> 00:38:24.599 So was Jesus. 00:38:25.099 --> 00:38:27.159 The stone was sealed in the entrance. 00:38:27.420 --> 00:38:29.379 So it was for Jesus's tomb. 00:38:29.940 --> 00:38:34.579 He came up out of death, just like Jesus rose from the dead on the third day. 00:38:34.579 --> 00:38:36.179 The stone was rolled away. 00:38:36.840 --> 00:38:40.319 Daniel, it says here that he came out of the tomb unharmed. 00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:44.579 The gospel of John goes out of his way to say that Jesus' bones were not broken. 00:38:44.739 --> 00:38:46.500 He rose from the dead unharmed. 00:38:46.619 --> 00:38:47.179 And then why? 00:38:47.299 --> 00:38:47.880 Verse 22. 00:38:48.599 --> 00:38:50.880 It says, because God delivered him. 00:38:51.099 --> 00:38:51.099 00:38:51.219 --> 00:38:52.819 Because he was found blameless. 00:38:54.900 --> 00:38:56.440 Was Daniel sinless? 00:38:56.559 --> 00:38:56.819 No. 00:38:56.940 --> 00:38:58.039 He's pointing to something bigger. 00:38:58.239 --> 00:38:59.219 He was found blameless. 00:38:59.219 --> 00:39:05.299 Jesus Christ, the blameless one who entered into the tomb of death in our place and rose 00:39:05.299 --> 00:39:06.259 again on the third day. 00:39:06.919 --> 00:39:07.819 What is that all about? 00:39:07.899 --> 00:39:09.480 What is the resurrection all about? 00:39:09.619 --> 00:39:11.439 Listen, I can say it in one minute. 00:39:12.439 --> 00:39:19.480 The resurrection says that Jesus Christ died in your place for your lack of integrity. 00:39:19.480 --> 00:39:24.699 And that every bit of injustice in your life died with him. 00:39:25.420 --> 00:39:28.460 And that in the moment of his resurrection, he rose from the dead. 00:39:28.539 --> 00:39:28.780 Why? 00:39:29.159 --> 00:39:30.380 Because he was blameless. 00:39:30.460 --> 00:39:31.340 He deserved it. 00:39:31.860 --> 00:39:32.960 He couldn't stay dead. 00:39:33.079 --> 00:39:34.719 He paid the price for our sin. 00:39:34.940 --> 00:39:36.659 And he had to come up from the grave. 00:39:36.740 --> 00:39:36.940 Why? 00:39:37.260 --> 00:39:39.260 Because he didn't deserve to be kept down. 00:39:39.340 --> 00:39:40.260 He was blameless. 00:39:40.659 --> 00:39:41.280 He was just. 00:39:41.519 --> 00:39:45.119 In that, in Jesus's justification, you find your justification. 00:39:45.119 --> 00:39:50.019 In the pronouncement that Jesus is blameless, you find the pronouncement you're blameless. 00:39:50.559 --> 00:39:55.699 And that means that the resurrection grounds the possibility for all of us to go from this 00:39:55.699 --> 00:39:57.880 place today and live lives of integrity. 00:39:58.219 --> 00:40:01.400 We can look and say, I've not always been a person of integrity. 00:40:01.739 --> 00:40:03.880 But today, you can go and be like Daniel. 00:40:04.519 --> 00:40:05.000 Why? 00:40:05.239 --> 00:40:08.279 Because Jesus Christ's resurrection is your justification. 00:40:08.280 --> 00:40:17.360 So go from here and live a life of integrity all because you have hope in the resurrection 00:40:17.360 --> 00:40:19.660 that is yours because it is his. 00:40:20.519 --> 00:40:21.220 Let us pray. 00:40:21.340 --> 00:40:25.460 Father, we ask that you would give us resurrection hope this morning. 00:40:26.340 --> 00:40:27.760 And that's our longing. 00:40:27.900 --> 00:40:28.540 That's our desire. 00:40:28.660 --> 00:40:35.780 We want to see how big, how important, how foundational the resurrection is for our lives. 00:40:35.780 --> 00:40:41.160 So give us hope today in that whatever losses we may be facing this morning, we ask for that 00:40:41.160 --> 00:40:41.980 help and hope. 00:40:42.100 --> 00:40:43.519 In Christ's name, amen.