The scripture reading comes from Daniel chapter 6. Please follow along on the screen, the bulletin, or your own Bible.
Starting in verse 1, we read,
It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom.
And over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss.
Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him.
And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom.
But they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.
Then these men said,
We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel, unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.
Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him,
O King Darius, live forever.
All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors,
are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction,
that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days except to you, O King,
shall be cast into a den of lions.
Now, O King, establish the injunction and sign the document,
so that it cannot be changed according to a law of the Medes and the Persians,
which cannot be revoked.
Therefore, King Darius signed the document and injunction.
When Daniel knew that the document had been signed,
he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open towards Jerusalem.
He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God,
as he had done previously.
Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God.
Then they came near and said before the king concerning the injunction,
O King, did you not sign an injunction that anyone who makes petition to any god or man
within thirty days except to you, O King, shall be cast into a den of lions?
The king answered and said,
The thing stands fast according to a law of the Medes and Persians,
which cannot be revoked.
Then they answered and said before the king,
Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah,
pays no attention to you, O King,
or the injunction you have signed,
but makes his petition three times a day.
Then the king, when he heard these words,
was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel.
And he labored until the sun went down to rescue him.
Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king,
Know, O King, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians
that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.
Then the king commanded,
and Daniel was brought and cast into a den of lions.
The king declared to Daniel,
May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you.
And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den,
and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords,
that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting.
No diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
Then at the break of day,
the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions.
As he came near to the den where Daniel was,
he cried out in a tone of anguish.
The king declared to Daniel,
O Daniel, servant of the living God,
has your God, whom you serve continually,
been able to deliver you from the lions?
Then Daniel said to the king,
O king, live forever.
My God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth,
and they have not harmed me,
because I was found blameless before him.
And also before you, O king, I have done no harm.
That the king was exceedingly glad
and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den.
So Daniel was taken up out of the den,
and no kind of harm was found on him,
because he had trusted in his God.
And the king commanded,
and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel
were brought and cast into the den of lions,
they, their children, and their wives.
And before they reached the bottom of the den,
the lions overpowered them
and broke all their bones in pieces.
Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples,
nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth,
Peace be multiplied to you.
I make a decree that in all my royal dominion,
people are to tremble and fear
before the God of Daniel,
for he is the living God,
enduring forever.
His kingdom shall never be destroyed,
and his dominion shall be to the end.
He delivers and rescues.
He works signs and wonders
in heaven and on earth.
He who has saved Daniel
from the power of the lions.
So this Daniel prospered
during the reign of Darius
and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
This is the word of God.
Amen.
Great. Thank you, Irene.
Good morning, everybody.
It is good to see you again
and good to see a couple of faces
we haven't seen in a while.
It's great to be able to worship with you.
And if you're online,
good morning to you.
Welcome as well.
If you are new to Watermark
and you don't know me,
my name is Kevin,
one of the leaders here,
and it's great to be able to
look at God's word together this morning.
Now, I'm not sure how many of you are runners.
I, once upon a time,
used to try and run.
And when we first arrived in Hong Kong
three and a half years ago or so,
I had the bright idea.
I thought, you know,
I am young,
I am ambitious,
I am fit,
and I'm going to run from HKU,
somewhere here,
up to the top of the peak,
up the morning trail,
and just, you know,
gentle morning run.
Well, I tried it once or twice,
and that was the end of that.
And pretty soon,
I realized the hills in Hong Kong
meant that was the end of running altogether.
But I'm not sure how many of you are like me,
that every January comes around,
and I decide,
this is the year that I'm going to get fit.
This is the year I'm going to get healthy, right?
And so,
maybe it's not running,
maybe cycling,
or hiking is your thing,
or swimming.
Rhoda and I were talking about swimming
a little earlier.
And we all tend to do
the same stupid thing, right?
We think that the laws of nature
apply to everyone else,
but not to ourselves.
And so,
what I tend to do every January,
I think it's time to get fit,
and I go for a run,
and I think,
look,
I'm not going to get fit
if I don't push myself.
So,
you've got to push yourself a little bit.
And so,
when I start to get tired,
I think,
oh,
you know,
I can't stop now,
that doesn't help anything.
So,
you push yourself a little further,
and just a little further,
and a little further,
and eventually,
you get to the point
where you think,
okay,
this is about enough.
And you figure,
that's a good point
to turn around
and then make the trek home.
Right?
Does that ring a bell to anybody?
And about halfway home,
I figure,
my legs are so dead,
I cannot take another step.
Or,
if I make it home,
the next day,
or the day after,
two days later,
I'm really feeling it.
Does that ring a bell,
or is it only me that does that?
Okay,
Patney as well,
thank you.
Rhoda and I were talking about that.
Rhoda went swimming this week,
not swimming for a while,
and decided to swim for an hour.
And the next day,
her arms were quite exhausted.
The Bible says that
the Christian life
is actually like a race,
in some ways.
And it's a race,
that is not a sprint.
It's a race that God calls us
to run with endurance
right to the end.
The Christian life is not one
in which we are hot
for a couple of years,
serve all over the place,
burn ourselves out,
and then don't participate
in any running for the next year,
until the next year
your New Year's resolutions come.
Actually,
the Bible says
the Christian life is,
it's those who,
through steady
and consistent faithfulness
and endurance
make it to the end.
And the Apostle Paul
in the New Testament,
in the book of Philippians,
look at how he writes this.
He says this,
I want to know Christ,
and I want to know
the power of His resurrection.
In fact,
I want to attain
the resurrection.
And that means
necessarily sharing
in His sufferings.
And then he says,
so I press on
with this race
towards the goal
for the prize,
the upward call
of God in Christ Jesus.
He's saying,
this race,
this Christian walk
that I'm on,
it's like a race,
and I want to push on.
I'm not just here
to be hot
for a few good years.
Actually,
I'm going to keep on.
It's a life
of consistent endurance
following Jesus
to the end.
And then Paul
makes this amazing
little line.
He says,
those that are mature
will think this way.
And one of the things
that Paul is saying here
is that Christian maturity
is not just a matter
of length of time.
You can be a Christian
for 30 or 40 years
but still not be
very spiritually mature.
You can still be
quite immature.
Christian maturity
is those that
through consistency
and faithful endurance
press on
towards the goal
of knowing Jesus
better and deeper.
And that's actually
a lot of what
we're going to look at
today in Daniel chapter 6.
The passage that
we're going to look at today,
we're going to see
that it's those
that consistently
trust in the living God.
That's an important phrase,
the living God.
Those who live for Him
right to the end
are those who pass
through death
into life.
And that's what
we're going to see
in our passage today.
And so let's dive
into Daniel chapter 6.
And obviously
it's a very famous passage
about Daniel
and the lion's den.
A passage that
many of us
would have heard
from childhood.
But let's dive in
and see what's going on here.
So look at the first
few verses of me,
of chapter 6,
with me.
There is a new king
on the scene
and his name is Darius.
Now, who is Darius?
Well, Darius is the king
of the Medo-Persian Empire.
And what's happened here
is, I don't know
if you remember
back in chapter 2,
Chris was preaching
a few weeks ago,
and King Nebuchadnezzar
has this dream.
You remember the dream
and there's this gold,
or the statue,
there's a golden head,
a silver torso,
bronze legs,
etc., etc.
Does that sound familiar?
And what is the dream about?
The dream is about
you, O king,
are the head of gold,
you are the Babylonian Empire,
but your empire
is not going to last.
After you
is going to come
another empire,
they're going to defeat you,
and they will be
the world's superpower.
And that's happening
before our very eyes.
The Babylonians
have been wiped out,
the Medo-Persians
have conquered them,
the year is 539 BC,
and so now
the Medo-Persians
are the world's
superpower,
and Darius
is the king
who's on the throne.
Okay?
And so on one hand,
everything is different
in the book of Daniel.
It's a new king,
new empire,
new regime,
a new way
of governing the world
in many ways.
Remember,
the Babylonians
are quite autocratic.
The Medo-Persians
are a bit more
democratic in a way.
Do you remember
what Irene read to us?
They're laws
that cannot be revoked.
So everything's new
in some ways,
but on the other hand,
as we're going to see,
actually nothing's new.
Because everything
that happens
in chapter 6
is very similar
to what happened
under Nebuchadnezzar
in chapter 3.
Out of jealousy,
these leaders
go to the king,
they get this law
that's passed,
a law that says
either you worship
the king,
or you're going to
suffer some
gruesome,
torturous death.
Okay?
And that's really important
because one of the things
that we're meant
to see here
is throughout the world,
things change
all the time,
superficially,
but actually many
of the fundamental
issues of life
actually don't change
that much.
On one hand,
kingdoms come and go,
empires come and go,
leaders come and go,
democratic parties
come and go,
many things change
in life,
but actually the fundamentals,
the things that God
says are important,
actually don't really
change all that much.
From age to age
and generation to generation.
And I remember finding
this quite interesting
when we moved
from Cape Town,
South Africa,
to Hong Kong
three and a half years ago.
If you think about it,
sleepy Africa,
right?
Fast-paced Hong Kong,
worlds apart,
like the very opposite
extremes of culture
and the way
that things are done.
And yet one of the things
that struck me
when we moved here
is that in many ways
the fundamental aspects
of life
actually don't change
that much altogether.
In many ways,
people in Africa
and people in Hong Kong,
can I say,
we actually have got
the same longings
of our hearts.
We've got the same
insecurities.
We've got the same fears.
We all want to be
longed and appreciated
and loved
by those around us.
Marriage and parenting
are challenging.
Whether you live
in 21st century Hong Kong,
21st century Cape Town,
or 1st century
biblical times.
The longings of our hearts
are actually very similar.
And so that's what we see here.
On one hand,
everything's different,
but actually on the other hand,
not that much
has changed altogether.
But the other thing
that we see here
in the book of Daniel,
just as we get
into chapter 6,
is that by this stage,
Daniel is an old man.
And we mentioned this
a few weeks ago,
but Daniel's a really old man.
He's not like
Simon Wong old, okay?
He's properly old, okay?
Thanks, Simon.
Daniel at this stage
is kind of
probably mid-80s.
He's been in Babylon
70 years.
He got taken to Babylon
as a teenager,
maybe 15, 16 years old.
He's now lived,
he's outlived
the entire Babylonian empire
70 years.
He's on to the next empire.
And so Daniel's now
somewhere in his 80s.
And often when we read
the children's Bibles,
we see these pictures
of Daniel in the lion's den.
And he's this strapping young,
you know,
25-year-old guy
in the prime of his life.
He's good looking.
But that's not the case.
Daniel is an old man here.
And one of the things
that God wants us to see
in this chapter
is how Daniel has lived
his entire life
faithfully
and consistently
trusting in God.
And can I just say
that I know that
as a church,
Watermark is generally
quite a young church.
And I love the fact
that we've got
so many amazing young people
that are really powering it
and doing so well.
And that is so awesome.
It's one of the things
we love about our church.
But the kingdom of God
is not just for young people.
And I know that
in Hong Kong
we've got this interesting dynamic.
There's some churches where
until you're kind of mid-50s
it seems like your voice
doesn't really count.
Right?
You've got to like
really be
in the second half of your life
until you've got
any contribution in the church.
But sometimes
in the English church
it can feel like
once you're over 40
you're kind of past your prime
and it's just
a young person's church.
Does that make any sense?
Did anybody feel that?
Okay, are you allowed to nod?
One of the things
Daniel's going to show us
is that actually
the kingdom of God
we need
both young
fiery people
that are powering for God
but we actually also need
men and women
that have faithfully
and consistently
served God
and given their lives to God
for decades
after decade
after decade.
And so
just like Moses
who was 80 years old
when he went back to Egypt
and delivered God's people
out of Egypt
and just like Caleb
who at 85 years old
still had vision
and passion
to advance God's kingdom
Daniel's going to show us
that one of the marks
of a mature Christian
is someone who can
consistently
and faithfully
decade after decade
give their life
to the things of God.
Okay, so that's
by way of introduction.
So let's look
what happens here.
So as Irene read to us
Darius is the new king
in town
and he chooses
these 120 satraps
these are like
governors
in a sense
to rule the new empire
that he has taken over
to rule what was
the Babylonian empire
and he installs
these three men
that are kind of
the leaders
who these 120 men
are accountable to
and Daniel soon emerges
as the leader
of the three
so he really is
kind of the top
of the pile
and this is all good
and well
except that office politics
soon comes into play
and the others
are jealous
because Daniel
is not a Babylonian
he's not a Medo-Persian
he's a foreigner
and he shouldn't be
at the top of the pile
and so office politics
kicks into place
and these guys
want to try
to take him down
but the problem is
nothing will stick
to Daniel
he's a man of integrity
and faithfulness
there's no corruption
nothing will stick to him
and so
the one thing
they realize
is that he's faithful
to his God
and so they come up
with a plan
of how they can
get him taken out
they've got to get
a law passed
that will pretty much
make it illegal
for Daniel
to serve Yahweh
and so
that's what happens
they go to Darius
and they get Darius
to sign this law
which is
no one can pray
or worship
to anyone
other than Darius
the king
and otherwise
they must face
a certain death
and Darius
like Nebuchadnezzar
before him
thinks this is a good idea
he signs the law
into place
and
that means
that
Daniel
is going to be in trouble
and so look at
what Daniel does
look at verse 10
what is Daniel
going to do
now that a law
has been passed
that makes it illegal
to pray to God
and if he even
tries to do that
he's going to be fed
to the lions
what is the first thing
that Daniel should do
well let's look at
verse 10 together
when Daniel knew
that the document
had been signed
he went to his house
where he had windows
in his upper chamber
open towards Jerusalem
he got down
on his knees
three times a day
and he prayed
and he gave thanks
to his God
as he had done
previously
or as another
translation says
as was his
customs
since his
earliest days
friends
is that not
remarkable
just think about it
when
when anxiety
and stress
come our way
when the pressure
is on
when your career
is on the line
or your reputation
is on the line
never mind
your life
is on the line
how do we respond
well look at
what Daniel does
he gets on his knees
and he prays
Daniel doesn't
launch a public
protest
he doesn't
protest his innocence
he doesn't
declare
this is unjust
this is not
the way
it should work
Daniel doesn't
even go
and petition
Darius the king
who does he
bring his
petition before
it's not
king Darius
it's Christ
the king
of kings
Daniel gets
on his knees
and he prays
Daniel knows
the one
who holds
his life
in his hands
and it's
before him
that he brings
his petition
and friends
doesn't that
remind us
of king
Jesus
right
remember
he's
it's the night
before he
is going
to go to the
cross
he's just
had
a last supper
as Simon
reminded us
and he knows
that Judas
has betrayed him
Judas leaves
the dinner early
to go and
betray him
Jesus knows
what's coming
his way
the next day
he's going
to be crucified
and what
does Jesus
do
he goes
deep into
the garden
of Gethsemane
and he gets
on his knees
and he prays
but notice
here that
Daniel is not
running to God
freaking out
he's not
suddenly
running to God
saying
God
I need
you
I'm in
a corner
I've tried
everything
I don't know
where to turn
God
you're my
last resort
because notice
what the scripture
says
Daniel got on his knees
and prayed
three times a day
as was his custom
since his earliest
days
in other words
the consistent
pattern of his life
is that through
thick and thin
when Daniel is
promoted to the
highest ranks
of the land
or Daniel's facing
the death penalty
the consistent
pattern of his life
is to become
a man of prayer
Daniel's not
running to God
as a last resort
because he's
exhausted every
other option
he runs to God
as prayer
as a matter
of pattern
because he knows
God is God
and God is faithful
and sovereign
friends
no Christian
and therefore
no church
is greater
than its
prayer life
maybe you can ask
us
what is our
prayer life
like
we've mentioned
this before
but I want to
just read to us
from the book
of Acts
what the early
church's prayer
life was like
this is from
a book by
John
Onwanitra
I think
is how you
say his name
his book
on prayer
listen to how
he catalogues
the book
of Acts
he says
Acts chapter 1
they prayed
before choosing
leaders
Acts chapter 2
the Christians
are gathered
together in
prayer
when the Holy
Spirit comes
upon them
at Pentecost
Acts chapter 2
verse 42
says
they devoted
themselves
to the apostles
teaching
and to prayer
Acts chapter 3
we see that
Peter and John
go to the temple
daily at the
hour of prayer
Acts chapter 4
the apostles
are persecuted
and facing
opposition
and what do
they do
they turn to
God
in prayer
in Acts chapter 6
before they
choose deacon
leaders
they pray about
and ask God
to lead
and guide
them
but the reason
they choose
leaders
is that the
apostles
can free up
time
to be devoted
to preaching
and to prayer
in Acts chapter 7
Stephen the first
martyr
prays for the
forgiveness
of those
who are killing
him
in Acts chapter 8
Peter and John
pray with the
saints in Samaria
that they might
be filled
with the Holy Spirit
in Acts chapter 9
Peter prays
and sees a woman
rise from the dead
in Acts chapter 10
Peter is daily
going about
his rhythm
of prayer
when God
visits him
challenges his
hypocrisy
and his racism
against the Gentiles
and starts the
mission to the Gentiles
in Acts chapter 12
Peter is in prison
for preaching
and the church
gathers to pray
and he is miraculously
released from prison
in Acts chapter 13
the church fasts
and prays together
to multiply the work
and appoint new leaders
in Acts chapter 14
after prayer
and fasting
Paul and Barnabas
are sent out
to missionaries
to new lands
and they appoint elders
in the churches
where they have gathered
and we could go on
and on
Acts chapter 14
chapter 16
chapter 20
the early church
if there is one thing
that marked them
there were people
who knew
how to pray
friends if you are
a Christian this morning
what is your
prayer life like?
three weeks ago
we made the point
that if you are
a Christian
if you are going
to serve God
faithfully
all of your days
you are going
to face the fire
it is part of
what it means
to be a follower
of Jesus
opposition is going
to come your way
what is going
to keep us
consistent
what is going
to keep us
faithful
all of our days
what is going
to keep us
enduring
to the end
one of the reasons
why Daniel
is a man
that can stand
up to Nebuchadnezzar
and Darius
both in the
highs of his life
and lows of his life
is he a man
who knows
how to pray
and look at
verse 16
look at Darius
his own testimony
about Daniel
he says here
in verse 16
may your God
whom you serve
continually
deliver you
again verse 20
O Daniel
servant of the
living God
has your God
whom you serve
continually
been able
to deliver you
from the lions
if there's one thing
that the new king
knows about Daniel
it's this
here is a man
who has consistently
and continually
served his God
and so maybe
I can just
the application
for those of us
that are in our 20s
or early 30s
if you're going
to still be
serving God
faithfully
in your 50s
and your 60s
and your 70s
and your 80s
and God willing
in your 90s
if you're going
to be someone
that consistently
gives yourself
to God
can I urge you
to be those
that know
what it means
to be a man
or woman
of prayer
friends we said
it earlier
the Christian life
is a race
but it's not
a sprint
and it's easy
in your 20s
and your 30s
to be involved
in church stuff
and going to courses
and having fun
with your church
friends and stuff
but when the pressure
of life comes
you throw in
a couple of babies
throw in a demanding job
throw in a boss
that grills you
right Chris
you know a bit
about that
at the moment
when the pressure
of life comes
we can find
that we can go
weeks
with never getting
into God's word
never getting
into prayer
and friends
if Sunday morning
is the only time
that we ever pray
or get into God's word
when the storms
of life come
our spiritual life
will not survive
Daniel's a great
example
of what it means
to be a man
that's consistently
serving God
but notice something
else about his
prayer here
I don't know if you
saw this in verse 10
this really blew me away
I never known this
before until this week
look at what he says
here
when Daniel knew
that the document
had been signed
he went to his house
where he had windows
in his upper chamber
open towards Jerusalem
he got down on his knees
three times
and he prayed
and what did he do
gave thanks
to God
he gave thanks
to God
as was his custom
in this moment
when due to the jealousy
of his colleagues
the king has signed
an edict
which not only goes
against his faith
but essentially says
Daniel you're going
to the lion's den
today or tomorrow
Daniel
prays this prayer
of gratitude
and thankfulness
to God
and it's quite amazing
how often
the New Testament
says that
one of the keys
to the Christian life
to the consistent
Christian life
is actually
to live a life
of gratitude
and thankfulness
to God
even in the midst
of storms
listen to
Thessalonians 1
rejoice always
pray continually
give thanks to God
in all circumstances
Philippians says
rejoice in the Lord
I'll say it again
rejoice
do not be anxious
about anything
but in every situation
with prayer and petition
and thanksgiving
present your request
before God your Father
and so again and again
the Bible tells us
that one of the marks
of Christian maturity
is to know
how to recognize
the sovereignty of God
and to be able
to be thankful
and gratitude
to God
even in the midst
of the storms
of life
now why is that important
well
cultivating gratitude
in other words
fighting of discontentment
is actually
a spiritual discipline
which is vital
to spiritual vitality
friends
it's so easy
to look around
at others
and say
why is my life
so hard
why do they
have it so easy
it's so easy
to compare our lives
to those around us
and to feel
that somehow
I've been hard
but done by
it's so easy
to wallow
in discontentment
but friends
if there's one person
who maybe
could have felt
sorry for himself
Daniel after serving
God faithfully
for 70 years
serving Nebuchadnezzar
serving Babylon
now serving Darius
what does he get
for it all
he gets thrown
in the lion's den
if there's one man
that can feel
sorry for himself
I put it to us
it's maybe Daniel
and what does he do
Father I'm so thankful
for your faithfulness
God thank you
that you're a good God
thank you that I can
trust you
in the circumstance
friends that's amazing
it's amazing
bitterness and discontentment
is like a virus
that will suck the life
out of your walk
with Jesus
and in the Christian life
this race of endurance
one of the spiritual disciplines
which will get us
over the line
is cultivating a heart
of gratitude
and thankfulness
and so
we know what happens here
Daniel's conspirators
burst into the room
he's on his knees
he's busy praying
not to Darius
but to Jesus
or to Yahweh
and that means that
Daniel needs to face
the lions
right
and so
the story goes
they march him off
to Darius
and they say
Darius
this man is not
praying to you
he's praying to Yahweh
and he must die
and Darius
is actually very upset
about this
he doesn't want
Daniel to die
he likes Daniel
and so he tries
all sorts of things
to pull strings
to organize things
but all to no avail
the law
must stand
the Medo-Persian law
was that
once the law
had been signed
it could not be revoked
Daniel must go
to the lion den
and so
he does
and so
Darius
and the
guard
they march him off
to the lion's den
and Daniel's thrown inside
and we know the story
miraculously
for some reason
that night
the lions are not hungry
Daniel says
God sent an angel
to close their mouths
and Daniel survives
the night
in the lion's den
it's amazing
that actually
the story doesn't recall
what his life
what his night was like
in the lion's den
all we know is that
Darius
had a fretful night
he couldn't sleep
he couldn't eat
things are not going well for him
but Daniel
we don't know too much about it
but the one thing we know
is the next morning
Daniel is still alive
and no one can quite believe it
and Darius knows
what this means
is that not only
is Daniel alive
and living
but so is his God
look at verse 26
with me
Darius makes this decree
I make a decree
that in all my royal dominion
people are to tremble
and fear
before the God of Daniel
for he is the living God
that's the point
he is the living God
enduring forever
his kingdom
shall never be destroyed
his dominion
shall stand
to the end
he delivers
and rescues
he works signs
and wonders
in heaven above
on earth below
he who has saved
Daniel
from the power
of the lions
now friends
one of the things
that I think
we are meant to see here
in this passage
is in many ways
Daniel is a picture
or a prototype
of the life of Jesus
in many ways
the life of Daniel
or the chapter of Daniel
reflects the life of Jesus
did you notice
how many connections
there were
between Daniel and Jesus
both Daniel and Jesus
are betrayed
by the jealousy
of their peers
both Daniel and Jesus
are sent to their death
by a weak
and manipulated king
in the case of Jesus
it's Pontius Pilate
in the case of Daniel
it's King Darius
both Pilate and Darius
actually didn't want
to send them to death
and wanted to find ways
to set them free
John 20 tells us
but both of them
are manipulated
by weak
and manipulated kings
and did you notice
I think it's verse 17
the reference to the stone
being rolled over
the tomb
over the grave
and how the king
seals it
with his signatory
that's what Matthew 27
tells us
happens to Jesus
and of course
both Daniel and Jesus
return to the grave
vindicating their claim
that their God
is alive
and real
but of course
there are great differences
as well
Daniel's traumatic
ordeal
meant that
he would potentially
suffer and die
Jesus actually
did suffer and die
and while Daniel
faced the wrath
of the lions
and the wrath
of the law
of the Medo-Persians
Jesus faced
the wrath
of God Almighty
and friends
of course
the greatest difference
is that while Daniel
went to the grave
because of the jealousy
of his enemies
Jesus went to the cross
because of
his great love
for his enemies
remember John chapter
20
John chapter 10
Jesus says
nobody takes
my life from me
I lay it down
of my own accord
and what that means
is that
while the life
of Daniel
is meant to be
a great encouragement
to us
we're not
meant to stop
at Daniel
but we're meant
to look through
the life of Daniel
to the faithfulness
of Jesus
we tend to look
at the story
of Daniel
and think
I need to be
more courageous
courage is a good thing
but the point
of the story
of Daniel
is not that
it's those
that are courageous
that are saved
in the end
or those
that have
conviction
or consistency
that are saved
in the end
the point
of the story
of Daniel
is that
Daniel
is saved
by the mercy
and the faithfulness
of God
I was reading
a commentary
this week
that said
the point
of Daniel 6
is that
kingdoms
will come
and go
empires
will come
and go
but the one
thing that
remains
as steadfast
and faithful
is Daniel
and I thought
no that's not
the point
you got it
wrong
the point
is
the faithfulness
of God
not Daniel
it's not
Daniel's
courage
that saves
him
it's the mercy
and the kindness
of God
that saves
Daniel
friends
the thing
that God
wants us
to see
is that
when we
had no way
of saving
ourselves
if we
will humble
ourselves
and cast
ourselves
on his
mercy
God
is able
to do
the impossible
God
is able
to save
us
from a
certain
death
from a
judgment
to come
which of
course
is the
gospel
right
the point
of Daniel
6
is not
that if
you have
courage
and faithfulness
God
will deliver
you from
your problems
just listen
to the
millions
of martyrs
that have
died
throughout
the ages
read the
history books
and you'll
see
that if
you're
faithful
to God
it does
not mean
that you
will outlive
your enemies
or that
your life
will be
rosy
or that
everything
will be
easy
and convenient
if you're
faithful to
God
that might
be the
reason
why you
die
early
no
friends
the point
is not
that
Daniel
managed
to save
himself
but that
Daniel
was saved
by God
in fact
that's exactly
what Daniel
says
he says
his God
is the
living God
he has
saved
Daniel
from the
power
of the
lions
verse 27
and I think
that's the
point of
verse 14
I don't know
if you
we referenced
it earlier
verse 14
says this
then the
king
was much
distressed
and he
set his
mind
to deliver
Daniel
he labored
until the
sun went
down
trying to
rescue him
Darius
doesn't want
Daniel
to die
and so
Darius
does
everything
he can
to try
and save
him
but at
all
to no
avail
and I
think
the
point
there
that
God
wants
to
make
is
that
even
if
you
are
the
most
connected
person
in the
world
if
you
are
the
most
powerful
and
the
wealthiest
person
in the
world
your
soul
one
of the
things
about
living
in a
city
like
Hong
Kong
in a
big
city
if
you
are
a
connector
you
can
make
things
happen
right
if
you
know
who
to
connect
if
you
can
pull
the
right
strings
draw
on
favors
you
can
make
things
happen
Cape Town
that
doesn't
really
happen
Cape Town
everyone's
sleepy
okay
but in
Hong
Kong
you
can
make
things
happen
but
one
of
the
points
here
is
that
even
if
you
are
the
most
powerful
influential
wealthy
person
in the
world
there
are
some
things
that
you
cannot
make
happen
salvation
is
not
given
to
those
that
are
powerful
or
connected
or
able
to
make
things
happen
salvation
is
given
to
those
who
trust
the
living
God
friends
in
the
New
Testament
book
of
Hebrews
and we
are
going
to
close
with
this
the
book
of
Hebrews
is
written
to
a
bunch
of
Christians
who
are
discouraged
it's
written
to
a
bunch
of
Jewish
Christians
in
the
city
of
Rome
they
said
hey
we're
going
to
follow
Jesus
we're
going
to
do
this
thing
we're
going
to
be
consistent
to
the
end
but
life
is
proved
hard
it's
not
always
easy
and
they're
wondering
maybe
this
Jesus
thing
is
overrated
and
so
some
of
them
are
wondering
maybe
we
should
give
up
on
Jesus
and
so
the
rite
of
Hebrews
writes
them
to
encourage
them
don't
give
up
on
Jesus
is
faithful
you
can
trust
him
and
one
of
the
things
the
rite
of
Hebrews
does
is
in
chapter
11
he
writes
about
all
these
great
men
and
women
of
faith
in
the
Old
Testament
that
were
faithful
to
God
and
kept
on
going
and
he
says
let
their
life
be
an
encouragement
to
you
Abraham
and
Moses
and
etc
and
then
he
says
time
would
fail
me
to
tell
of
Gideon
and
Barak
and
Samson
and
Japhda
and
David
and
Samuel
and
all
the
prophets
those
who
through
faith
conquered
kingdoms
enforced
justice
obtained
promises
stopped
the mouths
of lions
that's
Daniel
quenched
the power
of fire
escaped
the edge
of the
sword
those
who
were
made
strong
in their
weakness
and
became
mighty
in war
and put
foreign
armies
others
suffered
mocking
and
flogging
chains
and
imprisonment
they
were
stoned
they
were
sawn
in
two
they
were
killed
with
the
sword
you
notice
the
reference
to
Daniel
there
some
stopped
the
mouths
of
lions
so
what
he's
saying
he's
saying
there
are
all
these
great
men
and
women
of
faith
that
have
been
faithful
to
God
look
at
their
lives
as
an
encouragement
to
you
but
then
he
says
he
climaxes
with
this
chapter
12
therefore
since
we are
surrounded
by such
a great
cloud
of
witnesses
he's
talking
about
these
men
and
women
of
faith
let
us
also
lay
aside
every
weight
and
the
sin
that
clings
so
closely
and
let
us
run
with
endurance
the
race
that
is
set
before
us
not
looking
to
Daniel
or
David
or
Samson
looking
to
Jesus
the
founder
and
the
perfecter
of
our
faith
who
for
the
joy
that
was
set
before
him
endured
the
cross
despising
its
shame
and
is
now
seated
at
the
right
hand
of
the
throne
of
God
what
the
right
of
Hebrews
is
telling
us
here
is
that
there
are
many
men
and
women
throughout
the
ages
in
the
Old
Testament
and
throughout
church
history
who
had
great
faith
and
faithfulness
to
God
and
look at
me
be
more
like
me
the
role
is
that
they
are
almost
like
on
the
sidelines
of
a
running
race
and
they
are
cheering
us
on
they
saying
I
know
it's
hard
but
keep
on
going
Jesus
is
faithful
look
at
us
and
remember
our
lives
we
weren't
great
we
weren't
amazing
but
Jesus
is
so
faithful
look
to
Jesus
and
as
you
look
to
Jesus
you
can
keep
on
going
the
point
of
these
men
and
women
is
that
they
are
to
help
us
not
pointing
to
themselves
they
are
like
road
signs
on
the
road
pointing
past
themselves
to
the
faithfulness
of
Jesus
to
the
true
and
better
Daniel
the
one
who
really
did
die
and
really
did
rise
again
and
so
friends
let
us
let
Daniel's
life
be an
encouragement
to
us
but
let's
not
look
at
Daniel
and
say
I
need
to
be
more
like
Daniel
that
will
only
discourage
you
let's
look
at
Daniel
and
say
God
was
so
faithful
and
if
I
can
hold
on
to
Jesus
like
he
held
on
to
God
will
be
faithful
to
me
too
and
so
friends
I
want
to
encourage
let
us
lay
aside
everything
that
holds
us
back
from
following
Jesus
let
us
run
with
endurance
the
race
not
just
for
a
year
or
two
not
just
in
our
twenties
or
our
thirties
but
consistently
and
faithfully
decade
after
decade
let
us
look
until
our
dying
breath
to
Jesus
the
author
and
the
perfecter
of our
faith
the
one
who
is
the
ground
and
the
substance
of
our
faith
the
one
who
is
both
the
beginner
and
the
finisher
of our
faith
the
one
who
went
to
the
cross
who
rose
again
the
one
who
is
the
living
God
let's
look
to
him
friends
don't
idolize
Daniel's
faithfulness
but
let
Daniel
point
you
beyond
himself
to
the
living
God
who
truly
is
faithful
so that
you
and I
too
can
run
with
endurance
the race
that is
set
before
us
let's
pray
together
Ben
do you
want to
come
and
we're
going to
respond
in a
time of
worship
but let
me just
pray
for us
Father
God
Lord
Jesus
Christ
Holy
Spirit
God
you're
so
abundantly
faithful
as we
read the
scripture
we see
these
lives
these
great
men
and
women
people
like
David
and
Daniel
women
like
Esther
and
Ruth
who
in the
midst
of
great
trial
looked
to
you
and
you
God
saved
and
delivered
them
they
passed
from
death
to
life
and
Christ
we
want
to
do
the
same
we
look
to
you
this
morning
God
I
pray
for
those
of us
now
that
feel
like
we
are
in
the
clutches
of
death
we
feel
like
life
is
closing
in
on
us
God
by
your
Holy
Spirit
won't
you
help
us
to
look
to
you
and
to
hold
on
to
you
God
won't
you
help
us
to
be
those
that
live
a
life
of
consistency
looking
to
you
the
living
God
I
pray
for
us
as a
church
for
us
as a
watermark
church
and
for
those
of
us
that
are
individuals
that
we
won't
just
be
hot
and
serving
you
faithfully
and
wonderfully
for
a
year
or
two
five
years
ten
years
but
God
that
for
the
decades
of
our
life
year
in
and
year
out
whether
we
are
promoted
to
the
highest
ranks
of
the
land
or
whether
we
are
facing
the
challenges
of
life
God
our
life
will
be
looking
to
you
may
the
testimony
of
our
lives
be
like
Darius
to
Daniel
we
are
those
who
throughout
our
lives
have
continually
served
you
the
living
God
we
pray
won't
you
help
us
give
us
faith
where
this
is
hard
help
us
to
trust
you
where
we've
given
up
hope
Christ
where
our
faith
is
dwindling
we
ask
you
to
help
us
in
your
awesome
and
your
wonderful
name
Amen