Daniel • Week 9

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So as we get into Daniel 6 this morning, I want to read from Daniel 6, verses 26 and 27. Read these

Daniel 6:26

last week. We'll read them again this morning. It says, I make a decree that in all my royal dominion

people are to tremble in 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 lion. Would you pray with me? God, as we come into your word, Lord, we thank you for your

working and your moving in and among us. God, as we study your word, may we hear what you have for us.

May you be glorified in what is said and in what is done.

Lord, if any of this is not

of me, Lord, remove it

so that you can clearly be heard.

And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

As we shared from week one,

the book of Daniel is divided into two

sections. Chapters one through six deal with the historical, biblical account and record in the

life of Daniel. And then chapter seven and moving forward, we'll focus on the prophetic section of

the book of Daniel. So this morning, as we conclude chapter six, as we work all our way through this,

last week we just got through the first four verses. We'll kind of conclude the part that we have of

Daniel's life and then we'll jump next week and continue on with the prophetic section of the book

of Daniel. And so I hope God is teaching you and working in you as much as God is doing in my life

and we celebrate him for all he's done. But if you weren't here with us last week, I do want to bring

you a little bit up to speed Daniel six verses one through four. So kind of give us the setting of

what we're going to find here in this very popular story that so many of us has heard. And again,

what we believe as we talk through these is if it's in the Bible, we do not believe that this is a

made up story. We believe that this is a true story, that it actually happened, that this is from

history and no archeological dig, nothing that archeologists have ever uncovered, have ever done

anything to disprove the historical count of God's words. We can hold true that what is here is

actually that. It is true. And so in Daniel six, one through four, the Mede and Persian empire has

overtaken Babylon and Darius is now the king. And Daniel that we've seen from Daniel chapter one, just

like he did in the Babylonian empire, has once again risen to leadership. So you've got these pagan kings

choosing godly Daniel to help them and to assist them. And Daniel has risen to leadership.

And he's a man of what we find in Daniel six continues to meet, to be a man of godly reputation

and continuing to be a man of godly integrity to the point. This was the driving point home for us last week

that even lost people around Daniel see the evidence of the work of God in the life of Daniel.

But there's gonna be some conflict. And I think that's the part of us that we've got to come to grips

with. If you're here and you're not a believer, not a follower of Jesus Christ, let me kind of bring

you to make sure that you know a little bit about us as Christians. Becoming a follower of Jesus Christ

does not make your life easy. Becoming a follower of Jesus Christ does not free you from persecution.

In fact, what God's word tells us, Jesus's own words is to expect it. And to actually, when we're

persecuted to kind of understand the blessing that comes from that. And Daniel falls into that category

as well. As Daniel is elevated, there's a group of men who feel that they've wrongly been passed over.

And so they look to find fault in Daniel, but there's not any fault that they can find.

We'll laugh about this. Like the government has done their due diligence to find any error, any fault,

any area of questioning of the integrity. There's not been a paperclip that this man has taken home.

He is a man of character and integrity of God. And that's who they seem, that's who they believe him

to be. But they still begin to desire and plot and plan to bring Daniel down to elevate themselves.

So read with me. We're going to read verses five through verses 15.

Then these men said we shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel,

unless we find it connected 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 and

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 30 days, except to you,

O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document

so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.

Therefore, King Darius signed the document and the injunction. And when Daniel knew that the document

had been signed, he went into 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 a petition to any god or man within 30 days except to you, O king, shall be cast into

the den of lions?" And the king answered and said, "The thing stands fast according to the law of the Medes and

the Persians, which cannot be revoked." Then they answered and said before the king, "Daniel, who was 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 till the son went down to rescue him. Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to

the king, "No, O king, that is the law of the Medes and the Persians, that no injunction or ordinance that the king

establishes can be established can be changed." I want to talk to you this morning about godly routine.

Godly routine.

If someone were going to accurately attack your character,

where would they attack you?

Would they attack your honesty? Would they attack your financials? Would they attack your thought

life? Would they attack your search history? Would they attack your language? Would they attack the way

that you view other people? If people were going to attack your character, where would they attack you?

Now imagine the setting that we walk into. Imagine if the only way your character could be attacked by

the pagan laws culture you live in is for them to find fault in you due to your faithfulness to God.

That's what we find here in Daniel chapter 6, verse 5. "Then these men said, 'We shall not find any

Daniel 6:5

grounds for complaint against this Daniel, unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.'"

The pagan world looks at him and says, 'There's nothing there, so where we will attack him is in his faithfulness

to his God.'" So they go to the king

And they propose a law. A law that could be common during this time amongst the nations as one nation

conquered another. That there would be a time period that the people who were conquered and everyone to

show unity under this new law, under this new king, would pledge a time period of personal devotion to that

king and that king alone. But this law will come that they impose. And this law, once it is set,

cannot be overturned. Even the king himself cannot choose to grant forgiveness for someone who breaks the law.

And so this new law will only last for one month and establishes within what they will set to accomplish,

that no one can pray, no one can worship to anyone else except the king.

And if you do, it's not a financial matter, it's a life matter.

And what will cause you is your life.

And so the king agrees. You see, for Darius, this makes sense.

For Darius, remember as we looked through and we saw the kings of Babylon, right, it's not that one

king decided, you know what, it's time for me to retire and let the next person come in and lead.

You get removed from leadership when your life is removed.

And so Darius, I'm sure, not confident in where he stands, probably worried that there are assassins

all around, no one can seek out, no one can petition, no one can worship unless it's Darius.

And so Daniel finds out about the law.

Daniel, who, what we could kind of come to understand is there's the king and then there's like a prime minister

and this is the capacity in which Daniel is fulfilling at this time.

He finds out about the law and what does he do?

Verse 10 tells us when Daniel knew that the document had been signed,

He went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.

He got down on his knees three times a day and he prayed and he gave thanks before his God as he had done previously.

People have speculated, well, Daniel did this in his home, so he was hiding.

No.

Daniel was in a foreign land.

Daniel was amongst pagan temples.

Daniel opened the windows.

Daniel did what Daniel had been doing every single day in his 85 years of what we find,

70 of those of being a captive of a foreigner in a foreign land continues in his love, continues in his prayer, continues in his worship of God.

What we see about Daniel's routine is Daniel's routine displayed Daniel's loyalty.

Sometimes we look at routine as a bad thing.

Oh, I get stuck in my routine.

I've got to get out of the routine I'm in to bring about a freshness.

Well, let me challenge you to begin to look at routine with a way that I feel like the Lord is challenging me to look at the spiritual routine in my life.

It's to not look at a spiritual routine as a rut to get stuck in, but to look at my spiritual routine as the spiritual disciplines that God is using to grow me and to grow me closer to him.

And that's what we find with Daniel.

Now, I want to ask you a question.

And I want to be careful with this question, and not that this question is coming from me at you,

but that this question was a question that the Holy Spirit prompted me to evaluate over the last several weeks about myself.

If a law was passed

and prayer was banned,

if a law was passed

and worship was banned

for 30 days,

what would it change in your life?

what if

what if

a law

was passed

that says

if you pray to your God

it'll cost you your life?

What if a law was passed

that said if you worship your God

whether individually or corporately

it'll cost you your life?

Would anything change?

would anything more than maybe what we tune our radio to in the morning?

Would anything change more than what we say before we eat a meal?

Change?

There's a couple ways that we could look at this law.

It's only 30 days, big deal, God's grace.

Or would we respond like Daniel?

I don't care

if it's 30 days,

if it's 30 minutes,

if it's 30 seconds.

I'm not stopping no matter the cost.

You see, it's very interesting.

Daniel was probably 13 years old in chapter 1.

He's probably somewhere around 85 years old in chapter 6.

We don't see all of the events

and all of the details about Daniel's life.

But what I believe

when we draw from this

and see what God is teaching us

are these Daniel's daily walk

leading him to these summit moments

where his obedience

is called into question

and every single time

Daniel's character in Christ

comes forth.

Not just in the easy

but in the difficult.

Danny Akin in his commentary

on Daniel says

Christian character

is not forged in the moment of adversity

but Christian character

is revealed

in the moment of adversity.

Christian character

is not forged

in the moment of adversity.

Christian character

is revealed

in the moment

of the adversity.

Are you working now

to build,

to strengthen,

to develop

your Christian faithfulness,

your Christian toughness

so the moment

that you're called

to act upon

to be ready to fight

that you'll be ready.

Or are you doing nothing

to build,

to strengthen,

to develop

your Christian toughness

so that in the moment

when and if

you're called to fight

what you'll do

is simply fold.

Daniel's daily communion

with God

had so shaped

his character

that he was ready

to simply continue

in faithfulness

no matter

the cost.

that's not a routine

that you get stuck

in a rut with.

That's a godly routine

that builds

and strengthens you

through the power

of God's spirit.

So the rulers

come to the king.

The king finds out

Daniel.

Daniel's broken the law.

Daniel hasn't stopped

praying to his god

and now the king

is torn

because we see

he has an affection

for Daniel

but even he realizes

that he's not

above the law.

So continue with me

in verse 16.

then the king

commanded

and Daniel

was brought

and cast

into the 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

with haste

to the den

of lions.

And 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 lions

mouths

and they

have not

harmed me

because I

was found

blameless

before him

and also

before you

O king

I have

done

no

harm.

Then the king

was extremely

glad

and commanded

that Daniel

be taken up

out of the den.

So Daniel

was taken

out of the den

and no kind

of harm

was found

on him

because he

had trusted

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.

I want to

talk to you

about godly

confidence.

Godly

confidence.

We have seen

throughout the

book of Daniel

Daniel's not a

man who gets

rattled easily.

In Daniel

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

when he knew

that his

life might be

on the line

and he

was dependent

on a

revelation

from God

Daniel

went

to sleep

because he

was confident

of what God

was going

to do

and what God

could deliver

from

but not only

was he confident

what God

could do

Daniel

could rest

when God

moved

and when God

seemingly

didn't move.

I think

what's

interesting

here

is that

the person

who's

emotionally

affected

by this

entire

situation

isn't

Daniel

but it's

Darius.

It's Darius

who can't

eat.

It's Darius

who can't

sleep.

It's Darius

who's consumed

with the

troublesome

thoughts of

his mind

and while

we don't

have the

specifics

concerning

Daniel's

state of

mind

like we've

talked about

before

in his

godly

routine

that he's

rested

in

before

we see

his

confidence

does not

rest

in his

circumstances

that his

confidence

doesn't rest

in his

situation

but that

his

confidence

rests

in

God.

The king

rushes the

next day

to the

lion's

den

I believe

hoping

I believe

the king

was sincere

in verse

16

when he

said may

your god

whom you

continually

serve

who you

serve

continually

deliver

you

I don't

believe that

was lip

service

this was a

man who

killed for

a hobby

but Daniel

was his

friend

the king

rushes to

the den

believing

and hoping

I believe

hoping

that Daniel

God would

deliver him

and what

does he

find

Daniel

alive

and he

asked a

question

has your

God

saved you

I want to

ask you a

question

has God

saved you

not

you see

Darius

would have

heard

Darius

would have

known

about the

things of

God

from his

connection

to Daniel

but Daniel

believed

Daniel

trusted

and Daniel

before

the lion's

den

in the

lion's

den

and after

the lion's

den

sat

in the

salvation

hand

of God

and he

asks

did

your

God

save

you

and Daniel

says

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

oh king

I have

done

no harm

Aaron

and I

in our

first year

of marriage

went on a

mission trip

I've talked

about it

before

to Africa

we were

down in

South Africa

in Zimbabwe

and one

of the

two days

that we

first went

there

we were in

South Africa

for two

days

and then

we were

going to

journey

into Zimbabwe

and we

were going

to drive

they told

us that we

were going

to be

riding in

a chicken

bus

their words

I didn't

know what

a chicken

bus

was

but the

moment I

saw it

I went

yep

that's a

chicken

bus

and we

drove

and I

remember

listening to

people talk

hope I

see a

giraffe

I thought

that would

be cool

hope I

see an

elephant

I was

thinking

yeah

I'm

down

I hope

I get

to see

a lion

not me

right

like

lion

people

battle

we're

going to

lose

you know

like that's

just how

this is

going to

work

this is

how

this is

going to

play

out

and

Daniel

in spite

of the

reality

before

him

was

saved

in spite

of what

could have

happened

in spite

of what

should have

happened

it

didn't

happen

because

his

God

saved

him

and

Daniel

explains

how

he says

because

I

was

found

blameless

before

him

Daniel's

salvation

was

possible

because

he was

found

blameless

before

God

church

there's

so much

in this

story

that we

could do

a three

month

series

that points

us to

the cross

and the

empty

tomb

there's

so much

that points

to the

New

Testament

work

of what

we

find

in

Christ

Daniel

here

doesn't

claim

to be

perfect

that's

not what

the word

blameless

here

means

but

he

finds

confidence

in his

innocence

and in

his

innocence

he set

free

God

sent

God

sent

Daniel

and God

sent

an angel

and for

the angel

to save

Daniel

can you

imagine

being

Daniel

you're

in the

they

describe it

as

probably

a hole

in the

floor

and the

lions

would have

been in

the floor

and that

you'd have

been thrown

in from

the top

and then

it was

sealed

so that

if you

did

figure

a way

to

climb

out

or to

climb

to the

top

you

couldn't

so what

would be

there

is

instant

death

darkness

and all

of a

sudden

Daniel

in this

moment

of

confidence

in the

Lord

but I'm

just going

to guess

also

just kind

of a

little

like

God I'm

confident

in you

but this

may hurt

a little

and then

there's an

angel

it's an

angel

so let's

put you

let's say

you're with

Daniel

and you're

in there

and this

angel shows

up

and Daniel

is like

angel of

God man

let me

just tell

you man

this is

this is

this is

our means

of salvation

how would

you respond

I don't

think you

would say

you know

no I

don't

really believe

in things

like this

I don't

think you

would say

you know

I really

appreciate the

offer but

I'm just

not ready

today

I don't

think you'd

say

you know

I get

that I did

nothing to

deserve this

but you

know what

I would

really like

to figure

this out

on my

own

I

watched

Return of

the Jedi

and like

Luke figured

out how

to get

out

right

there we

go

for the

Star Wars

fans

I'm gonna

figure this

out on my

own

I don't

think you

would say

no thanks

I'm not

ready to

follow you

out of the

situation

that I find

myself in

spiritually

speaking

if Jesus

Christ is

not your

Lord and

Savior

where you

find yourself

at is a

pit

a pit of

sin

and death

a pit of

sin and

death that

you chose

and that you

deserve

and God

offers you

through the

person

and the

work of

Christ

salvation

from his

hand

will you

choose it

will you

take it

and will

you be

confident

I'm not

perfect

I know

I'm not

perfect

I'm reminded

continually

that I'm

not perfect

I've done

a lot of

things that

are wrong

I continue

in my life

to struggle

with pride

greed

selfishness

flesh

and many

other things

but one

day I

found out

that I

was in

a pit

just like

Daniel

and the

pit that

I created

was my

fault

it was due

to my

action

it was due

to my

sin

and I

came to

the

understanding

and I

came to

the faith

that the

only way

out of

that pit

was Jesus

and that

Jesus

as guilty

as I

was

when he

took me

out of

that pit

as I

stand

before my

king

I'm

blameless

and I'm

innocent

and I

don't

care

what

level

of wicked

evil

dirty

you think

you've

done

the

offer

of

Christ

is the

same

for me

as it

is for

you

would you

take

the

offer

out

of the

pit

and then

in it

and then

in it

you

will be

made

blameless

as you're

held

in the

eternal

salvation

hand

of God

this day

is not

turning out

the way

that Darius

thought

he's

hopeful

but

the odds

of an

85 year

old man

versus

lions

verse 25

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

and so

this Daniel

prospered

during the

reign of

Darius

in the

reign of

Cyrus

the Persian

so

when we

understand

what

God

has

done

as

he

called

you

as

he

grabbed

you

as

he

pulled

you

out

of

the

pit

what

we

find

is

godly

purpose

Darius

puts

out

a

statement

Darius

who

biblical

historians

do not

believe

is a

follower

of god

he just

watched

a

miracle

he just

watched

an

85

year

old

man

survive

the

impossible

he

doesn't

talk

about

how

great

Daniel

is

he

doesn't

say

let me

tell you

about

this

old

man

and

what

he's

done

he

overcome

what

hundreds

could

not

instead

he

told

the

story

of

what

Daniel

had

been

telling

about

Daniel's

god

about

Daniel's

god

see

Daniel's

life

is

not

a

story

about

Daniel

Daniel

1

Daniel

2

Daniel

3

Daniel

4

Daniel

5

Daniel

6

it's

not

a

story

about

Daniel

it's

not

a

story

about

Nebuchadnezzar

it's

not

a

story

about

Darius

it's

not

a

story

about

Shadrach

Meshach

Abednego

it's

the

story

of

God

that

God's

name

be

known

that

God's

saving

work

be

proclaimed

the

story

of

Daniel's

life

is

the

story

of

God

and

closing

one

last

question

what's

the

story

of

your

life

is

it

the

story

of

the

pit

is

it

the

story

of

you

or

is

it

the

story

of

the

God

who

saved

you

from

the

pit

would

you

pray

with

me

God

we

thank

you

for

the

truth

of

your

word

God

we

thank

you

for

the

life

of

Daniel

we

thank

you

for

this

godly

man

who

put

his

faith

his

hope

and

his

trust

in

you

we

thank

you

Lord

for

the

salvation

that

you

gave

to

him

and

the

salvation

that

you

offer

to

us

and

Lord

I

pray

if

there's

anyone

here

who

does

not

know

Christ

as

their

Lord

and

Savior

that

today

will

be

the

day

of

their

salvation

it's

not

about

how

do

we

get

it

right

how

do

we

do

it

all

perfect

it's

about

trusting

the

one

who

did

and

it's

in

Jesus

name

we

pray

amen

that's

it

for

this

week's

message

be

sure

to

check

back

next

week

for

a

new

episode

and

in

the

meantime

you

can

visit

us

online

at

willowridgechurch.org

or by

searching for

Willow Ridge Church

on Facebook

Instagram

and

YouTube

thanks

again

for

listening

and