Daniel • Week 8

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Good morning.

If you've got your Bible, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join us in Daniel

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

I want to echo what Pastor Dave said about our first-time guests.

We're so glad that you're here, and at the end of the service, if you wouldn't mind stopping

back by here to the table to my left, the Connect table, my wife and I would be back there.

We would love to meet you, be able to answer any questions that you have about our church,

or just simply be able to say thank you for worshiping with us.

Also, we do have some Bibles that are in the back at that Connect table.

And so if you do not have a copy of God's Word, whether you're a visitor, member, you've

been visiting for a while, wherever you find yourself here, we want to encourage you to

stop back by there, grab one of those as well.

Also, at the end of the service, the first song was getting going, and like, I was standing

there, I was like, I feel like I'm missing something.

And so I look back, and I had my Bible.

I look back.

I had my iPad with my notes in it.

I'm like, what am I doing?

I realized I did not have my Lord's Supper elements.

So I scooted back there and grabbed those.

We will be taking the Lord's Supper together at the end of the service.

And so if you did not grab those, and you're a follower of Jesus Christ, and you would like

to partake in that with us today, we want to encourage you to go back there before the

end of the service and do so.

You can do right now.

I promise it's not going to bother me in the slightest.

We do want to celebrate.

We got the baptistry out next service during our Hispanic service.

Pastor Juan will be baptizing several from their congregation that have come forth as followers

of Jesus Christ.

And so we will pray for them in just a moment as they prepare for that, and we can celebrate

that with them.

I do want to remind you, so let me tell you kind of how, like, a little bit of how we're

structured and how we're staffed.

Let me kind of let you in on the inside of how things happen.

So when we're in a meeting, all right, I get to be the guy that has, like, a lot of

ideas, and I get to throw things out during our staff meetings, and no one typically says

no.

They're just like, okay, okay.

Everybody brings great input.

Everybody brings great insight.

But for a lot of my ideas, the two people who then get put or given the burden of the

kind of wrestling with those is Dave and Joel Van Ham, all right?

Dave is given the burden of the logistics.

Joel Van Ham is given the burden of the finances.

And sometimes my ideas create complications in logistics and finances.

So every day when I stand up here and talk about how many more people I want you to invite

to this, it drives them a little bit in the panic mode and then step into faith for the

logistics and the finances.

All right.

So we need lots of candy.

We're going to buy lots of hot dogs.

We're going to have a lot of fun.

The Dunkin' booth is going to be insane.

All right.

And so you want to come out, you want to be there, want to remind everybody this is a

church-wide event, right?

We want everyone from the youngest of the young to the most life-experienced, all gathered

outside in the parking lot, having a great time.

We want you to invite.

We want you to invite.

I've walked into several restaurants in Lexington and seen stacks of these like set out there

at the cash register.

It brings joy to my heart and a little bit of panic for Dave and a little bit of panic

for Joel.

All right, so grab these, take them, pass them out.

Oh man, we can't wait to see.

This is not about how many people we can get to an event.

This is not what this is.

That's not who we are.

That's not our heartbeat.

This is an opportunity for us to be able to connect with people who might not know who

Jesus Christ is and be able to share about the gospel of Jesus Christ with them.

And so please, please, please take some invites and make sure that we're doing these.

Also, we do have our studies are coming up starting next week.

Would love for you to be a part of those.

Would love for you to get those, to get connected in one.

We got one, two, three, four, five, six that are being offered.

All right.

So just real quick explanation.

Tim Scholl is going to be leading one.

That's continuing the Danville, Danville, Daniel conversation.

All right.

So what I talk about this Sunday, they'll talk about and discuss next Sunday.

So you want to be a part of that.

Daniel and Leslie Howard are going to be doing one.

We're talking about parenting with godly principles.

Now I'm not giving the titles.

I'm just kind of giving you a quick explanation of what these are.

Parenting with godly principles.

Mike C is going to be leading one, impacting those around you with the gospel through hospitality

and what that means and what that looks like.

And if you don't know Mike C, I'm just going to tell you, I don't know a more qualified individual

to talk about welcoming and hospitality than Mike C.

And so you'll want to be there for that.

Kareem Cobb is going to be talking about eliminating distractions so that you can find focus on the

purpose that God has for you.

Again, Kareem's one of the, we've been blessed with a wonderful Bible teacher in our congregation.

She'll want to be there with that for her.

Russell Roberts will be doing a study in Proverbs and all the richness of the wisdom that is

in Proverbs.

So you can come and be a part of that.

And then I was talking to Chris and Leanne Roberts and I'm leading one and the goal with

like talking through them and kind of seeing this is to try to not confuse anyone.

All right.

So we're going to be looking at different historical views on end times prophecy.

Right.

That either excited you or just put you to sleep with the end times prophecy.

Chris asked, he's like, so you're going to answer all the questions.

You've got it all figured out.

I was like, absolutely not.

Right.

We don't have that, but we do want to see what the Bible says on end times and what we can

look to and what we can, what we can understand and what we can put our hope in in Christ on

that.

So we want you to come and be a part.

So let me read to you this morning, Daniel 6.

I'm starting in verse 26 and read through 27 before we go to the Lord in prayer.

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, 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.

Would you pray with me?

God, we come to you this morning, Lord, thanking you for all that you have done and Lord, all

that you are doing.

God, I thank you for Miss Jackie as she came during our nine o'clock time, Lord, and faithfully

shared her story about her savior and how you've saved her, Lord, and how you're using her for

for your name and your renown.

God, I thank you for Pastor Juan and his ministry and the men and women who come forth today

professing faith in Christ as their Lord and Savior and obedience through baptism.

God, we pray that you will continue to grow them and strengthen them, Lord, as they walk with you.

God, be with us today as we study your word.

Be with us today as we talk about Daniel, but Lord, as we look to you.

May we not just see Daniel, but may we see the God of Daniel.

And we ask all these things in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

A little confession as we get into this.

This morning when I got here, I'd already sent my notes in and had written out my message

and my outline of what we would do and began to sit down this morning and just pray through

and consider and go through.

And the plan was this morning that we would work completely through Daniel chapter six this

morning.

And as I'm kind of going back over, like polishing up some things, you know, looking and diving in a

little bit more into my notes, God, as he always is faithful to do when you study this word.

So he's working on me, right?

Like this is not like, hey, God, give me a word for everybody else.

Like the approach to God's word is like, God, give me a word for me.

Give me a word for me.

Like God, work and move in my heart and my life so that we can grow together, Lord, with

what you have for us.

And this morning as I was going through, God began to work and move and teach and dive in

for me.

And so we're not going to go all the way through Daniel six.

We're actually only going to go through the first four verses of Daniel six this morning.

And the impression, what God is impressing on my heart this morning is this, and it's been

something that we've talked in part about as we've gone through this.

But as we look at the story of Daniel, right?

It's a story of a man who, he's not a pastor.

He's not a vocational missionary.

He's not a leader of a church.

He's a government worker.

Not only is he a government worker, but we see other government workers in scripture, like

King David as a government worker, as the king, but Daniel is not in that same context.

It's not just that Daniel is in a secular government, but Daniel is in a pagan, a pagan government.

He's in a government that takes life as they please.

He's in a government that celebrates and orchestrates horrific sexual acts.

He's in the very depth of working in this pagan, ungodly government, and he doesn't do so in an isolation where he's just like, I've got to do this, and man, I'm going to show up and do my nine to five.

And when I go home, I'm not going to be a part of that anymore.

He shows up, and in spite of all that could happen and take place to him, in spite that it could cost him his finances, his future, or even his life,

he stands firm.

He stands firm in who he is.

And in what we've seen in scripture, is he's not afraid to say it.

And what we've seen, and if you haven't been with us, do yourself the favor and go and read Daniel 1 through 5.

And you'll see all of this that has been happening, transpiring in his life.

But as we looked at, like in the testimony of Nebuchadnezzar, in the testimony that we'll see later, or that we saw later last week,

is that it's not even just in the moment he speaks that we're revealed in scripture,

but we find even the parts of his life that scripture doesn't cover,

because we saw five chapters over the span of 70 years,

is Daniel is a godly leader.

He's a godly leader.

Not because his vocation requires it.

Not because it's popular.

Not even because people seek it out from him, even though sometimes they do.

It's because of who he is.

And when I look out into our world,

when I look out into the culture that we have,

that we live in,

sometimes I think like as

like things that get recorded sometimes that people could maybe take out of context,

our solution a lot of times,

my fear is this,

is our solution is

more churches, more churches, more churches, more churches, more churches.

Now let me explain.

My fear is that we think

what the solution that this world needs

is more organizations.

And I don't think that's the solution.

I think the solution,

I know the solution

is Jesus.

And I believe

wholeheartedly

that

what is going to go

and help connect

the brokenness

in our world

to Jesus

is not hoping that

an organization will do it.

but is that

godly

men

and women

whether you're a pastor,

a teacher,

a construction worker,

a lawyer,

a nurse,

a stay-at-home mom,

regardless of what you do

for the majority of your day,

the impact that you will have

is as a godly

man

and woman

and woman of God.

Like, the Bible

is written

to all of us

about this is who we are to be.

And this is who we are to follow.

And as we follow Christ,

this is what he does

and this is who we become.

And so I love the story

of Daniel

and I hope

you have too.

And I actually believe

that the story

of Daniel

is more relatable

to you

than it even is to me.

because every day

I get to come

and work

and be a part

of one of those

wonderful organizations.

Right?

But you,

you,

you go to the government buildings.

You go to the schools.

You go to the businesses.

You go to the places

and here's

what culture

wants to do.

Culture

wants

to shut

you

up.

But you've got a message.

You're a person of hope.

And what we're finding

from Daniel

is that it's not easy

and it,

and it may,

it may

cost you.

It may.

But it's worth it.

It's worth it.

So let me read

and kind of

explain a little bit.

We won't get

to the lion's den today.

We'll get there.

We'll get there next week.

First four verses.

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

would,

should give

account

so that

the king

might suffer

no loss.

verse three.

Then

this Daniel

became

distinguished

above all

the other

high officials

and satraps

sought to

because

an excellent

spirit

was in him

and the king

planned to set

him over

the whole

kingdom.

Then,

verse four,

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

was found

in him.

So what's

happened

and what's

taken place?

The Medes

and the

Persians,

they've

overthrown

the Babylonians.

What we saw,

Belshazzar

was taken,

chapter five,

verse 30

tells us,

and killed

as the

last of

the Babylonian

rulers

and Darius

the Mede

receives the

kingdom

and this is

where we

find ourselves.

This is what

God said

would happen

in Nebuchadnezzar's

dream that

Daniel interpreted

in Daniel

chapter two.

We see the

fall

of the

empires

and this is

important to

note

going all the

way back to

Daniel one

as Judah

has been

taken by the

Babylonians

and then going

to Daniel two

of the fall

of the empires.

All of this

is happening

in the very

hand of God.

So it's not

that it's

through

military strength

and might

God saying

I'm doing this

I'm working

in this

this is me

this is me

and Daniel's

the man

for the job

Daniel one

he's 15

he's somewhere

around

85

years

old

when we

see this

happening

and taking

place.

So Darius

comes in

he comes

and he

establishes

his

form

of government.

Now

you and I

in the

in the

United States

we're

we're a little

used to

this

every

four to

eight years

right

depending if

a president

gets reelected

or not

we see

changes

that happen

and take

place

in a federal

level.

Sometimes

you may

like those

changes

sometimes

you may

not like

those changes

your opinion

is asked

when you vote

and then

after that

it's kind

of over

with

right

but for

the time

of people

who live

in empires

this is not

what they would

see as the

norm.

You've got a

Babylonian

culture

and a

Babylonian

leadership

strategy

and in

comes

Darius

with his

completely

different

culture

completely

different

people

from a

completely

different

land

and he

comes in

and they

overthrow

and he's

going to

now

establish

his form

of government.

Well

imagine this

imagine if

you've got

a

Republican

president

and this

Republican

president

picks for

himself

a

Republican

vice

president

and then

the next

election

the Democrat

wins

and the

Democrat

now I know

this is not

how our

government

works so

don't overly

pick me

apart on

this

my last

government

class was

in seventh

grade but

I do

know

and this

Democrat

president

says

you know

what

I really

like all

the things

you're doing

I really

don't disagree

with them

at all

in fact

there's

areas that

I'm going

to change

but you

know what

you're

second in

charge

let me

keep

them

let me

keep

them

now

take out

political

parties

I'm just

imagining

whatever side

that lands

on their

people aren't

going to

like it

Darius

comes in

in his

government

and he's

establishing

all that

will happen

and all

that it

will be

and it's

new leaders

are coming

things are

being divided

differently

things are

going to be

done

differently

but there's

Daniel

and Daniel

we're going

to keep

and not only

are we going

to keep

Daniel

we're not

going to

keep Daniel

as a

consultant

hey tell us

how things

were done

tell us

what worked

what didn't

work

Daniel

now for

the second

time as

an outsider

this is what

happened with

Nebuchadnezzar

it's going to

be what

happens with

Daniel

is

elevated

he's elevated

he's elevated

to the highest

level

of leadership

answering

only

to the

king

why

why

how can

this

slave

like you

realize

like Daniel

won

that's who

he was

his people

were

overtaken

and he

wasn't given

a choice

he was

taken

he was

taken

by the

Babylonians

this

boy

who's

become

an elderly

man

is

taken

as a

slave

elevated

in a

pagan

government

system

under

Nebuchadnezzar

now

elevated

again

in

another

pagan

governmental

system

how does

this

happen

how does

this

happen

you

have

verse

three

verse

three

tells us

that

it

happens

about

midway

through

because

what

Darius

had

seen

was

an

excellent

spirit

that

was

in

him

now

this

is

the

same

thing

that

Nebuchadnezzar

saw

not

godly

men

looking

for

godly

characteristics

not

godly

men

on their

knees

in

prayer

and

fasting

desiring

what

God

is

going

to

do

and

what

they

needed

to

do

but

that

pagan

governmental

workers

kings

those

who

lived

to

kill

saw

in

Daniel

something

that was

different

it

wasn't

his

thoughts

on

economics

it

wasn't

Daniel's

craftiness

in

war

it

wasn't

Daniel's

political

acumen

they

saw

even

through

their

lostness

that

Daniel

was

different

in

his

spirit

in

him

and

so

this

week

and

next

week

we're

going

to

look

at

these

pieces

for

Daniel

in

this

encounter

but

this

morning

what

I

want

to

talk

to

you

about

is

having

a

godly

reputation

is

having

a

godly

reputation

somewhere

I've

said it

I know

a thousand

times

I know

a thousand

times

if not

more

and I'm

sure

you have

as well

we've

made

statements

centered

around

that

I

don't

care

what

people

think

about

me

I'm

just

going

to

be

faithful

to

the

Lord

and

here's

what

I

think

maybe

you

think

I

don't

want

to

judge

your

heart

but

here's

what

I

think

that

I'm

saying

oftentimes

when I

make

that

statement

I'm

hiding

it

under

a

facade

of

Pharisee

that's

what

I'm

doing

that's

what

I'm

doing

what

I'm

saying

is

I'm

going

to

be

obedient

and

they're

going

to

see

my

obedience

and

I

don't

care

if

I

got

to

be

a

jerk

about

it

and

I

don't

care

if

they

like

me

or

they

don't

like

me

it's

just

going

to

be

my

obedience

to

God

but

what

we

see

here

from

Daniel

is

that

you

can

have

a

godly

reputation

even

amongst

lost

people

and

that

we

should

be

working

toward

that

like

folks

isn't

that

what

Jesus

did

it

I

mean

like

the crowd

that was

running

to

Jesus

that

wanted

to

hang

out

with

Jesus

that

wanted

to

hear

more

about

Jesus

were

not

the

religious

elites

like

the

main

descriptions

of those

around

Jesus

that

we

see

are

the

outcasts

the

moral

failures

and

they're

drawn

to

him

he

speaks

truth

in a

way

that

they

hear

and

they

want

more

of

him

they

want

more

of

what

he

has

and

so

what

I

want

us

to

see

is

that

like

having

a

godly

reputation

not

only

in

the

church

is

important

but

having

a

godly

reputation

from

people

outside

the

church

is

important

for

the

growth

of

the

kingdom

it's

not

just

what

we

are

in

here

it's

who

we

are

out

there

at

the

ball

field

at

the

birthday

party

at

the

office

in

spite

of

what

it

may

cost

to

be

who

we

are

so

what

does

it

look

like

to

have

a

godly

reputation

well

a couple

things

that I

think

we

can

draw

from

and

learn

here

from

Daniel

in

the

first

is

that

we

must

have

a

godly

heart

we

must

have

a

godly

heart

Daniel

here's

what

Daniel

has

done

Daniel

has

brought

his

faith

into

every

aspect

of

his

life

from

the

counsel

that

he

gives

the

king

in

his

government

job

to

who

he

is

with

his

friends

right

like

we

saw

that

in

Daniel

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

or

Daniel

3

with

Shadrach

Meshach

and

Abednego

hey

our

life

could

be

on

the

line

let's

pray

and

they're

like

yep

cool

that's

what

we're

gonna

do

right

this

is

what

we

see

we

see

the

godly

counsel

that

he

gives

now

somewhere

along

the line

like

we

have

kind

of

taken

our

world

and

said

well

there's

my

professional

world

and then

there's

my

profession

of

faith

world

love

and

what

we

have

to

be

is

a

people

that

says

there

is

no

separate

between

those

two

that

when

I

go

where

I'm

at

whether

it's

for

professional

whether

it's

for

fun

or

whether

it's

my

profession

of

faith

in

my

congregation

of

fellow

believers

that

we

are

men

and

women

of

God

and

what

I

do

and

what

I

say

and

who

I

am

remains

consistent

within

those

you

know

in

our

world

in

our

context

in

our

culture

like

this

is

where

this

has

kind

of

bled

in

and

happened

we've

talked

about

the

separation

of

church

and

state

and

somewhere

along

the

line

a

misunderstanding

of

historical

U.S.

separation

of

church

and

state

has

impacted

the

average

Christian

American's

heart

and

what

has

become

is

the

separation

of

church

state

and

everything

else

in

our

life

which

by

the

way

when

we

look

at

how

our

government

is

set

and

we

understand

the

history

of

what

our

government

came

from

in

England

the

goal

of the

separation

of

the

church

and

state

was

never

that

the

church

would

not

be

a

part

of

the

state

and

government

working

that's

what we

want

we want

men

and

women

of

faith

in

the

state

but it

was

to

keep

the

state

out

of

the

church

so that

Washington

doesn't

tell

Willow Ridge

what to

do

but that

godly

men

and

women

go

and

they

work

in

government

through

their

faith

but we've

seen

we've

seen

where we've

where we've

separated

and what we

want to be

is the people

that infiltrate

that go to

that passionately

pursue

all areas

for the

name

and the

work

of

God

so what

does that

look like

what

does this

to have

a godly

reputation

what does

it mean

to have

a godly

heart

well

the first

is to

be a

person

of

Christ

like

wisdom

of

Christ

like

wisdom

look at

James

I was

on the

screen

James

3

17

but

the

wisdom

from

above

is

first

pure

than

peaceable

gentle

open

reason

full

of

mercy

and

good

fruits

impartial

and

sincere

and

sincere

I

believe

I

believe

the

reason

why

in a

lot

of

these

instances

the

king

kept

Daniel

around

was

because

Daniel

was a

wise

man

but

his

wisdom

was not

the

wisdom

of the

world

his

wisdom

was

the

wisdom

of

God

in

every

encounter

that

we've

seen

in

scripture

when

it's

an

opportunity

for

Daniel

to

get

political

what

Daniel

does

is

Daniel

gets

biblical

Daniel

gets

biblical

so

would

you

and

I

be

willing

to

be

people

of

godly

reputation

because

what

comes

from

us

is

Christ

like

wisdom

biblical

wisdom

that

this

is

what

comes

from

us

and

James

here

gives

us

this

piece

of

what

this

should

look

like

he

says

that

they're

pure

that

they're

pure

that

they're

of

god

but

the

wisdom

but

the

wisdom

from

above

is

first

pure

it's

not

secular

it's

not

selfish

it's

not

sinful

it's

of

god

then

what

we

see

is

it's

peaceable

peaceable

this

word

peaceable

what

it means

is

a

lover

of

peace

a

lover

of

peace

so

to

ask

yourself

the

question

then

is

what

comes

from

me

does

it

create

peace

or

does

it

create

chaos

is

what

comes

from

me

the

peace

of

god

or

the

dissension

of

man

it

says

that

what

should

come

from

us

is

gentle

gentle

there's

gonna be

a couple

places

that we

look at

this

here

in just

a minute

as well

and try

to understand

this

but this

word

for

gentle

just

simply

means

considerate

of

others

considerate

of

others

like

imagine

that

the

wisdom

that you

give

the

person

that you

are

the

reflection

of your

heart

is you're

simply

considerate

of

others

that

you're

empathetic

for what

they're

walking

through

that

you're

excited

for

them

when

you

can

be

right

that

you

are

considerate

to

others

are you

gentle

are you

open

to

reason

that

just

feels

like a

phrase

that

could

be

taken

a lot

of

different

ways

right

are

you

open

to

reason

this

phrase

open

to

reason

actually

means

submissive

submissive

a word

that we

don't

like