(9.13.26) Sermon | The Story of Daniel, Week 5 | Christina Murphy

Well, good morning, church.

Welcome to Generations.

I'll say it again.

Good morning, church.

Oh, that sounds like a beautiful song.

My name is Christina.

I am the connections pastor here, and we are glad that you are with us.

If you saw this card on your seat, I hope you didn't throw it away.

How many people got a card?

Hold it up real high.

It's exciting.

This card, what Pastor Don alluded to, this card says that we are going to a new level.

And it's exciting because what we experience here on a Sunday morning, what we get to be in the house of God and sense God's presence, we want to make room for other people.

And so on October 4th, we are going to still be one church but have two gatherings.

So take this card, pray over it, and use it.

Maybe God will put someone on your heart to give it to because it statistically they say 80% of people will say yes if we just ask them to come to church.

So don't throw it away.

Don't throw it away.

If you already put it somewhere and you're like, I already lost it, don't worry, we got more.

We'll get you more.

We got lots of cards because we want lots of people to be with us and find Jesus, right?

To bring them into this journey with us.

And that's what this is all about.

Well, I'm excited that we are going to talk about the last part of Daniel, chapter six, before we get there.

If you would like to read the rest of the chapters, uh, you are welcome to do that.

They will give you a good read, but then when you're done reading it, see Alex, because that's all I need to say about that.

Uh I'm kidding, kinda.

But it's a deep book.

But this is where we're gonna stop.

But keep going if you want.

It's good stuff.

Uh as we dive into this chapter six, I did want to kind of segue into a lot of you have been with us the last year.

If you haven't, this is where Kelly and I's journey has brought us to this point.

And it does tie into where we're going, so bear with me.

About a year ago, year and a half ago, um, I guess Kel got news that his job was kind of in jeopardy, and we've shared that with you.

And I'm so thankful to report to give God all the glory that as of September 6th, he is going to stay employed at his employer.

So we have coveted your prayers.

Yes.

Thank the Lord.

I mean, if you've been with us, I think almost a year ago, like he had a recent uh layoff letter in his hand, and we were like, okay, Lord, let's do this.

Like, I don't understand, but the Lord has been good and sees fit to let Kelly finish his job, Lord will, and in the creek don't rise, um, at his current employer.

So it's exciting.

And we I just wanted to share that because I know a lot of you have been praying, and he's officially on the organizational chart, and it's been stamped and signed and delivered.

That's kind of where Daniel is today in chapter six, verses one and one, two, and three.

Uh it's King Darius, which we'll dive into who he is, but these scriptures start off with him sitting at his royal desk looking at a scroll.

I'm making that up.

But he's sitting at his royal desk and he's going through some organizational kingdom changes.

I surmise that he's sitting there, and as he's thinking about looking at the current structure, uh, you would see King Darius, you would see three administrators, and then scripture tells us you would see 120 satraps.

You'll have to Google what they are, but basically government officials fitting with Kelly's job, but we won't talk about where he works.

It's top secret.

Anyway, these people are working with the king, and the king's figuring out his new organizational structure.

And as he's doing so, chapter three tells us that Daniel has exceptional qualities.

And the king is taking notice of this, and so the king decides, I'm sure, sitting at that desk with all his advisors, guys, what do you think about me making Daniel number two in command?

Like, what do you think about that?

Give me your feedback.

And I'm sure the guys were like, Yeah, yeah, I'm working through that like we do when we do brainstorms or a whiteboard or whatever we do at work.

And so this king, King Darius, is reorganizing things.

But guess what gets out to the other government officials?

The Daniel is being looked at, thus, they are being overlooked.

Can you imagine what the coworkers think?

Everyone in the office has just heard you have been promoted, and they have not.

And so the rumors start, the information's leaking, and all of the sudden, this guy named Daniel is coming to the front.

We're not surprised by that.

We have seen God's blessings on Daniel.

We're not shocked that he's elevated because Daniel has been faithful to God this whole time.

He has been faithful when we saw him in chapter one.

He was not moved and asked the king for permission for his personal conviction with his diet.

He wasn't going to compromise and even had the boldness to go to the king and say, Let me let you see what my God can do.

He was faithful when he had an interpretation of a dream that he knew could put himself in harm's way, but he didn't compromise that.

He went boldly again, being faithful to God, knowing he was supposed to do what God told him to do.

And he did in chapter two, relying on God, and completed that faithful chapter.

His friends, you remember those, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo, they were going to be thrown into a fiery furnace.

But you are the company you keep.

So these men, all being of the same mindset, were faithful to obey God, even despite the outcome, they weren't sure.

They win anyway.

Daniel's faithfulness is evident throughout all scripture continually as we read four, and if you read five, to where we are today in chapter six, seeing Daniel, be faithful, lets us know that his whole life has prepared him for this moment.

Probably all that training, if you will, will never come in handy more than this chapter.

Because as we are going to read in chapter 6, verses 4 through 17, he is going to have his faithfulness tested like he's never had it before.

So if you are able and you have your Bible, would you stand out of respect for the reading of God's word?

If you don't have a Bible or a device, just follow along behind us on the screen.

It's a lot of scripture, but follow with me as we see the story of Daniel continue.

Chapter 6, verses 4 through 17 says, At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charging against for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs.

But they were unable to do so.

They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.

Finally, these men said, We will never find any basis for charges against him unless it has something to do with his God, the law of his God.

So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and they said, King Darius live forever.

The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisors, and governors all have agreed that you should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any other god or human being during the next thirty days, except you, your majesty, shall be thrown into the lion's den.

Now, your majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered, in accordance to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.

So King Darius put the decree in writing.

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home, went upstairs, went to his room, and where the windows opened toward Jerusalem, he got down on his knees and he prayed three times a day, giving thanks to God, just as he has always done.

So they went to the king and spoke to him about the royal decree.

Didn't you publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any God or human being except you, your majesty, would be thrown into the lion's den?

And the king answered, Yeah, the decree stands in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.

They then said to the king, Daniel, who is the one exiled from Judah pays no attention to you, your majesty, or to the decree you put in writing.

He still prays three times a day.

When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed.

He was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.

Then the men, as a group, went to King Darius and said to him, Remember, your majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians, no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.

So the king gave the order.

And they brought Daniel down, and they threw him in the lion's den.

And the king said to Daniel, May your may the God whom you serve continually rescue you.

A stone was brought and placed in front of the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his signet ring and the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel's situation might not be changed.

You may be seated.

May God bless the reading of his word.

Scripture tells us that these government officials were trying to find fault with Daniel.

They were trying to figure out something to stick to who he was.

And frustrated, they could not find one thing.

Not one thing was corrupt, Scripture says.

And so they hatched a plan.

They came up with an idea.

They said, King Darius, why don't you become God for 30 days?

What do you think about that?

And I'm sure King Darius was flattered, like, yeah.

Tell me more.

Tell me about this plan.

I say that because it wasn't uncommon during this time.

If you look at the other kings, there was a practice in place called divinity of the kings.

In Egypt, they practiced this with Pharaoh.

They made him divine.

And looking at the Roman Empire, there were others like Caesar Augustus, who was called Divi Philius, Latin for the divine one.

He was known as Son of a God.

Lowercase G.

So knowing the king well, it isn't in Scripture, but I could see how they would use his flattery, slide in, and try to manipulate the situation.

In my mind's eye, I bet they had the document drawn up because kings aren't right in anything.

If you know they have scribes and people that do that.

And so I think they went in there and just presented this beautiful document.

Because who wouldn't want to be king or who wouldn't want to be God for 30 days?

So he signs it.

Obviously, he probably didn't think much of it because he totally trusts these guys.

They're his guys, his government officials.

You know what I think is pathetic about this edict about becoming a God for 30 days?

Is that it was just for 30 days.

I mean, if I'm gonna be saying I get to decide if I'm God, I'm gonna do it in two in perpetuity.

I mean, why just do 30 days?

Why not just say, yeah, let's make this thing forever and be done with it?

But if you're that messed up, we can't even begin to get in that head, right?

Because it's if you think you can be God, there's that.

So they put it into writing.

He signs it.

And probably didn't think twice about it.

It's worth noting here this Persian Empire operated under a different government system than the ones we've heard about in past scripture, the Babylonian Empire.

Before this, the Babylonian Empire operated under absolute monarchy.

The king Nebuchadnezzar and King Belshazzar were authoritative.

They just decided something and it was done.

They could undo it or put it back or do whatever they wanted.

But the law of the Medes and Persians here operated under something called a constitutional monarchy.

It was different because, as we heard in Scripture, it couldn't be repealed.

If it was done, even the king couldn't undo it.

And so these government official guys knew this and took advantage of it because these laws were permanent.

They trapped the king and set a motion of a plan here that was going to kill Daniel.

They didn't want Daniel just to be transferred to the retirement community on the Euphrates River where he would collect his royal pension.

No, they didn't want that.

They wanted him dead.

Like dead dead.

Lions den dead.

And so they put this plan into motion.

What was the motivation?

Why did they decide this was a good idea?

Plain and simple.

Jealousy.

Old-fashioned jealousy.

When we look at what is going on, they're jealous of Daniel.

See, jealousy is resenting what someone else has.

And they were jealous that King Darius was going to put Daniel second in command over the whole kingdom.

They were jealous they got passed over.

I bet they were jealous they couldn't find anything wrong with him.

Nothing would stick.

This guy is too squeaky clean.

And so that made him jealous.

They were just jealous men.

And they let jealousy take root.

Jealousy sparked a firestorm in their heart that these government officials turned out to be no friend to Daniel at all.

If we're honest, they were nothing more than backstabbing jealous coworkers.

I know I can't totally at all relate to Daniel, but I will tell you in 2016 I got a promotion.

I found out real quick who were my friends and who weren't my friends.

People started talking, and so I don't do well with that, so I just kind of was like, hey, I heard you said this, and all of a sudden nobody knew who said what.

They didn't like the idea of someone who they had the same opportunities, they could have done the same application.

Somehow they're mad at me.

So they feel bad and they're trying to make themselves feel better.

Just slander and rumors that just weren't true and aren't true.

But that's what jealousy does, doesn't it?

It becomes something so destructive.

And the destructive nature of their jealousy had its eyes set on Daniel to the point it became pretty irrational.

Some people go to jail over some jealousy.

Some marriages have been destroyed because they let jealousy take root.

Some businesses have folded because one partner gets mad at the other partner and jealousy takes hold and collapse everything they built together.

Some people have been murdered because of jealousy.

Jealousy is a very destructive emotion, not only for the one who possesses it, but also to those who are the target of it.

When jealousy is left unchecked, it can ruin lives.

The Bible warns against jealousy.

When we look at James chapter 3, verses 4, 14 through 16, it says, But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don't cover up the truth with boasting and lying, for jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom.

James 3:4

Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and listen to this demonic.

For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

Paul goes on in Romans chapter 14, 13, just kidding, 13, verses 13 through 14, and says a lot of things in this section.

Romans 14 · chapter mention

Talking about the sinful nature, talking about all these big hitter sins, and right booked here in this verse, jealousy lives.

Jealousy is not something we want to be characterized as having as a part of who we are.

Paul says it's a part of the flesh, it's not a part of the spirit.

And so we shouldn't let jealousy take roots in our heart like these men have.

And so, what is Daniel's response?

What does he do?

He does what he always does.

He was faithful to God, and he wasn't phased what they had put in writing.

When he learned that it was published, he went home, went upstairs to his bedroom, got down on his knees three times and prayed, gave thanks to God and asked God for help.

He wasn't deterred by the fact these guys had had a death hit on his life.

He wasn't going to stop doing what he was told in his guts and hearts he needed to do to be true to himself.

Because Daniel had developed some holy habits.

We heard about that if you still have that card from last year hanging up on your Fridge.

These holy habits were the right thing.

They were the thing Daniel was going to do.

They were ingrained to him.

He didn't care who objected, who he offended, and what the price was going to be for what he was choosing to do.

Daniel was faithful to God.

That's what faithfulness looks like.

I mean, Daniel could have taken the easy way out.

How many of us have negotiated with God?

I could think in my mind here, this 83, that's what they say, he's 83 years old at this time, getting down and praying.

Dear Lord, I need you to help me take a little break from praying.

I've served you for 83 years.

But God, I have this thing, this edict.

Well, I know you know all about it.

I need a sabbatical because I don't want to die.

I know you love me.

I promise I'll pick this praying thing up as soon as these 30 days are over, okay?

Amen.

Thank you, Jesus.

Or God.

No, that's not what Daniel did.

He didn't do that.

That wasn't who he was.

He wasn't gonna take a sabbatical from praying.

He wasn't gonna ask God for a break.

No.

And why didn't he ask for that?

He didn't do that because he was faithful.

He was a man of integrity.

And Proverbs 10 verse 9 tells us people with integrity walk safely.

Proverbs 10:9

Proverbs 27 says, the godly walk with integrity.

Daniel was faithful to serve various kings that God had placed in his life.

He never compromised because he was most faithful to King God.

He wasn't going to deviate from that.

He wasn't going to pray and ask for a sabbatical.

And 83 years old, he didn't care.

He was going to do what he has always done and pay no attention to a piece of paper that a king put in place.

These men were starting trouble for Daniel.

And finally, the king saw through it.

When King Darius found out that he had been played, he was furious.

He was most angry with himself because he realized Daniel was the specific target for the decree.

Verse 14, we read, he was greatly displeased with himself.

And he set out in his heart to help Daniel.

And he labored all night, Scripture says, until the sun went down.

He wanted to help Daniel.

He was more like a friend to Daniel.

I wonder Scripture doesn't say this, but if he sat up all night trying to find a loophole, like this was a law permanent, in place, signed, sealed, and delivered, he couldn't undo it.

But did he sit there and think, how can I get Daniel out of this?

Now that he realized what the goal of this thing was all about, he wanted to fix it.

And here Daniel was, or King Darius was, realizing he was under this constitutional monarchy, he couldn't undo it.

So reluctantly he had to throw Daniel in the lion's den.

If you read verses 18 through 23, it says that he didn't eat, he didn't sleep, he didn't want any entertainment, like the king was torn up from the floor up, trying to figure out what in the world he's gonna do with this friend of his that he knows is going to find death any minute now.

I wonder if he just sat there, listened so like was that him?

Just wondering what's going on in there.

My friend is in trouble.

And so as soon as the sun came out, King Darius ran down there and he yelled out to Daniel, Are you okay?

Are you alright?

And he said, I'm fine.

God sent an angel down and shut the lion's mouth, and he did not let me get harmed.

Not one wound was on Daniel.

And here Daniel was perfectly fine.

Daniel was faithful to God, and God was faithful to Daniel.

God rescued Daniel.

And when God rescued Daniel, the king rejoiced.

The king was excited to see his friend was okay.

He wrote in chapter six, verse twenty-three, from this day forward to every nation in every language on earth, my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.

The king did a 180, like looking at King Darius, he's declaring this God.

Why did he do that?

Because he saw something miraculous.

He saw something he couldn't explain.

He saw something that was bigger than him.

He saw a God that came on the scene and trumped his own authority.

He saw a God who showed up for a faithful guy named Daniel.

He saw a God that did not waver in his faithfulness to a man that he saw lived out what he said he believed in.

Darius saw God faithful.

Now we could close our Bible and say, well, praise the Lord.

When I get in my lion's den, I know that God's gonna rescue me and everything will be great.

I got saved today.

Now my life is gonna be perfect.

And you would be wrong.

100% wrong.

That would be an egregious thing for us to do to these scriptures, to act like this lion's den equals God saving him, thus, my life is gonna be always great.

I'm always gonna be rescued.

Yes, God can and he does rescue people.

2 Peter chapter 2, verse 9 tells us that the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials.

2 Peter 2:9

But it doesn't mean that God rescues every person every time from every trial.

It doesn't mean it's a pass.

Daniel's story is a unique story with a miraculous outcome accomplished for the glory of God.

And we can turn Daniel's experience, if we're not careful, into a formula that we think God must operate like this at all times for us.

Because I'm a Christian.

I have faith.

God is gonna just make my life cotton candy, unicorns.

But that's not true.

That's crazy thinking.

God's ways are not always predictable.

But God is always faithful.

Always.

I don't know why He heals this person over here and doesn't heal that person over there.

I don't know why this person has to walk their entire life through a trial, and then in an instant this person over here gets healed.

Like I have no idea why.

And frankly, I don't understand sometimes, and I can't make sense.

But I will tell you that God's perspective is way bigger than mine.

And that God sees the bigger picture, the eternal one.

And if we could pull back the curtain of heaven and see, we would see him at work in everything as he connects eternity together through things I don't even know and won't know till I get into heaven and see it all in front of me and have all my questions answered.

1 Corinthians 13, 9 and 12 says, I see things imperfectly, that my knowledge is partial and incomplete, that my life is but a vapor.

It's here and gone.

The reality is I can't see it, I can't connect the dots.

I just can't.

Think about an ant.

That ant is scurrying around, and the ant is experiencing all the tiny parts of his world, and he's running around and he has no clue there's this vast, huge world, that there's an airplane in the sky.

Like he doesn't have a clue.

He doesn't have a clue because he just sees his immediate surroundings.

But just because that ant can't perceive the world outside of his little one doesn't mean there isn't a world that exists.

His little world, his mind is limited only to the perspective that he can see, not what is actually there.

And so even when I can't see it, when I can't understand what is going on, we need to learn to trust what God is doing, who he is, and know that he is good.

A couple months ago, I got news of this thing in my life, and I was like dumping my bucket, and I'm sure by the end of the night, Kel's like, can we talk about something else?

Like, I am so tired of hearing this.

But he was gracious and he just let me kept keep dumping the bucket, and I was just like hashing it and hashing it.

You know the definition of insanity?

Just don't, just go.

And as we were there, we say in our connection group, it just so happened, it just so happened that as we were just me puking all my thoughts and heart and all the things, that there's a show on.

A motorcycle show.

Now that tells you right there, I did not have control of the remote, but that tells you also where my mind was, because when I'm awake, I have the remote.

And when I fall asleep, think Cal has the remote.

So this show's on.

I'm sorry for all you motorcycle guys, but I wasn't paying attention to the show.

And I'm asking God, why and how's this gonna work?

And and Cal's just like, yeah.

And all of a sudden, just so happened, that channel was on, and this beautiful gas tank pops up on this motorcycle, and it says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

And it was beautiful.

I'm like, it literally stopped me, and Kel said, Do you see that?

And I said, Yeah, I see that.

Well, then that's it.

That's where you need to live.

In my life verse.

See, I feel like in my moments, that's why it is my life verse.

In the moments, I don't understand, I can't figure out, I don't know what he's doing.

He just shows me once more.

I'm here.

And then in a sweet presence, it's like he said, Why don't you stop asking me why?

And why don't you ask me to walk with you through this?

You're not gonna figure out the why.

But if you invite me in, I'm gonna take you and show you something.

Because I can tell you this much, what I know about my good God is that when I look backwards, he's been there.

And when I'm currently here, I have to trust and know without a doubt in every fiber of my being, he's here.

And then when I get over there, when I look back again, I will know he will be in this situation.

But unequivocally, I cannot doubt the fact, no matter in front of me, right here, or behind me, he has always been there, and he always will be there.

No matter what I feel, I know what this word says about him, and he is faithful, he is good, and he has my best interests in mind, and sometimes what is best for me is a delay, even though I don't like it.

And sometimes what's best for me is a big fat no.

No, I'm not doing that.

Aren't you glad there are prayers you prayed when you were 19 that God didn't answer?

Thank God.

Some of you, some of us, well, we won't go there.

That's another sermon.

Thank God.

But your parents, some of you are really good parents.

Most of you are, right?

You don't feel like that, but you are.

A parent doesn't tell their kid no because they want to be mean or limit their child, although the kid feels that way.

I hate my mom, I hate my dad.

We all were kids once.

No, that parent sees the dangers and the consequences that kid can't see.

Sometimes it feels like restriction, but actually it's protection.

It's a parent that loves their child so much that they're telling them no, because they know those consequences aren't good for them.

They love them so much they want to protect them.

And God may not give me what I want, but He is faithful.

If the ban will come up, we will close today with that.

Knowing that God is faithful, just like 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 3 says, The Lord is faithful.

2 Thessalonians 3:3

In Daniel's case, God did deliver him out of the lion's den.

But we know life doesn't already always work out that way.

That we're gonna get out of our lion's den.

And I don't know what you've walked in here with this morning or what you've literally walked over to be here today.

But I want you to remember that God is faithful.

He's faithful no matter what situation you are in.

He is faithful when your marriage falls apart.

He is faithful when your bank account says zero.

He's faithful when the child you've prayed for dies.

He is faithful when that relationship is broken.

He is faithful no matter what.

The addiction you face every day that you think, God, I cannot get away from this.

He's faithful.

That's who he is.

And whether God shuts the lion's mouth or gives you the strength to endure the den, either way, you can say he's faithful.

The question is, will you be?

Will you be faithful when the situation doesn't change or work out the way you want?

Will you be faithful when you are looking at your lion eye to eye?

And you see the blow coming.

Will you be faithful?

Will we be faithful just like Daniel was?

That's where we have to live today because we serve a good and faithful God.

But we too have to be faithful just like Daniel.

Because we may not always be able to predict the outcome, but we can always trust God with the outcome.

Because He is faithful no matter what.

Would you pray with me?