Naylor Community
Christian Church
I. Introduction
-- turn in your Bibles to Daniel 6
Daniel
6: 1 It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, 2
with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were
made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. 3 Now Daniel
so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his
exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
4 At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds 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. 5 Finally these men said, “We will never find
any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do
with the law of his God.”
-- this guy didn’t take the news well --
and so, he began a campaign against me in the hopes that he could get me fired
and take my position -- this guy knew how to spin the truth in just the right
way to make his case seem valid to our superiors and turn them against me
-- around that time, a few of us at work
started a voluntary Bible study at lunch, with my boss’s permission -- several
of the folks that worked for me were part of that Bible study, but this
employee was not -- and I had mentioned it to him, but he said he was not
interested, and I didn’t press it any further -- working for the Government, especially
as a supervisor, you have to be careful about how you approach religion in the
workplace
-- not long after I had my conversation
with this employee about his term coming to an end, I got a call from the Equal
Employment Opportunity -- EEO office -- on my base -- the employee had filed a
complaint against me alleging that I was firing him as retribution because he
wouldn’t join the Bible study -- there were other allegations as well, but the
main one was that I was seeking to let him go because he wasn’t a Christian and
that I was forcing him to attend religious studies in the workplace
-- so, because this employee was upset
that his position was coming to an end and that he was losing his job, he came
at me the only way he could -- he tried to get me fired, in hopes that the
Government would then be forced to keep him on the payroll
-- the allegations were unfounded --
none of them were true -- but when EEO complaints are filed, the Government
takes them seriously and investigates them fully -- and the consequences of
such an action were high -- not only was my credibility and honor at stake, but
I could be fired if the case went against me, destroying a 20-year career at
that time -- and with an EEO complaint against me, it would be hard to get
another position in the Government
-- to make things worse, the
employee continued to work in my office after he began his campaign against me
-- I had to see him and work with him and continue to supervise him daily --
which was difficult to do since I knew that anything I did or said would be
twisted to provide more evidence against me -- I walked on eggshells around him
for months, trying to keep from making the situation worse
-- finally, after legal depositions
and additional investigations by the installation legal office and the EEO
office, the matter was going to go to court -- thankfully, the employee found
another job off-base, so he dropped the matter and the case was closed
-- my experience is not uncommon in
this world today -- I have heard similar stories from others throughout the
years, and it is becoming more and more commonplace for Christians to have
conflicts with others in various ways because of their faith
-- the Bible says that in the end
days, these types of conflicts will become greater -- and as we watch our
culture change around us -- as we watch our society accept as normal, behaviors
and lifestyles that the Bible condemns as sin, conflicts between Christians and
society -- maybe even conflicts between Christians and the law of the land or
the Government -- will become all too common
-- what do you do when you find
yourself as a Christian in a place that has become increasingly hostile to your
faith? -- how do you respond when you are attacked because of your faith?
-- one of the best examples of a
situation like this in the Bible is in the familiar story of Daniel in the lion’s
den -- so, let’s look together at this passage and see what we can learn from
Daniel about living in the lion’s den
II. Scripture Lesson -- Daniel 6:1-28
-- to refresh your memory of the
story of Daniel and how he came to be in Babylon, let me give you a brief synopsis
of the history of Israel at that time
-- Shortly after the death of
Solomon, King David’s son, the Kingdom of Israel was split into two separate
kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah
in the south -- about 400 years later, as the Book of Daniel begins, the
northern kingdom of Israel has been conquered and exiled to Assyria -- The
southern kingdom of Judah, including the city of Jerusalem, survived for a few
more years, until Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, attacked and destroyed Judah
and Jerusalem -- destroying the Jewish temple and taking hostages back to
Babylon with him
-- Daniel and his friends, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, were some of the hostages taken into Babylon from Judah to
be trained as servants in the royal court of Nebuchadnezzar
-- as time went by, the Babylonian
empire fell to Media-Persia -- with Cyrus the leader of the Persian empire and
King Darius of Medes ruling over the area of Babylon under Cyrus’ authority
-- so, as Chapter 6 opens, Daniel is
now under the rule of King Darius and the Media-Persian Empire
-- so, the administrators and
satraps conspired against Daniel, seeking to have him removed from his position
-- but Daniel was such a godly man -- holy and righteous in all he did -- and
they were unable to find anything on which to indict him
-- finally, they realized that the
only way to best Daniel was to have him persecuted for his faith
-- knowing this, all of the administrators
and satraps came before Darius and convinced him to make a formal decree that
for the next thirty days, people could only pray to him -- and that if anyone
prayed to any god but him, that they would immediately be thrown into the lion’s
den
-- this appealed to Darius’ pride, and he
readily agreed to the administrators and satrap’s recommendation and made a
formal decree in writing that only he could be prayed to for the next 30 days
-- this made the decree binding, and not even the king himself could reverse
the decree once he signed it
-- the trap was set -- now all the
administrators and satraps had to do was wait for Daniel to fall into it
-- but notice what Daniel did -- he
didn’t panic -- he didn’t storm the capitol -- he didn’t protest in the streets
or get on Facebook and complain for all to see
-- no, Daniel continued to do what
he always did -- he continued to put his faith above all else -- and, just like
he always did, Daniel continued to get on his knees three times a day, face
Jerusalem, and pray to God in thanksgiving and worship -- and, this time, the
text says, he asked God for help
-- everyone in Babylon was
apparently aware of Daniel’s daily practices -- he had always been open in his
faith and in Who he believed -- he was consistent and faithful in his spiritual
practices -- and obviously, the administrators and satraps knew about it --
that’s why they got Darius to pass this unfair law in the first place
-- and now we read that once Darius
signed the decree, they rushed into Daniel’s presence as a group to confront
him -- to catch him in the very act of praying to God, as he always did -- only
this time, it was illegal to do so
-- there’s a question that gets
asked so often now that it’s almost a cliche, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a
good question -- if someone was to pass a law like this -- a law making Christianity
illegal -- would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you? -- in
other words, are you living out your faith on a daily basis like Daniel, to the
point that someone could easily observe you doing so? -- if you’re not, what
does that say about your faith and your practice of spiritual disciplines?
-- this greatly distressed Darius because
he did favor Daniel -- and he tried to do what he could to reverse the decree
-- but, in the end, he couldn’t -- because the Medes and Persians considered
their kings to be equal to gods, any decree they made was binding -- just as if
it was decreed by God Himself -- and so it could not be reversed
-- finally, in distress, Darius took
Daniel to the lion’s den and told him, “May your God rescue you!” -- and then
he gave the order to throw Daniel in and had a stone put over the mouth of the
den, sealed with the king’s signet ring and the rings of his nobles
-- because of Daniel and his
integrity and behavior, Darius had come to recognize God as being real, but he
wasn’t fully a believer yet -- he did not yet believe that the God of Israel was
the only God -- he considered Him as just another god to be added to all those
who the Medes and Persians worshiped
-- still, he hoped that Daniel’s God
was powerful enough to save him from certain death in the lion’s den
-- “How could this be?” he asked. --
Daniel replied that God had sent an angel who had shut the mouths of the lions,
and kept them from hurting Daniel all through the night
-- the king ordered Daniel removed
from the lion’s den and set free -- you see, here was an error on the part of
the administrators and satraps -- their plan was to have the decree read that
violators were to be thrown into the lion’s den, not that they were to be
killed -- they never considered the fact that someone could go into the den and
come out alive, but Daniel had just done that through the power of the Lord God
Almighty -- so, since the punishments in the decree had been fulfilled, the king
set him free
-- and then the king had the
administrators and satraps thrown into the den, along with their wives and
children, because they had falsely accused Daniel in this matter -- immediately,
the lions killed all of them, and justice was served
and he endures forever;
his
kingdom will not be destroyed,
his dominion will never end.
27
He rescues and he saves;
he
performs signs and wonders
in the heavens and on the earth.
He
has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
-- even though the original decree
could not be rescinded, Darius issued a new decree that recognized and exalted
the Lord God Almighty, making any recognition or worship of God legal in Babylon
from that point on
-- so, what does this all mean for
us today? -- as Christians living in a rapidly post-Christian world and in a
society and culture that is turning away from traditional Christian values?
-- remember -- just like God allowed
Daniel to be thrown into the lion’s den, he allowed Daniel’s friends, Shadrach,
Meshack, and Abednego, to get thrown into the fiery furnace at Nebuchadnezzar’s
command -- He may allow us to get thrown into the fire, too -- Daniel’s story
is proof that sometime faithful Christians suffer unfairly for their faith
-- the farther away from God’s truth
that our society and culture go, the greater the likelihood that we are going
to end up in the lion’s den at some point -- some of you may be there today --
and you may be wondering why God has allowed this to happen
-- I’ve been there -- I’ve
questioned that -- maybe you have, too -- when trials and troubles come -- when
family members get sick and die -- it can cause us to cry out to God, “Why? - I
have been faithful to you -- I have prayed to you -- why is this happening to
me when all I have done is serve you and worship you and follow you?” -- this
is a natural response -- more than likely, all of us have gone to God with
those questions before
-- but while we may not know why God
allows these trials to come into our lives, one great truth remains -- our God
is a good God -- and in Romans 8:28, God promises that in all things -- in
trials and tribulations -- in the good times and the bad -- in the lion’s den
and in the fire -- God will work all things to our good for those who love Him
-- who are called according to His name
-- not saying that these things are
good, but that God brings good out of them -- and God will use these situations
to strengthen our faith -- to mature us as believers -- and to bring glory to
Himself, just as we see in this story of Daniel
-- if Daniel had not gone to the
lion’s den, then Darius would never have witnessed God’s miraculous deliverance
and would not have issued his decree to the nation to worship God as the Savior
and Deliverer of all
-- now, that’s not a promise that we won’t
suffer in the trials and conflicts we go through -- that’s not a promise that
God will always deliver us from harm physically like He did Daniel -- but it is
a promise that we will always be with Him and that He will deliver us in accordance
with His will -- if not by saving us from the mouths of lions like He did
Daniel, then by saving us by bringing us into His presence forever
-- in this case, God protected
Daniel from the power of the lions as a sign to Darius -- and because of this miracle,
the glory of God was proclaimed by the king to all his citizens -- and God
received honor and worship and praise from all
-- and, finally, we see in Daniel’s
story that truth faith always shows -- that if you are a faithful Christian,
trying to live your lives in integrity and in obedience to God’s law, others
will see it and recognize it
-- in Philippians 2, we read that as
children of God, “…we must become blameless and pure, without fault, in a
crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe
as we hold out the word of life.”
-- Daniel’s life shone like a star
against the corruption and injustice in his day and against those who were
willing to do anything for power and prestige
-- how is your light shining today?
-- are you faithful in your walk with Christ? -- are you faithful in the
spiritual disciplines that keep you close to the Savior -- in the means of
grace that let you experience His presence daily?
-- this week in our study in
Ephesians, we looked at the verse in Ephesians 1:15, where Paul said that he
had heard about the Ephesian’s faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all
God’s people -- what do people say about you? -- if I was to ask someone about
you, would you be commended and recognized for your faith, as Daniel was?
-- after hearing her story, he let
her go and explained, “Well, when I saw the Jesus fish on the back of your car
and the bumper sticker that said, “Follow me to church,” and I saw how you were
acting, I just assumed you had stolen the car because a Christian wouldn’t act
like that”
-- our actions and our daily disciplines
say more about what we believe in our hearts than any words we could ever say --
let’s remember Daniel’s example and strive to be people of integrity and
holiness, who follow God above all
-- I like the way Bob Deffinbaugh
sums up this story:
-- I’ll close this morning with that very same question -- what Christian would not want to be regarded as highly as Daniel? -- who among us would not want to be recognized for our faith as Daniel was?
-- as we close in prayer, let us consider
who we are and where we are in our walk with Christ -- if we are not living as
shining stars -- if we are not living lives of integrity and faithfulness like
Daniel -- then join me in prayer to God that He would mold us and make us into
the people He has called us to be -- holy and sanctified and faithful followers
of Jesus who shine like the very stars in the sky
- let us pray
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