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Voddie Baucham - Faithfulness that Honors God · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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Speaker 1: As we come to Daniel chapter 6 and our journey
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Speaker 1: through this wonderful book, we come to what is in
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Speaker 1: many respects a potentially dangerous part of the book here
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Speaker 1: in Daniel chapter 6. Dangerous, potentially dangerous for at least
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Speaker 1: a couple of reasons. One reason that it's potentially dangerous
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Speaker 1: is it's one of the most well-known stories in the
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Speaker 1: entire Bible. Daniel and the lion's den. And it's always
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Speaker 1: dangerous when we know something so well because we have
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Speaker 1: a tendency to sort of fill in the blanks. And
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Speaker 1: if we're not careful with those passages of scripture that
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Speaker 1: we know so very well, and if we don't read
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Speaker 1: them and reread them, we assume that we know them.
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Speaker 1: We assume that we understand them. We assume that we
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Speaker 1: put the emphasis on the right syllable. In every instance,
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Speaker 1: because of how familiar we are with the text. There's
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Speaker 1: a second reason that this is a potentially dangerous passage
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Speaker 1: of Scripture. And that is because this is absolute rife
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Speaker 1: ground for works righteousness. It is so tempting and so
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Speaker 1: easy to go to Daniel chapter 6 and view Daniel
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Speaker 1: merely as a A template for us, if you will.
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Speaker 1: For us to go to Daniel chapter 6 and say, see,
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Speaker 1: this is what Daniel did, therefore this is what you
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Speaker 1: should do. Because after all, the book of Daniel is
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Speaker 1: all about us looking to Daniel to learn how to live,
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Speaker 1: is it not? If you've been here, you should be
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Speaker 1: shaking your head like this right now. No, that is
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Speaker 1: not what the book of Daniel is all about. That
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Speaker 1: is not why the book of Daniel exists. That is
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Speaker 1: not the purpose of Daniel chapter 6. Daniel chapter 6
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Speaker 1: does not exist to raise a bar for us to
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Speaker 1: attempt to jump over in our own strength. There is
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Speaker 1: much more at work in this passage than that. But
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Speaker 1: that is the easy knee-jerk reaction. As we look more closely, however,
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Speaker 1: we see in Daniel chapter 6, especially in those first
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Speaker 1: 15 verses that we'll concentrate on today, we don't even
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Speaker 1: get to the lion's den today. Here we just get
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Speaker 1: the setup to the lion's den. We find out how
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Speaker 1: that came to pass. And in this passage, what we'll
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Speaker 1: see is faithfulness that honors God. That's the picture here.
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Speaker 1: It's a picture of faithfulness that honors God. We have
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Speaker 1: come through the first five chapters of this great book.
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Speaker 1: And in the first three chapters, we see Daniel and
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Speaker 1: his friends in Babylonian captivity. And in the first three chapters,
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Speaker 1: we see this juxtaposition of God's people in exile and
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Speaker 1: the great king Nebuchadnezzar. And the God who rules the world,
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Speaker 1: who reminds the great king that he rules the world,
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Speaker 1: and Nebuchadnezzar, who believes that he is the one who
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Speaker 1: actually rules the world. And we see God, through Daniel
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Speaker 1: and Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, showing Nebuchadnezzar again and again
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Speaker 1: and again who's in control. Until finally, in chapter 4,
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Speaker 1: God sends Nebuchadnezzar into the wilderness to live like a
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Speaker 1: wild animal, eating grass for seven years until he finally
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Speaker 1: bows the knee and confesses the holiness and righteousness and
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Speaker 1: sovereignty of God. And then he's gone unceremoniously. And in
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Speaker 1: chapter 5, Belshazzar is king. We don't know where Nebuchadnezzar went.
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Speaker 1: We don't know how he lived the rest of his life.
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Speaker 1: We just see that Belshazzar is king. Now, at the
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Speaker 1: end of chapter 5, Belshazzar's gone, deposed by Darius. And
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Speaker 1: now the Babylonians have been deposed. So we've gone from
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Speaker 1: one king who was a Babylonian king to another king
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Speaker 1: who was a Babylonian king, and a couple of kings
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Speaker 1: between those kings, to now— The Medes and the Persians
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Speaker 1: are ruling, and Darius is king. And in the midst
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Speaker 1: of all of this turmoil, there is a name that remains,
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Speaker 1: and that is the name of Daniel, God's servant. Daniel. Daniel.
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Speaker 1: God's trophy, if you will, in the midst of Babylonian
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Speaker 1: captivity that reminds you, reminds me, and at this time
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Speaker 1: reminded all of God's people that God is faithful to
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Speaker 1: his people, that God will fulfill his promise, that although
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Speaker 1: his people at times will be chastened for their sin,
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Speaker 1: God does not forsake his people. And so Daniel stands
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Speaker 1: as this picture of faithfulness, the faithfulness of Daniel, which
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Speaker 1: is a picture of the faithfulness of God to preserve
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Speaker 1: his people. Don't miss that. It's not about Daniel as
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Speaker 1: much as it is about God, who is faithful to
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Speaker 1: preserve his people, even in the midst of exile. In
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Speaker 1: chapter 5... Daniel's Babylonian name was used again and again
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Speaker 1: and again. Belteshazzar, Belteshazzar, Belteshazzar. We heard over and over again.
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Speaker 1: Now the Babylonians are gone, and he's called Daniel again.
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Speaker 1: By the way, that is significant. It's a significant point.
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Speaker 1: The Babylonians tried to make him a Babylonian, and they
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Speaker 1: couldn't make him a Babylonian. They tried to change his diet,
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Speaker 1: eventually did change his diet. That didn't make him a Babylonian.
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Speaker 1: They changed his location. That didn't make him a Babylonian.
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Speaker 1: They changed his language. That didn't make him a Babylonian.
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Speaker 1: They changed his name. That didn't make him a Babylonian.
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Speaker 1: They changed his job and his vocation and his training
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Speaker 1: and his education. None of that made him a Babylonian.
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Speaker 1: Now the Babylonians are gone and Daniel remains. And they
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Speaker 1: don't call him Belteshazzar. They call him Daniel. Because he
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Speaker 1: is not a Babylonian. That is part of the picture
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Speaker 1: of the faithfulness that pleases God or the faithfulness that
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Speaker 1: honors God. Several things that I want us to see
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Speaker 1: as we read through this text. First thing I want
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Speaker 1: you to see is this, that this faithfulness that honors
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Speaker 1: God is a blessing to the kingdom of man. The
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Speaker 1: faithfulness that honors God is actually a blessing to the
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Speaker 1: kingdom of man. Not just a blessing to God's people,
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Speaker 1: but it's actually a blessing also to the kingdom of man.
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Speaker 1: Look at the first four verses, if you will. It
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Speaker 1: pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps to
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Speaker 1: be throughout the whole kingdom and over them three presidents
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Speaker 1: of whom Daniel was one. to whom these satraps should
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Speaker 1: give account, so that the king might suffer no loss.
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Speaker 1: You might want to underline that, so that the king
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Speaker 1: might suffer no loss. Then this Daniel became distinguished above
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Speaker 1: all the other presidents and satraps, because an excellent spirit
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Speaker 1: was in him, and the king planned to set him
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Speaker 1: over the whole kingdom. Then the presidents and the satraps
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Speaker 1: sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with
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Speaker 1: regard to the kingdom. But they could find no ground
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Speaker 1: for complaint or any fault because he was faithful and
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Speaker 1: no error or fault was found in him. This is
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Speaker 1: a beautiful picture of faithfulness in Daniel's life. But I
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Speaker 1: want you to notice something about the faithfulness in Daniel's life.
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Speaker 1: Because oftentimes when we think about a faithfulness that honors God,
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Speaker 1: immediately our mind goes to the religious hierarchy. I want
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Speaker 1: to show you a picture of faithfulness that honors God. Well,
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Speaker 1: certainly we're talking about a martyr at the top of
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Speaker 1: the pyramid, right? No, we're not talking about a martyr. Well,
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Speaker 1: if we're not talking about a martyr, then we're definitely
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Speaker 1: talking about a missionary, right? Well, we're not talking about
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Speaker 1: a missionary. Okay, if we're not talking about a martyr
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Speaker 1: or a missionary, then certainly we're talking about a pastor. No,
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Speaker 1: not talking about a pastor. Well, if it's not a
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Speaker 1: martyr and it's not a missionary, it's not a pastor,
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Speaker 1: then certainly it's some person who oversees some significant ministry. No,
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Speaker 1: actually it's not. It's none of those things. And yet
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Speaker 1: this faithfulness pleases God. Daniel is not serving in the
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Speaker 1: temple and yet his faithfulness pleases God. Daniel's not even
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Speaker 1: serving in Jerusalem, people. He's not even in the promised land.
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Speaker 1: And yet, his is a faithfulness that pleases God. Daniel
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Speaker 1: is in exile serving a king who does not know God.
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Speaker 1: And his faithfulness pleases God. Listen to this from Ian Dugan.
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Speaker 1: The first point to observe in this chapter is that
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Speaker 1: Daniel had learned how to live as a pilgrim. From
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Speaker 1: the outset of his career in Babylon, Daniel was in
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Speaker 1: his culture but not of his culture. On the one hand,
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Speaker 1: he didn't withdraw from Babylonian culture as far as he
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Speaker 1: could in order to avoid being stained by it. On
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Speaker 1: the contrary, he had now served the empire and In order, sorry,
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Speaker 1: on the contrary, he had now served the empire faithfully
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Speaker 1: for almost 70 years. Let that sink in for a minute, folks.
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Speaker 1: For almost 70 years, he served the empire. Far from
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Speaker 1: using his age as an excuse to retire, he continued
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Speaker 1: to serve the new administration. Belshazzar had been replaced as
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Speaker 1: king by Darius, and the Babylonian empire had been replaced
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Speaker 1: by by that of the Medes and the Persians. But
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Speaker 1: Daniel kept on serving. In fact, Daniel served the empire
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Speaker 1: so well that he continued to get promoted. He's not
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Speaker 1: in the temple. He's not a priest. He's not a missionary.
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Speaker 1: He's not a pastor. He's an exiled slave. And he
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Speaker 1: honors God with his life and his service, and it
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Speaker 1: is a blessing even to those whom he serves. Oh
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Speaker 1: that that could be said of us. Oh, that the
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Speaker 1: mark of Christ on our lives and our walk with
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Speaker 1: God as redeemed individuals bought with a price, the precious
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Speaker 1: blood of Christ would live our lives in such a
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Speaker 1: manner that even in workplaces that have absolutely nothing to
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Speaker 1: do with gospel ministry, people would look upon our lives
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Speaker 1: and and see the faithfulness of our God and our
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Speaker 1: faithfulness to our God overflowing from the faithfulness of our
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Speaker 1: God and be blessed because there's nobody else that they'd
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Speaker 1: rather tap for a position than us. That's Daniel. That's
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Speaker 1: God's faithfulness. By the way, Daniel is serving this way
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Speaker 1: because he's been told to. He's living this way because
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Speaker 1: he's been instructed to. Well, how do I know that? Oh,
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Speaker 1: I know that because I read Jeremiah. What does Jeremiah
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Speaker 1: have to do with Daniel? Well, if you go to
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Speaker 1: Jeremiah chapter 29, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.
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Speaker 1: Turn with me, if you will, and look at Jeremiah
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Speaker 1: to the left. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations. All right. Jeremiah chapter 29.
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Speaker 1: We all know and love Jeremiah 29 11. And we
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Speaker 1: know and love it because we rip it kicking and
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Speaker 1: screaming out of its context. And then we bludgeon it
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Speaker 1: to death until it says something that it was never
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Speaker 1: intended to say. But if you look at Jeremiah 29 1,
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Speaker 1: you learn something about Daniel and why he's doing what
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Speaker 1: he's doing. Jeremiah chapter 29, beginning at verse 1. These
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Speaker 1: are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet
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Speaker 1: sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles
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Speaker 1: and to the priests, the prophets, and the people whom
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Speaker 1: Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Who's that?
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Speaker 1: Daniel and the boys. Jeremiah the prophet wrote them a letter.
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Speaker 1: And here's what we find in the letter. This was
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Speaker 1: after King Jeconiah and the Queen Mother, the eunuchs, officials
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Speaker 1: of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the metal workers
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Speaker 1: had departed from Jerusalem. The letter was sent by the
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Speaker 1: hand of Elasa, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the
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Speaker 1: son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent to Babylon,
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Speaker 1: to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. It said, here's what he says,'
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Speaker 1: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
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Speaker 1: to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile
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Speaker 1: from Jerusalem to Babylon.' That's Daniel. Build houses and live
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Speaker 1: in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives
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Speaker 1: and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons
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Speaker 1: and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear
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Speaker 1: sons and daughters. Multiply there and do not decrease. But
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Speaker 1: seek the welfare of the city where I have sent
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Speaker 1: you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf.
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Speaker 1: For in its welfare, you will find your welfare. God
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Speaker 1: told Daniel through Jeremiah to seek the welfare of the
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Speaker 1: place where he went into exile. And he did exactly that.
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Speaker 1: And he did it in such an exemplary fashion. That
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Speaker 1: first of all, Darius doesn't kill him. Think about that, folks.
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Speaker 1: Darius walks in. He doesn't know who's who. Darius has
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Speaker 1: taken over the Babylonian empire. but he doesn't kill Daniel.
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Speaker 1: Not only does he not kill Daniel, but so far,
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Speaker 1: this is just verse one. We don't know how long
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Speaker 1: this has been, but here's what we know, that rather quickly, Darius,
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Speaker 1: who puts 120 men over the entire region, and then
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Speaker 1: puts three men over those men, and eventually one man
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Speaker 1: over the three men, starts by putting Daniel first. in
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Speaker 1: the position of the three men who oversee the 120.
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Speaker 1: And then, according to the text, makes a decision to
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Speaker 1: make Daniel over the three men who are over the 120,
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Speaker 1: who are over the entire kingdom. Why? Because Daniel was
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Speaker 1: obedient to the word of God. And he looked to
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Speaker 1: the best interest, even of the country where he was
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Speaker 1: sent into exile. Daniel is serving the kingdom of the
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Speaker 1: Medes and the Persians. Why? Because God has raised up
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Speaker 1: the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. Daniel is
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Speaker 1: not serving in false piety, nor is he serving in
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Speaker 1: what we would call cultural piety. He wasn't Christianizing the culture,
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Speaker 1: as we would say today. You're really faithful to God
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Speaker 1: if you're Christianizing the culture, if you're making the culture
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Speaker 1: more Christian. It's not what Daniel was doing. Daniel wasn't
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Speaker 1: Judaizing the Medes and the Persians. He wasn't taking over
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Speaker 1: the politics or the government of the Medes and the Persians. Again,
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Speaker 1: that's what we say. If you're a real Christian, then
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Speaker 1: you'll go into government and you'll go into politics and
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Speaker 1: you'll take it over so you can make everybody live
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Speaker 1: under our rule instead of under someone else's rule. That's
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Speaker 1: not what Daniel was doing. Daniel wasn't feeding the poor.
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Speaker 1: That's not the faithfulness that stood out here in Daniel
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Speaker 1: chapter 6. He wasn't feeding the poor. Is it a
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Speaker 1: bad thing? Is any of this stuff bad? No. But
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Speaker 1: that's not what he was doing. Daniel wasn't transforming the system.
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Speaker 1: Daniel wasn't improving the plight of the exiles. There's nothing
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Speaker 1: here about Daniel seeing to it that the Jewish exiles
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Speaker 1: are treated better. Daniel was helping Darius mitigate his losses
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Speaker 1: that's what it says in verse 2 look again in
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Speaker 1: verse 2 and over them three presidents of whom Daniel
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Speaker 1: was one to whom these satraps would give account why
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Speaker 1: so that the king might suffer no loss that's Daniel's
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Speaker 1: great job see to it that Darius your oppressor doesn't
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Speaker 1: suffer loss This is so counterintuitive. Isn't it? Completely and
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Speaker 1: utterly counterintuitive. But this is faithfulness that honors God. Folks,
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Speaker 1: don't buy in to this picture of the world that
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Speaker 1: says we have to be of the world, not in it.
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Speaker 1: That's backwards. We have to be in the world, but
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Speaker 1: not of it. We have to be in the world.
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Speaker 1: But you know what we've done? What we've done is
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Speaker 1: we've said, well, we'll be in the world, but only
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Speaker 1: after we make the world like us. So our goal
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Speaker 1: of being in the world will be to change the
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Speaker 1: world so that we're no longer uncomfortable in the world. Newsflash.
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Speaker 1: That's what happens at the end of the age when
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Speaker 1: Christ returns. You don't get that now. Amen? You don't
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Speaker 1: get that now. You get that at the end of
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Speaker 1: the age. Right now we're pilgrims. Right now we're exiles.
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Speaker 1: So what do you do? You find yourself faithful wherever
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Speaker 1: the Lord puts you. That's what you do. And sometimes
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Speaker 1: that may mean just making sure that the king doesn't
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Speaker 1: suffer loss because that's where God's got you serving. So
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Speaker 1: if God's got you working for ConocoPhillips, You don't have
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Speaker 1: to make ConocoPhillips a Christian company. We could talk about
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Speaker 1: that for a long time. long time. In order to
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Speaker 1: be faithful to God at ConocoPhillips or HP or wherever
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Speaker 1: you happen to work. You know what your faithfulness to
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Speaker 1: God may look like? See into it that your employer
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Speaker 1: doesn't suffer loss under your watch. But you've been so
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Speaker 1: conditioned that there are some of you under the sound
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Speaker 1: of my voice right now. And you work for a
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Speaker 1: company somewhere. And your job is as simple as seeing
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Speaker 1: to it that your employer suffers no loss. But you
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Speaker 1: desire to serve God so you're trying to figure out
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Speaker 1: how you can get out of the business world and
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Speaker 1: into the quote unquote ministry. So that you can really
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Speaker 1: serve the Lord. Newsflash. Faithfulness that honors God is a
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Speaker 1: blessing to the kingdom of man. It's a blessing to
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Speaker 1: the kingdom of man. Faithfulness where you are. Hear me, mother,
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Speaker 1: who sits there every day changing diapers, cleaning up vomit,
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Speaker 1: spanking children again and again and again for the same stuff. Amen, somebody.
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Speaker 1: I know that sometimes you sit there with the rod
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Speaker 1: in your hand going, really, there's got to be more
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Speaker 1: than this. And there is. There is more than that.
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Speaker 1: You know what's more than that? The neck spanking. You're
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Speaker 1: being faithful where God has placed you. Because God is
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Speaker 1: faithful and God grants you faithfulness. There are others of
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Speaker 1: you who sit there and your circumstance is not exactly
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Speaker 1: what you would want your circumstance to be. And you
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Speaker 1: just believe that you could do and be so much
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Speaker 1: more if God would just put you in that right position.
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Speaker 1: Maybe if he puts you on that pyramid, martyr, missionary, pastor,
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Speaker 1: Christian worker. Daniel chapter 6 screams to us. God is
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Speaker 1: the God of the whole world. Amen? And men are
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Speaker 1: made in His image. And because men are made in
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Speaker 1: His image, you do good to God when you do
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Speaker 1: good to men. And it's enough. It's enough. Secondly, Faithfulness
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Speaker 1: that honors God is the fruit of true religion. It's
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Speaker 1: the fruit of true religion. Verse 5. Then the men said,
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Speaker 1: we shall not find any ground for complaint against Daniel
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Speaker 1: unless we find it in connection with the law of
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Speaker 1: his God. Notice in verse 4. In verse 4, they're
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Speaker 1: trying to find some way. To get King Darius not
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Speaker 1: to elevate this slave exiled Jew to the highest position
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Speaker 1: of honor in the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians.
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Speaker 1: He didn't look like us. He didn't smell like us.
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Speaker 1: He didn't eat like us. He didn't talk like us.
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Speaker 1: He's not one of us. Do not put him in
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Speaker 1: this high position. Guys, we got to figure out how
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Speaker 1: to get Daniel out of this high position. That's great.
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Speaker 1: Let's go find something that he did wrong because he's
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Speaker 1: not one of us. Certainly, if he's not one of us,
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Speaker 1: he's doing something wrong. What did you find in your investigation?
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Speaker 1: He's doing everything the king asked him to do. We
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Speaker 1: cannot find anything in his job description that he's not
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Speaker 1: doing and excelling at. How are we going to get
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Speaker 1: to this guy? I know how we get to him.
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Speaker 1: We must pit the law of his God against the
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Speaker 1: law of the Medes and the Persians. That's the only
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Speaker 1: way to get to Daniel. Force him to choose between
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Speaker 1: the law of his God and the law of the
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Speaker 1: Medes and the Persians. That's it. Folks, do you realize
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Speaker 1: what kind of statement that is? Daniel is obedient to
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Speaker 1: the law of God. Daniel is obedient to the law
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Speaker 1: of God. And he was known for his obedience to
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Speaker 1: the law of God. They knew this about him. It
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Speaker 1: was so well known about him that when these individuals
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Speaker 1: decided to try to drive a wedge between him and Darius,
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Speaker 1: they knew the one place where they could go to
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Speaker 1: drive that wedge. They knew the one place that they
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Speaker 1: had to go to drive that wedge. Daniel is not
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Speaker 1: going to forsake the king, even though the king is
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Speaker 1: not his king. But more importantly than that, Daniel's not
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Speaker 1: going to forsake the law of his God. In fact,
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Speaker 1: that's the only thing that can cause him to forsake
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Speaker 1: the king whom God has called him to serve. That
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Speaker 1: is submission to authority. He is going to submit to authority.
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Speaker 1: Even though he doesn't like the authority and the authority
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Speaker 1: is not worthy of his submission. He's going to submit
25:25
Speaker 1: to his authority because it's the authority that God has
25:28
Speaker 1: placed over his life. No matter what. Amen. Unless that
25:34
Speaker 1: authority forbids what God commands or commands what God forbids.
25:42
Speaker 1: Because his submission is actually a byproduct of his submission
25:46
Speaker 1: to God. Listen to this from Psalm 119. That beautiful
25:53
Speaker 1: psalm about the law of God. Beginning at verse 9.
25:59
Speaker 1: How can a young man keep his way pure? By
26:02
Speaker 1: guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart
26:06
Speaker 1: I seek you. Let me not wander from your commandments.
26:10
Speaker 1: I have stored up your word in my heart that
26:12
Speaker 1: I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord.
26:15
Speaker 1: Teach me your statutes. With my lips I declare all
26:19
Speaker 1: the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies,
26:22
Speaker 1: I delight as much as in all riches. I will
26:26
Speaker 1: meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
26:29
Speaker 1: I will delight in your statutes. I will not forget
26:32
Speaker 1: your word. Deal bountifully with your servant that I may
26:36
Speaker 1: live and keep your word. Open my eyes that I
26:39
Speaker 1: may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am
26:43
Speaker 1: a sojourner on the earth. Isn't that beautiful? I am
26:46
Speaker 1: a sojourner on the earth. There's Daniel. I'm a sojourner
26:50
Speaker 1: on the earth. Hide not your commandments from me. My
26:54
Speaker 1: soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.
26:59
Speaker 1: You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones who wander from your commandments.
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Speaker 1: And then listen to this. Take away from me scorn
27:08
Speaker 1: and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies. Even though
27:12
Speaker 1: princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on
27:16
Speaker 1: your statutes. Your testimonies are my delight. They are my counselors.
27:25
Speaker 1: Even though princes plot against me. It's your word that
27:31
Speaker 1: satisfies me. It's your law that satisfies me. Folks, the
27:37
Speaker 1: law is a perfect reflection of God's holiness. And the
27:44
Speaker 1: law is good. Good. We don't like the law, but
27:47
Speaker 1: listen to what Paul says about the law in Romans
27:50
Speaker 1: chapter 7, verses 7 and 12. What then shall we say?
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Speaker 1: That the law is sin? By no means. Yet if
27:58
Speaker 1: it had not been for the law, I would not
28:00
Speaker 1: have known sin. For I would not have known what
28:03
Speaker 1: it is to covet if the law had not said
28:05
Speaker 1: you shall not covet. Verse 12. So the law is
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Speaker 1: holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
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Speaker 1: It is holy. and righteous, and good. Yeah, but didn't
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Speaker 1: Jesus come to free us from the law? No, Jesus
28:23
Speaker 1: came to free us to the law. Amen? He came
28:27
Speaker 1: to free us to the law, the law that was
28:29
Speaker 1: crushing us, the law that showed us our guilt. Jesus
28:33
Speaker 1: came in order to fulfill the law, in order that
28:37
Speaker 1: he might impute his righteousness to us, that we might
28:40
Speaker 1: be completely and utterly righteous before the law. And then
28:43
Speaker 1: out of our delight, And our gratitude, we are obedient
28:49
Speaker 1: to the law. Hebrews 4, 14 to 16. Since then
28:54
Speaker 1: we have a great high priest who has passed through
28:56
Speaker 1: the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold
28:59
Speaker 1: fast our confession. For we do not have a high
29:02
Speaker 1: priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but
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Speaker 1: one who is in every respect, who in every respect
29:09
Speaker 1: has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Amen.
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Speaker 1: Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne
29:15
Speaker 1: of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace
29:19
Speaker 1: to help in time of need. Folks, as followers of Christ,
29:25
Speaker 1: we delight in the law of the Lord. First and foremost,
29:30
Speaker 1: because we've been freed from its terror. And secondly, because
29:37
Speaker 1: we have been transformed biblically of Christ's finished work to
29:42
Speaker 1: where we are able to delight in the righteousness of
29:46
Speaker 1: God that is depicted in the law of God. Well,
29:51
Speaker 1: what about all those ceremonial laws? Yes, we delight in
29:54
Speaker 1: the ceremonial laws. Well, do we keep them? No, they've
29:59
Speaker 1: been kept. And we celebrate the fact that Christ himself
30:02
Speaker 1: is the fulfillment of every one of them. There's a
30:11
Speaker 1: second piece here. Not just his adherence to the law,
30:15
Speaker 1: but his dependence upon God in prayer. Look at verse 10.
30:24
Speaker 1: In verse 10, they've gone... with a document before the king.
30:29
Speaker 1: And basically the document says that no request or worship
30:34
Speaker 1: is to be offered to anyone else for the next
30:36
Speaker 1: 30 days. And the king signs it. When Daniel knew
30:42
Speaker 1: the document had been signed, he went to his house
30:46
Speaker 1: where he had windows in the upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.
30:50
Speaker 1: He got down on his knees three times a day
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Speaker 1: and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he
30:56
Speaker 1: had done previously. Daniel finds out that there's a decree
31:04
Speaker 1: that would forbid him to pray for 30 days. And
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Speaker 1: when he finds out about it, he goes to pray
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Speaker 1: in front of an open window facing Jerusalem. Several things
31:20
Speaker 1: we see here. First of all, we see Daniel's practice
31:24
Speaker 1: of prayer. that he prayed three times a day. Listen
31:29
Speaker 1: to Psalm 55, 17. Evening and morning and at noon,
31:32
Speaker 1: I utter my complaint and moan and he hears my voice.
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Speaker 1: There's not a command in the scripture that we pray
31:40
Speaker 1: three times a day. Muhammad actually picked up on this,
31:45
Speaker 1: this idea of Daniel and his prayer three times a day.
31:48
Speaker 1: And Muhammad has instituted in Islam, the religion that he invented,
31:53
Speaker 1: a prayer five times a day. Muhammad, however, changes the
31:59
Speaker 1: focus from praying toward Jerusalem to praying toward Mecca, although
32:03
Speaker 1: today Muslims, in their desire to destroy the Jews, have
32:08
Speaker 1: announced that Jerusalem is their capital. But that's a stolen practice,
32:16
Speaker 1: not a legitimate one. And it demonstrates a complete ignorance
32:20
Speaker 1: as to what Daniel was doing and why. Why did
32:25
Speaker 1: he pray toward Jerusalem? Well, he prayed toward Jerusalem because
32:30
Speaker 1: he had been told to pray toward Jerusalem. How do
32:35
Speaker 1: I know that? Well, I know that because I read Chronicles.
32:40
Speaker 1: Listen to this in 2 Chronicles chapter 6, beginning at
32:45
Speaker 1: verse 36. Turn there, if you will, 2 Chronicles chapter 6,
32:50
Speaker 1: beginning at verse 36. Because again, if all we do
32:56
Speaker 1: is we look here, and Daniel sorted this template for us, then,
33:00
Speaker 1: you know, so far we come up with, you know,
33:02
Speaker 1: you got to pray three times a day, and when
33:04
Speaker 1: you pray, you got to face toward Jerusalem. What's that about?
33:08
Speaker 1: 2 Chronicles chapter 6, beginning at verse 36. Verse 36.
33:15
Speaker 1: This is Solomon speaking to the Lord as he consecrates
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Speaker 1: the temple that he has built. If they sin against you,
33:23
Speaker 1: for there is no one who does not sin, and
33:26
Speaker 1: you are angry with them and give them to an
33:29
Speaker 1: enemy so that they are carried away captive to a
33:31
Speaker 1: land far or near. Did you catch that? Solomon's dedicating
33:37
Speaker 1: the temple. This is at the height of the empire.
33:40
Speaker 1: He's dedicating the temple that is unlike anything anyone has
33:44
Speaker 1: ever seen in the world. It was said of Solomon's
33:47
Speaker 1: temple that foreign dignitaries, when they would come over the
33:50
Speaker 1: horizon and get their first glimpse of the temple, would
33:53
Speaker 1: stop and dismount to stand and stare at the beauty
33:58
Speaker 1: and majesty and glory of Solomon's temple. And on the
34:04
Speaker 1: day it's dedicated, Solomon says, you know, if these people
34:12
Speaker 1: who are strong right now, are disobedient. And if as
34:19
Speaker 1: a result of their disobedience, you give them over to
34:22
Speaker 1: an enemy and they're carried away far or near. Yet
34:28
Speaker 1: if they turn their heart in the land to which
34:31
Speaker 1: they have been carried captive and repent and plead with
34:35
Speaker 1: you in the land of their captivity, saying, we have
34:39
Speaker 1: sinned and have acted wrongly perversely and wickedly, if they
34:44
Speaker 1: repent with all their mind and with all their heart
34:48
Speaker 1: in the land of their captivity to which they are
34:51
Speaker 1: carried captive and pray toward their land, which you gave
34:59
Speaker 1: to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and
35:04
Speaker 1: the house that I have built for your name, then
35:07
Speaker 1: hear from heaven your dwelling place, their prayer, And their
35:12
Speaker 1: pleas and maintain their cause and forgive your people who
35:17
Speaker 1: have sinned against you. Why is Daniel praying toward the
35:21
Speaker 1: city of Jerusalem? Because King Solomon at the dedication of
35:26
Speaker 1: the temple in Jerusalem said, if this ever happens to us,
35:31
Speaker 1: we must repent. We must pray. And we must pray
35:35
Speaker 1: toward this city. to symbolize our dependence on God, to
35:41
Speaker 1: symbolize our worship of Almighty God, to symbolize the importance
35:46
Speaker 1: of his presence in this place. Listen to me. Daniel
35:51
Speaker 1: has been in captivity for 70 years. He is a
35:57
Speaker 1: man in his mid-80s, and he still goes every day
36:02
Speaker 1: to pray, facing the city that he is told to
36:05
Speaker 1: pray toward. and pleading that God will forgive his people,
36:11
Speaker 1: pleading that God will bring them back into the land.
36:16
Speaker 1: Daniel does not go into his chamber and say, oh
36:19
Speaker 1: my God, how grateful I am that even though I'm
36:22
Speaker 1: a captive, you have made me powerful. How grateful I
36:25
Speaker 1: am that even though I've lost Jerusalem as my home,
36:29
Speaker 1: this place is now my home. How grateful I am
36:32
Speaker 1: that Nebuchadnezzar trusts me and I have much authority in
36:35
Speaker 1: this kingdom. How grateful I am that I have all, no,
36:38
Speaker 1: that's not his prayer. How do I know that's not
36:40
Speaker 1: his prayer? Because he's praying toward Jerusalem. His prayer is,
36:46
Speaker 1: I don't care how much Darius trusts me. I don't
36:49
Speaker 1: care how much authority Darius gives me. I want to
36:52
Speaker 1: go home. How much more for those of us who
37:05
Speaker 1: look for a city whose builder and maker is God.
37:11
Speaker 1: There is a temple built that makes Solomon's temple pale
37:15
Speaker 1: in comparison. It's the temple Jesus talked about when he said,
37:19
Speaker 1: tear down this temple and in three days, I'll build
37:22
Speaker 1: it up again. Here's the beauty of it. Not only
37:31
Speaker 1: do we not have to long for a temple in
37:33
Speaker 1: a particular place, but your body is the temple of
37:39
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. God dwells in you. What a glorious truth.
37:55
Speaker 1: Daniel's in captivity, and he's looking toward a piece of
37:58
Speaker 1: land that his eyes can't even see anymore, that he's
38:02
Speaker 1: never going to get back to it. All he has
38:04
Speaker 1: is yearning that will never be satisfied from a temporal perspective.
38:12
Speaker 1: Christianity has no capital. Christianity believes in no holy land.
38:18
Speaker 1: Let me say that again. Christianity believes in no holy land.
38:22
Speaker 1: Christianity believes in no holy land. Israel may be the
38:26
Speaker 1: land of the Bible, but it is not the holy land.
38:34
Speaker 1: There's no such thing for a Christian. There is no
38:37
Speaker 1: place that we look to and describe those kinds of qualities.
38:43
Speaker 1: We don't need to go to a place to find
38:45
Speaker 1: where the Spirit of God dwells. The Spirit of God
38:49
Speaker 1: dwells in us. Finally, faithfulness that honors God often results
39:06
Speaker 1: in persecution. But wait a minute, I thought you said
39:10
Speaker 1: it blesses the kingdom of man. It does. It does.
39:13
Speaker 1: It blesses the kingdom of man, but men hate God.
39:20
Speaker 1: We see this in verses 4 through 9, 11 through
39:23
Speaker 1: 13 and 15. Look at verses 4 and 5. Then
39:27
Speaker 1: the high officials and the satraps saw. to find a
39:30
Speaker 1: ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom.
39:34
Speaker 1: But they could find no ground for complaint or any
39:37
Speaker 1: fault because he was faithful and no error or fault
39:40
Speaker 1: was found in him. Then the men said, we shall
39:43
Speaker 1: not find any ground for complaint against Daniel unless we
39:47
Speaker 1: find it in connection with the law of his God.
39:49
Speaker 1: Just stop for a minute and think about how irrational
39:52
Speaker 1: this is. We hate this man. Darius has already made
40:00
Speaker 1: him one of the three leaders over the whole kingdom.
40:02
Speaker 1: He's about to make him number one. We got to
40:07
Speaker 1: get rid of him. Great. find something that he has
40:11
Speaker 1: done against the kingdom that we love. We can't. So
40:14
Speaker 1: wait a minute. He is a blessing to the kingdom
40:17
Speaker 1: that we love, and we want to get rid of him.
40:20
Speaker 1: That's completely and utterly irrational. Darius says he's not one
40:25
Speaker 1: of us, but he makes sure that I suffer no loss.
40:28
Speaker 1: I trust him. I don't care what skin color he is.
40:31
Speaker 1: I don't care what language he speaks. I don't care
40:33
Speaker 1: what kind of food he eats. I don't care what
40:36
Speaker 1: God he prays to. These men, completely and utterly irrational.
40:42
Speaker 1: I don't care how good he is to our people.
40:45
Speaker 1: I want him gone. Men's hatred of God is not
40:53
Speaker 1: rational at all. Look at the atheists. It's amazing how
40:59
Speaker 1: much hatred men can muster up toward a God in
41:02
Speaker 1: whom they do not believe. There is no God, and
41:07
Speaker 1: I hate him. Verses six through nine. Then these high
41:16
Speaker 1: officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and
41:20
Speaker 1: said to him, oh, King Darius, live forever. All the
41:24
Speaker 1: high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps,
41:29
Speaker 1: the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king
41:34
Speaker 1: should establish, and by the way, they just lied. The
41:39
Speaker 1: only way that could be true is if Daniel said,
41:42
Speaker 1: had agreed, but he hadn't. So not only are they irrational,
41:47
Speaker 1: but they're liars. They're irrational and they're liars. They're willing
41:52
Speaker 1: to do and say anything in order. Listen, here's their goal,
41:57
Speaker 1: because they can't all be in the position that Daniel
42:00
Speaker 1: is in. They don't care. They just want to make
42:04
Speaker 1: sure he's not in that position because of who and
42:08
Speaker 1: what he represents. Folks, you just need to know that
42:12
Speaker 1: this is what faithfulness from God and faithfulness to God
42:17
Speaker 1: produces in those who do not know and love God.
42:30
Speaker 1: The king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction
42:36
Speaker 1: that whoever makes petition to any God or man for
42:39
Speaker 1: 30 days... except to you, O king, shall be cast
42:42
Speaker 1: into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the
42:45
Speaker 1: injunction and sign the document so that it cannot be
42:51
Speaker 1: changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians,
42:56
Speaker 1: which cannot be revoked. Therefore, King Darius signed the document
43:00
Speaker 1: and the injunction. Listen, three times in these 15 verses,
43:06
Speaker 1: we read the law of the Medes and the Persians.
43:10
Speaker 1: Four times in these 15 verses we read either cannot
43:14
Speaker 1: be changed or cannot be revoked. How do you get Daniel?
43:23
Speaker 1: You get Daniel by pitting the law of the Medes
43:27
Speaker 1: and the Persians against the law of God. But how
43:30
Speaker 1: do you get Darius? You get Darius by pitting his
43:35
Speaker 1: wishes against the law of the Medes and the Persians.
43:40
Speaker 1: You see, the Babylonians had a supreme law, but their
43:44
Speaker 1: supreme law was the king. The Medes and the Persians
43:49
Speaker 1: have a supreme law. Their supreme law is the decree.
43:55
Speaker 1: Not even the king is more powerful than the decree.
44:04
Speaker 1: Verses 11 and the first part of 12. And then
44:07
Speaker 1: these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition
44:11
Speaker 1: and plea before his God because they knew exactly where
44:14
Speaker 1: to find him. Then they came near and said before
44:19
Speaker 1: the king concerning the injunction, watch this, watch what they did.
44:22
Speaker 1: O king, did you not sign an injunction that anyone
44:26
Speaker 1: who makes petition to any God or man within 30
44:30
Speaker 1: days except you, O king, shall be cast into the
44:33
Speaker 1: den of the lions? They don't come to him and say, hey, king,
44:35
Speaker 1: guess what we saw? They come to him and they
44:37
Speaker 1: first say, king, remember the law that you made that
44:40
Speaker 1: cannot be changed? Verse 13. And they answered and said
44:51
Speaker 1: before the king, Daniel, who is one of the exiles
44:55
Speaker 1: from Judah. Not Daniel, who is one of the three
45:01
Speaker 1: leaders of the kingdom. Here's why they hate him. Daniel,
45:12
Speaker 1: who is one of the exiles from Judah. This pattern
45:18
Speaker 1: is repeated earlier in Daniel chapter 3. In Daniel chapter 3,
45:23
Speaker 1: there is the statue and there is the call to
45:32
Speaker 1: bow down and worship the statue. In Daniel chapter 3,
45:49
Speaker 1: it's Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. In Daniel chapter 3, it's Nebuchadnezzar. Here,
45:55
Speaker 1: it's Darius. In Daniel chapter 3, it's fire. Here, it's lions.
46:01
Speaker 1: But it's the same pattern. In Daniel chapter 3, it's
46:08
Speaker 1: will you worship a false god? In Daniel chapter 6,
46:13
Speaker 1: it's will you not worship the true god? But it's
46:18
Speaker 1: the same pattern. And the question is the same. In
46:25
Speaker 1: Daniel chapter 3, will you risk your life to be
46:32
Speaker 1: faithful to God? In Daniel chapter 6, will you risk
46:39
Speaker 1: your life to be faithful to God? That's a terrible
46:44
Speaker 1: question to ask a follower of God. Will you risk
46:48
Speaker 1: your life to be faithful to God? Newsflash, faithfulness to
46:51
Speaker 1: God is my life. I have no life apart from
46:57
Speaker 1: faithfulness to God because ultimately my faithfulness to God is
47:01
Speaker 1: only a reflection of God's faithfulness to me. So what
47:08
Speaker 1: you're asking me essentially is this. Will you transfer your
47:13
Speaker 1: trust from God who is your life to me? And
47:23
Speaker 1: the answer to that question is always no. This is
47:28
Speaker 1: a pattern that we see in the Old Testament, but
47:32
Speaker 1: not just in the Old Testament. It's a pattern that
47:35
Speaker 1: we see in the New Testament and beyond. Listen to Jesus,
47:39
Speaker 1: Matthew chapter 10, chapter 5, verses 10 through 12. Blessed
47:42
Speaker 1: are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. for theirs
47:46
Speaker 1: is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others
47:48
Speaker 1: revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of
47:51
Speaker 1: evil against you falsely on account of me. Rejoice and
47:55
Speaker 1: be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for
47:57
Speaker 1: so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. We
48:03
Speaker 1: see that also in John 15. If the world hates you,
48:08
Speaker 1: know that it has hated me before it hated you.
48:11
Speaker 1: If you were of the world, the world would love
48:14
Speaker 1: you as its own. But because you are not of
48:18
Speaker 1: the world, but I chose you out of the world,
48:20
Speaker 1: therefore the world hates you. Remember, The word that I
48:25
Speaker 1: said to you, a servant is not greater than his master.
48:28
Speaker 1: If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If
48:31
Speaker 1: they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But
48:34
Speaker 1: all these things they will do to you on account
48:37
Speaker 1: of my name because they do not know him who
48:39
Speaker 1: sent me. That's the great irony in this whole concept
48:43
Speaker 1: of cultural transformation. That ultimately what we desire is to
48:48
Speaker 1: make the world not the world. Ultimately, we believe that
48:55
Speaker 1: apart from the second coming of Christ, we can turn
49:00
Speaker 1: this world into a place that loves and celebrates us.
49:04
Speaker 1: And worse than that, until that happens, we owe the
49:08
Speaker 1: world nothing. Run from the world. Spit on the world.
49:14
Speaker 1: Flee from the world. It's the opposite of what Jesus
49:19
Speaker 1: tells us. Be in the world, but not of the world.
49:25
Speaker 1: Which is the formula for persecution by the world? Paul,
49:31
Speaker 1: 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 10 to 13. You, however,
49:36
Speaker 1: have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life,
49:40
Speaker 1: My faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions
49:45
Speaker 1: and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium,
49:48
Speaker 1: and Lystra. What persecutions I endured, yet from them all
49:51
Speaker 1: the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live
49:54
Speaker 1: a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while
49:58
Speaker 1: evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse,
50:02
Speaker 1: deceiving and being deceived. Peter. Peter. In 1 Peter 2,
50:14
Speaker 1: for this is a gracious thing. When mindful of God,
50:18
Speaker 1: one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is
50:23
Speaker 1: it if when you sin and are beaten for it,
50:27
Speaker 1: you endure? But if when you do good and suffer
50:30
Speaker 1: for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in
50:34
Speaker 1: the sight of God. For to this you have been
50:36
Speaker 1: called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an
50:40
Speaker 1: example so that you might follow in his steps. He
50:43
Speaker 1: committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
50:49
Speaker 1: When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.
50:53
Speaker 1: When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting
50:57
Speaker 1: himself to to him who judges justly. That's who we are.
51:08
Speaker 1: I said beyond because this didn't just happen in the
51:13
Speaker 1: Old Testament, didn't just happen in the New Testament. It
51:16
Speaker 1: has happened continuously throughout the history of the church. Listen
51:23
Speaker 1: to this from Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius was martyred around
51:31
Speaker 1: AD 100, ironically, by being thrown to the lions. When
51:38
Speaker 1: he found out that that was his sentence, here's what
51:44
Speaker 1: he wrote to the brothers in Rome. I am his wheat,
51:51
Speaker 1: ground fine by the lion's teeth to be made purest
51:55
Speaker 1: bread for Christ. Better still, you should incite the creatures
51:59
Speaker 1: to become a sepulcher for me. Let them not leave
52:04
Speaker 1: the smallest scrap of my flesh so that I need
52:07
Speaker 1: not be a burden to anyone after I fall asleep.
52:10
Speaker 1: When there is no trace of my body left for
52:13
Speaker 1: the world to see, then I shall truly be Jesus
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Speaker 1: Christ's disciple. This is not our home. We are exiles here. Granted,
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Speaker 1: God has been gracious to us, especially in this part
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Speaker 1: of the world. But all over this world today, our
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Speaker 1: brothers and sisters are persecuted, are killed. All over the
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Speaker 1: world today, there are brothers and sisters of ours who
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Speaker 1: are not able to worship in the open like we
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Speaker 1: are able to worship in the open. And unlike Daniel,
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Speaker 1: and we'll see on next week, who's saved from death
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Speaker 1: in the lion's den, Ignatius and others like him are not.
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Speaker 1: They die at the hand of those who hate our God.
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Speaker 1: And they do not die because the church doesn't work
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Speaker 1: hard enough at making people like us. They die because
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Speaker 1: it's who we are in Christ. Listen to this from
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Speaker 1: Shawn Michael Lucas. The power of God is not displayed
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Speaker 1: ultimately in his ability to rescue and deliver. Rather, the
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Speaker 1: power of God is displayed in his ability to take
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Speaker 1: evil and transform it for his good. and for his
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Speaker 1: own purpose. And we believe this because our God is
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Speaker 1: the one who raised the crucified Jesus from the dead,
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Speaker 1: transforming the unimaginable evil of the crucifixion into the inconceivable
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Speaker 1: glory of the resurrection. That's who we are. That's what
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Speaker 1: we learn from Daniel chapter 6. That's what we learn
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Speaker 1: about being exiles. And sometimes we don't learn this lesson
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Speaker 1: well because of our history and our heritage as Americans.
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Speaker 1: And praise God for this absolute blip on the historical screen.
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Speaker 1: where Christians have been in majorities and where Christians have
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Speaker 1: seen their culture and ideals flourish. But that's not the
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Speaker 1: rest of the world. That's not the rest of the
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Speaker 1: history of the church. That's not reality. And it's not
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Speaker 1: what we ought to be used to. We do not
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Speaker 1: belong here. This is not as good as it gets.
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Speaker 1: We are not seeing terrible things in our culture because
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Speaker 1: we vote the wrong way. We're seeing terrible things in
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Speaker 1: our culture because men love darkness rather than light. We
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Speaker 1: are not seeing terrible things in our culture because the
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Speaker 1: church is not being the church. The church is always
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Speaker 1: the church. And one of the problems is there's a
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Speaker 1: lot out there that passes for the church that is not.
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Speaker 1: But think before you say stuff like that. Oh, if
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Speaker 1: the church was just what the church was supposed to be,
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Speaker 1: we wouldn't experience bad legal decisions or persecutions. What Bible
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Speaker 1: do you read? What church history do you study? That
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Speaker 1: is absolutely ridiculous. And there are many of us who
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Speaker 1: hold out hope for America, the city on the hill.
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Speaker 1: By the way, that's what Jesus said about the church,
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Speaker 1: not America. And we hold out our hope that if
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Speaker 1: the church would just vote right, breed right, live right,
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Speaker 1: then we can usher in this wonderful kingdom called America
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Speaker 1: and be of the world and not in the world.
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Speaker 1: God help you if that's what you're holding on to.
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Speaker 1: That is not our lot. We belong to the one
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Speaker 1: whom this world crucified. We belong to the one whom
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Speaker 1: this world hates. We belong to the one who exposes
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Speaker 1: this world's sin. And as a direct result of it,
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Speaker 1: they want to kill not only him, but all those
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Speaker 1: who belong to him. But we belong to the one
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Speaker 1: who overcame the world. And we belong to the one
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Speaker 1: who says if we overcome, there is waiting for us
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Speaker 1: a crown of life. You can have the crowns of
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Speaker 1: this world. Just give me Jesus. You can have the
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Speaker 1: kingdoms of this world. Give me the kingdom of God.
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Speaker 1: You can have communities that look all nice and pretty
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Speaker 1: and are dressed up, but you give me Christ in
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Speaker 1: the midst of the worst circumstance because then I know
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Speaker 1: that when my eyes are closed for the last time,
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Speaker 1: I have not had my best life now. But my
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Speaker 1: best life is yet to come. See, faithfulness that honors God,
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Speaker 1: it does bless the kingdom of man. It does. It
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Speaker 1: really does. And it is. It's rooted in true religion.
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Speaker 1: But ultimately, ultimately, it's the very cause for which they
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Speaker 1: persecute us. Because if they loved God, the one whose
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Speaker 1: faithfulness produces our faithfulness, then they would come to him
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Speaker 1: in repentance and faith. But they don't. They don't love him.
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Speaker 1: And our desire should not be, well, they don't love him,
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Speaker 1: so let's outnumber them and outvote them so that at
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Speaker 1: least they have to live by our rules. Our desire
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Speaker 1: should be, they don't love him Oh, that we might
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Speaker 1: make him known to them. Oh, that we might bring
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Speaker 1: his truth to them. Oh, that they might be confronted
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Speaker 1: with the awe and glory and majesty of Christ. So
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Speaker 1: that if not converted, they might at least be honest
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Speaker 1: about who it is that they're rejecting. That's what we
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Speaker 1: see in Daniel chapter 6. This is not all about
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Speaker 1: getting out of the lion's den. because most of us
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Speaker 1: don't escape let's pray