Good morning to everyone. Good to see you all on this beautiful morning, a nice spring morning. We're gonna have some of those coming here and there around the winter mornings. 

We are in Daniel 6, and I wanted to just touch on the end of chapter 5. There is some time, a year or so, between these chapters, but something monumental happened at the end of chapter 5, and I think it has a lesson for us. I was thinking about how in the Church in America and the Evangelical Church, we have developed a kind of thinking that political freedom is necessary for the spread of the gospel. And we believe, at least to some degree, that the furtherance of the kingdom is dependent on preserving the Republic. 

Although God has worked mightily through the evangelists sent out from the West through missions work and the freedom we have experienced in our country, and we thank God for that freedom continuing today, there also seems to be a downside to our immense blessings, and a sort of Laodicean Church has developed, a lukewarmness and self-sufficiency that hinders the spread of the gospel, the purity of the church, and its effectiveness in America.

It's fascinating to see what's going on in Iran right now. I don't know much about what is right or wrong concerning the politics of the situation, but there's a lot of testimony over the past few years, and now especially, concerning what God is doing spiritually in that dark place. Iran's born-again Christians face intense persecution; converting from Islam is considered apostasy, punishable by imprisonment, torture, or death, and yet estimates suggest that 300 to 370,000 Christians worship in secret house churches sharing the gospel, despite the risk. 

I was reading an article the other day that said despite harsh persecution, or perhaps because of it, the Iranian Church is thriving, and there is no lukewarm Christianity in Iran. In our last study in Daniel 5, we saw something that was perhaps sort of just read over, we didn't think much about, but what we saw was the fall of the greatest nation on the face of the earth, and it fell all around Daniel. In verse 30 of chapter 5, it said that very night, Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom being about 62 years old. 

This was one of the greatest kingdoms, the head of gold, the purest, most powerful political system, and all that would follow would be lesser kingdoms. This was a really big deal, much like if news came to us today. Could you imagine waking up this morning and reading that we have been invaded, that our government has been eliminated, our military subdued, and we've been taken over by another country without a fight? That's what happened in Babylon. 

Could you imagine the chaos, the fear, the uncertainty, even in the church? How would you react to such a situation, this very situation that Daniel found himself in? We're going to learn an important lesson from Daniel in chapter 6 this morning, and that is that the kings and kingdoms of this world do not have as great an impact on the people of God and the furtherance of his kingdom as we might think. 

God is not dependent on a free constitutional republic to accomplish his will. He can bring his purposes to pass under the great sovereign ruler, Nebuchadnezzar, or he can work in the context of a much more complicated system of rules and regulations and a system of government under Cyrus and the Medes and the Persians. From Joseph in Egypt to Moses in the Exodus to Joshua among the pagan nations, God accomplished his will through these men. 

Jesus came and lived and died and ministered according to the will of God under the iron fist of Rome. God accomplished his will and purpose through Peter and Paul under Roman rule in Judah, and even the Gentile nations where the church was founded grew, suffered persecution, and spread over the whole earth. What do we learn from young Daniel as he is taken captive and his country destroyed and he's hauled to the heart of pagan Babylon and put into a brainwashing system of confirmation to the culture of the Chaldeans? 

And what do we learn from old Daniel, now 90 in chapter 6 or pushing 90, as he sees the worst of the pagan leaders rise after Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom fall in one night as the Medes and Persians rise to power? What do we learn from this chapter before us this morning when Daniel is facing the lion's den, and from a worldly perspective, certain death if he remains faithful to God? 

Don't think of the lion's den as those pictures you see in the nursery with a couple little fuzzy lions. There were many, many lions who were starved, who were hungry. We see at the end of this chapter that they threw in all of those satraps and their families and they were all consumed before they hit the ground. Many ferocious lions. My friends, in my opinion, we are far too concerned with the kings and rulers of this world, the rise and fall of nations, and the conditions of our politics, and we place far too little faith in the plan and purpose of God and the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

When Babylon fell, God was not wringing his hands in heaven. He was in fact preparing to accomplish his great plans through Cyrus for his people Israel—Cyrus whom he was raising up for this very purpose. It's difficult for us to imagine living in a place like Iran or even in India these days where our brothers like Philip and Augustine minister so faithfully under hostility and persecution. 

I was just talking to Philip a couple weeks ago and he said that they were out in their van and handing out tracts. I think this weekend they were going out to hand out 200,000 tracts and a group of many people. He said they go with a couple hundred people now because there's less chance of being attacked, but they were attacked in the van and they had children with them and they broke the windows on the van. Those are scary things. Scary place to be in. We don't know what it's like to live like that, but wouldn't we love to see, don't we long to see, the fruit that God is producing in these places? 

Even in the midst of hatred and persecution and governments hostile to the gospel. Daniel gives us much to ponder in this familiar story of Daniel and the lion's den. Let's look at verse 1. We'll just read the the first five verses to start and then we'll work through the entire chapter in the course of our message.

Daniel 6, 1. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps to be over the whole kingdom and over these three governors of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them so that the king would suffer no loss. Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.

So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or fault because he was faithful, nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God. 

Well, I've given you six points on your outline this morning. First, Daniel's promotion. Second, government persecution. Third, Daniel's perseverance. Fourth, God's preservation. Fifth, Darius' pronouncement. And sixth, Daniel prospers. 

Well, first we see in our text Daniel's promotion. Darius the Mede set Daniel in the highest position under him as overseer of all the satraps, the governors of the regions. The word one in verse 2 of whom Daniel was one means first. There were three set over the others and Daniel was first among them. God kept Daniel in a place of prominence in the new kingdom for his purposes. 

So he just lives on through all these kings. You know, Babylon had several kings. We went over that last time after Nebuchadnezzar's death. Some of them not so good. Daniel just consistently faithful each day. Kingdoms fall, new kings rise. God keeps him where he wants him. So he continues to set his heart to be faithful to his God through all the trial, the turmoil, the rise and fall. 

Daniel was faithful one day at a time. Verse 3, it says, then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. The phrase an excellent spirit speaks of Daniel's attitude. 

And here we can take a lesson from Daniel. Remember we used to have a sign in our bathroom that said attitude is everything, pick a good one. Daniel had an excellent attitude. He was perhaps the greatest example to us of faithfulness, steadiness, just trusting and believing God no matter what the circumstances were and he was above reproach. 

We see in verse 4 that there was no accusation concerning his personal integrity or his obligation in his duties in government or in his relations to others that would stick. He was by all accounts an exemplary man, a man of God. He had an outstanding attitude, an excellent spirit. There was only one place where the evil men around him could assail him, and that was in his unwavering faithfulness to God. 

In verse 4 it says, so the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom but they could find no charge or fault because he was faithful nor was there any error or fault found in him. So they decided we have to set him up according to his deep conviction to his God. What an amazing statement about the man Daniel. 

He prospered in every circumstance, he was faithful, had an exemplary attitude, and this brought the envy of his peers, the worldly rulers in Babylon. They despised this captive from Judah, a slave who continually confounded them, and they sought to kill him to rid themselves of this Daniel. And they knew they could hold nothing against him save his faithfulness to God. So this is where they set him up and deceived the king and through no fault of his own we see Daniel experience persecution here. 

Verse 6, so these governors and satraps thronged before the king. A big group of them came and said thus, King Darius lived forever. All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors have consulted together to establish a royal statute to make a firm decree that whoever petitions any God or man for 30 days except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.

Now, O king, establish a decree and sign the writing so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians which does not alter. Now here's something new about the Medo-Persian kingdom as opposed to the Babylonian kingdom with Nebuchadnezzar. What was Nebuchadnezzar bound by? Nothing, right? He could do anything he wanted, he killed whom he wanted, he let live whom he wanted, so he was bound by nothing. 

But when we come to this lesser kingdom now, in this sense, we see that they have law that binds them, so once the law is made, it cannot be undone. Verse 9, therefore King Darius signed the written decree. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home and in his upper room with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as was his custom since early days. 

So this is Daniel, what's he do faced with this potential death being cast into the lion's den? He continues as he always has, as was his custom, prayed to his God. Verse 11, then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God and they went before the king and spoke concerning the king's decree. Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any God or man within 30 days except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? 

The king answered and said, The thing is true according to all the Medes and Persians, which does not alter. So they answered and said before the king, That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day. 

And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him, and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men approached the king and said to the king, Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed. 

So the king gave the command and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, Your God, whom you serve continually, he will deliver you. Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed. 

And the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting, and no musicians were brought before him. Also his sleep went from him. Well, the enemies of God will always plot and scheme against the people of God. Satan is always working behind the scenes to attack the people of God and to thwart the plan and purpose of God. 

But we see in this instance and all throughout history that the persecution of God's people only leads to the furtherance of the gospel. It's not a good scheme of Satan, but he keeps coming back to it because of his rage and hatred for God and his people. He does a much better work in infiltrating the church with false doctrine, with worldly distraction and moral compromise. 

But the persecution of the Saints is something as sure as the sunrise in this world. We see as an example for us that Daniel chooses in this difficult situation to trust God, to obey God rather than men. I was thinking about Peter and John who found themselves in a similar situation in the book of Acts, if you turn to Acts 4. In chapter 4 we read of the healing of the crippled man from his birth, and the disciples are arrested, you'll remember, and brought before the Sanhedrin for preaching about Christ. 

Acts 4 verse 13 says, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they hadn't been to their seminaries, they marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. 

But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do with these men? For indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them that from now on they speak to no man in this name. 

So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. 

It's like Daniel. They said, You can't pray to your God. And he said, I'm just going to pray to my God. I'm going to obey God rather than men. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. 

So they obeyed God and they were threatened for it. But then what did they do? It says they went back to the brethren and they all prayed for more boldness to go out and preach Jesus. They didn't run and hide. They didn't lay low for a while. They didn't let things cool down. They went back and they prayed that they would be more bold to go out and preach Jesus. 

Daniel chose to be faithful to God, to continue as he always did, as was his custom, to pray to God three times a day. And so Daniel, through this scheme, finds himself in the lion's den. And Darius is very displeased. It says, with himself. He'd been duped in his pride. And now this man he thought so highly of, whom he seemed to love, was in the lion's den facing certain death. And the king does not sleep. 

He receives none of his normal distractions of wine or music or women, but he is grieved. He's worried about his friend. Sleep goes from him. Daniel, on the other hand, pulls up one of these lions for a pillow and has a good night's rest in the lion's den as he trusts God and preserves through this trial—perseveres through this trial in persecution. 

So here we have another great lesson, one we learned from Jesus in the New Testament as well. I'd like to look at 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2 at verse 18. This is an interesting passage. Peter is writing about submission, having a submissive attitude, an excellent spirit, as it says of Daniel. In verse 18, 1 Peter 2.18, servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. 

For this is commendable if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. That's Daniel in the lion's den. For what credit is it if when you are beaten for your faults you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. 

For to this you were called. Isn't that a stunning statement? What were you called to? You were called to suffer because of your association with Christ. For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, who when he was reviled he did not revile in return, when he suffered he did not threaten. 

This is the key phrase. But he committed himself to him who judges righteously, who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we having died to sins might live for righteousness by whose stripes you are healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. 

This is a difficult but important truth for us to understand. Peter says we were called to suffer in this world, to suffer persecution, to suffer hatred, and all that goes with the cursed world in which we live, the world that now is that lies under the sway of the wicked one. So how are we to respond to these things? How are we to respond to trials and tribulations, to persecution for righteousness' sake? 

Notice that Daniel did not defend himself. He did not seek justice for himself. This is the example we see in Jesus as well, who did not revile in return, who did not threaten, but what? Entrusted himself to him who judges righteously. If I am living for my will, my desires, for my rights, for my pleasure, then something like being thrown into a lion's den is problematic. 

If my life, my living, if I abide in the things of this world, then persecution, trial, tribulation, whether sickness, disease, these things are all interruptions to my comfortable life, enjoying the things of this world. It's not wrong to enjoy the things of the world. In fact, God says he gives us all things richly to enjoy, and we should enjoy the gifts and provisions that God gives to us and give him glory in all things. 

But this is not our life. This is not our purpose in this world or God's primary will for our lives. We do not abide in the things of this world. We abide in Christ, who is our life. And if our living is in him and he in us, if our greatest desire is to see his will and life lived out through me for his purposes and his glory, and if indeed, as we have been learning so clearly in the book of Daniel, that he is in control of all the details, that nothing is too big for him, no king or kingdom or circumstance or any kind is any obstacle to God, then our circumstances and the outcomes in our lives become irrelevant. 

God delivers Daniel from the lion's den as he chose to do with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace. Verse 19 it says in our text, it says, the king arose very early in the morning. He went in haste to the den of lions, and when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. 

The king spoke, saying to Daniel, Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions? Then Daniel said to the king, O king, live forever. My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before him. And also, O king, I have done no wrong before you. 

Now the king was exceedingly glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him because he believed in his God. And the king gave the command and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them and their children and their wives, and the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den. 

It says that God delivered Daniel because he believed in his God. We saw justice on this day. We'd like to see justice, wouldn't we, in the world? I mean, we long for justice. Even in our country, we're just waiting for somebody to get arrested, aren't we? A little justice would be nice. But we saw justice on this day. The king killed all of those who plotted against Daniel unjustly and their families as well. 

God delivered Daniel and justice was displayed on this very day. That was God's will for Daniel and his purposes were greatly accomplished through the life and times of Daniel and we praise God for that. Daniel lived in the will of God. He was faithful each day, believing God and trusting himself to the one who judges righteously. 

God delivered Daniel and made him prime minister under the king. But this is not always or even normally the case for God's people. We have no such promise in the scriptures. I was listening to a sermon the other day and in this sermon, the preacher made this statement at the very beginning. He said, we know that God wants us to be well. The sermon was about physical healing. He established this premise at the beginning. 

We know that God wants us to be well. Is that true, my friends? We read this story of Daniel and it says that God delivered him because he believed his God. Is this always God's will for his people? Do we know that God wants us to be well? This preacher went on to talk about physical healings, raising people from the dead, financial freedom through faith in the Lord. He said that when we doubt, when we become emotional and fail to believe God, then God doesn't heal us or make us well. So the problem is our initial reaction and our lack of faith. We must believe to be healed. 

My brothers and sisters, this is not what the Word of God teaches. God delivered Daniel. But what about Isaiah? Was Isaiah faithful? Did he believe God? He was sawn in half with a wooden saw. God didn't deliver him. Well, he delivered him in a sense, right? Let's look at Hebrews 11. 

Hebrews 11 at verse 32. This is the great faith chapter. These are the heroes of the faith, the examples of faith all through history. Hebrews 11, 32. Kind of summarizing this after all the examples he's given, he says, what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets. 

Listen to this. Who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead, raised to life again. 

Now this sounds good, doesn't it? Believe God and all these great things will happen. By faith, it says. But keep reading. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. 

They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute, afflicted, tormented. Verse 38, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith. What does that mean? They believed. They believed God. 

Having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God, having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Of whom the world was not worthy, having obtained a good testimony through faith. These servants of God believed their God, they are heroes of the faith, and yet God's will for them was not physical deliverance, trusting well. 

God accomplished his greater purpose through them by persecution, hunger, peril, poverty, and death. We know that God wants us to be well. Do we have such a promise in the scriptures? No, quite the contrary. Peter said we were called to suffer, 1 Peter 2, we just read that, to take it patiently in faith, trusting God. 

Paul says all who desire to live godly in this ungodly age will suffer persecution. We have no promise in this new covenant time of carnal blessings or deliverance, even if our faith is the greatest of all the saints. Let me ask you this, was Paul's faith insufficient? If he would have believed more, would God have delivered him from all his sufferings? 

Go to 2 Corinthians 11. What's interesting about 2 Corinthians 11 is the context is about false teachers in the church. They're attacking him, they're preaching a false gospel. 2 Corinthians 11 at verse 18, he says, seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I will also boast. For you put up with fools gladly, since you yourselves are wise. 

For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face. To our shame I say that we were too weak for that, but in whatever anyone is bold, I speak foolishly, I am also bold. And then Paul tells us what a true apostle, a true and faithful life to the Lord looks like in this age. 

Verse 22, are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more. Why, Paul? In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews, five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. 

A night and a day I've been in the deep. In journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren. Seems like Paul was in peril a lot. In weariness, in toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger, in thirst, in fastings often. Coldness, besides the other things what comes upon me daily my deep concern for all the churches. 

Paul said, I fear as the serpent deceived Eve that these false teachers will deceive you. Are they apostles of Christ? I'm more so. And what evidence does he give? The constant persecution and physical suffering that he endured. And then he wrote, follow me as I follow Christ. Jesus said the world will hate you because it hated me first. They will arrest you, beat you, kill you. 

This was the fate of Paul, beheaded in Rome. Peter, crucified upside down. All the apostles save John were martyred. Why? For their great faith, not because they lacked it. And God chose to deliver John, whom they tried multiple times to kill. Why? Because of his purposes for John, just like he had purposes for Daniel. John wrote the Gospel, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, the book of the Revelation. 

My friends, the lesson we need to learn from this circumstance in Daniel's life is that whether we live or die, whether we are abased or abound, our circumstances and the outcomes are not our business. In this we entrust ourselves to the one who judges righteously. So don't worry about these things. Don't seek after these things like the Gentiles do. 

Focus on knowing and believing Jesus and being faithful in this way each day, and trust God to handle the rest. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. This was the testimony of the one who suffered so much for the sake of Christ. 

So we see Daniel's promotion, we see persecution, perseverance, we see God's preservation, and finally we see Darius' pronouncement as Daniel prospers in Medo-Persia. 

Verse 25, then King Darius wrote, To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell on all the earth, peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom, men must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and steadfast forever. His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall endure to the end. 

He delivers and rescues, and he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth. Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions? So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. 

Well, Daniel's life was a witness. We see here that even Darius the king was impacted by the faithful witness of Daniel, and his attitude, his faithfulness as a ruler in the kingdom, in his consistency in honoring and worshiping his God, and in his deliverance from the lion's den. And God received the glory. Darius proclaimed the glory of God. This is the reason, this is the purpose of God. 

And God still had his man Daniel, now pushing 90 years old, he had his man in his place where he wanted him for his purposes. Daniel prospered, but in what? In gold chains and positions like Belshazzar gave him for a few hours? No, in his life and witness that was faithful to his God, that in everything Daniel brought glory to God. 

This is just what Paul instructs us to do in 1 Corinthians 10 31. Everything you do, the mundane things you do, your work, your daily life, even when you eat and drink, do all things to the glory of God. Let Christ be your life, and no matter our circumstance, health or sickness, comfort or need, peril or safety, life or even death, we must learn to be content in Christ, and so give glory to God. 

This is the great lesson of Daniel for us, even in the lion's den. Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we thank you for Daniel and his life and witness and all the witnesses that we see through time. Paul says that the entire Old Testament was written for our example and learning. Help us to understand that you are in control, that we can trust you, and that our circumstances in this world are not the issue. If we are abased or bound, help us to learn to be content in Jesus. It's in his name we pray.