Sermon Transcript — March 15, 2003
I did want to follow-up this afternoon with a message that I very much want to bring to you. It's a follow-up to the 'World News and Prophecy' seminar, and I'd like to bring you into the light of what I want to bring to you this afternoon. Last week, at the last message, Mr. McNeely focused on a scriptural challenge, he then made a statement and then he gave all of us some homework. In his last class, Mr. McNeely quoted from Revelation 18:4 that tells you, tells me from God that he says…
Revelation 18:4. "Come out of her, my people…"
Do not be a part of her plagues and/or her sins, quoting from Revelation 18:4. That was the scriptural challenge that Mr. McNeely left us with. He also made a statement that I found very interesting, and the statement was simply this: That to come out of something, you've got to be in it already and to recognize that we are in something that we need to come out of.
He went beyond that and reminded us that this is our call, this is our challenge today. Now when we are to come out of the world, we can't just stop the world, we can't hold the globe as it were, make it stop and come of it. There's something else that is expected of us. But we are to come out of this culture. We are to come out of this system that is diametrically opposite to all that God holds true, near and dear.
The entire thematic structure, now this is a thought that I'd like to share with you, the entire thematic structure of scripture is that there is a contrast between two ways. Two trees, two ways of life, two systems defined by two cities. What's most important to understand is that all of this brings us to two different outcomes. Two different outcomes.
Now what we want to picture here this afternoon, two cities, one is identified as Babylon and the other is identified as Jerusalem above. Now Mr. McNeely went on to state that the head of this Babylonian system, Satan, has made his culture tempting, enticing, all encompassing, and therefore, providing we that are here that want to embrace citizenship in the heavenly Jerusalem makes our job in a sense all the more challenging and there really is a test. He asked us, encouraged us then with a homework assignment.
The statement was what? Come out of this world. The homework assignment was to study the life of Daniel and that's what I'd like to do with you for a few minutes on this Sabbath day and that is to focus on the life of Daniel with you. We'll do our homework together, how's that? Make it simple. I always liked students, back when I was in school, to join me for the homework, get some of the answers from them, and so we're going to do that homework together for a few minutes this afternoon. We're going to look at the example of Daniel. How important is Daniel? Daniel was the ultimate spiritual survivor in the kingdom of the beast. He was in the court of Nebuchadnezzar, that head of gold that is identified in Daniel 2. He was a man of God in the midst of an ungodly society. What did he do? What didn't he do? And what did God do for him?
Now you say, but wait a minute, this is a sixth century prophet; I'm a twenty-first century Christian. What do we have in common? Join me, if you would, in John 17 for a moment so that we have some relevance to where we're going. In John 17, let's notice some of Christ's last earthly instructions to his disciples. This instruction designed and inspired to come down to we, his disciples, in the twenty-first century.
John 17:14. "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."
Now notice what Jesus said in verse 15.
Verse 15. "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth."
Now Jesus purposefully keeps us as his disciples, we that have our citizenship in the heavenly Jerusalem. It's interesting we are to not be taken out of this world literally, but being citizens of Jerusalem above we are culturally, we are to spiritually come out of this system that is diametrically opposed to God. So how do we do that? How do I do that? How can I be Godly in a system that God calls Babylon? Well that's why we want to learn the lessons of Daniel.
I want to share with you three stories that have three key principles that we're going to learn about. What and they simply are this, the principles are this: 1) What we do, 2) What we know and how we know it, 3) What we are. What we do, what we know, and what we are. Three separate points, but they are all, are you with me, they are all tied together by one common thread, and I'd like you to write down this word right now if you would as students of the Bible and as fellow disciples of Jesus Christ. What these three points have in common is simply this--the sovereignty of God. Each of these points pointed to God being sovereign and the life of one man of God that allowed him to be Godly in the kingdom of the beast.
Let's go to point number one please. Number one, he was godly in the kingdom of the beast. Nebuchadnezzar, that head of gold, by what he did. As we open up to the beginning of Daniel's witness to that other kingdom, being Babylon, it's interesting to see what was actually happening to Daniel. Turn if you would to Daniel 1 please, come with me there, and let's notice a few things that were going on because to use it in common day parlance what the Babylonians were doing with this godly man is they were messing with his head as we would say in the twenty-first century. They were trying to brainwash him. They were trying to disorient him, and they were trying to indoctrinate him into the Babylonian system.
You say, well, how, Mr. Webber, how can you say that? Well, we can just look at a few different lines right, number one, they tried to first of all change his loyalty. Look at Daniel 1:6. One of the first things that they did was they, they changed his name. In Daniel 1:6, it says the chief official gave them new names, speaking of his three companions as well. To Daniel they gave the name Belteshazzar and to Hananiah and to Mishael and Azariah, they gave other names. The name that they gave Daniel was Belteshazzar. Now how important is that for you and I to understand?
Interestingly in the Hebrew 'Daniel' means: God is my judge. But now they've changed his to name to 'Belteshazzar,' which interestingly means: Bel protector of life. So they were just by the sheer changing of names they were trying to change his loyalty. They tried to change his thinking. We notice in verse 3, verse 4. Come with me to verse 4 where it says that they were given every kind of learning, education. And he was to teach them the language and the literature of the Babylonians. So in that they were trying to change his thinking. And then most importantly what we're going to touch on for a few minutes is they tried to change his lifestyle by changing his diet.
It's amazing how just a little alteration can ultimately change the whole person in a domino effect. They tried to change his lifestyle by changing his diet. Disorientation, systematic brainwashing. And the point that I want to share with you my friends, today, is this, what the Babylonians did because the Jews were not the first people that they brought into captivity. They were beginning to peel Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abed-Nego; they were trying to peel him like ladies you peel an onion in your kitchen. One little layer at a time. One little layer at a time. Thinking that basically these people were shallow and that as they took layer after layer after off there wouldn't be anything in the core, but they were about to find out something different about Daniel because as they peeled deeper and deeper the harder and the harder the core got.
We notice the story sets up in verse 8. When it came to the story of what they tried to do by changing his lifestyle with diet. Verse 8.
Daniel 1:8. "But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the royal rations of food and wine…"
Whatever it is, and the commentaries vary in their explanation of this verse, there was a threshold that Daniel did not pass. That threshold had to deal with either two factors. Number one, either whatever was being presented in front of him was biblically unclean or it was biblically common. 'Unclean' are those food laws that are set before us, saying don't eat this, eat that. 'Common' is meat that is offered to idols. Paul touches on that later on in the book of Corinthians, but at this time that was a threshold that Daniel was not about to cross, and Daniel resolved not to defile himself with this food.
I'd like to center for a moment on the word 'resolve,' which, I think, is fascinating. Resolve is a strong word that means that an individual has backbone and stick-to-it-iveness to a principle. The King James version says that Daniel was 'purposed.' That word comes from the Hebrew 'sim' or also 'sum,' which means literally to place or to set. Almost like the thought of concrete before him. And the living version paraphrase says that he made up his mind.
What's going on here? This godly man in the court of the beast was being true to a life-long determination of what is right and he wasn't going to give in to momentary discomfort. He was a captive, educated captive, intellectual captive, but nonetheless in that sense, technically a slave. Daniel could have said, well you know, just one little bite. Just a little juice to the lips. God will blink. God will wink. God will understand.
You and I are confronted with that everyday of our lives, aren't we? As things come into our life as to whether or not we have purpose, whether or not we have resolve in this what the Bible calls Babylonian system that is around us. You know merely wanting to, merely thinking it would be good to have resolve, merely preferring to do what God's will or way is isn't enough to stand up against the slow and the steady and the sure onslaught of temptation or coercion by the head of the Babylonian system. The head of the Babylonian system is not a man. It's Satan. And Satan would like to peel you, peel me like an onion. Like he did Peter where he said, Jesus speaking to Peter says, you know Peter, I've got news for you, Satan would like to sift you like so much wheat. That story still goes on.
Why didn't Daniel partake of whatever was in that table in front of him whether it was common or unclean? Perhaps he, he understood a very basic principal and I'd like to share it with you because as this world goes further and further and further away from the Judeo-Christian ethic, my friends, we need to have the same kind of resolve now. We're in training. The events that Mr. Rhodes and Mr. McNeely shared with us are not further away, but closer, and we have to be spiritually exercising our muscle. And we have to have a resolve in our mind that we do not become so understanding that we no longer understand, you know what I'm saying? In this world of moral relativism where everything goes.
It's very dangerous when you and I as Christians begin to think that we can be more understanding than God. I've talked with such people. You've talked to such people. These are people that will not continue to be godly at a time when the kingdom of the beast is set up. We notice here what occurs. It says, notice in verse 12. Daniel offers a plea.
Verse 12-14. "Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants. So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days."
Now it's very interesting that we recognize that even though Daniel was man of purpose and a man of resolve, he was also a man who, a) sought permission, and b) negotiated. He sought permission. His good manners did not go out the window simply because he was in the kingdom of the beast. And God's people always have good manners, but he also negotiated. He didn't negotiate his principles. He did not negotiate his values. I'm giving you some keys today, brethren, for what is out in the future. Steps of Daniel that we can follow. He had wisdom. He had tact. He had good manners. He also was willing to negotiate what he could.
Verse 15-21. "And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies. Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times…" ten times better for everyday, interesting… "than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm. Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus."
What do we learn about this? Why was it so important that Daniel not eat that food? Obeying God's law, as found in the Bible regarding diet, goes back to Deuteronomy 14. I'd like to share a thought with you on this. Come with me please. I think you'll find this a fascinating thought, I hope so. In Deuteronomy 14:1, it says…
Deuteronomy 14:1. "You are the children of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead."
It's not talking about a crew cut or a butch. It's talking about there was something of a religious background on this, and God said, don't go there—don't be like the heathen.
Verse 2. "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself…"
We're now moving into what we might call the covenant relationship. You are…
Verse 2. "…a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth."
You are near and dear and I am near to you. Therefore…
Verse 3. "You shall not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals which you may eat…"
And then he goes on to describe the litany of animals they cannot eat. When God offered the biblical food laws, brethren, the biblical food laws were introduced to Israel as a matter of identity of who God was, who they were, so that every time they touched their plate or they went for their plate, they were mindful that they had been called out of Egypt. They had been called out of this world and that food in the Israelite mind was a matter of identity. To break the food laws willfully was a matter of stomping and stamping on your identity and what God was doing in your life having rescued you from Egypt. That stills goes to this day brethren as God has rescued us out of modern day Egypt.
We do not eat unclean food. That's simply because the creator created it, and he knows best, which is yes, but also because it is a matter of identity. It reminds us that every time we go to eat, worship towards that God cuts right across our lives, across the grain of our life. And as we make choices on our plate, we are saying God, you have chosen us, we have chosen you. We are your people, and you are our God, and you are sovereign. That's why it was so important to Daniel. They were trying to strip him of his identity, and he wasn't going to go there.
I'd like to read from Stephen Covey's book, 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,' about the importance of conviction. People can't live with change if there is not a changeless core inside of them. The key to the ability to change is a changeless sense of who you are, of what you are, what you are about, and what you value.
Daniel had a core from the inside out. Not from the outside in. And as Nebuchadnezzar's servants did what they did with all captives to try to strip them away of their identity, Daniel held to that core inside of him. What is the core of what he did, why he did. I want to impress again to you my friends. He held that the sovereignty of God as King of Kings and Lord of Lords was more important than what any king asked of him on this earth.
This is not Daniel's challenge alone. His time has come and gone. This is your challenge and my challenge. This will be the challenge that future as the prophecies come out as to future Daniels or Danielettes that our values cannot be stripped away like so many onion layers, but that we have a core, that we obey God's law. That's very important. Come with me if you would to Revelation 14 as we look at the prophetic aspect of this. Because this book dealing with prophecies specifically states a quality of the people in the future that God is going to work with, that he's going to have a covenant relationship with.
Revelation 14:12. "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."
In the future, there are going to be an elect; there's going to be a remnant people, my friends. At that time, when that resurrection of the Babylonian empire comes up in its final element and these people are not only going to testify and have testimony about their Lord and Savior and mention the Savior's name, but you notice clearly and plainly that they are going to be keeping the commandments of God. When I read that, I can only understand that as keeping the ten commandments. That means ten commandments, all of the commandments in that sovereign covenant relationship that they have been invited into.
We recognize in the future that people are going to have tremendous faith to withstand the Babylonian system as it comes to its full, but the shadow of faith are the commandments. Faith and law are not separate. We come to God in faith. That is our body of all that we give to God, but the shadow of our faith is what we do and what God asks us to do. You can't separate your, you cannot separate your body from your shadow. Have you ever done that? You say one day, shadow! I'm tired of you following me. Be gone, oh shadow. Be gone! So you walk one way and the shadow walks the other way. You ever tried that? Who's tried that? Steve? No. They don't do that out in Agoura.
No, if you have faith, and you have a relationship and covenant with God, he is your sovereign and this is the sovereign book. You read the book; you do what the book says; where your faith goes so comes the law of God. These people are going to be so important in the future. What do we pick up from this first story? Simply this. Never underestimate the present day training for your witness tomorrow—very important. Each aspect of God's way of life, even by what you eat or what I eat are developing spiritual muscles for him. If we let down in one area, that begins to allow us to let down in other areas. We are citizens of Jerusalem above. We are to come out of this world by what we do.
Number two. Daniel was godly in the kingdom of the beast by how he handled God revealed truth. He was godly in the kingdom of the beast by how he handled God revealed truth. Let's look at the story for just a second.
Daniel 2:1. "Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers…"
And down in verse 3, it says…
Verse 3. "…I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream. Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, "O king, live forever!"
You know when the king calls you up in the middle of the night, what is the best line to give him?
Verse 4. "…O king, live forever!"
Thinking that's going to open doors.
Verse 4-6. "…Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, "My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap. "However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation."
Now I don't know how many have ever looked at the story in full, but let's understand a point. The point is simply this. These men came in the middle of the night, and they not only had to share what they thought the dream was about, they had to describe what the dream was. Now there have been times when I've talked to people, and they've told me what they dreamt about and we kind of get into this what does this all mean, what are stars over the moon or why oceans or why are you flying or you say maybe this is happening or that's happening and, you know, you can take the figures and kind of do something with them.
But what these men had to do, they had to come in and tell the king exactly what he had dreamed. This was going to require, my friends, a double miracle. A double miracle. Now what happens here? The men come back and they try to stall, verse 8, he says…
Verse 8. "…I know for certain that you would gain time…"
The king wanted an answer. They came to verse 10.
Verse 10. "There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh."
But they didn't recognize that God can live within man for those that he has chosen. What does it say in I Corinthians 2:9 where it says that…
I Corinthians 2:9. "But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
By and large this world is cut off from God, but when we give ourselves to God, when we proclaim him our sovereign and our King and our Lord and our friend, he's going to do things for us. Not just prophets and not just kings, but all of his children, whatever their names are. Notice what happens.
Verse 14. "Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon."
Now just think about it. Here we see this promotion of Daniel. Daniel survives the dinner plate scenario as we say and all of a sudden he gets up there with the big boys. You have been promoted and just as he gets promoted the king has his dream and he's ready to wipe out the entire department. Think about that. You know have you ever wanted to kind of be promoted up the food chain of your company and just when you get to the top, guess what? Corporate takeover. Or just wipe out all the department.
Daniel could have been saying, wait a minute. What's going on God? Why would you lead me down this gravy train trail just to pull the carpet from out underneath me? Forget the carpet, my neck. But there's a principle that I want to share with you, and I hope you'll write it down. God does not work against himself. Do you understand that? God does not work against himself. Everything that we do in life moves to a different degree to serve him. Notice what it says here…
Verse 15-18. "He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, "Why is the decree from the king so urgent?" Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon."
Now, brethren, there is so much in this verse and a half that you and I need to understand so that we too can be godly in the kingdom of the beast. It says that Daniel had wisdom and tact. Let's understand that his good manners had not been erased by panic or by what was coming towards him. Number two, he asked for time. He didn't simply ask time because by reading it says that he asked for time so that he might interpret. He didn't ask for time to save himself. He asked for time that he might come up with the interpretation. He paused.
In a basketball game, it would be like this if you all want to look up a second. What's this mean? Somebody. Time-out. Now sometimes as Christians we may not think that time out is godly. Some of us have come up and shall we say the club atmosphere where we learned a verse where it says out of I Peter 3:15…
I Peter 3:15. "…always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…"
How many of you learned that in club at one time or another? Only three of you went to club, huh? Is that right? You've never heard I Peter 3:15 before? Am I talking to the right audience? Come on guys. How many heard that? So he had all these, I'm ready, I'm up, I'm going to speak. God's talking through me. No. No. I Peter 3:15 says this.
I Peter 3:15. "…always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…" comma, oh comma "…with meekness…" that means humility, that means teachability "…with meekness and fear."
When God is sovereign in your life and you're working for God rather than working for yourself or your own physical life, you're going to approach everything with that mindset. Wisdom and tact. He called time out. It's just like when you're going to cross the street, you stop, you look, you listen, you look both ways to see what the flow of traffic is. What's another thing that he did to be godly in the kingdom of the beast? He went and he talked to his friends. He sought wise counsel. When we have situations cross our life, and it may not be a dream, and it may not a nightmare, are we counseling? Do we get together with people that we really respect, that have wisdom and draw upon their experiences? And then after that do we ask them to pray? Do we have them pray with us? And do we pray to our father in heaven that he will enlighten us with what we need to have in our minds?
You see all the little nuggets of wisdom just in this verse and a half to allow us to survive what comes to us daily much less to be godly in the kingdom of the beast as Daniel was. And notice by doing all of this what occurs during the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.
Daniel 2:19-21. "…So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings…"
And he goes on in verse 23…
Verse 23. "I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers…"
The other kernel, the nugget of wisdom that I want to share with you of why Daniel was a godly person in the kingdom of the beast, a spiritual survivor, is simply this my friends, he was a thankful individual. Hi Charles. Didn't see you there. Charles is with us and Jackie, hi. He [Daniel] was grateful, he was thankful. I've got a question for you and we know the parable of Jesus talking about the ten lepers and they were all healed, but only one came back. A tithe of humanity was grateful before our Lord.
What would of happened if Daniel had wisdom and tact, called for time out, talked to his friends, prayed, revealed the dream, but had not given thanks. I have a question for you. Do you think there would be a Daniel 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7? Would Daniel continue to be used by God? What do you think? A powerful principle about being godly in the kingdom of the beast and being godly in today's world is that a thankful person is a growing person. A grateful person is a growing person.
It doesn't mean the circumstances that Daniel was in were great humanly speaking, but wherever he was he had a relationship that was in tact, he knew God was his king, he knew that he was God's bondservant and whatever situation he was in was to the glory of God. God knew exactly where he was. God knew exactly what he was going through. God knew what was going to occur. He wanted to know what Daniel was going to do. He wants to know what you and I are going to do in the situations that come up just as much as he wanted to know what the disciples were going to do.
Remember when the disciples were on the hill? The story of the little boy with the bread and the fish? And it says in the gospel, it says, he knew. Jesus already knew what was going to occur. What he wanted to know was what were the disciples going to do? The disciples said there's too big of a crowd. It's too big of a challenge. There's not enough bakeries in that town down there to feed this crowd. Lord, what have you gotten yourself in, by the way us, into? Because there's only thirteen of us and five thousand of them. And then that little boy came up. And that little boy didn't have a lot. In fact he only had a little. But when you give God a little, he can make your little a lot, but if you give God nothing he has nothing to work with. Daniel offered his sovereign wisdom and tact, time out, talking with the wise as the Psalms and the Proverbs say, praying to God and then most importantly he came back and was grateful.
When you've prayed in the morning and asked God to intervene in your life, to walk with you as your partner and then you get up off your knees to go out and meet your prayers, are you just as quick to get on your knees after those prayers have been true in your life and to give God thanks? You see, we are in training now. Before things even get rougher and tougher before all that was shared last week comes to a crescendo and we must be doing these things now brethren so that when those times come that as Arnold Swartzkopf once said that death places the mind in a wondrous focus and then the training takes over. Calling time out, talking with the wise, praying to God and giving thanks should be just as much as part of our training as these young men that are over in the sands of Kuwait right now checking and re-checking, loading and unloading what they put their confidence in.
We must have that same kind of training. We must have that same checking and re-checking. We must be ready for whatever comes our way so that whatever comes our way we have more in us then they. Daniel was a spiritual survivor in the court of the beast by what he did and by how he handled what he knew and how he shared it. Let me take you to the third step then please and let's go to point number three and the conclude.
Point number three is simply this, if I can find it in my notes. Point number three he was godly in the kingdom of the beast by what he was, not by what he did, not simply by what he knew, but what he was and what he was was he was close to God. By now we've come to see that he had an ability to obey God's law. He also had the ability to hear God and understand his revelation, but now we come to this last step, and it's a step that I want to share with you for a second before we go any further because, you know, we see that Daniel was obedient and he was patient and he was bold and he was able to say seemingly the right things at the right time. And he said, but I'm not like that. I'm not, you know, obviously Daniel was a renaissance man. He was absolutely a person that stood out even in captivity and he'd say I'm not like that; I don't have that kind of mind; I don't have that of looks; I don't have that kind of IQ, etc., etc.
But one simple note of encouragement, a lesson that we learned from the gospel. Then we'll relate it to Daniel, then we'll relate it to us. Simply put, Christ never taught his disciples how to preach. Christ never taught his disciples how to preach, but he did teach them how to pray. He taught them how to pray and set the example in Matthew 6 when he said, "…and when you pray…", and that leads us to the last story of Daniel, which is so remarkable, my friends, that he understood the importance of that connection with God in prayer.
Daniel's ultimate values moved beyond simply what he did or what he knew and how he could tell it. Frankly, it moved beyond rules and it moved beyond revelation to the ruler himself. He realized that while the rules were godly and while the revelation was indeed godly of and by themselves they had no lasting value unless he was in connection with God. Now his rivals tried to strike at him and we pick up that story to conclude with in chapter, come with me to chapter 6. We now have the Persian empire set up. Daniel was still a member of the government here. Verse 4. The administrators tried to get to Daniel.
Daniel 6:4. "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."
And so they set up this edict. They tricked the king into making this edict to have everybody worship him for thirty days. Notice in the middle of verse 6.
Verse 7. "…to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions."
Now you're Daniel, I'm Daniel. Are you with me? We're in Persia. We're in Babylon the city, which is now a part of the Persian empire and a decree goes out that if you pray to anybody other than the king it's over for you. You say well wait a minute, I think I've chalked up enough prayer time. God will understand everything that I've done before this. I mean there was that day back there when they prayed five hours and couldn't stop, so maybe I can kind of move that into this thirty day period and God will understand if I don't talk to him for thirty days. Was that Daniel's mindset? I don't think so. Notice what happens.
Verse 10. "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."
What's fascinating about this verse I've just got to share with you is let's understand something. This was not accidental prayer. He already knew that the decree had gone out. He knew what the ramifications were. He knew what might happen to him if he got down on his knees, faced Jerusalem, opened the window and prayed, but it was more important, my friends, because God was sovereign in his life that to live without his God in him, speaking to him, communicating to him in a oneness that you only have in prayer was worse than death. Think about it.
How are we in the years ahead, our children, our grandchildren, how are they going to be survivors? How are they going to be godly in the kingdom of the beast as it comes, brethren? They are going to have to be prayer warriors. They are going to have to be talking to God sometimes maybe a minute at a time just to get it through. Just like when I was up on the freeway here a few minutes in a typhoon and a six-mile back up, too, and I was on the cell phone with Steve Hall. I was talking to him; he was talking to me. He called me, I called him. That was encouraging that somebody wanted me to come to church today. That really made me feel good and he kept on saying slow down. We want you in one piece. John, <inaudible>, slow down, we want you in one piece.
Sometimes we're going to be in a hurry in the future, even tomorrow, and we're going to come to God with prayer and he's going to be like Steve or John, he says, I know you want to be there, and I know you want to do that now, but it's going to come back to us by the holy spirit in us, God saying to us slow down. There's always tomorrow. You've got to be in it for the long haul. This is what made Daniel a spiritual survivor in the kingdom of the beast. Remarkable stories. Daniel at the dinner table resolved and purposeful. Daniel interpreting the dream with all of the steps that he went through.
Daniel when everybody else was shaken and quaken, knowing that that lion's den was there felt that it was more important to be in contact with God. You know it's very interesting, and we don't time for this, I want to shorten this. And you've been a kind audience waiting for me. Daniel is a type of Christ. Did you realize that? Daniel knew what was before him and he did it anyway. Daniel was put into the place of darkness and the stone was rolled back. He was thought to be dead. You would think so if you're going with the lions and the stone was sealed. When he came out of that lion's den, it was a type portraying, in a sense and in a type of what would happen to Christ—the ultimate godly man.
You say though, but wait a minute Mr. Webber, I'm not a Daniel; I don't have all that wisdom and sometimes you don't have to go through six chapters even though we need to read the stories of the Bible. No, you might not be as smart as Daniel and I sure know that I'm not as smart as Daniel, but you and I have the same ability and the same education to walk through the same two doors as Daniel did. Two doors that every Christian has got to walk through—is number one the door of availability and number two the door of willingness.
Would you write that down please and think about it this week? Have you been available to God to use today? And are you willing when he calls upon you because you can have all the great ability to speak. You can have all the brainpower and the cranium up here, you can have all the good looks of a Robert Redford, of course I'm dating myself or whoever the latest hunk. You can have all of that, but if the door, if you don't walk through the door of availability, if you're not available to God to be used, if you're not willing to walk through the door of willingness and say God you're my sovereign, I've given my life to you, I love you, I know you love me, I'm yours, you are mine, and I know that you will never take me to a place where there is a stone too heavy that you cannot roll it away.
Daniel was there. That's why Daniel was a spiritual survivor in the kingdom of the beast. That's why he was a godly man in an ungodly world. So what did we learn, brethren, today? Do I have secret solutions for you as we enter the future as prophetic times come on us, around us. Is there some Greek or is there some Hebrew? No. Not at all. The lessons that I've shared with you are the lessons of a man who was put before us to learn a pattern of godliness in the kingdom of the beast.
They're not new steps, but they're steps that worked for him. They're steps that can work for us. Having resolve towards the word of God in whatever it says to do, do it. Looking to God for answers when there are no answers down here below. Being willing to call time out when everybody's moving ahead. Being around the company of wise people. Praying to God. Thanking God even in tribulation. Coming back and thanking God again and even having it resolved just as Daniel did in that last challenge of praying when nobody else was praying.
The steps are there. The choice is yours. Two trees. Two ways. Two cities. Two outcomes. And one decision that can only be yours. That decision simply being this. Will you allow God to be sovereign in your life?
Thank you for waiting for me. You've been a kind audience. I hope all is going well with you. I look forward to seeing those that are going to be in the Bible class at 5:00.