Trust in God

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me to cool waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness, for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. You are rod and your staff. They comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy will be with me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I first memorized that in first grade in 1958 in Imperial schools. I had grown up in the church pretty much, except for my first year of life. My mom came in a long time ago. Growing up in the church, I memorized a lot of Psalms. I recited them. We had Imperial schools, the church, many of you know it, some don't. The church had a grade school and a high school, as well as the colleges back in the day. I was fortunate enough to attend 12 years of that, 4 years of ambassador. When I was growing up reading the scriptures and in the church, I really didn't have to stand up against society. I never had to worry about Christmas or Easter. I never had to worry about asking for the feast off. We had the feast off. It was automatic. So it was a special time. My parents always said, just tell the truth and be honest and things will go well for you. Do what's right. I kind of expected instant rewards for good behavior. I'll dwell in the house of God forever. It's going to be wonderful. At the time I was in the seventh grade, I'd probably already read the entire Bible at least once, probably twice. There were many heroes that I read about. I love those heroes. Promises that God gave them. Promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them a promised land. To Joseph, who ended up being the head of Egypt under the Pharaoh. Moses raised his rod and the plagues came and struck the water and the seas parted and hit the rock and water came out of it. Oh, man! Incredible! Then Joshua with the walls of Jericho falling down. And then the judges. Samson we heard about in the sermonette. Deborah, Barak, other judges. It must have been great back in that time when God did all these things. These people, God was just obviously in the church and everything's going to go really well. David slew Goliath and became king. He wrote all the Psalms. I memorized so many of them. I think by the time I graduated from the world, I'd probably memorized at least 60 to 100 chapters. We even did Psalms 119 once. That's a long one to memorize. And that one I can't recite from verbatim like I can the other shorter ones. But it was interesting to me because in some form or another, some way or another, all of us walked through the valley of the shadow of death. And in the church, we don't necessarily expect that. I never did as a child. Today I want to look at one of my heroes in the Bible and kind of analyze how God deals with us, how He helps us, how to live righteously in an ungodly world. The world is ungodly. Daniel, of course you know, was taken captive by the Babylonians in one of the early captivity. He was in the later captivity. He was one of the young men described in Daniel 3. And you can turn to Daniel. I'll be staying in Daniel so you don't have to flip around a lot in that.

Many of us have been transplanted to other places. It's difficult. As a child, my father died when I was three and a half, four years old. And my mom, Mr. Blackwell, to the funeral told my mom, you need to move to Texas where the widows are. So as a little kid, I got moved to Big Sandy, Texas. A few years later, in 1960, my mom moved to Pasadena, California. I left all my friends that I had made in first and second grade and had to make new friends out in Pasadena. Many of you have moved for jobs and various things. This can be traumatic. It's hard. And you wonder what God is doing. If he's doing something special, when I moved it dramatically changed my life. The things I would have been part of. From the fact my father died, if he hadn't died, he was an athlete. He didn't care about the Sabbath. Let my mom handle religion. That's fine. But he didn't want to be part of it. I'd have been in sports and probably never come in the church. I don't know how much God did in my life, but I wonder what God did. Did he purposely put Daniel in one of the early captivity's where he would be there and put into the classroom, so to speak, in Babylon? I know it was hard for him to leave in captivity. It wasn't a fun thing to have your city overthrown and being taken away. Daniel 1, verse 3 starts telling us about Daniel. Again, it was the third year of Jehoiakim when this happened. So we had Zedekiah to go, a couple of the kings. Verse 3, it says, Daniel most likely was of royal blood, a prince of sorts in Egypt. More than likely he went to their imperial schools, taught by the priests probably in the temple. More than likely because Zedekiah had brought back some of the temple things, and I think Daniel was probably there with the princes and understood that thing. And he understood the scrolls and the writings more than likely. But understanding them and knowing them, does that really make you really believe all the things that were taught? Do you internalize it? Academically you can learn things, but does it change you? Verse 4 or verse 5 says, the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine he drank, so nourishing them for three years. They went through a three-year program. At the end of that, they might be brought before the king. Among these were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, under whom the prince of the eunuch gave names. He gave to Daniel the name of Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishach, or to Mishael, Mishach, and to Azariah Abednego. It was customary at times when you brought people in to change the name, try to put them into your culture, develop them into your religion, bring them into something to forget their past a bit and to come into it. But Daniel knew the food laws and things. In verse 8, he says, Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat nor with the wine that he drank. Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuch that he might not defile himself. He had read the scrolls. He knew what the law was. He knew what clean and unclean meats were. Oftentimes it's kind of easy to keep that. I have friends that went to a prayer that never came to the church and laid to the left at all. Still don't eat unclean meat.

But it was interesting. He decided that he would not defile himself. A lot of the other captives, I'm sure, did. But he and his three friends decided not to. Verse 9 says, Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. I questioned did Daniel know that at the time it was happening? I doubt it. Everything in my life that happened to me, I had no idea if God was doing anything or not. I doubt if you in your life, as God called you, certain things that happened. I doubt if you know how much God was working with that. Of course, Daniel wrote the book toward the end of his life and some of the comments he makes early on historically. He wouldn't have been able to write at the time until he knew God was actually doing these things. Verse 10, The prince of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my Lord the king, who has appointed your meat and your thirst and your drink, for why should he see your faces liking worse than the children, the other captives? They're going to have this good food and you're not having this stuff. And you'll make me endangered for my head. If you served kings back then, they'd cut off your head if you didn't do what they wanted or took matters into your own hand and took that. It was interesting. People worry about how they're going to look. Now, what's his question? What if I don't look good? They brought you here, the king put you in this program, and if you don't look good, I look bad. One of the AC grads called me after they graduated from the student I had in the early 90s. She had a job and she wanted to tell me a story that she went to get a job with a lawyer. She interviewed and she was off for the job. When she first came in to see the man who had hired her, he gave her a handful of resumes. The resumes were 4.0 from Harvard, 4.0 from Yale, 4.0 from Cambridge, and a few other 4.0s from other schools. She said, why did you give these to me? He said, you came from Ambassador College. Nobody's ever heard of it. It's not even accredited. I guess it was accredited right at that time. She said, why did you hire me? He said, you impressed me the way you carried yourself. She said, I took a chance on you. You better do well. Because if you don't do well, and they look at the resumes I turned down, they'll say, why did I hire you? And they'll blame me. The safe way is to hire the 4.0. If they don't do good, hey, who would you have hired? Harvard, Yale? Yeah. People tend to protect themselves.

But she made a difference. She impressed him. He was willing to take a chance. Well, this man was in the same position. Verse 11, Daniel said to Melzar, whom the Prince of eunuchs had set over them, and he says to him, Prove your servants, I beseech you, ten days. Let us give them pulse to eat, water to drink. Say you wanted kind of a vegetarian or clean meat diet. Whatever. He knew what those were from the scrolls, I'm sure. Although ten days is much time, I'd love to have that ten-day diet. Most of us don't have things happen quite in ten days. But God was working. He said, Let our countenance be looked upon before you, and the countenance of the others that eat the portion of the king's meat.

And yes, you see it. If we don't look good, okay, we'll eat it. Deal with your servants.

Well, that made a deal for ten days. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. These young men had something to stand up for, and they were standing up for it. At the end of the ten days their countenance appeared fairer and fatter in flesh, than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Again, a great ten-day diet plan. I'm sure you're going to find that one. Verse 16, Melzar took away the portion of the meat and the wine that they should give to them, and gave them what they wanted. Often we have some early tests in our life that God gives us to see, How are you going to do this? You know, follow me? You know, follow what you know? You know what the scrolls say? They read Leviticus. Will you do it? They knew the Levitical laws. They decided to keep them. Even though, why? Jerusalem had been taken, they were captive, Nebuchadnezzar was running in the show. Where's God? Do you still believe in God? The power we heard about in the sermonette. Do you still trust Him? Kind of hard to trust somebody when he got delivered into slavery. Verse 17 is, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in visions and dreams. Again, He's writing this in Old Man, knowing that God did all this for Him. Did He know it at the time? Now, you're in school, and hey, you might have straight A's, you may do well, you may do that, and maybe it's you doing it. Maybe it's God. How do you know? Usually you don't. God's never come down and said, Aaron, I did that. Although I know He did in a lot of cases with different things in my life, because it couldn't be done otherwise.

Verse 18, we finished this three-year program here. So, at the end of the days, the king had said that he should bring them in. The prince of the eunuchs brought them in to Nebuchadnezzar.

And the king communed with them. Among them all was found none, like Daniel, Haddaniah, Amishiel, and Azariah. Therefore, they stood before the king. They stood out.

When I was a young man, in high school I always worked, after school and summers. I had a job with Allied bandlines. And it was funny, because I worked there cleaning the offices and things at night, and they liked me. And so, in the summertime, they asked me if I'd be the warehouse manager and do everything in the warehouse. And the trucks would come in with the truck drivers, and it was funny, I was there, and those were stuff in the warehouse. And, of course, they had a cutout hole where they could pass papers through, and then the office was there. The drivers were swearing like truck drivers do, and saying all these things. And the guy who hired me was sitting there, Shhh, don't do that. The kid's a Christian. Do you stand out? You should. You should stand out. I didn't necessarily care that they did. I didn't so when I hear it, but I didn't really care that they did it. But I was glad that they recognized that I was different. I believed something different. Verse 20, In all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in his realm.

Wow! Special! Did they know it? They knew they were special, but did they know that it was God? And when you look at these stories, you have to ask yourself, put yourself in them. Look at them. We tend to read Daniel and talk about the prophecies and the 70 weeks and all the numbers and things. Look at the story of the person of Daniel. Think about his life and what he was doing. What did it feel like to be chosen, to be special to the king? They, in their own mind, are still just a group. Yeah, they were the top of the class, but they were just a group of servants to be called in when needed. They didn't really feel that special. They had no one that could defend them. I stopped. They didn't have a minister to come do it. And just like a minister, I can't do anything for people. I wrote some, I can write some letters for recommendations of things, but I can't help anybody with their job and things like that.

But it was probably exciting. Did they know at the time that God was doing this? I doubt it. Because you don't really know.

It's interesting. Many of you have probably been recognized for things you've done at work, things you've accomplished, places like that. It feels good. If you exhibit the fruits of God's Spirit, if you recognize your work ethic, and you have to wonder, did God help you in those situations? It's fascinating to be presented and to be liked.

I know the excitement and the fear. On graduation day, I was asked to fly on Mr. Armstrong's Gulfstream II. It wasn't my plan. It wasn't anything I aspired to. It wasn't anything I expected. I was supposed to leave Sunday for Salt Lake City as a trainee. Friday graduation, I'm called by Mr. Armstrong, and he asked me to fly, and on Monday we left. I took off for Europe for a three-week trip. Exciting and fearful. If you're in an airplane, you can't just go out to the store and get stuff. If you don't have it, you don't have it. If it doesn't work right, it's too bad. And you're serving people you respect, and you don't want it to go bad. It was special, but it wasn't what I expected, and I know God helped me. We know God does these things. God revealed images and dreams. We know in Daniel the first vision, in Daniel 3, we go there, was the vision of the statue. Head of gold, arms and chest of silver, legs and thighs of brass, legs of iron in the feet of clay and iron mixed together. We know that story. We know it well. But it was special because the king had asked his astrologers and sous-saers and people to tell him about it. Verse 2, we'll go and read that because this was a test of faith. When I got on the plane, my stepfather gave me some advice. He said, Aaron, separate salvation from people. People will do things wrong. It doesn't change what the truth is. But they're a pitfall. Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar's dream. We'll read verse 1 a bit. The second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, he dreamed a dream. His spirit was troubled. His sleep broke from him. He commanded to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, the Chaldeans to show him his dream. They came and they stood before the king, and the king said, I dreamed a dream. My spirit was troubled to know it. And the Chaldeans did what anybody would do. Okay, king, tell us the dream and we'll interpret it.

Well, it's interesting. People that play those games, sous-saers and stuff, if they tell them something, you weave the story. They can weave a good story about how it's wonderful and whatever. But the king knew that they were just playing with him. So I'm not going to tell you the dream. You tell me the dream, then I'll know that you can interpret it. If you can't tell me the dream, you're just going to make something up. Scary situation for them. It's tough when you don't know what it is that you're trying to interpret. A strong story I asked once, when he was the last few months of his life, he said, Jesus said someone to someone about something. Can you find that for me? I said, can you be a little more specific? Well, I don't know what it is, but start reading Matthew and we'll find it. I ended up reading a whole set of Gospels to him. But these people didn't know what the dream was. And again, they knew it was a problem. Nebuchadnezzar had a temple. He said, no one's asked for this. It can't be done. And he said, well, if you can't do it, I'm going to kill you all. And that's what he says. Verse 12.

He says, And the decree went forth, that the wise men should be slain. And they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. They were going to kill Daniel, Nazareth, and Niah, and Michelle. They were going to be killed.

Verse 14. Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Ariac, the captain of the king's guard, which had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon. And he said to Ariac the king, why is the decree so hasty? And Ariac made known what it was. Obvious, Daniel at that time wasn't the first tier of magicians and wise men. And he found out what it was. And so what does he do?

Verse 16. Daniel went in and desired to the king that he would give him time, that he would show the interpretation. That is an act of faith. Anybody want to know what I dream last night? Don't know, do you? I don't know what you dream either. How do you do that? But he tells the king, give me a little time and I'll show it to you.

Faith, did he know God was really going to show it to him?

How is this going to go?

Armstrong had asked me on some of the trips when I became his aide and set up all the trips. He said, how's the trip going? Is everything set up? And I would say, yeah, it's going fine. I had no idea. But I knew if God wanted to see him, it would work out. Do you believe God? When you ask God for help, do you know He's going to help you? Daniel was going to be slain. He told the king, I'll tell you the dream, give me a little time.

And I'm sure he prayed fervently, very fervently. It was more than about him. It was about all the wise men. He was basically saving his friends and all of them. Sometimes we're put in positions where God, where we really, really need God. God worked with Daniel and those over him. God did him exactly what He asked for. Gave him the interpretation of that dream. And the king knew that Daniel would be able to interpret it because he was able to tell him what the dream was. And that was a special thing. We know God did that. You know, God does not put our back in call. But we are at His. And we need to pray and ask for Him to reveal thanks to us and to help us. And He will. All the wise men, perspaired because of that. Daniel 3 is another story that we all know, but it's not about Daniel, so I won't go into it. But I think it's interesting to me. I'd like to read the verses verses 16-18. Because you know the story of the king made a huge golden image of some 30 feet high, made of gold. And when you hear the music, he got a bow down to this thing. And if you don't, you know, you'll be thrown in the fiery furnace.

And Shadrach Meshach and Abednego answered and sold the king, Nebuchadnezzar. We are not careful to answer this thing. He had offered him another chance. Well, you probably didn't hear the music, so I'm going to play it again, then. You can bow down, and I won't have to kill you. He liked these young men. But they said, we're not afraid to answer you. You don't need to do this again. If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O King. But if not, if we burn up, be it known to you, King, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the image that you have set up. Live or die. God is God. We will obey.

I only asked one question. Where was Daniel when this happened? You know Daniel wouldn't bow down to the image. I wonder if he was off in another province when this happened or something. And I asked myself, did God test Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, because Daniel was the leader. Oh, it's real easy to do what's right when the leader's here in front of you. And there he problems. Somebody said, you must have been really good with Shadrach. Well, yeah, of course, he's sitting right there. I'm next to him. I'm not going to do anything stupid.

But were they going to stand up without Daniel there?

Sometimes we're putting a position where, yeah, several of us, it's easy, but other times it's not so easy.

Daniel was somewhere, and I know he wasn't bowing down to the image, but I'm sure a lot of times people will tell him, well, you know what I think? And Mr. Armstrong will say, well, I don't care what you think. What does God think? What is his answer? We need to learn to think like God, see it as God does, and understand that whether he delivers us or not, he does answer our prayers. Sometimes the answer is no, but he does do those things. Daniel and his friends caused Nebuchadnezzar to understand the true God and to even praise him. Look at that in chapter 4 of Daniel, verse 1. Nebuchadnezzar, he's writing here, Nebuchadnezzar the king, and to all the people, nations, and languages that dwell on the earth, peace be multiplied to you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God has wrought toward me. How great are his signs, how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, his dominion is from generation to generation. He's praising God.

He had a short-term memory, though. Some of these things didn't last because he had another dream.

And this dream is different than the first one. The first one, he was the head of gold. That was really positive. Hey, you're the top-notch guy, you're rich, and the others following you aren't near as good as you.

Verse 4, Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in my house, flourishing in my palace. And I saw a dream which made me afraid. My thoughts on my bed and the versions of my head troubled me. And I made a decree to all the wise men of Babylon before me that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

And then came the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, the sous-seirs. And I told them the dream before them, but they could not make it known to me. Hey, at least this time they heard the dream. But how do you take the vision that they had? That dream was a strange dream. They didn't know how to interpret. They didn't even know how to weave a story to make it fit.

In verse 8, King says, Daniel came in before me. His name was Belteshazzar. According to the name of my God, in whom the Spirit of the Holy Gods, before him I told the dream, saying, O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know the Spirit of the God, the Holy God is in you, no secret troubles you. Tell me the visions of my dream that I have had and the interpretation thereof.

And he tells him the dream. Was it? For him. And Daniel, he says in verse 10, Thus were the visions of my head and my bed. He tells him the dream. Behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, the height thereof was great. It would be pretty easy to weave something from Nebuchadnezzar into that. The tree grew, was strong, and the height thereof reached the heavens, and the sight thereof to the ends of all the earth. Oh, I'm sure the magicians thought, hey, that's you, King. You're the greatest there is. The leaves were fair, and the fruit was much, and it was meat for all. The beasts of the fields, and the shadow, and they stood under it. The fowls of the heaven dwelt in it. All the flesh was fed of it. It took care of everybody. And I saw the vision of my head upon my bed, and behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven. He cried aloud with a voice, Thus that, hewed down the tree, cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, scatter its fruit, let the beast get away from under it, and the fowls from its branches. That's probably where the sorcerers were before when they heard that. I don't think we can interpret this one. I don't know where to go with this. That doesn't sound like fun. Nevertheless, leave the stump at its roots in the earth. Even with the band of iron and brass, and the tender grass of the field, let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the boughs of the earth. Let the beast and the grass of the earth, let his heart be chained from man's, and let the beast's heart be given to him, and let seven times pass over him. The matter is by decree of the watchers and the man's of the word of the holy ones, to the intent that the living may know that the most high in the kingdom of men, gives it to whom he will, and sets up over it the basest of men.

Verse 18, This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Thou, Belteshazzar, declare me the interpretation of it, for as much as all the wise men of my kingdom have not been able to make it known to me the interpretation, but you are able, for the Spirit of the Holy God is in you. Nebuchadnezzar was recognizing Daniel. Daniel was recognizing, with these events, getting stronger and stronger, with each time God helped him. At first, I doubt he knew. By the time he had the first vision, he knew God would do it. And over as God helps you, you begin to trust him more. And he drags you along slowly. Pretty soon, you begin to realize that things that happen in your life are of his doing, not of others. This was a strange dream. I'm sure if you didn't have Daniel and didn't have the book, you wouldn't know what to say that dream was. I wouldn't. I couldn't even weave an interpretation.

Shrampshon often told me I had discernment. And at times like this, you have to be careful, because you can have pride when God does these things. I always said to Shrampshon, it's not me if I have discernment, it's because of God. But I said, frankly, I grew up with the... It was always concerning what I would say about some of the evangelists and people around them. You understand? I said, Shrampshon, ten years ago, I lived in their house. I stayed overnight with their kids. I grew up with their kids. And I heard them say things at the breakfast table. And I said, it doesn't take a lot of discernment to say what they said at the breakfast table. They never expected this ten-year-old kid, fifteen years later, to be their boss.

And so, you've got to make sure God gets credit forever. You know, Moses, one problem. What did he do? Do I have to bring water out of this rock? Oops. Now, he didn't bring water out of the rock. God honored it. But Moses made a mistake. And that happens sometimes. Mostly, I expected... I tried to give him good advice as best I could, but I didn't always know. When I was about people, I could tell him things that I had heard. And seeing... And if he did give me discernment, it was from God. Certainly, God gave wisdom to Daniel. But Daniel had to know how to use it, too. The dream wasn't a good dream for Nebuchadnezzar. Have you ever had to deliver bad news or controversial news? I have. It's not easy. You've got to learn how to do it. Verse 19, Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. He knew what the dream was. And he thought, I don't want to tell this to the king.

But the king said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation trouble you. Belteshazzar answered and said, my lord, the dream is for them that hate you, an interpretation for your enemies. I don't want to tell you, but I will. You've asked. The tree you saw which grew was strong, whose height reached to the heaven, the sight to all the earth, whose leaves were fair, the fruit much, the meat for all, the beasts of the fields, the branches and the fowls of habitation. It's you, O king. You have grown and become strong. Ah, pretty good news there. For your greatness has grown and reached the heaven and your dominion to the ends of the earth. And whereas the king, you saw a watcher, a holy one coming down from heaven, saying, You down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump and its roots with a band of iron and brass in the tender grass. Let it be wet. Let his portion be with the beasts of the field till seven times pass over him. This is the interpretation, king. This is the decree from the Most High. This is the decree from your boss. It's come upon you, my lord, the king. They shall drive you from men. Your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you to eat grass as an oxen. They shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you seven years until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he gives it to. Too many times people try to take control themselves, try to do things without God's blessing.

What does he say next in verse 27? Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you. Break off your sins by righteousness, your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. It may be lengthening of your tranquility. It doesn't have to happen if you repent. He tried to give him some good advice, but the tact in which Daniel told this to him, not wanting even to tell him. So he would hear it. Verse 29, at the end of twelve months, the king was walking the palace in the kingdom of Babylon, and the king spoke and said, Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for my glory, in the house of my kingdom, of my might, of my power, of my honor, and of my majesty?

Verse 31, while the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from you. And they shall drive you from them, and your dwelling shall be with the beast, and they will make you eat grass and oxen, everything he dreamed, the voice repeated. And that same hour it was fulfilled. Wow! Daniel tried to stop it, tried to help him. Oftentimes, Mr. Armstrong, I had to tell him some things he didn't want to hear. I had to learn how to say it. I didn't always know how to do it, because I got fired a few times. But that was typical. Have you ever been given good advice and it wasn't taken? Probably not as severe as this, but you probably have in your job, in your place, in your home somewhere. These things can happen, and that's when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death. But with God there, you fear no evil. Daniel was always helpful. It wasn't always appreciated. We see that for a time, he was probably even forgotten. And we don't read a whole lot about Daniel until Chapter 5, when a new king at that point. A new king who didn't know Daniel. Was Daniel retired, put to pastor, or have a lower job? Or what did he do? Perhaps he was glad to be out of the limelight, out of the out of the pressure. If he had retired, he was older by this. He was probably in his 70s or 80s by this time. Because we know what the dates of the Babylonian kingdom was, and we know that Vashousa the king had a feast when he died, when he was called. But he probably was happy to be out of the limelight. It's nice to step back sometimes. One of my favorite people in the Bible is Caleb. I've seen a lot of people in the church want to be Joshua. Caleb, he did what was right, he brought a good report, and he kind of sat back and enjoys life, and Joshua got the headaches.

I've never chosen for anything. I've never asked for a job in the church. I've always been told what to do. I've always tried to give my jobs away, actually. But I'll do them as long as I'm asked. But I felt that way after Mr. Armstrong died, I had to rest. I had to make promises to Mr. Dukatche and to him the last week or so of his life. It made me promise I'd be his aide, it made me promise to tell Mr. Dukatche when he was wrong, it made me promise to do a bunch of things. I kept my promises, Mr. Dukatche didn't. And I was soon removed within a couple of months. I was taken off the Council of Elders, and a couple months later I was removed from his aide and no longer Vice President. And I got everything I wanted. I told Mr. Armstrong I didn't want any of that. But it wasn't. At least I didn't do it by choice. And it was fun. I'd go to Big Sandy. It was kind of like a respresse, but to go down with the college and teach down there from 1990 until it closed. It was a wonderful place to be at the college. We don't really know where Daniel was in the intervening years, but he was called back. He knew God had never left him. We knew that. In Daniel 5 we read of Belshazzar the king. He made a great feast to thousands of his lords and drank wine before a thousand. They had a big feast back then. And while he tasted the wine, he commanded to bring the gold and silver vessels, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem. That the kings and his princes and his wives that he had concubines might drink there him. When you conquered a nation that met your God who was stronger than their God, in their minds, it wasn't true. It was only true because God allowed it and let it happen for the punishment of people who were sinning. But he brought the vessels and took them out of the temple, the Jerusalem, and they drank in them. That was pretty much blasphemy. And they challenged God. They drank the wine. They praised the gods of gold and silver, brass and iron, wood and stone. And the same hour came forth a finger of man's hand. And it wrote against the candlestick on the plaster of the wall. Imagine, just look at the wall and see a hand there and start writing. We would be stoked, I'm sure. I'm sure it spoke then. And we wonder, what was it? What happened? And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. He could see this. Uh-oh! And as Cain's countenance was changed, verse 6, his thoughts troubled him. The joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another. He just let loose. It scared him.

And the king cried aloud to bring the strologers, the Chaldeans, the sous-sayers. And he asked the wise men of Babylon, he said, Whoever can read this writing and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, have a chain of gold about his neck, and will be the next ruler in the kingdom.

No one could do it. All the king's wise men. But they could not read the writing, nor make known the interpretation.

Then was King Velsha's or greatly troubled. His countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonished. He didn't know what to do. They couldn't read it. Now the queen, more likely the queen's mother, probably one of Nebuchadnezzar's wise, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came to the banquet house. And the queen spoke and said, King, live forever. Don't let your thoughts be troubled. Don't let your countenance be changed. There is a man in the kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy God. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him. Whom the king Nebuchadnezzar, your father, the king, I say, your father made a master of the magicians, and the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the sous-sayers. So obviously Daniel wasn't there. He was retired or whatever. Verse 12, Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in that same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show you the interpretation. By now, Daniel had no fears at all. He knew God would help him. Every time you go through a test or a trial, it just builds your faith a little more. Unless you start thinking you're doing it, in which case your faith goes away.

Sometimes we're forgotten for a time. Sometimes God gives us a rest. Elijah, oh God, take my life. God let him go away. Let Elijah take his place. Of course, Elijah wrote back, he never quit following God. With God, you must come to a time in your life where you're content. You fought the wars, suffered perhaps, yet were delivered. You come to that point, and you finally understand the end of Psalm 23, where surely goodness and mercy will be with me, and shall follow me all the days of my life.

Daniel may have felt it was over, but his reputation had to be known, at least by some of the older men on the King's staff. We see next that Daniel was used by Darius. He told him the dream, told him the fingers, Meenie, meenie, teagle you farce, and you came to the number, you found one, and you're out of here. I don't need it. Take your robe, take your stuff. I don't need this. Of course, I'd only be king for a few minutes anyway. I don't need any of that. Then you come to the point where you're content.

Somehow, Darius, I don't know how he knew, but he knew of Daniel, his wisdom, so he used Daniel. In chapter 6, Daniel is an older man now. He's going to be used once again by another king, to show, by his example, how he lived. What was right before God?

Daniel 6, verse 2, it says, Over these three presidents, of whom Daniel was first, that the princes might give accounts of them, that the king would have no damage. Like all governments, you have different departments, managers and things that run that. And they were going to give accounts. They collected taxes. No damage? Did the king know that there would be graft and corruption among the people of the world? Yes, it has been since mankind began. But he knew Daniel was not going to do that. Verse 3, this Daniel was preferred above all the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. He preferred because of his excellent spirit, his honesty, his integrity.

We had students in our projects at Ambassador College over six years ago, and they saw them as students of character and integrity, so much so that Queen of Nepal, the last one that I had with her, after Mr. Armstrong died, she asked if our students would run $91 million, all of the foreign aid given to Nepal, because they were honest and ethical and did right. I tell our young people today, I'm the Dean of Students at Ambassador, I get to be Dean Dean so I can stutter. So I said, there are Daniels today, still. Still happens. We tend to think the Bible that happened back then, God was involved. No, he's still involved. He's involved in your life, he's involved in mine. He was involved with Daniel. In the stories of the Bible, I look at, I'm glad I memorized it as a kid and learned them all, but I didn't see it practically, and I didn't necessarily see the bad. I always saw the good because he got delivered. I didn't dwell on the other side. But the thing is, I began to realize that every time something came up in my life, there's a story in the Bible that told me what to do and how to seek God.

He was preferred. The king wasn't stupid. He knew there could be a bezelman, he could be theft. Sometimes being honest evokes anger in others, though, since they couldn't take advantage of their positions. Look at the people today that take advantage of their positions. Look at some of our politicians who said, Oh, they're servants to the people. They were just blue-collar workers, and now they're mega-millionaires. That's how you get as a servant of the people? I don't think so.

Sometimes being honest evokes jealousy. And people envy Daniel's position. He held him to account. Verse 4 of Daniel 6, The presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom. But they could find none occasion nor fault, for as much as he was faithful, and neither was there any error or fault found in him. Wow! Could that be said about you? Could it be said about me? Should be.

Why were they looking for ways to trap him? Because they were jealous, and they wanted to steal from the king. They wanted to feather their own death. That's happened too often, people. Often, they try to do well just to be promoted. They put other people down. If I can get rid of Daniel, I can rise up. Rather than include their own ethics and their own abilities, be right with God, they look for reasons to accuse others. Satan's way is to push everybody else down, and you look taller. God's way is to step up on the ladder and bring people with you. Take another step up and bring some more people with you. Daniel saved all of them as a version of the astrologers. The good ones and the bad ones.

He just did what was right. They had spies looking for anything to accuse Daniel of. There was nothing. It should be that way with you, with me. The next verse tells us the only way they could stop Daniel. You're familiar with it, but let's read it in verse 5. Then said these wise men, We will not find any occasion against Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. That's where it should be with us. We've got some difficult times ahead of us. I don't know when the Great Tribulation is going to start, but the world is falling apart rapidly. Some of these stories you're going to need probably to pull yourself through to where we need to be. They couldn't find anything except to trap him with his religious practice. Daniel would never desert God, and they knew that. To give us eternal life, God has to know we're not going to desert him either. Verse 6, The presidents and the princes assembled together to the king, and said to the king, Oh, Darius, live forever! You're so wonderful and great! Flattery, flattery, flattery! Men are often taken in by flattery. They brought a group with them to set this in motion. They had to make it sound good. And the king, presidents, the kingdom, the governors, the princes, the counselors, the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal tribute to you, O king, to make a firm decree that who shall thus ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of you, Darius, they'll be cast in a dental alliance. You're in charge. Now, O king, establish this decree and sign it in writing, so that it cannot be changed according to the laws of the Medes and the Persians, which does not alter. Therefore, the king, Darius, signed the decree.

They knew the king liked Daniel.

They had to make it permanent, something that they couldn't back up, because it wasn't permanent to the king, and said, I changed my mind.

Your boss may not see the intent behind what's being done. You often have no control over the policies and the things that happen in a given situation, but you have to do what's right, and you have to let God take care of the outcome. Like the words of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, live or die, God's still God. We won't serve your gods. It was Daniel's turn now to do the same thing once again. Verse 10, Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he knew the law of the Medes and the Puritans, he knew it 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 to God, as was his custom since the early days.

They knew what he was going to do, and that's why they made the decree. They already had this ready to trap him.

One of the points in my life, before I was Mr. Armstrong's aide, I was steward on the plane and did a lot of set-up and things for him. There were things going wrong in the office. Mr. Armstrong had his heart attack. He was down in Tucson, and others in Pasadena were running things. I saw some things that had happened that were wrong, and I was pretty upset. My wife had worked up there, and she'd quit because of these things, which was good. She told me she had quit the church or quit working, and I said, quit working. So she got a job outside. I got called in by a couple of staff people, and they said, we know you're upset. We know what you know. We know what you're going to say. You're going to tell the truth. We're going to lie. There were six of us in that trip. We're going to say what Mr. Armstrong wants to hear. We'll destroy you, your family, everything you stand for. I heard that for two hours.

I told him I wasn't planning on saying anything, because I had prayed ten days earlier. I said, God, if you want Mr. Armstrong to know something, have him ask these questions. I specifically gave God three or four questions. I told him I wasn't planning on saying anything, because I wasn't. They were still afraid of me. They took me off the airplane. They had me train somebody else. They told me that Mr. Armstrong wanted me to do a law degree in accounting. I'd already done a bunch of accounting. He said, it made sense, because the receivership, the loggers, had no idea what Mr. Armstrong did. Then I stepped down. I taught this other kid, Darrell, was it him? He wasn't in the church, what to do.

But they knew what I would say.

Do people know what you're going to say? They know what the truth? Daniel knew what they would say. It said, these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. They went before the king and spoke concerning the king's decree. Now, king, have you not signed a decree that any man who petitions any God or man within 30 days except you, king, he will be cast into dental irons? Oh, Darius. Oh, yeah, I said that. I signed that. Yeah, you're right. That's it. He didn't know what they had done. The king said, this thing is true according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which does not alter. Verse 13, the answer to the said of the king, That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judea, does not show due regard for you, okay, or for the decree that you have made, but makes this petition three times a day to his God.

What are you going to do about it?

When the king heard these words, he was a sad outcome. Sometimes it's a sad outcome, but the thing is that you're talked into. It says in verse 14, he was greatly displeased with himself. And he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him, and he labored till he was going down to the sun to deliver him. How do I get out of this? I made a mistake. But the law of the Medes and the Persians, that's the law of the Medes and the Persians. Verse 15, they said you can't get past it. No decree or statute which you've established can be changed. They knew he was sad. They knew he wanted to change it, but he couldn't. And so, to keep the law of the Medes and the Persians, the king gave the command. 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. I'm sure he said that hopefully. I'm sure he didn't know.

Daniel wasn't worried. When I was going through that last trip, because I got called by Mr. Armstrong into the... The kid that was on the plane started to serve me and said, who are you? He said, well, I'm Darrell. Where's Aaron? He said, he's not flying. And Mr. Armstrong said, why? He said, I don't know. But Aaron gave me a letter, so he went back and got the letter I wrote to Mr. Armstrong. And all it was was a letter. I just said, I understand you want me to do a law and accounting degree. Classes are easy. I can do classes easy. I've always been good at classes. That's what you need. But I said, I know you got the campaign in the Philippines and Hong Kong and Japan. You'll be on the trip. I'll be praying for you. And everything I pray goes well. If you need something, call me. I'll be there. Really nice. Nothing in there. There's nothing in there. Progatory. Nothing about anything. Mr. Armstrong got mad.

And his wife, his second wife, was on the plane there, and he asked, Daryl, what did you get Mr. Armstrong? She said a letter from Aaron. She got on the flight phone, called the treasurer, the man who was trying to take over the time, and said, Aaron gave Mr. Armstrong a letter, and Mr. Armstrong's mad.

And so the barrage started. Everything they said they would say, they started saying, Mr. Armstrong calls me. The next day I flew, he called me that night. He says, get over here right now. He was mad because, and he didn't tell him to have me go to school. He didn't tell him to take me out of the plane. They didn't tell him. He was mad because someone played with his people. But they thought I told him all the things that they thought I was going to say.

He calls me over, and the first thing he does, he asks me the very questions I prayed. I thought, do I really want to tell him? But I did. It's a long story. I won't tell you all of it, but I got fired seven times. I found the church three times in 31 days. It's got to be a record.

But Mr. Armstrong, on the way back home, he says, I understand. I'll get to the bottom of this. Said, Daniel was put in there. Stone was brought in, verse 17, laid in the mouth of the den. King sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed. Here's the seal. If anybody opens it, let him out. You'll know it. He's going to be in there.

The king goes to his palace. He spent the night fasting. He liked days. And no musicians were brought before him. And his sleep went from him. He couldn't sleep. When things like this happen, you can't sleep. It's difficult. It's hard.

I prayed a lot during that trip. Mr. Armstrong actually kept me in a separate hotel because they didn't want me talking to him. Because they knew what I would say. He'd call me over to read the telexes. And if you ever read telexes to your read, about yourself, things that people lie and say that you didn't do. Mr. Armstrong said, Where there's smoke, there's fire. I said, Mr. Armstrong, lawyers say, Throw enough mud, some little stick. I said, none of this is true. But they knew how to set up things and do things. And they kept me away. And he broke his typewriter so he'd call me in. And he said to me, He says, Here, did anybody see you come over here? I said, I don't think so. He said, I don't think so. He said, I don't think so. I said, I don't think so. He said, Well, sneak out if you can. They're trying to kill me. I said, What do you mean? He said, Last night they kept me up to two in the morning. You're not on the approved list of people I can talk to. And they want to be around my bedside saying, Who's going to be in charge if I die? I told Mr. Armstrong, I said, If it's hurting, you send me home. I never asked to fly anyway. I said, Send me away if it's going to help you. I don't want this to happen to you. I said, The only condition I'm giving is this. I'm not running away. I'm telling you the truth. That's my only condition. He said, No, I want you to stay. I went back to my hotel, snuck out. And we came back. He said he'd get the bottom of it. He did. The king of Rose, verse 19, early in the morning, went to the haste to the den of the lions. And when he came to the den, he cried out, lamenting the voice to Daniel. Did he really? He told him, You're out of the liver, you're right. But he didn't really believe it. He was sad, lamenting. The king spoke to Daniel. He said, Daniel, servant of a living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions? And Daniel said, O king, live forever. My God has set an angel to shut the lions' mouths so that they have not hurt me at all. Because I was found innocent before him. And also, O king, I have done no wrong before you. Innocent before God. Are we innocent before God?

Mr. Armstrong, when he got back from the grip, he just told me, I'll get to the bottom of it. I put the plane away. He had left already, gone back home. I went to my house, got home. Fifty minutes after I was home, the phone rang. Mr. Armstrong said, Aaron, leave town immediately. Your life's been threatened. And I jumped motels for a month.

I didn't expect that when I was a little kid. I didn't expect that within the church, for people who you think are supposed to obey God. But he brought me back eventually. Verse 23, The king was exceeding the land. He liked Daniel. And he commanded that he should take Daniel out of the den. He was taken out of the den, no matter if hurt was on him, because he believed in his God.

And the king commanded, and he brought those men who had accused Daniel and cast them into the den of lions, their children, their wives. And the lions had mastery and broke their bones in pieces before they even hit the bottom of the den. Daniel, it did nothing to him. Daniel didn't do anything to those men either. Daniel never tried to get back at anyone. King David, you know, in his life, he never got back at any of the people.

He didn't try to kill Saul. He didn't try to kill Shimei. He didn't do the things either. He left it in God's hands, because these things you have to leave in God's hands. Often God's people fall into a trap. Oftentimes other people set a trap. God knows, and he knows how, and when, and if to rescue you.

You have to have the faith and keep a good attitude, and then your chances of God helping you are better. But if he doesn't live or die, it makes no difference. King Darius learned a lesson from this, verse 25.

King Darius wrote to all the people, nations, and languages that dwell on the earth, Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom, men tremble in fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and steadfast forever in his kingdom is that which will not be destroyed, his dominion shall be, and to the end he delivers and rescues.

He works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth. Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions? So Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus, the Persian. As a young man, I knew the world would attack me. I was prepared to fight against the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. They tried to make me break the Sabbath, or he didn't claim me, and I was ready for them.

They were people that didn't know the truth. They had a way of life by the ruler of this world. And you expect that from the world, just as I did. But as a little kid, certainly I didn't expect this in the church. The apostles, I think, thought the same thing in their lifetime as well. I think it was why they talked so sadly or so frustrated in some of the Scriptures of those who tried to deceive, like Amnest and Sapphira, those who sought power, like Simon the Sorcerer, or if you're sick Paul, like Demas who forsaken me, and like Diatrophys, whom John, who is with Christ, sent people to him, and he throws them out of the church and won't let them speak.

How can that be? The church had just started for them. They had no church history to look back on. They should have known from the parables that Christ talked about, the wheat and the tares, that it would happen. But all too often, like they and we, we assume everyone is closer to the kingdom than we all are. Can you stand up against society when it wrongs you? Probably.

Can you stand up against those who profess to be in the church if they wrong you? More importantly, can you forgive them? Or do you carry a grudge? I've always used the Bible stories to help me get through the things that I've had to go through. And there are many. They had trouble. They were dealing with carnal people back in the Old Testament. They didn't have the Spirit of God. At age 21, when I was asked to fly, I worked with the people of God, especially with the people I considered to be at the top.

And, well, they must be righteous up there. When I look at the Council of Elders, I have a picture of the Council of Elders in 1982-86 when Mr. Armstrong died. They're all dead, except myself. Because I was 25-30 years younger than all of them. Half of them left the truth. Half of them went to other churches, different places. Only God knows. God's their judge, not us. I didn't really believe there'd be problems like us, little kids. I thought in the church, these are people of God's Spirit.

And it's not going to happen. That was when I really started to use the stories in their complete form to help me survive. I recognized Jude, verse 4, where it said, certain men are crept in unawares, who were before bold, ordained, a combination. Ungodly men turned the grace of our God into license, denying the Lord our Christ.

I'd read that. We have a past and present history that the apostles didn't have. A history of failures, things that were unintentional or deliberate. Not everything done wrong is deliberate. And thankfully God is their judge, not us. I don't seek anything against anyone, just like Daniel and David and others. You try to help people. I hope all these people get in God's kingdom. I pray for them. I don't know. I pray that if they never had God's spirit, they'll be in the second resurrection. If they did, I pray they were path. Because that's what Christ, He died for all of them. We have had splits, and ours has not been so much a problem of doctrine, as it has been over power and money and control.

This happened in United when we've had splits. Mr. Seeley was down there as secretary, he saw it. He's been through a few of these, too. And you learn that you don't get mad, you're hurt, and you pray and ask God to take care of it, and He does in His time and in His life. Christ made it clear that it's not easy to follow God's way in Satan's world. Jesus Christ told them to be trouse, and they finally understood it.

The New Testament tells us that as well. But you can live godly in this world. You can ask God for help. You can be someone who's a light in a very dark world, and you can set that pattern for others in God's church. We all need good examples of character, endurance. We're not here to glorify ourselves, we're here to glorify God. Mr. Armstrong told me a lot of stories and things he did when he was young to help me. I tell these stories to you and to the students to help them realize that it's not going to be a bed of roses.

It's not a health wealth gospel. Yes. Jesus, the head of the earth, said through Peter, in 2 Peter 2, verse 1, or 1 Peter 2, 1, I think it is, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, that they may by your good works, which they shall behold glorify God in the day of visitation.

Every time it happened to Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, Althashazar, Darius, yeah, you're God, really is God. He does it for you. They can understand why you have the ethics you do, why you stand up for truth. You have to do as Daniel did, follow God and do things right. Do the good works. And with that, you can understand that surely goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.