{"id":18395,"date":"2017-04-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-16T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/daniel-020-we-serve-a-risen-savior\/"},"modified":"2017-04-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-16T05:00:00","slug":"daniel-020-we-serve-a-risen-savior","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/daniel-020-we-serve-a-risen-savior\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 020: We Serve a Risen Savior"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[72],"series_event":[467],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18395","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-daniel","series_event-daniel","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Daniel 020: We Serve a Risen Savior","sermon_date":"20170416","sermon_month":"4","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":4556,"sermon_slides":4557,"sermon_mp3":4559,"sermon_id":"41617952228","series_or_event":467,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":72,"chapter_and_verse":"6:18-28","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We Serve A Risen Savior\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel<\/a> 6:18-28 \u00a0\u00a0Lesson 20\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 Happy Resurrection Day to you; the Lord has risen, hallelujah.\u00a0 If we could take our Bibles and open them to the book of Daniel, chapter 6, verse 18, looking together this morning at verses 18-28.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is We Serve a Risen and Living Savior; We Serve a Living and Risen Savior.\u00a0\u00a0 You say Daniel 6 on Resurrection Sunday, did you not get the memo?\u00a0 Well generally I like to cease with the verse by verse teaching on special occasions but this time I really didn\u2019t have to because as you\u2019ll see, moving into Daniel 6, continuing through Daniel 6 there\u2019s a direct tie-in to both the idea that Jesus is risen and living.\n\nThe same power of God that supernaturally protected Daniel in the lion\u2019s den is the same power of God that supernaturally rose Jesus from the grave which is the exact same power of God that\u2019s available to you as I speak, as you go through life\u2019s emergencies and difficulties, Daniel here looking death in the face and yet trusting the power of God in the midst of it.\n\nDaniel, of course, is an interesting book; we\u2019re in that section, chapters 2-7, which is, as we\u2019ve pointed out many times, is organized like a chiasm.\u00a0 Chapter 2 and chapter 7, the parallels are there.\u00a0 The information in chapter 3, as we\u2019re seeing is sort of restated in chapter 6, and the same with chapters 4 and 5.\n\nWe\u2019re in that section where there is a divine rescue operation in place.\u00a0 Just like there was a divine rescue operation helping Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego the other end of that chiastic structure as they were protected by God in the flaming fiery furnace, Daniel is protected by God as an older man at perhaps one of the most vulnerable times in his life.\n\nThe empire that\u2019s in place, as we have talked about, is the empire of Persia; they come to power in Daniel 6.\u00a0 The date of these events, as we have indicated, would be not too long after the hand\u00adwriting on the wall chapter which took place in 539 B.C., meaning that Daniel is a very old infirm frail weak man at this time in his life.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting that God sent him, perhaps into his most severe trial at perhaps what could be described as the most vulnerable or weak time in the life of Daniel.\u00a0 And yet those are the times where God shows up; these are the times where God demonstrates His faithfulness to us.\u00a0\u00a0 When we are weak He is what?\u00a0 Strong.\u00a0 And you might be in that kind of time today in your life as I speak, even in our own congregation there are many people that are going through very difficult times as I speak.\u00a0 And yet those are the times to really watch for the hand of God; God is faithful even when we are faithless.\u00a0 So let\u2019s see this play out in the life of Daniel.\n\nWe have seen the position of Daniel, what got him into this mess.\u00a0 He was prosperous, successful, being promoted; that\u2019s the position of Daniel, to such an extent that there is orchestrated against Daniel a plot.\u00a0 His co-workers, co-laborers there in Persia did not like the idea that Daniel was getting ahead and they weren\u2019t and so they develop a plot against him.\u00a0 They recognize that they can\u2019t bring him down simply because of him doing something wrong; this man was spotless in everything he did.\u00a0 But they realized that to bring him down they had to pass a law, which can\u2019t be revoked, involving Daniel\u2019s God.\u00a0 They knew Daniel was a man of prayer and they developed a plot to put a law into place which cannot be revoked or abolished under Persian law (as we have talked about) that public prayer is illegal.\u00a0 Of course Daniel, what did he do here in part 3?\u00a0 He immediately starts to pray, verses 10-11.\u00a0 [Daniel 6:10-11, \u201cNow when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. [11] Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.\u201d]\n\nAnd once that plot is hatched, the trap is sprung, Daniel looks like he is entrapped here as now the prosecution of Daniel begins and he is found guilty and he is therefore presented, verses 16-17, into the lion\u2019s den.\u00a0 [Daniel 6:16-17, \u201cSo the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions\u2019 den. The king said to Daniel, \u2018May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!\u2019\u00a0 [17] A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles so that nothing would be changed in regard to Daniel.\u201d]\n\nThink about that; a man who is doing nothing but right, nothing but good, a man who had no lifestyle in which an accusation can be raised against him, a man who is serving the Lord finally finds himself at the most difficult time in his life, when he should have been enjoying his s unset years, looking at these ravenous beasts in the lion\u2019s den, being put into that lion\u2019s den, not because of circumstances of his own making but because of his godliness.\u00a0 See those are the trials that are difficult for us; we, many times suffer because we bring it on ourselves.\u00a0 But other times we suffer, not because we have brought it upon ourselves but because we\u2019re doing the right thing.\u00a0 God, we discover, as we suffer for doing the right thing is a tremendous vindicator of His children.\n\nAnd that moves us into where we\u2019re going to focus our time this morning, the supernatural protection of Daniel. Notice, if you will, Daniel 6:18, it says, \u201cThe king\u201d that would be the Persian King Darius, \u201cwent off to his palace and spent the night fasting, and no entertainment was brought before him; and his sleep fled from him.\u201d\u00a0 Everything we know about this man, Darius, this Persian king who had Daniel thrown into the lion\u2019s den, we know that this man, Darius, was a good king.\u00a0 It was never his intention to harm Daniel.\u00a0 In fact, you might remember we made reference to this last week back in verse 14, where Darius when he learned of this charge that had been brought against Daniel applied himself, exerted himself, even to sunset trying to rescue him.\u00a0 [Daniel 6:14, \u201cThen, as soon as the king heard this statement, he was deeply distressed and set his<\/em> mind on delivering Daniel; and even until sunset he kept exerting himself to rescue him.\u201d]\n\nBut now this plot, and Darius has been largely a victim in this plot, he\u2019s being used to pass this law by jealous co-workers of Daniel, Darius realizes that he has been played for the fool and he himself is in anguish and tries to do what he can to see that Daniel would not be harmed in this lion\u2019s den or even thrown into the lion\u2019s den, but finally the situation is out of control.\u00a0 Darius can\u2019t help Daniel; Daniel\u2019s friends can\u2019t help Daniel.\u00a0 The only thing he\u2019s left to rely upon is who?\u00a0 God!\u00a0 And this is when God begins to show up in our lives.\n\nGod, as I\u2019ve said before, intentionally (I believe) places us in circumstances or situations where from the human point of view there\u2019s no way out.\u00a0 We\u2019ve tried this path and it hasn\u2019t worked; that path and it hasn\u2019t worked, this strategy and it hasn\u2019t worked, we\u2019re in this ditch, we\u2019re in this hole, and we have no one to rely upon but God, and God says to us this a scenario of My own making because unless I had put you in this circumstance you would not have the opportunity to see my awesome hand.\n\nAnd notice that as day breaks the king begins to make an inquiry in verses 19-20.\u00a0 It says, \u201cThen the king arose at dawn,\u201d sort of like the women that went to the tomb seeking to find out what happened to Jesus.\u00a0 Is this Jesus alive like He said or is He dead?\u00a0 Is He still in the tomb?\u00a0 Most of them going to the tomb never anticipated what they saw\u2014the empty tomb.\u00a0 Darius is sort of the same here, making an inquiry at dawn, expecting Daniel to have been devoured that night by these ravenous lions.\n\nVerse 19 says, \u201cThen the king arose at dawn, at the break of day, and went in haste to the lions\u2019 den. [20] When he had come near the den to Daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice.\u201d\u00a0 See Darius himself is doubting, \u201ca troubled voice\u201d a shaky voice, \u201c The king spoke and said to Daniel, \u2018Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to deliver you from the lions\u2019?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 It is interesting that when you study this statement here in verse 20, Darius makes reference to the fact that Daniel was perpetually serving God, continually serving God.\u00a0 This was part of his habit, this was part of his lifestyle.\u00a0 This was something that even the unsaved king could recognize as part of Daniel\u2019s character.\n\nAnd we have to ask ourselves why was Daniel constantly serving God?\u00a0 The answer is also in verse 20.\u00a0 The \u201cGod, whom you constantly\u201d backing up a little bit, is \u201cthe living God,\u201d He is not the God of yesterday, He is not just the God of tomorrow, He is the God that is in perpetual existence.\u00a0 He is the God that Daniel was in perpetual relationship with and because this God was alive, because this God was living, because this God never took a vacation, or went away, Daniel had a lifestyle where he was perpetually serving God.\n\nSee a lot of people, you look at their lifestyle you would think that God is dead.\u00a0 For example, we have in many churches today what we would call \u201cChreasters,\u201d they call them Chreasters because they show up on Christmas and they show up on Easter, and then you start to wonder, well is God not alive during those two holidays?\u00a0 I mean He was alive, you recognize at His birth, Christmas, and He was alive, you recognize at His resurrection, Easter, so people show up at church on two occasions.\u00a0 But what about the living God that\u2019s always active in between those two days?\u00a0 Does God ever cease to exist?\n\nSo a lot of people, when you look at their habits you would think that God is dead except for two times a year.\u00a0 But not so Daniel, you look at his life, you look at his perpetual service to God, relationship to God, this was a man who believed that God is not the God just of yesterday, not just the God of tomorrow but the right now God.\u00a0 Let me ask\u00a0 you a question; when people look at your life as a Christian to they see a living God or a God that just did something in the past and will do something in the future.\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing the theology that his man, Darius, was learning simply by studying the life of Daniel.\n\nThe second thing is a trite one but it\u2019s a true one: you may be the only Bible someone ever reads.\u00a0\u00a0 A lot of people would never read a Bible, they would never darken the door of a church and yet they can see the life of God through looking at your life as one of His children.\u00a0 Do they see in you the living God?\u00a0 This is what King Darius saw in Daniel.\n\nWhen we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Resurrection Sunday morning we are acknowledging that Jesus is not just someone who died on a cross 2,000 years ago.\u00a0 He\u2019s not someone that just was buried but He is someone that rose from the dead.\u00a0 He is the living God!\u00a0 And as the living God He is living right now, as I speak.\u00a0 Revelation 9:20 contrasts the true God with the god of idols.\u00a0 What makes God different than the false gods?\u00a0 The false gods can neither see nor hear nor walk.\u00a0 [Revelation 9:20, \u201cThe rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;\u201d]\u00a0 And yet Jesus Christ, because of His resurrection from the dead and His seat (as I speak) at the right hand of the Father is the God who hears, He is the God who listens, He is the God who is active.\u00a0 And if we understand that people see that differently in our lives as we perpetually serve Him, pray to Him, surrender to Him.\n\nI\u2019m reminded of what the angels said to the women that came to the tomb that Sunday morning thinking to find a dead Christ.\u00a0 Luke 24:5 says, \u201cthe women were terrified\u201d at these angels, \u201cand bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, \u2018Why do you seek the living One among the dead?\u2019\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a rebuke,\u00a0 you\u2019re seeking Him who is alive amongst the dead.\u00a0 And consequently we are to live our lives every single day not as if God is dead but as if He is alive.\n\nSo the king here makes an inquiry in verse 19 and 20.\u00a0 I went and saw the movie by Mel Gibson that came out years ago; did you all have a chance to see that?\u00a0 An interesting movie, the title of it is The Passion of the Christ, on social media and on the internet there were a lot of things said about the movie that were good and lots of criticism and I could go into great detail about the things I liked and the things I didn\u2019t like, but there is one thing about that movie that disturbed me.\u00a0 What disturbed me is the attention that the movie gave in terms of time to the physical ordeal of Jesus Christ; His crucifixion, Him being beaten beyond recognition by the Roman soldiers and there was so much energy and effort spent on the physical ordeal that Jesus Christ went through on our behalf and it\u2019s almost like the resurrection itself, in that movie, was sort of an afterthought.\u00a0 It was just something brought up very casually at the end\u2026 oh by the way, Jesus rose from the dead kind of thing; kind of a footnote to the whole ordeal of Christ.\n\nAnd I\u2019m not in the movie critic business, I\u2019m just sharing with you something personally that sort of bothered my about the whole thing, although we could talk about many good things in that movie.\u00a0 But it gave the impression that the whole work of Jesus Christ related to what He did for us on the cross.\u00a0 May I just say to you that is not the biblical focus at all; I\u2019m not here to minimize the cross, I\u2019m not here to mitigate the cross.\u00a0 Obviously when Jesus died on that cross 2,000 years ago He stood between us and the wrath of a Holy God.\u00a0 It was VERY significant what He did.\u00a0 But we are not here simply serving a dead Savior who was buried; we are here serving a Savior that bodily rose from the dead. That\u2019s the focus. And because He bodily rose from the dead He was exactly who He claimed to be and consequently we today look at this man, Jesus Christ not as some museum relic, some act of history, but as the living God.\n\nIn fact, in the book of Hebrews, chapter 7 and verse 25 this is what it says of Jesus in His position right now.\u00a0 It says, \u201cTherefore He is able also to save forever <\/u>those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice the word \u201cforever.\u201d\u00a0 He is the \u201cforever God.\u201d\u00a0 Notice this expression, He \u201clives to make intercession.\u201d\u00a0 If someone says I live for the weekend it means their whole life revolves around the weekend.\u00a0 I live for skiing\u2014my whole life revolves around skiing.\u00a0 Do you live to eat or eat to live?\u00a0 The answer that question depends on the right understanding of food and why God gave food.\n\nBut you\u2019ll notice what Jesus lives for; Jesus lives to perpetually make intercession for us.\u00a0 That\u2019s why He exists; that\u2019s what His motivation is.\u00a0 That is the sum total of His life.\u00a0 \u201cLives\u201d there, the way it\u2019s described is in the present tense, it\u2019s something that\u2019s ongoing, we are not here serving a deceased savior, a dead savior, just a crucified savior, a buried savior but a Living Savior who conquered the grave through His resurrection and today stands in perpetual relationship with us as a living God.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Daniel\u2019s life emulated here.\n\nAnd that\u2019s really what the king is trying to figure out: Daniel, you went into the lion\u2019s den, is\u00a0 your God alive or not?\u00a0 And that\u2019s the great question of resurrection Sunday morning.\u00a0 Yes, Jesus was crucified, He said He\u2019d rise from the dead; is He alive or is He not alive?\u00a0 The women at the tomb that day (and others) King Darius, sort of had a suspicion that maybe this God died, maybe this God is not alive but as we see in the resurrection story and as we see with the miracle of God that\u2019s about to happen here in Daniel 6 is that God is the God of the living; He is alive, He is active, He changes not, He is forevermore.\n\nThere never was a time in which Jesus did not exist and consequently there never will be a time in history when He doesn\u2019t exist.\u00a0 There\u2019s a never a time in history where you pray to Him and He\u2019s not there.\u00a0 Sometimes we think He\u2019s\u2019 not there because He doesn\u2019t answer our prayer requests the way we as mere humans think He should but that doesn\u2019t change the fact that He\u2019s not there.\u00a0 He answers prayers that are in accordance with His will.\n\nNotice if you will verses 21-22 as Daniel responds to this inquiry, is your God alive or not?\u00a0 Verse 21, \u201cThen Daniel spoke to the king, \u2018O king, live forever!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Notice the respect that Daniel continues to have towards Darius even though Darius was the instrument (ultimately, although against his will) Darius was the instrument that threw Daniel into the lion\u2019s den.\u00a0 Verse 22, \u201cMy God,\u201d notice the personal relationship that Daniel has with this living God, He\u2019s not just an idol, He\u2019s not just a relic, He\u2019s\u2019 not just a historical footnote, He is \u201cMy God.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cMy God sent His angel and shut the lions\u2019 mouths and they have not harmed me, inasmuch as I was found innocent before Him; and also toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.\u201d\n\nI know, Daniel says, that when I was put into this circumstance and charged against my will that God would have to somehow, some way vindicate me.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know how things were going to turn out but I trusted my circumstances to Him and this God who is living, this God whom I perpetually serve, He has come through.\n\nYou know the same thing, going to the opposite end of the chiasm, remember chapter 6 lines up with chapter 3, the exact same thing happened to Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.\u00a0 You might remember Daniel 3:25.\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar had thrown these three youths into this fiery furnace, and then Nehemiah said \u201c\u2018Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Daniel 3:28 says, \u201c\u2026Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, \u2018Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him\u2026.\u201d\n\nWas it an angel that bailed out Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego sent by God?\u00a0 Was it Jesus Christ Himself?\u00a0 I honestly say I don\u2019t know the answer; I don\u2019t know if it really matters to me.\u00a0 What matters is God is alive and He chose to help these three Hebrew youths out through His method, His way of doing things and consequently their lives were spared.\u00a0 It was a complete and total miracle.\n\nOver in Daniel 3:27 it says this, \u201cThe satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king's high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.\u201d\u00a0 What happened in Daniel 3 was a complete and total divine rescue operation.\u00a0 That is exactly what we\u2019re seeing here in verse 23.\n\nNotice, if you will, Daniel 6:23, \u201cThen the king was very pleased and gave orders for Daniel to be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den\u201d look at this, just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, think of an older man being thrown into this circumstance by circumstances that he himself didn\u2019t create other than being godly, \u201cso Daniel was taken u out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him, [because he had trusted in his God].\u201d\u00a0 What is Daniel 3?\u00a0 It is a complete and total divine rescue operation.\u00a0 What is Daniel 6? It is a complete and total divine rescue operation.\n\nDaniel probably up to this time Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego up to the time they were thrown into the furnace probably knew something about the faithfulness of God.\u00a0 They could pass a Sunday School test about the faithfulness of God.\u00a0 The faithfulness of God was something they grasped intellectually but when you actually go into the fire yourself experientially, when you actually go into the lion\u2019s den yourself experientially, and God is faithful, and God helps you out and God gives you grace in the midst of that difficulty, let me tell you something, it\u2019s no longer an exercise in intellect. It\u2019s no longer a theology lesson; this becomes relational.\u00a0 This becomes personal, this becomes incarnational.\u00a0 This is the kind of depth that God is seeking to build in the lives of His children as they watch His faithful hand over and over again.\u00a0 And yet how can God demonstrate His faithfulness to us unless we are placed by divine providence in a circumstance where we nothing to trust in but Him.\u00a0 That\u2019s a different way of looking at your current circumstances, health problems, family problems, relational problems, whatever they may be.\n\nYou don\u2019t know what God is going to do in that; you don\u2019t know what grace He\u2019s going to give you to go through that.\u00a0 You don\u2019t know when and under what circumstance the rescue will occur; you don\u2019t even know if the rescue will occur.\u00a0 But I can guarantee you this much\u2026 I can\u2019t guarantee you the results but I can guarantee you this much, you will sense the faithfulness of God through it as you become open to Him.\u00a0 You\u2019ll sense His leading, you\u2019ll sense His promptings, you will sense what the Apostle Paul spoke of when he wrote about this and recorded the words about his thorn in the flesh, pleading three times for God to take away the thorn in the flesh.\u00a0 You remember God\u2019s answer, recorded by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9, \u201cMy grace is\u201d what? \u201csufficient for you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [2 Corinthians 12:8-9, \u201cConcerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. [9] And He has said to me, \u2018My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.\u2019 Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.\u201d]\n\nThat\u2019s what you start to sense in the valleys, in the lion\u2019s den, in the fiery furnace.\u00a0 It\u2019s not something that\u2019s merely a theological, intellectual exercise anymore; at this point it becomes incarnational; it becomes personal.\u00a0 So in these two cases God performed an extraordinary rescue operation.\u00a0 Don\u2019t let the rest of verse 27 escape you, \u201cbecause he\u201d what\u2019s Daniel, \u201chad\u201d what? \u201ctrusted,\u201d did somebody say believe in their version\u2026 \u201ctrusted\u201d or \u201cbelieved in his God.\u201d\n\nIt\u2019s hard for me to stress enough that word \u201ctrusted\u201d there at the end of verse 27.\u00a0 God put Daniel in a circumstance where he had to exercise faith and trust.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if you caught the verse I read earlier concerning Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, in Daniel 3:28, the opposite end of the chiasm we have the same idea, \u201cNebuchadnezzar responded and said, \"Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust\u201d there\u2019s the word again, \u201cin Him, [violating the king\u2019s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God.]\u201d\n\nLet me tell you something about faith; faith is a lot like a muscle in your body and we know what happens to muscles in the body when they\u2019re not used; if you don\u2019t use it you what?\u00a0 You lose it, it becomes flabby, it loses strength.\u00a0 Muscles on the body gain strength the more they are used.\u00a0 Faith is the exact same way.\u00a0 I don\u2019t naturally trust God; my natural inclination is try to solve my own problems and God says I have a remedy for that, I\u2019ll put you in a circumstance you can\u2019t resolve, that way you (in a certain sense) are forced to trust in Me, and as you are being forced to trust in Me what is happening to that faith muscle that I so value?\u00a0 You know the Bible says \u201cwithout faith it is\u201d what? \u201cimpossible to please God.\u201d\u00a0 [Hebrews 11:6]\u00a0 In other words, faith is a big deal to God.\u00a0 And as we\u2019re in these circumstances that we can\u2019t figure our way out of, buy our way out of, talk our way out of, what is being strengthened is that faith muscle which his so critical to the walk with God.\n\nIn fact, that word \u201ctrust\u201d is the difference between heaven and hell.\u00a0 Do we realize that?\u00a0 What does trust mean?\u00a0 It means to believe; believe means to be persuaded of, to have confidence in, yielding trust and reliance, it\u2019s used 99 times in John\u2019s evangelistic treatise called The Gospel of John, to the unsaved.\u00a0 If a person never trusts in the promises of Jesus Christ they are not a Christian.\u00a0 Jesus, in John 11:25-27 relative to His own resurrection that was imminent, said this: \u201cJesus said to her, \u201cI am the resurrection and the life; he who believes\u201d or trusts \u201cin Me will live even if he dies, [26] and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?\u2019\u00a0 [27] She said to Him, \u2018Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even<\/em> He who comes into the world.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 Jesus here is speaking to Martha, He talks about His resurrection, He doesn\u2019t just say okay, end of theology lesson, class dismissed.\u00a0 He specifically uses His resurrection as an invitation to get her to believe (or trust) in Him.\n\nI\u2019ve used this illustration many, many times, but there is a wide difference between intellectually understanding things about Jesus Christ and actually trusting Him.\u00a0 I know atheists who can rattle off all kinds of data and information about Jesus Christ, but they are on their way to hell, just like any other person who has never put their personal trust in Jesus Christ.\u00a0 The example I\u2019ve used many times is Charles Blondin, who was known for his ability to walk across a tightrope suspended over Niagara Falls, pushing a wheelbarrow.\u00a0 Now if this artistry is correct he was actually blindfolded when he did it.\u00a0 (Now it\u2019s got to be true, I found this on the internet\u2026 right?)\n\nSo think about this, here\u2019s this man walking back and forth across this tightrope, pushing this wheelbarrow, blindfolded, suspended over Niagara Falls.\u00a0 And as the legend and story develops crowds would gather to watch him do this because it was a spectacular feat to watch.\u00a0 And one day he yells out to the crowd, do you believe that I can do this again?\u00a0 To which they all said yes.\u00a0 Then he says which one of you wants to get into the wheel barrow?\u00a0 That\u2019s different, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 The moment you\u2019re in the wheel barrow it\u2019s no longer just a matter of rattling off data about Charles Blondin, you are actually trusting him with your life.\n\nThat\u2019s what Jesus seeks from us; that\u2019s what He was saying to Martha. If that condition of trust or belief is not exercised in Christ, if a person is not trusting in the promises of Jesus Christ, if a person is not trusting in Christ and Christ alone for their eternity and the safekeeping of their could, quite frankly they are not a Christian at all.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I say the difference between heaven and hell itself is this word \u201ctrust.\u201d\u00a0 It matters very little what you know about Christ if that knowledge has not given way to an actual condition of the heart, which is trust.\n\nAnd after a person trusts in Christ you would think God would just leave them alone, okay, they\u2019re going to heaven, that\u2019s enough.\u00a0 But as I\u2019ve said before, faith is like a muscle which must be developed.\u00a0 The muscle was initially exercised when you trusted in the promises of Christ for salvation; now God says on your path to growth I\u2019m going to keep putting you into this circumstance where you have to trust Me and that circumstance where you have to trust Me and this circumstance over here where you have to trust Me.\u00a0 And you go through enough of these life experiences and at the end of the day you know what\u2019s developed?\u00a0 That muscle which is so precious to God because \u201cwithout faith it is impossible to please Him.\n\nChristian begins with faith; Christianity defines faith and God keeps on us throughout this life developing trust because trust may not be a big deal to the religions of this world; it may not be a big deal to the denominations of this world.\u00a0 But when you\u2019re talking about the mind of God faith or trust is HUGE!\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, it defines one\u2019s relationship with God; in fact, it defines one\u2019s growth in God and the more time a Christian spends, not relying upon themselves but trusting God with their circumstances, that is the degree of their growth.\u00a0 Without faith you can\u2019t grow, just like without faith you can\u2019t get saved in the first place.\n\nAnd so in Daniel 3 we see this word \u201ctrust.\u201d\u00a0 In Daniel 6 we see this word \u201ctrust.\u201d\u00a0 In John 11, as Jesus is talking about the resurrection He includes this word \u201cbelieve\u201d which also means \u201ctrust,\u201d\u00a0 the supernatural protection of God in the midst of the walk of faith.\n\nWe move now to the final part of the chapter, the product of Daniel\u2019s ordeal.\u00a0 What happened as a result of these things?\u00a0 What happened because an old infirmed man was thrown into the lion\u2019s den and trusted God?\u00a0 Look at how God worked; look at how God brought light to people because of an ordeal.\u00a0 You see, when we go through an ordeal we like to think of ourselves and the momentary pain that we are experiencing.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying that those aren\u2019t legitimate emotions and concerns but the fact of the matter is you\u2019re in a valley and God has a whole program in mind that we\u2019re not even aware of.\u00a0 He\u2019s using your circumstance, whatever it is, to touch other people.\u00a0 There is what I like to say, an evangelistic purpose behind trials.\u00a0 Would Nebuchadnezzar have ever come to faith in Christ had he not watched the life of God demonstrated through Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, and also Daniel?\u00a0 I doubt it.\n\nWould Darius, this pagan king, a good king that wanted to do right, a king that I believe just like Nebuchadnezzar we will see one day in heaven, would Darius himself have ever come to faith in Christ for God or Yahweh had he not seen God tangibly demonstrated\u00a0\u00a0 through a very weakened and infirmed Daniel.\u00a0 I doubt Darius would have come to saving faith.\n\nLet me tell you something; there are people in your life that may never get saved unless God uses your circumstances in a particular way.\u00a0 That\u2019s a different way of looking at trials, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Maybe the trial is not all about us.\u00a0 Oh, it is about us in terms of developing faith but maybe there\u2019s others that God is going to reach through this trial.\n\nWhat was the end result of this?\u00a0 Well the first thing that happened is immediate judgment on Daniel\u2019s enemies.\u00a0 These men that felt that they had weaved the ultimate trap, the ultimate snare, these men that were wicked and evil and diabolical, these men that framed an innocent man, these men that thought they were getting away with something\u2026 they weren\u2019t getting away with anything!\u00a0 Look if you will at verse 24, \u201cThe king then gave orders, and they brought those men who had maliciously accused Daniel, and they cast them, their children and their wives into the lions\u2019 den; and they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.\u201d\n\nAmazing!\u00a0 This group of lions had left Daniel alone for a whole night are unleashed by God and instantaneously the enemies of Daniel, the enemies of God, are immediately dissolved, destroyed, brought to nothing.\u00a0 Genesis 12:3 of the nation of Israel says this, \u201cI will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.\u201d\u00a0 How literal is that exactly?\u00a0\u00a0 Exodus 11, the Egyptians, their firstborn was killed all over Egypt.\u00a0 Do you know why?\u00a0 Because they were tampering with God\u2019s firstborn, the nation of Israel.\u00a0 Israel is called God\u2019s firstborn in Exodus 4:22.\u00a0 [Exodus 4:22, \u201cThen you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, \u2018Israel is My son, My firstborn.\u2019\u201d]\n\nThe Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea.\u00a0 Why were they drowned in the Red Sea?\u00a0 Why weren\u2019t they just struck with a lightning bolt?\u00a0 Because they were drowning God\u2019s people in the Nile, Exodus 1:22.\u00a0 [Exodus 1:22, \u201cThen Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, \u2018Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.\u201d\u2019]\u00a0 Haman, a story that occurs in the book of Esther, about 60 years later, also in the Persian time period from Daniel, Esther 7:10 says, \u201cSo they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai,\u201d the very gallows that he had prepared for another man\u2019s destruction he himself was hanged on and these men that through self and sneakiness had Daniel thrown into the lion\u2019s den were themselves thrown into the exact lion\u2019s den, this time with great harm to them even though there was no harm to Daniel.\n\n\u201cI will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse.\u201d\u00a0 I think the Bible is saying that\u2019s pretty literal.\u00a0 You\u2019d better watch carefully how you treat God\u2019s people; specifically you\u2019d better watch carefully how you treat the nation of Israel because that\u2019s the one to whom this covenant promise was given.\u00a0 And\u00a0 yet what do we find in the last days?\u00a0 The nations turning against Israel, all the nations.\u00a0 So they will receive the very recompense, Zechariah 14 says, the very same recompense that they designed for Israel.\u00a0 The Bible is a vindication of this promise.\n\nRomans 12:9 says, \u201cNever take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, \u2018VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY\u2019, says the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 You find Daniel here not defending himself, organizing a petition, organizing a protest, demanding his own rights.\u00a0 You find him humbly submitting to the Creator\u2019s will for his life in this circumstance.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting that when\u00a0 you trust your circumstances to God, God has a way of handling your adversaries.\n\nI learned a long time ago that if I will not take vengeance or grievances for abuses brought against me God has a very interesting way of handling people.\u00a0 Sometimes He gives them grace and they get saved; other times He brings their lives into tremendous disarray and judgment and difficulty.\u00a0 Sometimes, as God is my witness, I can say this: He takes people\u2019s lives to vindicate His own children.\u00a0 I have been hurt and wounded in churches just like you have.\n\nI\u2019ve been hurt and wounded and maligned and pushed out of churches for doing nothing other than the will of God.\u00a0 And as my wife and I have sort of looked in the rear view mirror, over the course of our journey we have seen what God has done to these very churches that have mistreated us.\u00a0 Many times the church dissolved into nothing.\u00a0 And I\u2019m not here saying don\u2019t mess with the pastor, God\u2019s going to get him, that\u2019s not the point.\u00a0 The point is this is something I\u2019ve walked out and seen God do.\u00a0 And I wonder many times how that would have played out differently if I had sought to vindicate myself, validate myself, protect myself.\u00a0 God says okay, you validate yourself, you protect yourself, and I\u2019m not in the business of protecting you, you go about it the best you know how.\n\nBut see, the Bible says we are to entrust our circumstances to God.\u00a0 \u201cNever take your own revenge beloved,\u201d see it says \u201cbeloved,\u201d this was written to the Christians, \u201cbut leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, \u2018VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY\u2019, says the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 This is what Daniel is experiencing here, at a time in his life where his only vindicator was God.\u00a0 But look at what God did?\u00a0 Look at what God did to protect him?\u00a0 Look at what God did to vindicate him?\n\nNow I know what you\u2019re thinking, verse 24 bothers\u00a0 you because it bothers me a little bit, because it says, \u201ccast their children and their wives into the lion\u2019s den,\u201d\u00a0 [Daniel 6:24, \u201cThe king then gave orders, and they brought those men who had maliciously accused Daniel, and they cast them, their children and their wives into the lions\u2019 den; and they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.\u201d]\u00a0 You say that seems very, very harsh; I mean you tell me that even the kids, children, were thrown into the lion\u2019s den along with their parents, the wives were thrown into the lion\u2019s den.\u00a0 What did the children do wrong?\u00a0 What did the wives do wrong?\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t God love everybody?\n\nThe fact of the matter is God does love everybody, 3 Peter 3:9 says this: \u201cThe Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.\u201d\u00a0 Of course God loves everybody.\u00a0 But here is the bottom line: children are not innocent.\u00a0 If you think that children are innocent you do not have a biblical anthropology or doctrine of man.\u00a0 Genesis 8:21 says, \u201cfor the intent of man's heart is evil from\u201d where, \u201cfrom his youth.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Children are born into this world, just like you were born into this world, with a nature that is at war with its own Creator.\u00a0 I believe this, that within every child is a lurking mass murderer.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen the tantrums children can throw and I say to myself, you know, if that kid was as strong as me and had some weapons I think we\u2019d all be dead at this point.\n\nAnd consequently it is the function of parents to reign in the sin nature.\u00a0 That\u2019s not even the youth pastor\u2019s job; that is parental responsibility given to parents over children.\u00a0 This is why the book of Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 6-7 says, \u201cThese words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. [7] You shall teach them diligently to your sons\u201d there\u2019s not even a youth program mentioned here, \u201cand shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.\u201d\u00a0 Why is it that when Acts 16:30-31 the Philippian jailor says \u201cwhat must I do to be saved?\u201d\u00a0 Paul and Silas says, [31] \u201cBelieve in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.\u201d\u00a0 What do we do with that last part, the \u201chousehold\u201d part?\u00a0 Why is it even in there?\u00a0 It\u2019s talking about parental authority.\u00a0 It\u2019s talking about the direction a family will logically move in if the head of the family, the man, is a follower of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 His influence in the home, fulfilling his God-ordained responsibilities is going to set the course and the destiny of those children.\n\nWhat kind of parents do we have here displayed in Persia?\u00a0 Manipulators, liars, murderers, unchecked and unhinged; do you know what those kids would have become?\u00a0 Manipulators, liars, murderers because as the saying goes, \u201cthe apple does not fall far from the tree.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 You think the wives are innocent?\u00a0 Show me the woman behind the man and I\u2019ll show you the man.\u00a0 Wives have far more influence over their husbands, for good or bad, than they could possibly fathom.\u00a0 And this is why God saw, I believe, this whole picture, these people were gone.\u00a0 I mean, there was no opportunity for a change of life, they were just as guilty as their husbands, they were just as guilty as their parents and so the whole crowd there is thrown into the lion\u2019s den, because the apple does not fall far from the tree.\n\nAnd then what does Darius do?\u00a0 Now this is not Charles Ryrie talking, this is not Charles Ryrie writing a systematic theology; this is a pagan who\u2019s seen all of this.\u00a0 And look at the theology that comes forth from him, verses 25-27, \u201cThen Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations and men of every<\/em> language who were living in all the land: \u201cMay your peace abound!\u00a0 [26] I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel; For He is the living God and enduring forever, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, and His dominion will be<\/em> forever.\u00a0 [27] He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has also<\/em> delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.\u201d\n\nLook at the theology that comes out here.\u00a0 I have eight attributes of God; you probably see more.\u00a0 Number 1, God is a God of holiness because Darius says people ought to tremble before the God of Daniel.\u00a0 He is a God that deserves reverence and respect because of who He is, a holy God.\u00a0 Do you know what the Seraphim, Isaiah 6, say day and night as they surround God\u2019s throne.\u00a0 They don\u2019t say love, love, love is the Lord God Almighty.\u00a0 I\u2019m not denying that God is love.\u00a0 They don\u2019t say grace, grace, grace is the Lord God Almighty.\u00a0 I\u2019m not denying God is a God of grace.\u00a0 They call attention to His dominant attribute which is holiness.\u00a0 It reminds me very much of Exodus 3:5, \u201ctake off your sandals, you\u2019re standing on\u201d what? \u201choly ground.\u201d\u00a0 [Exodus 3:5, \u201cThen He said, \u2018Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.\u2019\u201d]\n\nHave we lost sight of the holiness of God?\u00a0 Have we gotten so comfortable with His grace that we forgot that He is the standard of righteousness, that we as sinners can\u2019t meet other than through the shed blood of His Son.\u00a0 Do we have respect and do we revere God?\u00a0 Do we see Him like the Seraphim see Him, calling attention to His holiness.\u00a0 Not only is He holy, He is a personal God because He\u2019s called the God of Daniel, just like Exodus 3:6 refers to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.\u00a0 [Exodus 3:6, \u201cHe said also, \u2018I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.\" Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.\u201d]\n\nHe\u2019s the God that wants to walk with Daniel; He is the God that wants to walk with you.\u00a0 He\u2019s a God that wants to know you personally.\u00a0 Did you see the expression there, also in verse 26 that He is the living God, which is what we commemorate on resurrection Sunday morning, that He is alive.\u00a0 [Daniel 6:26b, \u201cFor He is the living God and enduring forever, And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, And His dominion will be forever.\u201d]\u00a0 Did you also catch the expression \u201ceternal,\u201d He is \u201cthe eternal God, enduring forever.\u00a0 A million years from now He will be here, a billion years from now He will be here, a trillion years from now He will be here.\u00a0 He has always been and He will always be.\u00a0 He is the uncaused cause.\n\nDid you also see that He is going to usher in one day an eternal kingdom, I don\u2019t even have that one on my list there.\u00a0 His kingdom\u2026 by the way, which his coming, and by the way, we\u2019re not in it yet in case you haven\u2019t read the newspaper lately, His kingdom which is coming which will be established on planet earth will last forever.\u00a0 You say I thought it lasted a thousand years.\u00a0 It does, but then read the next chapter, the thousand years give way to the eternal state, we call it the eternal state because the state is what?\u00a0 eternal.\u00a0 This is the God we\u2019re talking about here.\u00a0 He is the God of personal intervention.\n\nIf you look at verse 27 it says, \u201cHe delivers and rescues.\u00a0 [Daniel 6:27, \u201cHe delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.\u201d]\u00a0 Daniel just experienced that.\u00a0 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego just experienced that.\u00a0 You know what?\u00a0 God wants you to experience it; that\u2019s why He\u2019s orchestrating things in your life the way He is, so that you can see His hand.\n\nThis next one, is this fit quite well in a Bible church, He is the God of signs and wonders; He is the God of miracles.\u00a0 You say well, pastor,\u00a0 you don\u2019t believe in miracles do you?\u00a0 Why in the world would I ever pray for people if I didn\u2019t believe in miracles.\u00a0 Why would I pray for people to get well?\u00a0 Why would I pray for people to get saved if I wasn\u2019t asking for God to intervene and move His hand in history to do something which can\u2019t be accomplished any other way.\u00a0 He is also the God that has power over creation itself because that whole night Daniel was in the lion\u2019s den their mouth was shut; Daniel\u2019s out of the lion\u2019s den, his enemies are thrown into the lion\u2019s den, their mouths are opened.\u00a0 Who caused that?\u00a0 God did.\n\nYou wonder how Daniel could have had such courage in this time.\u00a0 You know how he did it?\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t thinking about the lions; he was thinking about the God who made the lions.\u00a0 Can I ask you a question?\u00a0 As you\u2019re looking at your problem or your struggle, whatever it is, are you looking at the problem or are you looking at the God who created the problem, is sovereign over the problem, controls the problem?\u00a0 You take Job, remember the story of Job, the great beast that he saw, the behemoth and the leviathan, at one point in that story God asked Job are you afraid of these beasts?\u00a0\u00a0 And then God asked who made the beasts?\u00a0 Who made the leviathan?\u00a0 Who made the behemoth?\n\nAnd you see, many times we are so wrapped up in our own circumstances we do not see the transcendent hand of God that reigns over our circumstances.\u00a0 And in fact, in many cases, I am convinced, defined our circumstances, designed our circumstances.\u00a0 We become, many times, as the spies became in Numbers 13 and 14, \u201cgrasshoppers in our own eyes.\u201d\u00a0 [Numbers 13:33, \u201cThere also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.\u201d]\n\nWhy do we become grasshoppers in our own eyes?\u00a0 Because we look at the problem relative to us instead of looking at the problem relative to who?\u00a0 To God.\u00a0 Daniel was able to face the lion\u2019s den because he saw God and His power over creation.\n\nSo the evangelistic purpose behind trials, God speaking to Darius through Daniel\u2019s trials, just like God spoke to Nebuchadnezzar through the trial of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.\u00a0 And think of the courage this would give to the exiles in Babylon who are forced out of their land, being trampled down by various Gentile powers and yet if God can save Daniel can\u2019t He saved the nation?\u00a0 God is sovereign over the nations that are trampling down the Jews at this time, as evidenced by what just happened here in Daniel 6.\n\nAnd finally we conclude with verse 29 of Daniel 6, which brings the chapter to an end.\u00a0 \u201cSo this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s very similar to what is said about Daniel in Daniel 1:21, \u201cAnd Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.\u201d\u00a0 What has just happened here?\u00a0 The length of Daniel\u2019s service.\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar was in power, then he was replaced by Cyrus.\u00a0 Daniel served under the Persian Empire for about 69 years.\u00a0 What does the whole thing mean?\u00a0 Daniel served through two Gentile empires and four successive Gentile administrations.\u00a0 He served under Babylon; he served under Persia.\u00a0 He served under Nebuchadnezzar, he served under Belshazzar, he served under Cyrus, and first he served under Darius.\u00a0 And you know what Daniel discovered in every circumstance he was in?\u00a0 That God never changed.\u00a0 The empires changed.\u00a0 The kings came and went but God never changed.\n\nAnd that\u2019s your life, circumstance A last year may be different from circumstance B this year.\u00a0 The job may be different, employment may be different, where you live may be different, relationships may be different, but do you know what you\u2019re going to discover as you walk with God?\u00a0 God is NOT different!\u00a0 He is exactly the same in circumstance after circumstance.\u00a0 Trust Me, He says, watch my hand, watch the circumstances I place you in to develop and to build that trust and faith muscle and walk with Me in the midst of the difficulties and the emergencies and the exigencies of life.\n\nSpeaking of that faith muscle some of you that may be here today have never exercised it ever; you\u2019re here that\u2019s what creastors do, they show up on Christmas and Easter, that\u2019s what they do in Texas, other than watch football.\u00a0 So I\u2019m just doing the ritual thing; I\u2019m doing the religious thing. I\u2019m doing the cultural thing, when in reality doing the cultural thing doesn\u2019t save anybody.\n\nHell itself is filled with people who did the religious cultural thing.\u00a0 The escape from the judgment that rightfully is on our shoulders is a simple verb, to believe, also called trust, to rely upon.\u00a0 You reach a point in your life where\u00a0 you\u2019re no longer trusting in yourself, your religion, your good deeds, your circumstances, your baptism, your Sunday School certificate, whatever it is, but your ship, your trust for the safekeeping of your soul and your eternal destiny into Christ and His promises alone, period.\u00a0 And when that happens that\u2019s how you get saved.\u00a0 The Spirit of God has been sent into the world to convict men and women of their need to do this.\n\nYou know, the only sin that sends someone into the lake of fire is unbelief, dying, having never trusted Christ as their savior.\u00a0 What tragedy it would be to sit here in a sermon like this, in a church like this on a day like this and\u00a0 yet never trust in Christ; leave here never having exercised faith.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why I\u2019m giving you the opportunity right now to trust in Christ the best you know how.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to walk an aisle, join a church, give money to do it; it\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord, where the Lord places you under conviction and you respond to that convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit by placing your confidence in Christ.\n\nIt is not a matter of intellect; intellect is part of it.\u00a0 It\u2019s a condition of the heart; yes, Christ, I believe who You are, I believe what You did for me, I believe everything about Your death on the cross and Your proof of who You are through Your bodily resurrection from the dead, which we celebrate today.\u00a0 And therefore I believe every word You said is true; I even believe John 3:16, \u201cFor God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever should believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 I believe that and now I am trusting in what\u00a0 You\u2019ve done and from this point on I\u2019m your child.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to have ups, I\u2019m going to have downs, but the bottom line is I belong to You.\u00a0 Have you don\u2019t that in the privacy of your own heart, in the condition of your own heart, as a matter of privacy between you and the Lord.\n\nYou can do it right now as I\u2019m talking, if it\u2019s something that you have done or are doing then on the authority of the Word of God, not my authority, my authority means very little if anything, on the authority of what this book says, on the authority of the God who designed the rules, then you have eternal life.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something that you need more information on I\u2019m available after the service to talk. As we celebrate resurrection Sunday and our living Savior let\u2019s walk with Him this week by faith, trusting Him for our circumstances and their outcome.\n\nShall we pray. \u00a0Father, we\u2019re grateful for this story of Daniel in the lion\u2019s den and how it speaks directly to our lives.\u00a0 Make us people of faith, Father, bring us to faith in Christ if we\u2019re not there but help us walk this week by faith, recognizing Your sovereignty and authority in our lives and over our problems. We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said, Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t