A Lifetime of Faithfulness
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Recap
God’s in control - diet plan - he cares about the little things
Power of influence - what nightmares are made of
cut all wise men in pieces and tear their houses down
Faithful in the Fire - is it hot up in here?
bow & worship the statue or burn
7 times hotter
4th man in the fire
Jesus wants to be the 4th man in your circumstances
So far very violent, but, then, are we so different? We live in a civilized government but it has flaws
Other countries do crazy things
We have a thing for fantasizing about it all
movies
games
Tonight - won’t be disappointed - more gory drama in store,
So I have a question: What would you say you’re known for by your friends and family? What kind of legacy would you say you’ve left behind thus far?
I think you would agree that a good reputation is a blessing.
It can keep you out of trouble (everyone expects you to do the right thing) and it can open doors to new opportunities (offer to college....)
But what happens when our enemies set out to destroy that reputation due to jealousy and pride?
Tonight we are going to see why living a life of integrity might get under our enemies skin but will always glorify God - which is what our lives are all about.
Video
Body
Daniel has been thru a lot… and now he is old, 80 years old!
We are in Daniel 6.
Daniel is still in captivity, has continued to move up by God’s hand
Different Kings, same faithful Daniel
King Darius liked Daniel and intended to continue promoting him which causes the other people in power to become jealous - like seeing red jealous - they want Daniel gone...
They quickly determine that this is not going to be an easy task - Daniel is perfect
He does have 1 annoying habit tho - he really likes his God and talks to him everyday and won’t worship anyone/anything else
How would you like that to be your only flaw???
They can’t find weakness in Daniel but they do know 1 weakness of the king - self absorbed
Know anyone like that? That could talk for hours about themselves and loves to post things on social media that get them attention, or get someone to stroke their ego (like if Mason said he was never going to be good enough at football just so others would tell him how great he is)
So they devise an evil plot
6 So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! 7 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.
There’s the violence we were talking about earlier. No simple deaths here or jail time. No, they thought what is the worst thing we could do to kill someone? We already used to cut up people in little pieces, throw them into furnaces, oh I know, feed them to lions!
Of course the king loves the gory idea and makes a law without any thought, then tags on an extra line at the request of these smart guys that absolutely no one can change the law.
Now if I was the king, that might just make me pause for a second. Why would we be worried that someone would want to change the law? The king makes the laws so why would he be ok with saying that he couldn’t change it????
But no, he thinks it is a great idea - the ultimate social media post - worship me or die in the mouth of a hungry lion
And all the comments stream in about how great he is, and how they will worship him forever
So what happens when old man Daniel hears the news of the new law?
He has been doing the same thing for decades despite the circumstance, the king, the imminent threat.... it has worked out for him for this many years....
He goes straight to God to pray about what to do!
Not hidden
To his open window where all can see what he is doing
Why?
And of course, the jealous losers are waiting for him and take him straight to the king, remind him of the law and remind him that not even he can change it, and then wait in extreme anticipation for the violence to begin
The king is upset but can find no way out
Isn’t it ironic that the decree is about everyone lifting this guy up as the ultimate god and yet a couple smart guys are controlling him and he has no power to say no - what kind of god is that?
They take Daniel to the lions den and throw him in
16 So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
Right there the king recognizes that he is not a powerful god but knows that their is one God who has control and power.
Incoming Gore - a gruesome painful long death
But wait - God saves Daniel and shows social media His true power! - The lions and Daniel hang out all night just chatting and drinking tea
King Darius runs to the den the next morning calling for Daniel. Daniel 6:20
20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
He knows God can save him!!!
And of course God did and Daniel is fine
So the king pulls him out and then throws the administrators who tricked them, and their wives, and their children, into the den
And it gets quite gory - those lions were super hungry
In the end, Daniel enjoyed success and king Darius praised God as the true living God and decreed that all people of his kingdom would revere and worship God as the one true God
Daniel’s continual and consistent faith and show of that faith impacted the entire world - a world that did not know God, that was the enemy of God’s people
Conclusions
Sometimes being bold in our faith like Daniel can be scary and even incite our enemies to bring us down. But in the end, God’s love for us not only impacts our life, but it also allows others to see His goodness as well.
What could it look like for you to be bold in your faith this week?
How can your faith impact those around you?
In this series, we’ve seen a remarkable example of faithful obedience from Daniel and his 3 friends.
We’ve learned that God is always in control - even in a dark world
The positions we find ourselves in are part of his plan to influence and impact those around us thru our confident display of obedience to his commands.
The journey of faithful obedience to God is going to be challenging.
As Sadie mentioned, we live in a culture that hates God, that is gory and violent minded, and as believers, we have to stand firm in our faith knowing that the culture will try to pressure us into compromising.
But as we learned in the book of Daniel, an uncompromising faith is worth it, and God is always on our side!!!!