Even If 4

Introduction

For years and years, Turkey was led by a dominant Muslim leader who made conversion to Christianity punishable by death… In 1856, though, religious liberty was achieved and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people converted to Christianity! Toward the end of the 19th century, however, this religious liberty was long gone and suddenly Christians were a persecuted people yet again. Between 1895 and 1896 the Turkish government killed over 100,000 Christians and on April 24th they were given an order to kill nearly 600,000 additional people! There was an 18 year old girl who had escaped the persecution and made her way to an American camp on the other side of the border and was asked if she was in pain. She replied that she was not in pain but that she had learned the meaning of the cross - the nurse thought the girl was confused and mentally not in her right mind. She pressed further and saw a figure of a cross that had been burnt into her shoulder. The 18 year old said that she had been captured by the Turkish soldiers and was asked for 7 days: Muhammad or Christ? Each day she said, “Christ” and each day she was burnt with a cross.

Finally after the 7th day the soldiers told her, “Tomorrow if you say Muhammad, you will live but if you say Christ again, you will die.” That was the same day that the Americans set up a camp nearby and in the confusion, she and several others were able to escape. This young woman learned the meaning of the cross as she was left with a simple choice each day that week: Muhammad or Christ. If she said Muhammad, she would be left alone and possibly allowed to leave the camp… Yet, she choose Christ even though it means continued torture and suffering. Why would this woman make this choice day after day? Because she couldn’t deny her Savior! She learned that following Jesus carries with it a cost.

Today there are millions of Christians living in a similar situation as they are experiencing economic, physical, and spiritual persecution. There are people who have lost their job simply because they have been baptized. There are Christians who have lost relationships with family members simply because they follow Jesus and not Muhammad. There are millions of people today who will risk their life to worship Jesus and if they are found by others, they will not only be killed by they will be tortured.

We look around our world and we see things changing and we see threats on the horizon - even to our north there are pastors and churches in Canada being told that if they preach what the Bible says on certain topics such as homosexuality they will be fined and possibly imprisoned! We see concerning things in our country as well. What must we remind ourselves of? This isn’t anything new - and it’s certainly not a surprise to our God. The world might be changing, but our God doesn’t change. His Word stays the same and, therefore, we must choose this day whom we will serve. Will we serve well and stand firm or will we sit down and stop serving?

The contemporary notion in the United States that Christianity is all about me and my prosperity and comfort but this flies out the window whenever we read the book of Daniel. In Daniel we read that there is a cost associated with trusting in God. That cost remains true today. As we conclude our study on Biblical Faith in Daniel 1-6, I pray that this has been a beneficial study for you as a Christian but maybe you’re here today and you’re not a follower of Jesus Christ - if that is you ask yourself this: Is there something in this world that I would die for? Perhaps a family member or a good friend, but maybe you have to really think about it. Today we’re going to read about how this wasn’t even a thought for a man named Daniel. His faith was in God and if that cost him his life, he was completely ok with that. He chose to die - let’s see what God does in Daniel 6

Daniel 6:1–9 CSB

1 Darius decided to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom, stationed throughout the realm, 2 and over them three administrators, including Daniel. These satraps would be accountable to them so that the king would not be defrauded. 3 Daniel distinguished himself above the administrators and satraps because he had an extraordinary spirit, so the king planned to set him over the whole realm. 4 The administrators and satraps, therefore, kept trying to find a charge against Daniel regarding the kingdom. But they could find no charge or corruption, for he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.” 6 So the administrators and satraps went together to the king and said to him, “May King Darius live forever. 7 All the administrators of the kingdom—the prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors—have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an edict that, for thirty days, anyone who petitions any god or man except you, the king, will be thrown into the lions’ den. 8 Therefore, Your Majesty, establish the edict and sign the document so that, as a law of the Medes and Persians, it is irrevocable and cannot be changed.” 9 So King Darius signed the written edict.

Honor God in All You Do (1-9)

Between the events of Daniel 3 and Daniel 6 we have several events transpire. Nebuchadnezzar goes crazy, a new king takes his place and now in Daniel 6 a new people are in power: the Persians! This transpired around 539-537 BC, some 60-70 years after Jerusalem was captured by Babylon and Daniel and his friends were taken into exile. What does all of this mean? Daniel is an old man - likely around 80 years old by this point and what do we see in these verses? Daniel is still hard at work! Even with a new person and nation in charge, Daniel is not only an advisor but he is promoted to be an administrator in the new government. Daniel’s role would have been to oversee the satraps or officials appointed by the king over the empire. Daniel, therefore, was a pretty powerful government official. He would have been in charge of making sure the other officials were doing their job at collecting taxes, keeping the peace, and maintaining order throughout the empire. Seeing as Persia was the main world power at this point in time, Daniel was one of the most powerful people in the world and working yet again for a pagan nation and with a pagan king. Daniel, though once again didn’t worship these false gods. He was the same person he was back in chapter 1. He worshiped God and he worked hard at his job - he distinguished himself from the other administrators because he was gifted by God and simply stood out… This, just like in chapter 3, makes his coworkers jealous and they come up with a scheme to get him in trouble.

They can’t get Daniel in trouble with the current laws because he’s a good worker and a genuinely good person. Daniel was someone who took his job seriously. Even though he was in a foreign land with another pagan king, Daniel was a faithful worker. Alistair Begg shares this, “If Daniel could find a way to serve well in exile - to seek the common good, to obey the state wherever he could, to give his time and talents to seeing Babylon flourish - then we can serve well too.” This doesn’t mean that we should compromise our faith to fit in with the culture, but it also doesn’t mean that we run for the hills and live a secluded life in a log cabin and never talk with people again. That might be your ideal situation, but God commands us to be salt and light and to make disciples of all nations - that requires us to engage the nations and part of engaging the nations is talking with other people! We must serve and we must serve well - in your job, at your school, with your friends, when you travel, serve well and honor God as you do so! This is what Paul encourages the Corinthians to do

1 Corinthians 10:31 CSB

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.

How can you and I live such a life that glorifies God? We start with our motivation for doing things. Daniel was a powerful person - some people desire to be powerful and their motivation for serving God is associated with getting something from God. They think this: If I obey God then I will become a CEO or be blessed financially from God. Friend, if you come to Jesus for money, He’s not your God, money is. If you come to Jesus for a promotion, He’s not your God, the promotion is. We come to God to glorify Him because He is worthy and He demands our worship. We don’t come to the Giver for what He can give us, we come to Him because of who He is. What does that look like? It looks like helping someone in need. It looks like praying for someone whenever they are hurting. It looks like being honest whenever you could cover something up. It means being kind whenever someone else is mean. It means not stooping to a lower level but staying true to the Word.

Think of this, Daniel was a government official who was considered untouchable by these other leaders and the reason why was because he was faithful to God and blessed by God in these different capacities. The only way that they could touch him was by getting the king to do something - command everyone to worship a false god. Sadly, the king goes along with this and issues a decree that no one can take back, not even he as king!

These men knew that they couldn’t get Daniel to make a mistake with his character/actions - instead they could only get him to err with his faith. May this be true of us!

Daniel 6:10–18 CSB

10 When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house. The windows in its upstairs room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before. 11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel petitioning and imploring his God. 12 So they approached the king and asked about his edict: “Didn’t you sign an edict that for thirty days any person who petitions any god or man except you, the king, will be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “As a law of the Medes and Persians, the order stands and is irrevocable.” 13 Then they replied to the king, “Daniel, one of the Judean exiles, has ignored you, the king, and the edict you signed, for he prays three times a day.” 14 As soon as the king heard this, he was very displeased; he set his mind on rescuing Daniel and made every effort until sundown to deliver him. 15 Then these men went together to the king and said to him, “You know, Your Majesty, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no edict or ordinance the king establishes can be changed.” 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 continually serve, rescue you!” 17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing in regard to Daniel could be changed. 18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No diversions were brought to him, and he could not sleep.

Obey God in All You Do (10-18)

Daniel heard the news and what does he do? He does what any Christian prays they would do - he remains faithful to the Lord. Whenever his moment came where he had to make a choice he once again chose to be faithful to God. He chose to obey. He had served well but now he would simply stand firm. Church, think of the situation here. For 30 days you’re not able to pray to God or else you’re going to get in trouble with the law. What would you do?

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were forced to either worship a golden statue or face the furnace. Daniel is forced to either not pray or face the lions den. What would you pick? Think of the pro’s and con’s that might rush through your head… It’s just 30 days of no prayer - I have my life ahead of me and can make up those prayers later! God would understand, He wouldn’t want me to die because I’m a good Christian and I’ll continue to serve Him after this month is over! Maybe instead of praying in the same room I can just pray in my brain and no one will know!

If the government outlawed Christianity and asked your neighbor if you were a Christian, would they give the government enough evidence for you to be thrown in jail? In Daniel’s case the answer is simply: yes. That should be our prayer as well, friends! That our lives would be so marked by prayer and dependance on God’s strength that people would simply know, not because of our clothing or bumperstickers, but through our lives that we belong to God!

Look at the text, when things got hard, Daniel simply did what he had always done: he obeyed God He didn’t change something to stand out - he just kept praying like he always had. Why? Because he had determined from a young age, as Daniel 1:8 shares

Daniel 1:8 CSB

8 Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief eunuch not to defile himself.

He determined that there were things that he would do and things that he wouldn’t do and he wouldn’t cross the line. He would obey God!

How many of you have ever heard of Jonathan Edwards? Edwards is one of the most well known preachers in the history of the United States and was apart of the Great Awakening during the early 1700s that would lead to the formation of many of our Ivy League Universities today and the Gospel being shared to millions of Americans! Edwards is known for many things during his ministry but one of his lesser known things is his list of 70 resolutions that guided him through his life. He began writing these resolutions when he was a teenager and he would add some during his life. He would read through these at least once per week to remind himself of what he believed and why he did what he did. Listen to 2 of these resolutions, first #1

Resolution 1: I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory and my own good, profit, and pleasure in the whole of my duration without any consideration of the time or difficulties.

Why would Edwards make a list of 70 resolutions and look over them regularly? To remind himself to obey God when it was easy and when it was hard.

For Daniel, even with the prospect of being thrown into a den of lions - even with people spying on him in his home - even though the king wouldn’t be able to rescue him, his mind was made up to obey God above all.

Daniel 6:19–24 CSB

19 At the first light of dawn the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20 When he reached the den, he cried out in anguish to Daniel. “Daniel, servant of the living God,” the king said, “has your God, whom you continually serve, been able to rescue you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel spoke with the king: “May the king live forever. 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths; and they haven’t harmed me, for I was found innocent before him. And also before you, Your Majesty, I have not done harm.” 23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to take Daniel out of the den. When Daniel was brought up from the den, he was found to be unharmed, for he trusted in his God. 24 The king then gave the command, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions’ den—they, their children, and their wives. They had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

Trust God in All You Do (19-24)

The king has put a stone in front of the tomb and signed it with his royal seal so that no one dared move it. Daniel’s fate, it seems, is sealed yet we read in these verses that Daniel emerges from the Lion’s Den unharmed because God sent an angel to shut their mouths. Look at the question posed by Darius - “has your God been able to rescue you?” Nebuchadnezzar told Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3:15 that there is no God who could rescue them from his power. Both of these men doubted God’s power to deliver His servants! Sadly, people today continue to doubt God’s goodness and greatness. Only 39% of Americans who claim to believe in God believe that God has the power to change their situations. Friends, the God of the Bible changes things from cover to cover and He is still in the business of changing situations left and right. Our God has all power and we are called to trust in Him - even in the lion’s den.

In the ancient world, lions were often seen as a symbol of chaos. Not only were they large and terrifying, people viewed them as agents of destruction and chaos. Whenever you go to a zoo, such as the St. Louis Zoo, people flock to see lions because they’re majestic animals… But if you took the glass and fence away, we’d be running for our lives from the lions because they’re ferocious and deadly! Peter compares the devil to a lion

1 Peter 5:8 CSB

8 Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

Lions are bringers of chaos - it is striking that we see God bring about peace in the lion’s den because we know that our God can bring peace to even the worst of situations we face today. Whenever you put your trust in the Lord, although the situation might not go the way you’d like, you can have peace as you know that your God holds you and that He is for you! Even if things don’t go your way, you know that you belong to Him.

As this story plays itself out, the tomb is both a place of deliverance and destruction. Daniel is delivered from the tomb because he trusted in God but the accusers are destroyed because they did not trust in God. Think of another tomb that can serve as a place of deliverance or destruction. The tomb of Jesus Christ! If you trust in Christ as your Lord and Savior, the cross and empty tomb marks your place of deliverance as Jesus took your place as your substitute… However, if you oppose God and fight against His rule - you will be thrown into the pit one day and destroyed. Further, we see that the entire families were destroyed in the pit - this was Persian Law, not God’s law. It’s a terrible ending - but it is nothing compared to rejecting God’s amazing grace.

Just as Daniel’s tomb was guarded and sealed, Jesus’ was too. In both situations the stone was removed and God had delivered His faithful servant. Friend, trust in the Lord. Trust in His goodness. Trust in His grace. Trust in His power. Be delivered from the tomb, not destroyed in it. Our God has that type of power!

Daniel 6:25–28 CSB

25 Then King Darius wrote to those of every people, nation, and language who live on the whole earth: “May your prosperity abound. 26 I issue a decree that in all my royal dominion, people must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel: For he is the living God, and he endures forever; his kingdom will never be destroyed, and his dominion has no end. 27 He rescues and delivers; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth, for he has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” 28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Praise God in All You Do (25-28)

God has the power and Darius, a pagan king, even acknowledges this truth! If Darius could praise God for what He had done, shouldn’t we too? God has used pagan kings to demonstrate His greatness in the book of Daniel - this is what we see throughout Scripture, in fact as Proverbs 21:1 shares

Proverbs 21:1 CSB

1 A king’s heart is like channeled water in the Lord’s hand: He directs it wherever he chooses.

Sometimes the king makes a foolish choice - God can use foolish decisions to bring about good results. We see this in Daniel 3 as Nebuchadnezzar’s order brings about divine deliverance and praise. We see in Daniel 6 that Darius’ order brings about divine deliverance and praise! Today there are things that go on that are foolish but our God is in the business of revealing Himself and His power through human weakness and brokenness. What is our responsibility in times of weakness? To be faithful worshippers in exile and praise our faithful Father. To trust in the Lord and praise Him faithfully because of who He is. He is the One who delivers, rescues, performs signs and wonders and He still is in the business of doing these things! He restores broken people. He saves dead sinners. He honors His people’s faithfulness. He reigns as the King today! In the good and bad, praise Him alone!

How to Have Faith in Babylon

The last 4 weeks we’ve studied these great stories of faith in the book of Daniel and we’d miss a golden opportunity to not have a recap with appropriate application from these stories to our lives. Daniel and his friends were taken into Babylonian exile and forced to grow up in a land that didn’t worship their God and among a people that hated them and were jealous of how God had gifted them. In the Bible, Babylon is always the enemy of Jerusalem. Where Jerusalem stood for the city of God, Babylon stood as the city of mankind and exalted humans and embraced sinfulness. Genesis 11 says this concerning Babylon

Genesis 11:4 CSB

4 And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”

We find ourselves living in the modern Babylon. We aren’t living in a world that worships and exalts God, we live in a world that worships man and exalts sin. How on earth can we have faith in God in such a world? How can we stand strong for what is right rather than what is convenient? If you get nothing more from the last 4 messages, I pray that these 3 truths resonate with you and help you remain strong in your walk!

Remember Whose You Are

In Babylon everyone is searching for their identity. They’re trying to find meaning in life and they often look inward for that meaning. In the Lion King Mufasa tells Simba to remember who you are… That might be good advice at times, but as Christians we need to remember something deeper than that. We don’t need to remember who we are - we need to remember whose we are. We must remember that we belong to God. He is the reason that we stand firm and remain faithful even in a culture that tries to get us to do something entirely different! The first step to walk in faith is to remember our Father and what He has done for us.

Determine Now Who You Will Serve

Daniel and the other Hebrews were young whenever they were brought into Babylon. They were likely teenagers when they were taken from their homes and the temptation to worship the things of Babylon started immediately. Yet, we read in Daniel that these 4 stood strong on what they believed. They didn’t waver even when it would have been beneficial for them to do so. Research tells us that our pre-teen and teenage years are transformative in our lives regarding what we believe and how we act. 77% of Christians surrender their lives to Christ as Lord before they turn 18 years old. Some of the greatest Christian pastors and missionaries were called to ministry when they were children. This isn’t to say that this only impacts younger folks - we all must determine who we will serve and worship today! Choose this day who you will serve so that when you’re tempted tomorrow to serve something else, your mind will have already been made up.

Remember That The Tomb is Empty

This is the hope that we have as believers. This is the hope found in Daniel 6 and this is the obvious connection to the Gospels. The tomb is empty. Our Lord reigns - our God wins! Whenever you’re tempted to despair or go with what the prevailing wind of the culture is, remember that Jesus lives and that He is in the business of transforming lives today. Even though things might not always make sense and even when you’re swimming against the flow of society, remember that He is with you and remember that God delivers His faithful servants. He delivered Noah from the flood. He delivered Moses from the Egyptian army by parting the Red Sea. He delivered Jonah from the whale. He delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fire. He delivered Daniel from the Lion’s Den. He delivered Jesus from the tomb. Know that one day He will return and restore His people and judge His foes. Know that our God is the One who delivers every single time and that even if He doesn’t take away your problem, He has already delivered you from your greatest problem: your sin.