Daniel's God

Call to Worship

Romans 8:1–5 (ESV)

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

I Will Glory in My Redeemer

Forever Jesus

Scripture & Theology

This will be my final section in the Nashville Statement. I hope that you have found it helpful, though I also recognize the degree to which it seems like an awkward topic to bring up during a church service.

However, this week I was reminded this week of its importance. I had a discussion with someone who is exceedingly grateful that we would dare address such an issue from the pulpit because the subject matter was one their family is dealing with in a very painful way.

Churches cannot shy away from hard subjects, or awkward subjects just because they are uncomfortable. Rather, we have to understand that we live in a world where spiritual warfare is real, and Satan himself sure seems to be deceiving the world about the very subject the Nashville Statement addresses.

Article 10 of the Nashville Statement is the hardest to swallow, but it is also very truthful. Let me read out loud the most offensive part of this statement. Article 10 states:

WE AFFIRM that it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness.

WE DENY that the approval of homosexual immorality or transgenderism is a matter of moral indifference about which otherwise faithful Christians should agree to disagree.

What the Nashville Statement addresses is a simple matter of biblical faithfulness. To deny the plain and clear truths and teachings of Scripture constitutes a departure from Christian faithfulness and witness. These matters are not ones of moral indifference. We cannot agree to disagree.

And here’s the key issue - you simply cannot arrive at a different conclusion here without also denying other important truths of scripture. And if you find yourself more closely aligned with the culture than the Scripture, then you already departed from a biblical understanding of morality.

If the Bible is wrong on this issue, then we have to call into question so much else, and who then would get to decide what is right or wrong, moral or immoral?

If we are to be a Christian church, then we are going to stand upon the truth of Scripture. All of it, no matter how uncomfortable that may be or how much the world may hate it. We will not capitulate to the culture.

Rick Warren has wonderfully said, “Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”

If you are tempted to follow along with the culture in these matters, then as your pastor, I plead with you to turn back. And with that in mind, I want to bring us full circle back to our starting point, and that is the very fact that Scripture is true and sufficient.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

All of Scripture - all of it - is true, and in every case, we must let it be our guide.

Daniel Before Nebuchadnezzar

Moving along in Daniel 2, we pick up the story in verse 24, and I just continue to be amazed at how Daniel reacts to this entire situation with the king.

Daniel 2:24–30 ESV

24 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.” 25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 26 The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: 29 To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. 30 But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

PRAYER

Introduction

Daniel’s moment before the king here is quite the impressive moment of Daniel speaking the truth of God before a king threatening to kill him. And it’s not like Nebuchadnezzar was some weak-minded king who spoke big but never followed through his threats. He was a ruthless king.

Daniel going before Nebuchadnezzar would be like you standing before someone like Kim Jong Un right now and speaking to him about the sovereignty of God.

How would you feel about having that task?

Sinclair Ferguson says in his commentary on Daniel that this moment is like “the spirit of Jesus before the high priests and Pilate; it is the spirit of Elijah before Jezebel; it is the spirit of John the Baptist before Herod. Daniel is full of the spirit of truth. Even Nebuchadnezzar can recognize that.”

This scene provides us with a clear picture of how we as believers in 2022 must stand before the world. Daniels shows us, number 1, that we need a courageous faith.

Courageous Faith

Going back to last week, remember how Daniel confidently approached Arioch and told him that he would reveal the king’s dream? Daniel was able to confidently approach the king because he knew and trusted in a sovereign God.

And there’s something for us to learn here in how Daniel approached all of this -

When you really trust in God, and when your confidence is in him, it leads to courage. And courage is what you need in a world hostile to your faith.

Courage is easy when there are no consequences for living out your faith. However, when faced with death or isolation like Daniel, or when you might be ostracized from family or friends or when you won’t be accepted in your social circles, courage quickly flees like prey running away from a predator.

Listen - as westerners we tend to focus only on the physical things of this world. We trust and believe only that which we can see or feel or experiences with our senses. We live with tremendous freedoms, but we often forget that there is a real spiritual battle raging all around us.

But the Bible reminds us that there is more to this world than what meets the eye.

Paul says in Ephesians 6:12

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

The same is true for you. The same is true for Daniel here. The trials you face. The hostility you will face for your faith is not purely a physical battle. It wasn’t for Daniel either.

So here’s a question - how did Daniel have such great courage?

Daniel’s courage was rooted in prayer and dependance upon God. And guess what?

Prayer is not weakness. Dependance on God is not a crutch. Courage before a hostile world looks you on your knees before God because it is from a posture of prayer that you will have the courage to stand against the forces of evil in the world.

Think about it -

Moses - he only had courage to stand before Pharaoh when he trusted in God.

David - David faced Goliath because he believed God would protect him.

Esther - prayed and fasted before God and trusted in the Lord.

Daniel - was confident because prayer and dependance upon God provided a foundation for him to stand upon.

Jesus - trusted the will of the Father through prayer when faced with the greatest evil history has ever seen.

Paul - prayed to God and found the courage to withstand imprisonment, persecution, and more.

What about you? Prayer is not weakness. It’s not a crutch. It’s a stretcher for you to throw yourself upon.

Courage is not built on muscle or might. Courage is built when we have an unshakeable faith, not because we ourselves are strong but because we trust the hand of the one who holds us.

We need courageous faith that doesn’t run from spiritual battles. We need a courageous faith that can see the fight and run toward it because we know and understand that souls are at stake. In the years ahead, you will face more Daniel-like circumstances than you can imagine. Prepare now.

We need courageous faith, and secondly, we need...

Selfless Faith

Now, you might be wondering where I am drawing a selfless faith from out of this text. Let me show you.

Look at verse 24:

Daniel 2:24 ESV

24 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”

So here’s Daniel, courage and all. And what does he do? He goes to Arioch, who is the executioner in this story. And he tells Arioch, “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon.” He’s referring to the pagans. He’s referring to people who would otherwise wish him dead.

And he asks Arioch to spare their lives. This is pretty shocking to be honest. Daniel is a captive in a foreign land. He’s an outsider among people who hate him. He’s a believer in God in the midst of a bunch of pagans.

It’s amazing to me - convicting to me - that Daniel would ask Arioch to spare their lives. Daniel is concerned for the safety of others. He does not want their lives to be ruined. Daniel would have every right, at least in our human minds, to hope for their demise, but instead he requests their safety.

Now think about our context. It’s safe to say we are in the middle of a deepening culture war that likely has no end because the fabric of our society is being ripped apart along ideological lines. In some ways, you too might feel more like Daniel in Babylon than yourself in the America you grew up in.

So what happens is people find themselves in the middle of a culture war and they are constantly angry with the other side. People sit at home and watch 24/7 news channels who make money off of getting you worked up. Social media leads you to greater degrees of outrage at those who disagree with you.

And you may find yourself more drawn to hate and outrage at those who don’t like your Christian beliefs. And that’s by design. But I ask, when was the last time you prayed for someone whose views are vastly different and maybe even opposed to what you believe? Look at Daniel’s example. This is incredibly convicting.

Are you more prone to outrage or selflessness? And listen, I get it, trust me. There is a time for outrage and anger at what we see in the world. But if that outrage and anger is directed at people and not ideas, then we’ve lost the plot and misunderstand how God wants us to live.

Daniel could have walked in and requested that Arioch destroy the pagans for their failure to interpret the dream. But, he didn’t. He chose a path of selflessness. He shows us what it means to put others first when he could have only cared about himself.

You know who does this better than anyone? Missionaries in hostile countries. Day in and day out missionaries lay their lives down for the sake of the lost, and we too must learn to do the same. We must care enough for the lost around us that we contend for their own well-being.

Christians, above all others, should have a selfless faith. Daniel did. Jesus did. We must also.

Finally, as a Christian, you must have a convictional faith.

Convictional Faith

As believers, we must stand firm in our convictions. We must be a people of truth. And we cannot be afraid to proclaim the gospel before a hostile world.

Look at how Daniel does this.

Daniel 2:26–28 ESV

26 The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these:

Daniel simply spoke what is true before Nebuchadnezzar. He showed the emptiness of the religion of the pagans. And he pointed Nebuchadnezzar to the one true God.

Oh how we need that kind of convictional faith these days. Daniel wasn’t rude. He didn’t react in anger. He simply spoke with conviction and truth.

We’ve all seen the dangers of cancel culture. Say the wrong thing and you get cancelled. Hang around the wrong people and before you know it you’ll be isolated from everyone. The goal of cancel culture is to make people afraid to speak what is true. The greatest cultural sin you can commit these days is when you speak with truth and conviction.

But speaking with truth and conviction you must. We are so afraid of offending someone these days that I’m not sure we are giving people enough gospel to even be saved.

There is no way to sugar coat the gospel. The gospel is offensive because it calls sinners to repentance. It denounces worldly religions and worldly ideologies. It strikes down idols and tears down strongholds.

The gospel offers peace between you and God but peace does not come without first tearing down falsehoods that hold people captive.

There’s Daniel in front of one of the most powerful people in the world at the time, and he reveals to the king the emptiness of the wise men, the emptiness of the enchanters, the emptiness of the magicians, and the emptiness of the astrologers, and ultimately the emptiness of Nebuchadnezzar himself, and Daniel boldly proclaims...

“But there is a God in heaven...”

We need more of that now. Yes, the world will cancel you. Yes, the world will shame you. Yes, you will pay a price for faithfully following Jesus. And when that happens you declare the emptiness of the world and say:

“But there’s a God in heaven, and that God is going to judge the world by his righteousness. He will judge your sin and you will face an everlasting separation from him in hell, but that same God in heaven sent his son Jesus Christ to bear the weight of judgment that you could you never bear yourself, and if you trust in him, his grace is sufficient to save you.”

And you proclaim the gospel with boldness, with clarity, and with all the conviction of Daniel before Nebuchadnezzar.

Finally, I want to point you to Jesus. I believe all of Scripture is pointing forward to Christ, and Daniel here is no different.

Daniel and Jesus

This text is pointing us forward to Jesus. Think about it:

Daniel risks his life to save others. In essence, Daniel laid down his life to save others. Jesus did the same.

John 10:18 ESV

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Daniel speaks the truth in order that others might be saved.

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Daniel commits himself to the will of God, not his own.

Luke 22:42 ESV

42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

We’ll see much more as we go further in Daniel, but we’d be remiss to not realize that Daniel is pointing us all to Jesus.