Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Today we come to one of the classic stories of the Old Testament, Daniel in the Lion’s Den.

Many people who are not even Christian or who have very little familiarity with the Bible know something about this story.

In fact, for many children this is one of the earliest stories that is remembered and taught in children’s Sunday school.

Contextual

Let’s remind ourselves of a bit of context.

We are following the life of the prophet Daniel.

As a young teenager he was taken from Jerusalem as an exile by the Babylonians.

Since then Daniel has been living in the Babylonian court serving various kings who have come and gone.

And God has used him mightily in that process seeing at least one of the major kings of the Babylonian empire come to faith in the God of the Bible.

At the end of chapter 5 we saw the historic transition of power from the Babylonians to the Medo/Persian empire.

In Daniel chapter 6 King Cyrus of the Persian empire and Darius of the Median empire are the head honchos, and Daniel is still faithfully serving in Darius’s courty.

As we begin chapter 6, the year is about 539BC and Daniel is in his early 80s.

That means that Daniel has been serving as an exile for over sixty years.

So, for those of you that have an image in your head of a young 20 year old Daniel getting thrown in the lion’s den, we’ll need to change our image.

He was in his 80’s.

Today I would like to attempt to draw out four lessons from the lion’s den.

Lesson 1: The spiritual fortitude to withstand the lion’s den is formed long before entering the lion’s den

The first principle I want to establish today is that Lion’s Den fortitude is formed well before the entering the Lion’s Den.

If we look at Daniel what we discover is a man with whom no fault could be found.

Daniel 6:1-9 “1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; 2 and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss.

3 Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him.

And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

4 Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.

5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.” 6 Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever!

7 All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, …”

The trap is set.

The law has passed.

Before we look at how Daniel responds to this law let’s consider what we have just seen.

What was Daniel’s character?

Dan 6:3 “3 Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him.

And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”

Daniel 6:4 “4 Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.”

This man of God was exemplary.

Even when others tried to take him down, they could find nothing against him.

He was a man of day in day out nobility and virtue.

Eventually his enemies had to sign new laws into effect in order to get after him.

Daniel Was 80 Years Old

It should be no surprise that this was Daniel’s character.

After all, we have seen this type of nobility and virtue in Daniel since Daniel chapter 1 when he was just a teenager taken by force from Jerusalem.

Consider the life of this man.

For sixty-five years Daniel has lived away from his cherished homeland as an exile.

And for those sixty-five years there were moments where Daniel was used by God to do incredible, miraculous work, such as his interpretation of dreams.

The sense of this man that we discover is that he was a man of commitment to His God.

He was a steady man of faith.

A man to be depended on.

A man who did the right thing no matter the cost to him personally.

He was a man of courage.

But he was also a man of steady discipline.

Day in, day out, simple faithfulness.

Spiritual disciplines develop into spiritual fortitude.

If you want to be like Daniel, then seek to live like Daniel, day in day out faithfulness.

Spurgeon: Dog at the Heels

Charles Spurgeon makes the point that some of us treat God the way a dog treats a man with a bag of dog biscuits.

We eagerly nip at his heals as he walks.

Here and there he stops and pets our head and hands us a biscuit.

And then we continue chasing hard after him because we are certain another treat is certain to come soon.

But after a while, when the bait has run out, the dog gives up and goes in another direction.

Many of treat God this way.

We have developed an emotionally dependent Christianity that has no roots to endure trial, no foundation to stand strong in the storm.

One day a better attracion is made available and we’re off nipping at the new attraction’s heels.

And why?

Because God is taking too long to respond to our prayer requests?

65 years this man lived in exile, praying faithfully every day.

But have you ever seen a dog that is truly his master’s servant.

That dog eagerly waits by the front door for his master to return.

He nips at his heels not for a treat, but because his master permits him to do so.

I have seen old dogs who after their master has been gone for years, still sits daily waiting by the door for him to return.

And when he does that old dog will find a puppy’s zeal and sprint to the door at the sound of his voice.

That’s Christianity.

This is the kind of enduring faith you are called to.

Steady.

Devoted.

Humble.

Patient.

Sitting at the feet of Jesus.

The spiritual fortitude to withstand the lion’s den is formed long before entering the lion’s den

Lesson 2: You Won’t Survive the Lion’s Den if Your Prayer Life is Dead

The second principle is around prayer.

You Won’t Survive the Lion’s Den if Your Prayer Life is Dead.

Remember what the situation was.

Daniel is well aware that these men were looking for some way to take him down.

And listen to what we read about Daniel when the document was signed that outlawed worship of God.

Daniel 6:10 “10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.

He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.”

Consider the Situation!

He Gives Thanks

Daniel was a man of prayer!

Consider the situation.

Daniel is no fool.

He knows exactly what he’s doing.

A law has been passed that he will die if he prays to His God.

Most men would not risk death to stay faithful.

But not Daniel.

This eighty year old man hobbles back to his house, opens the doors, gets down on his knees and prays to the God of heaven!

And what did he pray?

We’re told he prayed and gave thanks!

He gave thanks?

Daniel gives thanks?

This man is on his knees likely for the last time as a free man and he gives thanks.