My Deliverer

Our God is a deliverer. I believe this, I have lived this. Do you believe in God and His Deliverance? The greatest deliverance from God came through Jesus in rescuing humanity. To understand and fully appreciate all that God does for you, you first must understand the process of God’s deliverance. God’s deliverance comes in a 3 part process that I hope to show you today through the true history of Daniel in the Lion’s Den. In Daniel 6:1-28 you will find the process in which each of you will go through to find God’s Deliverance. Today you will see first The Worlds Plan, second Your Faithfulness, and Third God’s Deliverance. Open your Bible with me and turn to Daniel 6. We will be in verses 1-28. Stay seated while I read the scripture. Let’s pray

The Worlds Plan

Daniel 6:1–9 ESV

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 counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 9 Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction.

Two men were out hunting in the northern U.S. Suddenly one yelled and the other looked up to see a grizzly charging them. The first started to frantically put on his tennis shoes and his friend anxiously asked, "What are you doing? Don't you know you can't outrun a grizzly bear?" "I don't have to outrun a grizzly. I just have to outrun you!"

Please make no mistake this morning and for the rest of your life. This world is no friend of yours. This world is trying to outrun you, to use you, to step all over you. There are those in your life and you know them who are trying to actively make your life miserable. These people want to harm you and to elevate themselves. The satraps in this chapter of Daniel made every attempt to harm Daniel. They did not have his best interest in mind and were only looking to make themselves better. You are living in a time where you must ensure that you are very observant of those around you. That you are protecting yourself from those who seek to harm you. Daniel was surrounded by people who wanted to harm him. They wanted to harm Daniel for no other reason than that he stood in their way of what they viewed as their success. Many will say that it was his faith but it was not. These men were mad because Daniel stood between them and the King. They simply used his faith to persecute him. You have the same people around you who may act like your friends but are actively looking for their success and if you get in their way they are likely to do the same thing to you that these men did to Daniel. It is so important to understand the plans of the world.

1 John 2:16 ESV

16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

James 4:4 ESV

4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

John 16:33 ESV

33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Isaiah 5:20 ESV

20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Genesis 6:5 ESV

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

God’s deliverance comes because the world is constantly desiring evil. The World is looking to harm you. Just as these men were looking to harm Daniel the World is looking to harm Christians. It is so vitally important to understand that no matter how friendly governments and groups look, they are not friends of Christians. People who do not serve and honor the Lord are not friends of the Lord. The world is an enemy that is desiring to harm us. How do we live in light of this? We are to live in faithfulness.

Your Faithfulness

Daniel 6:10–17 ESV

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. 11 Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. 12 Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13 Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.” 14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 15 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.” 16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” 17 And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.

The pastor I grew up under as a kid and as a young adult pastor Edsel Bone told us a story about an old man, walking the beach at dawn, who noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Catching up with the youth, he asked what he was doing. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. 'But the beach goes on for miles and miles, and there are millions of starfish,' countered the man. 'How can your effort make any difference?' The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to safety in the waves. 'It makes a difference to this one,' he said."

You must live in faithfulness even if the results cannot be seen or seem unattainable.

When you are living faithfulness you must ensure that it is through a biblical worldview. I want to take a few minutes to make a clear distinction. The world is an enemy, but remember what the scripture says.

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.

Daniel did not fight a physical war with these others and was simply living his life in peace. Loving God and loving others. Daniel was in a place of authority and could have used his authority to harm these men as soon as he saw the kings decree come out. The way the laws were passed and written into law Daniel would have known who was trying to get it into the law and why they were doing it. Daniel was not blind to what the world was doing he simply understood how God expected him to live and he followed through in faithfulness. It is also important to understand that this was not a flash moment for Daniel. The time when Daniel decided to be faithful was a result of what he had already lived every day. Too many times Christians want to be “faithful” for the purpose of defiance. It needs to be very well understood that faithful Christians are not the ones who say you cannot tell me I cannot go to church and they flood churches because no one can tell them that they cant even though that person is never in church during any other time. Faithfulness for the purpose of defiance is not faithfulness. You must live life like Daniel did, first with a steadfast and unwavering commitment to God. Sunday morning quarterbacks will not cut it and will not get the job done. You must live faithful every day. Daniel was persecuted because of his daily walk. Because of his daily walk he was prepared also to deal with the persecution. Because Daniel lived a life worthy of God and honoring God, Daniel found God’s Deliverance.

God’s Deliverance

Daniel 6:19–28 ESV

19 Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24 And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces. 25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. 26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. 27 He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.” 28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

John Paton was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands. One night hostile natives surrounded the mission station, intent on burning out the Patons and killing them. Paton and his wife prayed during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave. A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Christ. Remembering what had happened, Paton asked the chief what had kept him from burning down the house and killing them. The chief replied in surprise, "Who were all those men with you there?" Paton knew no men were present--but the chief said he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords circling the mission station.

The thing about God’s deliverance is that it is something the world cannot explain. I trust in God but I can tell you that the last thing I am going to do to test this is to go down to the zoo and step into the lion enclosure. God’s deliverance is miraculous. The only thing that can prepare you for God’s Deliverance is to understand the worlds plans and to live a daily committed life to God. When these two things are done together you will be of the correct mindset and attitude both towards the world and towards God’s deliverance. The words have never been spoken more appropriately than at the fiery furnace. Daniel 3:18

Daniel 3:18 ESV

18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Your attitude towards deliverance from God should be the same as the three men in the furnace and the same as Daniels which says that even if God does not physically deliver me He is still God and He will be glorified. It should also be of compassion towards the world. We will end today with the words of Jesus. Luke 23:34

Luke 23:34 ESV

34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

Do you believe in God? Do you really believe He will deliver you and provide as He says He does? If you do then it should cause you to live at peace with your neighbors, to love others as yourself, to leave anxiety at the door. Do you want a life free of worry and a life that you can ensure will end with success? Turn it over to God. Trust in God as your deliverer.