"Daniel in the Lions' Den" - Pastor Doug Batchelor

it's a street and everybody laughs and he laughs and he slaps his leg and and that was a real interesting thing back then because there weren't that many cameras and to suddenly find out a camera was watching you you went oh you know your whole attitude changes when you realize there's a camera watching but today there's cameras everywhere just seems like everywhere you go and you know I understand in London I haven't been there in years but like every street in London they how many people that spend their time watching videos in some central downtown secure location and they watch everybody there recording all the corners they could play it back again and see if there's been a crime and and they say it's helped increase security and then you know whenever you see the news now half of what you see on the news is somebody got it on their phone and have you ever noticed that when you realize someone's recording you you act differently I went out to dinner with somebody and we were having a nice conversation and he asked me a question I prepared to answer he says now you don't mind if I tape this and suddenly he put a tape player on the table and he press record all of a sudden I became a little uptight that's not how are you gonna use that because we've I've had people come up to me before and ask to record things and I find out then they take what you say and they edit it into something else they're doing that you don't agree with and but when you know someone's watching you we all act a little different you know the Bible tells us that heaven is always watching the cameras always going you are never off camera so to speak Paul talks about that we're a spectacle to the universe in other words everybody's watching and even the book of Job you've got these cosmic powers the sons of God and God and the devil in his imps and and they're saying have you beheld my servant job means they're all watching job and they're all watching us the Bible describes Daniel is one who is greatly beloved of heaven and one reason that he was greatly beloved is because the Daniel was a man of X ordinary integrity he was the same whether you are watching or not he didn't live his life because people were watching and he wanted to make big impression he lived his life because he knew God was always watching and this story in the middle of Daniel is one of the high points of the Bible now maybe before I even dive in if you look in Hebrews chapter 11 this story is referenced some people think the story of Daniel is just make-believe it never really happened but in Hebrews 11 it's talking about the faithful and you can read verse 33 who through faith Hebrews 11 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms worked righteousness obtained promises stopped the mouths of lions and so the Bible writers did not look upon the story of Daniel and the Lions Den that's our subject tonight as some myth or fable they believe it was a real historical event so let's go back in Daniel chapter 6 verse 1 you remember when we studied in our last story Daniel 5 the handwriting on the wall Babylon fell Daniel foretold that Babylon would fall and when Cyrus who was then the principal Persian general took Babel and at that time as soon as he entered the city the first news report he got is there was a Hebrew prophet that had foretold a few hours earlier that you are going to take the city and the king would be slain and they were very impressed with that and so almost right away Daniel was brought into an advisory position most of the former Babylonian leaders had been killed but as King Darius he was the king of the Medes remember the medo-persian Kingdom was sort of a dual Kingdom Cyrus basically because Darius I think it was his father-in-law he was a they were aligned through marriage he was the superior he really had the headship and he was called the king and he didn't reign very long I think it was just a couple of years he died and then Cyrus was the official King it says he pleased him to set over the kingdom Darius won 20 satraps or princes governor's to be over the whole kingdom and over these three governors of whom Daniel was to be one and the word one there means primary or chief that the princes might give account to them and the king would suffer no loss now when it says give account suffer no loss when you think about not suffering loss is often financial issues do you think that the United States is the first government that has had problems with excess expenditures and money disappearing I forget to where I read this and I don't remember the exact figures but of the millions of dollars that were sent to Haiti immediately following the earthquake about 80 percent of it disappeared and was unaccounted for somehow went into the coffers and the bank accounts of the government officials and the contractors and a lot of the work in the houses were never built and never repaired never done and that's I I get that affirmed by friends who are missionaries that have gone there they had problems in the medo-persian Kingdom with money disappearing and so the King had an accountability thing set in place and over the hundred and twenty princes and they're collecting taxes and it's going through the various governors three governors Daniel would be the chief why do you think that made him the chief one thing you want in a head accountant and head officers honesty you've gotta have someone you trust then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and the princes so because an excellent spirit was in him now how many of you would like someone to accuse you of being spirit possessed it depends what spirit are we talking about Daniel was accused of having a spirit in him wouldn't you like to be accused of the same thing if it's the right spirit says he had an excellent spirit that's a good spirit was in him and because of this the king gave thought the king is contemplating he's advising he's doing reference checks to setting him over the whole realm well on the other governor in Princes heard about that some of the the leading culprits they've probably been doing a little skimming and they were doing some kickbacks in their government contracts and they were making profits and a lot of people in government we find that somehow exploit their position and their power what do you think lobbyists do how do lobbyists get by in government they do favors they give some benefit either to the state or the individual vacations it's all kinds of things to try to get them to vote a certain way and so you know one of the places it's really hard to be honest and remain honest is in government but Dan as Daniel was so it's not impossible Joseph was Mordechai I was and the King says boy I can trust this Daniel he is brilliant he's multilingual he's very wise he used to be the chief of all of the Babylonian wise men the Maggie I and I had to put him in charge of everything well that really bothered the Persian and the median councilors and princes because Daniel would keep an eye on them he would make sure that there was a faithful accounting he could not be bribed and and they didn't like the fact that he wasn't even a Persian or Mead he was a captive from Judah he had served Nebuchadnezzar who they conquered and so that really bothered them so they want to get rid of Daniel now think about this do they want to get rid of Daniel because of his bad mister because of his goodness why did Cain kill his brother because of Abel's badness or his goodness why will the people of God be persecuted in the last days because of our disobedience or our obedience why did why did the scribes and the Pharisees and the lawyers want to trap Jesus because of his badness or his goodness made their badness look bad and so they began to get rid of Daniel they want to conspire they want to do something so they have spies follow him around did they have spies and followed Jesus around even during the trial when they asked him questions is why are you asking me why don't you ask those who you had spying on me and that's when he was punched by one of the soldiers it is that if I said something wrong bear witness to what I said wrong but if I'm speaking the truth why do you smite me that was because he said you know what I've been doing you've been spying on me they were busted they had spies following Daniel around see the story of Daniel is a prophetic story it's one of the most important prophetic stories in Daniel it's not talking about the kingdoms it's talking about the king because Daniel is a type of the king of kings you see if it doesn't fit as we go along here so the governors and the princes sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom they had cameras everywhere but they could find no charge or fault because he was faithful he was the same off-camera as he was on camera and they follow her they snuck into his room and they got into his files and they dug around and sure enough he was paying his taxes and they they they looked at everything they could find they downloaded his hard drive wanted to see if there was any inappropriate pictures on there there was nothing and everything they could do they talked to everybody who did business and they said don't we have any dirt on this guy this is look the only thing we can tell you is he is very zealous about his religion so they came back and they huddled again and they said look we're not gonna find anything against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning his God so you know they couldn't when they tried Jesus about some political insurrection pile of examined anymore peg I said I find no fault in him now what did they say about Daniel notices they could find no charge or fault because he was faithful notice even the same word is used Pilate said I find no fault in him so then they had to turn to religious grounds you know they said that he's he says he's the King of the Jews and that really made Pilate nervous he's a Beckett are you are you the King of the Jews I don't want to kill the King of the Jews that's a divine issue so they came up with an idea we're not going to find anything against him unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God what will be the issue in the last days for God's people isn't there going to be a beast power that is going to make a law that will require the people of God to choose between obeying the laws of God of the laws of men how did Peter answer that issue we ought to obey God rather than men so they came up with an idea verse 6 and it plays itself out so the governors and it says satraps their butts of princes they throng before the king and they said thus to him King Darius lived forever all notice that word all wasn't all of them it was a group of the elite enemies of Daniel were there a few honest publicans and Pharisees not publicans sorry scribes and Pharisees in the time of Christ you've got Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus it wasn't all of them that voted to crucify Jesus but they wanted to make it seem like it was everyone so they held the trial at night all the governors of the kingdom and the administrators and the princes and the counselors and advisers have consulted together we hope you don't mind but we just had a meeting we didn't want to embarrass you but we we wanted to say how can we strengthen this new Empire and it's comparable comparable inu Babylon had been around for 70 years and all the Persians have taken prominence and they said what can we do to bring all these different groups together so that they'll be solidified and we've got an idea we want you to make a royal Statute and make a firm decree statute decree firm that whoever petitions any God or man for 30 days except you O king will be cast into the den of lions now you and I might think that's a pretty outrageous request it would be today you can't imagine any Senate or congressmen bringing that bill forward not supposed to pray to any being other than the president now in our culture that would never fly especially right now but it wasn't that uncommon back then to deify the Kings the Farrell's claim to be gods the Roman Emperor claimed to be a god that was years after the Persians you see it's an ancient understanding that when you cannot unite people through maybe common customs or culture or race or language that you can unite them through religion common worship what's the devil gonna try to do in the last days it's gonna make all worship a certain way and what's the penalty if you don't worship the way you're being told to worship that you'll there'll be a death decree now I don't want to make too much out of this but how long is their law not going to petition any God or man for 30 days except you O king or he'll be cast into the den of lions now I'm not exactly sure why or what it means but it is interesting to me that in the end of the Book of Daniel it mentions three time periods you've got the 1260 1290 1335 the difference of course between the 1260 and 1290 is 30 and some have wondered if there will be another 30-day period near the end of time I don't know I just when you see numbers that line up in the same book you wonder is there connection that's probably a good idea at least look at it so for 30 days now you notice and I've run into this before the devil doesn't ask you to break God's law forever I've met people to hear the Sabbath truth they're convicted they want to follow it and they say I believe it okay but then their boss says look we're in a pinch right now get this new shipment coming in and normally we wouldn't ask you to work late Friday night but if you can just do it this month just 30 days we'll never ask you again you know if you give in to something like that you but lost the battle because the devil knows you'll give him later and he'll just bide his time so he tries them to make little concessions don't give up worshiping Jehovah forever Daniel just for 30 days don't be a spectacle shut your window don't open your mouth and pray out loud you know didn't Jesus say enter in the closet and shut the door curse Christ hadn't said that yet but someone might have used that for an excuse when we read Daniel chapter 3 and the King makes a law that everybody's supposed to bow down to the image Shadrach Meshach and Abednego could have said you know we're really gonna get a lot of unwanted attention here if we stand up when everyone else boughs down maybe this would be a good time to adjust our sandals from the music plays and when the music plays just go down don't worship the image but fix your sandals and don't be a spectacle don't stand out don't cause a problem don't make the King mad wouldn't that be a temptation just look like you're cooperating don't attract unnecessary attention but they stood up they knew what was going to happen if they stood up daniel has to make a decision notice go to verse 10 well anyway I want to read verse 8 to that first that they prayed anyone but God or man they're gonna go to the dental liens by the way that was a death decree in case you didn't know that nobody came out of the lion's den now O King established the decree signed the writing so that it cannot be changed I want you to notice we saw the word firm decree sign the writing cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians which does not alter now is it me or is the Bible writer here emphasizing that these medo-persian laws don't change matter of fact we have an expression in English that comes from this story in the Bible and someone will say well it's not according to the law of the Medes and the Persians and what they mean is this is really what I want but it's not unchangeable because when you said according to law of the Medes and the Persians that meant it's like an old pharaoh of ten commandments what I have written I have written and so let it be written so let it be done not gonna be changed because back then a Kings word was law and here when the king signs a royal statute that's it even the king cannot change his own law Kings lost all respect if they did that I can think of three kings in the Bible there may be more that made laws they then wanted to change and they couldn't change them you have King he has you eros he makes a law that all the Jews are going to be attacked on a certain day then his wife lets him know Esther she's a Jew he cannot revoke his law all he can do is make another law that gives the Jews the right to preemptively attack their enemies so they're able to diffuse what would happen later King Herod makes a law he speaks and makes a vow that if his stepdaughter would come and dance he'd give her anything she wanted up to half his kingdom when she said I want the head of John the Baptist he was sorry he did not want to do it but he had spoken and a king loses all respect if they say something they don't keep the work and so here you have Darius he signs the law but he later discovers he didn't want to write that why he'd been tricked now with that in mind if earthly Kings could not revoke their laws written on paper or spoken how can Christians believe that the Almighty will write a law in stone with his finger speak it with his voice audibly before whole nation and then just whimsically and the only law that begins with the word remember you think that's especially important he said don't forget that that's the one he would change so that's one reason I became a seventh-day Adventist Christian is because I just kind of I couldn't buy it I just never could convince myself that God would do all he did with the ten commandments and say that I'm giving you a 10% discount and that one of them doesn't count anymore that he's a king and he's made a law and he went to great lengths to demonstrate how important it was it's unchangeable unlike some of the ceremonial laws that were clearly shadows written on paper written by Moses but God's law the Ten Commandments if anything is unchangeable that's the unchangeable law so the king he signs the decree verse 10 this is one of the great verses in the Bible Daniel 6 verse 10 now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed does he know about the law he knows how long it's supposed to last he knows he's not supposed to be seen praying publicly to any God or man that would include Jehovah for 30 days he knows the penalty is death Daniel probably knew some people from Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar administration that ended up in the lion's den when they fell for the Persians he knows about it says he goes home and in his upper room you know I did a whole sermon once on the upper room name some things that happened in the upper room holy spirits poured out Last Supper Elijah resurrects a boy he aligns your resurrects a boy both in the upper room right and now Daniel goes to you and there's probably others I'm forgetting huh David saw Bathsheba but that's not a good example that was the roof it's not another room but here Daniel he goes to the upper room it's you notice most of those examples there are places of sacred things happening miracles God's power was in the upper room you got an upper room Daniel goes the upper room it's a place of worship now up until this point Daniel probably had a good you know if you've been in the Babylonian king with your prime minister for Nebuchadnezzar and if you're a wise man for the other Kings like evil Mara doc and bel Shazzer and now you're a governor for King Darius you've probably got a nice piece of real estate Daniel wanted a house in a room that would face towards Jerusalem do you know why he wanted to pray towards the Jerusalem but why have you ever read in the dedication prayer now I'm gonna try and find it real quick and it this may take a minute let's go to first Kings chapter 8 when Solomon builds the temple and he dedicates the temple he prays one of the great prayers in the Bible someone else may have to look at him and find it for me let me see here he talks about praying towards this place yeah here we go you can go to verse 33 when your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they've sinned against you and they turn their back and profess your name and pray and make supplication to you in this temple then here in heaven when the heavens are how to shut up I mean when there's a famine there's another one really says when you pray towards this place that you're carried away let me see here which one 2935 yeah and they pray towards this place so Daniel read this Daniel read the Bible you'll find so he's got this real estate that's facing towards Jerusalem probably courtyard down below and I imagine for years everybody in that neighborhood would set their watches by Daniel now I don't remember where it was I think it was somewhere like Strasbourg Austria there was a town square that this very old cuckoo clock Karen and I were there years ago I just we went to so many places I don't remember where it was anymore and is a very elaborate clock and right at noon everyone would gather in the courtyard because this very ancient old clock would strike noon and all these characters these little doors would open up on all these characters would come out and they'd be chopping we're in the bird would be flapping its wings and they were doing all these things very interesting because it's very old it's like you know five hundred years old and tourists all come to watch this clock and you know we call them cuckoo clocks now because this a little bird comes out and I don't mean to compare Daniel with a cuckoo but like clockwork his window would open three times a day people could sit there watch by it no matter how busy he was he would always excused himself from any appointment or any meeting no matter how important the officials were you'd say I've got another appointment and he had an appointment with God three times a day that was a priority now of all the things I'm going to say to you tonight and those who are watching this is the most important the reason there's a book in the Bible called Daniel is because of what you see here in these verses his appointment with God it was because of his relationship with God that he had understanding and dreams and visions it's because of his relationship with God and that he prayed and read his Bible three times a day he prayed probably read his Bible or read the scriptures maybe daily I don't know one reason I know Daniel read the Bible is because you go to Daniel chapter 9 and Daniel says while I was reading the prophecies of Jeremiah now cannot be misunderstood - Jeremiah had written that before Daniel Daniel read where King Solomon said pray towards this place Daniel read where King David said morning evening and at noon while I pray Daniel didn't just read it Daniel did it now little things like praying towards Jerusalem if you were carried away captive and you prayed towards this place he did it prayed three times a day so Daniel had a devotional life and he let his light shine he opened his windows and everybody saw him pray when you go out to eat do you pray for your food do you do it so nobody will notice your Prain where was I was in Houston during a si a couple weeks ago when I went out with how to remember who I was with went out with somebody in our group got so I think I went with pastor Ross we stopped and we prayed and I comment commented to him I said you know here in Texas we don't have to feel awkward about praying because it's the Bible about and you see it frequently in California people might throw something at you if they see you visibly praying but should you hide what you believe if we are in a decadent wicked culture and that's makes you a just yeah one of the most despised things you could say is that I'm a Christian in some circles but should we close our windows Daniel even though he knew he was going to the Lions and he would not close his windows we need to Jesus said Matthew chapter five let your light so shine before men not that you might be a spectacle just so that you could wear your religion on your sleeve not so that you could attract attention to yourself let your light so shine before men they might see your good works and glorify your father in heaven so the reason to do it is to glorify God but don't hide what you believe Daniel could have closed his windows it says he knelt on his knees I haven't even read it yet he went to his upper room he could have done it downstairs in the basement but he went to a position of visibility notice how he goes as far as you can go to be seen he goes to the upper room opens his window he could have closed them he knelt he could have stood and just looked like he was taken in the breeze he knows he got into a posture of prayer and you know I realize as I get a little older it's harder to kneel but I don't think we should give up kneeling when we pray it doesn't mean you always need to pray kneeling but Bible has a lot to say all the way from Daniel to Solomon to Paul says they knelt down and pray and Jesus it's pretty good example and so there's a time for us to remember to bow in our posture and humble ourselves before God he knelt down on his knees how old was he minimum eighty may have been as much as 90 probably carried off at about 15 and during the first wave of captors that went was he's been there 70 years now so does that make sense you read the first chapter one of the amazing things that says in the first chapter he's he continued until the reign of Cyrus so he outlived Nebuchadnezzar evil mara doc bill Shazzer Darius and living into the reign of Cyrus we don't know how long he still knelt when he prayed three times a day he prayed and gave thanks before he is gone as was his custom since early days when's the best time to learn these habits of personal devotions train up a child as from early days now that to me I think is just so marvelous that he knows he's going to be arrested but he still gives thanks did you catch that the Bible says give thanks in all things sometimes it's hard to be thankful I was thinking about how selfish I am today and take my word for it I am really selfish lazy too but I can tell you that cuz you're probably selfish and at times lazy in our other house mailboxes outside the front door in Carmichael just reach out the front door now we're in a neighborhood where you got to go to a mailbox at the Community Shares and I'm I'm owning over that that my mail isn't delivered right to my door but what I didn't tell you is the pedestal with everybody's mailbox is out in front of my house so everyone in the neighborhood I thought I could put a little sign down on my front yard is everyone our neighborhood has to come to my front house to get their mail I had to put little witnessing things there I don't know if any of you saw we were getting I just I didn't have this so much in Carmichael as I have now but a lot of solicitors I don't know if they found that we're new in the neighborhood but folks were just knocking on the door and they're trying to sell an alarm system they're trying to sell you TVs are just lots of people and finally I got a night yeah and I typed up something I stuck on my front door and it said please no solicitations unless you agree to let me give you a bible study first nobody has knocked on the door or rung our doorbell since then but I figure if they're gonna be bold you know you've heard of door to door ministry I can do the door to door ministry from my side of the door so I figure if they're gonna come knocking on my door anyway but I don't think it's working very well not for Bible studies but it's keeping the solicitors away anyway so Daniels got incredible courage and these men assembled and found Daniel praying now was that an accident or had they been watching for him these men it's a handful that has pulled off this whole scheme they found Daniel praying because you need two or three witnesses they said all we all saw it they went before the king and they spoke concerning the Kings decree first they set the king up by saying now didn't you sign a decree that every man who petitions any God or man within 30 days except you O king will be cast into the den of lions the king you know he's kind of clueless what they're up he says yeah it's true according to the law of the Medes and the Persians he says it again which does not alter he's an amazing emphasis isn't it so they answered and said before the king that Daniel who is one of the captives from Judah now how long has he been in Babylon over 70 years how long is he is he a captive or has he been a leader in a wealthy consultant but they're referring to him with toxic tone in their breath that captive what did you put him in charge of us for that captor from Judah he doesn't show regard for you O king or the decree that you've signed but he makes his petition three times a day the King when he heard these words was greatly displeased with himself I can just picture that on his face that all of a sudden it's said in what that happened he had been set up the king didn't want to execute Daniel Pilate did not want to execute Jesus it was the religious are the other powers using religious laws that went to the government that's what happened to Christ that's what's gonna happen in the last days you know who some of our most severe adversaries are gonna be not just Christians but those who once shared our faith I think that's true some of the brightest lights will go out and those who once were standing with us are gonna turn didn't Jesus say a man's foes will be they of his own house that doesn't just mean where Christ says father will rise up against daughter and daughter against mother and long parents against children children against parents it may happen in families I'm sure it will it means these kind of families to people who are once part of our house argument turn on us who sold Joseph his brothers who tried to kill David the most the Philistines or his own son and his own king it's called friendly fire and who turned Jesus in to Pilate his own church who handed Samson over to the Philistines his own people and so I think you're gonna see that happening again so they went these were the guys who were is working you they shared an office with him didn't they he just read in the early verses they're working side by side with him in the Kings cabinet they turn him in that Daniel he doesn't regard you and the king was sore displeased with himself and he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him and the labor till the going down of the Sun that's when the day's over and he's got to fulfill the law before the days over to deliver him says one more verse approves the days begin and end at sundown then these men approached the king he says looking you're stretching it out you got to keep your law they didn't put you on an appeals court you didn't get on death row for ten years back in Babylon if you broke the law and they executed it right away no that no decree or statute though King makes can be changed there you have it again so the king gave the command and they brought Daniel and they cast them into the den of lions but the king spoken said to Daniel your God who you serve from time to time he will deliver you now any of you reading along with me how did Daniel serve God when the camera said record a little red light was on the top or all the time he was he was a man of integrity your God who you served continually morning evening and at noon he prayed he worshiped God all that I did until didn't pray three times a day Daniel prayed all the time but he set aside regular times for prayer and maybe I'll say word more about that Daniel went through a great test in his life praise the Lord he passed that test I believe he passed the test because he spent time in worship we are gonna have a great test that will come how do we pass the test some of you are acquainted with the Hebrew sanctuary and you know that the most important location was what they called the Holy of Holies that represented the presence of God that's where the law of God was no one could go in there for the high priest it was the inner sanctum but before you could get through there there's only one door you entered that one door into the holy place and there were three things that you had to pass by before you got into the Holy of Holies you remember what those three articles of furniture were table with bread now table just held the bread it's not the table it's the bread you had Oh lamb stand altar of incense that represents the three disciplines that prepare us for the presence of God bread jesus said man will not live by bread alone but by every word this is the bread of life it's the word of Christ Christ is the word I am the word that came down I am the bread that came down from heaven so you get we sing that song break the bread of life dear Lord to me you know in Luke says Jesus was known in the breaking of bread you ever read that he was known in the breaking of bread so we have to read our Bibles it's that simple the light you got to share your faith you are the light of the world Jesus and let your light so shine before men now we're really reflecting his life because he also says I'm the light of the world so we reflect his light but and then you've got the altar of incense which is prayer and you can even read and revelation and says the incense is the prayers of God's people three things that prepare us to enter the presence of God is let your light shine in other words open your windows be a witness spend time on a regular basis in prayer you can talk to God continually Bible says pray without ceasing but you should have regular times you know I I'm probably a really poor example of a prayer giant I say that because I've read some good ones I mean Luther used to pray two hours every morning I don't do that matter of fact I think Luther said if I don't spend at least two hours in prayer I can't get anything done that seems anti intuitive doesn't it i counterintuitive that the more time you spend in prayer the more you get done you're Wesley Whitfield these great reformers David Livingstone died on his knees with his Bible Oakland did you know that he was found by his servants in his tent he prayed so much George Whitfield died on his knees these people were Giants of Prayer but my habit is I want to make sure I'm at least religious religion is not all bad it means a regularity I wake up first thing I go into my office well first thing I do is heat up some water I go in my office I kneel down I pray just me and God Nathan goes to his room Karen does it it's she stays in the bedroom but you need your own personal time with God and then through the day I try to also feed my soul I read my Bible first thing in the morning I'm always reading through the Bible I've got a computer program that makes it easy for me because it tells me what my reading was yesterday where I left off where I start how much should I read to get through the Bible so Moe is just reading through the Bible it has nothing to do with my sermon preparation or articles or writing or anything like that just my Doug's Bible reading reading through the Bible and then I try to pray through the day and then when I'm in my car I listen to sermons I've listened to parts of two different sermons today I got a radio in my shower I listen that's probably too much information isn't it it's a waterproof radio someone gave it to me I even buy it Joran this is great and I've gotten where I really like it and I listened to KFI a and you know there's a lot of non-adventist sermons on there but you listen to family radio they'll read the Bible you can see somebody just did Bible reading and so I try to feed my soul cuz I'm busy you know you're always on the go but a lot of time you're in a car you're gonna be listening you're learning and I think especially in our day and age because you and I are bombarded with so many messages there has never been a generation in the history of the world like your generation that has more information coming at your senses non-stop I mean I'm up here preaching during church I see people texting each other and reading their little phones go and be beeping and they're looking in there they're just you know we had so much information all the time I go to the gas pump I remember the first time I just about jumped I thought I was all alone at the pumps and I said I heard a voice hi thanks for stopping by but there's a little TV monitor on the pump and it's they're playing commercials for you everywhere you go and and because of that because we are being hammered with a blizzard of information in this day and age we need to compensate uh or all the Bible you read is being diluted with the other messages so you need to compensate by trying to fill your mind with spiritual truth now I do that I barely get by just trying to do it with what I do now and then always what I go to bed at night pray Karen like we just got to have it we usually go to bed about the same time and we hold hands and pray Bible says let not the Sun go down on your wrath it's hard to be mad at someone you're praying with sometimes those prayers are short yeah but we we always hold hands and we pray before we go to sleep and so reading our Bibles praying and letting our light shine it seems so simple friends but that is the secret weapon to victory if you want to if you want to survive the Lions who is a lion be sober be vigilant because your adversary the lion is going around as your devil is going around like a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour so they went to the king he puts him in the lion's den you notice he labored till the going down of the Sun what time of day did Jesus die going down to the Sun right a stone is brought he puts Daniel and he says your God you serve continually he will deliver you a stone is brought and laid on the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and the signet of his lords was a stone placed on Jesus tomb was a government seal placed on Jesus tomb was Jesus married was Daniel married Daniel was a eunuch he wasn't married Christ was married to the church in a sense yeah the bride says husband's love your wives as Christ loves the church do you see some parallels here did Jesus come out of the tomb alive does Daniel come out of life I'm figuring you all know how the story ends at this point so the King goes through his palace and he spends the night fasting and no musicians were brought before him his sleep went from him now what do you think our God in heaven was doing by the way the King here in some ways represents the king of the universe in that was there any other way for God the Father to save us other than Jesus dying geez the prayed in the garden father if there's any other way and the father said all the last thing the world I want to do is lose you but there is no other way the King labored til the going down of the Sun there was no other way there was no music in heaven when Jesus was on the cross and there was no music in the palace of Persia when Daniel was in the lion's den in fact I'm guessing that Daniels went better than the king did he probably I remember reading a sermon by Dwight Moody or maybe it was Billy Sunday I'm sorry and he talked about how he leaned up against one of those lines and they purred and vibrated him to sleep and Daniel Daniel slept very well he wasn't afraid the king his sleep went from him and very early in the morning he makes haste and he goes to the den of lions what time of day did Jesus rise very early in the morning I got another sermon called early in the morning so interesting how many things happen the Bible says a great while before it was day this is when Jesus rose and it says a great while before it was they Jesus would go into the mountains and pray you ever wake up a little earlier so you could have a special prayer time with God so often we say oh I'm gonna pray longer tonight but I don't know about you sometimes my prayers get mingled with my dreams as I drift off to sleep when you wait til the end of the day but to wake up and pray don't give God the leftovers when your mind is running on three cylinders give him the beginning early in the morning he comes to the den of lions and the king cries out with a lamentable voice saying to Daniel Oh Daniel servant of the Living God has your God who you serve continually been able to deliver you you notice when he put him in he said he will save you but after thinking about it all night the king he said you know no one has ever come out of that lion's den and the longer he thought about it the more he worried finally he comes and he calls first thing in the morning he's fulfilled the law the law so they had to go to the lion's den didn't say they had to stay there so he fulfills the law and he says has he been able to save you and then Daniel calmly calls up echoing his voice up from the den Oh King live forever he'd be very proper my God has sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth how did Shadrach Meshach and Abednego survive the fiery furnace someone came into the furnace with them and delivered them because they stood up for God God stood up for them what happens here in the lion's den there's got to leave him alone with the Lions or does he come and protect them well god save us through our fiery trials will he save us through the lions then if we spend time with him and if we stand up for God the devil is not going to be happy about it you may go through a test but God says he'll go through it with you my God has sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth so they've not hurt me because I was found innocent before him and also before you O king I've done no wrong notice again like Christ innocent you know what it says concerning Jesus in Isaiah 53 that he's innocent Pilate says he's faultless talking about the sinlessness of Christ and notice it says now the king was exceedingly glad how do you think the angels in heaven were acting when Jesus rose from the tomb the king was exceedingly glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den so they lowered the ropes and they take Daniel up out of the Dan and no injury whatever was found on him when Shadrach Meshach and Abednego come out of the furnace it says they didn't even smell like smoke no injury only thing that burned was the ropes Daniel did not have a tooth mark his clothes were not torn he did not have a claw scratch they had not touched him no injury didn't get bruised no injury was found on him why because he believed in his God now there's a lot being said in the world today about just believe what does it mean to believe if you ever wonder what it means whosoever believes in Him will not but have eternal life what does it mean to believe here's what it means to belief how did Daniel believe in his God he obeyed he had a regular worship time he lived a consistent life where they followed him around and the cameras were rolling he was honest he was a man of integrity he worshiped God that's what it means to believe in God everybody thinks I shouldn't say everyone but I hear all kinds of preachers giving off this shallow dribble that just believing that Jesus died on the cross is somehow what it means to believe you know James talks about that and he says even the Devils believe that's that's a cheap belief it's the kind of belief that Daniel had will you live the life you worship God God says pray towards Jerusalem you Prix towards Jerusalem I was playing racquetball with a friend he's Muslim and all of a sudden he disappeared between games and I asked the friend I said where'd illegal he said he's a Muslim he's very devoted he's off in this empty exercise room he's praying towards the east towards Mecca and I thought well I don't agree with his theology I respect his convictions but would God more Christians would feel that rigorous about our devotion to God no form of harder hurt or injury was found on him because he believed in his God now you probably you heard me share that story before about the some people say this really wasn't a miracle the Lions didn't eat Daniel because the Kingdom had just changed hands the Persians had fed so many Babylonian politicians to the Lions that they threw in Daniel and he was skinny and and they just rolled over and their bellies were all bloated and they couldn't eat another politician and you know you get these critical theologians and they say the dumbest things in the world and it's like this hippie that came to the Lord at a Christian mission they gave him a Bible and for the first time he's reading the Bible up by a city park and this atheist walks by the hippie is getting excited and he says hallelujah praise the Lord and the Atheist couldn't resist their a good debate and say Walker recent why are you making the religious expressions is it all mystery said I just think I just accepted Jesus I got this Bible I'm reading the Bible and it's amazing I just read here that it tells us the Lord parted the Red Sea for the Egyptians or for the Israelites to cross over he said that actually was not the Red Sea it was a sea of reeds and it was just six inches deep well this man was dressed nice he looked educated he looked sophisticated and he said I'm just a hippie what do I know he said thanks I wasn't aware of that so the Atheist started walking away feeling pretty proud of himself and he heard the hippie yelling out praise the Lord hallelujah and he couldn't resist he walked back over he said now why are you shouting said mister is wonderful he said the Lord just drowned the whole Egyptian army in six inches of water and so for those who say this was not a miracle you've got to read the somber words that follow the king gave the command and they brought those men who had accused Daniel and they cast them into the den of lions them and their children and their wives and the lines or lions overpowered them and broke all their bones and pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den where the Lions hungry they were ferocious and then the King Darius wrote he sends that decree to all the nations of the world to all peoples nations languages that dwell on all the earth this was to go beyond his realm peace be multiplied to you I make a decree then every Dominion of my kingdom men must tremble in fear Biya before the God of Daniel for he is the Living God and steadfast forever his kingdom is one which will never be destroyed his Dominion shall endure forever he delivers and rescues and works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth who has delivered Daniel from the power of the Lions it's wonderful the last thing it says is he delivers from the power of the Lions what is a lion you know the Bible says the believer in Psalms will tread on the Serpent and the lion Samson killed the lion David killed the lion they were a symbol of the devil the enemy and I know they're the king of beasts and we love them and then we got pictures and think they're majestic and wonderful that's all fine biblically they often were synonymous with the devil you notice Daniels faithfulness when he went in his room and he opened his windows and said I'm gonna pray I might die but I'm gonna pray did he have any idea that his faithfulness was going to get the King to issue a decree around the world about Jehovah being faithful and something little like that translated into an international witness do you notice after Nebuchadnezzar saw Jesus in the furnace he issues a global decree through these faithful Hebrews the message went around the world you know what Jesus said in the last days you will be given opportunity to be witnesses before kings and rulers if we're faithful God is gonna bring us to the forefront and he will give you an opportunity to be a witness but we got to be faithful in the little things amen one last story I know I went a little long here some people say well that's a wonderful old story in the Bible this is a headlines from AP News it is 2005 from Addis Ababa Ethiopia the capital there 12 year-old girl was adept abducted and beaten a Christian girl by some Muslim men who are trying to force her into a marriage she managed to escape and was found by her family surrounded by three lions who had driven off her captors according to a policeman Tuesday girl had been missing for a week she had been taken by seven men who wanted to force her to marry one of them said sergeant well man do we a Jew speaking by telephone from the provincial capital she'd been guarded for the lion by the Lions for about a day they stood guard until the family came they just got up and walked away left her like a gift and went back into the forest so can God still deliver from lions and that's a wonderful story do you see prophecy in this where's Jesus faithful did they have spies following him around they said they found no fault in him around the going down of the Sun he's sentenced very early in the morning comes to the Lions then he rises seal stone on the mouth all those things happen to the cross this story in Daniel is not just a story for children it's got prophetic significance it's telling us about Jesus and you've got Daniel defeats the Lions Jesus defeats the devil you see that in here in the whole story is about which kingdoms gonna win I love this story can you tell anyway we've gone a little long but let's take a few quick prayer requests and thank you for our friends watching online will will bid you farewell look forward to seeing you Sabbath morning for our Sabbath School class

Channel: Aaron

Views: 21,184

Rating: 4.7587299 out of 5

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Id: SHxSu4cI8zU

Length: 56min 30sec (3390 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 22 2017