Safe in the Lions Den - Daniel 6:15-28

this is a message from the ministry of calvary chapel santa barbara for more information about our church please visit calvary SB comm daniel chapter 6 the first part of it we took a look at last week in the first fourteen verses we see how daniel was condemned to execution basically through the jealousy of some of his coworkers some of the other people on an equivalent level with him in the administration of the medo-persian empire they didn't like Daniel and to trap him they knew they couldn't find anything wrong in his character they couldn't find anything wrong in his conduct they knew that if they were gonna trap Daniel it had to be to trap him in his faithfulness to God knowing that he would be faithful to God above and beyond everything else so they manipulated King Darius of the Medes and Persians to pass a law that said that for thirty days it was absolutely prohibited to pray to anyone in his kingdom except for King Darius himself you had to pray to him you pray for breakfast you gotta pray to King Darius you pray before you start a trip you got to pray to King Darius well Daniel wasn't gonna stand for that and the men who set this trap knew that Daniel went home and prayed as he always had three times a day and he prayed in a faithful way and they trapped Daniel and they hope to have him receive the punishment that was included in the law and the punishment was to be thrown into a den of hungry lions where you would be eaten and killed of course King Darius didn't like that he figured out that he was getting manipulated but that was only after he had passed the law and so he worked tirelessly to see if there was a way that he could find a loophole in law and he worked for as long as he could all day long but finding no loophole it looked like Daniel was condemned and that's where we come to verse 15 of Daniel chapter 6 look at it with me now please we read then these men approached the king and said to the king no o King that it is the law of the Medes and the Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed so the king gave the command and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions but the King spoke saying to Daniel your God whom you serve continually he will deliver you so the men who were Daniel's enemies couldn't help but sort of rub it in as they came to the king and let him know how they had trapped him in this King do you remember that the laws of the Medes and the Persians cannot be changed you must throw Daniel into the lion's den and that's why they say it with such sort of Glee I would suppose in verse 15 no decree or statute which the king establishes can be changed there's no changing this king Daniel has to die now one of the things I love about this is it teaches us a very simple but a very straightforward principle and it's just simply this the principle is is that things that can never be changed with man God can change is that a wonderful principle I mean so many times we look at a situation we look at a person we look at a problem and we say humanly speaking there's no hope there humanly speaking nothing can be changed but God can change things that man never thinks can be changed there's a lot of us we've had enormous works of God done in our life based on that very principle Laura's work thankful to God that he set us free from things that among men could never be changed but God has the power to change things that men never think of it is I say that this morning just to make sure that nobody loses hope that nobody despairs you've been praying for that person a long long time and they don't seem to be one inch closer to Jesus Christ or surrendering their life to Him don't give up hope because things that humanly speaking can never be changed God can change you've been struggling with that addiction or that problem for so long you you've fallen back so many times you've had so many relapses that you think this can never be changed not in a hundred years what can never be change with man God can change these meant to great refuge in the fact that the laws of the Medes and the Persians could never be changed but God can bring about amazing changes and that's exactly what's going to do now one other thing that I want you to notice here is what Darius said when they put Daniel into the lion's den he spoke to Daniel this is in verse 16 your God whom you serve continually he will deliver you there's two things I want you to notice in that first of all I want you to notice the confidence of King Darius Daniel your God can deliver you I am powerless I give up I tried everything I could to deliver you to find some loophole in the law I couldn't find anything but your God can deliver you what an amazing testimony Daniels life had been to this man this man was a pagan King he wasn't raised in Israel he didn't know anything about the temple he probably had not read a single word of the law of Moses he was completely unfamiliar with the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob except what he saw through the life and the testimony of Daniel but that was enough to make him take a look and say no Dan I know your God can deliver you we see the confidence of King Darius but there's another thing we see here we see the consistency of Daniels life did you notice that phrase in verse 16 your God whom you serve continually brothers and sisters that is what made Daniel's testimony many of us occasionally display godly character or wisdom we occasionally display trust in the Lord or let's take off occasionally from the table let's just say this we mostly display godly character or wisdom or trust in Lord what was Daniel's testimony continually look I don't know about you but sometimes myself I find myself in that place in my Christian life where it's three steps forward one step back three steps forward one step back and I suppose that there's an aspect of human Nate sure where that's just typical you know what I want God to do such a work in my life that people could say a mother he continually serves the Lord his service of God his honoring God his devotion to God it's not an occasional thing it's not a mostly thing it's a continual thing and just look at that by the way that he lives and this is another thing I need to add on this I want you to notice Daniels continual service of God was noted even though he worked in a secular job or a government job you might think that for you to continually serve the Lord well I got to become a pastor well I got to work for a church well I got to work for a religious nonprofit then I can continually serve Lord brother sister you can continually serve God in whatever place that he's called you I mean unless your your profession is like disreputable or really bad well then you need to repent of that and that but whatever it is your life your profession you can honor and glorify God in it Daniel wasn't a priest Daniel wasn't a preacher Daniel was a government official yet other people could look he serves God continually and what he does so whatever it is whatever your calling in life it is whatever God has given you to do in your home in your community in your career in your profession with your family it can be noted that you are a man or woman who serves God continually you don't have to quit everything else and go into the ministry so to speak your life can be a continual ministry to God here we go on to verse 16 Daniels put into the lion den verse 16 then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den and the King sealed it with his own signet ring and with the cygnets of his lords that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed now the King went to his palace and spent the whole night fasting and no musicians were brought before him also his sleep went from him do you have the scene in your mind they put Daniel in the lion's den they roll the stone in place over the opening it closes over it the king whales oh it's like a Wookiee moan from Star Wars Chewbacca moaning out oh it's terrible and then it goes out and the King has to walk away he's absolutely crestfallen he doesn't know what to do what's gonna happen to Daniel he is in a we conceived of like a stone room a stone cave some kind of den and there the Lions are in the midst and he's thinking well we're gonna find out if Daniels God is real or not the Kings sealed the entrance the stone that blocked the entrance to the the the den where Daniel was with the Lions he sealed it not just so that nobody could get out but so that nobody could go in as well because who knows maybe some other kind of assassin would try to get in and trouble Daniel he goes back to his palace and what does he do he can't do anything he's consumed with thinking what's happening to Daniel what's God gonna do with Daniel it's Daniels God mighty enough he tells the musicians go home from the night I don't want to hear you I can't eat anything I'm fasting and then finally it says there in verse 18 it says his sleep went from him now we don't know exactly what Daniel was doing that night with the Lions in the den I'd like to think he was playing around with him would that be pretty awesome but here's a simple question if Daniel was able to sleep that night who do you think had a better night's sleep Daniel or Darius I mean if I'm making a movie out of this I have morning coming to that lion's den and Daniels there you know kind of laying around on a couple of the lions just and they're all sleeping together they're in the lion's den is pretty awesome night for Daniel he had Lions that weren't gonna eat him he had as we're gonna find out later an angel present in the room and Daniels at perfect peace he was a man of Prayer so he's praying through the night he's probably having wonderful fellowship with God in the company of some pretty awesome examples of God's creation because you've seen it in the you know the television and the movies are gone to the zoo here you've seen how awesome lions are and tentacle Lord you're so good but I'm sure maybe Daniel began by praying maybe same praying something from the scriptures I like to think that Daniel might have prayed something from Psalm 22 verses 21 and 22 Psalm 22 starting at verse 21 save me from the lion's mouth I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly I will praise you I can imagine Daniel praying something like this Lord I don't know if now's my time I've lived faithful for you these 80 plus years and if you want me to keep on serving you and glorifying your musician then Lord preserve me preserve me from the lion's mouth but I entrust you with this completely God I'll serve you no matter what and then he finds out that with the presence of an angel which we'll talk about in just a few moments those lions became his friends those lions became his companions there in the den I'll tell you this for sure if Daniel slept he had a better night than Darius he had peace he had prayer he probably had sleep and he had the company of some awesome lions and even an angel that's where we come to verse 19 where it says then the King arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions and when he came to the den he cried out with the lamenting voice to Daniel the King spoke saying to Daniel Daniel servant of the Living God has your God whom you serve continually been able to deliver you from the Lions then Daniel said to the king o King live forever my God sent his angel and shut the Lions mouths so that they have not hurt me because I was found innocent before him and also O king I have done no wrong before you then the king was exceedingly glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den so Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him because he believed in his god verse 19 tells us that it took place very early in the morning and you can imagine it was early in the morning have you ever had truly a sleepless night and I'm not talk about sleepless because you're ill although the same principle may be applying I'm talking about there's so much on your mind you can't you're so wound up with anxiety of zit you can't sleep all night there you are in your bed your eyes are as big as saucers you're just staring up to the ceiling and what do you wait for you wait for the first glimmer of light you get up and look out the window is it morning yet no it's not morning yet you lay back down wide-awake you get up five minutes later is it morning now Darius is waiting like a watchman wading through the night for the first glimmer of dawn and as soon as it comes he comes and he runs to the lion's den he has the stone rolled away the seal broken and he looks inside and what does he cry out did you see what he says he cries out Daniel serve another living God has your God whom you serve continually been able to deliver you from the Lions Daniel I want to know is your God mighty enough I couldn't help you I got manipulated into passing a law I never wanted to pass and now you stand condemned even though you're innocent of everything there you are in the mid suit I want to has your God been able to deliver you if I make in the movie of this I have Daniel count to five before he responds just just to kind of you know spice it up a little bit for Darius Darris his heart he can hear his heart beating his own just am I gonna hear back from Daniel am I gonna hear back from Daniel and then finally he hears a voice call out from the lion's den he says o king live forever my God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth so that they have not hurt me can you imagine the relief that flooded King Darius his heart when he heard those words I mean as soon as he hears the voice of Daniel he knows he's alive he's delivered I'm not hearing the anguished cries of a man who's half mauled by lions no I hear his voice and he's telling me that God has preserved him that verse 22 says that God sent his angel to shut the Lions mouths now we don't know exactly if Daniel saw the angel it's possible that Daniels does knew an angel is there but never saw him I'd like to think that Daniel and the angel were kind of hanging out there together enjoying the Lions people like to speculate how did the angel stop the Lions mouths you know maybe it was sort of like this mind trick that he played on the Lions you're not hungry nobody's here maybe he gave the Lions a very temporary stomach ache but it was very temporary as we're gonna find out before the end of the chapter maybe he just changed the nature of the Lions or just that maybe he blocked the Lions maybe he wrestled with the Lions all night in a playful kind of way we don't know exactly how he did it but we know that Hebrews chapter 1 verse 14 says that angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation and God sent one angel there were multiple Lions this is the Lions plural den multiple Lions one angel multiple Lions no problem they were there all together through the night by the way Daniel also insisted in verse 22 King I've done no wrong before you in other words Daniel broke the king's law but he was never against the king when Daniel and we saw this last week when Daniel went up to the upper room and prayed don't you think he probably prayed for king darius darius even when I broke the letter of your law I did it in a way that was for you and not against you I care for you King Darius I prayed for you King Darius I've done no wrong before you and Daniel could say that with the integrity of his heart and then verse 23 it says because he believed his God that's why Daniel was delivered Daniel was preserved through faith his cause was righteous he was unjustly accused but those things alone did not protect him before the Lions Daniel needed a living abiding faith in God even in the most difficult circumstances and he had the faith and God delivered him and that's why because of his faith Daniel is recognized in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 33 as the one as who by faith he stopped the mouths of lions and he gets into that registry of faith now before we move on to the next verse I do need to point out something look we need to be real about this you know that both from your reading of the Bible and you know that from history and even the present day that there are people who perish in the lion's den there are faithful servants of Jesus Christ who are beheaded and not delivered there are faithful servants of Jesus Christ who are executed and not set free that doesn't mean that God has let them down it means that for that time and in that purpose God understood that the best way he could bring glory to himself was through the simple strengthening of his servant to make it through and to lay down their life in a glorious way before him if we were to read in this story that Daniel stood brave in front of the Lions and perished as Christians later did in the Roman Empire where they were literally set upon by Lions in the arenas and Coliseum's of the ancient world if that were to be Daniels fate then we would be praising God for the strength and faithfulness that he gave his servant to stand bravely to the end but there are times there are wonderful places where God understands that it furthers his plan it furthers his glory in a remarkable way to bring a miraculous deliverance and Daniel no doubt sensed that that's what God wanted to do at this time and at this place and therefore he prayed and therefore God answered that prayer he believed and God honored that faith but we don't have an attitude at all that says before God well I love you as long as you deliver me from the lion's den well I'll serve you as long as you deliver me from the lion's den Lord I will trust you in the lion's den and you will know how to bring glory to yourself in that circumstance but isn't it pretty awesome that God delivered Daniel and he came out of that lion's den better than ever verse 24 and the King gave the command and they brought those men who had accused Daniel and they cast them into the den of lions them their children and their wives and the Lions overpowered them and broke all their bones and pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den Wow do you see what happened there the King says all right I want these men who plotted against Daniel bring them before me you guys manipulated me and plotted to send Daniel to the lion's den he came out just fine let's see how you do down in there I'm sure those men were kind of thinking well Daniel came out fine we'll be good that's not how it worked out was it by order of King Darius those men were thrown down into the lion's den and before they even hit the ground the Lions overpower them and like a lion on an antelope they just ate him up quickly now the part of it that bothers us is when we read in this that it wasn't just the men who plotted against Daniel it was their wives and children as well and we read that we go what's going on here can I just have you observed something sometimes we need to read the Bible with eyes wide open nowhere does it say that God told Darius to do that know where the God doesn't say God doesn't say he approved of it God doesn't say definitely that he told Darius to do it but this was the rage of a pagan king who if he knew God at all he was just getting to know him filled with fury against the men who plotted and manipulated him and plotted against the life of Daniel I should say but in nowhere says in the text that God commanded these wives and children to be similarly executed nowhere does it say that nobody should blame that one on God but it showed it showed that there was no problem with the Lions they were more than willing to dispose of the king's enemies if the King so desired there's another thing I want you to see here this illustrates the work of the cross in Reverse what do I mean by that well what happened at the cross when Jesus died on the cross do we understand what happened when Jesus died on the cross an innocent man Jesus of Nazareth he died in the place of those who were guilty that's us you mean all of us all of humanity we're all guilty what happened at Daniel's Lions Den the guilty were punished in the place of the innocent the innocent one Daniel was let go the guilty ones perish brother and sisters that's how it works in the world we live in the way it's supposed to work the innocent get off the guilty are punished doesn't always work that way but that's the way it's supposed to happen but at the cross God said I'm gonna reverse that I'm going to take the innocent one and I'm gonna punish him as if he were guilty and those guilty ones I'm gonna treat them as if they were innocent that's the glorious counterintuitive exchange of what God did at the cross and I'm so happy for it I don't know about you I'm so happy that at the cross Jesus Christ took the guilt the shame the stain of my sin and he bore it in himself on that tree now concluding here verse 25 Darius is going to make a decree that everybody must honor the god of Daniel ready then King Darius wrote to all peoples nations and languages that dwell in all the earth peace be multiplied to you I make a decree that in every Dominion of my kingdom men must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel for he is the Living God and steadfast forever his kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed and his Dominion shall endure to the end he delivers and rescues and he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth who has delivered Daniel from the power of the Lions so this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian King Darius wrote a decree for everyone in his kingdom to pay attention and to honor the god of Daniel who's the covenant God of Israel the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob Yahweh the God revealed to us in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the Greek scriptures what we sometimes called the Old Testament and the New Testament he said to all the world forget about your pagan gods the God of Israel he is the true God and in this we see Daniel chapter 6 following a pattern that we've seen throughout every chapter of the Book of Daniel thus far here's the pattern first God's people stand firm in their convictions they stand without compromise number two God honors and protects his servants and then number three the testimony of God's work makes the ungodly see and tell of the greatness of God we find that same story repeated in every chapter of the first six chapters of the book of Daniel for example Daniel and his four friends they stand firm and they refuse to eat at the Kings cafeteria in Daniel chapter one Nebuchadnezzar saw the fruit of it and he honored God in Daniel chapter 2 Daniel boldly and wisely in but it Nebuchadnezzar's dream and the king honored Daniel and is God in Daniel chapter 3 Shadrach Meshach and Abednego stood firm and Nebuchadnezzar gave glory to God in Daniel chapter 4 Daniel boldly told Nebuchadnezzar the truth the king humbled himself and gave glory to God and in Daniel chapter 5 Daniels stood firm and boldly told Belshazzar the the truth and the lying excuse me and the king he was a lying King but in the King honoured Daniel it happens in each chapter it's the way that the story repeats again and again let me draw to you again number 1 God's people stand firm in their convictions number 2 God honors and protects them and number 3 the testimony of God's work makes the ungodly see the greatness of God and tell of the greatness of God don't you want people who do not yet believe in Jesus Christ don't you want them to see the greatness of God don't you want them to proclaim the greatness of God themselves how's it gonna happen it will not happen if we are weak in our own convictions if we do not stand for the truth of the Bible the truth of God's inspired and inerrant Word if we don't stand despite the pressures of a culture all around us that wants to mold us in its image instead of us living in God's Way and a gods of we'll never find the respect we'll never glorify God before a watching world the way that we should the point is really pretty clear when we stand firm in godly convictions please nobody think for a moment I'm talking about go out and be an arrogant jerk that's not standing firm and godly convictions but what we're just talking about is that inner strength that inner fortitude that we received as a gift from Jesus Christ when we stand firm and godly conviction when we honor God even when it costs us something then other people will see and it'll impress him has it ever cost you something to truly follow Jesus Christ don't be afraid the next time it does it's God's opportunity for you to give him greater glory in this world so Darius does this he honors the god of Daniel he says that phrase in verse 26 the god of Daniel we wish that he was also the god of Darius maybe not yet maybe not yet but then in verse 28 we end the chapter with seeing that Daniel prospered this is the last link in a long chain set all through this chapter daniel progressed along a path and you could connect them all with the letter P ready Daniel was plotted against he prayed he praised he persistently served he was persecuted he was protected he was preserved he was then preferred and finally he prospered God set Daniel in this place and he was blessed at the end of it well what a great chapter Daniel chapter 6 it's really wonderful but can I tell you what I love the most about Daniel chapter 6 it's something I love about all these wonderful stories from the Old Testament the if you'll look they'll tell you about something that's even greater than Daniel even greater than deliverance from a lion's den what do I mean well let me tell you the story here see this story here we go a man without blame faithful to God in all of his ways a man who was given and noted for prayer he was sent to his death because of the jealousy of those who wanted to prevent his exaltation he was condemned to death by the plotting of his enemies and the law of the land and he was thrown into a stone room meant to be his tomb a stone was rolled over the opening and a seal was stet over that stone but in all of its power in all of its ferocity death couldn't touch him and in the morning the stone was rolled away he came out victoriously he glorified God and the pagans gave honor to God and his enemies were judged that's a pretty good story isn't it and whom am I talking about Jesus oh of course I'm talking about Daniel but I'm talking about Jesus isn't it beautiful isn't it powerful to see that's so often these amazing Old Testament stories if we will look for it they are like a red arrow flashing and blinking at us pointing us to Jesus Jesus is the one who emerged from the den of lions victoriously because death couldn't touch him because there was an enemy worse than a pack of lions set out after Jesus sin was after him death was after him but Jesus emerged victorious and now he says to you now I will pass my victory on to you that's a great story it's a story for us to receive with all of our hearts and to receive by faith right here right now so let's pray just for that end let's pray together father in heaven we see this and we love the story of Daniel in the lion's den we love his courage we love the angel we love the reaction of King Darius we love the Lions Lord that's pretty awesome as well the Lord more than anything we love in this story how it points us to Jesus Christ how it exalts him so thank you for that lord thank you for exalting Jesus endurance thank you Lord that death could not hold him that the Lions of sin and death could never overpower Jesus but he was delivered from their paws and their jaws Thank You Lord now Lord we pray that you would help us to at your invitation connect ourselves with that great victory you want at the cross in the open tomb prepare us now to by faith and in action make a connection to that great work we pray this Lord in Jesus name Amen this is a message from the ministry of calvary chapel santa barbara for more information about our church please visit calvary s be calm

Channel: David Guzik

Views: 8,204

Rating: 4.878788 out of 5

Keywords: daniel, lions den

Id: 85zKhcXclQA

Length: 33min 56sec (2036 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 12 2018