WEBVTT 00:00:05.600 --> 00:00:07.519 Hey friend, welcome back here to the Seminar 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:09.560 Seminary and another week, another episode of 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:12.460 our Bible study series. We call the Bible for 00:00:12.460 --> 00:00:17.059 Grownups. This is a special Jim's birthday edition. 00:00:17.420 --> 00:00:19.879 And tonight we're going to tell one of my favorite 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:22.960 stories, one of my favorite things to do and 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:25.859 look at one of those familiar stories that even 00:00:25.859 --> 00:00:28.539 if you're not a big church person, you still 00:00:28.539 --> 00:00:31.100 kind of know the story. We're going to talk tonight 00:00:31.100 --> 00:00:34.100 about Daniel in the lion's den, but we're going 00:00:34.100 --> 00:00:37.859 to look behind the scenes and actually catch 00:00:37.859 --> 00:00:41.659 what's going on with Daniel in the story that 00:00:41.659 --> 00:00:47.479 might lead us to some sort of explanation as 00:00:47.479 --> 00:00:51.179 to how he finds his way out of the lion's den. 00:00:51.719 --> 00:01:05.719 I'll see you on the other side. Are you ready? 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:07.540 Okay. Well, if you're ready, then we're ready. 00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:13.900 I've been waiting to hear that. Oh, you're ready. 00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:17.799 Okay. Well, but we've been waiting for David 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:19.799 to get ready. That's right. Now that David's 00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:21.719 ready, I'm going to go ahead and begin. I hope 00:01:21.719 --> 00:01:26.400 you don't mind. Hey, I want to thank Carrie, 00:01:26.659 --> 00:01:30.659 Jan, and Gigi for everything for the little birthday 00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:33.000 soiree tonight. Thank you guys for that very 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.280 much. Thank you for the pizza and the cake. Thank 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:41.379 you. Tonight, I would like to talk about standing 00:01:41.379 --> 00:01:43.659 strong. We're going to look at a couple of these 00:01:43.659 --> 00:01:45.540 stories over the next couple weeks about Daniel. 00:01:46.140 --> 00:01:48.819 Being my birthday, I wanted to kind of just do 00:01:48.819 --> 00:01:50.879 one of those things I like to do, and that is... 00:01:51.870 --> 00:01:54.790 We like to think that what we do here on Wednesday 00:01:54.790 --> 00:01:59.049 nights is an examination of the Bible, but treating 00:01:59.049 --> 00:02:03.950 the Bible like grown -ups, understanding it from 00:02:03.950 --> 00:02:07.930 an adult, mature perspective. And you've heard 00:02:07.930 --> 00:02:10.370 me say this a ton, but again, just to remind 00:02:10.370 --> 00:02:12.409 you, and tonight I think is one of those perfect 00:02:12.409 --> 00:02:16.210 examples, because so often many of us in our 00:02:16.210 --> 00:02:20.099 journey were taught the Bible. To some degree, 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:22.280 but at some point we were probably taught the 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:28.039 Bible as children. Or maybe we came to Jesus 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:31.259 a little later in our life and we learned the 00:02:31.259 --> 00:02:36.400 Bible then, but often in those situations. We 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:40.680 might learn the Bible as adults, but we're taught 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:44.020 that Bible by people who were taught the Bible 00:02:44.020 --> 00:02:47.710 as children. So we sometimes find ourselves kind 00:02:47.710 --> 00:02:51.849 of in this feedback loop of not having a real 00:02:51.849 --> 00:02:55.370 understanding about what the Bible says, what 00:02:55.370 --> 00:02:58.189 it promises, what it's supposed to mean to us. 00:02:58.689 --> 00:03:02.210 And we take that childlike understanding of this 00:03:02.210 --> 00:03:05.810 handbook to our lives. We rush headlong into 00:03:05.810 --> 00:03:09.750 our adult lives. We encounter the world for what 00:03:09.750 --> 00:03:13.610 it really is. And sometimes we feel like... We 00:03:13.610 --> 00:03:16.949 find maybe those childlike explanations of what's 00:03:16.949 --> 00:03:20.949 in Scripture don't seem to do much for us in 00:03:20.949 --> 00:03:25.449 our adult troubled lives. And what happens often 00:03:25.449 --> 00:03:31.909 is people become dismayed. Some people actually 00:03:31.909 --> 00:03:35.349 walk away from the faith because they feel like 00:03:35.349 --> 00:03:39.240 maybe they were sold a bill of goods. What they 00:03:39.240 --> 00:03:41.960 believed that was supposed to happen to them 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:45.699 now that they had faith in God doesn't seem like 00:03:45.699 --> 00:03:47.639 the stuff that they were promised that was in 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:51.280 the Bible is actually coming true. So often they 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:54.719 find themselves walking away. And I would argue, 00:03:54.780 --> 00:03:59.020 from the perspective of biblical literacy, actually 00:03:59.020 --> 00:04:01.659 knowing what the Bible says, not just thinking 00:04:01.659 --> 00:04:05.280 we do, that that does an incredible disservice. 00:04:06.349 --> 00:04:08.669 Because I believe that as a result, there are 00:04:08.669 --> 00:04:11.810 many, many people who have walked away from faith, 00:04:11.889 --> 00:04:15.969 walked away from God, because they believed something 00:04:15.969 --> 00:04:18.689 about the Bible and our relationship with God 00:04:18.689 --> 00:04:23.149 that's in the Bible that just isn't true. So 00:04:23.149 --> 00:04:27.029 if you are one of those people that maybe find 00:04:27.029 --> 00:04:31.449 yourself on the outside of faith, or maybe you're 00:04:31.449 --> 00:04:33.689 still in church, but you know you've got one 00:04:33.689 --> 00:04:37.170 foot headed towards the exit door, Because maybe 00:04:37.170 --> 00:04:39.930 that's how you feel. I just want to say, give 00:04:39.930 --> 00:04:43.170 it another chance. Let's look at this Bible as 00:04:43.170 --> 00:04:45.410 adults. Let's actually see and try to understand 00:04:45.410 --> 00:04:48.490 what it says and what it means and what that 00:04:48.490 --> 00:04:52.930 means to us. And then we can talk about it. Okay? 00:04:53.389 --> 00:04:56.769 And tonight is one of, being my birthday, I wanted 00:04:56.769 --> 00:05:00.069 to just do one of those good old -fashioned BBS 00:05:00.069 --> 00:05:04.300 -type Bible stories. has a lot more going on 00:05:04.300 --> 00:05:06.899 to it than just the cartoon version you're going 00:05:06.899 --> 00:05:09.779 to play in your head when I talk about it. Right? 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:13.199 So we're going to look at that. Tonight we're 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:16.579 going to talk about standing strong. And again, 00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:19.720 if you grew up in Sunday school, you probably 00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:22.459 have heard about a guy in the Bible named Daniel 00:05:22.459 --> 00:05:25.620 and something called Daniel in the lion's den. 00:05:26.250 --> 00:05:29.069 Right? I mean, up there at the top of the Bible, 00:05:29.170 --> 00:05:31.750 stories that we all learn, whether we're big 00:05:31.750 --> 00:05:35.230 Bible -thumping Christians or not, is usually 00:05:35.230 --> 00:05:40.649 like Noah's Ark, Daniel and the Lion's Den, David 00:05:40.649 --> 00:05:43.610 and Goliath, right? Like the Mount Rushmore, 00:05:43.649 --> 00:05:46.970 those stories that we almost all of us know some 00:05:46.970 --> 00:05:49.870 part of the story, but do we really know the 00:05:49.870 --> 00:05:53.379 story? One of the challenges with this particular 00:05:53.379 --> 00:05:56.300 story is a lot of times, again, it gets taught 00:05:56.300 --> 00:06:00.759 in almost like BBS -like style. Daniel is this 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:02.420 handsome, remember you're going to play the cartoon 00:06:02.420 --> 00:06:04.300 in your head, right? Daniel is this handsome 00:06:04.300 --> 00:06:07.079 young man, and there are these three lions, but 00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:09.180 in the cartoon in your head, they're not real 00:06:09.180 --> 00:06:12.939 lions. They're beautiful little kittens, right? 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:15.800 They kind of cuddle up to Daniel. He uses them 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:18.879 as a pillow. Reality would have been nothing 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:24.899 like that at all. First of all, let's contextualize 00:06:24.899 --> 00:06:28.620 the story. First of all, when Daniel experiences 00:06:28.620 --> 00:06:34.560 this, he's somewhere in his 80s or so. He's been 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:39.560 walking with God now for eight decades. He's 00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:44.480 an older man now, right? And the lions don't 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:49.120 look like kittens. I need to say this. I have 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:53.939 respect for lions. Not a big fan of cats, but 00:06:53.939 --> 00:06:59.139 lions I respect. Different creature. Okay? So 00:06:59.139 --> 00:07:02.259 anyway, we've got Daniel in the lion's den, a 00:07:02.259 --> 00:07:04.399 well -known story. But again, I want to bring 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:06.199 a little context. And we're going to talk about 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:10.839 how we can learn to stand strong even when we're 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:15.060 experiencing severe opposition. So as I want 00:07:15.060 --> 00:07:18.069 to do. Let me give a little bit of the history. 00:07:18.209 --> 00:07:21.129 I'm looking tonight in the prophecy of Daniel. 00:07:21.230 --> 00:07:24.449 That's the book of Daniel. But Daniel is a prophet. 00:07:24.509 --> 00:07:29.470 He prophesies about the present and future experience. 00:07:29.670 --> 00:07:32.529 And so when we have those types of books in the 00:07:32.529 --> 00:07:35.750 Bible, Jonah is another prophet. We might refer 00:07:35.750 --> 00:07:38.810 to that as the book of Jonah or the book of Daniel. 00:07:38.930 --> 00:07:42.410 But given that these are the recordings of prophets, 00:07:42.610 --> 00:07:44.870 they're actually technically called prophecies. 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:47.899 So while you can certainly continue to call this 00:07:47.899 --> 00:07:49.980 the book of Daniel, if you really, really, really 00:07:49.980 --> 00:07:53.100 want to be particular about it, and you want 00:07:53.100 --> 00:07:55.139 to be one of those people at parties that goes, 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:58.480 well, actually, right, it's actually the prophecy 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:00.800 of Daniel. We're looking at the prophecy of Daniel 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:07.180 tonight in chapter 6. Okay? And you might know 00:08:07.180 --> 00:08:09.920 there's another famous story with Shadrach, Meshach, 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:12.860 and Abednego, right? Daniel, those guys? All 00:08:12.860 --> 00:08:17.990 right. We often think about Daniel. Remember, 00:08:18.250 --> 00:08:22.069 he has been taken after the fall of Jerusalem. 00:08:22.110 --> 00:08:27.089 He's one of the ones that was taken to the new 00:08:27.089 --> 00:08:31.310 kingdom and was put to work in the administrative 00:08:31.310 --> 00:08:36.129 work of the new empire. So yes, he was brought 00:08:36.129 --> 00:08:41.929 into captivity, but he works at the palace. He's 00:08:41.929 --> 00:08:46.240 got a pretty nice... but it's not a life that's 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:49.860 free from opposition. Now, when that happens, 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:52.940 you guys probably remember that the king was 00:08:52.940 --> 00:08:55.980 a guy by the name of Nebuchadnezzar. When our 00:08:55.980 --> 00:08:59.259 story tonight takes place, Daniel's actually 00:08:59.259 --> 00:09:02.320 on his third king, and it's a guy by the name 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:07.139 of Darius. Remember, he's in his 80s now. Now, 00:09:07.139 --> 00:09:09.759 what's interesting about Darius is history records 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:14.159 him as an administrative genius. In fact, as 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:16.580 soon as he started ruling his kingdom, he came 00:09:16.580 --> 00:09:20.679 and reorganized everything. And this reorganization 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:24.860 shows up in Middle Eastern administrative governance 00:09:24.860 --> 00:09:30.840 for thousands of years later. This guy was a 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:33.480 real genius. And he came up with this administrative 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:37.120 plan that was in use for a long, long, long time. 00:09:38.259 --> 00:09:43.570 And he set up... 120, and the word, the title 00:09:43.570 --> 00:09:49.750 is called satraps. That's the title. And a satrap, 00:09:49.750 --> 00:09:54.289 that word means kingdom protector. And then he 00:09:54.289 --> 00:09:59.169 put three administrators over these 120 satraps. 00:09:59.309 --> 00:10:05.590 And Daniel is one of these three top guys. And 00:10:05.590 --> 00:10:08.269 their job would be to protect against rebellion, 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:13.500 to levy and collect taxes, and to guard the financial 00:10:13.500 --> 00:10:18.600 affairs of the empire. Basically, they were there 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:22.120 to balance the national checkbook. So Daniel 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:26.539 chapter 6, verses 1 through 3, and this will 00:10:26.539 --> 00:10:28.279 kind of tell you basically what I just told you. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:31.539 But verse 1 says, It pleased Darius to appoint 00:10:31.539 --> 00:10:34.940 120 satraps. to rule throughout the kingdom, 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:37.779 with three administrators over them, one of which 00:10:37.779 --> 00:10:40.820 was Daniel. The satraps, or kingdom protectors, 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:43.740 were made accountable to them so that the king 00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:47.320 may not suffer loss. Their job, again, is to 00:10:47.320 --> 00:11:04.289 protect the kingdom. Verse 3 says, All throughout 00:11:04.289 --> 00:11:07.769 Daniel's life, we can look at through that book, 00:11:07.850 --> 00:11:13.169 and we see Daniel standing out, standing differently 00:11:13.169 --> 00:11:17.889 from everybody else around him. Daniel exemplifies 00:11:17.889 --> 00:11:24.610 serving God with an excellent spirit. Daniel 00:11:24.610 --> 00:11:29.019 is always going the extra mile. Even when he's 00:11:29.019 --> 00:11:32.220 working for what we would probably consider to 00:11:32.220 --> 00:11:37.659 be the enemy kingdom. Right? He's always going 00:11:37.659 --> 00:11:40.779 the extra mile. And so Darius says, I want to 00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:45.379 put him in charge and he'll be second only to 00:11:45.379 --> 00:11:49.580 me. That sounds like that would be a great day. 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:56.259 Right? New job. Promotion. He's still serving 00:11:56.259 --> 00:11:59.700 God. He could still continue to be this great 00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:02.120 witness through the example of his life. But 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:06.659 the reality, what ends up, what looks like a 00:12:06.659 --> 00:12:09.500 promotion from the outside actually introduces 00:12:09.500 --> 00:12:14.940 a lot of trouble from the inside. Because the 00:12:14.940 --> 00:12:19.039 two other administrators, they were jealous of 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:23.240 Daniel. And they go all Hunger Games on him and 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:26.210 they say, we're going to take this guy out. We're 00:12:26.210 --> 00:12:28.769 going to falsely accuse him. And we're going 00:12:28.769 --> 00:12:31.190 to just figure out a way, just get him out of 00:12:31.190 --> 00:12:35.629 the picture so that we can have this role. We're 00:12:35.629 --> 00:12:40.789 jealous. We want to take him down a peg. And 00:12:40.789 --> 00:12:44.309 in that spirit, they go after him. And we're 00:12:44.309 --> 00:12:48.029 going to watch Daniel stand strong and what I 00:12:48.029 --> 00:12:51.629 believe to be the result of his faith, a supernatural 00:12:51.629 --> 00:12:58.269 strength. that can only come from a long -term, 00:12:58.370 --> 00:13:03.830 developed, cultured, cultivated faith relationship 00:13:03.830 --> 00:13:07.870 with the living God. So for Daniel chapter 6, 00:13:07.970 --> 00:13:11.009 what I want to do is show you three truths to 00:13:11.009 --> 00:13:14.350 help all of us stand strong, even in the midst 00:13:14.350 --> 00:13:17.710 of opposition. The first of these truths that 00:13:17.710 --> 00:13:21.509 I'd like to show you through the story is, and 00:13:21.509 --> 00:13:25.190 again, Especially on Wednesday nights, we run 00:13:25.190 --> 00:13:27.789 across a lot of these. This is something that 00:13:27.789 --> 00:13:33.889 is not fun, but it is true. And that is that 00:13:33.889 --> 00:13:37.990 when God raises you up, you can expect people 00:13:37.990 --> 00:13:41.629 to try to tear you down. When God promotes you 00:13:41.629 --> 00:13:46.009 and raises you up, expect people to tear you 00:13:46.009 --> 00:13:50.730 down. I don't know how this might play out in 00:13:50.730 --> 00:13:54.080 the circumstances of your life. But let's say 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.940 you receive a promotion. A lot of times people 00:13:56.940 --> 00:13:59.720 think you'd be, the people you would think would 00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:04.000 be most excited for you might end up being very 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:09.059 jealous, very critical of you. Maybe God speaks 00:14:09.059 --> 00:14:13.519 to you very clearly about something controversial, 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:16.840 at least in the world's eyes. Like you're going 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:18.519 to downsize, you're going to make a decision 00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:21.509 to... organize your life in such a way where 00:14:21.509 --> 00:14:23.850 you're going to get out of debt. Maybe you're 00:14:23.850 --> 00:14:27.210 going to be a stay -at -home parent. Maybe you're 00:14:27.210 --> 00:14:29.049 going to homeschool, whatever, you know, those 00:14:29.049 --> 00:14:32.950 kind of things that are kind of outside the norm, 00:14:33.029 --> 00:14:35.289 but God's spoken to you, and you just know this 00:14:35.289 --> 00:14:38.129 is the right thing to do. You know you could 00:14:38.129 --> 00:14:41.169 make more money. You know you'd have maybe more 00:14:41.169 --> 00:14:44.470 time to yourself if you sent the kids off to 00:14:44.470 --> 00:14:47.889 public school, whatever, right? You know that. 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:50.860 But you're doing what God called you to do, and 00:14:50.860 --> 00:14:55.399 often you'll find people criticizing. You're 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:57.860 raised up and people trying to tear you down. 00:14:58.220 --> 00:15:01.340 In Australia, in New Zealand, in the United Kingdom, 00:15:01.500 --> 00:15:06.240 they call this the poppy syndrome. Because you 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:09.159 guys ever seen a field of poppies, right? Often 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:13.460 when the poppy plant grows tall, so it's ununiform, 00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:16.159 they'll come along and they'll chop it off at 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:19.539 the bottom. When someone rises up, people often 00:15:19.539 --> 00:15:22.259 take shots at those who are more successful. 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:25.480 In the United States, it's also called the crab 00:15:25.480 --> 00:15:30.100 syndrome. Because if you put crabs in a bucket 00:15:30.100 --> 00:15:34.799 and one little brave crab says, I don't want 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:37.000 to stay in the bucket, and the crab just tries 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:40.220 to make an escape, the rest will actually reach 00:15:40.220 --> 00:15:43.480 up and pull him back down into the bucket and 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:48.080 say, if I can't be free, You can't be free either, 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:52.080 right? And we see this play out in our story 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:56.299 exactly like this. Daniel chapter 6 again. Now 00:15:56.299 --> 00:15:59.720 we're going to verses 4 and 5. At this, the administrators 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:04.139 and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges 00:16:04.139 --> 00:16:07.059 against Daniel in his conduct of governmental 00:16:07.059 --> 00:16:09.919 affairs. In other words, right, if we can't find 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:12.779 some sort of dirt, some skeletons in his closet, 00:16:12.980 --> 00:16:17.480 right, maybe we can run. political hit ads on 00:16:17.480 --> 00:16:20.779 Babylonian TV, and he won't get elected to office. 00:16:21.899 --> 00:16:25.720 Verse 4, but they were unable to do so. They 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:31.100 could find no corruption in him. Why? Scripture 00:16:31.100 --> 00:16:35.659 says, because he was trustworthy. He was neither 00:16:35.659 --> 00:16:40.480 corrupt nor negligent. Finally, verse 5, these 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:43.480 men said, we'll never find any basis for charges 00:16:43.480 --> 00:16:46.940 against this man, Daniel. unless it has something 00:16:46.940 --> 00:16:53.840 to do with the law of his God. We tried to dig 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:58.179 up dirt on him, but this guy is so faithful and 00:16:58.179 --> 00:17:01.620 serves his God with such an excellent spirit, 00:17:01.779 --> 00:17:05.819 we can't find anything to use against him. So 00:17:05.819 --> 00:17:08.839 we need to find something that has to do with 00:17:08.839 --> 00:17:12.960 his relationship with God. And so they devise 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:17.240 a plan to attack him. Now, here's one of the 00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:20.359 problems, I believe, in what we refer to as Western 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:26.400 Christianity. So often, people believe, hey, 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:31.180 if I'm serving God, I shouldn't face any opposition. 00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:36.559 I mean, I'm trying to be faithful. I'm trying 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:40.599 to do what God wants me to do, so I shouldn't 00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:43.950 have people coming after me. I shouldn't have 00:17:43.950 --> 00:17:47.609 to face a hard time. I'm doing what God wants 00:17:47.609 --> 00:17:52.369 me to do. But the reality is the Bible doesn't 00:17:52.369 --> 00:17:54.890 say that. I don't know who told you that. It's 00:17:54.890 --> 00:17:59.289 just not true. Because we battle not against 00:17:59.289 --> 00:18:02.250 flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities 00:18:02.250 --> 00:18:06.029 of a dark world. And when we're moving the kingdom 00:18:06.029 --> 00:18:10.809 forward, we can always expect resistance from 00:18:10.809 --> 00:18:15.509 sin. Oftentimes, our spiritual enemy works through 00:18:15.509 --> 00:18:20.029 people to try to break us down. Sometimes even 00:18:20.029 --> 00:18:24.869 well -meaning people. I said this before, and 00:18:24.869 --> 00:18:28.089 I'll say it again, because I believe it 100 % 00:18:28.089 --> 00:18:31.630 wholeheartedly, and that is if you are not ready 00:18:31.630 --> 00:18:34.250 to face opposition for your obedience to God, 00:18:34.430 --> 00:18:39.009 then you are not ready to be used by God. If 00:18:39.009 --> 00:18:42.190 you're not ready to face opposition, When you're 00:18:42.190 --> 00:18:44.710 trying to be obedient to God, then you're just 00:18:44.710 --> 00:18:47.829 not ready. You're not ready to serve God because 00:18:47.829 --> 00:18:54.509 you will experience opposition. So Daniel, standing 00:18:54.509 --> 00:18:57.210 out, standing up, standing strong. And sure enough, 00:18:57.430 --> 00:19:00.369 as a result, there's opposition against him. 00:19:01.089 --> 00:19:04.349 Maybe you're experiencing opposition right now. 00:19:05.269 --> 00:19:07.250 The other two administrators are like, we've 00:19:07.250 --> 00:19:14.779 got to stop him. What do they do? Well, if you 00:19:14.779 --> 00:19:17.960 read the story, basically what they do is the 00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:21.380 two kind of go along and they try to butter up 00:19:21.380 --> 00:19:24.400 the king. I don't know how they did, you know, 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:29.980 but like, gee, king, are you bulking up? All 00:19:29.980 --> 00:19:35.079 right, that robe is tight -fitting. You're getting 00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:38.480 buff, whatever. But they went to him and they 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:42.789 said, hey, king. How about this? How about you 00:19:42.789 --> 00:19:46.630 issue a law, a decree, that says over the next 00:19:46.630 --> 00:19:52.930 30 days, no one can pray to any god except you, 00:19:53.049 --> 00:19:58.329 king. And if they pray to another god, then they 00:19:58.329 --> 00:20:01.069 will be thrown into the lion's den. What do you 00:20:01.069 --> 00:20:06.119 think? King Darius, you're a god. Why shouldn't 00:20:06.119 --> 00:20:08.240 people be praying to you? Why should people be 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:11.519 praying to anybody else? When Darius, oh great 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:16.079 king, you're right here in front of us. And so, 00:20:16.200 --> 00:20:21.720 King Darius being, like many other kings, vulnerable 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:25.980 to pride, they often try to deify themselves. 00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:30.200 Even though, despite what these people might 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:35.339 be saying, they know they aren't gods. They love 00:20:35.339 --> 00:20:40.640 to be treated like a god. So Darius, in his pride, 00:20:40.779 --> 00:20:45.759 says, you know what? Fair enough. For 30 days, 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:48.819 if anybody prays to any other god besides me, 00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:53.799 they are going to be lunch for my lions. Now, 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:57.640 this creates a bit of a problem for our friend 00:20:57.640 --> 00:21:01.720 Daniel. Because these other administrators, they 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:05.799 knew. that Daniel was this incredible man of 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:10.019 faithful prayer. It's interesting, I wonder, 00:21:10.099 --> 00:21:14.660 if someone was to make a law like that today, 00:21:14.900 --> 00:21:20.339 I wonder how many people might worry about us 00:21:20.339 --> 00:21:25.319 because they know we are people of such fervent, 00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:29.279 faithful prayer. I wonder if anyone would think 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:34.349 of us. If that was the situation today. Well, 00:21:34.390 --> 00:21:36.150 they knew that this was going to create a problem 00:21:36.150 --> 00:21:38.769 because they knew this about Daniel and prayer. 00:21:38.930 --> 00:21:42.809 Now, we have to understand when we hear this, 00:21:42.869 --> 00:21:47.109 right? Again, cute little lions, handsome Daniel, 00:21:47.349 --> 00:21:52.369 lion's den. And remember, right? When we're sitting 00:21:52.369 --> 00:21:56.849 around eating Oreos and drinking Kool -Aid, we 00:21:56.849 --> 00:22:02.990 know the end of the story. Daniel doesn't. Daniel 00:22:02.990 --> 00:22:08.049 doesn't know how this is going to end up. He 00:22:08.049 --> 00:22:13.089 simply has to make a decision. And I see he had 00:22:13.089 --> 00:22:18.309 three options. First option, stop praying. Now, 00:22:18.369 --> 00:22:20.750 think about this. I'm going to rationalize this 00:22:20.750 --> 00:22:24.009 like we modern American Christians would do. 00:22:24.190 --> 00:22:26.670 And I don't know, maybe you'll find yourself 00:22:26.670 --> 00:22:29.089 in one of these three options. And you know what? 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:33.119 You wouldn't be alone. The first option that 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:35.339 Daniel could have made was he could have simply 00:22:35.339 --> 00:22:40.720 stopped praying. He's 80 years old. It would 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:44.019 have been very easy for Daniel to say, look, 00:22:44.220 --> 00:22:48.880 God, I have been faithful in this for 80 years. 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:54.359 We can take a month off and agree that's cool, 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:57.380 right? I mean, come on, God, you're going to 00:22:57.380 --> 00:23:02.089 understand. I'm much more effective here as your 00:23:02.089 --> 00:23:07.430 servant than I am dead. So I'll just take a month 00:23:07.430 --> 00:23:10.849 off. What's the harm? Then we'll get back together. 00:23:11.730 --> 00:23:17.089 You'll understand. The second thing he could 00:23:17.089 --> 00:23:19.910 have done, quite honestly, what I would have 00:23:19.910 --> 00:23:23.950 done, I would have faked it. I'd have prayed 00:23:23.950 --> 00:23:27.200 silently. I mean, I'm just being honest. I'm 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:29.440 thinking, look, I'm just not going to pray out 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:32.420 loud. I'm going to pray silently. You know, hey, 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:34.420 what are you doing? Nothing, nothing. I'm just 00:23:34.420 --> 00:23:37.779 sitting here thinking, are you praying? No, not 00:23:37.779 --> 00:23:43.500 praying at all. Right? Or the third thing. There's 00:23:43.500 --> 00:23:47.880 a third option. He could have kept on praying 00:23:47.880 --> 00:23:54.480 publicly. Praying aloud and risking death. And 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:56.990 you know what? That's what he was willing to 00:23:56.990 --> 00:24:02.170 do because his faith in God was so strong. Now 00:24:02.170 --> 00:24:06.069 this begs the question, right? Because again, 00:24:06.250 --> 00:24:11.930 put yourself in Daniel's sandals. It begs the 00:24:11.930 --> 00:24:14.349 question. You can't help but ask yourself, what 00:24:14.349 --> 00:24:19.869 could have built such an audacious faith that 00:24:19.869 --> 00:24:23.490 you wouldn't think twice? about continuing to 00:24:23.490 --> 00:24:27.910 pray publicly, knowing you are risking certain 00:24:27.910 --> 00:24:33.910 death. What could have happened that would have 00:24:33.910 --> 00:24:37.390 allowed Daniel to develop such a deep trust in 00:24:37.390 --> 00:24:41.450 God? He was willing to stand strong in the face 00:24:41.450 --> 00:24:46.190 of sure death. And that leads us to our second 00:24:46.190 --> 00:24:50.099 thought tonight, and that is... And you've heard 00:24:50.099 --> 00:24:52.940 this before, and it's cliché, but it shows up 00:24:52.940 --> 00:24:56.880 in the story. I have to use it. Kneeling to pray 00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:59.859 often is what gives you strength to stand. Right? 00:25:00.299 --> 00:25:03.519 It's true. Kneeling to pray is often what gives 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:07.460 you strength to stand. Verse 10, continuing on 00:25:07.460 --> 00:25:10.180 our story, very powerful. Now, when Daniel learned 00:25:10.180 --> 00:25:12.180 that the decree had been published, now this 00:25:12.180 --> 00:25:14.700 is super cool, okay? This is one of those things. 00:25:15.130 --> 00:25:17.009 I think we run right over and we don't really 00:25:17.009 --> 00:25:19.009 catch what's actually being said. So we're not 00:25:19.009 --> 00:25:20.970 going to run right over it. We're going to take 00:25:20.970 --> 00:25:23.470 it very slowly. I want you to see what's being 00:25:23.470 --> 00:25:26.230 said here. Now, when Daniel learned that the 00:25:26.230 --> 00:25:29.529 decree had been published, what does he do? He 00:25:29.529 --> 00:25:32.809 went home to his upstairs room where the windows 00:25:32.809 --> 00:25:37.710 opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day, he 00:25:37.710 --> 00:25:42.720 got down on his knees and he prayed. Giving thanks 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:45.519 to God. Here's the line I want you to pay attention 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:52.799 to. Just as he had done before. Three times a 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:55.140 day, he got down on his knees and he prayed. 00:25:56.619 --> 00:25:59.960 Just as he had done before. What are you talking 00:25:59.960 --> 00:26:03.900 about? Hold on. Our first response to our trials 00:26:03.900 --> 00:26:08.880 should not be panic, but always prayer. Our first 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:13.940 response. Should not be panic, but prayer. Even 00:26:13.940 --> 00:26:16.480 our language. We said this just the other day. 00:26:16.539 --> 00:26:18.960 Gives us away whenever we talk about what we 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:22.579 really think about prayer. Right? We're in this 00:26:22.579 --> 00:26:26.440 incredible mess. Everything we've tried hasn't 00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:29.680 worked. And we will say, well, all we can do 00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:35.759 now is pray. Right? Notice, Daniel didn't announce 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:39.460 his prayers to make a public show. He just did. 00:26:40.089 --> 00:26:45.150 what he had always done. Now, you might be saying, 00:26:45.230 --> 00:26:47.369 what's up with this public prayer? Because Jesus 00:26:47.369 --> 00:26:50.250 talks about this. And you know what? Jesus hated 00:26:50.250 --> 00:26:54.410 hypocritical public prayer. Right? You might 00:26:54.410 --> 00:26:57.569 remember. He says, look, you know, he hated it. 00:26:57.630 --> 00:27:01.750 Look at me. I'm a Pharisee. Right? A Pharisee 00:27:01.750 --> 00:27:04.549 praying on the street corner, making loud gestures 00:27:04.549 --> 00:27:07.859 to God. Just so everybody else around would know 00:27:07.859 --> 00:27:13.039 how much I love God. Jesus, not a huge fan of 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:17.619 that stuff. Daniel didn't announce it. He didn't 00:27:17.619 --> 00:27:20.200 publicly say, you know, one of the stories we'll 00:27:20.200 --> 00:27:22.779 talk about in the very beginning is they made 00:27:22.779 --> 00:27:25.900 this deal where they tried to get all of these 00:27:25.900 --> 00:27:28.920 young kids to eat the food of the kingdom, but 00:27:28.920 --> 00:27:31.380 they were food that the Israelites weren't supposed 00:27:31.380 --> 00:27:34.220 to eat. So they went on a vegetarian diet. It's 00:27:34.220 --> 00:27:36.700 called the Daniel fast. You guys ever heard of 00:27:36.700 --> 00:27:37.900 that? You've heard of that before, right? There 00:27:37.900 --> 00:27:44.299 you go. Well, the Daniel fast, that comes from 00:27:44.299 --> 00:27:47.500 this testing point when Daniel was serving the 00:27:47.500 --> 00:27:50.880 king and he didn't want to eat the food that 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:53.259 the kingdom provided. He wanted to eat what he 00:27:53.259 --> 00:27:56.660 was supposed to be eating, right? He didn't want 00:27:56.660 --> 00:27:58.940 to defile himself with food that had been set 00:27:58.940 --> 00:28:04.099 aside for idols. That was the issue. So at some 00:28:04.099 --> 00:28:08.160 point, he probably made some decision. A decision 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:11.660 he probably made way before this moment when 00:28:11.660 --> 00:28:18.119 he's in his 80s. Maybe decades prior. But he 00:28:18.119 --> 00:28:21.460 made a decision to say, I'm going to seek God 00:28:21.460 --> 00:28:25.460 in prayer three times a day. He pre -decided 00:28:25.460 --> 00:28:29.059 long before the threat that he is now facing, 00:28:29.160 --> 00:28:32.220 this is what I'm going to do. I am a child of 00:28:32.220 --> 00:28:35.720 God, and I'm going to seek God. Not once a day, 00:28:35.819 --> 00:28:38.880 but three times a day. Why? Because I need Him 00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:43.299 that much. I need to start the day. I need some 00:28:43.299 --> 00:28:45.680 of God in the middle of the day. I need to wrap 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:49.700 up my day with God. Why? Because God's been that 00:28:49.700 --> 00:28:54.279 good to me. And I need to. I want to know Him. 00:28:55.180 --> 00:28:58.299 I need to hear God's voice. I need to be working 00:28:58.299 --> 00:29:02.180 through God's spirit. I need his ongoing strength. 00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:07.220 I want to have an intimacy of continual communion 00:29:07.220 --> 00:29:12.839 with God. Therefore, three times a day, I've 00:29:12.839 --> 00:29:19.019 made my decision. I don't know, but I can promise 00:29:19.019 --> 00:29:23.200 you, I can promise you this is true. If you haven't 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:27.799 preceded your plan to get to know God, chances 00:29:27.799 --> 00:29:32.240 are you're not going to get to know God. If you 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:37.980 don't have a predetermined plan, again, we know 00:29:37.980 --> 00:29:41.839 this being true about all other parts of our 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:45.519 lives. If you don't have a plan, often you are 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:49.700 setting yourself up for failure. If there's no 00:29:49.700 --> 00:29:52.500 predetermined plan for you to achieve intimacy 00:29:52.500 --> 00:29:55.559 with God, I can almost guarantee you, you are 00:29:55.559 --> 00:30:00.380 not going to grow intimate with God. I'm talking 00:30:00.380 --> 00:30:03.720 about pre -deciding, making that decision. First 00:30:03.720 --> 00:30:06.579 thing in the morning, calling God in prayer. 00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:11.000 You know, saying, praying, God, these are your 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:15.059 eyes. Let me see the needs that you have that 00:30:15.059 --> 00:30:20.200 maybe I can fulfill. These are your feet, God. 00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:23.799 Take me where you need me to go. God, I give 00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:26.980 you permission to have the Holy Spirit interrupt 00:30:26.980 --> 00:30:32.640 my day so that I can be led in your perfect will. 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:37.839 Every single day, having that predetermined plan 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:41.180 to seek that intimacy with God. Because if you 00:30:41.180 --> 00:30:44.000 don't have that plan to grow more intimate with 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:48.500 God, you won't. Again, I talked about kneeling. 00:30:48.700 --> 00:30:53.920 He knelt before God in prayer. He could stand 00:30:53.920 --> 00:30:58.599 before men of power and of opposition to him 00:30:58.599 --> 00:31:02.140 because he had knelt before God. And I'll be 00:31:02.140 --> 00:31:06.200 honest, if you've never knelt in prayer, you're 00:31:06.200 --> 00:31:09.599 missing one of the most powerful postures of 00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:14.549 surrender. At some point, if you're a follower 00:31:14.549 --> 00:31:16.490 in Christ, you are going to have to take some 00:31:16.490 --> 00:31:19.589 sort of stand, some sort of courageous stand. 00:31:19.789 --> 00:31:22.950 It could be some big world issue. It could be 00:31:22.950 --> 00:31:25.970 something specific in your life that maybe we 00:31:25.970 --> 00:31:33.210 don't face. Others of us don't. It could be you're 00:31:33.210 --> 00:31:35.529 with friends or you're at work or whatever, and 00:31:35.529 --> 00:31:38.769 there's a lack of integrity, and you've got to 00:31:38.769 --> 00:31:41.549 take a stand. Against this, because you know 00:31:41.549 --> 00:31:50.069 better. And I wish I could tell you that when 00:31:50.069 --> 00:31:54.309 you take this stand, every single time it'll 00:31:54.309 --> 00:31:59.450 just work out the way that you want, but it won't. 00:32:00.450 --> 00:32:05.509 It might, but no guarantee, right? Because we're 00:32:05.509 --> 00:32:07.609 talking about surrender. We're talking about 00:32:07.609 --> 00:32:15.829 submitting to... God's will. God's plan. Daniel 00:32:15.829 --> 00:32:19.569 could have asked, what if the lions eat me and 00:32:19.569 --> 00:32:24.369 God doesn't rescue me? I mean, put yourself in 00:32:24.369 --> 00:32:28.230 his shoes, right? Fair question. What happens 00:32:28.230 --> 00:32:33.089 if I get caught praying and God doesn't save 00:32:33.089 --> 00:32:38.380 me? There are plenty of stories. In the Old Testament, 00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:48.160 where people have the same faith as Daniel, and 00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:53.180 God doesn't rescue them. See, this is what I 00:32:53.180 --> 00:32:56.359 was talking about when I started. Often the Bible, 00:32:56.480 --> 00:32:59.660 guys, the stories in the Bible, they're not Disney 00:32:59.660 --> 00:33:04.299 movies. This is real human life with a sovereign 00:33:04.299 --> 00:33:07.200 God, remember, whose ways are always... Higher 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:09.359 than our ways is understanding higher than our 00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:12.319 understanding. And God often does things that 00:33:12.319 --> 00:33:16.000 simply does not make sense to us. So I cannot 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:20.019 promise you. Again, treating this like adults. 00:33:20.839 --> 00:33:23.559 I can't promise you. If you take a stand that 00:33:23.559 --> 00:33:25.880 you're not going to face consequences, that someone's 00:33:25.880 --> 00:33:27.759 not going to go against you, that people aren't 00:33:27.759 --> 00:33:30.279 going to resist you, that you're not going to 00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:32.619 feel left out or overlooked or end up hurting. 00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:38.130 Fact. you might end up feeling worse off. The 00:33:38.130 --> 00:33:40.670 only promise I can make you is the third observation 00:33:40.670 --> 00:33:43.210 that I'd like to illustrate tonight. Three of 00:33:43.210 --> 00:33:46.309 three. When you do what's right, you can always 00:33:46.309 --> 00:33:49.170 trust God with the results, regardless of what 00:33:49.170 --> 00:33:52.109 they may be. See, here's the part I think that's 00:33:52.109 --> 00:33:54.890 so difficult for us to understand. Daniel does 00:33:54.890 --> 00:33:57.670 not know the end of the story and the middle 00:33:57.670 --> 00:34:03.799 of the story. Daniel certainly. had no clue that 00:34:03.799 --> 00:34:06.140 one day, thousands of years later, he'd be the 00:34:06.140 --> 00:34:09.960 subject of a Sunday school lesson. He had no 00:34:09.960 --> 00:34:13.579 idea, none whatsoever, that this would end up 00:34:13.579 --> 00:34:17.519 the way he wanted it to end up. All he knew at 00:34:17.519 --> 00:34:20.679 this point in the story, his story, is that for 00:34:20.679 --> 00:34:23.380 the last 80 years, God had proven faithful to 00:34:23.380 --> 00:34:27.639 him. So no matter what, Daniel was faithful to 00:34:27.639 --> 00:34:31.949 God. That's it, period. No negotiation. No ifs, 00:34:31.949 --> 00:34:35.369 no buts, no what ifs, how comes, doesn't seem 00:34:35.369 --> 00:34:38.730 fair, none of it. God's been faithful to me, 00:34:38.889 --> 00:34:41.750 therefore I will be faithful to him. If he saves 00:34:41.750 --> 00:34:43.889 me, I'm going to trust him. And you know what? 00:34:43.949 --> 00:34:47.809 If he doesn't save me, I'm still going to trust 00:34:47.809 --> 00:34:56.750 him. So King Darius is devastated. Why? He likes 00:34:56.750 --> 00:35:00.829 Daniel. Everybody looked at Daniel with favor, 00:35:00.949 --> 00:35:03.510 except for those two that were jealous of him. 00:35:04.489 --> 00:35:08.349 And the king actually is mad in the story because 00:35:08.349 --> 00:35:12.289 he realizes he's been tricked. That two of his 00:35:12.289 --> 00:35:15.309 three top, I don't know, right hand, whatever, 00:35:15.610 --> 00:35:20.789 deceived him. So he feels very, very betrayed. 00:35:20.929 --> 00:35:24.789 He actually tries to get out of it, Darius. But 00:35:24.789 --> 00:35:26.750 he can't get out of it because he's given his 00:35:26.750 --> 00:35:30.530 word. So he doesn't eat. He doesn't receive any 00:35:30.530 --> 00:35:33.730 entertainment. He is devastated. He goes to his 00:35:33.730 --> 00:35:37.449 palace and he just fasts and he prays for Daniel 00:35:37.449 --> 00:35:43.389 who's being put in the lion's den. Now, we actually 00:35:43.389 --> 00:35:47.690 don't know what happened down there. All we know 00:35:47.690 --> 00:35:51.250 for sure is what didn't happen in the lion's 00:35:51.250 --> 00:35:55.059 den. We don't know. If Daniel got down there 00:35:55.059 --> 00:35:57.400 and was just worshiping God, we don't know if 00:35:57.400 --> 00:36:03.340 he was afraid. We have no idea. All we know is 00:36:03.340 --> 00:36:06.960 that by the power of God, God shut the mouths 00:36:06.960 --> 00:36:12.860 of those lions. And I believe in my heart. This 00:36:12.860 --> 00:36:14.980 is a literal story that reflects the goodness 00:36:14.980 --> 00:36:19.239 and the power of God in Daniel's life. You don't 00:36:19.239 --> 00:36:23.280 have to believe it, but I do. And in the morning, 00:36:23.949 --> 00:36:27.809 The first thing King Darius does is he gets up 00:36:27.809 --> 00:36:31.769 and he runs to the lion's den. He says, Daniel, 00:36:31.969 --> 00:36:35.949 Daniel, Daniel, are you okay? I love this phrase. 00:36:36.170 --> 00:36:38.929 King Darius, remember, you've got to pray to 00:36:38.929 --> 00:36:42.469 me, no other gods. King Darius, remember I said 00:36:42.469 --> 00:36:44.869 they know they're really not gods? King Darius 00:36:44.869 --> 00:36:50.250 says, has your God, whom you continually serve, 00:36:50.610 --> 00:36:54.559 has your God... I've watched you. I've known 00:36:54.559 --> 00:36:58.139 you. I've seen you serving him. Has your God 00:36:58.139 --> 00:37:03.579 rescued you from the pit of the lions? And in 00:37:03.579 --> 00:37:08.219 verse 22, Daniel says, My God sent his angel 00:37:08.219 --> 00:37:11.199 and he shut the mouths of the lions. They've 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:14.440 not hurt me because I was found innocent in his 00:37:14.440 --> 00:37:17.880 sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before 00:37:17.880 --> 00:37:22.510 you, your majesty. The king was overjoyed and 00:37:22.510 --> 00:37:24.849 gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And 00:37:24.849 --> 00:37:27.829 when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound 00:37:27.829 --> 00:37:33.250 was found on him. Because, scripture says, because 00:37:33.250 --> 00:37:40.809 he, Daniel, had trusted in his God. But the two 00:37:40.809 --> 00:37:43.590 guys who had tricked King Darius, story's not 00:37:43.590 --> 00:37:47.949 over. Call him into the office and, you know, 00:37:48.070 --> 00:37:51.710 tsk, tsk, tsk. My friends, you now are going 00:37:51.710 --> 00:37:56.469 into the lion's den. And I guess maybe the angel 00:37:56.469 --> 00:37:58.929 of the Lord was tired from working all night, 00:37:59.030 --> 00:38:04.070 but he didn't protect those guys. The king issued 00:38:04.070 --> 00:38:06.030 a decree that everyone in the kingdom should 00:38:06.030 --> 00:38:11.530 fear the God of Daniel. Because in Daniel's faithfulness 00:38:11.530 --> 00:38:14.010 to God, God was faithful to him. And even if 00:38:14.010 --> 00:38:16.710 God had chosen not to close the mouths of the 00:38:16.710 --> 00:38:19.409 lions, Daniel still would have said, my God has 00:38:19.409 --> 00:38:23.650 always been faithful to me. So if you're facing 00:38:23.650 --> 00:38:26.849 some sort of opposition, and I know many of us 00:38:26.849 --> 00:38:30.010 are, remember when God raises you up, people 00:38:30.010 --> 00:38:32.010 try to tear you down. It's part of the deal. 00:38:33.900 --> 00:38:35.500 You're going to be a great leader. You're going 00:38:35.500 --> 00:38:37.119 to do anything of substance. You're going to 00:38:37.119 --> 00:38:39.539 do anything that matters. That is a part of it. 00:38:39.980 --> 00:38:44.340 So, lovingly, biblically, scripturally, quit 00:38:44.340 --> 00:38:48.440 whining and suck it up. That's the way life goes. 00:38:48.820 --> 00:38:54.300 That's a part of it. Don't worry. Don't worry. 00:38:54.400 --> 00:38:57.739 If you're facing opposition, your obedience to 00:38:57.739 --> 00:39:01.800 God, you're going to have opposition. In fact, 00:39:02.329 --> 00:39:04.829 You should worry when you're not facing opposition 00:39:04.829 --> 00:39:08.130 because that probably means you're not doing 00:39:08.130 --> 00:39:11.349 a whole heck of a lot or anything at all. You 00:39:11.349 --> 00:39:15.090 just maybe think you are. When God raises you 00:39:15.090 --> 00:39:17.610 up, people will tear you down. Kneeling to pray 00:39:17.610 --> 00:39:20.829 can give you the strength to stand. And if you 00:39:20.829 --> 00:39:23.369 don't have a predetermined plan on how you're 00:39:23.369 --> 00:39:25.469 going to grow with your intimacy with God, chances 00:39:25.469 --> 00:39:28.150 are pretty good you're not really going to grow 00:39:28.150 --> 00:39:32.260 closer to God. What a wonderful illustration 00:39:32.260 --> 00:39:35.679 of our faithfulness to God and God's faithfulness 00:39:35.679 --> 00:39:39.760 to us through the story of Daniel and the lion's 00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:49.059 den. Amen? Amen. Thank you, guys. Well, what 00:39:49.059 --> 00:39:53.739 do you think? I mean, the reality is that the 00:39:53.739 --> 00:39:57.110 promises we think were made that... We follow 00:39:57.110 --> 00:40:01.670 God and we're doing our best. We're committed. 00:40:02.170 --> 00:40:04.949 We're trying to follow God's will for our life. 00:40:05.190 --> 00:40:08.690 We can't help but just think. If we're following 00:40:08.690 --> 00:40:11.429 God's will for our life, everything should just 00:40:11.429 --> 00:40:16.530 fall in line. Everything should just go our way. 00:40:16.590 --> 00:40:24.260 It's God's way. But that's not God's way. The 00:40:24.260 --> 00:40:27.239 opposition that we encounter tests our faith, 00:40:27.420 --> 00:40:31.199 causes us to go stronger into our faith, even 00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:34.659 in those situations where we don't know how this 00:40:34.659 --> 00:40:38.500 story is going to turn out, just like Daniel. 00:40:39.860 --> 00:40:43.440 But those moments of opposition and our ability 00:40:43.440 --> 00:40:46.019 to remain faithful through them and God's ability 00:40:46.019 --> 00:40:51.019 to remain faithful to us through them, that gives 00:40:51.019 --> 00:40:57.849 us the confidence. To go into a pit with a group 00:40:57.849 --> 00:41:02.670 of lions and still have the confidence to trust. 00:41:04.469 --> 00:41:08.230 Anyway, something to think about. Until next 00:41:08.230 --> 00:41:09.769 week, friend, be blessed.