Unshakeable – Daniel Week 2

Joke:  Daniel has a girlfriend named Lorraine he likes her a lot and she is pretty as a peach.

But then one day at work a new girl started working at his office. Her name is Clearly, and she is absolutely gorgeous.

After a while, it becomes obvious that she is interested in him.

But Daniel being a loyal man won’t get involved with Clearly while he is still going out with Lorraine.

He decides to break up with Lorraine and date the new girl.

He plans several times to tell Lorraine, but he just can’t bring himself to do it.

One day, as they are walking along the river bank, Lorraine slips and falls into the river and the current sweeps her away and she drowns.

Daniel stops for a moment by the river but instead of jumping in after her to help he just runs off, smiling and singing,

“I can see Clearly now Lorraine is gone!”

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Today I’m continuing our series unshakeable and I’m not going to do a special Mothers Day message, no song parodies but I will share this poem before I get started.

“God’s Masterpiece” by Herbert Farnham

God took the fragrance of a flower,
The majesty of a tree,
The gentleness of morning dew,
The calm of a quiet sea.

The beauty of the twilight hour,
The soul of a starry night,
The laughter of a rippling brook,
The grace of a bird in flight.

Then God fashioned from these things,
A creation like no other,
And when his masterpiece was through,
He called it simply – Mother.

So to all our moms here or watching on line Happy Mothers Day.

Show Mother’s Day video from www.skitguys.com

Now, how many of you are thankful that there is a God in heaven?

Last week we read in the scriptures that we have a God in heaven.

And I have met so many people that believe if you just follow our God in heaven, everything will fall into place.

Like if you just believe in God and give him your whole life, God will always make your life easier.

And I wish that were true but the truth is when you devote your life to God, it doesn’t mean it will eliminate hardship.   Jesus even said in this world you will have trouble.   But He also gave the good news when He added but take heart I have overcome the world.

And the truth is rain falls on the just and the unjust.

And honestly. . .serving God faithfully often makes you a target.

As a matter of fact when you’re living boldly for God, your spiritual enemy will tend to take notice.

And here’s the thing if you ever feel like, I might be under attack, the reason you might feel that way is because you just might be under attack.

There are also some who believe that if things get difficult, that I must not be in God’s will. . .and you might not be.

But it also could mean that when things are going wrong, it might just be evidence that you’re in the will of God.

Because your spiritual enemy, the devil, doesn’t like what you’re doing for the glory of God, and he’s taking notice and coming after you.

And I  want you to remember that, I want you to remember that a spiritual attack isn’t a sign you’re doing something wrong. It’s might be and often is evidence you’re doing something right

And we’re going to see that truth this week in Daniel 6.

Last week we started in Daniel chapter 1 and we are jumping ahead a few chapters and over the next couple weeks we will come back to earlier chapters as we go through this series.

But today I want to talk about another story in the book of Daniel that I’m sure most of you are familiar with, and that is the story of Daniel in the Lions den.

How many remember that story?

Most of you know that I have been in some sort of ministry for over 40 years and one of the first ministries I had in my local church was children’s ministry.  I lead it and taught it.

And now to date myself when I was teaching Sunday school one of the tools we used to teach was something called a felt board.

And they had figures of Daniel and the cutest little lions you ever saw.  Now in our story the lions were much meaner and not quite as cute.

And if you didn’t have a felt board then you may of had the homemade finger puppets.

And just so you know, I won’t be using either one of those today, sorry if your disappointed.

But in the story we read in the Bible that Daniel trusted God always,  including when he was in the lions den.

Now, if you remember the story did God save him from the lions or was he dinner?

And that’s important because we are going to look at that today.

We have Daniel and he’s like I trust God.

Now if you remember from last week when we talked about Daniel he was somewhere in his teens maybe 15 or 16.

Here 5 chapters later Daniel is probably more around 70 maybe in his 80’s.

And when you understand that it makes the story even that more impactful.

So, he was probably in his 80s, so he probably had a lot of wisdom.

But I want to show you why this is meaningful. He’s in his 80s, and Daniel had served under four different kings when he was taken away and deported into Babylon.

Four different kings.

He served under Nebuchadnezzar, which we talked about that last week.

He was the evil king of Babylon that conquered Jerusalem, conquered God’s people, and deported them out of the nation into Babylon.

And then there’s King Belshazzar, spelt a little different then the name Daniel was given by king Nebuchadnezzar.

King Belshazzar was actually Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson.

And if you remember the writing on the wall in the Book of Daniel, that’s him. He was later assassinated.

And then you have King Darius. And this is who we are going to look at today.

In a couple weeks we’re going to look at Cyrus, who is actually the Persian king that conquered Babylon who said to the Jewish exiles, you can go back to your homeland.

I mention that to say this, during his seven decades of captivity, Daniel shared his faith with four different kings, and I want you to see how he did it.

But first. . .I want you to notice

He didn’t criticize them, he didn’t condemn them. He didn’t call them stupid and demonic because they had a different political view.

But through four different regimes, Daniel consistently and lovingly shared his faith in God, and he influenced kings without compromising his beliefs.

Let me say that again, with love, faithfulness and consistency, he influenced kings without compromising his faith or his convictions.

Let’s start today with Daniel 6 verses 1 and 2. . .this is good.

Daniel 6:1–2 (NIV) – It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, 2 with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss.

This is where it gets real good. . .

Daniel 6:3 (NIV) – Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

A satrap in case you don’t know is like a governor.

Back to out text. . .Daniel did what?

He so distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps.

Why? Because he had exceptional qualities.  And because of that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

I love that.

Daniel, because of his faith in God, so distinguished himself that he stood out and a king noticed him and said, I think you are worthy of being promoted.

Now, the Hebrew word translated as distinguished is the word mitnassah.

Everybody say that. . .mitnassah.

This is the only time that this Hebrew word is used anywhere in the Hebrew Bible.

And this word means to excel, to stand out, to prevail, or to distinguish.

Daniel so excelled, he so stood out, he served with such faithfulness, he was so excellent in all that he did that people took notice.

He distinguished himself so much so that the king said, I think you should be promoted.

Mitnassah.

Now hear this church, as believers, wherever you work, whatever you do, wherever you serve, whatever you post, however you treat people, you should mitnassah.

You should thrive, you should excel. You should always bring your A game.

As believers, we should standout in the places that we work as being a people who are good to our word, faithful and true.

Show up early, not last minute.  Don’t spend 20 minutes in the bathroom.   Don’t take a smoke break every hour.

Bring your best. Treat people well, honor those around you. We should stand out.

The Apostle Paul said it this way. . .

Colossians 3:17 (NLT) – And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Whatever you do, whatever it is, you do it all as a representative of the Lord Jesus.   With Mitnassah.

We distinguish ourselves and standout.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed this or not but there seems to be a lot of griping going on in our culture.

They’re griping about our president, about how dark the world is. Saying our nation’s going to hell in a hand basket.  I’m not even sure what that means.

And maybe some is legit but it’s in those times when it might seem dark that we Christians need to stand out and be a light.

It’s time for us to thrive and to excel and to love well and to have grace. Whenever the world grows darker, the light should shine brighter.

We should be so distinguished that you stand out in how you care for people, love people, serve people.

We excel. We’re distinguished.

In our story the other leaders, they saw how Daniel was doing just that, and he was getting all the attention.  He was the teacher’s pet.

And so what’d they do? Did they aspire to be like him?  Ask him for pointers on how to be better?

No, they hated him. They were actually jealous of him.

Here’s what Scripture tells us. . .

Daniel 6:4 (NIV) – At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.

They wanted so bad to get on Facebook and post, look at the dirt we found out about Dan.

And they tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.

So, Plan A didn’t work need to move unto plan B.  So, what’d they try to do next?

They did the very same thing that is going on today. They tried to get him canceled.

Maybe You thought cancel culture was just something that started recently.

Nope, Cancel culture was real back with Daniel as well.  Maybe thats why Ecclesiastes tells us there’s nothing new under the sun.

But they came after him and tried to cancel him, and they tried to make some accusation against him.

And since plan A didn’t work they had to move unto go Plan B.

Daniel 6:5 (NIV) – Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”

Since they could find no corruption in him because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. These men decided that they would attack what he honored most, something to do with the law of his God.

They were looking to find something wrong with him. There has be be something and we need to find it and point it out.  He’s making us look bad.

Sorry for the long intro, but now that I have laid the foundation I want to get to the heart of the message and I’m going to give you three qualities of unshakeable impact.

In a world that’s growing darker and darker, how do we as people of Jesus shine brighter and brighter?

Thought number one is this, we serve God with integrity.

Everybody say that. . .we serve God with integrity.

Daniel served God with integrity, so much so the king wanted to promote him and the other leaders were jealous because of it.

And they said, let’s find something, anything wrong with this guy.

Look at it again. . .

Daniel 6:4 (NIV) – At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.

They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.

The Babylonian leaders, they were looking for any reason to discredit him.

What did Daniel do wrong? Nothing that they found.  He was a person of his word.  He didn’t cheat on his taxes. He didn’t gossip about the king. He was faithful under four different U.S. presidents. No that’s no right.

Under four different Babylonian kings, leaders or administrations, presidents, whatever you want to call them, but under four different leaders he served God faithfully.

It’s the same thing we need to do.

Listen church no matter who’s in office,  God is on the throne.

And no matter who’s in office, we’re need as followers of Jesus, to mitnassah.

We’re need to stand up, and stand out for the glory of Jesus.

Daniel served God faithfully with integrity in Babylon, and his life demonstrated the truth that you may live in Babylon, but you don’t have to let Babylon live in you.

And church you may live in this world, but you don’t have to let the world into you.

As followers of Jesus, we will not, can not, must not, be conformed to the patterns of this world, but rather be  transformed by the renewing of our minds.

You may live in a culture that’s growing dark, but you don’t have to let the darkness into you.

Daniel continued to live with integrity.

And the other two, remember there’s three administrators, there’s

Daniel and there’s two others, they were jealous.

And what’d they do?

They decided to kiss up to the king. And they came to the king and they said, hey, King Darius, dude you’re the GOAT, you’re a living legend.

Watch this. . .

Daniel 6:6–8 (NLT) – So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius! 7 We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions. 8 And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”

The king’s like, I’m down. I am the GOAT.  So. . .

Daniel 6:9 (NLT) – So King Darius signed the law.

And so if anyone prays to anyone but the king in the next 30 days, they’re going to be thrown into the lion’s den.

And what does Daniel do?  What is it you do when the decree tells you to do something that’s different than what God tells you to do?

Daniel loved God.  Daniel worshiped God.  Daniel talked with God.  Right?  And now he’s forbidden to talk to God.

He had three options.  The law says don’t pray to God.

Option one is he can stop praying.

He can say, I’m going to take a month sabbatical praying because after all if I do pray, well I’m a dead man.

And it’s so much easier to have a ministry when you’re alive.

So, option one, I can just stop praying for a month.

Option number two, he could pray silently.

After all God knows what we need before we even ask.

I’m going to pray, but not close my eyes. I’m gonna trick ’em. They’ll never know I’m actually praying if I do that.

Not a bad option after all he would still be praying.

And option three he could keep praying.  He could just keep doing what he’s always done.  Pray like usual and be faithful to God.

So, what does he do?   He does option 3.

Daniel keeps praying and his enemies rat him out. And he’s eventually thrown in the lion’s den.

Now if you know the story does he die or does God save him?

We know that because it’s in the book, but did he know God was going to save him at that moment?

I mean, was there a guarantee?

Did God tell him he was going to save him? Nope.  There was no burning bush, no visit from an angel.  Nothing.

He had to put his faith in God when he didn’t know the outcome.

And what an incredible miracle it was.  But he didn’t know what was going to happen.  It don’t know if that miracle would take place.

But let’s make it a bit more personal what would you do in a case like that?

Pray. I mean, like be faithful to God when it could cost you your life because truth is he didn’t know that God was going to save him.

Let me tell you how this story could have ended. It could have ended with lions having Daniel for lunch end of story.

That’s how it could have ended.

In fact, that’s what was likely to happen if he continued to pray.

But in spite of knowing the potential dangers he kept on praying.

How do we have faith like Daniel? How do we live with conviction in a culture of compromise?

Number one is we serve God with integrity.

And number two, we trust God with consistency.

We do what’s right before God and we trust him consistently.

In fact, Daniel 6:10 tells us this.

Daniel 6:10 (NIV) – Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

I love that, he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Think about this. Daniel didn’t wait until he was thrown into the lion’s den to learn how to pray.

No, he did what he had always done.  It learned to pray when life is doing alright.  Not waiting until he was desperate for God to answer.

He had always sought God. He had faithfully cried out to God. Three times a day, he was praying to God.

So he did what he had always done.

Now, why does this matter?

And believe me when I tell you it does, because it is not what we do occasionally that makes the difference. It’s what we do consistently.

Listen church we will never walk in victory, live the abundant life Jesus gave us, feel as close to God as you want if you only seek God occasionally.  If you wait until desperation is all you have.

That’s why it’s important to read the word, spend time in prayer.  Consistently.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NIV) – Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Talk about what it means to pray continuously

The word of God is living, it’s active, it’s powerful, it convicts you, it directs you. It goes out before us to do the work and the will of God.

We seek God in prayer. We fellowship with other believers. We pray for each other.   That’s what we do.

So Daniel prayed as he’d always prayed before.

He’s under attack, and what’s his first response? Cry? Run off and throw a fit? Post on Facebook help me?  No.

And hear this church, our first response shouldn’t be to panic, but to pray.

But if I’m being honest that’s not always what happens.

All hell breaks loose in our life and we panic, we go crazy, and then we try everything we can. We manipulate, and we try to control the situation ourself.

And then after we’ve done everything in our own power we say, well I guess all we can do now is pray.

And I’m thinking, if I’m God, and I’m not, but if I were that hurts.

All we can do now is pray, and God has be thinking, it’s about time.

Listen, you don’t have to panic. . .because there is a God in heaven.

In fact, there’s another verse in Daniel that’s pretty good Daniel 2:21 it says. . .

Daniel 2:21 (NLT) – He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars.

What do we do?  Stay connected to the vine, live off all the nourishment of God knowing ultimately that He is in control.

So, what does Daniel do?   He prays.

How does he pray?  Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed.

And church I don’t know what it is but there is something about the posture of kneeling before the creator.  The humility maybe, the reverence of it.  I don’t know but there is something about that posture in prayer that seems to move the heart of God,

And the thing about Daniel is this wasn’t something he did just in desperation.  This is something he did three times a day if all was well or not.

God I’m needing Your wisdom, Your strength.  I’m trusting in You.

And the thing about Daniel is that he stood before men because he knelt before God.

Daniel could stand  strong because he was kneeling, dependent, on a good, good God.

What do we do?  The world’s going crazy. How do we live by our convictions?

We serve God with integrity. We trust God with consistency and lastly we honor God with faithfulness.

As I mentioned Daniel’s is probably in his 80s. And for 80 years, God has been faithful to Daniel.

For 80 years, through four different kings in a foreign land, stripped of everything that matters to him, ripped out of his homeland, taken from his family, indoctrinated with Babylonian views.

And for 80 years, God has been faithful to Daniel. And Daniel chooses to faithful to God.

Now church I really need you to hear this. . .

2 Timothy 2:13 (NLT) – If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.

I love that. . .it lets me know that even in those times I’m not faithful in trusting Him, worshipping Him, praying to Him, reading the Scripture, whenever I’m not faithful God still is.

And Daniel resolved. I’ll trust God if he saves me, and I’ll trust God if he doesn’t.

So he prays.

But here’s the thing, King Darius, he likes Daniel, but he’s trapped.

The law he was tricked into signing could not be repealed.

So. . .

Daniel 6:14 (NIV) – When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.

Maybe the king looked over at Daniel and without having to say any words his face said, Daniel why did you have to do what we’ve always done?    Option 2 surely would have been alright.

My hands are tied, I have to stand on my word I wish I didn’t have to but I have no other options I need to throw you in with the lions.

But before he does he leans over to Daniel and maybe whispers in his ear. . .

Daniel 6:16 (NIV) – So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”

And because he was disappointed that he had to go through with everything Scripture says,

Daniel 6:18 (NIV) – Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.

The king couldn’t sleep all night because he’s honestly worried about Daniel.  No party, no TV, no scrolling Facebook.

He returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.

Then the next verse is exciting. . .

Daniel 6:19–20 (NIV) – 19 At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”

And after a night with the lions, Daniel who at this time seems more ferocious then those big cats calls out from the den and says,

Daniel 6:22 (NIV) – My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”

And the response from the king. . .

Daniel 6:23 (NIV) – The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

And because Daniel honored God, he spiritually impacted four kings.

And they all lived happily ever after.   We’ll, all but. . .

Daniel 6:24 (NIV) – At the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

It gets even better. . .

Daniel 6:25–27 (NIV) – Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth: “May you prosper greatly! 26 “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. “For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. 27 He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

King Darius issued a decree to everyone in the nation that people not just should, but must, fear the God of Daniel.

He’s saying, if his God can do that, then his God should be your God.

If you recall from last week, who is the main character of the Book of Daniel?  It’s God.

God is the main character of the Book of Daniel. God is the main character of every book in the Bible.

But most every story in the Bible also points to Jesus. God is always the main character, but most every story always points to Jesus.

And what’s so rich and meaningful is that this story gives us a glimpse of Jesus.

Think about it, just like Daniel, men conspired against Jesus. And just like Daniel, men set traps for Jesus. And just like Daniel, Jesus was falsely accused by his enemies. And just like Daniel, Jesus was condemned to die a violent death. And just like Daniel, he was put into a cave that  was sealed so no human could intervene. And just like Daniel, Jesus walked out of that cave alive, ok a bit different here, because Jesus died then was risen from the dead but you get the picture.

That’s how good our God is.

There is a God in heaven. And He is faithful.

So no matter what you’re going through today, and no matter what happens this week, you can trust in the goodness of God because there is a God in heaven, and he is worthy of our praise, he’s worthy of our devotion.

You can trust in God. No matter what you’re going through, no matter what, you can trust in God.

So Father, I know there are so many people going through so much right now, help us to put our trust in you.

Continue to pray.