Let's go back to the book of
Daniel this morning, Daniel chapter 6. This is a fascinating story,
isn't it? And I've read it and you've read
it lots of times before. In fact, I doubt there's anybody
in the building that hasn't who hasn't listened to a message
on Daniel in the lion's den. And I'm going to repeat the story
to you, and in doing so, I'm going to give you some key words
to sort of fix some things into your minds. The first word is,
of course, the word the word person. We're talking about Daniel. His name means God is my judge. God is my judge. About 70 years
have passed now since Daniel and Shadrach and Meshach and
Abednego were taken captive out of Jerusalem and in the captivity
in Babylon. Seventy years. So, actually,
Daniel, he's not a young man now. He's about 80 or somewhere
thereabouts. And he's seen a lot during his
lifetime. Most of his life has been lived
in Babylon. He's lived in the nation of Judah. He's lived under the authority
of the Babylonians, and now he's living under the authority and
under the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. So he's seen
a lot. A lot. You think of all the storms
that he had weathered, of all the trials that he endured, all
the political turmoil that he had witnessed. And over and over
again, he had seen a kingdom rise and a kingdom fall. But
Daniel, being the man of God, he realized that no kingdom can
rise unless God causes it to rise. And no kingdom will fall
unless God appoints it to fall. No ruler can take the position
of authority unless God puts him there. And no man will be
removed from that position of authority unless God removes
him. So Daniel, he's God's servant. He is a prophet of the Lord. He's seen a lot during his lifetime. Here's a man who's about 80 years
of age. His name means, God is my judge. That's the first word, person.
The second word is president. As our brother read, there are
three presidents that King Darius set over his kingdom. Darius
is a 62-year-old ruler. So he's actually younger than
Daniel. And Darius, he sent these three
presidents over the kingdom with 120 princes below them to look
after his affairs, to look after his finances. This is a vast
kingdom. And you need to understand the
kingdom of the Medes and the Persians up until this point
in history, it's the largest kingdom that has ever existed.
It is an expansive kingdom. And of course, this man, this
man Darius, he's just one man. And he's got business interests,
he's got financial interests throughout the kingdom and so
he appoints three presidents and then 120 princes to look
after his finances. But the man that he makes to
be the leading president is Daniel. Because Daniel is a man of integrity. Daniel is a man that he trusts.
Daniel is a man who is trusted by Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel is
a man who's trusted by Belshazzar. And you'll remember at the end
of Daniel chapter 5, that's when Belshazzar lost his life and
lost his kingdom. But Daniel had served him faithfully. And now Daniel, he's been elevated. He's been elevated to the very
number one position under King Darius of the Medes and the Persians. He did what He did with all of
His heart, with all of His soul. And there's a good practical
lesson for each of us to learn from this as a people of God.
Whatever your job is, whatever it is that you set out to do,
do it with all your might. Here's Daniel. He's a Jew. He's a man who worships the Lord.
He's in the midst of a kingdom of people who hate God. Do you
understand that? These are people who are idolaters.
They don't believe on the Son of God like Daniel does. Daniel
is looking by faith to the Lord Jesus. He knows that God's Son
is coming into the world. And yet Daniel has been taken
into captivity. Daniel has been taken away from
his family. He and Shadrach and Meshach and
Abednego, ripped away from the arms of their parents, taken
into a heathen land. Why, he could have become bitter.
He could have said, I don't deserve this. Why am I doing here? What am I doing in this place?
He could have said to King Darius, you want me to serve you? You've
got another thing coming. I'm not going to help you in
your enterprises. I have no interest in assisting
you. But Daniel wasn't like that.
He's a man of integrity. He's a man who always seeks to
do the right thing. That's the way we're to be in
this world. You know, we're told in the Scriptures to adorn the
Gospel in all things. Listen, we are the people of
God. We are the elect of God. We are
the redeemed of God. We are the called of the Spirit.
And whatever vocation we find ourselves in, whatever predicament
we may find ourselves in in life, we understand a sovereign God
has put us there. So do whatever God gives you
to do to the very best of your ability for His glory. For His glory. It would have
been easy for Daniel to have had a bad attitude. But he didn't. The king saw him. He detected
his honesty. He's a man of integrity. And
so he gets promoted. Promoted. And then finally he
goes all the way to the top. He's one of three presidents.
And as you read, actually, here's what the king had in mind to
do away with the other two presidents, and Daniel would run it all. And he had good reason for thinking
that way, because as we've read through this, really, Daniel's
the only honest man he's got in his kingdom. He's the only
honest man that he's got surrounding him. He's the only honest man
on the presidency. The rest of them are crooks.
And they're out for themselves. Only Daniel has the best interest
of the king at heart. And so Darius, he trusted Daniel
from beginning to end. Even when Darius was caught in
the trap of the other governors, the other presidents, he never
questioned the integrity of Daniel. He knew in his heart, Daniel
is going to seek to do the right thing. And it's just practical. Advice. Always do the right thing
and you don't have to look over your shoulder and wonder who
might have seen what I did. Just do the right thing. He's the third president. And
verse 3 says, and here's the third word, preferred. He's preferred. He was such an unusual man. That
King Darius preferred him. He preferred him over the other
two presidents. He's an outstanding man. He's
a man of such greatness. A man of such honesty. That King
Darius preferred Daniel over all the others because Daniel
is looking after his interests. He's preferred. But there was
a plot. Fourth word. See them? They're
all beginning with P. He's catching on. Oh, beginning
with P, here's the plot. The other presidents were jealous
of Daniel. And they looked for any weakness
that they could find in this man. But they couldn't find any
weakness except this. He was faithful to his God. He loved the Lord. The Word of God meant everything
to him. That's the only thing they could find. So, here's the plot. We will make a law. We'll write
it up. Get the king to sign it. Get
him to seal it. And this is what the law will
be. If anybody asks anything of any man or God, for 30 days,
except for the king. You've got to ask the king. If
you want something, you'll ask the king. You can't ask your
husband. You can't ask your wife. You can't ask your boss. The
boss can't ask the laborer. If you ask anything of anybody
else except the king, it's the lion's den for you. 30 days. That's the plot. This den of lions, it's not just
one or two lions. Hey, there'd be more than I'd
want to deal with anyway. I wouldn't even want to deal
with one lion. But there are so many lions that in the end
when Darius has these other men cast in there with their wives
and their children, it says the lions broke their bones before
they ever hit the bottom. So there are a lot of lions here. That's the penalty. that they wrote out for the king
to sign, if any man ask anything of any god or man for 30 days. Well, then that's the precept.
Which in verse 8, here's the precept. Look at it again. Now,
O king, they present it to the king. establish the decree, sign
the writing, that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes
and the Persians, which altereth not." Here's the precept. Now
they didn't make laws lightly. They didn't enter into laws thoughtlessly. Because whenever a law was signed
in a decree, it was unchangeable. That's the laws of the Medes
and the Persians. And you can read down through
here, and as Brother Ron read, perhaps you'd notice how many
times this was said according to the law of the Medes and the
Persians, which altereth not. So they wouldn't write out a
law, you know, unless it was really serious. Because once
a law was enacted, and once the king put his seal to it, that
law could not be reversed. That's the precept. Well, so
they present this to the king, and here's the sixth word, is
the word pride. They present this to the king,
and it does appeal to his pride. Okay, king, here's the law. We think you'll like it. If anybody asks anything of any
God or man for 30 days, except for you, O great King, it's the
lion's den for them. You're so great, O King. We want
to honor you this way. Oh, and his chest swelled a little,
you know. This is good. This will be great. And he thinks it's all about
exalting Him. He has no thoughts about anybody
else. Especially, he has no thoughts
about the most trusted man in the kingdom, Daniel. Which brings me to the next word,
which is perseverance. It's Daniel. Here's a trial of
Daniel's faith. Now, as you know the story, and
my brother read it to us a while ago, Daniel, he continued to
do just like he'd been doing. He goes up into his room, he
opens the doors toward Jerusalem. Why did he do that? Because that's
where the sacrifice was made. At the temple. What was so special
about the temple? That's where God met with man
and man met with God. That's where the blood was offered.
That's where the sacrifices were offered. That's where the burnt
offerings were offered. Every morning and every evening,
the sacrifice of a lamb. A lamb in the morning at 9 o'clock,
a lamb in the evening at 3 o'clock. That's where the blood was shed.
And Daniel can't be there. So he opens his doors toward
Jerusalem. He faces that direction where
God is worshiped. And he kneels down at 9 o'clock,
12 o'clock and 3 o'clock every day and he worships God and he
asks his petitions of God. But now what will he do? Hey,
if you get caught doing this, it's the lion's den for you.
Well, I want you to notice that Daniel didn't go down into the
middle of Main Street and then put out his prayer cloth and
kneel and pray there. No, he wouldn't do that because
he's not going to be a foolish martyr. He's not going to put
his religion on display. You know what he does? He just
keeps on doing what he's been doing. You say, but he could
have shut the doors and still worshipped God. But that would
have shown his fear. That would have shown that he's
not really a man of integrity. He's a man who's protecting himself. So what does he do? He just keeps
on doing what he's always done. Worshipping God. You see, that's
what the people of God do. We just keep on doing what we
always are doing. We are to be found worshiping
the Lord our God through Jesus Christ the Lord. We're not putting
on a show for anybody. This is not to manifest our great
religiosity. We just worship. We worship God
through Jesus Christ the Lord. And so here's Daniel. He just
keeps on doing what he's been doing. He's persevering. He's
persevering. And you'll notice as he read
verse 10, it says, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed.
It wasn't like he didn't know it had been signed. He knew perfectly
well. And I expect that when Daniel
opened his windows and he looked down, I expect he could see those
guys down there just looking up, just gawking at him. Well,
what will he do? And he just continues to worship
the Lord like he had been doing. Here's an example of a man who
knows God and believes God and will not compromise what he believes. In his persevering in worship,
he is saying this, I cannot help but continue to worship the Lord
and I'm willing to die for the one I worship. I'm willing to sacrifice everything
for the Lord. I love Him. I owe everything
to Him. I owe Him my life. He saved me
by His grace. He chose me in eternity past. And all the sacrifices that have
died down through the years on Jewish altars, they all point
to His Son who is going to come in the world to bear my sins
away. I will not deny the God I love
and worship. I will stand firm. That's what
Daniel is saying. That's perseverance. And so the next word is prosecution. They had laid the trap for the
king, King Darius. He's blinded by his pride. He thinks only of himself. He
enacts this law, this precept. And now the enemies of Daniel
come before him to present to the king their charges against
Daniel. Now the law wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't a good
law. But it was a law that could not
be reversed. This is a law that cannot be
reversed. Was Daniel guilty of breaking
the law? Anybody? Well, sure. Sure he
was guilty of breaking the law. What did the law say? You'll
not ask anything of any man or any God for 30 days. Did Daniel
ask anything of his God? Absolutely. Did he break the
law? Yes. Was he guilty? Yes. No question about it. You hang
on to that for a minute and I'll come back to it. Well, here's the predicament.
Here's the king. He now realizes what he's done. And look at verse 14. Then the
king, when he heard these words, they came to him and said, well,
king, you know, that law you signed, it's irreversible. We
remind you of that. He said, oh yeah, that's correct. He's still telling a lie. Yeah,
that's right. And they said, that Daniel, he
broke your law. He broke your law. And the king is devastated. I
got blindsided. And you know who he blames? Himself. And this is good. I'll give him credit for this.
I'll give him credit for this. You see verse 14, then the king,
when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself. With himself. He didn't say,
oh, those presidents, oh, those 120 princes. No, he said, this
is my fault. This is my fault. Here's a predicament. Or another
good word is, here's a dilemma. Here's the dilemma that faced
him. And here's the title of the message. Darius, Daniel, and the Dilemma. And here's the dilemma. Here's
the predicament. Here's the predicament he's in.
He loves Daniel. He wants to spare Daniel. He
wants to save Daniel. But the law says Daniel has to
die. And it's the law of the Medes
and the Persians that cannot be reversed. Here's the predicament
he faces. And all day long he studied. Oh, how can I change this? How can it be that this Daniel
that I love and respect and admire, this man of integrity, how can
this man be spared? And yet the law that I signed
into decree, how can it be honored and upheld? What a dilemma. What a predicament. He's really
between a rock and a hard place. I want to save this man, but
I've got to honor my law. What am I to do? How can this
be resolved? And he studies all day long. I'm
sure he probably got law books down and going through all the
old statutes and so forth and so on. This can't be reversed,
King. So, here's the penalty. Daniel
is cast into the den of lions. One writer said these dens were
in caves by a hillside. There was an opening at the top
to where they could throw food down to the lions and also throw
victims to the lions. Then there was a hole in the
side where the guy who kept the lions could take the lions in
and that sort of thing. And here's the penalty. Daniel's
cast into the den of lions. Oh, but here's another word.
Preservation. God preserved him. God kept him. Now, all night long, the king
walked the floor. And I'm sure they came to him
from the kitchen and said, I made you a sandwich. No, I don't want
any food. I can't eat. We got some musicians,
I'll get it out, musicians to kind of calm your nerves. I don't
want him. Send him away." And he just paced
the floor all night long. Will Daniel be devoured? Well,
Daniel believed the Lord. And even Darius believed that
God would spare him. And God did spare Daniel. But
let me say this, there are a lot of times when God's not pleased
to spare His servants. Isaiah, they had him stretched
out, and they sawed him in two. They got a cross saw or whatever
you call it, one on one side, one on the other, and they said,
here we go! And God didn't stop them. God couldn't stop them,
but He didn't. When they stoned Stephen who
was calling upon the Lord, God could have stopped them, but
He didn't stop it. When the head of John the Baptist
was laid down and the axe was ready to fall and cut his head
off so that his head could be put on a charger and taken inside
to a young lady, that was her desire to give to the Queen,
God could have stopped it, but He didn't. We live just exactly
as long as God ordains for us to live, and then we die. And
this was not the hour of Daniel's death. And he's preserved. And the king goes early in the
morning. Oh Daniel! Daniel! Servant of the living God, is
thy God whom thou servest continually able to deliver thee from the
lions?" And he waited for an answer. Oh, please answer. Please. Oh, King lived forever. Oh, King lived forever. Then there's the punishment of
the evil doers. And then the proclamation. Here's
what the king says. King Darius says, I make another
decree. Everybody worship Daniel's God.
But you know what? You can make a law for everybody
to worship God, but everybody's not going to worship God because
a law was made for you to worship God. You'll only worship God
if He works in the heart. and makes you to worship Him.
And I noticed something also about this, Darius. He said,
I make a law that throughout every dominion of my kingdom
men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. He didn't say
before my God. He said Daniel's God. You see,
maybe today you're sitting here saying, well, boy, that's the
preacher's God. Wait a minute. Why don't you
worship God? Oh, would to God He would bring
you to bow at the feet of Christ Jesus. And He'd be your Lord
and your Savior, like Thomas said. You remember when Thomas
saw the Lord there after He had appeared to the disciples and
Thomas wasn't there? And then the next time, Thomas
was there and he said, My Lord and my God. Darius didn't say,
My Lord and my God. He said, Daniel's Lord and Daniel's
God. Oh may He be your Lord, your
Savior, your Redeemer. So there's the proclamation,
and the last word, and if I've given them all, it's 14 of them,
here's the word prosperity. Daniel prospered. My, what an
interesting story. But, there's more here than just
practical lessons for believers. You know, the Savior said to
the Jews, He said, search the Scriptures, For in them ye think
ye have eternal life, and these are they that testify of me."
Now, here's what our business is, to look into this chapter
and see Christ Jesus, to see the gospel. So the issue is,
are you able, even now, so far in the message, are you able
to see the Lord Jesus and His sacrifice in this chapter of
Daniel, chapter 6? Let me give it to you. Here it
is. First of all, just like Darius
loved Daniel and cared about Daniel, God has a people, He
has loved them before the foundation of the world. They are a preferred
people. Just like Daniel was preferred,
it says in the Scripture. In verse 3, "...then this Daniel
was preferred." God has a preferred people. But wait! It's not because
we're a people of integrity, or a people of honesty, or a
people who are good. But solely according to the purpose
of God's grace, He has reserved unto Himself a people. There's
a preferred people in this world. They're preferred from old eternity. It's an elect number given to
Jesus Christ in the covenant of grace. Chosen out of every
nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. The Apostle Paul said, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love. Our Lord said to His disciples,
You didn't choose me. I chose you. God said, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. The Apostle Paul wrote to the
Thessalonians and he said, you've been chosen by God before the
world began under salvation. So God has a people, a preferred
people, not due to any goodness in us, but solely according to
His purpose of grace, He set apart a people under salvation. Secondly, something happened. These people that God chose under
salvation broke His law. Now in the case with Daniel,
he broke the law of King Darius. Now that was a bad law. But it
was a law nevertheless. Well, we have broken God's law. And God's laws are good and righteous
and holy and just. God's laws say, love God with
all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor
as yourself. The laws of God are good. The law reveals our sin. It's
the mirror into which we look to see our transgressions against
God. The law is good. We're bad. We're bad. Now, there's a price
to pay for breaking the law. You know what that price is?
It's death. Daniel, you've broken my law. You've got to go in the den of
lions. Here's the penalty for disobedience
is death. What is the penalty for disobeying
God's law? It's death. The wages of sin
is death. The soul that sinneth shall die. God said to Adam, in the day
you eat of that forbidden fruit, thou shalt surely die. Well then, is there anything that can be
done to spare sinners the death penalty? Remember, in the case of King
Darius, the law he enacted could not be altered, the law of the
Medes and the Persians. No way to reverse it. What was
written was written. When a law was made, it stood
fast. There was no changing it. And
even though he tried to find a way to work things out to where
he could save Daniel and still fulfill the penalty of the law,
it couldn't be found. You listen to me. God Almighty,
holy, righteous, just, He must punish sin. And if ever there was, and I
know the word dilemma shouldn't be used with reference to God,
but if I may put it this way, if ever there was a divine dilemma,
it was this. Here it is. How can God be just
and holy and righteous? not compromise His law nor the
penalty of violating His law, which is death. How can God be
just and holy and righteous? And here are people that He loves,
He's chosen them unto salvation, yet they've sinned and the law
says they've got to die. So how can God be just and justify
the ungodly? And King Darius could not find
the answer to that dilemma. But the gospel gives us the answer. A substitute will die in our
place. That's the beauty of the gospel.
You see, God doesn't lessen His law. He doesn't reverse His law. He doesn't change His law. He doesn't water down His law. God's law says the soul that
sinneth shall die and the law will be fulfilled. It will be
answered. The penalty of the law will be
paid. And here's these preferred people. preferred in Christ Jesus before
the world began. A people out of every nation,
kindred, tribe, and tongue. And God loves them with an everlasting
love. Just like He said to Jeremiah,
I've loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore in loving kindness
have I drawn thee. So here's God's love for His
people, and here's God's law that's been violated. What shall
be done? A worthy substitute comes into
the world. And lo, t'was the Son of God,
t'was God Himself, who took God, who took into union with Him,
humanity. And what happened to Him? He
died. Because the penalty for sin is
death. Well, for whom did He die? Sinners. He died in the stead of His people. He died in the stead of His church.
He died in the stead of people who deserve to die, who would
have died had He not died in their place. God found a substitute. And God said, release them from
going down to the pit. We are not going to be cast into
the den of lions, the lions of God's wrath and God's justice,
because Christ Jesus has been cast in already. And He's already
suffered the full penalty for our sins. I tell you, twice payment
God will not demand. First in my bleeding surety's
hand and then again in mine. Can't be. The debt's been paid
by Christ. And all for whom He died go free. Listen. No lines then for you. Oh, what good news! No lion's
den for you! Even though you've broken God's
law countless times, somebody else went in for you.
Somebody else died your death. Somebody else suffered the wrath.
And you get off scot-free. That's the beauty of the gospel.
You're talking about a message of grace. A message of mercy. It's this message. We're spared
the death penalty because somebody else died in our stead. Scripture says, in the fullness
of time God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them that were under the law. When we were under
the sentence of death, God did something. He sent His Son. He found the way to redeem and
save us, and yet His law, it still remains intact. Our God has upheld the honors
and the integrity of His own law. So this matter of salvation
is not God weakening the law. There's not the slightest bit
of compromise on God's part. He honored the law. Our Lord
Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness to everybody who
believes. Do you believe? Bless the name
of God, I believe. I believe Him. And I say to you, neither is
there salvation in any other. Well, there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And I'll tell you, rather than
that damn alliance, we're going to glory. We're going to glory. To be with the Savior forever.
Boy, that's good news. That's good news for poor sinners.
Okay, let's sing a hymn.