Savior, and faith to live by,
without fear. Live by faith. The just should
live by faith, not live in fear, but live by faith. And faith
to suffer by. We're going to suffer, like the
Hebrews' children, like Daniel. And faith to die by. Faith to
live by, and faith to die by. Face your death with confidence
that your God will deliver you. That's the purpose of this message.
This whole story is Christ and Him crucified. That's who Daniel
represents. And Him being thrown to the lions
is Christ being crucified. Satan is called a roaring lion. And Christ faced our ancient
foe that Martin Luther just wrote about, that we sung. He faced
him. Christ came to this earth like
Daniel was sent to Babylon. People in captivity. Daniel was
wise, wasn't he? Daniel, by his wisdom and knowledge
and righteousness, delivered the people. They were set on
high because Daniel was a righteous man. and had wisdom. So as it was, he was their Redeemer. Daniel is a picture of Christ.
And as I said, like Daniel, as he is, so are we. And we shall
enter into the fellowship and have entered into the fellowship
of his sufferings. We live in Babylon. We live in
a godless, heathen world. David said, My soul is among
Lions, and Martin Luther, we just sang that, though this world
with devils filled, lions, roaring lions, should seek to undo us,
threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth, who is that, to triumph through us, and our Lord hath
delivered us and shall deliver us. Now, I look at verse 1. This
is what this whole story is about. Christ and Him crucified. Please, Darius, to set over the
kingdom 120 princes, which should be over the whole kingdom. Now,
all rulers, all kingdoms, all powers. There's no power, Paul
wrote, but of God. Look at chapter 4. We didn't
get to read this. I wanted to, in chapter 4, that
great chapter that speaks of our God doing according to His
will in the army of heaven. But look at chapter 4, verse
17, and this matter is by the decree of the watchers and the
demand by the word of the holy ones to the intent That is, all
the Bible, everything written, what we're reading now, is to
the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth
in the kingdom of heaven, and giveth it to whomsoever he will,
and setteth up over it the basest of men. In other words, God sets
up kings and kingdoms. And throughout Daniel, chapters
2, 4, 7, 8, 11 through 12, are mentioned many mysteries,
kingdoms, and many visions of animals and all of this and images
that represent kingdoms. You'll read chapter 11 or probably
already have. You didn't understand it, did
you? I didn't either. Nobody does. Gil doesn't understand. Matthew Henry doesn't understand.
It's still a great mystery. But they're kingdoms. Kingdoms
set up by God and kings. But the point is, they come and
they go. And God sets them up and puts
them down. Sets them up and puts them down.
And He has a purpose for everyone. Chapter 7. Go over there real
quickly. Chapter 7. Chapter 7, verse 13.
Now, here's the kingdom that shall never end. Chapter 7, verse 13, I saw in
the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came
with the clouds of heaven, came to the Ancient of Days, they
brought him near before him, and there was given him dominion
and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations and languages,
should serve him, his dominion." is an everlasting dominion which
shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not
be destroyed. So that's what this whole book,
not just Daniel, but the whole Bible is about. The king and
his kingdom, the eternal king and his kingdom. Paul prayed
this, he said, now unto the king eternal. Immortal, invisible,
the only wise God, the honor and glory from forever and ever,
amen, to the only potentate and King of kings and Lord of lords. Be all glory and honor. Look
in our text, verse 2 and 3. Now, over these kingdoms he set
three presidents of whom Daniel was the first, that the princes
not give accounts unto them. The king should have no damage.
was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent
spirit was in him and the king thought to set him over the whole
realm. That's exactly what I was just
trying to say. That Jesus Christ has preeminence
preferred over because he is the spotless son of the most
high God and he has preeminence over All principalities and power,
all right? Verses 4 through 6. So these
presidents and these princes sought to find occasion against
Daniel concerning the kingdom. They wanted to reign and rule. They could not find, they found
no occasion or fault in him, nor for as much as he was faithful. There's no error or fault found
in him. Verse 5, Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion
against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning
the law of his God. So these president and princes
assembled together. This sounds familiar. Daniel represents our Lord, and
this is exactly what they did. Psalm 2 says the kings of the
earth and the rulers set themselves against the Lord and against
his anointing. Psalm 62 says they only consult They consulted each other to
cast him down from his excellency. When they came to the king, Darius
said, live forever. And there's nothing but hypocrisy
in their voices. Verse 7, all the presidents of
the kingdom, the governors, the princes, the counselors, captains
have consulted together to establish a royal decree and make a firm
decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man
for 30 days, save of thee, O king, So he was cast into the den of
lies. Flattery and deceit was in their minds. The old king
established the decree, signed the writing, that it be not changed
according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth
not. So King Darius, being a man of vanity and an ego, and they
flattered him with smooth words and good speeches, it sounded
good to him. This sounds good without thinking.
So he set up this law. And it could not be changed,
altered not. He signed the writing and the
decree. But this was all in the purpose
of God. This whole story was in the purpose
and the decree of God. They made the decree, but God
made the decree before the world began that they would make this
decree. To find Daniel guilty. They couldn't find anything on
him, so they made something up and found him guilty of it. And
these fellows that were supposed to be under Daniel, you reckon they called him Lord?
Daniel was over all of them. You reckon they called him Lord?
Sure they did, with their lips. They had to. Their hearts were
far from them. It was all this familiar. Nothing
new under the sun. That's exactly why this took
place, why this story was written. Christ said, these bear witness
of me. But they could find no fault or occasion in him, against
him, not one single thing. But they wrote up this law. They
made up this law. And Daniel knew the law. He knew
it better than they did. And look at verse 10. I love
this. So Daniel knew that the writing was signed. He went straight
into his house. Knowing full well the law, he
went straight into his house. His windows being open in his
chamber toward Jerusalem. That's what the law said, didn't
it? Solomon concerning the temple,
praying when they pray toward this temple, hear, O King, and
forgive. And so he did, according to the
command, pray toward the temple. And that's Christ. He kneeled
upon his knees three times a day. Remember our Lord in the garden? Three times. Went in, came back,
went in, came back, went in. And he prayed, he gave thanks.
What was he praying? Oh, read Daniel 9. God have mercy on us. We're in
a land of captivity. Please deliver these people.
Thank you, Lord, for your mercy and grace to us. Thank you for
your word. Thank you for your truth. Thank you for the blood. Atonement. Thank you for revealing
it to us, Lord, but have mercy on us. We're a people full of
sin and iniquity. We dwell in a midst of a people
full of sin. We're in captivity. We need to
send the truth to set us free. To us belong the confusion of
faces, but unto thee, O Lord, belong with mercy and forgiveness. He kept praying there. And the
men found him praying, verse 11, for his God. And that's when
they brought him to the king as guilty. Now, as a little side
note, those of you who are listening carefully, a little side note. The only law that the Pharisees
could find against our Lord was the Sabbath, wasn't it? They thought he knew the law. And the only law that they could
try to catch him on was the Sabbath. He said, you've broken the Sabbath.
Now listen to this, because this is good. They said, you've broken
the Sabbath. He would heal people. He would
feed people. He picked corn and gave it to
his disciples. He fed his disciples. Anyway,
he did it anyway. But in him is no sin. Our Lord
did not break one law. So what does that tell you about
the Sabbath? Our Lord would not break one
law of God. And the law of God said, you're
not even supposed to pick up sticks on the Sabbath. I ain't
supposed to build a fire, not supposed to cook any food, not
supposed to do anything. But our Lord did it anyway. What
does that tell you about the Sabbath? That it's not what men
say it is, is it? There never was a day to be observed
as a work to keep the law, but faith in Christ is the Sabbath. Faith in Christ is keeping the
Sabbath. Christ kept the law and worked
and finished His work for us and rested, and we keep the Sabbath
by resting in Christ. Our Lord never quit working,
and He's called the Lord the Sabbath, and He said Himself
that the Sabbath, man wasn't made for the Sabbath. The Sabbath
was made for man. So that's just a side note that
the Lord did not break the law of the Sabbath. So that plainly
tells us that the Sabbath is not keeping the Dachshund. The
Sabbath is trusting Christ. All right, and in context here,
they tried to establish a law to keep Daniel from praying. That's not possible. You might
as well try to stop. You've got to kill a believer
to keep him from praying. Let men pass laws, and this is
relative and relevant to our day. Let them pass all the laws
they want. Besides, we're not like the Pharisees.
We don't pray on the street corner. Our Lord said, Enter into your
closet and pray. That's what Daniel did. He can't stop the
child of God from praying. But Daniel, now, here's the purpose
of it, in God's purpose to bring forth the gospel of the type
of Christ. Daniel was declared guilty by
the king. King loved Daniel. My pastor
preached this years ago. Well, every preacher's preached
this, but his title was Darius's Dilemma. Darius's Dilemma. Darius loved Daniel. He esteemed
him highly. When he found out that Daniel
was guilty of this law that he signed, he tried every way he
could to get around it. He labored going down in the
summer all day, labored, trying to figure out how he could get
around this law. He figured out, I can't do it. The law, justice, has to be served. The law says the soul that sins
must surely die. God said, I will by no means
clear the guilty. If a soul is found to be guilty,
they must die. That's what the law of God says.
God, in order to be just, this is the heart and soul of the
gospel. This is it. God, to be just, I say at this
time to declare his righteousness. His righteousness, I say. To
be just and justify. God had to devise a way whereby
he could be holy and honor his law and a sinner die for his
sin, yet be pardoned, be delivered. And John Newton called it the
greatest genius ever conceived, the gospel. Well, let's look
at it says in verse 14, the king heard his words, these words,
and was sore displeased with himself. You know, every no type
is perfect, cannot be. No man represents Christ perfectly
because Christ is perfect. But he set his heart on Daniel
to deliver him, labored to the going down of the sun, and these
men assembled And the king said, No, O king, the law of the Medes
and Persians, no decree nor statutes which the king established may
be changed. The king said, Okay. So he gave the command. It pleased
the king to put Daniel in the lives of
men. Though it grieved him, he had
to be the one to do it. nobody else could give the command.
And they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. Cast him into the den of lions.
Now, let me ask you a question. You remember back in chapter
3 when we looked at the three Hebrew men and they were cast
into the fiery furnace I remember how we took note that Daniel
was not there. Daniel's name was not mentioned.
Remember that? I know you've got to bless him thinking about
that. Daniel was not there. We asked the question, where
was he? Well, he was reigning. The king, Delta Shazar, I believe
it was, or Nebuchadnezzar, had put him on the throne. He's reigning
and ruling. And he heard that decree about
Everybody gathering together, and so he starts praying for
these three, and the Lord delivered them. And Christ was in that
fire with them. Well, in chapter 6, there's no
mention of his fellows. There's no mention. He was constant
companion with Hananiah, Machiel, and Azariah. Constant companion. They were his fellows. They were
his friends. They were his constant companions. He set them up with
him to reign and rule with him. Remember? Where were they? Now,
they're praying, fellas, too. They pray just like him. They could have been praying
right there with him. But when they came to get Daniel,
are you with me? When they came to get Daniel,
they let them go. And they took Daniel and in their
stead. Daniel may have said, if you
seek me, Let these go. Besides, Daniel had to do this
alone. There's no mention of these three.
Daniel's doing this. He's going to be cast into the
den of lions alone. And Jesus Christ, our Lord, went
to his cross alone when he had by himself faced our foes, Satan,
and purged our sin. He did it by himself. So King
Darius found Daniel guilty. Would you turn with me to 2 Corinthians
5? Years ago, when I first started
preaching here, I said to you, and I still stand by this statement,
that the single scripture in all of the Bible that most clearly
defines the gospel is right here. If you'd ask me for one verse
of scripture, that most clearly describes and defines and declares
the gospel of substitution and righteousness imputed. It's 2
Corinthians 5, 21, of which this whole story we're talking about
is the type. It says in verse 21, for he hath
made him, God hath made him, Christ, to be sin for us. Who knew no sin? There was no
fault in Daniel. Neither was there any fault in
our Lord Jesus Christ. Without sin, in Him was no sin. But God made Him sin. It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him. God laid on Him, the Scripture says, the iniquity of us all.
God made His soul an offering to sin. And, people, it's more
than just imputation of sin. It says here, he made him to
be sin. He bore our sins in his body
on the tree, in his body and his soul. And I can't explain
this, but it must be so. God cannot forsake a righteous
man, but he pursued Christ. God cannot punish the innocent,
but Christ is punished. a guilty man. So Christ was punished. He must punish sin and the sinner. Not just sin, but the sinner. And somehow, Christ actually
became us and became sin. Much deeper than just imputation. And I can't explain it. But he
went through hell, and he was made sin. Read on in verse 21,
it says that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Nor can we explain this, that though in my flesh dwelleth no
good thing, yet in me is no sin, in this new man. Great is the mystery of God. So God made him to be sin. So
Darius could not deliver him. Remember when Christ was hanging
on the cross and his enemy said he saved others, himself he cannot
save. That's right. That's right. He couldn't. He'd be made sin. This is how God may be just and
justify. He's the Lamb. The Lamb of God
led to the slaughter. Go back to our text. Satan, scripture says, is as
a roaring lion, and walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Satan
and his demons are also lions. And Daniel was cast into this
den of lions. It was a deep pit was what it
was, a great pit, a deep pit from which the lions could not
get out of. Stones roll over the mouth of
it, but these were man-eating lions. We call them that, don't
we? A great predator of man. Man-eating lions. In Psalm 57,
verse 4, David, who is a type of Christ, said, My soul is among
lions. In Psalm 35, verse 17, he said, in prophecy. Rescue my soul,
my darling, from the lions. And then in Psalm 22, which is
the psalm of the cross, that whole psalm, which some believe
Christ actually quoted from the cross, it begins this way. My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And in verse 21 of Psalm
22, it says, save me from the lions. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ
went as a lamb to the lion, then, on the cross. Satan, Satan, the
lion. Our Lord faced our ancient foe
for us. And unlike Daniel, our Lord was
torn. Our Lord was rendered by the
lion. Not a bone broken, mind you.
But his soul and his body were put, as it were, in the pit of
hell. And scripture says he was wounded. Daniel came out without a scratch
on him. And that's us, crucified with
Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ was wounded
for our transgression. By his stripes we are healed.
He was bruised for our iniquity. smitten and afflicted, and he
died just like that fourth man in the furnace stayed in that
furnace when the three Hebrews came out. And yet, now listen,
in the great wisdom and power of God, in dying, Christ defeated
death by His heel being bruised by
Satan. At the same time, he put his
keel on Satan's head. Now, let me ask you this. When
a lion is called the king of the jungle, and that's because
he's the most fierce predator in all the jungle, even the largest
of animals fear the lion, and he can bring down great animals,
but the lion is the king of the jungle and the animal kingdom.
Most feared. Only one other animal can bring
down a lion. You know what it is? If there's
a lion that's king of a, what do you call a lion's, whatever
they are, it's a whole tribe or whatever. That's good, lion
of the tribe. If there's a lion that rules
The only animal that can take him down is another man. Stronger than he. And in the
Revelation, chapter 5, long before he's called the Lamb, before
he's ever called the Lamb, it says, the Lion of the tribe of
Judah, he hath prevailed. a stronger than he, our adversary,
came and faced our ancient foe for us, the liar of the tribal
Judah. And we need not fear him, for
our Lord defeated him by dying. Isn't that something? Look at
verses 19 through 21. Then the king arose very early
in the morning. The king couldn't sleep that
night, worrying about Daniel, his friend. And that's reality. You've lost sleep, I've lost
sleep, we've lost sleep over one another and ourselves, haven't
we? Worrying about whether or not God's going to deliver us
and them. The king arose very early in
the morning, went in haste to the den of lions, and he came
to the den. He cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel, and the king
spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is
thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the
lions? Is he able? And Daniel said, and as I said,
I bet he said it with a loud voice, Okay, my God hath sent
his angel and hath shut the lion's mouth. And Christ cried when
he hung on that cross with a loud voice after defeating our foe. It is finished. The foe has been defeated. Satan
has been conquered. Sin has been vanquished and put
away. My people delivered. And in Revelation
1, it says, When I saw him, I fell at his feet. And he said unto
me, Fear not, I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth
and was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore.
O King, live forever. I am alive. Verse 22, My God
hath sent his angel. The angel came and what did he
do? He rolled back that stone. And our Lord was in that tomb.
He shut the... You know, our Lord is an angel.
He's the stone. He's the damsel. He's all of
this. He's all and in all. He said, The angel hath shut
the lion's mouth, that they have not hurt me. Forasmuch as in
him, that is in me, innocency found in me. And I haven't hurt
anyone, no fault. That's our Lord Jesus Christ.
Then was the king exceedingly glad. And as are we. Oh my, glad. I'll be glad. And they commanded that they
should take Daniel up. The commandment was given, deliver
him from the pit. I would not suffer thy holy one
to suffer corruption. Deliver him up. Take Daniel up. Exhaust him. Raise him out of
this den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den as our Lord
ascended on high. No manner of hurt was found upon
him because he believed in his But look what happened to his
accusers. Like the men who, through Ananias,
Moshe and Azariah, in the fiery furnace were consumed, the king
gave the decree that all of Daniel's accusers, that their children,
their wives, should be thrown into the den of lions, and they
tore them to pieces, and there was nothing left of them. done away with our sin completely. They'll be sought and they won't
be found. Lot of bones. Lot of bones. There's no bones to dig up. But you know, as He is, so are
we in this world. And I want you to turn to 2 Peter
with me real quickly. I'm sorry, 1 Peter. As Daniel
is, so are we. As Christ is, so are we in this
present evil world. We live in an evil world full
of lions, as it were. 1 Peter chapter 1, you'll be
amazed at how this goes with all of this. It says in chapter
1, verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who according to his abundant mercy hath forgotten
us unto a living or lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ unto them. An angel came out of that tomb,
or the end of lives. Our Lord came out of the tomb,
and so we have a hope because of the decree of God. Verse 5
of 1 Peter, it says, We're kept by the power of God. We're kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed. Verse 7,
it says that while the trial of your faith pays more precious
than gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire like those
three Hebrews, it's going to be found unto praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Who do you reckon
else was at the mouth of that pit when they brought Daniel
out? I had an eye on my shell, that's right. They were praying
to Him. And they were so glad when they
saw Him, as were Peter, James, and John. Look at verse 14 of
1 Peter 1. It says, As obedient children,
like those three Hebrews, like Daniel. Remember how the whole
story started? Obedient children. Fair children. And children of whom there was
no blemish. As obedient children. Not fashioning
ourselves according to form or love. Chapter 2, verse 12. Look
at this. Chapter 2, verse 12. Now, have
your conversation honest among the Gentiles, whereas they speak
against you as evildoers. And they did against, oh three,
didn't they? And they did against Daniel.
Read on, but they will, by your good works, they're going to
glorify God in the day of dissipation. Verse 20. What glory is it when
you be busted for your faults, you take it patiently. But when
you do well and suffer for it, take it patiently. This is acceptable
unto God, with God. Even here unto where you called.
This whole story of these three Hebrews and Daniel, it was the
purpose of God for His glory and honor. And Christ suffered
for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in His
step. Who did no sin, neither was guile
found in His mouth. Who when He was reviled, reviled
not again. And when he suffered, he threatened
not, read on, but committed himself to him that judges righteousness.
He went into that lion's den willingly. He didn't kick and
scream. He didn't bite. Like the three
Hebrews, God delivers his time. If he doesn't, that's okay too.
He's just happy to suffer for himself.
Verse 24, "...who of his own self bear our sins in his body
on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness,
by whose stripes ye were healed." Chapter 3, verse 14, "...if ye
suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye." Don't be afraid
of their terror, neither be troubled. Verse 18, "...for Christ hath
once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust." that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened
by the Spirit. One more, chapter 5, over in
chapter 5, verse 7. He says, cast all your care upon
him. He careth for you. Did he care
for Hananiah, Mashiach, and Azariah? Were they wrongly convicted?
Were they evilly treated? Were they persecuted and all
manner of evil set against them falsely? Yes, they were. Were
they thrown in a fiery trial? Yes, they were. Did they make
it? Yes, they did. Why? Because he was living. He
promised. Cast your care on him. If they
cast you into the furnace, cast your care on him. And they didn't
cast him in our Lord yet, like Daniel. Be sober, verse 8. Be vigilant, because your adversary,
the devil, has a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he
may devour. Resist steadfast in the faith.
What's that? Well, Martin Luther said it in
his hymn, Did we in our own strength confide? Our striving would be
losing. We're not the right man on our
side. The man of God's own choosing.
Just ask who that may be. Christ Jesus. It is He. Lord Sabbath. It's his name from
age to age the same. He must win the battle. And one little word will tell
him. And resist him at that. Lord,
he's attacking me. You can have a praise in hand. Lord, look what they've said
about me. And resist him at that. Knowing
this, the same afflictions Verse 9 of 1 Peter 5, the same afflictions
are accomplished. Christ's affliction, He suffered
for our sins, it's finished, it's accomplished. And these
same afflictions, these fiery trials of these, being in the
midst of lions, among lions, and torn, and rendered, and hurt,
and offended, it's the same afflictions. are accomplished in your brethren
as Hananiah, Mashiach, Azariah, Shariah, Stan, Dan, Daniel, Judge,
the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren, Judge. And
so God has given the decree, like old Darius, that the God
of Daniel, he's the living God. He's the living God, steadfast
forever. And men should tremble in fear before him, not man.
His kingdom is forever, steadfast, will not be destroyed. His dominion
unto the end, he delivereth, he delivereth, salvations of
the Lord, and rescueth. He worketh signs and wonders
in heaven and on earth, and how we know all this is true. He
said, because he delivered Daniel from the den of the lions. That's
how we know it's all true. That's how we know God will will
pardon sinners. That's how we know that God is
just and justified. That's how we know that God is
true. It gives unto us eternal life.
It was he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up
for his life. But he didn't suffer corruption,
and he raised him from the grave. And now we know death has been
conquered. Satan, our foe, has been conquered.
And their sins are gone. They're just devoured. So this Daniel, the last verse
in our text, this Daniel, this same Jesus, they say, shall so
come and reign. This Daniel prospered in the
reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Ed, you
know what Cyrus did that's crazy, don't you? Build the temple. Seventy years of captivity were
over, real fast, after Daniel. Now isn't that prophetic? Right
after that, captivity's over, the decree comes, build the temple,
I think they're coming home. Okay, stand with me. Our Lord, this is indeed your
word, the word of the Most High God. God breathes. No scripture
of any private interpretation. Holy men speak as they are moved
by the Spirit of God. The word of untruth, not the
word of man, but the word of God. The word of truth, the gospel
of our salvation that's in Christ, in Him alone. Lord, this is our
hope. This is our plea. That when Jesus
Christ died, he died for me. Let this be the hope of every
person in this room tonight. Him who said, it is finished.
He who said, I will move Satan under your feet shortly. Lord,
let us hope in him. Who is declared to be the son
of God by the spirit of holiness and the resurrection of the days. Who right now reigns and sits
at the right hand of the majesty on high and is coming again for
his people. This same Jesus. It's in his name we pray and
give thanks. Amen. You're dismissed.