Well, you may have been able
to surmise at this point that the title of the message this
evening is Thy God is Able. Thy God is Able. Now, if God
is God, if He is truly God, He is able to do anything that He
pleases. If He's God, He's able. And that's what I want us to
leave here tonight rejoicing in and hanging on to, thy God
is able. Now, verse 1 of Daniel chapter
6, it pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 princes, which
should be over the whole kingdom, and over these three presidents,
of whom Daniel was first, that the princes might give accounts
unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel
was preferred above the presidents and Because an excellent spirit
was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
Now, Darius had a very large kingdom, too big for him to manage
all of it completely. So he set up three princes who
had 120 princes answering to him from the affairs of the different
provinces. And they collected taxes and
judged the people and took care of all the minutia of the government,
if you will, so that the king's time would be free to do, you
know, what kings do. And Daniel did a better job of
this than the other presidents, which is no surprise because
how many times have we heard believers make the best employees,
whether they're digging ditches or they're the supervisor, they
make the best employees. He did a better job than everyone
else. So the king was going to make Daniel second command in
his whole realm. Now needless to say, the other
presidents, they don't like this plan, somebody being promoted
over them, especially this captive. So verse four, the presidents
and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the
kingdom, but they could find none occasion or fault for as
much as he was faithful. Neither was there any error or
fault found in him. Then said these men, we should
not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it
against him concerning the law of his God. Then these presidents
and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto
him, King Darius live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom,
with the exception of Daniel, all the presidents of the kingdom,
the governors and the princes, the counselors and the captains,
have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make
a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god
or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be
cast into the den of lions. Now, O King, establish the decree,
and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to
the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore,
King Dry signed the writing and the decree." Now, the other presidents
and princes, rather than improve their own performance, they tried
to drag Daniel down to their level. If you're in the workplace,
you see that frequently. Human nature hasn't changed.
And they examined Daniel. They watched him. But they couldn't
find a time that he dealt dishonestly in the kingdom. They couldn't
find a time that he used his authority for his own gain rather
than the good of the king. So they decided they had to set
a trap for Daniel with the law of his God. They had to come
up with a law that would require Daniel to violate the worship
of his God because they knew that the only authority to Daniel
greater than the king Darius was the Lord. So they're going
to have to try to trap him here. And they came to the king and
that word assembled means they came to him in a tumultuous way.
They came to him loudly with a lot of pomp and ceremony to
appeal to the king's pride. Now, King Darius agreed to this
evil law because of his pride. He fell right into their trap.
It was their idea to make him feel important. And you think,
Isn't he important enough already? I mean, this guy is the most
powerful man on the planet. Isn't he powerful enough already?
But he fell into this thing because of pride. And this is a stupid
law. For 30 days, if a child asks
something from their parents, you have to put the child and
throw him to the lions. If a beggar asks alms, into the
lions den he goes. A servant asks something of his
master, throw him to the lions. But the king didn't see that.
And he's probably a pretty wise fellow, but he didn't see this
because of his pride. He fell into this trap. And it's
important to understand that under the rule of the Medes and
Persians, no commandment of the king can be changed. It can't
be altered. It can't be ignored. It can't
be changed in any way. Every commandment of the king
is ironclad. Now, Daniel knows all this is
going on. He knows the decree's been signed
and he knows what these fellows are trying to do. Now, what's
Daniel to do? You know, you think, well, couldn't
he just pray to himself? No, that's not what he's going
to do. Daniel prays. And it's very interesting when
he prays. Look at verse 10. He's going to teach us a lesson
here on prayer. Now, when Daniel knew that the
writing was signed, he went into his house, his windows being
open in his chamber toward Jerusalem. praying toward the temple, toward
where the presence of God is. He kneeled upon his knees three
times a day and prayed, and gave thanks before his God as he did
aforetime. Now, despite everything that
is genuinely bad going on around Daniel, he prayed. And you notice he gave thanks. It doesn't mention anything about
him asking for anything. It doesn't make mention of him
asking the Lord for anything. He gave thanks. Now, he very
well may have asked for help in this matter. I'm sure he did. But I don't know. What I do know
is in the midst of this horrible circumstance, three times a day,
Daniel got down on his knees to give thanks. Thank you, Lord. Even though he's a captive in
a pagan country, in a situation that's certainly going to lead
to him being put to death in a painful way, He gave thanks. My prayers need to include more
thanks and less asking for myself. We always, as God's children,
have reason to give thanks. And Daniel gave thanks. Well,
verse 11, then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and
making supplication before his God. Then they came near and
spake before the king concerning the king's decree. Hath thou
not signed a decree that every man that shall ask a petition
of any god or man within thirty days save of thee, O king, shall
be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The
thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians,
which altereth not. Then answered they and said before
the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity
of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou
hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. Then the king,
when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself.
Now that says something about the king and something about
Daniel. He wasn't mad at Daniel. He's mad at himself. He should
have been mad at him. He's sore displeased with himself.
And he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him, and he labored
till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men
assembled under the king and said unto the king, know, O king,
that the law of the Medes and Persians is that no decree nor
statute which the king establisheth may be changed." Now here these
presidents, they spied on Daniel and ran and told the king he's
praying. They come back to the king again
in a tumultuous way. They're still trying to appeal
to the king's pride, but now they're also doing it to Make
it so the king doesn't have as much time to think. They just
want him to react and put Daniel in the lion's den. And they tell
him, this Hebrew captive, you thought was such a good president.
Really, he's your enemy. Because look what he's doing.
He's not just praying once. Three times every day he's praying.
And Darius is mad at himself. He knew he'd been tricked. And
he tried everything he could think of to set Daniel free. All the writers say he even tried
to bribe the presidents and princes with silver and gold. He tried
to bribe them. They wouldn't accept the bribe.
Which is part of all this picture because you know we're not redeemed
with corruptible things as silver and gold. Can't pay them off.
The law cannot be changed. Silver and gold can't pay the
price. It's too high. And old King Darius, now he's
the king. He's not used to being in a fix,
but he's in a fix. He can't just ignore the violation
of this law. If he does, his reputation is
ruined. If the king ignores a violation
of the law, even by someone that he loves, he ceases to be king. He's just inviting insurrection
against his throne. He's just in a fix. And the bad
thing is, Daniel's enemies got the law on their side. They're
on the side of the law. Now, it's an evil law, I know.
But it's a law, nevertheless, and the law is on their side
against Daniel, and it's a law that cannot be changed. So verse
16 derives to us the only thing he can do. The king commanded,
and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. Now
the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God, whom thou servest
continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought
and laid upon the mouth of the And the king sealed it with his
own signet, and with the signet of his lord's, that the purpose
might not be changed concerning Daniel. Now Darius was not wise
enough to find a ransom to deliver Daniel from the pit. So Daniel
was put in the lion's den, and Darius put all of his hope, when
Darius finally got to the end of his rope, he put all of his
hope of deliverance in Daniel's Now, John Gill says that this
statement, verse 16, by Darius, thy God, whom thou service continually,
he will deliver thee. Gill says that's not really so
much a statement of confidence as it is kind of a wish or a
prayer. I hope your God will deliver
you. We're going to find out if he will or not. So Daniel's
thrown into the lion's den and that lion's den is sealed. A
rock is put on top of it. It's sealed. See, it's sealed
with the king's seal and it's sealed with the president's seal.
See, this way, the king can't secretly come and set Daniel
free. And the presidents and the princes can't look down there.
And if what Darius hopes is going to happen happens, the lions
are leaving him alone. You know, they can't be throwing
stones and rocks and stuff, trying to make the lions mad. So they'll
go eat Daniel. The thing's sealed. So Daniel's
fate in that pit is sealed. He's down there alone. So verse
18, Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night
fasting. Neither were instruments of music
brought before him, and a sleep went from him. Then the king
arose very early in the morning, and went in haste into the den
of lions. And when 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? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths,
that they have not hurt me. Forasmuch as before him innocence
he was found in me, and also before thee, O king, have I done
no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad
for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of
the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner
of hurt was found upon him. because he believed in his God.
Daniel was spared because the angel of God came and spent the
night with him in that den. Personally, I'm convinced that
that angel was a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. This is
Christ himself, the same one who appeared to Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego in the fiery furnace, appeared to Daniel in that lion's
den. And he stopped the mouths of those lions, tamed them so
they wouldn't hurt his child. Now try to imagine. I mean, we
know this story. We know it's just, yeah, he spends
the night down there, he comes up, he's free, he prospers. But
you imagine what it was like down in that lion's den. They
say there's between seven and ten lions down in that lion's
den. Last week, I was flipping through
the channels like I do, watching TV, and I came upon this special
about lions, and I'd love, I'd be fascinated by these lions.
So I stopped and watched it for a little bit. And somewhere in
Africa, they set out these plastic things that look like different
animals to see what the lions would do. And right beside them,
they set this mannequin of a man. So the lions come, sure enough,
they pounce on one of the animals, tear it to shreds, run away with
it, and they realize it's plastic. So they come back and do the
same thing to the next animal. They realize it's plastic and
they get looking around and what they're trying to find out is
do the lions recognize a man as food source? Well, they do.
Here comes this big male and he just with a swipe just tore
that thing to shreds. It was set on a steel post like
that. He bent that thing to the ground. I mean, just to swipe.
I mean, just like he's just swatting at it to see what's going to
happen. I mean, the power of this thing. They said a male
lion has 200 pounds of pure muscle in his body. I mean, these things
are powerful. Three inch curved claws. And
he's down there with seven or ten of these things. It's dark. It had to smell bad, you know,
they don't clean that place up real good. There's bones of other
victims laying around, dark, sealed off from the world. And
Daniel had light and peace because he was in the presence of light
itself. He was in the presence of the Prince of Peace. The writers
say Daniel used the lion as a pillow, slept like a baby. The songwriter said it best,
prisons or pits, but palaces proved. if Jesus would dwell
with me there." And Daniel was free. No harm was done to him,
and he set free. The law satisfied. The law didn't
say he had to stay down there until he was dead. The law said
he had to go down into the lion's den. And he came out unhurt.
The law is satisfied. Daniel's enemies had no more
charge against him. Now, Josephus says that the enemies
of Daniel refused to give credit. They would not let this thing
go. They refused to give credit for this miracle to Daniel's
God. Well, they said somebody snuck and fed the lions and they're
not hungry. That's why they didn't eat him.
And lions typically go two or three days without eating. So
you feed them today, they're not going to eat you tonight.
So Darius said, okay, let's see if they're hungry. So verse 24,
the king commanded and brought those men which had accused Daniel
and they cast them into the den of lions. Them, their children
and their wives. Talk about the effect of bad
leadership. The children and their wives suffered the same
fate. And the lions had the mastery
of them and break all their bones in pieces wherever they came
at the bottom of the den. The lions didn't stay away from
Daniel because they lost their appetite. When the enemies of
Daniel were thrown down in that pit, they were dead before they
hit the bottom of the pit. The lions caught them in the
air and devoured them. You see, it takes the power of
God to deliver someone from the lions, doesn't it? It takes the
power of God to deliver us from anything. And if we're delivered,
you can rest assured it's for this reason. Thy God is able. Now, you'll find in every situation
we face, I don't care what it is, thy God is able. Now, Darius wasn't able to save
Daniel. God was, because thy God is able. And our chief need
is a Savior. Isn't that our chief need? We're
sinners. Our chief need is we need a Savior. For thy God is
able. He's able to save. The law of
God is just like the law of the Medes and Persians. It can't
be changed. God's law is inflexible because
God's holy and just. And His law is holy and just
and good. Now, Darius' law was evil. God's
law is holy and just. And God's law requires more than
outward obedience. It requires perfect inward obedience. And we know God, we read it to
open the surface. He will by no means clear the
guilty. The soul that sinneth must surely
die. It's inflexible. That must happen.
Talk about Darius being in a fix. We're in a fix. We're guilty. We're incapable of keeping the
law. We're incapable of satisfying
God's justice. God's justice demands our eternal
death in the pit, in the pit of hell. That's mighty dark. But out of that darkness, there's
a sweet sound of the gospel. Thy God is able to deliver thee. Delivering from going down to
the pit, I found a ransom. Thy God is able to pay the ransom
price. And he's the only one who can
pay the ransom price because it's an infinite price. It takes
an infinite one to pay the infinite price of our sin. And Christ
came with the ability to do just that. He came with the ability
to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He kept the law
perfectly as our representative, freely imputes his righteousness
to his people. And then he died because his
blood is able. pay the price of our sin, to
pay the penalty of the broken law. And now in Christ, the law
has no more claim on us. The law has no more claim on
us because Christ is able to satisfy the law and to set us
free. Now you come to Christ. You come
to Christ and you'll find thy God is able to save. Look over in Hebrews chapter
7, and I want us to look at some scriptures here for the next
few minutes. And let's see what God's Word
has to say about thy God is able. Hebrews 7, verse 25. Wherefore, he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth and make intercession for them. You come to Him. Thy
God is able to save. And our God is willing to save. You come to Him and you'll find
that gracious combination. He's able and He's willing. Come
to Him like that leper came. Lord, if You will, You can make
me whole. I have no doubt about Your ability
to save. My question is, are you willing
to be merciful to a wretch like me? Thy God is able. And Scripture says our Lord was
moved with compassion for that leper. And He said, I will. Be thou clean. You come to Him,
you'll find the same thing. He hasn't changed. And come to
Christ in faith, believing that He's able. Look over at Matthew
chapter 9. Don't come to him wondering if
he's able. Don't come to him saying, well, you know, maybe
he'll save me if he can. You come to him in complete faith,
believing he is able. Matthew 9, verse 27. And when
Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying and
saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was
coming to the house, the blind men came to him. And Jesus saith
unto them, Believe ye that I am able? Do you believe I am able
to do this? And they said unto him, Yea,
Lord, I believe thou art able. And, boy, my mind, I help thou
mine unbelief. I believe thou art able. Yes, Lord. Then touched he their
eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it unto you. And their
eyes were opened. And Jesus straightly charged
them, saying, See that no man knoweth it. But when they were
departed, they spread abroad his fame in all the country.
These blind men were sons of Abraham. I don't know whether
they were Jews or Gentiles, but they were sons of Abraham. Because
what does Scripture say about Abraham? Be fully persuaded that
what he had promised, he was also able to perform. These men
had the faith of Abraham. He was able. So you come to Christ
in faith, and you keep coming to Christ in faith. Every day,
every minute, you keep coming to Christ in faith, believing
Him. Because what does faith say? I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that He's able
to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day. I'm
persuaded. He's able. And if you're truly interested
coming to Christ, I can tell you where to find Him. You find
Him in this Word. That's where you're going to
find Him. Salvation is in this Word. The Lord Jesus Christ is
in this Word. If you're interested in salvation,
get in this book. I mean, just get in it. Pour
yourself into it and beg God that He'd show you His salvation. And He will. He'll show you.
Because this is where He's found. Look over in Acts chapter 20.
You'll find him in the Word. In Acts 20, verse 32. And now,
brethren, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace,
which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among
all them that are sanctified. You get in this Word. It's able.
Look over in James, chapter 1. Well, I guess James 1, verse
21. I never get there. Wherefore,
lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and
receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your
souls. This is where you find salvation.
God is so able, He's able to engraft the very Word of God
into you. The Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate
Word, He's able to engraft Him into you. That's salvation. Our God is able to save. And
in the day of trouble, you'll find just like Daniel found,
thy God is able to deliver thee. Now, old King Darius, he didn't
sound quite so confident, did he? You know, he told Daniel
when he went down to the den, thy God will deliver thee. When
he got up the next morning, he had a kind of different way of
phrasing it, didn't he? With a lamentable voice, like
he was pretty sure he was going to get bad news. He said, is
thy God whom thou service continually able to deliver thee from the
lions? Is he? That question comes from
a lack of faith. It comes from a lack of knowing
him who is able, doesn't it? Look back a few pages at Daniel
chapter three. Here's a statement of faith.
Here's what he should have been saying. Daniel chapter three,
verse 15, here's where Nebuchadnezzar is getting ready to throw Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego into the fiery furnace. He's going to
give them one more chance in verse 15. He says, Now if ye
be ready, that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet,
flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of
music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made,
well, it will be well with you if ye do that. But if ye worship
not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning,
fiery furnace. And who is that God that shall
deliver you out of my hands? Nebuchadnezzar is wondering who
is going to be able to deliver you out of my hands. Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar,
we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be
so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning
fiery furnace. And he will deliver us out of
thine hand, O king, but if not, Be it known unto thee, O king,
that we will not serve by gods, nor worship the golden image
which thou set up. Our God is able. He may deliver me from this death? He may not. But though He slay
me, yet will I trust Him. Because one way or another, what
they're telling King Nebuchadnezzar is one way or another, our God
is going to deliver us from you, O King. This is the last time
we're going through this situation. He's going to deliver us from
you one way or another. Now it takes faith to make that
statement mean it. It's easy for me to stand here
and say that. It's a whole other thing to stand on the precipice
of the burning fiery furnace and say that to King Nebuchadnezzar.
That's a totally different matter. But let me ask you. Have you ever been down in that
pit? I mean, I'm not just talking
about a bad day. I'm talking about in the pit.
It's deep. The walls are steep. It's dark. There's no way out. And it feels
like God's put me there and God Himself has sealed me in this
pit and won't let me out. And you're in total despair. I mean, just despair. But when you're there, hang on
with both hands to this precious truth. Thy God is able to deliver
this. And in the pit, you call on Him. He'll hear you. Look at Psalm
50. Psalm 50, verse 15. And call upon Me in the day of
trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou
shalt glorify Me. I will deliver thee. Not only
is he able, he will deliver you. Look at 2 Peter chapter 9. One
way or another now, he's going to deliver you. 2 Peter 2 verse 9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto
the day of judgment to be punished. Our God is able, He's willing,
and He's got the wisdom to know how to deliver us and when to
deliver us from the pit. He's got the wisdom. So call
on Him. Look at Hebrews chapter 12. Call
on Him. And until He does deliver us, and you know this from experience,
sometimes it might be a while. Seems like to us a while until
He delivers us. Until He delivers us. thy God
is able to comfort. Hebrews 2 verse 17, Wherefore,
in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren,
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For
in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to
succor, to comfort them that are tempted. He is able. You
know, as I look through this the last couple of days, all
these different times in Scripture talking about he is able. That's
such a comforting truth to the child of God, because we know
this about ourselves. We're so weak, we're just completely
unable to do anything for ourselves. And the sooner we learn that,
the better. Well, our God is able to teach
us that lesson. What did Nebuchadnezzar say after
he spent that time living out there as a beast? He said he's
able to abase them who walk in pride. He's able to teach us
this lesson and I pray he would now. Because if he will, it'll
keep us calling on him for mercy and keep us looking to him who
is able. So we'll quit looking to ourselves.
And he's able to deliver us from the big problems or the little
ones. Now, I say that in quotations
because whether we think they're big or we think they're little,
they're all too big for us. We can't handle any of them.
He's able to keep us from Satan. The roaring lion going about
seeking whom he may devour. He's able to keep us from Satan,
just like he did Daniel. That's why the Lord taught us
in the disciples prayer, deliver us from evil, deliver us from
the evil one. Because thy God is able to deliver
you from the evil one. That's the big enemies. What
about the little ones? Look at Psalm 18. And again,
I say little ones in quotes. They're all too big for us. Psalm 18, verse 17. He delivered me from my strong
enemy and from them which hated me, for they were too strong
for me. All of them were too strong for
me, but he's able. to deliver me. He did deliver
me from all of them. And I'm sure you're like me.
I hate my sinful flesh. Just one time. I mean just once. I'd like to do a good work from
a pure, holy motive with pure, holy actions just one time. I'd
like to know what that feels like. To just one time do something
holy. And I can't do it. And it's frustrating. To somebody who's goal oriented,
that's frustrating. Just don't set that as a goal
for yourself because we can't reach it. But thy God is able. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter
9. Thy God is able. 2 Corinthians 9 verse 8 And God is able to make all grace
abound towards you, that ye, always having all sufficiency
in all things, may abound to every good work. I can't do one! Yet thy God is able to make you
abound in every good work. And I know another fear of believers.
A believer worries about falling away from Christ. We worry about
that, not because we doubt His power, because I know a little
bit about myself. We fear there will be like that
host of disciples who left the Lord, saying this is a hard saying. Who can hear it? Jude 24. Thy God is able. If you worry
about falling away and leaving Him, thy God is able. Jude verse 24, Now unto him that
is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only
wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and ever. And you know one day, this day
that Jude is talking about here, When we're presented faultless
before the presence of His glory, that day we won't have to deal
with this sinful flesh anymore. And we won't have to deal with
it because our God is able. Paul told the Philippians about
God who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned
like unto His glorious body. He's able to take these bodies
once they've gone back to the dust. raised them in a glorious
body, likened to His glorious body. He's able. And I'm telling
you, I could go on and on and on and on. The Scriptures that
talk about how He's able. Let me sum it up by saying this.
Look at Ephesians chapter 3. So many Scriptures talking about
our God is able. In every situation that we ever
face, remember this. Thy God is able. Fill in the
blank. Whatever you need, whatever you
call on Him for, thy God is able. You won't call on Him for something
He's unable to do. Thy God is able. Fill in the
blank. Ephesians 3, verse 20. You think
you can dream up something big that you need to call on God
for? Now unto Him. that is able to do exceedingly
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the
power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church
by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, a world without end. Amen.