Good evening. Turn with me, if
you would, to Daniel, Luke and Daniel, chapter 6. I asked Luke to read that passage
of Scripture for the purpose of the Lord asks a question in
there that relates to what we're going to look at in our text.
He says, Is there a God besides me? God does not ask us men questions
for the intent of finding the answer out from us. He answers
the questions. He says, Yea, there is no God. I know not any. Yet the workman
cuts down a tree, and he uses part to build a fire with, to
keep himself warm. He burns part to cook with, to
fill his belly. He burns part of the tree to
have light to see. And with the rest of it, that
which is left over, he feels himself a God. And he bows down
to it, worships it, and says, deliver me, for thou art my God. But the scripture saith that
he feedeth upon ashes. A deceived heart hath turned
him aside that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say is there not
a lie in my right hand, or falsehood in my right hand. And my intent,
with the Lord's help, is to preach to you tonight of a God who is
able to deliver. And so this is what our story
is found in the book of Daniel, chapter 6. Now at this time,
Daniel and the children of Israel have been carried off into the
land of Babylon. They had to walk 900 miles to
get there. They're living amongst a heathen
people who have no knowledge or care for the God of the Bible,
dealing with such wicked men as Nebuchadnezzar, who set up
the golden image and told everybody they had to bow down to it, or
they'd be killed, and said to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who is that God that shall deliver you from my hands? He had no
knowledge of who that God was. And so if we pick up here in
chapter 6 now, that kingdom is departed and Darius, the Median
had taken the kingdom, had killed his grandson Belshazzar. In 6 verse 1, 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. So here we see Daniel is set
up as the president or as the ruler of all the other lords
and princes in the region. And Darius is a smart man. He
set one of the people of the land up over the people there
to govern them. But it says Daniel is preferred.
And anytime we have preference, we also have jealousy. because
somebody has something that somebody else doesn't. And because of
our sinful nature, we hate that person and find wicked things
to say and to do to that person because we're jealous. And so,
we have to ask the question, so then why did the king Darius
prefer Daniel? So he answers that in verses
3 and 4. Then this Daniel 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. Then the presidents and
princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the
kingdom. But they could find none occasion nor fault. Forasmuch
he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found
in him. And what we're told is, first,
Daniel was found with an excellent spirit in him. And in the first
chapter of Daniel, that excellent spirit is described as having
light, understanding, and wisdom in these children that were taken
from Israel. And second is, no occasion or
cause for fault. That word occasion can be also
read as cause for fault. And thirdly, Daniel was found
with faithful. He was a faithful man, faithful
to his king, faithful to his God. And fourthly, neither was
there any error or fault, and that fault can be read as corruption
found in him. So who else does this sound like
it's describing? Well, you know it's describing
the Lord Jesus Christ. They hated Daniel for the same
reasons the Lord was hated by the Jews in his day. Because
in him, in the Lord, was found an excellent spirit. The anointing
of the Holy Spirit was upon him. And in him dwelleth all light,
understanding, and wisdom. The light of his gospel that
convinces men of sin. The light that exposes who God
is and causes men to plead for mercy and for God's grace. The
understanding that it's in the Lord of who God is that's revealed
through scripture. And the wisdom is in Christ. The wisest man to ever live said,
fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So an excellent spirit
is in him and also no occasion or cause for fault. And this
speaks of his holy nature. He was not capable of committing
sin because he's holy. This is the new spirit, the new
man that is in Christ. Whosoever is born of God does
not commit sin. This is the new nature. And thirdly,
he said he was found faithful to the works of the law and to
all his father commanded him. Faithful even unto death. Faithful
seeking out the last lost sheep. Every one, there's not one lost.
He was faithful in all these things. Faithful in his long-suffering
towards the sinfulness of his people. Faithful in being long-suffering
towards me. And fourthly, there's no error
or corruption in his ways. Though the Lord did die on the
cross because of sin, because of my sin, was put on Him. It became His sin and He became
guilty of it. But the commission of sin never
happened. The Lord never committed any
sin, but because of my sin, God charged that to His account and
God killed Him for it. But there was no corruption in
Him after He died. There's no process of decay that
occurred because, at that point, sin had been paid for. It was
not right to have his holy body be corrupt. Sin was paid for. So you can see here, just in
these first few verses, how Daniel is a type of Christ. So, we'll
pick back up in verse 5. So there is no error and fault
in him. And then said these men, the men that were underneath
him, that didn't like where he was and were jealous, we shall
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 a king. And thus unto king
said unto the king, King Darius, live forever. And all the presidents
of the kingdom and the governors and the princes and the counselors
and the captains have consulted together to establish a royal
statute and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask any
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 Darius, sign the writing and the decree. So I find it
interesting in verse 5, they say, we find it against this
man. So corrupt men have created corrupt
things to work against him. And they say, we find it against
him, against him in the law of his God. So you see, the issue
is they hate Daniel because they hate his God. And that's the
issue. They were jealous of where Daniel
was at. They said, I want what you have. And if I can't have it, I don't
want you to have it. And so that speaks to how sinful
they were and their hatred for God and their hatred for the
man who loved them. So King Darius signed the writing and signed
the decree. And you can see the The wicked nature of these men
in spinning this toward King Darius and trying to make it
sound like, here's a great thing, we're going to lift you up. He
probably got puffed up with himself and thought, this is a good idea.
And yet all the while they were leading him along and he had
no idea and did something very foolish. In looking at this,
it made me draw the mind why we are to pray for our leaders.
that we not be subject to these sort of things, that we're able
to live a quiet and a peaceful life, because we still are in
this world and there are men in this world, there are wicked
men in power, and we're to pray for them that the Lord would
give them direction and move their heart in a way that would
be after His will. The Lord's people have no power
and want no part of the riches and power of this world, that
is Babylon. That's what Babylon is, men's religion. And so in
verse 10, we find that the trap has been set. So when Daniel
knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his
windows being open in his chamber, he kneeled toward Jerusalem.
He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave
thanks before his God as he did a four time. Then these men assembled
and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his
God." So you think here, these men assembled, they were laying
in wait in secret, and much of the wickedness of this world
goes on in dark and secret chambers, and they sit and wait and watch.
And they set a trap for Daniel. And how many times did the Jews
try to trap our Lord? They brought the woman, taken
in adultery, taken in the very act. They said, we're going to
use this against him. Either he's going to be unjust for saying,
well, let her alone, or saying you're not unjust for holding
her to the letter of the law, or he's unmerciful for not letting
her go. So they tried to use the law
against him. And in here, they're using the
law that they've set up against Daniel. And so in verse 12, Then
they came near and spake before the king concerning the king's
decree. Hast 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 the Persians. 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
which thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.
Then the king, when he heard these words, he didn't see it
coming, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on
Daniel to deliver him. And he labored till the going
down of the sun to deliver him. Darius had to say to Daniel,
I, I don't, I don't, I didn't know what I was doing. I was
sort of pleased with myself. How foolish. He sets his heart
on delivering Daniel. And this is Darius's trial. This
is his dilemma. To deliver his friend from death?
Because I didn't know in setting up this law this would mean that
my friend would have to die and I can't have that. But that would
mean he's unjust and he's changing the unchangeable law that he
set up. That would mean that he no longer
would be king and would have to be put to death. Or, does
Darius remain just with the law that he set up and kill his friend
to hold him to the law, that the law be upheld and he be just?
Well, in verse 15, these men assembled unto the king and said
unto the king, You know, in case you're wavering, know, O king,
that of all the Medes and Persians is that no decree nor statute
which the king established may be changed. Then 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 service
continually, he will deliver thee. Daniel, I can't deliver
you. The law is unchangeable. But
thy God, whom thou service continually, He is able to deliver thee. Is
this faith in Darius? Do we see Darius' faith in God
here? Or rather confidence in Daniel? Because he thought so highly
of Daniel and thinks that, well, if Daniel believes that this
one whom he prays to is God, then surely he'll deliver him
because how great and wonderful is Daniel, all the powers and
gifts he's been given. So, which one is it? At this
point, Daniel is in the lion's den, and in verse 17 it says,
a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, 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. There's no escape. Daniel has
been sealed in, that the purpose and this is key and we'll come
back to this, might not be changed concerning Daniel. In verse 18,
the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting. Neither
were instruments of music brought before him and his sleep went
before him. Then the king rose very early
in the morning and went in haste into the den of lions. And when
we had come to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto
Daniel. And the king spake, and said
unto Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God,
whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the
lions? It said he cried with a lamentable voice, probably
believing that Daniel was dead. He had probably come at the end
of his night, and the next morning believing he's been thrown into
a den of lions. What are the chances that he's
going to come out and be alive? And he cried with a lamentable
voice, probably believing Daniel was dead. O Daniel, servant of
the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able
to deliver thee from the lions? And that's my question tonight.
Is thy God able to deliver thee? We're to ask ourselves this same
question. And the answer to that is, well,
first, it depends on who your God is. And secondly, what you
need deliverance from. You see, first question, who
is your God? And if your God is the one priest
in most places, He might fit one of these descriptions, or
form of one of these descriptions. First, we find the God of man's
will. They would say, God loves you,
God died for you, Christ died for you, and He died to save
you, but He wants you to love Him. But if you don't accept
His offer of salvation, accept this offer of salvation, then
it won't work for you. And if you don't make Him your
Lord and accept this offer, then you won't be saved. This is the
God of man's will. If Christ can shed His blood
and pay for my sin and die for me, and in Him dying, sin being
paid, and if I don't do my part and accept His offer, and I will
end up in hell anyway, then what does the blood of Christ have
to do with salvation? I'm saving myself. Man is his
own God here. He's deciding his own fate. If
I act and I save myself, there's no need for a Savior. In this
business of making Him Lord, He is the Lord with or without
me, and He always will be. Salvation in the Scripture is
not an offer. When the Lord said, Lazarus,
come forth, He didn't ask Lazarus whether he wanted to come forth.
This was a commandment. Lazarus had no ability to discern
whether he could or could not come forth. He was dead. You
ask a dead man anything, he can't respond. There's no life. He
can't hear. He can't speak. He can't breathe.
There's no life. And so, asking a dead man if
he's willing to be saved or not, there's no answer. You can't. So, salvation is not an offer. So that's the God of man's will.
Or it could be the God of man's works, the God that responds
to you because of what you do, or shows favor upon you more
so because of somebody else, because of what you did. Somebody
says, well, I go to church three times a week. I give 20% of my
income post-tax. I support Christian organizations. I might not agree with... So
to ask the question, do you agree with everything that each of
those organizations are supporting and what they preach? Well, I
might not agree with everything they preach, but it's all kind
of under the same umbrella. We call it Christian, so therefore
it must be okay. The harshest words the Lord had
were to religious people. not to the people, what we would
call the sinners in the Bible, off doing adultery and drunkenness
and offering to idols, it was to the religious people, those
who thought that they were serving God, claimed to be serving God
through their works, through what they were doing, saying,
look, this is what I've done. Lord, I thank Thee, I'm not as
other men. As if God would show favor to that man. He said, I
came not to call the righteous, but sinners, unto repentance.
The Lord said that those people who rely on their works and want
men to see them because of their works, they have their reward.
That's the praise of men. It's not the salvation of God.
So we have the God of man's will, the God of man's works, and thirdly,
we have the God of man's wisdom. This is the God that is found
through much learning. Through the knowledge of textual
translations. Going through and finding out
what words mean. Word upon word, line upon line. They say, well
Paul didn't write this book because he didn't do, you know, this
is not his style of writing. Or Isaiah didn't write the full
book of Isaiah because you can see it was written on a scroll.
And there are three distinct styles of writing in the book
of Isaiah. So therefore this can't be really true. We can't
accept it as God's word because we have found error in this.
There's contradictions. Was there an angel in the tomb
or two on top of the tomb? Or was there one outside of it?
See, we can't trust this because it all contradicts itself. So can God be reduced or constrained
down by the reasoning of men? What kind of God is that? Do
the counsels of the creature define their creator? This God of man's will, God of
man's works, and God of man's wisdom is the ministry of Satan. And I'll show you that. This
is the boldest lie that has ever been told that's been remanufactured
even until today. Turn back to Genesis 3. Genesis three and verse one.
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which
the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, yea,
hath God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
First, it starts with a lie, God didn't say that. It says
that the Lord God commanded the man saying, every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. So he starts with
a lie. but he's twisting the word. That's where the lie is.
It's not an outright blatant contradiction, but it's a twisting
of the word. And that's the subtlety of the
serpent. And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the
fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree
which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall
not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. And
the serpent said unto the woman, you shall not surely die, for
God doth know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and
evil. And so what is this ministry of Satan? And we find it right
here. It's the same here as it is today, because first Satan
says, you can choose to be a god, You can choose. You can choose
this. You have the capability to choose
to accept salvation or to choose to be a god. So first, he gives
us that. The second things he gives us,
there's something you can do to do it. Just go eat the fruit.
You'll be like God. Work these works. God will find
you acceptable. That'll make you more acceptable
to God, the God of man's works. And lastly, the God of wisdom.
You eat of the fruit, you're gonna have the knowledge of God.
You'll know good and evil. You'll be just like God. These
are the lies and the twists that Satan has put on the Lord's Word,
and deceiving men. So these three gods that we mentioned,
the God of man's will, the God of man's works, and the God of
man's wisdom, this is the ministry of Satan. And any form of it,
this is the deception of Satan. It's not the, let's go find the
most wicked person and stand him up here, that's obviously
the work of Satan. No, that man has probably just
left himself. The work of Satan, he's a minister of light. He
appears to be what he's not, and that's what's being done
with words here at the expense of men's soul. So my question,
is thy God able to deliver thee? Let's turn back to our text. None of the aforementioned gods
were able to deliver. You see, men didn't like the
God of the Bible. Men didn't like the living God,
the God they had no power over. So, I'll invent other gods. I'll
cut down a tree and we'll make a God that is the God that we
want, the God that is better suited to my lifestyle. Well,
Satan didn't like God either. And he said, I'll exalt my throne
above God's. So there was somebody else that
tried to find his own God that suited him better than the one
that was there. Isn't that what's happening today? They try to
pack the pews in churches at the expense of the truth because
it might offend men, but really it's at the expense of their
souls. And so this is the danger and
the results of the danger of when the truth is not preached
in total. So preaching just part of the
truth is just part of the truth and it's a lie. So it's gotta
be the whole scripture as it is. We don't pick and choose
and decide which parts we like and don't like. This is God as
he is. It's not for us to decide, as
I said, the creature trying to define his creator. Is thy God
able to deliver thee? Deliver from what, exactly? If
you don't know what you need deliverance from, why would you
need a God who can deliver? So here, God is reduced to a
genie that is praised when things go your way, but is hated when
things don't go according to our plan. So, what do I need
deliverance from? I need deliverance from my sin.
I need deliverance from my guilt, the things that caused me to
be guilty before God. The things that I've done, my
evil thoughts. I need deliverance from my sin,
from what I am, my sinful nature. You see, having a sinful nature,
I can only produce sin. I can't produce good. Sometimes
good, sometimes bad. There's no one or the other.
It's all corrupt or all holy. And as a man in my flesh, all
I have is a sinful nature. And I need deliverance from it.
So I ask the Lord to deliver me first from myself. I am my
own worst enemy. I justify my sin. I try to say,
well, you try to twist things, say, well, that's, we, this is
not, it's a white lie, or this is, we try to find easier ways
of making things that we know to be sin, not sin. I need deliverance
from myself. I need deliverance from this
world. There are wicked men in this world that would do me harm
and would lead me astray. I need deliverance from them.
And thirdly, I need deliverance from the devil, who is my accuser,
the accuser of the brethren, who would have me to die in my
sins. And he is the most powerful adversary, one my heart is not
able to overcome. The devil is much smarter and
more powerful than I could ever be, and more deceitful. My will,
my works, my wisdom, they're corrupt. They would damn me,
and they're all lacking before God. There's nothing that I can
bring before Him to cause Him to look upon me and see favor
in me to where He would show me mercy for anything in me.
All I deserve is His judgment. My only hope for deliverance
is found outside of me. If it can't be found in me, it
must be found outside of me if I have any hope. And it's found
in the living God, in Daniel's God, in the God that is sovereign,
who's not limited by me and what I decide I like or what I don't
like, or the way we decide to practice here but not over there.
It's in the God who is almighty, who there's none that can stay
his hand and say unto him, what doest thou? This God can do as
he pleases. He's God. When we think of what
God is, he's sovereign, he's almighty. To reduce him to something
that you say, well, you can save me if I'll let you. That's not
God. God is holy. Everything I'm not. Other, that's what holy means,
other, because I'm sin. Everything that I know and in
my experience is sin. So that's all that I can be.
So God is everything that I'm not. He says, I'll show mercy
on whom I will show mercy. Men may not like who the God
of the Bible is. That doesn't mean that he ceases
to be God. So turn over to Ecclesiastes
chapter five, if you would, please. Men don't like who God is, so
they try to invent other gods or they try to change Him from
what He is. It says in verse 1, just examining these first
two verses, keep thy foot when thou goest into the house of
God. Be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools. What is the sacrifice of fools?
It's those to whom God says, who is this that darkeneth counsel
without words, without knowledge? The fool speaks with his mouth.
He doesn't listen. He has things to say. Well, I
don't know if it means that. For they consider not that they
do evil. Second verse, be not rash with
thy mouth. And let not thy heart be hasty
to utter anything before God. Why? For God is in heaven, and
thou upon the earth. Therefore let thy words be few. You see, my point in reading
that was We're not in a position of moral superiority or in a
position that we can look upon God and decide what we like and
what we don't like. God is who He is, is revealed
in the Scriptures. And if I'm looking to this Scriptures
and this book and reading of the one in here of whom salvation
is in, that is the God. It's the same God. And so I see
God as the Bible is also the one who saves me. This world
refers to him as the Old Testament God. They didn't like him. He
was too angry. He was too big. He's too harsh. He held people to the letter
of the law. He's too narrow. They said, there's just one way.
That's too narrow. That doesn't mean that everybody
can, you know, we want everybody to come and be a part of this
here. So we're going to open up our doors. And so this is
the God of the Old Testament. He's too harsh. He's too narrow.
He's too holy. Well, if He is all those things,
what makes us or them think that He would just go away or change
because we didn't like Him? He says, I change not. The Old
Testament God is the New Testament God. There is no change. And
that is the only God in whom I have any confidence in to save
me and do for me what I need, one that I can have no control
or influence or manipulation of. It's the same God that Daniel
trusted in and prayed to in the lion's den. When Darius said,
O Daniel, is thy God able to deliver thee from the lions?
You bet He is, and a whole lot more than that. You see, these
lions were the Lord's lions. He created them, and He owned
them, and He controlled them. Scripture says that He shut their
mouths. And it would seem at any moment, in terms of Daniel's
experience, you can imagine he's been lowered now down into this
pit, and he can see the lions that are there and very real,
and by all intents and purposes, and experiences that men have
known up to this point, if you get put down in there, you're
gonna be killed and torn to pieces. But it said, the Lord shut their
mouths. And it seemed at any moment that Daniel would be torn
to pieces, Satan is described as a roaring lion that walketh
about seeking whom he may devour. He's powerful. He's of no match
for us. He's much greater, and imagine
the same way Daniel felt when faced before these lions. Yet,
Satan is still the Lord's devil. who must ask permission to do
any harm, to whom the Lord says, touch not mine inordinate and
do my prophets no harm. You see, just as those lions
were not able to do any harm unto Daniel without the Lord's
word, the same is true for Satan being able to do anything to
me or to any of God's children without his word being the reason
for it. not one finger will be laid on
the Lord's people without his permission. And if permission's
granted, there's a purpose for it, and it's gonna be for their
good and for God's glory. But it won't happen apart from
his word. Daniel, is thy God able to deliver thee? Verse 21,
then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live forever. My God
has sent his angel and has shut the lion's mouth, and they've
not hurt me. For as much as before him, innocency
was found in me, and also before thee, O king, I've done no hurt.
He said, My God sent his angel. And that same angel is the same
angel from the fiery furnace. And when Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, when King Nebuchadnezzar said, cast them into the fiery
furnace, and they threw them in there to be killed. And by
all intents and purposes, what they knew and their experience
would be, fire burns and you're thrown into a giant furnace,
you're going to burn up. But it said, the Lord sent his
angel who had likened to the form of the Son of God. And that's
this same angel that was sent. Son of God himself that prevented
even the smell of smoke from lighting on Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. And if he has that power, he
also has the power to subdue and shut the mouths of these
lions. How could they do harm in the presence of their maker,
the Lord God standing there? In his presence, even the lion
and the lamb will lay down together and they'll not hurt or destroy.
The Lord's there, they're his lions. And this is the effect
that the Lord's presence and His Spirit has on those in whom
He's chosen to bless. This is the Gospel message that
God will deliver His people. And He did deliver His people
through the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. See,
that's the only way that we were delivered. In terms of our experience
in this life, time had to go through and Christ had to come
and to die on the cross. But in terms of eternity, where
God operates, there is no time. That's why Christ was called
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So, was God able
to deliver Daniel? But what about Daniel's faith?
Dare to be a Daniel. Where did he get that faith?
God gave it to him. And God gave it to you too if
you ask him for it. There's been no one who's asked
whom God hasn't given it to. And we're to ask with the same
expediency that Daniel asked to be delivered with those lions.
You can imagine how he felt and probably how he prayed and how
there's nothing more that He wanted then for the Lord to deliver
Him from those lions. And that's how we're to pray
and ask for faith, to believe, to love, to understand and know
who God is. It's not just a simple thing,
we just, Lord save me, Lord give me faith. Yes, we are to call
simply as that, but meaning from the heart. We're to ask with expediency,
and this is how we're to ask. Lord, save me from my sins. Give
me faith to believe as you revealed, not which I think you should
be, not which my corrupt wisdom would say that you should be,
which suits me. That's not it. You see, Daniel is not saved
because of his faith. But he's also not saved without
it. See, faith is as a result of Daniel being saved. And as
a result of Daniel being saved, he had faith. It's not the other
way around. You see, sometimes it gets confused
that if I have faith, then therefore I'm saved. No, you're saved and
therefore you have faith. So how was Daniel delivered?
Is thy God able to deliver you? Not you and your God, but is
God able to deliver you? Or it's all done by Him. Takes
the pressure off. You don't have to do anything.
Is God able to deliver you? Not your component added to it.
Daniel just stood there. Daniel didn't beat the lions
back with a stick or, you know, do anything other than stand
there and probably closed his eyes and prayed to God for them
not to eat him. So he just stood there, just as Moses stood before
the Red Sea when the Egyptians came after him and all the people
of Israel. They didn't fight against them. There wasn't a
sword raised or an arrow shot. The Lord came in the whirlwind
and in the sea and destroyed the Egyptians. And he said unto
Israel when they sought help outside of praying to God for
his guidance and his help against their enemies, he said, your
strength is to stand still. Do nothing. God will fight the
battle for you. So in verse 23, Then was the
king exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should
take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken out of the
den, and no manner of hurt was found on him, because he believed
in his God. So Darius is very glad. It's
not right for him to still be confined to the pit. It's been
overnight, and the lions didn't kill him, and God delivered him,
and so we take him out. This is the other part of the
story, which was Darius' dilemma as to whether he removed his
friend from his guilt from the law, therefore being unjust,
or held him to the law, which he had, and held him to the letter
of the law, being just, but thus condemning Daniel. So Daniel
was put into the den as a violator of the law. Christ, the Lord,
was nailed to a cross. bearing sin for his people. My
sin became his sin, and he suffered and became guilty and died for
it. God killed him in accordance with the law. There was no passing
over where we say sin was laid on him, but he didn't really
do it, and so therefore his spirit was somewhere else, but they
killed his body. No, he became guilty of it. That's the only
way the law was satisfied. That's the only way I have any
confidence that my sin was paid for. You see, the wages of sin
being death, God and Darius remained just by holding both Daniel and
the Lord to the letter of the law, so that sin was paid, the
guilt was paid for. Daniel, in verse 17, it said
that a stone Verse 17, the stone was put over the mouth of the
door, and it sealed him in. The king sealed the stone over
the door. So, there was also a stone rolled
over the door that held my lord into his tomb. The father sealed
upon the door, holding it shut, that the purpose might not be
changed. the purpose might not be changed
concerning Daniel. You hold him in for the full
extent of the punishment, full extent of the law's requirement,
just as Christ was held in death for the full extent of the law's
requirement upon him for the payment, the full payment and
remission of sins for all those to whom he died for. You see,
if the purpose was changed, then otherwise I'd have no confidence
that my sins were fully paid for. and the requirement of death
for sin would not be satisfied. Thank God in His purpose that
it did not change. Purpose by God in election of
a people. Purpose by God in having a lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Purpose by God in
bringing Christ made in flesh. Purpose by God in His death and
purpose by God in His resurrection. The lions did not kill Daniel.
Satan, hell, my sin did not utterly destroy my Lord either. He overcame
death, hell, Satan, and sin. As Daniel was brought up out
of the pit of the lions and delivered alive, my Lord was also raised
from the dead. And it was only just that he
was. He had paid the sin, so it was said it's not right that
he be laid in death. And he came back to life. And
so it's not right that Daniel lay in the tomb after he had
paid the full extent of the law. He was thrown into the den of
the lions. And so God delivered him from it, and Darius pulled
him out. In verse 24, The king commanded, and they brought those
men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den
of lions, them, their children, and their wives. And the lions
had mastery of them, so it's not like these were just some
special lions that didn't bite. These lions were real lions.
And the lions had their mastery of them, and break all their
bones in pieces wherever they came at the bottom of the den.
All Daniel's opposition had been put down. God dealt with him
in his own time. Could God have used Darius and
figured out what they were trying to do and dealt with them before
that? Yes, but his purpose wouldn't have been accomplished in doing
what he did here. And I believe if we see what
was revealed to Darius here, that was part of his purpose.
Both the illustration of Darius holding Daniel to the law, but
also what He revealed to Darius through this great trial. Darius
had heard of Daniel's God with the hearing of the year. And
that's what he told Daniel before he went into the lion's den.
He said, Thy God, who now serveth continually, is able to deliver
thee. But he didn't know that God. But he trusted in Daniel
because he thought so high of Daniel. But after he had seen
what God had done for Daniel in this, this is more his eyes
have seen. And now he's issued a new decree.
And in verse 25, King Darius wrote unto all the people, and
nations and languages that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied
unto you. I make a decree that in every
dominion of my kingdom, men tremble in fear before the God of Daniel,
for he's the living God, and steadfast forever. And his kingdom
shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the
end. And he delivereth and rescueth,
and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth. And who
hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions? He says,
first, you tremble in fear before the God of Daniel. He's God Almighty,
and all power, glory, majesty belong unto him. And we're to
bow down in willing submission to Him as God. He's the living
God. He's no idol. He's not the wooden
God that Luke read about in Isaiah to us. He's the living God. It's
not manufactured by men's hands. He has power, might, and wisdom
that we cannot even attain unto or understand. Darius said that
he's steadfast forever, and that's just like his covenant. The covenant
he's made with his people, just like the law that Darius made,
it's unchangeable. So if he says that I'm clean,
that my sins are paid for, that's how it will be. And it won't
ever be changed, and I can have confidence that it won't change,
because that's who he is. That's part of his character.
He changes not. Steadfast forever. Sins forever
put away, and he said, I'll remember it no more. That means He won't
ever remember later. It's forever put away because
He said it. His kingdom shall not be destroyed.
His kingdom is His rule. There'll be no opposition in
heaven. See, there may be opposition
with the feeble men in this world and in this life, but when He
comes and His kingdom has come, then all opposition will be put
down. There's going to be nobody. there
and with him that doesn't want him where he is. We're all of
the same heart and same mind and same desire. It says that
he delivereth and he rescueth. Everyone? No, because Daniel's
accusers were thrown into the lion's den. But Daniel was delivered. And if I'm one of Christ, and
he died for my sins, there's no way that I cannot be delivered.
You see, he owns me. He paid for me with His blood.
How could He not? Owe me and do with me as He please. He worketh signs and wonders
in heaven and earth. And the greatest wonder is how
He could love a hardened, willful rebel like me. How He could show
mercy to somebody like me in His wonder of Him giving me His
holy nature that makes me without sin. I can't understand it. One
day I will, but I can't fully understand it because I have
this flesh with me. It's too great and wonderful to fully
understand, but one day those who have it will. And lastly,
who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions, If I'm
one of the Lord's people, there's one day that I'll be able to
say, and I'll be able to fully know, that unto him who hath
loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and made
us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory
and dominion both now and forever. Amen. This will be the song of
the church. Is thy God able to deliver thee?
He is, and he did. And this will be the song of
the redeemed in eternity. We're to trust in Christ to deliver
us from all our sins, where He does all the work, and all we
do is trust in Him. He has to give me faith to do
that. I'm relying on Him to do that, to present me faultless
before His throne. Let's bow our heads in prayer.