Let's take the Bible again this evening, and let's return to the Old Testament passage of Daniel chapter 6. I remember being fascinated as a young boy with the story of this chapter, and as I grow older, my amazement only grows more at the grace of God in a man like Daniel. Daniel chapter 6, tonight we'll just read the first five verses. Please follow along in your Bibles. Daniel chapter 6 and verse 1. It pleased Darius to send over the kingdom 120 satraps to be throughout the whole kingdom and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other presidents and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault because he was faithful and no error or fault was found in him. Then these men said, we shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God. Let's again pray together. Our God, as we were just singing together, we confess how much we need you. How much we desire the Spirit of God to come and work in our hearts. Lord, we feel how weak we are in ourselves. We do not have the power to change. We do not have the power to bring glory to your name apart from your working in our lives. We thank you for the promises of the scripture and what you tell us about yourself and your work in our lives, that you are committed to us, that you are working in us both to will and to do of your good pleasure. So, our God, please tonight come and further that work. We don't want to be like those people in Jeremiah's day who loved to wander. We want to be faithful. We want to walk in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ. So come and do an amazing work in our lives that will bring glory and honor to Your holy name. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Now this morning we saw from our text in verse 4 of Daniel 6 that Daniel had a record with his fellow workers concerning his character and his actions. We know that this record had come about because of their jealousy. They saw that he was about to be promoted up to number two man under Darius, and they didn't want that to happen, and so they began scurrying about, examining all of the government records in order to discover some fault, some wrongdoing on Daniel's part that would disqualify him for the promotion. But they were only disappointed in their search. Because wherever they looked, all they could come up with was the record of a thoroughly faithful man. And we saw that they used one word to describe Daniel. Amen. Secure. Stable. Trustworthy. you could guarantee what Daniel would do in any given situation because of his faithfulness. It's certainly a remarkable record that any man's character could be summarized so simply and yet so accurately by one honorable word. I think our estimation of Daniel's record ought to be all the more heightened when we remember that he achieved this record in the midst of the most difficult circumstances. I think it would be universally agreed upon that high government office would be one of the most difficult places to maintain a godly testimony. As a Canadian living some years in the States, It's been my experience of trying to learn American politics that one of the things that stands out clearly in my mind is the inability of the president to keep his cabinet out of scandal. There are such great temptations and pressures that present themselves constantly at that high level of power. Consider these comments by William Taylor from his little book of sermons, Daniel, the Beloved. Exaltation is often proved perilous to character. Not every man can stand with unswimming head upon the dizzy height of earthly greatness. Not every hand can hold with untrembling steadiness the brimming cup of worldly prosperity. Too often, as men become full, they deny the Lord. And either because religion is deemed unfashionable or because they think it stands in the way of their further success. Many who in lowly life have been remarkable for piety have in the heyday of their social elevation forgotten God and left their religious convictions in the valley from which they came. But it was not so with Daniel. The same regard to the law of God by which he was distinguished as a youth in the Royal College characterized him in the administration of the office of President of the Kingdom. His piety was not of that cloistral sort which is hidden from human observation, but it pervaded his life. And so it was that those who came, even in the casual intercourse of official life, into contact with him, felt its influence and were made to confess its power. It's a remarkable record that not only through all of these years, but in such a position of greatness and power and prosperity, Daniel was faithful in all that he was given to do. So here we have this remarkable record. And he's achieved it in one of the most difficult places to gain such a record. Now surely that forces us to ask the question, how did Daniel build and maintain such a record of faithfulness? This morning we focused on the necessity of having faithfulness on your record. Tonight I want us to look at the how-to's. How are we going to build and maintain such a record of faithfulness like Daniel's? When we survey this passage that is before us, we can see that there are at least two means that Daniel employed in building and maintaining his faithful record. Now, we've only got time for one of those means tonight, so this is going to be an unfinished series. Maybe we'll consider the other another time. I want us to focus on this point, this first means that the passage makes obvious to us. Daniel achieved this record of faithfulness through personal effort. Daniel achieved this record of personal faithfulness through effort. As amazing as Daniel's record is, there's nothing amazing about how he was able to achieve it. Plain old hard work. Whatever task he was assigned by the king, he gave himself to it wholeheartedly. In all of the affairs of his government service, he was marked by diligence, careful attention, and perseverance in completing his work. All of these things are implied in his faithful record. But we have more than an implication in the text to base our conclusions on. The comments of verse 3 underscore the personal effort of Daniel in all of his labors. Look at what we read here in verse 3. Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other presidents and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. Now remember the context. Darius has just organized his new government. probably on the basis of recommendation. He had taken Daniel from his post in the old Babylonian regime and placed him as one of the chief administrators in his new kingdom. But then as the new administration got underway, the king was able to observe Daniel at work, and in the midst of all of these other men, Daniel stood out supreme. Now, we need to make sure that we have a good handle on the meaning of the word before us. The King James translation speaks of Daniel being preferred, and it gives the idea of someone recognizing Daniel rather than his act of labors. I think the ESV that I'm reading for perhaps doesn't give the right idea as well. It talks of Daniel, how he became distinguished. But in the translations of the American Standard, the New American Standard, and the New King James, these, I believe, are superior in translating the word as Daniel distinguished himself. There is this sense of personal effort involved in the work. The word could even be translated to excel. And Calvin uses this idea and translates, he excelled all others. So, we're not just reading about a reflection on Daniel, we're observing Daniel pouring personal effort into all of the work that was given to him. We might compare Daniel's performance here to the MVP award in sporting events. You know that the most valuable player award goes to the man who has distinguished himself in a certain game or series. His performance has surpassed all of his teammates. He has given himself fully to the success of the team. His efforts have been truly outstanding. Now, Daniel was, without a doubt, the MVP of Darius's new administration, his royal court. His efforts excelled all of the other officials. His diligent labors set him above everyone around him, and Darius rightly perceived that he was the most capable for ruling the kingdom. And is it not amazing to remember that Daniel at this point is probably over 80 years old. Here was a man that we would mark out in our culture as way beyond retirement. And yet his work and diligent labor put him way ahead of men much younger than he was. He excelled all who were around him. Someone might conclude that Daniel was a man greedy for position and power, that they would say is the explanation for his efforts to win the king's favor. But this text and the entire book argue against such a commentary on Daniel. We never see him seeking his own benefit. In fact, the norm for Daniel was to reject all of the favors offered to him. You just go back into the previous chapter where he interprets the writing on the wall and Belshazzar has offered him all kinds of honors and Daniel basically says, keep your honors for yourself. I'm not interested. The only proper conclusion for us to arrive at is that Daniel's labors are the result of his convictions about work. Being a man fully conversant with the scriptures, he would have understood that God created man to work. That truth is evident from God's example in creation, as well as the assignment given to Adam in the garden to care for it and work with the animals. We know that Daniel was a man whose conscience was bound by the Word of God. Are not his personal labors and this record a testimony of obedience to that clear Word of God? Six days you shall labor. It's hard not to draw a parallel between what we learn of Daniel here and the plain testimony of Joseph back in the book of Genesis. When you look at Joseph, you see in every arena that providence put him into, he distinguished himself by diligent labor. He gets bought as a slave and brought into Potiphar's household. And before long, he's managing the whole place. Gets accused falsely by Potiphar's wife, thrown into prison. Before long, he's in charge of all of the prisoners. He's got the prison organized in an incredible way. Finally, he's brought by Pharaoh into his court, and soon he's the number two man leading that great nation of Egypt through seven years of severe famine. This is the very same picture that we have of Daniel in the text before us. It's a testimony of personal effort and plain old hard work. Now, the text does remind us that this personal effort we find on the part of Daniel's was a faithful use of the gifts of God. Look again at verse three. Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other presidents and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him. This reference to Daniel possessing an excellent or extraordinary spirit seems to be a clear reference to the gifts of God which had been bestowed upon Daniel. If you look back into chapter 5, remember that's the end of the Babylonian Empire, and Belshazzar's on the throne, and he's throwing that party, and there's the handwriting on the wall, the words of judgment, and none of the men, the wise men, can interpret. And so the Queen Mother comes and says to Belshazzar, well, you need to think about Daniel. And look at her reference to him in verses 11 and 12. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king, made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans and astrologers, because an excellent spirit, knowledge and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now, let Daniel be called and he will show the interpretation. So, this reference in chapter 5 helps us to understand that what we're being told of Daniel here in chapter 6 and verse 3, when we read of him becoming distinguished, and this at least in part because of this extraordinary spirit I think we can conclude that Daniel's efforts in fulfilling his assigned tasks were performed on the basis of the gifts that God had given to him for this work, for his labors. Now, we need to remember at this point that Daniel was writing about himself. He was placed in a very uncomfortable position by the Spirit of God in having to write his own record. And though he must write the truth, yet his desire is to give praise to God who had so equipped him for this service. The commentator Leupold puts it this way. Daniel reports it with becoming modesty and in the very statement of it, uses terms that direct attention away from himself and to God who gave him this remarkable spirit. Those interpreters are correct to claim that Daniel here ascribes the glory to God and does not sing his own praises. So Daniel is quick to acknowledge that these gifts he had were from God. And this was the source of his ability to take up these labors in the king's administration. Yet, we must be careful not to minimize the personal efforts of Daniel in his service to the king and his use of these gifts. It is true that God had gifted him for this incredible work. He had given him all kinds of wisdom and insight which he employed in his tasks. There were other unusual gifts of revelation that he was able to use at various times. But we never read that God gave to Daniel the gift of hard work. He did not instill into Daniel the diligence and perseverance that he employed in his labors. No, Daniel took the gifts of God and he joined them to great personal effort. The gifts were the tools, but he had to take them up and use them in his everyday life and work. We might compare this relationship between the gifts and personal effort to a carpenter who is building a house. He needs his tools and all the supplies. So he's going to have his hammer and his saw and a whole toolbox of various instruments. And then he's going to have his supplies, his two by fours and his plywood and many other things, all kinds of finishing materials. Let's say all of these things are arranged on the job site. You've got the tools all lined up and you've got all of the supplies over here and the carpenter comes and he has his plans and he pulls up a chair and he sits down and he looks at the tools and he looks at the supplies and he just sits there. He's a gifted man, a gifted carpenter. He's got everything at his disposal, but he's just sitting there. Is that house going to be built? Without personal effort? Obviously not. So Daniel had the gifts. He had all kinds of resources, but those gifts had to be joined with personal effort in his service to the king in order to achieve this kind of excellent record. Biblical reality tells us that if Daniel had not taken up his gifts from God and used them to work hard, nothing would have been accomplished. He might have been the most gifted man and yet a total dropout, despised by the king and the whole court. But the testimony before us tells us that it was quite different. On the basis of the excellent spirit which God had put within him, Daniel distinguished himself among all of the other government officials. He excelled them all by his personal efforts to accomplish his work. Now, our text also tells us about a pressure that Daniel was under as he gave himself to efforts in his work. There's the pressure of accountability. It's playing from the passage that Daniel was being watched from every direction. When we remember that he wrote this passage himself, it's obvious that he must have felt this pressure. There was the knowledge that the king was watching him. Darius had just set up his government and with the precise purpose that he wouldn't lose any of his tax revenues. And so the king must have been keeping a close eye on everything to make sure that the kingdom was running the way he wanted it to. And it was in this exercise that his eye was particularly caught by Daniel. Here was a man with great skill, working prodigiously in the office to which he had been assigned, and on the basis of that observation, Darius is prepared to promote him to number two man, chief in his government. What must it have been like for Daniel to know that this sovereign human king, a man to whom he was a stranger, was watching him so closely? And no doubt he would have known how kings such as Darius could be moved to wrath and vengeance at the least slip up. May we not justly conclude that this pressure of accountability stirred Daniel up all the more to labor faithfully. But in addition to this, there was the observation of his fellow administrators and government officials. And this passage, of course, is all about the scrutiny of his life that those men had stirred up by their jealousy. I believe it's right for us to understand that Daniel was well aware of these things. He was an old, wise man, well acquainted with the intrigues of ancient royal courts. He was too much on the ball to go about his work unaware that many eyes were fixed upon him for evil. These men were looking for air. They were ready to jump on any mistake. Don't you think that this would have heightened Daniel's carefulness, that in all things he would prove to be a faithful man? The spotlight on Daniel didn't change him from a careless man to a faithful man. He had always been of that steady character. But the knowledge of these people watching him must have brought a heightened sense of accountability spurring on Daniel to diligent labors. Just like the Apostle Paul, he was desirous that nothing he did would bring any dishonor to the name of his God. So here's the first means that Daniel employed for building and maintaining a record of faithfulness. He put forth much personal effort, utilizing the gifts that God had given to him, and he did this in the context of accountability, knowing that many eyes were upon him. Now let's stop there in terms of looking at Daniel. And consider this means that he employed his personal effort and seek to make application to our lives. And surely the question needs to be asked, how much effort are you putting forth to build a record of faithfulness? Here's Daniel. We've got the example before us. It's very clear. And God, I'm sure, has put Him before us to stir us and motivate us. We see a man who's pouring effort into obtaining and maintaining this record of faithfulness. Now, how much are you and I doing to accomplish the same thing? If we are convinced that faithfulness must be on our records as Christians, If we know in our hearts that following in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus means that we must be concerned as God's people to be faithful, how much personal effort are you putting into building that record of faithfulness? We should all be aware that a record of faithfulness doesn't just happen. The testimony that we have with our family, with people that we work with isn't a matter of accident. It's a direct result of our efforts or lack of them. This is a question that we must seriously ask ourselves. How much effort am I putting forth to accomplish this goal? A good verse to guide us as we think about Daniel's example and following it, something that we can use to examine ourselves with this question, is the familiar exhortation of Ecclesiastes 9 and verse 10. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. For there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. And so the wise man says, you have today. We don't know about the future. We're all going to that grave and there's no work there. But we have today. We have the life that God has given to us. And so he says, now, whatever your hand finds to do, In whatever sphere you're laboring, whether it's in the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ, whether it's in your business office, whether it's in the school place, whether it's in your home, whatever your hand finds to do, pour yourself into it. Do it with all your might. That's the exhortation of the wise man in the Bible. The Scriptures plainly tell us that this kind of personal effort is to be exerted in whatever your hand finds to do. In other words, whatever tasks providence has put in your path, do it with all your might. It would be good for us to itemize all these various things that our hands are responsible to take up. Labors that attend our relationships in the family. Think of all that entails. Working at your relationships. Spending time with one another. Efforts of spiritual growth in our families. To say nothing of all the ordinary chores that are a part of family life and looking after a home. Just in this area, there's a lot of work for all of the men, women, young people, and children. But there are also a multitude of duties at work, wherever that may be. If it's in the office, or school, or right in the home, these are all labors that God has put in your hand to do. And what we have to ask ourselves is this, how much personal effort am I putting into these duties? God tells us in his word to do it with all your might. Is that the level at which you are working? It's important that we pay attention to this word, whatever. Whatever your hand finds to do. Many of us would like to substitute, if you really like a task, do it with all your effort. Because we know that there are many tasks we don't like to do, and we recognize that the energy level tends to drop really quickly when the task is something that we don't like, or perhaps even dread. When we come to a task we really enjoy, we often throw ourselves into it with abandon. Wild horses couldn't pull us away. It's easy to work then. But then we come to jobs we don't really care for and our labors become half-hearted. All of a sudden we're exhausted and we can't give ourselves fully and those tasks end up being done sloppily or rarely finished properly. Young people and children, we talked briefly this morning about an assignment from your parents cleaning up your room. I doubt there are many young people or children who just say, yay, I get to clean my room. But you know, it's one of those tasks that your hands find to do. And so what does the Lord say? Do it with all your might. And as adults, let's recognize that we have jobs like cleaning our room that we don't like either. What does God say? Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. We must be determined Whatever lies within the realm of our responsibility, we need to pour our efforts into it. This was a principle that the Lord Jesus Christ himself operated by. In the Gospel of John, chapter 9, we have the incident where Jesus and his disciples come upon this man who was born blind. And Jesus heals him and causes a great religious controversy there in Jerusalem. But in talking to his disciples about this healing and the work that he had been sent to do, Jesus said, we must work the works of him who sent me while it is still day. Night is coming when no one can work. It's almost an echo of Ecclesiastes. There's coming a time when we won't be able to do the tasks that we've been assigned here on this earth. We need to recognize that God has given us work to do. We've got to do those works. And I ask you, dear people, how many works do you think the Lord Jesus had to do that He just loved doing? I'm sure there were many, I'm sure there were others that dealing with sin, dealing with hypocritical religion. I'm sure there were many paths that Jesus would have rather run from. The cross itself. We must do the works that God has given us to do. That was Jesus' operating principle. We also have to beware of that subtle suggestion which whispers into our ears, this work really isn't in the realm of my gifts. So, I don't have to work hard at it. I can't work hard at it. I'm not gifted in this area. I believe generally that is an excuse which our flesh invents because of our laziness or distaste for a certain work. We get it into our minds that we can't do a task, so why try? Just imagine a young woman who's just gotten married, just maybe a couple of weeks into married life. And one day her husband comes home from work and she announces to him, I don't believe it's my gift to cook and bake, so I'm not going to do any kitchen work. And when you come home at night, you can do all of the cooking. Well, he comes to me and he says, you know, we did all the premarital counseling and this never came out and it's come out now. What am I going to do? Well, I think I would counsel that young man to get his new wife some very easy cookbooks and maybe sit down with some really good cooks in the church that they could give her some real simple advice about, you know, how to boil water and how to fry eggs and, you know, how to cook some really simple meals that would be good. and then get going at it. And she might never become a gourmet cook, but I believe she could well provide for the needs of her family. We've got to be aware of that subtle suggestion. It's not in the area of my gifts, so I just can't do it. That often is an excuse rather than reality. It's often not what gifts we have, but how much we're willing to work. Young people, you're always going to face work in your life that you don't feel that you have the gifts for. But you have to do it. It's part of your job. You might be in sales someday and you love dealing with people. You love the sales pitch and talking with the people you're trying to sell, whatever it is you're representing. But then there's the paperwork. And you hate the paperwork. But you got to do it. You just have to do it. And as much as you pour your efforts into the sales pitch, You have to give yourself as well to faithfulness in keeping the records and filling out the paper. Ladies, I have no doubt that there are many parts of your housework that you would rather never look at. But you have to do it. It's your job. How are you going to come to it? With all your might to pour yourself into whatever your hand finds to do? Let me remind you, finally, that as you seek to build your record of faithfulness, you want an amen on your record. People are watching you. It's a sad commentary on our fallen human nature or record that we generally work harder when we know that people are watching. How often do we slough off when we think that we're all alone? Children, let me ask you, has that ever been the case with you? That, you know, mom and dad send you to clean your room, and you can hear mom coming up the steps, so you get busy in the room, and you look like you're busy, and then she leaves, and maybe it's back to a book or your favorite toy. It's that eye on you that has made you really diligent. Well, it's a good thing to be reminded that people are watching us. They are the ones who have our record. We either have an amen with them or we don't. But even more important than that, we need to remember at all times, God is watching us. And the most important record is with Him. Turn over in your Bibles into the New Testament to the book of Colossians 3, where Paul gives some very necessary instructions. Here Paul is writing to the church in Colossae and giving some instructions for Christian workers. Colossians 3 in verse 22 Colossians 3 22 slaves obey in everything those who are your earthly masters not by way of eye service as people pleasers but with sincerity of heart fearing the Lord whatever you do work heartily as for the Lord and not for men knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." Now, Paul isn't denouncing working out of a sense of accountability. But he wants to stress in these instructions that there is more than merely working hard to please your Master when He is watching you. It ought to be the fear of God that motivates us. It ought to be that constant recognition that God is watching me and the desire to please Him and to do all that He would have us to do. So in other words, we recognize that not only is the boss watching, not only are our fellow workers watching, but God is watching. His eye is upon us. He is going to be our ultimate judge. And we need to remember that in reality, there's never a time when we are just on our own. There's never a time when we're all by ourselves. For God's eyes are always going back and forth through the earth, viewing the righteous and viewing the wicked. And you need to ask yourself, what does God see when He looks at me? When He sees me in the midst of my family, interacting with those God has placed around me, what does He see? When he sees me in the office, when he sees me in the workplace, when he sees me in the schoolroom, what does God see? Tomorrow when you get up and go to your work, will you remember that God is watching you? Dear ladies, as you labor around the house, don't forget that God's eye is upon you. Young people at your school or at your home or at your work, when you're taking a test or taking out the garbage, God's eye is on you. And will He see you giving much effort to your work? Will your record reveal faithfulness? Will Amen be the mark of your life? Now that's only the first means that Daniel employed to build and maintain his record of faithfulness. The other means that I believe are very evident from the passage is the tool of prayer. Daniel was a man of prayer. And no doubt he pled with God from those earliest days as a teenager in the royal court when he was faced with problems and faced with pressures until this passage when he's up in his 80s. No doubt his life of routine prayer was one of God, make me a faithful servant. God, help me to pour myself into my labors. God, help me in my life to bring honor and glory to your name. And how God answered those prayers and through subsequent dynasties in those empires. The message about the true and living God went out to the entire empire because of Daniel and his friends and their faithful record. There was not only personal effort, but there was much effort in prayer. Now, I have one real fear in bringing this message tonight. that somebody might hear this and say, well, is this what it's all about, being a Christian, just working hard? That's how you get into God's favor. That's how you get into heaven one day. You pour personal effort into it. And that's how you get saved. Oh, dear people, that's not the message tonight. You don't get saved through hard work. You don't get the grace of God given to you because you're a diligent worker. Salvation comes only through the work of Christ. He accomplished it all in His perfect life, an incredible sacrifice on the cross. And God doesn't ask us to work our way into heaven. He simply asks us to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. But what we're talking about tonight isn't that. What we're talking about is being like Daniel. Being one of God's people. It's what the Christian life is all about. And whether in the Christian life it's going to church, or your own personal devotions, or family life, or work life, whatever it is, if you're a Christian, you're going to be pouring effort into that. Because you're not going to achieve anything to the glory of God without personal effort. Now, that doesn't win you heaven. But that's the heart of a child of God. to work hard and please His Father in heaven, to follow the example of the Lord Jesus who said, we've got to do the works that God has given us to do. That's the heart of the Christian. You know, I'm going to be in the grave in a few years. I don't know how long I've got today. I've got to pour my life into serving God in any avenue. Many of you may know that Johnny Farese in Florida is dying. If you don't know him, he's a man at the church in Florida, Emanuel Baptist Church, who has been very instrumental in encouraging fellowship among the churches by spreading emails for prayer. And often what pastors have done, I've done it in the past, is you just send one email to Johnny, and then he sends it out to hundreds of churches. He's been so useful in the worldwide kingdom of Christ, but physically, he can almost do nothing. Every year when we are privileged to go down to Florida for vacation, I've gone to visit Johnny. And when you go into the Farese's home, he lives with his brother and his sister-in-law. He's lying on a hospital bed. And his body is just shriveling up. He can't use his arms. He can't use his legs. He almost has no movement with his head. And he's dying, he can do less and less, but when you're sitting talking with him, they've got this special thing, this tube, this suction thing, it's on a motorized instrument and it comes up into his mouth and automatically sections him because he can't even swallow a spit, he'd drown without that. And he operates his computer by blowing into a tube or sucking on a tube. And so many blows does this or that or turns up the volume. And he can even turn on the TV like that or answer the phone like that. Or at least he could do that in the past. He can't do it anymore. And you know, whenever I see him, I walk into that room. I'm enjoying my vacation. I've been rollerblading. I've been swimming. I've been walking on the beach. And he can't do anything. But he does so much. He has poured himself into the work of Christ's kingdom. Whatever his hand has providentially been brought, he's done it with all his might. And I often leave feeling ashamed that I haven't done half of what he's done and I've got all my physical capabilities. So we're not talking about buying our way into God's favor. We're talking about people who love God and love Jesus Christ, and so they want to work for His glory. They want to bring honor to Jesus Christ with their lives. And they know that they can do that whether they're relating in families, or whether they're working, or whether they're taking out the garbage. Whatever our hands have found to do. Because we want that Amen record. We want God to be pleased. So, this message tonight about personal effort, this isn't somehow separated from the message of grace. This is all about grace, because it's grace in our hearts that reads of Daniel's testimony and says, yes, that's what I want. That's right. It's grace in our heart that hears the exhortation of Ecclesiastes. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. And a child of God with grace in his heart says, yes, that's right. Please, Lord, help me to be more faithful. So please don't misunderstand me tonight. If you don't know Jesus Christ, what you need is simply to come to the Savior and rest on Him and His perfect work. But if you know Jesus Christ, then you need to be working. You need to be seeking the grace of God to build this record. You need to be saying, I want that Amen. I want to hear from my Master. Well done, good and faithful servant. and then in eternity to take up the labors that God has for us there. May the Lord help us to consider Daniel and his faithful record and be spurred on by what God has told us about his life. Let's bow in prayer. Heavenly Father, we know that You do not set men like Daniel before us to tease us as though that were an impossible ideal. But You show us men like Daniel that we might understand what a sinner can be like by the grace of God. Please work in our lives that we might bring you glory like Daniel did. Perhaps our position will never be with such power as Daniel, such responsibility and accountability. But Lord, where you have placed us, whatever our hands find to do, may we serve you May we look up to our Master in Heaven and offer up our work as a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise that our lives in some way might be a testimony to your grace and ultimately bring you glory and honor. May we echo the words of our Savior those works that you have given us to do, we must do them while it is still day. And Father, again, we plead with you for those who are strangers to your grace, that they might be kept from trying to earn their salvation or work in any way to get into your good graces, but that they might see that they need the Lord Jesus Christ and come to rest upon Him. O Father, thank You for Your grace. May this motivate us in this coming week to be like Daniel. To Your honor and glory we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.