Take your bibles if you wouldn't go to Daniel chapter number six Daniel chapter number six as we continue in this great chapter of the word of God As we walk through the book of Daniel and finish out chapter number six it kind of finishes up the details of the historical aspect and when we begin into Daniel chapter number seven eight nine we look at the interactions that Daniel had both on the world empires that were to come and then looking to that final world empire under Satan's power and Satan's directives. And we find much of it unfolding and listed out in Daniel chapter number 9 and following. And then we come to the book of revelation and we find out the identification of all of those things that Daniel reveals to us here. And so there's some great chapters ahead. And I hope that you're excited about the opportunity to study God's word together here on a weekly basis and trust that you don't miss. Take the opportunity to invest yourself in the things of the word of God and excited about this chapter and really excited about the things that are ahead for us as we go through this book. Daniel chapter number six, we have looked at these opening. verses in previous weeks. And we looked at verses one through three and discussed the matter of Daniel's testimony. The Bible says that he had an excellent spirit within him. And he had been elevated to a position that was based upon his nature and his person. He was an excellent spirit. He was an excellent man, a godly man. God was at work in and through him. Then last Sunday morning, we looked at the treachery against Daniel. There were those that wanted to bring him down. And according to the scriptures, there were 122 other individuals that were in the leadership of the kingdom. And these individuals did their research. They did all that they could to investigate his life and find some aspect of his life under which they could prosecute him and remove him from his position. And so they did this research, they came to the point and conclusion where they understood that they would only find something against Daniel as it related to his God. And so we begin by reading this morning in verse number 10. And I want you to see with me as we continue through this chapter that as this proclamation has been set that Daniel responds. The word of God says in verse number 17, now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did aforetime. 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. Has thou not signed the decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within 30 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, 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 and 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 unto the king and said unto the king, know, O king, that the law of the Medes and the Persians is, that no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. And you'll notice a little punctuation mark there, period. If we did not know the rest of the story, we would have a natural assumption that this is the end of Daniel's life. Daniel, it's been nice. It's been real. It's been good to have your influence in the kingdom, but you're done. He's been cast into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, thy God, whom thou service continually, he will deliver thee. Daniel's testimony was so significant that even an unbelieving man had faith that God would deliver him from the mouth of the lions. And a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet. and with a signet of his Lord's that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Wanna look this morning at the trust of Daniel. We have his testimony, verses one through three. We have the treachery against Daniel, verses three through nine, and now we come, verses 10 through 17, and I want you to see this morning the trust of Daniel. Do you and I trust God? Let's pray and ask God's blessings upon the message this morning. Lord, thank you for the privilege that I have to stand before these people. Thank you for all that you have done for us. You've directed us in so many different ways this week. You've brought us through many different trials and tribulations. We have folks that are in our church that are going through difficult times in this very moment. Very weighty matters are before a number of our church folk. And I pray, Father, for your blessing and strength to be with them. We pray that you would guide and direct in their care and in their testimony. As we turn our attention to these verses, this is so significant as we consider what is unfolding in this story. And I pray that you would help me as I communicate these things. May this be a help to all that have come. May you strengthen our trust, our confidence in your hand, in your mighty hand, in your omnipotent hand. Blessing our time together this morning, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. Down at the Wilds Christian Camp, they have an obstacle course, and a number of our young people, no doubt, have been on that obstacle course at one time or another. And as you go through the obstacle course, you normally want to do it with a group of individuals. It's just a lot more fun to do it with a group, and in that group setting, It can certainly take place and transpire that you're not totally capable of fulfilling one of the obstacles on your own. And so, the others can lend a hand and help. And one of the things there at the camp, and I've seen this at other places as well, other But it's this solitary log that they have that's coming up from the ground. It's normally about four to five feet off the ground, and they normally have steps up to the top of it. And you try to convince one person in your group, one or more people in your group, you try to convince them to take the steps up to the top of that telephone pole or that section of the telephone pole and to stand there balanced with their feet together and to put their arms across their chest and to fall backwards. You're convincing someone in the group And the rest of the group is now going to stand behind that log and stand behind that person. And as that person falls, the rest in the group are going to put their arms out and catch the individual. Now you can imagine what a great ploy it would be to take an individual that you just did not like and to convince them to get up on that log No, you would never do that. No, no, we would never do that. Nothing, nothing of the sort. But I tell you, I can remember the first time that teenagers, this was dangerous, convinced me as their youth pastor to get up on that log. Right now, Brother Gary's thinking, I don't think so. And they're like, no, Brother Todd, really, this is a great plan. We'll catch you. And I'm looking at these seventh grade boys. No, I'm just kidding. I'm looking at myself, I'm looking at them, looking at myself, looking at them. This is a bad idea. But they would convince me and they'd say, Brother Todd, this is a great idea. You get up on the log and we'll catch you. And I can remember finally agreeing. And I get up on the log and I cross my arms and hope to die. I mean, and I hope to live. And I fall back. Now, you're not supposed to bend your knees. If you really show confidence, you don't give it one of these, you know. If you're really confident, you're supposed to totally stay straight and fall back, and they're supposed to catch you. Now obviously, since I'm standing here, it does show that they caught me. They did catch me. Closer to the ground than I would have preferred, but they caught me, all right? At any given time, you and I are putting our trust in things. We do this all the time. In the scenario that I just laid out for you, I was trusting that the individuals would be there to catch me. We've done this with other individuals. They trust. If you get on any kind of amusement park ride, you are trusting that they put that together well. You are trusting this young person that's paid minimum wage that could really care less about whether or not the ride is successful or not to lock that strap in as you get sent out of the house and up that 300 foot hill and descend and lose blood and your senses and so forth. You're trusting that they lock that in. You're trusting when you go out to the vehicle every morning. There are some that are sitting here in the auditorium and saying, well, it's not that much trust, Pastor, because I drive a Ford. There are some that are saying it's not that much trust because I drive a Dodge, I drive an American made car. There's not that much trust because I drive a European automobile. And so it's not that much, it doesn't take that much trust. But no doubt across the auditorium, you're going out to your automobile in the morning and you're trusting that when you push the button, put in the key, whatever it is, that it's going to start. We do this with our places of employment, don't we? We trust that when we've made the journey into the place of employment, that we still have a job. When I take my key, so far it still works. I put it into the door and the door still unlocks. They still let me in here. I trust that it's still available. We have a certain level of trust in all different kinds of entities in the world today. Young people trust their parents. I hope. I trust my parents to care for me, to provide a roof over my head, to provide the clothing and food necessary for life. There's a certain amount of trust. I think I've spoken to you before about those early days with your young person and trying to have them jump in the pool. And you're trying to get them to trust you. Trust me. Trust me. But I'm saying to you this morning, in these verses, this reveals an unbelievable level of trust and confidence in His Heavenly Father. This is not just me laying back on a trust fall. This is not me trusting that my automobile is going to start when I push the button, put in the key. This is not me trusting that my place of employment is still going to exist This is not me trusting merely in an entity, this is trust in an almighty, all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present God. And I asked you this morning, do you trust God? Proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 and 6. What an interesting verse. Great passage to memorize as a believer. Trust in the Lord, listen to this, with all thine heart. And lead not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path. Folks, that is literally the proverb that we see unfolding here in this passage. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not unto thine own understanding. His understanding would have brought him out at a far different place, but he trusted in Almighty God. I want you to see the three areas in which he trusted God and how it unfolds in these verses. We have discussed his testimony. He had an excellent spirit. We've seen this treachery. They did all their research that the end result might be that they could end Daniel's influence. But now look at Daniel's trust. Would you notice with me, first of all, he trusted God in spite of the proclamation. He trusted God in spite of the proclamation. Look what the Bible says in verse number ten. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed he went into his house and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed." Do you notice the pounding of the significance of all of the wording there in verse number 10? This is an absolute confidence that he was trusting God. These men went to the king and they said, king, pass this decree. They said, pass the decree that for the next 30 days, no petition could be made of any higher power save of thee, O king. And the king thought, oh, if everybody's in agreement, this is a good plan. This will direct everyone's attention towards me. Daniel, when he knew it was signed, He knew the nature of the law of the Medes and the Persians when he knew it was signed. He went and he hid in the back closet and silently whispered a prayer lest anyone should hear that he was violating the law of the Medes and the Persians. Is that right? when he knew the proclamation was signed, he continued on with the same habits that he had already developed. The same things that were true when they were trying to find something against him. They had no doubt seen him open the windows towards Jerusalem. They had no doubt seen him kneel there before that window and make his petitions be known unto God. They had no doubt seen all of these strings transpire. And so they almost knew him by the clock. He'll be praying. Just as they had caught him, they go back to see if he would follow through. Look, can I say it to you this way? I don't think they were surprised at all that he followed through with his prayers. Because they knew we cannot find anything against this man, except we find it against him and his God. When he knew the proclamation was signed, he opened his windows as he had done so many times before. Again, Daniel is likely in his 70s or possibly 80s at this stage of his life. This was the pattern of his life. This is the way he lived every day. It was no shock that he opened those windows, that he bowed his knee, that he prayed towards Jerusalem. He had the desire to communicate with his Heavenly Father and he made it known and he made no bones about it. This is what I do. He trusted God in spite of the proclamation. Now let me ask you, as I kind of touched on this last Sunday morning, what proclamation would have to come into existence in our nation, in our world today, that would end your communication with Almighty God? What could the government pass What could they say? What law could be passed? And you would say, ok, well there's my, there's the line. I can no longer follow God. I cannot be a part of FBT. I can no longer represent His name. I mean they passed the law, it's been stated, I'm gonna abide by that. Daniel made no bones about the fact that he was gonna pray to his God and he was going to trust God in spite of the proclamation. Number two, would you notice with me, he's gonna trust God in spite of the persecution. trusting God in spite of the persecution. As soon as they see Daniel pray, the Bible says, then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. Then they came near and spake before the king immediately. I mean, they're not, hey guys, listen, this might be a one-time thing. He might be closing out yesterday's prayer. He might just want a final opportunity to communicate with his God. Maybe he doesn't know. Maybe he's not aware the petition has actually been signed. Maybe he hasn't gotten the email. He hasn't seen the headline. He doesn't know it from 24-7 news. Let's give him a bit of time. I mean, we've got 30 days to prove this. Keep in mind, all of these other presidents, all these other leaders are against Daniel. All these other individuals are absolutely against his relationship with Almighty God. The first thing that unfolds, he says, God, I'm gonna trust you in spite of the proclamation. Number two, God, I'm gonna trust you in spite of the persecution. Okay, let's bring this into real world timing. You go into work tomorrow and you know full well that there are two or more individuals in your workplace that hate the Word of God and hate the things of the Word of God. And there is heavy persecution upon your life every day in the workplace. Individuals that would mock your attendance in church. Individuals that would mock your use of the Bible. Or maybe you even have a Bible with you on your desk. And maybe other individuals know, hey, they attend church, they read their Bible. Every time we go to lunch with that guy or with that gal, she wants to pray or he wants to pray before the meal and so forth. I mean, they're religious fanatics, for crying out loud. Pastor, I just don't think I can take the persecution. Maybe in your class, the teacher has come to know that you believe the word of God. And you're kind of pointed out and made a mockery in front of others. He trusted God in spite of the persecution. I tell you what, it's fascinating to me It's a study that I want to go back to at some point in time on Wednesday nights. It's one of my favorite studies in the New Testament. It's the studies of the journeys of the Apostle Paul, his missionary journeys. I am fascinated by what God did through him as he carried the gospel throughout the known world. His first missionary journey, his second missionary journey, his third missionary journey, and then his fourth missionary journey that was paid for by the Roman government. fascinated by the things that take place. But as you begin to read, as he and Barnabas depart from Antioch of Syria, and they cross over to the shores of Barnabas' homeland, and then they cross to the mainland, and they go city to city to city to city, and you begin to study out those chapters, and you study out those verses, and you see that once the people that were following Satan got stirred up, they followed him and hounded him, city after city after city, They did not want the gospel going forth and the persecution follows him No doubt many would have said hey if it's gonna be like this I'll just go back home because I don't have to put up with this But Paul and his missionary companions stayed the course in spite of the persecution and It's a great verse there in Hebrews chapter number 13. I'm gonna flip over there and read it to you. Hebrews chapter number 13 and verse number six. Listen to what the Bible says. So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall do unto me. When you go and knock on that door in visitation, And you do not know what's on the other side of that door. Seems like a lot of people in this area have big dogs. I was with my son yesterday, it seemed like almost every house They either have a very large dog behind that door, or they have one of these contraptions that gives off the voice of a very large dog. One house, it was very obvious that someone was there and was trying to corral the dogs, but then they never answered the door. But they let the dogs out into the backyard. Oh boy. See, when that kind of thing happens as the leader of the team on visitation, you begin to realize that it's not about outrunning the dogs, it's about outrunning your partner. I gave up long ago taking my older son on visitation, I only take my younger son right now. The light just went on in his head now, he's like, You never know what's gonna be on the other side of that. You don't know what they're gonna say. You don't know what the individual, how they're gonna respond to these things. You don't know how the coworker's going to respond when you sit down at the lunch table and you say, hey, would you mind if we go ahead and prayed before we eat here? Do what? You don't know how they're gonna respond when they find out that you're a believer. Will you trust God in spite of the persecution? Notice the third thing with me if you would. Back in Daniel chapter number six. He trusted God in spite of the proclamation when he knew the writing was signed. As his habit was, he went back up to that window, opened it before Jerusalem and prayed to his heavenly father. He trusted God in spite of the persecution from these Well over a hundred other leaders and captains of the nation. But then number three, and perhaps this is the most difficult one, he trusted God in spite of the penalty. Go back with me if you would to Daniel chapter number six. And the Bible says there, then the king commanded, verse number 16, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. Why did they do that? Why did they do that? If you go back to verse number seven, you find that within the petition, the penalty was announced. And the Bible says there that no one shall ask a petition of any God or man for 30 days. Save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. So the petition is stated, and the penalty is stated. If you do this, this will happen to you. If you violate this law signed by the king, this law of the Medes and the Persians, if you violate this, then you will be cast into the den of lions. Now let that sink in. What are the odds that you would survive the den of lions? Oh, pastor, I mean, I'm a pretty healthy individual. I'll take a knife with me. I mean, I'll pull that knife out and I'll slit the lion's throat. I mean, they won't have the mastery of me. I mean, I can do this. But let's ramp it up a little bit. If they've created this den of lions, Would it be possible that those lions aren't very well fed because of the anticipation of a certain feeding time? Now, we're going to see that in the coming week in the ending part of this chapter. Oh, those lions were ready for a meal. They were ready for a meal, but they were not gonna feast upon God's servant. But think with me for a moment. You and I are able to read Daniel chapter number six in its entirety. Daniel's looking at it on the front side and he understands this is the proclamation and he understands this is the penalty for violating the proclamation. Listen to this. He still prayed. Now let that sink in. From his perspective, we're talking certain death. From his perspective, it means the end of life. From his perspective, if he's thrown into the den of lions, it's over. Daniel is not thinking to himself, hey, if I go through with this, this will make a great Bible story for little children in family devotions and Sunday schools all over the world someday. Literally, if I violate this proclamation, I will be thrown into the den of lions. And if I'm thrown into the den of lions, this means certain death. But listen to this. I'm going to trust God. I'm going to trust God. In Acts chapter 5 and verse 29, in the face of the Sanhedrin, the disciples who had been strictly told that they were to no longer witness or preach the name of Jesus Christ, in Acts chapter 5 and verse 29 they looked at that group of the Sanhedrin, the very group that was responsible for putting Christ to death. This same group, they looked in their faces and they said, we will obey God rather than man. No matter what penalty you come up with, we will obey God rather than man. The Bible says that they beat them and then they set them free and in verse 41 the Bible says they went out of there rejoicing, that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. I think back to antiquity and to the nature of our forefathers that stood for the faith and how many of them were burned to the stake. You can imagine how many of those individuals that watched their families burned to the stake. They themselves were burned to the stake. You can imagine what it was like if they knew that if they took their stand for Jesus Christ, the fire would be all about them. But in spite of the fire being around their feet, in spite of it coming up around their bodies and around their stakes, they stood for Almighty God because they trusted Him. the individuals that were strictly forbidden from speaking the name of Jesus Christ, and when they spoke for His namesake, they would literally cut their tongues out, that they would have no more voice. There's a book that is a very easy read, but a great little book to read, about a man by the name of Heroin Popov. He was a pastor that was arrested for preaching the truth in Soviet bloc countries. And when they arrested that pastor, the things that they did to him are beyond belief. They would have him stand six inches or so away from a whitewashed wall for hours on end His mind would literally be affected by staring at that and if he moved one muscle, they would beat him without mercy. And when you read his story, tortured for his faith, and you read of the many that he won to Christ from behind those prison bars, I tell you what, it's fascinating to me that a man would trust his God in such a way. that in spite of the penalty, in spite of the persecution, in spite of the proclamations that have been made, that he would trust his Heavenly Father. You and I know what the end of the chapter says. The end of the chapter declares that Daniel's delivered, but if we were on the other side of it, looking at going into this storm, Daniel trusts his Heavenly Father. It is as though Daniel climbs up the stairs and is now standing there on that phone pole and God says to him, Daniel, trust me. I am here and I will catch you. And literally what we are seeing unfolding before our eyes here in Daniel chapter number six is a man that crossed his arms and willfully laid himself back and was caught by the Heavenly Father. He trusted God. But what about you? What about me? If the proclamation is made, do we sell out our relationship to God? If the persecution gets too great, Do we sell out our relationship to God? Do we only follow Him so long as the penalty is not more than we can bear? Or will we cross our arms and willfully fall back and trust our God? Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for this passage this morning. What a story that we have before us. These men were determined to end Daniel's influence. They were determined to do all that was within their power to bring Daniel down. And no doubt in their minds they're thinking, okay, this is all working as planned. We came up with the area in which we can find fault in his life. We created this proclamation. We've gone back to his house. We know for a fact that he's violated it. We've got him right where we want him and now he's gonna be cast in the den of lions. Good riddance. No doubt they had begun the discussions as to who would replace Daniel in the kingdom. No doubt they were already jockeying to see who might be the next to the king, thinking that this would end Daniel. But what these pagans did not take into account is that there was an all-powerful God working on Daniel's behalf. And it is in that God that Daniel put his trust. And I pray right now for folks all across this audience this morning. I pray that you'd help us to have this kind of trust in our Heavenly Father. I pray, Lord, that you would help us to walk so closely with you that no matter the proclamation, no matter the persecution, no matter the penalty, that we would do right, that we would stand with the forefathers of our faith, the disciples of old, the apostles of old there in front of the Sanhedrin, those that stood in the inquisitions Down through the ages, those that preach Jesus Christ and His salvation were burned at the stake. May we not fear what man can do unto us. May we take our stand with Almighty God.