Daniel Promoted

All right, let's pray and ask the Lord's blessing upon this evening. Father, we're grateful for tonight We're so grateful Lord because you've given us this opportunity to study your word We are a blessed people. We thank you father for what you teach us We thank you Lord that you've given us your spirit to illuminate our hearts and minds That we might be convicted where we need to be convicted be encouraged Where we need to be encouraged and that Lord your spirit Engages us in such that Lord we can walk in the spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh We are a grateful people We thank you for our time together open our eyes that we might see beautiful things out of your law As you study once again the great book of Daniel in Jesus name.

Amen Daniel chapter 2 last four verses We're gonna look at those this evening Interesting that if you read a commentary on Daniel very few people talk a lot about the last four verses of Daniel chapter 2 Maybe because the first six chapters is all about the preeminence and the prominence of Daniel his rise to fame for lack of a better phrase And so they don't want to spend too much time on this because that's what the whole first six chapters are about And yet I think there's so much here that we need to understand because we want to talk to you tonight about Daniel's praise and then of course his promotion and then give you some Principles from Daniel's life that will help us understand what has taken place in the first two chapters Up to the age of 18 for Daniel and what has been instrumental in his life What did he know when did he know it all those kinds of things?

But he embodies first Samuel 2 verse number 30 he honors me I will honor This man is honored In a unique and special way and God honors him now God had designed all this and God had planned it all out and God had given the king a dream that Daniel would be able to interpret and if you were with us last week you know about the scenario surrounding the dream and that the head of gold and the arms and chest of silver and the middle section and thighs of bronze the legs of iron and then of course the ten toes toes a mixture of Clay and iron and the stone that comes and crushes that ten nation or ten kings or ten nation Confederacy and we'll learn more about that as we go on in the book of Daniel But it's just something that God used in in Daniel's life To promote him to a place of great prominence there in Babylon but Daniel never sought To be preeminent he never wanted to be the guy and that's the great thing about Daniel How many people do you know that they want to be the guy they want to be important?

They want to be elevated. They want a place of prominence. They want to be better than what they really are and and so they're always looking for a way to Climb the corporate ladder or to be better than maybe what they possibly could be and they're so consumed with striking a a Place of prominence that they forget about God's call upon their life Daniel never did that Daniel was never looking for notoriety Daniel was never looking for popularity Daniel was only interested in pleasing God. It's all he wanted to do and So when you want to please God and you want to honor him He will honor you God does that God wants to honor people who make him a priority He embodies 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse number 4 where it says no soldier in active service Entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier Now, of course Daniel wouldn't know that verse but the point being is that he wanted to please the God Who enlisted him?

The God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the God who called him. He wanted to be used by God. He wanted to please God He never entangled himself in the affairs the everyday affairs of man He was never so encumbered by what was taking place around him They lost sight of what God was doing in him and through him And so he becomes the supreme example of of a man who was Taken by God placed in a place of prominence Never sought that place but was used by God Mightily, it's a good reminder for every one of us if you want to be a somebody stop just stop Okay You know Moses was a somebody right he was a great guy He was nixed in line to to be the Pharaoh, right and God put him on the back side of a desert for 40 years So he'd learned to be a nobody Right and after those 40 years God raised him to a place of prominence and used him because God had to humble him first So many times our pride wants us to be noticed Wants us to be great Daniel never did that and so he becomes a great example for us to follow So we read to you these four verses and then we're going to talk about them together This evening then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense The king answered Daniel and said surely your God is a God of gods in a Lord of kings And a revealer of mysteries since you have been able to reveal this mystery Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many gifts great gifts And he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief perfect over all the wise men of Babylon and Daniel made requests of the king and He appointed Shadrach Meshach and Abednego Over the administration of the province of Babylon while Daniel was at the king's court now all this happens because of what God did in Daniel's life and Daniel's praised by Nebuchadnezzar that he's promoted by Nebuchadnezzar and when he praises him he bows before him now remember Daniel's 18 And here's King Nebuchadnezzar.

He's a tyrant But he bows before this 18 year old boy because he recognizes that it's this boy's God that did What no one else could do? he calls him the The the sovereign God he calls him the the God of gods in other words He doesn't Praise God from the standpoint that he recognizes him as the only God the only true God He just sees Daniel's God as as a God among many gods, but maybe he is the sovereign ruler of all the gods It won't be till chapter 4 Where Nebuchadnezzar is going to finally be converted and God's going to turn his whole life upside down But in the meantime he recognizes that Daniel's God is the revealer of secrets Nobody else could do that And he did anything about this is that he he lavishes them with gifts back in chapter 2 verse 6 He says look whoever can tell me what my dream was and then interpret that dream for me great gifts are yours I'm gonna reward you Well all the magicians and all the sorcerers they all wanted to be a part of this They all wanted to be rewarded by the king because they were all seeking a place of prominence Daniel wasn't invited as you recall he was He was still back at his place until Arioch came to get him to kill him when he when he asked for a place or a meeting with the king and Arioch granted him that meeting with the king And he told the king that he would be able to tell him what his dream was and interpret the dream so you can imagine Nebuchadnezzar he's got to be flabbergasted Absolutely floored that there's somebody who can actually tell him what he dreamt what he dreamt That that's that's impossible.

You can't do that But Daniel did because God revealed it to Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar Recognized Daniel's God as being the the God of gods. He is a superior God he is a he is a sovereign God because he is the Lord of Kings and he is the the revealer of secrets Interesting that in this testimony he recognizes What Daniel's God did I Love this when he says these words Surely your God is a God of gods Lord of Kings a revealer of mysteries since you have been able to reveal this mystery you see Daniel never received glory.

He wasn't looking to receive glory Why because God used him in such a way That God would receive all the glory It's a reminder to us that when God uses us in people's lives. It's it's God who gets the glory not ourselves Daniel wasn't worthy of being praised Daniel didn't even want praise Daniel just wanted to do what he was called to do and so The focus is in the right spot and So you move from Daniel's praise to Daniel's promotion. He promotes him as the chief ruler of Babylon he becomes the overseer and And and and and Daniel is so kind and so gracious that he wants Shadrach Meshach and Abednego to be a part of that See he doesn't leave these guys out because they were a part of the prayer meeting in the beginning when they began to pray about What this dream was and they were a part of the interpretation as well And so he wants him to be a part of what's going on He doesn't want to receive all the glory for himself.

It wasn't about Daniel's day of glory It was about getting those three men That would be involved with him To have a place of prominence as well So Daniel was concerned about them He wanted to lift them up Because they were a part of the process that's how kind Daniel was and So the king does that and notice he says this the king says The king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon But in verse number 46, it says he gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense In other words the king ordered that the people of Babylon would honor Daniel this is what they gave to their foreign gods their pagan gods He wants Daniel to be honored by everybody in the kingdom Not just him Now think about this.

He's 18 years old. He's not looking for a place of prominence He's just doing what God's called him to do. He's been ripped from his home in Jerusalem three years earlier he's been through the pagan educational system there in Babylon and all he wants to do is just Honor the Lord And look what God does in this man's life He's praised by a pagan king a king that has just been told that he is the the head of The image this colossal image that that Babylon is the golden head That he is the first world ruling empire That's ever existed.

There will be other ones that will come but he's the guy So Nebuchadnezzar knows that he's the guy But Nebuchadnezzar on this day Made his wisest choice ever by choosing Daniel To be in command To be the leader of all the magicians to be leader of all the wise men you can imagine what they were thinking I can't believe this Jewish boys 18 years old gonna lead us. You've got to be kidding me. He's too young He's not even dry behind the ears yet. Yeah, you want him to be our boss. Are you kidding me?

There must have been all kinds of animosity, but they didn't realize that Daniel Saved their lives They were gonna die The king had commended that they everybody with all the magicians and all the sorcerers and all the wise men there to die But they now live because of Daniel So the cop between a rock and a hard place they can't stand the guy He's he's got a place of prominence. He's young. They've been there a long time they've never received recognition from the king like like Daniel has and yet he gets all this notoriety where the people in the province are ordered to offer him incense and fragrance as If he's some kind of God and they get nothing but our Lord is so amazing in what he does What's leading me to this Daniel's principles What did Daniel know when did he know it and how did he know it?

We this is our eighth sermon in Daniel. We just finished Daniel chapter 2 this evening and Daniel rises to this level of prominence at the age of 18 and the question comes What did he know? When did he know it? How did he learn it? That's a question we have to ask ourselves We know that in Daniel 11 verse number 32 Daniel says that those who know their God Will display strength and take action Okay, Daniel's gonna record that So evidently Daniel knew his God He was able to display strength because at 18 he could confront the king at 18 he wasn't afraid of the king And and Daniel Daniel wasn't a passive person you see if you know God You're not gonna be passive You're gonna be aggressive not in a negative way, but in a positive way those who know God display strength and take action They're doers They're not gonna wait for somebody else to do it Because they know God they don't have an identity crisis because they know where they stand with the living God And so many times today we we deal with people that are so passive when it comes to leading their families as men leading the church The only conclusion we can come to is that you must not know God very well Because if you know God you're gonna display strength and take action Daniel said it under the inspiration of the Spirit of God.

It's absolute truth Daniel embodies that he displays strength and takes action He's not overly aggressive He waits to be asked He takes the initiative with Arioch to make sure that people's lives are spared Because he wants those people to know the Lord doesn't want them to die and not know the Lord So the question comes what did Daniel know and when did he know it? How did he know the things that he knew? Did his parents teach him? We don't know whose parents are We don't know if he had any siblings because Baba didn't tell us.

So so what do we know about his parents? Nothing But they would have had to have raised him to be a to be a strong boy possibly Now maybe they didn't know the Lord Maybe he's like a like So many people in the Scriptures who like Josiah where his father was just a wicked King But at age eight he became the king of Israel and by his mid-twenties. He had rid Israel of all of its pagan worship Maybe he's like that or maybe he's like Moses who had godly parents Who taught him the truth? And how not to fear the king's edict Maybe he had parents like like Samson had like Manoah and his wife.

I don't know But did his parents instill in him biblical truth? Did they pass down to him? What was in Deuteronomy chapter 6 and? How we are to teach our children diligently when you walk by the way when you sit down You're to be actively involved in training and teaching and telling your children about the God of Israel possibly Were they the followers of Psalm 78 this parents do this when it says? Listen to my people to my instruction incline your ears the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable I will utter dark sayings of old which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wondrous works That he has done For he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel Which he commanded our fathers that they should teach them to their children that the generation to come might know Even the children yet to be born that they may arise and tell them to their children That they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments Maybe his parents Understood the importance of God's Word and Teaching it to their their son So he would stand with confidence giving praise to the works of God I Don't know we can speculate we can think that's the case But we do understand things that he knew based on the first two chapters and the rest of the book of Daniel So I want to share with you this evening some things that I believe Daniel understood when he knew them how he knew them who taught him.

We don't know We know parents were very into teaching their children the commands of God Jewish families are really into that So we assume that that's what took place in Daniel's life, but we don't know for certain But I want to teach you tonight some things that you need to make sure you teach your children and your children's children So you understand how it is Daniel could say those who know their God display strength and take action I think everybody in the room would like to be like that, but it all comes down to knowing God Daniel knew his God And at age 18 when he becomes the supreme ruler in Babylon It wasn't by accident.

It truly was by divine appointment It wasn't by his own achievement It was by divine appointment God did it But there were things that Daniel knew so let me give them to you.

All right Daniel knew the identity of the Messiah Daniel knew the identity of the Messiah didn't know his name. You know, he was gonna be Jesus didn't know that But he had great context as to The Messiah now we know that because of the Magi right Luke chapter 2 when they come to Jerusalem Because they were taught by this person who over saw these astrologists these Astronomers these stargazers these wise men God put him there so they could teach Or he could teach them so they could teach their children So when the Messiah was born they would be there and So to some degree he knew the identity of the Messiah He knew what most Jewish people knew about connecting the dots in the Old Testament Now remember what Jesus said in Luke's gospel in the 24th chapter About the two men on the road to Emmaus He said Oh foolish men slow of heart to believe and all that the prophets have spoken Wasn't not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures in other words from the Pentateuch from the prophets from the Psalms our Lord would explain to them all the different aspects that pointed to him as Messiah Because they should have known My guess is that Daniel was connecting the dots Daniel knew Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah Isaiah was a hundred years before their captivity.

And so because Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah And we know that he reads the scriptures because he's reading Jeremiah in Daniel 9 and he realizes that the 70-year captivity is just about up. So, you know, he reads the scriptures He knows what's going on And so he knows that Isaiah prophesied And Isaiah 7 verse number 14 That a woman will conceive and bear a child and she'll be a virgin. He knows that He knows Isaiah 9 verse number 6 that a child will be born and a son will be given There's a unique distinction there His humanity his divinity it's all part of the process so he begins to read these things he knows about the identity the Messiah He understands the sacrificial system Abra Abel and Cain.

They knew the sacrificial system way back in Genesis chapter 4 So I'm sure that Daniel knew about the sacrificial system and how everything that was going on was was Covering their sin, but one day there would be someone who come who would remove their sin It was all a part of the Old Covenant Ezekiel was a contemporary of Daniel Ezekiel spoke about the New Covenant Jeremiah he prophesied also about the New Covenant and so he would read these things and begin to know Messiah's coming He would know Micah 5 verse number 2 That the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem of Judea He would know Micah 4 verse number 8 But spoke of the fact that that the Messiah would be born at a place called Migdol Adair that the Tower of the Flock And he knows that Isaiah speaks all about the sacrificial lamb Isaiah 53 See we can't just assume that Daniel was dumb.

He didn't know anything No, he's a Jewish boy Raised in a Jewish home taught the Old Testament He would begin to connect all these dots and we know this because he taught the Magi and the Magi then Pass it down to their children Who then arrived in? Jerusalem looking for the one who was called the king of the Jews Did he know that Messiah was gonna be king yes numbers 24 17 the star Will rise and that star will have a scepter in his hand so whoever the star was the Messiah would have a scepter in his hand he knew that He'll be from the tribe of Judah Genesis 49 verse number 10.

He knows what tribe he's gonna be from So he begins to connect all these things so that when he teaches the wise men see God placed him there to teach the wise men He put him in a public place to be a testimony for the glory of God's kingdom and He would use the opportunity to instruct others in the ways of God so important I Think it's important that your children know the identity of the Messiah. Why? John 20 1331 you can't be saved unless you know who the Messiah is These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Messiah and that Believing in him you have life in his name Your children need to know the identity of the Messiah.

That's why for for 10 years in our church We did this advent Jesse tree devotional book going through 25 different Prophecies and promises centered around the Messiah had your children up on stage talk to them about the week's Prophecies and challenge them to learn about these prophecies why because they need to know the identity the Messiah so important And I would think that as a parent you would want your children to know who the Messiah is right for into you this day in the city of David has been born a Savior who is Christ the Messiah the Lord So you have to teach your children who the Messiah is You know, I went through this a couple of weeks ago and if you want a copy I'm gonna give it to you They'll have several copies up here 30 different S's in the Old Testament that talk about the Messiah We did this last year with our children at home Okay, Kate was still there and AJ and Avery and so we had three at home still and so what we did is we took one s a day For 25 only it did 25 last year and did 25 of them you can take them all the way to the end of December if you want to and It's in and looked at the Old Testament prophecy and the New Testament fulfillment So my children would know the identity of the Messiah We talked about last week that he is the he's the stone of Isaiah.

Psalm 118 Isaiah chapter 8 He's a stone that that crushes the ten nation Confederacy. That's who he is And so we talked a little bit with you last week about the stone We talked to you about the fact that he is the seed from Genesis 3 verse number 15 He is Shiloh from Genesis 49 verse number 10 But Isaiah has so many prophecies about the coming Messiah Daniel would know these things Because he was a student of the word. He was a man of the world. That's why you could say those who know their God Display strength and take action.

This is the way I've lived my life and so while you might not be able to extrapolate a lot on on The verses that are here like like maybe I I can do or others can do But it gives you a springboard to be able to teach your children, especially in the month of December about the birth of the Messiah They can't be saved unless they know who the Messiah is Old Testament believers believe in the arrival of the Messiah. They anticipated the longing the Messiah Daniel would be one of those guys He is longing for the arrival of the Messiah.

He wants him to come He knows he knows the Prophet Jeremiah because Jeremiah would prophesy Right at the impending judgment of the first captivity He would know that Jeremiah 23 says that there's going to be a king.

He's called the Lord our righteousness He's gonna sit on the throne of his father David. He's gonna be a priest. He would know these things Because he could read them he could study them Because he testified that those who know their God display strength and take action Your ability to do that Hinges on what you know about Jesus Christ the Messiah and so Daniel would have to teach that To the wise men. That's why God put him in that position and kept him there So he could be used in a mighty way So not only did he believe and understand the identity of the Messiah but he also understood and believed number two in the authority of Scripture Daniel 1 verse number 8 We read it told you it was one verse one virtue leads to many victories One verse one virtue leads to many victories and what was the virtue the virtue was a pure and holy life The virtue was a non-compromising life The virtue was that he would not defile himself with the king's meat.

Now, how did he know that? book of Leviticus Pentateuch the law He was raised that way He could not defile himself with the king's meat so he would take a stand Because he believed in the authority of Scripture if God said it, it's true if God said it It's right if God said it I need to follow it That's how Daniel lived his life Well, we are to teach our children about the authority of Scripture God's Word is authoritative someone 38 verse number 2 Thy word O Lord is magnified even as thy very name Wow think about that The Word of God is magnified even as the very name of God and one day at the name of Jesus Every knee will bow.

Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father and God's gonna judge us based on the authority of his word Because the word is true. He speaks truth and so therefore Here was Daniel Who believed in the authority of Scripture in other words The Scripture governed how he behaved the decisions he made Will seem it's got to be true of you and me, right? So as parents we want to teach our children about the authority of God's Word. How do we do that? Well, first of all, you got to model it to them, right?

So if God's Word says you need to forgive your brother You got to forgive Even though you might not feel like forgiving your brother the Bible says you got to return good for evil then you obey that because Scripture is authoritative and you submit yourself to the authority of Scripture.

You're gonna return good to those who do evil to you That's why Daniel lived his life He understood the authority of Scripture when the Bible says that you've been you have a gift Let me meddle with you for a second you have a spiritual gift, right God says you need to exercise that spiritual gift.

Are you? Because if you're not exercising your spiritual gift, you don't believe in the authority of Scripture. I don't care what you say You can sit here and say I believe scriptures authoritative, but the Bible also says you have a spiritual gift You're using the church. Are you using it? Because if God's Word is truly authoritative in your life, you're gonna say, you know what I need to be used by God With the people of God, how can I best be used in that way? That's that's where the rubber meets the road.

See we can talk about the authority of Scripture we can wax eloquently about the authority of Scripture if we can give all the rationale between the infallibility and Inherency of Scripture and how it all comes together what God has said and what he does all that kind of stuff But if we don't live it out in our lives as parents as grandparents What our children learn? They must not believe in the authority of Scripture Because you don't do what it says right And so when you think about that and you realize look this is what makes the Christian life So great because there's always things we fall short in And we read the scriptures and we go to church.

We hear the Word of God preach We realize wow, I'm not doing that. I got to do that. I got to step it up I got to obey the Word of the Lord. I got to do these things and So you do And you model to your children That God's Word is absolutely authoritative in your life Okay, the Bible says that parents are to spank their children if you don't spank your children You don't believe in the authority of Scripture.

I don't care what you say We're gonna give them timeouts. You can't find that here anywhere If you can find it, let me know there won't timeouts in Scripture.

You're just spank your children That's what the Bible says read the book of Proverbs Right, if you don't do that, you don't adhere to the authority of Scripture It's only authoritative When it works for me, it's not authoritative if it doesn't work for me That's not how it works.

It's either completely authoritative in every area or it's not authoritative at all and it is So we have to measure our lives against the standard of God's ultimate authority is Word Daniel did and all it just dealt with a diet. I Your parents aren't here. What do they care what you eat or don't eat? It's not a big deal. Here's the point. Listen How do you know your children get it is when they're far away from home. They still obey it If they're far away from home and they're looking for a way to get out of obeying it, they never learned it They never got it.

Here's Daniel man. Yeah, we're God says you got to do this My parents follow this to me and I got to do it.

So I'm gonna do it. No diet Not eating that food. I mean not even the Kings meet Things got to change And so he had to really believe that God's word was authoritative that what God said was true see How about you see it's so easy to talk about things and say we believe things But it's a whole different ballgame when you say I got to put this in practice God's words authoritative That means that when God said it it's Absolutely your authority that you must submit to because if you don't you've rebelled against the all-authoritative one God himself So Daniel knew that he submitted to scripture Even when it just dealt with the diet We don't think it's that big a deal Daniel did See He didn't want to defile his life His inner man.

He wanted to honor the Lord. He wanted to live for the Lord. That's what he wanted to do He didn't want to do anything that would distract from that. So Daniel understood the identity the identity of the Messiah to some degree He probably doesn't know all that you and I know today because we have the Old Testament. We had the New Testament We had to fulfill of all those prophecies they've they've come to be but those Jewish people lived in anticipation of the Messiah who was coming to rescue them they Believed that and why they might not have understood everything about it There was a seed from a woman that was going to be their deliverer.

They knew that Can enable knew that so they understood those things and So he would teach to others He believed in the authority of Scripture number three he believed Wholeheartedly in the sovereignty of God Chapter 1 verse number 2 He understood very clearly what it says When it says these words the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand He understood that Daniel wrote the book of Daniel So he understood those things he understood what it says in Daniel 1 verse number 9 now God Granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials.

He knew he hadn't earned any favor He knew that God had granted him favor because God was sovereign Verse 17 of chapter 1 as for these four youths God Gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams. He knew that the gifts he had were given to him by God God in a sovereignty granted him wisdom knowledge Understanding God granted him favor in the sight of the commander because God gave Israel King Jehoiakim into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar You can trace God's sovereignty all throughout this book.

That's why God most high L Elyon 12 times in the book of Daniel. He's the God most high Right. He's the God of heaven. He oversees everything. He rules over everything Daniel understood the sovereignty of God you go back and you read chapter 2 verse number 20 Chapter 2 verse number 20. What does Daniel do when he praises God? He says these words let the name of God be blessed forever and ever for wisdom and power belong to him It is he who changes the times and the epics. He removes Kings and establishes Kings He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding It is he who reveals profound and hidden things.

He knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with Him and he gives praise to God based on the fact that God's in charge of everything God does what he does And so he believed in the sovereignty of God My friends this is so important, you know, it's one of the most hated doctrines in Scripture Charles Spurgeon would speak of the fact that let God do whatever he wants to do But put God on his throne so he rules over all and men will curse him But God's in charge of everything Daniel understood that as you go through the book of Daniel, you're gonna see more and more how Daniel conveys to Nebuchadnezzar There's a God above he's the Most High God He rules everything.

Do you believe as a parent in the sovereign will of the Living God? That God controls everything that there is That there's nothing he doesn't control He's in complete charge of everything You know over the years I've come to realize More and more that God is involved in every detail of my life every detail and I praise him for that Way back when when I was fired from My job right out of college right out of seminary as a seminary I was a dean of men and and baseball coach at a school on the East Coast and I'd been there for a year and they decided to To let me go in to fire me and that was because as as the Dean and as a baseball coach I would be up in the dorm with with the young men and we'd have Bible studies and I'd had them over to my house as baseball players and they would be there we'd have dinner together and we'd have Bible studies and they didn't feel like as a Person on staff I was keeping enough professional distance away from the students So they decided to let me go And the academic Dean at the time said to me he goes look we want you to resign Because if you resign it would be better for you when you look for another job And I said, but I'm not resigning You're firing me He goes.

Yeah, I know but if it's if it's in your file that you resigned It will go well for you in the future. I Said you know, my god is bigger than that. And so therefore you can you can fire me. It's fine. I can live with that I'm good. God will give me another job when he wants to give me a job So they did they fired me And that was in May of that year And so I sent out 72 resumes Couldn't email them out didn't have email back in those days. Okay So I had to you know, type it up on a on a typewriter Did you did you did you did you know my whole resume then had to you know Get 72 envelopes 72 stamps and mail them all out And so I stood out my resume to all these different Christian colleges across the country Thinking for certain that I'd get a slew of responses But I didn't Instead my wife at that time.

Her name was Sandy She contacted cancer she had breast cancer and So they they said we're gonna take her in and we're going to to biopsy The tumor and if it's if it's benign, we'll take it out if it's malignant We'll we'll perform a mastectomy, but we'll let you know what we're doing. So she went in for surgery Doctor came out and said it was it was malignant Therefore we we had to perform a mastectomy and I said, okay. So what does that mean? He says well she has a 10% chance to live five years with Chemotherapy I Said okay Now still without a job My insurance was out June 30th Okay, it's in the middle of June at this point And so I'm thinking okay, what are you going to do here?

Well, how's this all gonna work out because God is involved in every detail of Of our lives And so I'm just trusting the Lord and and and so as we go through this whole time I I get this phone call from the president of the King's College He calls me on my phone. I happen to be home because we didn't have cell phones in those days So I took the call he says, you know Dr. Bob Cook was a big big man of the deep voice and he said are you Lance? I said, yes, sir I am he says well, I want to fly you up here to New York and I want to interview you for a job I said really?

He said yep. Can you get when when can you get on the plane? So I told him as soon as I could get there We'll do it. So I flew up there Interview for the job. He offered me a job One response at a 72 resumes But you see that's the place God wanted me to be Why? Because Sandy would eventually die and God was preparing Laurie To be my wife. I Didn't know that How would I know that I was thinking Sandy was going to live and God would cure her and she'd be fine But that's not what took place She ended up dying of cancer.

All right, and then Me trying to figure out what happens next and the Lord brings Laurie into my life All the while she's dating the young man who is much older than she was in fact, he was older than me And he was a student at the college see so God was even preparing her in that framework and her family because I would be eight years older than than Laurie and So what God would God was doing was opening doors and making sure that I went through only one door Because he was sovereign over everything he was controlling all the events of life Anyway, I met Laurie and we got married, you know after Sandy died, of course, and then Years later without we have all these kids and and now we're here and and God has moved every step of the way all these years And never once have I ever doubted that God was not in charge And God had this plan That I would be married to Laurie all these years And that we'd have these children all these kids and we'd raise them in the ways of God and I'd be the pastor of this church and The whole story behind that is quite remarkable.

If you one day I'll have the time I'll tell you that story as well, but it's just an incredible thing the way God operates But you have to believe wholeheartedly in the sovereignty of God Which leads me to this he also believed in the tranquility of the soul How do we know that because he never worried he never got upset When things didn't go his way When he was told he had to eat the king's meat, he didn't say oh my what am I gonna do? I'm so anxious I'm so what am I gonna do? No No He said not can't do that But let me tell you what I can do When he told he was gonna die because the king was killing all the sorcerers and all the magicians and all the wise men he said Let me talk to the king.

He wasn't wringing his hands thinking. Oh, what am I gonna do mix? How's this gonna work out for me? What am I? How am I gonna live or am I gonna die? What's gonna happen next? No, he wasn't that way No Because he understood the authority of Scripture the identity of the Messiah the sovereignty of God He had tranquility of soul He could rest in the sovereign grace of Almighty God He could read verses like Isaiah Isaiah 44 Where it says these words? I'm sorry That's what I want to read I want to read Isaiah 41 Do not fear for I am with you.

Do not anxiously look about you for I am your God I will strengthen you. Surely. I will help you. Surely. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand For I am the Lord your God who upholds your right hand who says to you do not fear I will help you do not fear you worm Jacob you men of Israel I will help you declares the Lord and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel Let's see. He believed in the authority of Scripture. He believed in what God said He could rest in that And so Daniel later on Daniel 6 When he's told he can only offer prayers to the king and no other God What does Daniel do?

He does what he always does He offers prayer to his God He's not afraid those who know their God display strength and take action He wasn't afraid He went and prayed as he always did And he knew he'd be thrown into the lion's den that's okay, it's okay God will do what God's gonna do. God is sovereign his words authoritative. I know who he is He had tranquility of soul How about you How often do you worry? How anxious are you? How often you sit back and wonder what's gonna happen next? How is this all gonna work out?

God's got everything under control He is an absolute charge of everything And he had tranquility Of soul He could read What David's son wrote in Proverbs 12 25 Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, but a good word lifts it up Where would he get a good word from from the word of the Lord He knew Psalm 94 19 That when my anxious thoughts overwhelm me thy consolation delight my soul he could read Right. He could read the scrolls So he knew the trust in who God was and what God does You see We need to teach and train our children how to rest in God's sovereignty How not to worry about life or death?

not to worry about their job or Not not having a job getting married or not getting married having children or not having children whatever it may be whatever their concerns are Trust the Lord watch over watch him do what he's going to do. He'll watch over you. He'll protect you He'll he'll take care of you He also had Had humility of mind He was a humble man I'm like he never saw prominence He made sure the Shadrach Meshach and Abednego had an opportunity to rise to a place of prominence He promoted his own friends.

And even though he was 10 times wiser than all the magicians as it says in Daniel chapter 1 He never lorded it over anybody. Hey guys, i'm a lot smarter than you guys are relax. Take it easy Don't tell me what to do No, it wasn't like that He had a humility of mind He never sought prominence He never sought first place He just truly Waited upon the Lord and God would move him He's a very humble man And that would go with him throughout his entire life his entire life and so And I wish I had time to to to talk about these things all the more He he believed in the the veracity of God's word.

Not only was it authoritative it was true He says in Daniel chapter 2 In verse number 45 He said the great god has made known to the king what will take place in the future So the dream is true and its interpretation Trustworthy It's all true You can trust it Why? Because God's word is true And so he promoted the truth of God's word And so he believed in the veracity The veracity of of scripture Not only is it authoritative it's absolutely true In all that it says He believed that He believed and had Purity of life Daniel 1 verse number 8 again He wouldn't defile himself Daniel chapter 6 they could find nothing in him or about him that they could hold against him Why because he was a pure and godly man.

He was a holy man The only thing they could hold against him was the fact that he prayed to his god Would it be that that would be what people hold against us? That the only thing wrong with us is that we pray to our god That's what he did That's the only charge they could bring against him Because he had a pure and holy life This is what we know about daniel You teach your children to have a pure and holy life How to live a life of integrity How to honor the lord How not to fear But be tranquil in spirit How to believe in the authority of scripture the veracity of his word To understand that god is sovereign over everything that the messiah is king of kings lord of lords And you teach them who he is Because those who know their god display strength and take action Daniel 11 verse number 32, we know this about daniel He lived in dependency upon the lord Because he was a man of prayer He would walk with the lord trust the lord.

He had to trust the lord Right what he said to the king's commander listen Let us eat our vegetables Let us eat our grains not the king's meat and give us just 10 days And you be the judge He didn't know what god was going to do He had to depend upon the lord. He had to trust the lord When ariok came to his house and said you got to die because the king's killing everybody he says, you know what? Let me talk to the king king tells him he says Let me come back to you And I will give you the interpretation of the dream As well as the dream itself Now, how did he know that?

He had to depend upon the lord He had to trust the lord His whole life was a life of dependency Leaning upon god for everything Don't you want to raise your children to to depend upon the lord to lean on the lord to rest in the lord to walk in the spirit Sure, you do We got to model that down to our children We got to show them we're trusting in the lord to do great and mighty things That's what daniel did He trusted in god. He lived a life of dependency Upon his god That's how he was so strong He knew him well enough That he could trust him He knew him well enough.

He could depend upon him. He knew him well enough He didn't have to take matters into his own hand. He knew him well enough He didn't have to have an answer for everybody's question. He knew him well enough that he didn't have to work everything out himself That god would do those things How well do you know your god Do you live in dependence upon him Do you trust him day by day for everything another thing that daniel knew Was about his his ministry his ministry as an israelite He had a ministry with nebuchadnezzar He had a ministry in babylon It wasn't like what am I going to do?

I'm out of jerusalem. Where am I going to go? I'm in a pagan culture He knew he had a ministry Because god had placed him there and that ministry Primarily in the first four chapters is all about nebuchadnezzar And ministering to the king And Because god promoted him to this place of prominence with the magi the wise men He had a ministry with them.

He taught them the truth of scripture. He taught them about the messiah. That was his ministry Yes, he was a prophet. Yes, he could interpret visions and dreams. Yes He was a wise man, but he had a ministry as an israelite because israel was supposed to be a light of revelation to the gentiles And israel had failed miserably in doing that And god would set them aside But they didn't mean he set daniel aside Daniel was still going to be used by god in a mighty way because he had a ministry Given to him by the living god.

So do you? And you teach your children you have a ministry In the kingdom of god you have a service For the glory of god, you have an opportunity to put god on display. This is what you have Use your gifts use what god has given to you for his glory for his honor that he might be able to follow Or others might be able to follow your god Because of how you teach them about who he is and what he's done And lastly he had a testimony Testimony among unbelievers He had a great testimony the bible tells us in in daniel 4 verses 8 and 9 that nebuchadnezzar knew That the spirit of the holy gods Had related dreams to him His testimony was about what god had done in his life same thing in daniel 6 There he had an extraordinary spirit in daniel 6 He says He possessed an extraordinary spirit and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against daniel in regard to government affairs But they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption as much as he was Faithful and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him What a testimony He had this testimony that would shine bright for the lord Don't you want your children to have a strong testimony in their workplace in their school when they go off to college?

Don't you want their testimony to to shine forth for the glory of god that begins at home by training your children to be a testimony for for the glory of god Showing them how they are a witness for the glory of god all that Daniel speaks to us today About a life that magnified The most high god And we need to learn from his life And whether or not his parents taught him If they did I can't wait to meet them in glory They must be some incredible parents If they did teach him they taught him well so well That he'd be used by god in a mighty way So let me reiterate to you once again.

Here was a man who knew his god He knew about the identity of the messiah He knew about the veracity and authority of god's word He knew about the sovereignty of god He knew those things, right? And so therefore he could display strength he could take action because he wasn't afraid there was a tranquility of soul He had a testimony that would go way beyond him And it's in the pages of scriptures today so we can read it see it understand it He was a man who who truly lived a life of dependency upon the god he knew how about you All of us Measure need to measure our lives against what god's word actually does say That we might know our god That we might display strength that we might take action As this boy did at 18 years of age at 15 years of age Think about that I look at my children I have one who's going to be 16 in in a week or so I got one that's 20 going to be 21 here in a couple of months.

Those are the only two I got left That's it Hard to believe in a bit you know Left at home that is left at home And uh, and yet will they follow the footsteps of their brothers And sisters will they take from what they've learned at home into their school? Into the place of of of employment into their families Why Because there is no greater joy than to hear that your children walk in truth, right? No greater joy than that So you're going to train your children to do those things So let me encourage you no matter where you've been and what you've done You can begin today Always doing the right thing.

It's never too late to do the right thing. It's always wrong to do the wrong thing But it's never too late to do the right thing To live for the lord and glorify his name. Let me pray with you Father we thank you for tonight lord so much to cover so little time to do it.

We are grateful We're grateful lord for this man that you used in such a mighty way That we can read about him study him Understand more about what he knew how he knew it when he knew it But what a powerful example You did a work in his life You were put on display in his life and you were honored in his life and subsequently you honored him Did a great work in his life Let me learn from that lord Let me walk in obedience to your word May we serve our great god and savior jesus christ Not just today or tomorrow But until you come again as you most surely will In jesus name.

Amen