Daniel's Den, Part 1

Let's bow for a word of prayer.

Father, we thank You for tonight, a chance to be in the Word of the Lord. We thank You, Lord, for what You've taught us already. We thank You, Lord, that we can gather together in the middle of the week to study Your Word, to understand more about what You have for us. We thank You, Lord, for bringing us here safely.

We know, Lord, that with a lot of us we come with all kinds of distractions and disruptions from this day, this week already, and many things, even as we conclude this week. And yet, Lord, for a brief moment, we take some time out to study the Word of the Lord together, to understand those things You have for us.

And our prayer tonight is that You'd open our eyes to behold the beauty of Your Word, that we might see how it is You've used this man, Daniel, for over 70 years in Babylon and now with the Medo-Persian Empire. And we're grateful, Lord, for his testimony that You've put it down on record for us all to read and study. And pray that we learn much. We pray in Your name. Amen.

Daniel chapter 6. That's where we're at tonight. Daniel chapter 6.

We are at the midway point of our study, looking at the first six chapters, understanding the rise of Daniel. And then, of course, the last half of Daniel is talking about the revelation of Daniel. First six chapters are historical. The last six are prophetical. There is prophecy within the first six chapters, but it's primarily historical. And the last half is primarily prophetical. And with that comes the rise of Daniel's prominence. With that, the second half comes the revelation of Daniel's prophecy.

I think it's good for you to understand the outline of the book, to understand where we're going. But we are trying to understand exactly what it is God is doing in the life of this man, Daniel.

And when we come to chapter 6, we pick it up right after chapter 5. The Medo-Persian Empire has conquered the Babylonian Empire. So Daniel is able to see the fulfillment of prophecy from the second chapter of Daniel, when he was younger in his early twenties, to be able to understand what is taking place even now with the Medo-Persian Empire coming in.

The colossal image of chapter 2 in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the silver arms and breasts are representative of the Medo-Persian Empire. The golden head, of course, was Nebuchadnezzar's empire, and they were now defeated. And so Daniel was able to watch the fulfillment of prophecy before his very eyes as he was able to relay it to Nebuchadnezzar way back in chapter two.

And the leader, of course, is Cyrus. They call him Darius, but there is no archaeological evidence of any king named Darius that we've ever found. And yet there are five Persian rulers who are called Darius. That's very important. Because Darius means "holder of the scepter." And so whoever Darius is, he's the holder of the scepter.

And we understand through chapter 6, down in verse number 28, it says: "So this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and even in the reign of Cyrus the Persian." So we have biblical evidence that Cyrus is Darius. And so we understand that the prophecy 175 years earlier was all about Cyrus being God's servant who would come in and he would destroy Babylon. That's exactly what he did. He is now the ruler in this area as the Medo-Persian Empire becomes the world's second greatest power.

Now, having said that, understand this: that the Bible says this in Isaiah chapter 40. It says in verse number fifteen, "Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales. Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust." Verse 17: "All the nations are as nothing before Him. They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless."

So, all the nations of the world, no matter how great they think they are, under the direction of the King of kings and Lord of lords, those nations are nothing. They're absolutely meaningless. Why? Because there is one who holds the scepter. Darius is the title of like a pharaoh, a king, a Caesar. Darius is the title, the one who holds the scepter, right?

But we know from Genesis chapter 49, verse number 10, that the Messiah is going to be the one who holds the scepter. We know from Numbers 24, verse 17, again, that the Messiah will be the one who holds the scepter. We know from Isaiah 9, verses 6, 7, and 8, that the Messiah is going to be the one who rules over the world, and the government will be upon His shoulders. That He is the ultimate King. He is the King of kings. He is the Lord of Lords.

So, of all the kings that have ever existed, He is the King. Of all the lords that have ever existed, He is the Lord, right? So He is the King of kings, and He is the Lord of lords.

Having said that, Daniel 4 and Daniel 5 is all about Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar coming to grips with the fact that El Elyon is the Most High God who rules over the realm of man, who rules over every nation.

Nebuchadnezzar had to come to grips with that. It took him many years, but he finally did. Belshazzar needed to come to grips with that. He didn't. He died in his sin. But every ruler, every president, every king, every prime minister must know Daniel 4 and Daniel 5. That there is a God. He's called the Most High God. He rules all the nations because all the nations are meaningless before Him.

The United States of America is nothing before Him. China, Russia, nothing before Him. They're absolutely meaningless. They mean nothing to God because they can't hold a candle to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

It says later on in Isaiah chapter 40 these words, "He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless." In other words, God makes the rulers nothing. He makes the judges meaningless. "Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown, scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, but He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble."

Would it be that all the kings of the nations of the world would understand that the Most High God rules over all, and they are absolutely nothing before Him? They mean nothing. Why? Because there is a King who means everything. He is the ruler of the world.

And so when it says four times in Daniel chapter four that El Elyon rules over the realm of man, Nebuchadnezzar needed to get that. In chapter 5, twice, Belshazzar is reminded that El Elyon is a ruler over the realm of man. It's reiterated over and over again because every ruler of every nation has to come to the same place. They must all realize this, because if they don't, they will die in their sins. They will be separated from God for all eternity. That they are not the end-all-be-all to their nation, but the God Most High is the end-all-be-all to everyone who's ever existed.

So that's what Daniel 4 and Daniel 5 are all about. So when you come to chapter five, Daniel is left in the Medo-Persian Empire. Cyrus, as the Old Testament tells us, book of Isaiah, is the servant of God. That doesn't mean he's a believer in the Lord God of Israel, but he is God's servant, God's hand chosen servant. God used Cyrus to destroy Babylon. Why? Because they mistreated the people of God. We read that last week.

And so now we come to Daniel chapter 6, and we're going to take you through the first 14 verses tonight. That's it. Just the first 14 verses. We're going to look at the promotion of Daniel, the plot against Daniel, the prayer of Daniel, and the prosecution of Daniel. That's all in the first four verses.

So let's begin with the promotion of Daniel. Daniel six, and that's found in verses one down through verse number three.

"It seemed good to Darius to appoint a hundred and twenty satraps, or princes, over the kingdom, that they should or would be in charge of the whole kingdom. And over them three commissioners, or three presidents, of whom Daniel was one, or some texts say, the first. Of one, the first one of the three, that these satraps might be accountable to them, and that the king might not suffer loss. Then this Daniel began distinguish himself among the commissioners and satraps, because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom."

This is the promotion of Daniel. We have said it so many times. We will always say it. "He who honors Me, I will honor." 1 Samuel chapter 2, verse number 30. Daniel is being honored by God because Daniel has purposed in his heart to always honor God. So now God is going to use him, like he did with the Babylonian Empire. He's going to use them in the Medo-Persian Empire.

Daniel is close to 90, okay? Daniel never retired, okay? He was always active for the Lord. And so, as he moves toward the age of ninety, God is still using him in a great and mighty way.

Now remember. Back in Daniel chapter 1, we covered verse number 8. I gave you four principles. Four principles that I've used to govern my life for all these years of ministry, 40 of them to be exact. They were what?

Number one, to be is more important than to do. You guys weren't here that night? That was always like six months ago. To be is more important than to do. That's principle number one.

Principle number two, what happens in me is always more important than what happens to me. That's number two.

Number three, being faithful is more important than being successful.

And number four, knowing God is more important than knowing anyone or anything else.

Those four principles are evident in Daniel chapter 6, in the life of Daniel. He lives those four principles. He possessed an extraordinary spirit. There was something about Daniel that separated him from everybody else. And that's because knowing his God was more important than knowing anyone or anything else.

He didn't care about being a leader in the Babylonian Empire. He didn't care about being the leader in the Medo-Persian Empire. That wasn't his goal. That wasn't his objective. That's not what he lived for. He lived to know his God. Because as he knew his God, as he grew in his walk with God, he became more and more like his God. That's why the text says he experienced, or he evidenced, an extraordinary spirit.

Now remember. This was said back in Daniel chapter 4 three times. Remember this? Daniel four. Verse number 11: "There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods." Verse 12: "This was because an extraordinary spirit. Knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas, and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel." Verse 14. "Now I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you."

This is chapter 5. I'm sorry, that's the chapter 4? I meant chapter 5. Sorry. That was in chapter 5. I know you're all looking around. Where's that in chapter 4? Where is that? Well, I'll tell you where it is in chapter 4. It's in verse number... number eight, "but finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my God, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods." Said again in verse number nine, and then again in verse number 18.

So you have Nebuchadnezzar recognizing that he has an extraordinary spirit. You have Belshazzar's mother recognizing he has an extraordinary spirit. Now, Belshazzar recognizes he has an extraordinary spirit, that the Spirit of the Holy God is upon this guy.

You see, there's something about Daniel that evidenced a different kind of life. His character meant everything to him. And the question for you and me is: what do people on the outside say about our character? What do they say about us? How would the principal of your school, how would the president of your company, how would it be that the leader of your place of employment would see you? Is this how they see you? This is how Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar saw Daniel. And these guys were world rulers.

Now, you come to Cyrus. He's a world ruler. Cyrus sees the same thing in Daniel. So now you have three great kings, three great rulers who all see the same thing in Daniel. It's not like there was a different attitude or character in the first 20 years of his life, and then it changed over the next 20 years, and then it got better over the next 20 or 30. No, it was the same all the way across. There is no difference. Because he was consistent in his character building. There was nothing that would cause another person on the outside to see something different from one king to another king, from one generation to another generation.

So the question comes: How do people see you? How do people see me? You see, knowing God was everything to Daniel. That's how he wanted to be known. He wanted to be set apart and different from everyone else.

And I believe, I believe, this played an intricate part in Cyrus wanting to send Israel back to Jerusalem. Over in Ezra chapter 1, it says this. "Now, in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, this is where we are in Daniel 6, okay? First year of Cyrus king of Persia. In order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia. So that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia. The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem."

Yes, the Lord moves Cyrus. But one of the ways that God moves in people's lives is through the testimony of those who are committed to Him. And I can't help but think that there was something about the life of Daniel that moved in the life of Cyrus because it happened in the first year of his reign. We are in that period right now. And maybe everything that takes place about the lions and Daniel's den proved to Cyrus that this Daniel was for real and that his God was for real. And then after 70 years of captivity, to fulfill the words of Jeremiah the prophet, he's moved to send Israel back to Jerusalem.

This man was promoted not because he was smart. Yes, he had abilities. Yes, he had wisdom, right? Yes, he had understanding, but most importantly, he had knowledge, knowledge of his God. And that knowledge was such a building block in his character. That others would see that he possessed an extraordinary kind of spirit. There was something unique about this person. That would set him apart from everybody else. And so he wanted to make him above the other two leaders over all of the princes, over all of his kingdom.

Well, once that happens, once the promotion of Daniel is seen, there's always going to be those who plot against you. And that's point number two: the plot against Daniel. Verse number four.

"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, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. Then these men said, We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God. Then these commissioners and satraps came up by agreement to the king, and spoke to him as follows King Darius, live forever. All the commissioners of the kingdom, the presidents, the satraps, the high officials, and the governors have consulted together that the king should establish a statute, and enforce an injunction that anyone who makes a petition to any God or any man besides you, O king, for thirty days shall be cast into the lion's den. Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it may not be changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked. Therefore, King Darius signed the document, that is, the injunction."

This is the plot against Daniel. Remember Proverbs 29:27 says these words. "He that is upright in his way is an abomination to the wicked." He who is upright in his way is an abomination to those who are wicked. So all these people who are wicked hate Daniel.

I mean, after all, the dude's close to 90. What could a 90-year-old old man going to do as leader of the kingdom? And after all, he's not one of them either. He's from Judah. He is from Israel. He is a captive. And yet he gets promoted. And they are furious, furious. They don't want to see this man be leader.

But remember, there was nothing they could find about him that would be corrupt. Nothing in him, nor was there anything about him. Why? That's principle number one: to be is more important than to do, right? He wanted to live a life of character. Remember back in Daniel chapter 1, verse number 8, he purposed in his mind not to defile himself with the king's meat. He made up his mind that he wasn't going to do this. Daniel every day made up his mind that he would not be defiled. Because he knew that who he was was always more important than what he did.

I wish that we could get that through our hearts and minds. We think that if we do something spectacular, we're great. No, it's who you are, not what you do. Now, who you are is going to determine a lot about what you do, right? But Daniel had made up his mind not to defile himself with the king's meat. That was back when he was 16 years old. He made that commitment. Now he's close to 90. The commitment is still with him. He still wants to live this way.

So the question comes to you and me: what have we made our minds up to do? He purposed in his heart. He made up his mind to live a certain kind of life. He did not want to defile his life. He wanted to live a pure and holy kind of life. And so 70 plus years later, he's still living the same kind of life.

And they said these words about Daniel. "Inasmuch as he was faithful." That's principle number three. Being faithful is always more important than being successful. He was faithful. He was trustworthy. Who can find a trustworthy man? That's what Solomon asks in Proverbs chapter twenty.

When you think about this, Psalm twelve says, verse number one, "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be. For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men." The Psalmist three thousand years ago was saying, "Where is the faithful man? Where is the holy man?" Same question being asked today. But at Daniel 6, there is a faithful man. His name is Daniel. He was true.

Remember the Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy 4. He said, "I have fought the good fight. I have run the race." Right? That's what he said. "I have kept the faith, I have fought the good fight, I have run the race, and now there is in store for me a crown of righteousness, and not for me only, but for all those who love His appearing."

Paul was faithful to a fight, a good fight, a noble fight. It was a fight for truth. He was faithful to the faith, the body of truth, the doctrine that he believed. And he was faithful all the way to the end. He was faithful to the fight, the faith, and the finish. All the way to the very end, Paul was faithful. Daniel, all the way to the very end, he was faithful.

How are you? Are you faithful in your marriage? Are you faithful in your ministry at the church? Are you faithful with your money? That is. Are you faithful with your money to be a good steward of what God's given to you? Are you? Are you faithful? Are you faithful in the ministry that God's entrusted to you, in the church, at home? Are you true to your word? Are you completely faithful all the way to the end of your life?

So important for every one of us to realize that being faithful is so much more important than being successful. That's why 1 Corinthians 4:2 says, "It's required of a steward that he be found what?" Faithful. What's a steward? A household manager. What's a household manager manage? His time. Right? His treasure, his money, his talents. He's faithful to manage all those well.

So here was Daniel who was faithful, and they saw that there was nothing in him, nor was there anything about him that they could find. Because he was faithful. He was true. And that's the way he lived his life.

And so they plot against him. And they look for a way to trap him. So they couldn't find anything about his inner person, nothing about him externally. So let's find something out about him concerning his God. Right? So they plot. And they say all the satraps, all the commissioners have come together. That's not true. Because Daniel wasn't in on the plan. It was a plan against him. It was a plot against him, right? So he wasn't a part of this.

But they all come together and they figure out a plan to get rid of Daniel. They say, look. "Oh, King, live forever." Oh, the platitudes that just come out of their mouth. "Oh, King, you're the greatest." Listen, we have a suggestion. For 30 days, 30 days, no one can pray or bow down to any other God or any other man but you, because you are the king. You are the one who holds the scepter. You, Cyrus, are the ruler. Let's make this law. And he agrees to do that. Thirty days. Thirty days.

And so you move from the plot against Daniel to the prayer of Daniel. That's found in verse number 10.

"Now, when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house, now in his roof chamber. He had windows open toward Jerusalem, and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying, giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously."

Now think about this. I'm sure, I'm sure, that somebody must have said, "Daniel, dude, it's just 30 days. You can pray somewhere else for 30 days, right? I mean, you're so clean, you can probably go without prayer for 30 days. But think about it. Just pray some other place for 30 days. It's not going to be forever. It's just for a short period of time, right? Just 30 days."

It's like. "You don't have to meet and assemble together in your church. It's just for a few weeks. It's just for a few months. You can just live stream everything. Everybody can watch church." You can't watch church. You just can't. You can see it on TV, but you can't watch church. But you see, in this day and age, we think we can. But you can't get warmed by a fireplace on TV. You can see it, but you have no warmth. Right? You can't have the warmth in a fireplace while you watch it on TV. You've got to be a part of where the fireplace is.

But we were told it's just for a few weeks. It's just for a few months. You don't necessarily have to meet right now. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. Why? Because God gave a command: "Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together." Don't do that. Why? Because there's something about the life of the body that means it must be together. The body doesn't function in isolation from one another. It only functions when it's together, right? And yet you hear it all the time. It's just for a while. It's not forever.

But wait. Listen. Government decrees never trump God's decrees. Government mandates never trump God's mandates. Right? They can't. Daniel knows that. Daniel knows that what he's committed to and what he's committed to doing all the days of his life is not going to change because some king makes a decree or makes a mandate that for the next thirty days you cannot bow down or worship any other God. Daniel's not going to change what he's doing.

But that's what a man of integrity that's how he lives. Men who want to compromise their integrity, they're willing to forego God's mandates to fulfill government mandates. But those who don't want to compromise their integrity will never compromise what God says. See? Because that means more to them than anything else. They want to honor God. "He who honors Me, I will honor." Let God do the honoring. Obey the living God. Follow Him. That was Daniel's mantra. That's how he lived his life. And God honored him because of that.

So why does he have to go before an open window? I mean, can he close the shutters? Can he draw the curtains? You know? Can't you just do something different for a while? Listen, he's not going to stop doing what he's always done.

So, why is he praying toward Jerusalem? Why is he praying three times a day? Psalm 55, verse number 17: David said, "Morning, noon, and night I will pray to Thee." And listen to what the Bible says in the book of 1 Kings chapter 8, verse number 44. "When your people go out to battle against their enemy, but whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city which you have chosen and the house which I have built for your name, then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause."

Why do I pray with an open window facing Jerusalem? Why do I do that? Why? Because Jerusalem was symbolic of the presence of God. He made it very clear in Isaiah 8, Isaiah chapter 18 that in Zion this is where My name is, and this is where I dwell. Well, Zion is Mount Moriah, where the temple was, and that's where they would bow to. That's what they would look toward.

Solomon would go on to say, "Pray to you, those who are captive, and pray to you toward their land which you have given to their fathers." This is verse number 48. "The city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name, then hear their prayers and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you and all their transgressions which you have transgressed, or which they have transgressed against you."

So, when they pray, when they go to war, when they pray because they've been taken captive, when they pray because they sin, guess what? They bow before You. They look towards Your holy city. They look to the temple which I, Solomon says, have built because it all symbolizes the presence of God.

Well, Daniel's not going to change that. Just because some king makes a decree you can't do that anymore. He's not going to do that. He's going to do what he's always done. He is not going to compromise the principles and precepts of Scripture to appease the king, even if it costs him his life.

And I'm sure people could have said, "You what, Daniel, you've lived 90 years. You can live another 20, 30 years if you just close your windows. If you just pray in your closet, if you just pray downstairs, just go someplace else and pray." Daniel says, nope, it's always going to be the same with me. I'm not going to change. And he didn't.

Then comes the prosecution against Daniel. Look what it says. Oh, by the way, notice that he kneels. He kneels in prayer before his God. A sign of humility, right? A sign of genuine humility. See, Daniel lived principle number four. What happens in me is more important than what happens to me, right? That's how he lived his life. What happens in me is always more important than what happens to me.

So if they want to execute me, that's okay. Because what's going on on the inside is always more important than what's going on on the outside. And so he would continue in the same place. With the same posture, right? With praise to his God, right? He began to give thanks to God and praise His holy name because that's what he did. He wasn't going to stop praising God and rejoice in His name because he would die if he did. Oh, no. Not Daniel. He's still going to thank God.

For the opportunity to pray, he's still gonna thank God for the opportunity to bow before Him. And why does he bow? Because it shows humility. I remember when our church first started, and we used to get on our knees, and we still do today, right? Today, if you're able, join me on your knees. We approach the throne of grace. Say that every Sunday, right?

When our church first started, people say, "You know, if you do that, all those people come in and aren't saved, you're going to scare them away." I said, so the church isn't for the unsaved. The church is for the body of Christ to come together to worship God. If the unsaved come, that's great. We want them to come. If they hear the gospel and get saved, that's great. But we're not going to change what we do so that the unsaved, when they come in, feel more comfortable when they're here. We're not going to change our music so the unsaved feel more comfortable. We're not going to change the order of service so the unsaved feel more comfortable. And we're certainly not going to change the message to make the unsaved more comfortable. We're not going to stop praying on our knees to make the unsaved more comfortable. We're here to worship God.

And we take that from the book of Ephesians, Ephesians, the third chapter, when Paul said these words. In verse number 14, "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and earth derives its name." We bow before our God. Some people can't bow. That's okay. We understand that. They bow in their hearts. They can't maybe get around in the... The pews are too small. Maybe the arthritis is too bad. Maybe they're too old to bow down. That's fine. That's okay. You don't have to. We say, if you're able. Bow with us before the throne of grace because we want to humbly come before our God and honor His glorious name.

Because when you bow before Him, you humbly come and petition the throne and come before God and say, "Lord, hear our prayers." This was Daniel. Nothing changed for this man. He wasn't going to change because the king had a decree. He wasn't going to change because he might lose his life. He kneeled. Stephen would kneel. Paul would kneel. Jesus would kneel. The disciples would kneel. They all kneeled. They all bowed in humility because they were presenting themselves before who? The one who holds the scepter, the King of kings and Lord of lords. And that's what they did. And he gave thanks.

Did he know what was going to happen? No. You know, you read the story. But he didn't know. So then comes the prosecution against Daniel.

So it says in verse 11: "Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God." They came and looked and searched and found him. And when they found him, he didn't get up, "Oh, I must have dropped something down here, so let me go down and get it." No, he wasn't making excuses, right? He was doing the same thing he always did. And when they found him, they would go back to the king.

And so it says they approached and spoke before the king about the king's injunction. "Did you not sign an injunction that any man who makes petition to any God or man beside you, O king, for thirty days, is to be cast into the lion's den?" Then the king replied, "The statement is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked." Then they answered and spoke before the king "Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah."

See how they referenced him? He's one of the exiles from Judah. He's one of those Jewish guys. One of those guys that was a prisoner we took captive. It wasn't that he was Nebuchadnezzar's right hand man. It wasn't the great prophet that talked to Belshazzar about how their kingdom was going to come to an end. It's not a guy with the extraordinary spirit, a man who served with the spirit of the holy gods. None of that. It's like this guy, this exile from Judah. "He pays no attention to you, O king, and to the injunction which you signed, but keeps making this petition three times a day."

Now listen, just because Daniel respected the King of kings and Lord of lords does not mean that he disrespected Cyrus. He would have disrespected Cyrus had he disrespected his King. He would have shown no regard for Cyrus had he shown no regard for his King. But listen, any time you compromise with your King, you show great disrespect to an earthly king. You just do. But Daniel didn't disrespect Cyrus. He honored his King. The true King, the Lord of lords, and bowed before that King in order to honor Him. And he wasn't going to compromise that because he valued truth over any earthly relations. When you value truth, earthly relationships pale in comparison because truth is all that matters. And he knew the truth of Scripture. He wasn't going to compromise that. He wanted to live by that.

So it says in verse 14: "Then, as soon as the king heard this statement, he was deeply distressed. And set his mind on delivering Daniel. And even until sunset he kept exerting himself to rescue him. Then these men came by agreement to the king, and said to the king Recognize, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians, that no injunction or statute which the king establishes may be changed."

The king was distressed. He was displeased with himself. And so, what was he going to do? He knew that the injunction had been made. Even though he set his heart to try to figure out a way to get around it, he could not. There was nothing he could do. But there was so much Daniel's King could do. And so much Daniel's King would do. But if Daniel would have compromised, if Daniel would have never stuck to his faithfulness, his word and live for the honor of God, he would not be able to see his God at work. He had no idea what was going to happen in the lion's den. No idea.

Now, before we get there next week. I know you've seen pictures of Daniel and the lions' den, right? Where there's one or two or three lions just kind of walking around. Folks, that's not the way it was. There were so many lions in this den, the Bible tells us, and we'll see this next week. That these men who plotted against him and their families, right, were all thrown into the same den, but none of them were able to reach the floor of the den. Why? Because they were devoured by the lions.

My friends, there could have been fifty, sixty, seventy lions in the den, not just one or two walking around, you know, scratching their ear and kinda figuring out what's going on. No, not at all. The place was packed. That's why, when all these families were thrown in, they all, none of them reached the floor. They were devoured before they got there. Because there were so many lions in the den. They were hungry lions. They didn't feed them, so they could punish the victims, and they could feel the great pain of being torn from limb to limb. Daniel had no idea what God was going to do. None. But he never compromised. True. Why? Because character always counts. Character matters. Character always outweighs credentials. Always outweighs credentials. Character outweighs competence. Character is everything.

Build character into the lives of your children. That's what matters. It's the name, the name of the person, the character of the person, is what matters. That's why the Bible says a good name is better than a good ointment. Why? Because an ointment comes and goes, but the name stays forever. The righteous will be remembered forever. It says in Psalm 112, verse number 6: "The righteous will be remembered forever." Proverbs 22, verse number 1: "A good name is more desired than great riches."

So, how do you build character? Let me give you some principles. I probably won't finish them tonight, but let me get into you. First of all, it's conceived, character is conceived in spirituality. It's conceived in spirituality. Character comes because you have a spiritual life. Character comes because you have the Spirit of God within you. Character comes because you've been born again. You've been saved from your sins. And the Spirit of God resides within you. Therefore, as Daniel had, the Spirit of the Holy God's upon him, he had an extraordinary kind of spirit. Not like any other person's spirit. There was a uniqueness about it. Why? Because there was a spirituality surrounding his life from the inside out that made him who he was.

That's why Paul says over in First Corinthians chapter 2, he says this. "For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, the thoughts of God no one knows except the spirit of God. Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. Which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he will instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."

He's not a natural man, he's a spiritual man. That's why the Bible says in Galatians 5: we are to walk in the spirit so we don't fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Well, unless you have the spirit of God residing in you, you can't do that. You can't be controlled by the Spirit of God unless the Spirit of God actually indwells you. So, character is conceived in spirituality. God has a standard. It's a holy standard. But the natural man cannot meet that standard. But the spiritual man, by the Spirit of God energizing him, can fulfill the standard that God requires of him. To be holy as the Lord your God is holy in all your conduct.

So, if you're going to develop the character of a person, it's conceived in spirituality, and number two, it is conditioned by theology. It's conditioned by theology. In other words, you know God. You can't be like God unless you know God. Right? You can't walk with God unless you know God. You can't live for God unless you understand God. So it's conditioned by theology.

That's why John 15 says. "You have been made clean through the word that I've spoken to you." The character of a man is cleansed by the word that God speaks. Paul says in Acts 20, verse number 32: "I commend you to God and the word of His grace that is able to build you up, that's able to strengthen you, to establish you." That's why Peter says, "Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord."

What have we said for many, many weeks now? The clearer you see the future, the cleaner you stand in the present. Daniel was a man of prophecy. He saw the end. Why is it he could set his mind on not defiling himself? Why is it he was faithful to the end? Why is it he was able to keep himself clean before his God? Because he saw the future. He saw the end. The clearer you see the future, the cleaner you stand in the present.

That's why prophecy is so important. People want to minimize prophecy today. You can't do that. You got to maximize prophecy. Why? Because he who has this hope in him purifies himself even as He is pure, right? Knowing that our Lord's going to come, and when we see Him, we'll be like Him, for we'll see Him as He is. That reality of Christ coming again purifies the life. Character is conceived in spirituality and conditioned by theology.

Hosea 4, verse number 6, God says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. They don't know Me. They're destroyed for lack of knowledge. They have no idea who I am. If they knew who I was, they wouldn't live this way." Listen to what Jeremiah said. Jeremiah made it very clear in Jeremiah chapter 9. He said, "This, oh, that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain and the daughter of my people." Remember, Jeremiah was the weeping prophet. Why? "Oh, that I had in the desert a wayfarer's lodging place, that I might leave my people and go from them, for all of them are adulterers. An assembly of treacherous men, they bend their tongue like the bow. Lies and not truth prevail in the land, for they proceed from evil to evil. Why? Because they do not know Me." That's why.

Why do people lie? They don't know God. Why does a nation go from evil to evil to more evil to more evil? They do not know God. Why are my people adulterous? Why are my people treacherous? It's simply because they do not know Me. Listen. Character is conditioned by theology. If you don't know God, you can't walk with God. You can't live for God. You can't demonstrate God. You can't represent God. You can't show other people who God is. You must know Him.

That's why the Bible says in the book of Proverbs these words. "Proverbs was written to give prudence to the naive, to the youth, knowledge and discretion." Proverbs was given to you so you might teach your children how to know God. It says "How long, O naive ones, verse 21 or 22, will you love being simple-minded, and scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, and fools hate knowledge?" Hate knowledge. It says in verse 29, "Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, when they were in distress, when they called upon me, I would not answer." Simply because he didn't know Me. Listen, knowing God is more important than knowing anything or anyone else. We have to understand that.

Tomorrow morning, I'm getting on a plane, I'm flying to the East Coast, and on Friday morning, I'm going to have the wonderful privilege of preaching my mother's funeral. What a great joy that is. And I'm going to preach it in the church where I was saved. I'm going to preach it in the church where mom and dad were faithful for 40 years. I mean, how many people do you know that are in the same church for 40 plus years? Very few. But they were there. And that's the church they took me to. That's the church where I was saved. That's the church where I grew. That's where the church I learned how to pray. That's the church I learned how to study the Bible. That's the church I learned how to memorize the Bible.

But my mom and dad instilled in me what? You need to know God. If you don't know God, I don't care whatever else you do, it means nothing. You must know God. That was their mantra every single day. Do you know God? Because if you don't know Him, you really know nothing. But if you know Him, you don't have to know much. Just got to know Him. It's not what you know, it's who you know. And if you know Him, the God of all knowledge, guess what? You honor Him. And the one who honors Me, I will honor. Character is conceived in spirituality, it's conditioned by theology.

Parents, as you teach your children, help them understand what it means to be born again, what does it mean to be saved? What does it mean to live for Christ? What does it mean to have Christ dwell in you, Christ in you, the hope of glory? Explain to them what that means. And then you say, okay, now listen, you need to know who God is. You need to study theology, the study of God, His attributes, His name, His character. What He said, why He said it. Because Israel was destroyed because they didn't know God. Israel went into captivity because they didn't know God. That's why they were there. You will only go as far as your knowledge of the living God. Why? Because God wants you to know Him.

Paul said, "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings." Here's a guy who wrote 13 epistles. He's sitting in prison. He said, "Man, I just got to know God more." And in 2 Timothy 4, what's he say? He writes a letter to young Timothy. And says, when you come, bring the scrolls, bring the parchments, because I'm not done studying yet. I know I'm going to die. I'm in the Mamertine prison in Rome. I could lose my head at any moment. Death is imminent. But until I die, I got to know more about my God. Before I see Him face to face, I want to know everything I can before I get there. So bring the parchments, bring the scrolls as I sit in prison. Rotting away, waiting for my execution. I need to know my God.

My friends, that's got to be us. That's where we got to be. That's what Daniel was. He knew to be was more important than to do. He knew that what happened in him was much more important than what happened to him. He knew that being faithful was much more important than being successful. And he knew that knowing God was more important than knowing anything or anyone else. The question is: do we know that? Let's pray.

Father, we thank You, Lord, for tonight, the opportunity You give us to study the Word of God, how blessed we are to be able to take a moment, read 14 verses about a man who had an extraordinary spirit. About a man whose life was committed to his God, that no matter what the king's edict was, he would not compromise. He was going to keep doing what he always did. Why? Because his relationship with God was more important to him than his relationship with anybody else, and he valued that relationship, he gives us a superb testimony.

Thank You, Lord, for this man, Daniel, and for the record of his life that we can read, study, learn, take it home. Pass it down to our children. The story of the lions in Daniel's den is more than just a bunch of animals running around chewing on people's lives. It's all about the power of the living God manifesting itself in one man, committed to his God, that no matter what, he would never compromise. He valued his God. May we value You in Jesus' name. Amen.