The Stand You Can Take Today | Dr. David Jeremiah | Daniel 6:1-28

As the guards closed the aperture and went their way, Daniel slid gradually to the floor of the den, the big lions that had come bounding from their caverns at the inflow of light all stopped suddenly short like a steed rained up by a powerful hand on the bridal.

The initial roars died away as they formed a solid fail and looked toward this man who stood in their den in easy reach. There was some snorting and a little whining, and some of them turned around and went back to their caverns. Others of the great beasts yawned and laid down on the floor, but not one made a move to advance toward their visitor. "Thanks be unto Jehovah," breathed Daniel. "He has stopped the mouths of these fierce beasts, and they will do me no harm."

He sat down on the floor of the den and leaned his back against the wall to make himself comfortable for the night. Soon two cub lions moved in his direction, not stealthily or crouching as though to make an attack, but in obvious friendliness, and one lay on each side of Daniel as though to give him warmth and protection in the chilly dungeon.

Their mother, an old lioness, crept over and lay in front of the prophet. He gently stroked their backs as they each turned their heads and licked his hand. Enclosed by the lioness and her cubs, the head of the patriarch was gradually pillared on the back of one of the cubs as the four slept soundly in perfect peace and tranquility.

Now, that isn't exactly in the Bible, but that's kind of the way I think it happened. On today's program, we follow along the path of a great hero and prophet of God. Just as this prophet discovered in his day, the end times are not here yet, but we can see them from where we stand.

God's word shows us the signs of the coming future, but scripture also instructs us on how to live during the everchanging present. So stay tuned for today's edition of Turning Point, the stand you can take today. Daniel has been out of the mainstream of political power since Babylon was defeated by the Mes and the Persians.

Now after almost 2 years have passed at the ripe old age of 83 he is summoned by Darius the Meo Persian king and given a very prestigious assignment in his new administration. The first thing you learn from the sixth chapter of Daniel and the first three verses is this.

Stand up people, get promoted. Listen to these words from Daniel. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 cataps and over these three governors of whom Daniel was one that the satraps might give account to them so that the king would suffer no loss. Then this Daniel distinguished himself because an excellent spirit was in him and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.

Apparently part of their responsibility was to collect taxes for the king. And because there was dishonesty among these lower level officials, Darius selected three men as governors. And the text actually says so the king would suffer no loss. He didn't want to get ripped off by his governors.

Of these three governors, Darius was most impressed with Daniel and selected him to function as the prime minister over the land. According to the description in Daniel 6, Daniel was preferred above the other governors because an excellent spirit was in him. He was spiritfilled in the Old Testament.

He had the spirit of God in him. This means he had a good attitude. It means he worked hard to fulfill his responsibilities. And most of all, in this situation, he was honest. And Daniel continued to honor God with his life. And now, even at the age of 83, God is once again honoring Daniel.

Daniel would become the second in command over all the Meo Persian Empire. A fact that didn't go unnoticed by his peers. Let me stop for just a moment and remind you that while you may not be popular where you work because you're a standup person, when the people you work with get in trouble, you're the ones they're going to come and see.

They're not going to go to the goof offs and the parters and all of that, they're going to come to the people that they look at and know that person believes in something. That person stands up for something. That person's got a moral center. They're going to come to you.

They may not like you. They may make fun of you. They may trash you. But when they are in trouble, when their marriage is upside down or they got a sick child or their or their mortgage can't be met, they're going to find the person they trust. Just like Daniel who was promoted to a high place.

Notice the second thing about standup people. This is hard one, but it's true, isn't it? Standup people are persecuted. It says in verses 4-9 verse4 says the governors and the satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel. At the core of the hatred of Daniel's colleagues was the fact that he was being promoted above them if Darius's appointment was carried out.

Daniel would have power over all the governors and administrators in Meo Persia. So they decided they would try to get him in trouble. They would try to find him committing some trespass so he could be indicted. But the Bible says they couldn't find anything against him. The more they searched to try to get him caught in some illegal thing or some immoral thing, the more they searched, the angrier they got.

For someone wrote, "Envy always hates the excellency that it cannot reach." The final conclusion of his adversaries after their exhaustive scrutiny is summarized in Daniel chapter 6. Listen to what the scripture says. We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

What a testimony that would be. We can't find anything against you, Jeremiah, except your love for God. Unable to find any legal way to stop him. You never want to underestimate the enemies of the faith. They decide to come up with a madeup story. And we read about it in verse 7.

It says, "All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators, the satraps, the counselors, and the adviserss consulted together to establish a royal statue and make a firm decree that whoever petitions any god or man for 30 days except you, oh king, shall be cast into the den of lions."

Daniel's enemies assembled without him present. obviously. And they came up with this idea that if you prayed to any god but to Darius, who was the king, for a 30-day period, you would be put to death in the lion's den. There was a lie in their proposal because not all of the officials had consulted.

Daniel wasn't involved in it. So, they go to the king with this story that they've made up and they present it to him and urge him to sign their document. Now, O king, verse 8, establish the decree. sign the writing so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the Mes and Persians which does not alter.

In effect, the proposal would make Darius god for a month. These leaders did what they could to get the king to sign the edict which according to law could not be revoked once it was put in place. Have you ever heard about the law and Persians? That means if you say it, you can't unsay it.

If you promise it, you can't unpromise it. In Meopersian Empire, if the king wrote an edict, it could never be changed because if you changed it, it would look as if the king made a mistake. And the king didn't make any mistake. He was infallible according to the Meo Persian culture.

So once the king signed an edict, even if he didn't like what he had signed, he couldn't undo it. And along with that, the edict had to be carried out on the day that the offense was committed. Standup people are promoted and they're persistent. Number three, notice verses 10 and 11 in our text.

When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, the writing that if you prayed to any other god but Darius, you'd be put into the lion's den, when he heard this, the Bible says he went home and in his upper room with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before God.

Now, I've heard some preachers say when this happened, what Daniel did was he said, "I'll show you." So, he went home. He threw his windows open, half hung out the window, shouting his prayer before God so the whole kingdom could hear him. Not what he did, the Bible says, was he went home, he knelt down on his knees, he did it three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his God.

Listen to the last phrase. as was his custom to do. When the king said he couldn't pray to his God, Daniel said, "I'm sorry." And he went home and prayed to his God. Standup people are often promoted. They're always persecuted. And they're usually very persistent in what they do.

I want you to notice that what Daniel did when he found out what the deal was was this. He didn't stand down. That would have been cowardice. He didn't stand aside. That would have been compromised. He really didn't even stand against. He didn't rail against the king. What did he do?

He stood up. He stood up for his courage and his conviction. And that's what I believe God is calling us to do. We can stand up for what we believe. We can stand up and be counted. And if we just do what we should do, we should be standing up all the time.

Amen. We come to the conclusion of the story and we learn number four that stand up people are protected. How many of you know that the God you and I serve has promised to be with us? He says, listen to this. He says, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel and lo, I am with you wherever you go."

When we're serving the Lord, when we're in his will, when we're doing what God has called us to do, God is with us and he takes care of us. That doesn't mean he won't let any trouble come to us, but it means he'll always be with us when it comes.

I have in my Bible a little motto that I started to follow years ago when I got a little bit of afraid of flying. And this is what the motto says. God's man in the center of God's will is immortal until God is finished with him. Daniel didn't worry.

We shouldn't worry. If we're doing the will of God, he's going to protect us. Watch how God took care of this courageous old man. First of all, he was protected from the law. Verses 13-15 in Daniel 6 record how this was going to work if God didn't get involved.

I mean, this is a pretty serious time in the kingdom. It's a pretty serious time for Daniel. Daniel 6 says, "They answered and said before the king, Daniel's colleagues who were trying to get him in trouble, "Daniel does not show due regard for you, king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day."

And the king when he heard these words was greatly displeased with himself. Not with Daniel. He was displeased with himself because he'd gotten himself in a really tough spot. He didn't want to hurt Daniel. He promoted Daniel. Daniel was running his whole deal. But he got undermined by the people who came.

And it says after he heard these words, he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him. And he labored until the going down of the sun to deliver him. And these men approached the king and said to the king, "Now know, O king, that it is the law of the Mes and Persians that no decree or statue which the king establishes may be changed."

Darius's conscience was tormenting him. He knew the danger he had put Daniel in by signing into law the preposterous 30-day prayer ban. He worked all day trying to find a loophole in the law. He knew if he couldn't find one, he'd have to sentence Daniel to death. Persian law dictated, as I mentioned, that sentences for crimes were to be carried out on the day the crime was committed.

The lower the sun set in the horizon, the louder Darius's conscience became, screaming in him to find a solution that would save the man who was the most important man in his kingdom. And then Daniel was protected from the lions. Verse 16 says, 'The king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions.

But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, "Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you." And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den. And the king sealed it with his own signate ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.

And finally, he was protected by the Lord. Watch this. Verse 19. The king arose very early in the morning, went in haste to the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve, continually been able to deliver you from the lions?"

When Darius cast Daniel into the lion's den, he expressed faith that Daniel would survive. Remember, he said, "Your God whom you serve will he will deliver you." But his faith wasn't very strong, as is evidenced by his anxiety through the whole night and by the first words out of his mouth the next morning.

Has your God been able to deliver you? Not only was the king uncertain of God's will, he wasn't even sure God could save Daniel. He was no saint, this king of Persia. And Daniel said to the king, "Oh king, live forever. My God has sent his angel and shut the lion's mouths so that they have not hurt me because I was found innocent before him and also, oh king, I have done no wrong before you.

Amen. ((applause)) The famed London preacher Charles Spurgeon observed that it was a good thing the lions didn't try to eat Daniel. They wouldn't have enjoyed him since he was half grit and the other half backbone. The Bible says God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth so that they didn't hurt him because he was innocent and he did no wrong before the king.

And the Bible says the king was exceedingly glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him. And the Bible vividly portrays the king's delight in Daniel's survival.

He checked him over carefully to be sure he was unharmed, just like Daniel's friends who escaped the furnace unscathed. Daniel came out completely uninjured. When we see how ferocious the lions were with the people who were thrown into the den the next day, it's obvious that Daniel was able to escape without a scratch because God intervene in his behalf.

My friends, have you ever had God intervene in your behalf? Here's my experience. God usually intervenes in our behalf when with all of our hearts we're standing up for what we know to be right and true. We can almost expect God to do that when we stand for him.

And that's why we should never be afraid to stand for God. I know that sometime this week, having heard this message, something's going to happen. You're going to be in a place where you're going to have to do the right thing or the wrong thing. And the right thing is going to be hard.

Just remember Daniel. He stood up when everything was against him. And in the midst of his standing up, not only did he feel the blessing of God on his life, but almighty God intervened in his behalf and helped him come through it with his hands up high. The last phrase of verse 23 gives us the underlying reason for God's intervention in Daniel's life.

Says in verse 23, because he believed in his God. Daniel believed in his God. Let me ask you this. Do we believe in our God? Do we believe that God can help us? So if you look back over this story, you see the picture of a man who walked into a culture of Babylon, probably far more difficult culture than we will ever know. and he lived in that culture from the time he was 14 until he died in his mid 90s.

Interestingly enough, God never took him out of Babylon. I hear people say all the time, "Well, I just wish I could get away from" and they talk about their problem. How many of you know that sometimes God doesn't want to take us away from our problems. He wants to show us his strength in the midst of our problems.

He wants us to be standup people who stand up in the secularism of our day so that we can be a testimony to the world around us. Only one truth saves. Only one gospel brings eternal life. There is only one escape from hell. We need to go to men and women and children with the precious gospel of Jesus Christ and declare his love for them.

The same gospel that worked in your grandparents' generation, that worked in your parents' generation, is the gospel that is working today. It is the power of God unto salvation. It is relevant forever. It still changes lives. And that's a message every one of us need to share. Don't let the gospel be changed.

Don't let the gospel be uh rendered ineffective by taking away the message of the exclusivity of Christ. CS Lewis once said, "Every saved person this side of heaven owes the gospel to every unsaved person this side of hell." There isn't any way for people to get to heaven except through Jesus Christ.

You say, "Dr. Jeremiah, are you sure about that?" Absolutely certain. Jesus Christ said it this way. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father except through me. He didn't give us any options. He didn't say, "I am one of the ways."

That's the message we're hearing today. There are many ways to God. No, there are not many ways to God. There's one way, and he is that way. We need to be unashamedly declaring that. Pastors, if you're here tonight and you've been wavering on that message, I urge you to go home, get on your knees, and ask God to give you the strength to stand up for the gospel.

((applause)) ((music playing)) And friend, I told you that the most important thing you can stand up for in your own life is your own eternal destiny. One of these days, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come back. I believe it could be very soon. One of the reasons I've written all these books on the future is to help people get ready for his return.

And I want to tell you that if you don't know Jesus, you will not go to heaven. If you don't know Jesus Christ, when he comes back, you will be left behind. Ask yourself in your heart, have I ever personally accepted Jesus Christ as my savior? Has there ever been a time in my life when I asked him to be the savior of my life? not be the savior of the world, not join the church.

He is alive. He is waiting. He is opening his arms to receive you. And he will receive you if you will just trust him. And now with one last word for today's program, here is Dr. Jeremiah. Sometimes you and I might feel intimidated or fearful about taking a stand for God in our secular culture.

But if Daniel could stand up to the king of Persia without fear at the risk of being eaten alive by lions, then maybe we should reconsider our stand. And why shouldn't we? Like Daniel, we serve the same God, supported by the same unfailing promises. Daniel's faith began long before his faith was tested.

Likewise, we must begin by making commitment to Jesus Christ today and every day. To help you do that, I would love to send you two free gifts from Turning Point. One is our booklet called Your Greatest Turning Point and the other is our monthly devotional magazine called Turning Points.

Both will help you understand how to turn your life toward God through faith in Christ. And we will send them both to you free of charge if you will contact us today. Next time on Turning Point. The Bible says, "All things work together for good to those who love God, who are the called according to his purpose."

God is working in your life. He's working in my life. And he's working toward a good end, not a difficult or bad one. God has a purpose for you, and he's preparing you providentially for that purpose. Join Dr. Jeremiah next time for his new series, God Meant It for Good, the story of Joseph, here on Turning Point.

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