Daniel - Thriving In A Hostile World
Tom Shrader examines the life of Daniel, showing how believers can not only survive but thrive in hostile environments through unwavering faithfulness to God. Using Daniel's experiences from captivity through the lion's den, he demonstrates how our hope must be rooted in God's character, promises, sovereignty, and faithfulness rather than circumstances.
“Everything that happens in our life is either caused by, or allowed by God.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: CBCC July 2014
Recorded: 2014 at Cannon Beach Conference Center
Duration: 1 hr 2 min
Themes: faithfulness, perseverance, hope, adversity, courage, character, sovereignty, trust, facing persecution, living in hostile culture, workplace challenges, spiritual opposition, young professional, new believer, feeling isolated, standing for truth
Scripture: Daniel 1, Daniel 2, Daniel 3, Daniel 5, Daniel 6, Romans 12:1-2, 2 Timothy 3:16, Isaiah 6
Theological Themes: providence, god's sovereignty, biblical faithfulness, perseverance of saints, divine character, covenant promises, spiritual maturity, sanctification
Full Transcript
Well, good morning, and it's great to see you this morning. Glad that you are here. Glad that you moved up into those first few rows, we appreciate that.
Bill mentioned if you want to get his attention in this whole judging of the sandcastles, he likes Skittles. My daughter, Haley, potty trained her kids with Skittles. So to this day, when I see a Skittle, I'm racing to the restroom, I don't know what happened to me. What motivates me would be more cash. So we'll get your sandcastle right to the top if you do that.
I had a great experience this morning. I was walking out of the building and over here, and one of the staff guys started yelling at me, "Tom, Tom," and I thought, that's kind of cool, he knows me. So I went over and he said, "I love it when you are here teaching." That is really cool. So I'm writing my own script. He loves listening to profound truth. He loves, can't get it all, so he has to get the CDs and transcribe them so he can see exactly what's... I said, "that's really cool, thank you very much." He said, "No, I love it because you wear shorts. Most of the other guys don't wear shorts, and you wear shorts, and you have skinnier legs than me." That was his whole point.
A Lesson from Mrs. McNeil's Daughter
You know Mrs. McNeil's daughter, Heather, was telling me one day, I was up, and I invited her on a Sunday, it was great. I invited her up, and she agreed to it. I didn't think she would. She agreed to coming up and being interviewed.
So it was this sweet, tender moment, and it was this Sunday morning, and the room is full, and the guests are here, and all that goes with that. I was asking her, how has the conference center changed over the years? In the old days, there used to be on the side of the walls, pictures from the old Cannon Beach Hotel in the early conference days, and she said to me, one of the ways that they've changed is people don't dress up much anymore.
So when we were all done, she had the greatest thing. She said, "The first pastor I ever saw in shorts was J. Vernon McGee." Can you imagine that? And he had on a Hawaiian shirt, and these shorts, and wingtips, and black socks. And so that was, "Hello, radio friends." So it was J. Vernon McGee, how great is that? So we've come a long way since then with this stuff.
Lessons from the Legends
But it's great to be with you and continue our study that I've titled Lessons from the Legends, and that works not only really for what I'm talking about, but for what Bill's talking about as well when you get to David. In fact, as I was putting this together, originally, I had thought about David. He certainly qualifies, maybe as much or more than any, but when Bill and I communicated back and forth, he said he was going to do David, and I thought, all right, that's okay. There's plenty of legends in here.
We talked yesterday about Joseph. Today we look at legend number two, and wow, there he is, slowly on the screen, Daniel. So if you have Bibles, you can open them to the book of Daniel.
Yesterday, we took some time, and I told Sandy when I was putting this together, I wanted to just highlight certain verses, but there's so much backstory in here that can easily get lost, and so there's an awful lot of Scripture. There was more, there was a lot yesterday, more today, believe it or not, and this is the heaviest day. I don't know why, in my calculation, I figured this morning you'd be the freshest of all the mornings. I figured by the end of the week, you'll be tired, tired of food, tired of good weather, tired of me, so I'd slide this in early. This is the one that has the most Scripture in it.
The Foundation of Our Hope
Let me remind you, and this becomes really key for us, this becomes the pivotal statement for all of, not just this series, but really in my mind for life, is that our hope is rooted not in material things, not in education, not in a good personality, not in a strong family. Our hope is rooted in four things: the character of God, the promises of God, the sovereignty of God, and the faithfulness of God.
So we started first night with all Scripture is inspired by God, and it's profitable for four things: for teaching, reproof, correction, training, and righteousness. The Bible tells us what's right, what's wrong, how to get right, and how to stay right.
When I look at the Scripture, I have that hope based in the character of God, the promises of God, and the sovereignty of God. Today we're going to look at Daniel, and we're going to talk about how to survive in a hostile environment. For some of you, that maybe is radically
**Daniel - Thriving In A Hostile World**
*Part 2 of 8*
Some of you may be in an environment at work that's antagonistic toward God and the things of God and the people of God. You may have a family situation. We're in Gilbert, Arizona, and just north of us is Mesa. Years ago, when BYU was looking at establishing another campus, Mesa was a prime area, heavily developed by Mormon families. We have quite a few people in our church who were involved in the Mormon church and have left that, and their life is really filled with hostility. There's a lot of family persecution, holidays where grandparents will call to talk to the grandkids, but they don't want anything to do with their own kids.
So you may have that kind of hostility. It may just be the nature of the Christian faith. We're counterculture. Our values are different. There are times when the world and the country and the culture we're in and our faith overlap, but they're momentary. Ultimately, we're at odds, counterculture to the world in which we live. Well, how do I not just survive, but thrive in the midst of that?
Daniel's Background
When I think of that, Daniel comes to mind. In Daniel chapter 1, there is a king, Nebuchadnezzar, who has conquered Judah, and he has taken captive all sorts of things. It says in verse 2, along with some of the vessels of the house of God, those sacred elements, they're taken captive as well, as well as some boys. We see in verse 4 that they were youths in whom there was no defect. They were good looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and they had an ability to serve in the king's court.
He ordered them to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. So Nebuchadnezzar says, as he conquers, I want to grab the best and brightest of the young men, about ages 12 to 14 or 15. I want exactly that—the best and the brightest, filled with potential, with the ultimate end being they'll serve in this court.
Well, how does the world take you and integrate you into a world? It immerses you in its culture, in its literature, in its language. He adds to it the rations. Verse 5 mentions a daily ration—what they're going to eat, what they're going to drink. They will be educated toward this, and at the end of three years, if everything works out, they'll move into the king's service.
The World's Strategy
There's a commander who's placed in charge of these boys, and he assigns them new names. See how they begin to take that? They bring you out of your culture, bring you into this worldly culture. Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2 say, "Don't be conformed to this world." So he gives them new names—we're going to break from the past. Now you know these guys: Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego. Their names are changed.
Now they tell the boys, here's what's going to happen, and we're going to do all of this training. But the big thing is this diet change, and Daniel has a problem with that. He says, "Listen, my faith isn't going to allow that. This is contrary to the instruction I've been given."
So here's what Daniel suggests, and you see it in chapter 1, verse 12. He suggests this: "Test your servants for 10 days, and let us have some vegetables to eat, and water to drink." This sounds like a diet many of you are already on. Then let our appearance be observed in your presence. He says, "Listen, let's do a test for 10 days. For 10 days, let us eat these vegetables, drink this water, not what the king has ordered. Let us try this. At the end of 10 days, what can 10 days hurt? In 10 days, you just look at us, and if our appearance seems better, and we're fatter than all the others, then we're okay." And indeed, that's what happened.
The Key Principle: Pre-Decide Your Decisions
Now I skipped verse 8. Let me go back to it. It's a key verse in my mind. It's what we can learn as we begin to encounter the culture. Look at verse 8: "Daniel made up his mind that he wouldn't defile himself."
The term that we used to use when we were raising our kids was "pre-decide your decisions"—that you resolve now how much you will push the limit, push the barriers, how far you're going to go. We had girls, and we used to talk about the reality that there's going to come this boy. He'll be a dirty, slimy thing, but he'll sweep you off your feet, and he'll come along, and this is going to happen, and there's a physical attraction, and you need to be careful here. You need to decide how far I'm going to go physically. I need to decide that before I'm in the heat of the moment.
You need, as a business person, you need to decide what are your ethics and what are your values before you get into the deal. Not when you're in the heat of the negotiation, and the buyer on the other end says, "You know what, you're really close to this deal. You're that close to the deal. Now I know I'm not supposed to tell you what the other bid is, but I'm going to go ahead, and it's written on this piece of paper, and I'm going to leave the room, and if you look at it, there's nothing I can do about that. And then if you come back, and of course there's an envelope in there for me, if you do that, and this deal will be yours, and I know it's the biggest sale you've ever had." That is not the time to be deciding how far you're going to go.
I am a big role player. I fantasize and dream a lot. When I'm in the car, I'm talking to myself all the time. I'm imagining what would this be like, and what would that be like. What I'm saying to you is, in your life, you can't anticipate those difficult situations—not all of them. Those temptations—not all of them. Like Daniel, it's time now to resolve, to make
God's Gifts in Hostile Territory
So the test comes for Daniel, verse 17 of chapter 1. These four youths, Daniel and the boys, God gave them knowledge and intelligence and every branch of literature and wisdom, and Daniel understood all kinds of visions and dreams.
Daniel did a great job in his introduction last night about talking about stories, that we love. I love stories. There was a special that I taped during the U.S. Open on Payne Stewart, the golfer, and I said to Sandy the other day, and Sandy's not a big sports person. She's a participant in sports. I'm an observer. She's a runner, and she's a swimmer, and she's an active athlete. I love to watch.
Sports to me means stretching out with a bottle of water, a Diet Coke, some peanuts, a hot dog, and watching this unfold. I love 52 days from now, best time of the year, college football kicks off. It's my favorite time of the year. It's the best time of the year.
Marriage and Different Perspectives
When Sandy and I were first married, and I knew we were coming together, I knew that we were married fairly quickly. We had not known each other very long. It was very different. When you're younger and you get married, you're talking about, are we having kids? What are we naming them? What do you think they'll look like? Let's paint a room now. We'll paint it half pink and half blue, and we don't know what we're going to do. Maybe we'll get twins. Then, what do you think? Do you think they'll look like you? Do you think they'll look like me? Where do you think they'll go to school?
For us, here was the big question: do you have good health care? That's where we were. Got any debt? Let me see your financials. It took about a week for us to get through this and go, we're in love. I said, I don't think we're going to know each other any better five, six, eight, nine months from now than we do right now. We ought to, I think, either get married or just quit seeing each other.
I took her through everything. I said, there's an age difference here. You're a young 47, I'm an old 49. I'm an old 62, and for better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness and health, and I said, we have different interests. She said, oh, that's okay. It's our differences that make us work well together. I thought, yeah, I guess. She said, that's no problem. I said, it's never a problem until it's a problem.
The College Football Revelation
I said, here's what's important to me: college football. She said, well, it's not to me. College football to Sandy meant one thing: food, nachos. That's it. I said, no, you got to understand, here's college football. Here's how it starts for me. I get up at 7 o'clock for game day. I watch game day for two hours. I'm a big 10 guy, and I said, and then I watch football all day long. And she said, well, what's all day? And I said, well, it could be 10 o'clock, unless Hawaii's at home, then it can be later.
So our first game day was great. I got up at 7, I'm watching game day, and Sandy brings out breakfast. And so we had sausage and eggs and all this stuff. 11 o'clock, kickoff the first game, halftime of the first game, she's got cheese and sausage and nachos and hot dogs. And so we watch a game, and then another game, and she said, all right, now what are we going to do? And I said, well, I don't know about you, I'm going to go to the bathroom, because there's another game that kicks off in 15 minutes. And she said, but we watched two games. And I said, Sandy, we talked about this. This is what... and it took like the middle of the first year before we got in our rhythm.
So there's differences in who we are and what we're about. And so in that story, there's all these different stories as Bill talked about, and we all have a story. We come with a different perspective, but ultimately we have little nuances.
The Real Hero of Daniel's Story
As we look at verse 17 and following, I want you to see that the players in the story are Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But the story is really about, you tell me, who? God.
As I was putting this together, I was struck, as I was working through Daniel's story, how similar it is to Joseph's story. The boys in verse 17, God gave them. It wasn't that they were smarter than everybody else. They ended up having knowledge and wisdom. Why? Because God gave it to them.
It's the same thing that Bill ended with last night when he said, if you're a likely hero, what are the qualities or characteristics that make you a likely hero? And whatever they are, they're from God, so thank Him. What makes you an unlikely hero? Whatever they are, they're from God, so trust Him. These boys are a product of God's gifts.
God's Hand in Their Success
At the end of the day, what happens? Verse 19, the king talked with them, and he found that there wasn't anybody like them. Verse 20, and for every matter of wisdom and understanding, he found them ten times better than his magicians and conjurers, than the best and the brightest. God, we see it in verse 9 and verse 17, God had given this.
What becomes their major asset? The same thing that becomes your major asset is what God's given you, even, hang on now, even those weaknesses, as Bill said last night, because now you have to trust Him. It's the strengths, and we're pretty good about saying, well, God gave me those. But there's that infirmity, that weakness. Well, God allowed that deficiency as well.
Nebuchadnezzar's Impossible Demand
Chapter 2, what happens in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar? He has a dream, and you see in verse 1 that the dream troubled his spirit, and he couldn't sleep. He called in his best and his brightest, and he said to them, here's what I want you to do: I want you to tell me what the dream was and what the dream's all about.
Verse 5, if you need incentive, here it is. If you don't make it known to me, you're going to be torn limb from limb, and your house will be made into a rubbish heap. If you declare the dream, here's what you get: gifts, rewards, prizes, honor. So declare the dream to them. And they answered, verse 7, what wisdom they had here.
Daniel chapter 2, verse 7 shows the magicians responding a second time. They said, "Let the king tell us the dreams." Here's what the magicians said: "Okay, we'll give you the interpretation, but you're asking us what the dreams are as well."
Nebuchadnezzar, maybe sensing he's been taken advantage of over the years, said, "We've been down this road before, where I've told you I had this dream and what the dream was, and you gave me the interpretation. But I want you to tell me what the dream is, and then I'll know for certain what's going on."
The Magicians' Admission
They respond in verse 10: "There's not a man on earth who can declare this matter that the king has asked for. No king, no ruler, nobody's ever made a request like that." Verse 11 has some important underlining here: "Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and no one else could declare it except the gods." Now they were close—small g and plural—but there's no one who could do this except God. And they don't dwell among men.
Then Daniel went to his house and told his men what had happened. The king was indignant, so he decided to destroy them all. Daniel got wind of this, went to his buddies, and told them what would take place, and they prayed. They moved in verse 17 and requested compassion from God.
Daniel's Prayer of Praise
Verse 19: The mystery was revealed to Daniel, and now Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Look at the prayer in verse 20. Daniel said, "Let the name of God be blessed forever." Why? "For wisdom and power belong to God. He's the one who changes times and epochs. He raises kings, He removes kings, He gives wisdom to wise men, knowledge to men of understanding. He reveals profound things, He knows what's in the darkness, the light dwells in Him. To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise. You have given me wisdom and power, for even now You've made known to me the request we've made of You."
All of a sudden, it's as though Daniel begins to see God for who He is. It's similar to that pattern you see in Isaiah 6, where Isaiah sees God high and lifted up. When Isaiah sees God, what does he say about himself? "Woe to me, for I'm undone." When Daniel begins to contemplate God and who He is—the power and the knowledge and the source He's given—he's moved to thanksgiving and praise.
Daniel's Humility Before the King
He comes to the king in verse 26, and the king says to Daniel, "Are you able to make known to me the dream?" Daniel says in verse 27, "As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, there's not a wise man, a conjurer—" He says the same thing that the king's staff had said to him. "There's no diviner who's able to declare it. However, there's a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He's made known to the king what will take place in these latter days."
Daniel chapter 2, verse 30: "As for me, the mystery's not been revealed to me for any wisdom that resides in me or in any other creature, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king." Very similar to last night with Joseph and Pharaoh. Here's Daniel again, and if it were me, when the king asked, I can see myself going, "Neb? Can I call you Neb? I know it's Nebuchadnezzar, but could I call you Neb? Because I've got this. Here's the dream, here's the interpretation. You're one lucky king to have a guy like me in your service."
See that residue of humility that's present in Joseph and present in Daniel, as they get that sense of the bigness of God. Jesse and the band have done an awesome job of lifting up God in song—high, mighty, His glory, His power. When I see that, all of a sudden, I'm in my place.
The Proper View of God and Man
A.W. Tozer said it this way: "The problem with our theology is this—it does not ascend high enough." In other words, God doesn't get big enough, or descend low enough; we don't get man in his proper place. Daniel has this ever before him. It's not that God gave me this because there's something special in me, but I'm going to give you this, and it's from God.
Chapter 2, verse 46: Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, did homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present him an offering and fragrant incense. Look at what the king says in verse 47: "Surely your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, the revealer of mysteries." The king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts.
Nebuchadnezzar's Short-Lived Recognition
He has this moment, and you would look at it—if you just read that, you would think, "Wow, this is similar to what we might call conversion." Here's the king, and all of a sudden, Nebuchadnezzar sees God for who He really is, and he utters these words. But by chapter 3, verse 1, Nebuchadnezzar had made an image of gold. Its height was 60 cubits, and its width was 6 cubits, and he set it on the plain of Dura.
It's a statue about 120 feet high, sitting on a pedestal on a flat plain. That sun would hit that gold, and you'd see it forever. He gave orders to worship when you would see this. He sent word to all the rulers that they would come to this dedication, that when they saw this statue, they would bow before it.
The Test of the Three Friends
In chapter 3, verse 13, Nebuchadnezzar, in a rage, gave an order for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said, "Is it true that you didn't serve my gods?" Verse 15: "Now if you're ready, the moment you hear the sound of the horn and the flute and the lyre—" I thought it was cool, and everybody's commenting on it. We've got a cello, but next year I want to see a lyre here. I want to see all these instruments. "When you hear it, fall down and worship. And if you don't do that, you'll be cast into the fire, and what god can deliver you from that?"
This births here in Daniel chapter 3, verse 16...
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, "Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we don't need to give you an answer. We're not going to bow down. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of the burning blazing fire, and He'll deliver us out of your hands."
It's verse 17 of chapter 3, that profound statement of trust and faith. But here's what I love about Daniel chapter 3, when he gets to verse 18: "But even if He doesn't." It seems like I hear Christian people all the time talk about how they don't expect that life's a bed of roses, how they don't think because they follow Christ everything will be smooth and easy. But then all of a sudden, along comes this hardship, and they seem surprised by it.
Chapter 3, verse 18: circle it, underline it, mark it, notebook it. "Even if He doesn't." He's the sovereignty of God. He's able to do anything, everything. Here you go: everything in your life is either caused by or allowed by God.
The Sovereignty of God in All Circumstances
Some of us have been around a long time, so you're thinking, "All right, come on, let's go. Get past that basic stuff and get out the heavy material." Some of you just went, "Wow, let's stay there for a second." Are you telling me that God caused 9/11? No, I'm telling you that He either caused it or allowed it. And if that's not true, He's not God. Not just the big 9/11 in New York City, but your 9/11s, those moments where these things happen that you never ever wanted in your life. All of a sudden they come, and there may be a little part of you that goes, "Wait a minute, what about God? Where's God? Where was God on 9/11?"
The same place He was on 9/10 and 9/12: on the throne, in control.
There was a book written almost 30 years ago called "Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?" I had not been a Christian very long, and I became a reader. I was never a reader, and I'm reading everything. I had these Christian friends tell me to read this book, and on the jacket it was actually endorsed by a couple of guys that were Christians. So I began to read this book. I didn't have a lot of background, but I'm beginning to read it, and I said, "This is goofy."
Chapter 7, I think—I could be wrong on the number, but I think it's chapter 7—is entitled "God Cannot Do Everything, But He Can Do Some Very Important Things." What happened is the author is responding to the death of his son, and I get this. What a gut wrench that would be. But here's what happens: when hardship comes, we're tempted to change our theology. We feel compelled to apologize for God, or explain God away, or somehow say He was just distracted when that happened. No, He's God. Everything that happens in our life is either caused by or allowed by God.
Standing Firm Despite the Outcome
So the boys got it. They said, "Listen, you're going to throw us in the fire? Throw us in the fire, and God's able to save us. But even if He doesn't, even if He doesn't rescue us, that doesn't make Him any less God. That means He's got something planned for us that's different than we thought."
Nebuchadnezzar is filled with wrath in verse 19. He's filled with wrath, and his facial expression alters. You can see the veins popping. He's so mad toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and he answers by giving an order to turn the furnace up seven times more than its usual heat.
Now here's what I want you to see: he did the boys a favor. Who wants to be crock-potted to death? I don't want that. If you're going to burn, if you're going to burn me, burn me. Get that baby a hundred times hotter. Get it as hot as you can get it. Let's get this over with. I love that we turned "crock-potted" into a verb, but I don't want to be crock-potted to death.
The Miraculous Deliverance
They fire it up. It's so hot that when the king's command is given, the furnace is so hot that the fire slays the men who carry them up. Here's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—up they go. As the guys are carrying them up, these guys are getting burned up. They fall into the furnace.
Then the king is astounded. Verse 24: he said, "Weren't there three men that we cast bound into the fire?" And they said, "Yes." Verse 25: he looks in and he said, "I see four men walking around, and the appearance of the fourth one is like the son of the gods." What does he see? He sees a pre-incarnate Christ.
Christ in Our Fires
Now let's hit the pause button and apply this to you. When you're in the equivalent of the fires in your life, do people see Christ in you? When you're in the midst of those things that you would have never put on your bucket list of things to do, and people observe you, do they look at you and scratch their head and say, "I don't know. I know that guy. I know Rupert. I know what this guy's like. I know Ramona. I know these people, and that's not like them."
I had a situation last Thanksgiving. Last Thanksgiving, I was cutting the turkey with an electric knife and got so winded and so tired and so exhausted that with all the grandkids and kids and son-in-laws and visitors there, I had to go to bed. I should have known something's weird. But I got a little sleep and got up. Over a period of the next month, I had a couple of tests and some more tests.
Then in January this year, as a result of a bunch of tests and things that went with it, I had open-heart quadruple bypass surgery, which is a big deal. I didn't know it at the time. I'd had Lasik, so I figured it's kind of like that—it can't be much more. I really didn't. I didn't go online to look at the pictures until about three weeks ago. This is a big deal.
A Personal Testament to God's Presence
The best part of that entire process happened about a month afterwards, where Sandy and I were recreating it. We were talking and I said, "I don't know what I'm doing, I'm just going." I'm a great patient. If the doctor says—and you're going to think it's stupid—but if the doctor says do
it, do it. I hate it when people come to me for advice, I give them advice, they don't take it, and I'm thinking, why'd you talk to me? So I had a doctor, and he's a reputable doctor. I checked him out in terms of credentials and friends, and everyone said he's a top surgeon. That's what everybody says - I love it when everybody asks, "Hey, do you have a good doctor?" No, I got a quack working out of a van. I mean, I hate that question, "Do you have a good doctor?" What a stupid question.
So I've got this preeminent surgeon, and about a month later - this is the best part - we're talking about going up to the waiting room. We're in this surgical waiting room, and there's probably 50 people in there. There's a lot of pressure, apparently, but I didn't feel any. One of the great things that Sandy said to me was, "I want you in this, and you never look nervous or afraid," and I'm afraid of everything. I'm afraid of these sand castles out here today. I'm afraid a crab's going to bite me on the way to judge the castle. I'm afraid of everything.
And I said, "I wasn't afraid," and I'm not brave, but here's what I know: I know God can get me through this, but even if He doesn't, here's the downside. I saw a guy the other day, and I said, "How are you doing?" Now, this is a guy in our church, Christian guy. "How are you doing?" "Better than the alternative." Really? The alternative is heaven. Are you out of your mind? That's what I said.
The Perspective of Eternity
So let's say - I can't even imagine how great this would be in terms of passing - let's say I'm on the table, and they did have a little problem. My lungs are hard, so they had to move the heart around and put it on a pump and do a bunch of stuff. Imagine if I don't get through that. So the last face I would have seen would have been the nurse, and the next face would have been Jesus. This is not terrible.
God can get me through this, but even if He doesn't - that's what I want you to see. There's this stuff in your life that you'd never pick, but you don't need to be afraid or remorseful. God's God. That's what comes through Joseph. That's what comes through Daniel. He's God. Everything that's come into your life, He causes or allows, and all I have to do - and I say all I have to do, it's a big deal - is be obedient. He's in control. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus, His promises, His faithfulness, His sovereignty.
So there's the blaze. In the midst of this, out comes Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Belshazzar's Feast
And a couple more things - over to chapter 5, there's a new king. Belshazzar is his name, and he has a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and they're drinking wine in the presence of thousands. They've excavated this room, and I don't remember the dimensions of the room, but let's say it was a room bigger than this. A thousand people would be crowded, and up in the wall, they found a little alcove that's carved out, and that's probably where Belshazzar was sitting with his immediate entourage.
Chapter 5 of Daniel, verse 3: "They brought out the gold vessels that were taken from the temple" - the sacred goblets and vessels that were used in worship in the nation of Israel. "And the kings and the nobles and his wives and his concubines drank from them." Verse 4: "And they drank wine and praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone."
Now let me tell you, this was a wild party. How do I know? Verse 3: you brought your wife and your girlfriend. That's a big party. The wives and the concubines are there together. And how do I know they were pretty liquored up? In my day, I used to imbibe regularly, and I did a lot of goofy things, but I never said, "Here's to the god of wood." This is when you know you've moved over the line. You don't need a breathalyzer. If you're praising the god of wood and stone, you've moved into the next realm.
The Writing on the Wall
And this party's going on, and verse 5 of chapter 5 - all of a sudden there's a wet blanket on this. "Suddenly, a finger of a man's hand emerges and begins to write opposite the lampstand on the plaster wall of the king's palace." Right across from where Belshazzar's sitting, there's a hand that appears. So you know the phrase, "I've seen the writing on the wall" - that comes from this. And it begins to move.
Chapter 5, verse 6: "The king grows pale, his thoughts are alarmed, his hip joints are slack, his knees begin to knock together." The king calls aloud, in verse 7, to all of his staff, his connection with the spirits. And he said, "If you can read that inscription and explain it, you'll get clothed with purple and a necklace around you, and have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom." And all the king's men came in, and they couldn't figure it out.
So the end of verse 9: "Belshazzar's greatly alarmed, and his face grows even more paler, and the nobles are perplexed." Then Daniel was brought in before the king. And the king spoke, and he said, "Are you Daniel, the one - I've heard about you, didn't know you, heard you from the old stories - are you the one who's in exile from Judah? My father, Nebuchadnezzar, he brought you in? Now I've heard about you, I've heard that you have a connection to the spirit of God. Can you help me out with this? I've personally heard about you. Can you solve this problem for me?"
Daniel's Bold Response
Chapter 5, verse 17: Daniel answers. And he said, "Keep those gifts, I don't need those gifts. Keep those gifts for yourself. Give your rewards to somebody else." At this point, it's kind of interesting - Daniel is 80 years old-ish, and when you get to be a little older, some of you are testimony to this, you lose your filter a little bit. Young guy might go, "Hey, I'll take that gold necklace and those robes." Daniel said, "You can stuff that necklace and those rewards. I don't want them. I'll read the inscription."
I'll tell you this, in verse 22: "Here's the problem, you haven't humbled your heart. You've exalted yourself." Verse 24: "But the God in whose hands are your life breath and..."
Your Days Are Numbered
And Daniel said, "I'll tell you what it means. Here we go, the writing on the wall." He said, "Here's the inscription: mene, mene, tekel, parsin. Here it goes. Mene means this: your days are numbered, your kingdom is numbered."
That's truth. I don't know what your screensaver is. My screensaver used to be something called deathclock.com. Are you familiar with that? You take a short questionnaire. You put in your gender, you put in your personality type, you put in something about body mass, and there may be one other question. Then you hit send, and immediately it gives you back the estimated day and time of your death. It's a great thing, deathclock.com.
So it used to be my screensaver, and here's what happens. When you hit it—if I remember, it's like September 23rd, 2020—swing by the church and we'll get you some ham and potato salad, because that'll be my funeral. So when you hit this button, bam, here's what makes this compelling: it starts counting down the seconds to your death. I used to sit there—I got rid of it as a screensaver. This would literally happen to me. I'd be on the phone, looking at my computer, and somebody's talking, and I'm going, "I'm dying here. Hurry up, get to the point. You got a point? Good to have a point. Get to the point. I'm dying."
The Profound Reality of Our Temporary State
Now I'm convinced—I had this thought the other day that I think is profound. I've subsequently shared it with probably a half dozen groups, and I seem to be the only one who thinks it's profound. But let me give you this: Job loses everything, looks at life. Solomon gets everything, looks at life. Both have the same conclusion: "I came in naked, I'm leaving naked."
In life, one of the secrets to contentment, satisfaction, one of the things that will take away the unhealthy competitive edge, is this sense of contentment that understands: I came in with everything, and here I am. I want that so badly, but I'm going to leave without it. Is it worth my time, energy, and effort?
Your days are numbered. You don't even need to be a great thinker to figure this out. Mene, mene, tekel: you've been weighed, and you're short. Now in terms of your life, we talked about that night one. We're all put on the scale, and we're deficient. It's called sin. But He says specifically now to Belshazzar, "Here's the problem with you: your days of this kingdom are numbered, and you've been fallen short, and your kingdom is going to be divided and given to the Medes and the Persians."
The Fall of an Impenetrable Kingdom
Belshazzar then, in verse 29, gave the orders, and he clothed Daniel with all of this stuff. Here's the key thing: verse 31, "The same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about age 62."
Here they are in this magnificent city, this walled city. Walls so thick that they used to race chariots around them. It was impenetrable. You couldn't defeat them. There was a river that came through the city, and from that came all the irrigation of water and all the vegetables and food that they needed.
Here's what happens: without a shot being fired, the Chaldeans come in. The Corps of Engineers come, dam up the river, and in walks the army on this dry riverbed. That night they take over the city.
Daniel's Faith as His Greatest Asset
Let me move really quickly here. We want to get to the end. Chapter 6: Darius is the new king, and he has an organizational structure, and he needs leaders. Have you ever had a boss come in that didn't know you or know your job? Or a new principal into the school? All of a sudden they're saying, "I want my own people around me, but I can't get that. I'll get people I can trust." That's exactly what happens.
Daniel, verse 3, distinguishes himself among the commissioners, and he becomes one who's appointed over all things. We said it with Joseph, we'll say it again: your greatest asset in life, in the marketplace, is your faith.
Around our churches, there are t-shirts and slogans that we have all over, and it says this: "All of life, all for Jesus." But somehow it has to move from a t-shirt into a lifestyle. I was talking with someone here the other night, and they said, "You were in real estate before ministry?" Now I know what that language means, I got it, but I pull back from that a little bit. My time in real estate was ministry.
Doing Away with False Distinctions
Here's what we need to do: we need to do away with this distinction between full-time paid ministry and—here's the term I can't stand—lay people. We're all in full-time ministry. Some do it and get paid for it. It doesn't matter. You're in ministry.
Daniel's going, "Hey, I'm just doing what God called me to do, and now I'm in a new situation. There's commissioners, there's satraps, there's this organizational structure, and they're looking around for the best and the brightest."
Live Like Dan
Daniel chapter 6, verse 4: there was a gentleman here last night who had on a t-shirt that says "Live like Dan," and it was this verse. His fellow workers compel and become jealous of him, and they began trying to find ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs. They could find no grounds of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as Daniel was faithful, and there was no negligence or corruption to be found in him.
Here's what they're saying: there was no sin of omission or commission in Daniel's life. Live like Dan in this hostile world.
They say in verse 5 of chapter 6, "We're never going to find grounds for accusation unless it's with regard to His law." The only thing we know he's going to do—and he's reliable, steadfast, perseverant—is in the law of God. If we come up with some law contrary to the law of God, we have a chance maybe of trying to somehow affect him.
So they come and they go to Darius, and they say, "Why don't you come up with this law about praying, that when they hear this sound..."
they should pray, and let's do it for 30 days, and if they don't pray, they're cast into the lion's den. We see in Daniel chapter 6 verse 8, it's established according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which means it's irreversible. So that's the law.
Daniel hears this. Daniel goes to his house, he does what he's always done. He continues to pray, and these men find that, and they go to the king. You know the story. It's probably the most famous of the Daniel stories. The king verifies that indeed Daniel has not prayed, but has prayed to the one true God. They can't pray to anything else.
As soon as he hears this, chapter 6 verse 14, he's distressed. He loves Daniel. He gives order that Daniel's cast into the lion's den, and there's a seal put on it. The king seals this, so that if you mess around, break that seal, if you try to let Daniel out, you'll experience the wrath of the king.
Great Faith in Action
I want to show you great faith, and then we'll get to the practical points. Chapter 6 verse 19, the king arises the next morning after Daniel's been in the lion's den, and he runs to the lion's den, and he says, "Daniel, servant of the living God," verse 20, "has your God, whom you constantly serve, has He saved you?" Daniel spoke, and he says, "Oh king, live forever. My God sent angels. He rescued me." The king gave orders that Daniel was to be taken from the den.
Now I read periodically what I would call some liberal commentators. They struggle with the supernatural. So when they get to the story, they come up with different explanations for what happened. One of them was this, that the lions had been fed, therefore they weren't hungry.
Well look at verse 14, the king gave orders that they brought those men who maliciously accused Daniel, and cast them and their children and wives into the lion's den, and they hadn't reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered. They got their appetite back very quickly.
The King's Transformation
Darius writes this decree. Remember, he began with a decree that said you'll worship here, pray here. He said the king wrote to all the people in the nations in every language who are living, and say may your peace abound. I make a decree that in all the dominion of the kingdom, men are to fear and tremble before God of Daniel.
Five Practical Lessons
Here are five quick things from this lesson.
**One, when it's possible, look for a win-win.** That's what happens to Daniel in chapter one. I understand we live at times that are confrontational, but they don't need to be combative. Daniel, remember back in chapter one? Back in chapter one, they're saying, "Daniel, you can't have this diet," and Daniel doesn't say, "Well, I'm going to start a protest, and I'm going to start a blog, and I'm going to come in rebellion." He said, "Is there a win-win?" We have terminology now like culture warrior, and I got it, but if I'm a warrior, I'm looking for a battle, and I think there are times when we can find a win-win in the world around us.
**Here's the second thing, God's the one who provides your gifts and talents, so use them.** God gave you whatever it is. He didn't give it to you for you to sit on, or you to put away, or you to save. He gave you gifts and talents to use them, and you're not going to outuse the gifts that God's given you. He's going to give you more.
**Here's the third thing, I am constantly in awe of God, but never surprised by Him.** There's a TV show that was titled, "Expect a Miracle." I thought that was a little presumptuous. I'm constantly in awe of God, but I'm never surprised by Him. I'm constantly in awe of Him, and even if He comes in and rescues me, I'm not surprised by it. I don't expect it. It's a God thing. Not disappointed, because even if He doesn't.
**Number four, your faith is your greatest asset at work.** I have talked to guys, and as I talk to them, I get the sense where they say, "I could be really successful at work if I wasn't a Christian. In other words, if I could lie, and steal, and cheat like everybody else, I'd be successful." But your greatest asset is your integrity, and your honesty, and your Christ-likeness.
**Here's the last thing, God's in control.** Not an excuse to sit back, not I sit back and do nothing, but I rest that He does everything. Chuck Swindoll writes this: we can't control everything, we can't change or fix anyone, we can't explain many things, we can't meet most people's expectations, we can't dodge the tough assignments, we can't concern ourselves with who gets the credit, we can't cling to the past, we can't really serve Jesus in the flesh all alone.
Living with Others
So do whatever you do with others, not alone. Whenever we do it, let's place emphasis on quality, not quantity. However long we live, let us continue to model a servant-hearted attitude and grace-oriented lifestyle.
The longest of our studies, Daniel. A great study, not in Daniel, in Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, they were players, the main character, God. Tomorrow, Paul.