In Scott Brown's sermon titled 'Praying With Windows Open,' the narrative of Daniel 6 is explored to illustrate the power of faith in times of governmental challenge. The sermon outlines seven marks of Daniel's godly character: faithfulness, being plotted against, prayerfulness, exposure, punishment, protection, and vindication. Brown emphasizes that Daniel's faith was not just private devotion but an active, obedient faith demonstrated through his actions. The sermon discusses the balance between honoring civil authorities and obeying God's commandments, drawing parallels between Daniel's time and contemporary issues of government overreach and civil liberties. Brown urges believers to maintain unwavering practices of faith, like prayer, even when challenged by governmental decrees. The narrative of Daniel in the lion's den serves as a powerful example of trusting God and acting with integrity, ultimately leading to divine protection and vindication.

Please open your Bibles to Daniel chapter 6. I'll be reading verses 1 through 5 and then I'll read the rest of it as we work our way through the narrative as we do the exposition. So, Daniel 6 verse 1, It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps to be over the whole kingdom, and over these three governors of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them so that the king might suffer no loss. Then this Daniel so distinguished himself above the governors and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him and the king gave him gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom But they could find no charge or fault because he was faithful, nor was there any error or fault found in him.

Then these men said, We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this thrilling and encouraging passage of scripture that teaches us so much about what it means to walk with you in this world in the land of troubles. We thank you for giving this to us so that we might understand how we too ought to walk in this troubled world. In Jesus' name, amen.

Please be seated. We have this marvelous opportunity to look at the power of the gospel working in a man's life, a man who is fed from heaven, a man who is holy, who is a dependent man upon God. His faith closed the mouths of lions. It was justifying faith. It was the faith of Abraham.

So what you see here really is the power of the gospel working in a man's life in really practical and difficult circumstances. And of course we're in the midst of a series of messages and during this series we're considering the truth of God to transform our thinking regarding our relationship with civil authorities and how do Christians honor civil authorities and do what is good, I'm quoting from Romans 13, and exercise a sanctified conscience as we're instructed in the Word of God. How do we think biblically about the demands that come out of our civil government? How do we function with its constraints and its freedoms? And how do we know when and why to disobey as a result of looking at the Saints who did disobey in the Word of God.

Scripture is sufficient for teaching us how to behave in these kinds of challenging times. And this chapter explains Daniel's character, his work life, his customs, his patterns of faithfulness before God, and the consequences that those patterns worked in his life It was his custom of prayer in Defiance to the King's order that got him thrown into the lion's den he had a holy and fixed unalterable custom of praying to God. And the question we ought to ask is what kind of customs do we have that are unalterable in that kind of sense? What would it take to have you stop doing such a thing that God has commanded you to do. And Daniel's faith was certainly not simply a matter of private devotion.

Many evangelicals are satisfied with a pietistic non-physical kind of Christianity that just kind of exists in the heart but doesn't exist in the way that you walk and what you do with your life. But that's not true Christianity. And the isolation of Christianity to private faith and holding of a few doctrines is only part of the Christian faith and it's only part of the embrace of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. What we find with Daniel is Daniel's faith was an obedient faith of action and faith without works is dead like James says and the truth of the matter is because Daniel had faith placed his faith in God he had already died to himself He'd already died to the world and so he wasn't afraid to die by the hands of the king and I think this is really critical for us. We look at his reputation.

He was an exemplary citizen. He was honored by the king. He honored the authority of the king yet when the king's decree violated his conscience and his personal patterns of godliness he walked with God obeying God's commandments according to his conscience. Now you have an outline in front of you that gives you the sort of the thrust of where I'm headed in this sermon there seven seven marks of Daniel's life as a godly man as he honored the king while at the same time preserved his faith. And you'll see the first, he was faithful, verses one through three.

Second, he was plotted against, verses four through nine. Third, he was prayerful, verse 10. Verse four, he was exposed, that's 11 through 14. He was punished, verses 15 through 21. He was protected, verses 22 to 23, and he was vindicated verses 24 to 28.

So that's the scope of the text that we have in front of us now. Now Daniel 6 illustrates one of the two pictures of government that you find in the Bible. One picture, the most prominent and popular picture, is really pictured in Romans chapter 13 and 1 Peter 2, where the government is described as a minister of God to do what is good. And the citizens are required to honor and also to do what is good, bound by divine authority to do all those kinds of things. In contrast, there's a different kind of government.

In Revelation 13, you can look at the government in Romans 13 as one kind of government. You can look at the government in Revelation 13 as a completely different kind of government. In Revelation 13 the government is a beast coming out of the sea to devour the saints and to subjugate them under his own idolatrous worship and he does seek to devour you. One type of government is a tool of God. The other is a tool of Satan Both of them are ordained by God Therefore don't fear So in these messages my objective really is to try to prepare our church to continue to be a true church by practicing the things that true Christians practice unalterably until the day comes when we're called home.

All around us there are forces at work upon the church and upon individuals to compromise. While there are fixed practices that God has bound the church to engage in, these things are being challenged really actually by government authorities and also social convention. And so in order to kind of give context to the messages, I'd like to explain a little bit what's been happening in America. You know, over the past four months, Americans have experienced unprecedented, breathtaking expressions of government expansion of its jurisdiction and shutting down businesses, making demands on churches, making requirements of individual health care and these things have happened at such a rapid pace it's hard to even understand how and why it's happening but but four months ago when California shut down their economy Most of the states followed suit and that's kind of how it works with California and what happens in California goes everywhere. And I think we should just ask ourselves how vulnerable are our personal and ecclesiastical freedoms in an environment like that.

And I just want to answer the question, very vulnerable. In fact, really, we've had such a delight meeting together week after week here in this church. But let's be really clear about why that's happening. The only reason our church here has been able to meet under legal sanctions as we have without violating the law is that our governor was sued and a federal judge granted a restraining order against the governor's order against the Church of Jesus Christ. So that's why we're meeting right now.

I just think we need to recognize that it's been a joy, hasn't it? But don't forget why it is that this is happening. Because a massive government overreach has occurred. And thankfully, at least in North Carolina, a judge was successful on striking it down on the grounds of the First Amendment of the Constitution. And We've experienced massive sectors of the economy receiving hard blows.

Yesterday, Axios reported that nearly half of Americans are still jobless. That 44 million Americans are out of work. You know, everybody here is employed in our church. We're not feeling it so much. We're a little bit like living in the land of Goshen, but the rest of the world isn't experiencing it like that.

One-third of Americans missed a house payment in July. A hundred thousand businesses have been permanently shut down. I'm just quoting from the article. And, you know, should we be concerned? Well, the unemployment benefits expire in a few days and we'll probably see even more calamity taken as people take hits as a result of it.

Supply chains are in chaos. The flow of materials to run factories and to make things happen have been chained. And you've seen how all that is happening. And all this happened because the Imperial College of London predicted that 2.2 million people would die in America. They were absolutely tragically wrong and it opened the floodgates of unprecedented expansions of government power.

States of emergency were declared when there really was no emergency. We were told the hospitals would be overrun. They were empty. They still remain only because they're allowing, you know, normal patients to come in. They're running about what they used to run.

Now, There's a doctor in our church that told me this week that he hadn't seen a COVID patient in his hospital for over a month. And yet the hysteria just continues to roll and the press continues to pound out hysteria producing headlines. It's astounding for me to read them. Businesses have shut their doors. We've heard one emergency announcement week after week.

The government defining institutions as essential and non-essential. Businesses as essential and non-essential. Absolutely ludicrous rules and regulations coming down. Liquor stores, pot shops, and tattoos parlors are essential, but churches are not essential. A governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, declared that there would be no selling of seeds or gardening supplies or paint in her state about two months ago.

So We've seen things that were just astounding to us. Politicians showing absolutely the most profound ignorance of how companies work and how small businesses survive. They have absolutely no idea how you keep a business alive. That's so clear. Well, they haven't had businesses before.

That's the problem. And they're clueless about the vulnerability of small businesses to small movements in their economy. And these politicians think that all you can do is, you know, get an insurance claim or get a paycheck from the government which absolutely will not cover your losses. And the media continues to refuse to publish the facts. They continue to report death.

They don't report deaths. They report cases, almost all of which are asymptomatic. Many of them are not even certain to be positive. And the truth is, the deaths are happening with people who are 80 years old and above. 80% of those having other problems of heart problems and lung problems and things like that, other respiratory illnesses.

The absurd social distancing rules. Social distancing, what is that? I never heard that word until about four months ago and now It's what we all must do. Now the six foot rule, well, the World Health Organization said it should be three feet, but somebody tells you it is six feet. This is madness.

This is not human. This is not natural. Churches are not meeting. You know, how significant is it that states believe they can control church meetings? How significant do you think that is?

Demanding particular sizes of church meetings. What people can do in their church meetings. You've seen the regulations. Then the chaos began in the cities and it started with the killing of George Floyd. Within 24 hours, our metropolitan areas were in chaos, set fire, looting, you know, police departments walking off the job.

Governors who actually took an oath of office to protect the public walked away and praised the rioters and chastised the police. And we heard another term that we had never heard, defund the police. Have you ever heard that before? This is madness. I think we just need to recognize the pace, the seriousness of what is before us now.

When you have public officials who refuse to protect the populace, you have public officials who who not only have violated their own oaths of office, But they've really violated everything the Bible says about what their duty is and that is to protect. And you have governors praising and supporting and funding Marxist revolutionary movements in this country. You have the Black Lives Matter movement which is nothing more than a deconstruction of Christianity, deconstruction of the family, deconstruction of our government. And in streets all over America you can see in massive letters written down the streets Black Lives Matter and their governors allowed it. They're allowing the deconstruction of America as you know it.

And while the rioters are praising Get Him Freedom, the police officers are castigated. And this is still going on. It went on this weekend in cities all over America. For some reason, the mainstream press is not reporting the riots that have continued. What's that all about?

You know, what kind of trust do you have in the press? It's very, very difficult to understand even what's going on. But what is the church going to do in times like this? Well, churches have shut down their operations under the banner of loving their brother. Large churches have been surveying their people and some of these churches are reporting that 80% of their people don't ever want to come back to live meetings, they want to have live streamings.

They want to have pajama Christianity. They want to sit with their iPad on the beach, multitask, and not really be part of the Church of Jesus Christ, and not actually do the things that God has commanded the church to do. And so you're hearing of these churches that are closing their operations. Andy Stanley down in Atlanta announced last week that his church is closing services for the rest of the year and he says he won't be having what he calls on-campus experiences. How about that for a reframing of what the Church of Jesus Christ is?

The church is not an on-campus or an off-campus experience, okay? This is not Christianity, but where non Christianity takes hold the government will and the zeitgeist will rule and that's what's happening all around us. So this is the context and the environment upon which we're doing this series and this brings us to our text in Daniel chapter 6. This fearless, faithful man who'd been praying for decades and would continue to do so. So what was this man all about?

The first word, I've given you seven words in your outline to land on to try to understand what I'd like to try to communicate in this message. And the first word is faithful, verses one through three. Daniel was faithful in his vocation. The year is 573 BC. Of course, Daniel is living in a hostile culture since he was abducted by Nebuchadnezzar's army as a boy.

Now, Daniel has spent his whole life serving under ungodly governments, sometimes kind of in the closet in a sense, but he's always been in the midst of a hostile culture. Now it's 70 years later and Daniel is in his probably late 80s he might be 90 years old and and he's still a powerful leader in the government he's not retired and he's given his whole life to the service of God within a pagan state. And first under Nebuchadnezzar, then Belshazzar, then Cyrus, and perhaps now under Darius, depending on how you understand who Cyrus and Darius are. I won't get into that this morning. But Daniel was a blessing to the state.

He really is a picture of the honorable, honoring citizen. He's been a faithful member of society. He didn't drop out of society. He gave himself to his vocation. He was a remarkable administrator and he played his skills as best he could under the governments that he lived under.

And now when we pick up this text there's a new government, there's a new empire. Belshazzar is away and now there's a new regime and Daniel is installed. You know, when new regimes are established, things move. And, you know, often the house is cleaned, but they didn't clean Daniel out of the house. They kept him.

But what we find here in Daniel is a particular truth that I think we should recognize. Nations come and go. Nations come and go. That's the way it has always been. And now there's a new government here.

And Daniel has experienced these various governments. Nations rise and nations fall. The sun sets on particular nations. We've seen that with England. We saw that with France once some of the most powerful nations on the face of the earth are now waning and that's really how it always has been.

God raises up kingdoms and he throws them down. That might be a really good way to describe the thrust of the book of Daniel and our nation was born in 1776. The Bible though says through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 40 verse 15 that the nations are nothing, they are less than nothing, they are a drop in the bucket, they're like a piece of dust. And God moves them around. God's moving all the nations and you should never be fearful about that, but God establishes government, governors, and here in this, in these first verses, you find these three presidents and these lower satraps, these lower governors, that the king would suffer no loss.

And Daniel here is prospering in the secular state. He's a diligent man. He's an illustration of the charge to all of us that we ought to be the very best citizens in the lands in which we live. He is full of wisdom. He's applying it.

He's bringing the rule of God over all things. He's faithful. He's productive. And he's so valuable, he survives under all these governments that rise and fall. It's really important that you understand why you're born.

You were born to be a blessing, to take dominion in the land that God has given to you. Daniel was a craftsman. He was a craftsman of statecraft. And you too, all of us are craftsmen. We are God's workmanship created to do good works.

And we have a tremendous opportunity in times like this to do those good works. We were created for those things to work consistently on the things that are valuable that are required by God and to keep our keep our hands on the plow of doing the things that God has commanded us. Daniel's faith was an obedient faith. A faith without works was not dead and Daniel had already died to himself And so he was a valuable member of that society. Well then we see that he was plotted against, he was plotted against, verses four through nine.

A conspiracy arose. Verse four through nine. So the governors in Satrap sought to find some kind of, some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom. But they could find no charge or fault because he was faithful. Nor was there any error or fault found in him.

Then these men said, We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God. So these governors and satraps thronged before the king and said thus to him king Darius live forever all the governors of the kingdom the administrators and satraps the counselors and advisors have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree that whoever petitions any god or man for 30 days except you, O King, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O King, establish the decree and sign the writing so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians which does not alter. Therefore, King Darius signed the written decree. So a persecution has arisen.

It confirms what we know from the New Testament. All those who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. David said they are my adversaries because I follow what is good. Psalm 38 verse 20. That's what was happening here.

Politics is always and has always been and always will be problematic. There will be tumult, there will be plots, And the slanders and the opposition always follows leadership, any kind of leadership. If you want to be a leader, you have to be prepared to be dogged by critics. That's exactly what you'll receive. When a man has convictions, When a man has a public voice, others begin to wage war against him.

They look for every possible flaw. That's exactly what was happening with Daniel. They were scouring the records to try to find something that was wrong with him. And these men were envious for sure. But it's very interesting to read the language that's here.

No fault was found with him, no error. When we read these words, nor was there any error. The word that is used here indicates active, sinful behavior. That would be a sin of commission. But also no fault, that's another word, no fault, No error, a sin of commission or fault.

That has to do with the neglect or a sin of omission. No sin of commission or no sin of omission could be found by these satraps. Of course, God knew Daniel's heart and there were sins of omission and commission. God knew that but the satraps couldn't find anything because he he was an exemplary man. Think of it for a minute.

They couldn't find anything after 90 years of his serving under three governments. Daniel was a remarkable man. He's a picture of a faithful man. Now, if you go back to chapter one and you kind of flash back on Daniel's youth. Daniel was a godly man from his youth.

He always walked with the Lord and he was always found to be exemplary, actually ten times better than all the others that were in the realm. Here's what I want all you young people understand. A mighty life in old age is built by having a holy life in young age. Be a holy young person. Be like Daniel.

Be a holy middle-aged person and then you'll be a holy old man or old woman. But it begins there. They were working very hard to find something wrong with Daniel. He was the best worker. You know, this is really interesting.

When you find the best worker, you tend to favor him. Well, that's actually what Darius was doing. You know, this happened during the Stalin years. When Stalin was persecuting the church in the USSR, he was continued to get reports from the factories that the most reliable workers, the most faithful workers, the most consistent workers in the munitions factories were the Christians and he kept getting these reports and so he finally said let's relax some of our restrictions on those workers They're the best workers we've ever had. Well that's a picture of Daniel.

He's working in a totalitarian regime and he's the best worker in the realm. And I would just say let's do that. Let's be like that. Let's be the very best workers in the companies that God has given us, the very best mothers, the very best children doing their jobs in their homes. Be the very best, be the most faithful in your work.

And that's exactly what we see with Daniel. It's very interesting that Daniel's name means, God is my judge. Daniel cared about what God thought of him. Not so much what man thought of him. This is one of the most difficult things for every person is to be free from the fear of man.

Daniel said God was my judge. And that's how we ought to think too. Now, as this thing escalates, we need to recognize that Daniel is a godly man, but God wants Daniel in the lion's den. God wants to put Daniel in the lion's den. And God wants to put his people in various kinds of lion's dens for his own glory.

He was also prayerful, verse 10. This is the heart of the story really. Verse 10 probably is the Rosetta Stone of it all. Daniel prays. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home.

I love that. I love that line. He didn't freak out. 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 his God.

Don't miss that. He gave thanks before his God. Don't miss that. He gave thanks before his God. Don't you love fearless people?

He gave thanks before his God as was his custom since his early days." Now this whole sermon could easily be on the words that are in this one single verse. And it really is worthy of a very in-depth examination. Daniel responded to the news with thanksgiving and prayer and confidence. All those things can be seen in this one verse. He's going about his routines.

He's unflapped, he's unflappable, and he goes about the things that have nourished his soul his whole life long ever since he was a boy. The rhythms of his life sustaining him, delivering him from his fears, helping him to be strong in the face of pretty significant threats against his life. He was a fearless, happy man, not frightened by any fear, like Sarah was not frightened by any fear, go and do the same. And he believed in God. You know, the apostle Paul taught the Philippian church to think the same way when he said be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and The peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

That's exactly what Daniel did. He let his requests be known to God and he gave thanks and he poured out his supplications. This is a pattern that you find among godly men. David prayed three times a day. You can read about it in Psalm 55, verse 17, where he said, evening and morning and at noon I will pray and cry aloud and he shall hear my voice." Daniel picked up this pattern from David.

In Psalm 5 verse 7 you find this thing that Daniel did referred to. Daniel prayed toward Jerusalem. Why in the world would he pray toward Jerusalem? Jerusalem was in ruins. Psalm 5, verse 7, as for me, I will come into your house in the multitude of your mercy in fear of you I will worship toward your holy temple lead me oh Lord in your righteousness because of my enemies make your way straight before my face." In 1st Kings 8 44 we are told that when we go out to battle we have to pray toward the temple, then pray to the Lord toward the city which you have chosen and the temple which I have built for your name then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause." So there's this pattern of praying towards Jerusalem that's what that's exactly what Daniel did.

He had learned from his forefathers. Now his windows were wide open. What was that all about? That was Daniel's death sentence. One popular commentator to me, John Calvin, said this, how willingly he submitted to instant death.

How willingly he submitted to instant death. And for no other purpose than to retain the worship of God together with outward profession. That's what he did. If Daniel had simply prayed in secret, that would have been okay to most. He willingly and boldly put himself in the crosshairs of the satraps.

He was being watched, he was being monitored, the cameras were on him, and he offered himself up as a sacrifice before God. He was not afraid. Was it unnecessary risk-taking? Was it wisdom? Was it foolishness?

Did he have to open the windows? You know, he could have just made an accommodation for 30 days, prayed in secret, got back to his custom privately. He could have said it was only a slight compromise, just for a short time. It's not worth getting killed over. You know, Daniel didn't think that way.

Well, he would have none of it. He would live his life by his convictions. Now, there is no command of God to pray three times a day. He wasn't necessarily obeying an explicit command of God. He could have just modified it, hidden his behavior, closed the windows, don't be unnecessarily offensive to the people around you.

So His actions were really above and beyond the law of God. His worship would not be dictated by the government. He feared God and he walked by faith and that's why he did what he did. Daniel would rather be persecuted. Daniel would rather die.

Daniel would rather go to the lion's den than to stop praying. How about us? What kind of threat out there would get us to slow something down that's holy? Now Daniel is very striking to us because he's a man of customs. That's the term that's used here in the New King James Bible.

He had daily routines. He had rhythms of life that sustained him and we should do the same. We should have daily consistent rhythms of life that sustain our souls. Daniel's soul was sustained from the time he was a boy and I hope all you little boys and girls out here do the same thing. Be sustained from your youth up, be fortified, be strengthened, be enwisened by God every single day.

And when you're 90 years old, you'll be the wisest one. Now, it's very important that we establish those routines. Don't think that it's, don't think that that's non-essential. That's essential. And everybody knows why it's essential.

Everybody knows why it's essential to establish particular routines and times in the day when you do these kinds of things. If you don't have times in the day, your day always gets away from you. Always. Everybody knows that's true. So if you've fallen away from your routines, get back on them.

It'll be a blessing to your soul. It'll fortify you. It'll suck away all the fear and fill your heart with songs of deliverance and it'll help, it'll teach you the way in which you should go every day. And as it turns out when you do do that, for some strange reason you bump into somebody who needs that verse that you read in the morning. How about that?

It happens too often. Well Daniel learned that the king had signed the decree and did not have a panic attack. He wasn't flummoxed, he wasn't stressed out, he wasn't worried, He was trusting in his God. When he went back to his house, he has every manifestation of a man who's at peace. Be anxious for nothing, but by prayer and supplication, give thanks to God.

Daniel's faith was an obedient faith in action. Again, why are we doing this? So that we can learn what the Bible says about how to deal with a government that tells you to quit acting Christianly. The fourth thing we learn about Daniel, the fourth mark of his life, he was exposed, verse 11 through 14, Then these men assembled and they found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. And they went before the king and spoke concerning the king's decree.

Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within 30 days except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions." And the king answered and said, the thing is true according to the law, the Medes and the Persians, which does not alter. So they answered and said before the king, that Daniel, who's one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard to you, O King, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day." And then the king responds with regret, verse 14. When the king heard these words, he was greatly displeased with himself and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him. And he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. You know, Darius didn't think this whole thing through.

It didn't occur to him that he was gonna lose his most valuable ruler who had done him lots of good and ensured that he would suffer no loss, okay? The king didn't understand the implications of the law and he was caught in a no-win situation. If he revoked the law sealed by his authority, he would belittle his office and invite scorn. If he revoked the law he would incur criticism and possible insurrection and wrath of his subjects. But if he kept the law he was gonna lose his most valuable man.

But he was caught in a pretty tight place. A little bit like Pilate who wanted to declare Jesus not guilty and let him go but he feared the people. I think that's what you find in Darius. I don't think this was an act of faith. I think this was an act of self-preservation.

Darius wanted to get Daniel out of it. You know, leaders often make decisions not knowing everything. Is it possible that our government has done that? Well, I can look back at decisions I've made and wondered, you know, if that was the right decision. But often You make bad decisions because of bad counsel, which is what Darius received.

You know, Pierre V. Ray, in this book I'm publishing on the civil government, he speaks of this problem with every leader who seeks the counsel of others and listens to other people. Here's the reality, leaders who don't listen to other people are idiots. They need to listen. They need to listen to criticism.

You don't want to have a bunch of yes men around you. You really don't. It's not the best thing. And leaders who don't listen to counsel are fools. But leaders who always listen to counsel also can be shown fools as well.

And Verre speaks about this and I'll just paraphrase what he says in this book. He says, even though a ruler is the greatest and wisest and most righteous man, it would be difficult to be around very long without being deceived by counselors. Even his dearest friends, says Verre, even those he trusts most might give him bad counsel. And Veres says, why is it prudent men governed by counsel, but if the counsel is not good, how will a man guard himself against it? And Veres says, it's nearly impossible to guard yourself against it.

And he asked, which is more to be feared, an evil ruler with good counsel or a good ruler with evil counsel? Your counselors can really hurt you. That's what happened with Darius. Counselors are manipulating the king. They're flattering.

They're ambitious. They're thieves. They're debauchers. And they're trying to do something for themselves. Now I don't think Darius repented of his wrongdoing here.

I think he was just trying to get himself out of a jam. He made no attempt to correct it. He didn't do the hard thing. He could have saved that man's life. He knew it was wrong.

And true repentance actually takes action. If he was really a repentant man at this point, then he wouldn't have just acknowledged his stupidity. He would have actually done something about it and he did not do that. And Daniel was a very profitable employee and brought him a lot of success, but he did not lift a hand to finally deliver him, which he could have. He had all the power in his own hands to do it, but he didn't do it.

So then Daniel is punished in verses 15 to 21. Then these men approached the king and said to the king, know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes can be changed. Of course, the king is sworn to his own hurt. He made a law he has to live with it And then the king sends Daniel to the lion's den in verse 16 So the king gave the command and they brought Daniel to cast him into the den of lions But the king spoke saying to Daniel, your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you. Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring, and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.

So then the king retires to his palace, that's in verse 18, and he spent the night fasting and no musicians were brought before him. Also sleep went from him. He was displeased, he was disturbed. Perhaps this is the work of the Holy Spirit and he could not have the diversions that he normally experienced. This is a little bit like what happened in Esther when when the king could not sleep and he wandered into the archives because he just couldn't sleep he was so tormented.

God does that. God is always working in the background. Got that? God's always working in the background. Unseen things God's caring for you.

And then the king visits the lion's den in verses 19 through 20. Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions and when he came to the den he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel the king spoke saying to Daniel Daniel servant of the living God has your God whom you serve continually been able to deliver you from the lions. And then in verses 22 to 23 we see the protection that God provided for him. An angel protected him. An angel.

Do you remember back in the days of Isaiah, when the Assyrian army was outside of Jerusalem, that one angel killed 185, 000 troops in the night. When you think about angels, don't think of cute little babies. Don't think of girls with wings on, okay? They are fearful. Whenever angels show up, people are afraid, okay?

And these lions, mouths, were shut because an angel protected Daniel. God is our protector. He's directing everything. You know, in Psalm 35, we learn that an angel chases your enemies. In Psalm 34, we learn that the angel encamps all around those who fear him and he delivers them.

And then Daniel claims that he did nothing wrong to get himself into the lion's den. Do you see that in verse 21 and 22? Then Daniel said to the king, oh king live forever. My God 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. Daniel is saying I did nothing wrong before God and I didn't do anything wrong before you by disobeying you.

Got that? I did not sin by disobeying the king. That's what Daniel is saying. And if you're going to interpret Romans 13 properly, you need to recognize that it's not always sin to defy the civil authorities. In 1 Peter 2, 17, we have this admonition, fear God and honor the King.

And both of these things can be done simultaneously, but they might be done with disobedience to the King. God is feared first and then the king in that order. If they can be obeyed simultaneously, praise God. If not, let it be so. You're not doing anything wrong before God and really not really even doing anything wrong before the king because the king has been given a particular jurisdiction to do what is good to be a minister of God.

And when he's not, he's abrogated his authority. He's abrogated his authority. Let me quote a commentary, Jameson, Fawcett, and Brown. Obedience to God is in strictest compatibility with loyalty to the king. Daniel's disobedience to the king was seeming not real because it was not from contempt of the king but from regard to the king of kings." He says, for earthly princes lay aside all their power when they rise up against God and are unworthy of being reckoned in the number of mankind.

We ought rather to utterly defy rather than obey them whenever they are so arrestive and wish to spoil God of his rights and as it were to seize upon his throne and draw him down from heaven. That's from Calvin's commentary on Daniel. We learn in verse 23 that he was preserved because he trusted in God. That's really important. He was preserved because he trusted in God.

Now the king was exceedingly glad for him and commanded that they should take up, take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury, whatever was found on him because He believed in his God. He believed. He trusted God. He obeyed God.

His faith was not dead. His faith was manifested in his works. And then finally he was vindicated. Verses 24 to 28, the king punishes Daniel's accusers here. And the king gave the command and they brought those men who had accused Daniel and they cast them into the lion's den, them, their children, and their wives.

And the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den. Apparently this was a pit of lions at the bottom with a side entry that was sealed by the King's signet. But when they were thrown in, they were devoured before they hit the ground. It's an astounding scene. And then who gets the glory?

God. God and his sovereign power over the nations is declared right out of the mouth of Darius. Verses 25 to 28. Then King Darius wrote, to all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell on the earth, peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God and steadfast forever.

His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed and his dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues and he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth. Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. And then the rest of his life, verse 28, tells it. So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

So the king testifies that Daniel's God is the true God and living and sovereign God who deserves to be worshipped. Daniel's disobedience led to the testimony of a king and the destruction of wicked satraps. In the same way that the midwives obedience led to the multiplication of the children of Israel making them a massive force. In the same way that Moses parents obedience led to the provision of a deliverer by hiding him. And so Daniel's obedience led to the salvation, maybe the, I don't know, I doubt if it's the salvation of the king, but it's at least the declaration of the king and the destruction of a whole raft of bad leaders.

So what should we learn from this? Fear God and honor the king. We need to have a balanced view of what that means. The king is not the only authority. God has authority overall.

As we learn in Romans 13, The king's authority is not always absolute. He's been given to do what is good and to protect. And as we're living in these times we should always remember the two kinds of governments. The government that Paul spoke of in Romans 13 and the government that John testified to in Revelation 13. They both exist and they exist today.

But Daniel's faith was an obedient faith in action. His faith was not dead and it enlivened him. And he was a young man who loved God and loved to talk to God and he prayed three times a day from the time of his youth and during that time God fortified his soul and so when he gets to 90 years old and faces one of the greatest threats of his life he's calm he's collected he's not worried, he's not stressed out, and he happily and boldly gives thanks and opens up the doors and gives thanks that he's saved by faith. Well, this kind of faith is the kind that we need. We should remember that Daniel had already died to himself, So it didn't matter to him how he would die before man.

Would you pray with me? Lord, we are stunned by these remarkable narratives that help us to understand your will. We thank you for giving us these men who loved you, who walked with you, who were not frightened by any fear. We pray that you would give us strength to be so fortified, to be the very best citizens in the state of North Carolina and in the cities that we live in, the hardest workers, the most beneficial, the kindest, the most honorable. And Lord, we pray that you would help us to understand how to do all that in the times that we now live in.

We praise you that you've given the church freedom in this time by these actions that have taken place and we are so grateful for the blessings that have come upon us with those freedoms that we've experienced. It really has been a joy Lord and such a pleasure to be able to experience them together, worshiping you, praying to you, singing to you with all freedom. In Jesus' name, Amen.