This morning we are in Daniel chapter six. And I've entitled my discourse, "Daniel in the Lion's Den." A story I'm sure you're all very familiar with. I remember those pictures in my Bible story books when I was a little boy. And then the Sunday school classroom, pictures of Daniel. And for some reason, there are always three lions. But I am going to dispute that fact in a little bit, as you will see, but you're familiar with this story, a marvelous example of exemplary faith and of godliness in Daniel, but it's also a vivid illustration of vanity among political leaders, a picture of jealousy among political subordinates, also a picture of just the vicious hatred the ungodly have toward the righteous, something that we experience in our culture. And we will also see some of the common strategies that the enemy uses to defeat us. You will see remarkable similarities between the political machinations and legal maneuverings of the wicked in ancient Medo-Persia, and that empire, with what we see here in the ungodly politicians in the United States and other nations. We will also see how they enact laws that they know godly people will not obey and criminalize those things that God honors, so that we can be destroyed. But more importantly, what we're going to see is the character, and the conduct of godliness and the blessings that God will lavish upon those who are committed to him, and serve him and trust him with all of their heart.

Well, let me give you an overall summary and then we're going to look at the text this morning. What we have here are political colleagues and subordinates of Daniel, who served as one of the three chief officers under Darius, the Mede. And we're going to see how these men grew increasingly jealous of Daniel, who was clearly the favorite of the king. But worse yet, Daniel was a godly man, a righteous man. And ungodly people hate that kind of person. So these guys end up hatching a plot to get rid of Daniel and they appeal to the king's vanity. They tricked him into signing a law that they knew Daniel would not obey. And when that proved to be the case, the king was forced to sentence Daniel to a gruesome death in a lion's den, although he tried many ways to prevent it. And then what we're gonna see, as you know, God delivered Daniel, to the king's delight. And then knowing that he had been tricked, the king sentenced Daniel's accusers to be thrown into the den along with their families. Now, some technical things, if I don't deal with this, I know some of you are going to ask me so let's just settle it right now. Okay. Who was Darius? Or Darius? Sometimes it's pronounced, there's much debate concerning his identity. The "Darius," the title, is really a title rather than a proper name, and it can it means holder of the scepter. Now, some like my former professor in seminary, Dr. John Whitcomb, will argue compellingly that this was Gubaru, a subordinate of Cyrus the Great, who according to chapter nine, verse one was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, "was made king" is in the passive voice. So there's the assumption that Cyrus made Gubaru the king; Cyrus appointed him as governor over Babel and immediately after its fall. In fact, Dr. Whitcomb says quote, "from 535 to 525 BCE, the name Gubaru appears frequently in cuneiform texts as the," quote "governor of Babylon and the region beyond the river," end quote. Exercising almost kingly powers in this vast domain covering all of Babylonia, Syria, Palestine, and the entire Fertile Crescent during the prolonged absence of his administrative superior, Cyrus the Great. And also if you look in into the Nabonidus Chronicle, Gubaru we see, installed sub-governors it says in Babel. So that's one argument. Another side says, quite compellingly, that Darius the Mede is another name of Cyrus the Persian. This is based upon, at least in part, a translation of a verse we're gonna see here in chapter six verse 28, where the Aramaic permits it to read, "Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius even the reign of Cyrus the Persian." So, which is it? I don't have a clue. Nobody does. And you know what, it really doesn't matter. The point is, this was the king during this time.

So like all nations and empires, the great Babylonian Empire has been conquered. And it has disappeared and it has been replaced by the Medo-Persian Empire. Many wonder how much longer the United States will last? Well, we don't know. That is in God's hands. Remember, in Daniel 2:21, we read "He removes kings and establishes kings." And concerning the nations of the world, Paul told the Athenians in Acts 17:26, that God has "determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation." So we can trust God with that, even with our own country. Nebuchadnezzar learned this the hard way. Remember, it caused him to confess in Daniel four 17, that "the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom he wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men." And certainly we're watching the systematic destruction of our country, because of the leadership and the kind of people that put these people in power. But despite the confidence that many people have, over the great power of the United States, both economically and militarily, we must know that eventually this country will wither. And it will die like all great nations and all people have throughout the centuries. And we can be comforted knowing that although godless empires have always tried to thwart the purposes of God in various ways, we know that in the end, what they do has zero effect on the kingdom purposes of God. And we can be comforted in that. In fact, in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 15, we read "Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales. Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust," went on to say, "All the nations are as nothing before Him. They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless."

So again, the Babylonian Empire has been defeated and been destroyed. Medo-Persian Empire has taken over, and Darius the Mede begins now to organize his rule that takes us to the text. Notice verse one. "It seemed good to Darius to appoint 120 satraps," that means kingdom protectors, "to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom, that they would be in charge of the whole kingdom, and over them three commissioners, (of whom Daniel was one), that the satraps might be accountable to them, and that the king might not suffer loss." Then we read a verse three, "Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit." That means, by the way, something more than he was just a really nice guy. In the original it carries the idea of one who demonstrated exceptional abilities. So much so that, "the king plan to appoint him over the entire kingdom." So Daniel, it says "began distinguishing." The grammar here is a participle indicating continued action. So there's this ongoing and obvious pattern, that in his life that demonstrates his superior wisdom, and abilities. Now, what we're going to see here is what we've all seen throughout the days of our lives. And that is wherever God blesses, Satan curses. Right? And the only thing that Satan despises more than godliness is the public promotion of a godly man in government. And that's what we're going to see here.

But by the way, that's why you see so little godly people in government in positions of power, godliness is quickly canceled in our ungodly culture. And remember, as John says, In First John 5:19, that "the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." And so what the enemy does is he places people in power that are going to promote his agenda. So what we have here is the king is very impressed with Daniel, who, by the way, by this time is somewhere close to 90 years old. Let's just round it and say he's 90 years old. And he makes Daniel now second in command. By the way, I find that to be encouraging as I age, I mean, who says you're washed up when you're 90, right? I mean, look at this guy, It's amazing.

So, Daniel was put into this position, and my what a long road it has been for him. I mean, think he started out as a as a young man who refused to eat the king's food and therefore worship the idols of the Babylonians. And now look where he is. I'm reminded of Second Corinthians 16 Nine, that reads "The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the world, that He may strongly support those whose heart are completely His." But oh, pity the gifted, godly man who ascends to some coveted position of power and prestige. That kind of promotion will surely unleash the green eyed monster of jealousy among colleagues and political foes, not to mention the rage of the unregenerate world. So notice verse four. "Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel, in regard to government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption in as much as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him." My would that we all have such an exemplary life, and testimony. You might want to ask yourself, how would other people describe me? How would they determine for themselves whether or not I am truly a man that is following God? Or am I just a man like most that follows the culture and so forth? Verse five, "Then these men said, 'We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God.'" So in other words, let's find a way to make his devotion to his God illegal, right. Sound familiar? Let's find something he believes in and outlaw that. We see this all the time, don't we? Cultures legalize unrighteousness and criminalize righteousness. They pack the Supreme Court with people that are going to legislate from the bench to push their agenda and so forth. By the way, this is at the heart of the whole woke cult that is growing so rapidly in America. Let's celebrate and let's legislate what God hates and condemn and criminalize those things that he loves. Let's make sure we defend everyone's right to liberty so that they can do whatever they want; without opposition, which by the way, includes killing their unborn baby Let's even celebrate the gross immorality and the deviancy and the insanity of the LGBTQ community and condemn everyone who opposes that. I know, let's also fabricate some demonstrably false claims about white supremacy, and systemic racism and demand social justice. And that way we can foment resentment between ethnic groups, and gender, and ultimately turn people against anyone that disagrees; then we can break down society, and we can remake it the way we want. Which by the way, is way more than equal opportunity is equal outcome, the equal distribution of wealth and political power, and so forth, basically, Marxist socialism. And then, when people don't obey the rules of social justice, which by the way, has nothing to do with the justice of God, when they don't obey that, then they can be treated as criminals. And of course, this dear friends is the legacy of socialism, communism, which can never coexist with biblical Christianity. I hope you understand that. However, it thrives in woke Christianity, which is not Christianity at all.

So these jealous conspirators hatch a plot to criminalize Daniels devotion to Yahweh so that they can get rid of him. And I'm reminded of John 3:19, that some "men love darkness rather than Light." Why? Because their "deeds are evil," and Daniel's life was a shining light of righteousness. Ungodly people hate that. Now, to be sure, these wicked characters knew about Daniel's devotion to Yahweh and his very public prayer life. which reminds me many times I will hear Christians say, especially Christian politicians say, you know, my faith is a private matter. But not if you're a Christian; our faith is not to be a private matter. Ours is a public profession of faith in the living Christ. We're not ashamed of the gospel are we? Christ Himself has commissioned us to make disciples of all the nations. How are you going to do that f you hide in a closet, so to speak. I was thinking of this, this morning, in fact. Matthew 5:16, and you don't have this verse on the on the screen here. But there the Lord said, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." That's how we need to live. That's how Daniel lived. And we read in Luke 12, beginning in verse eight, Jesus says, "'And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess Him also before the angels of God, but he who denies Me before men, will be denied before the angels of God.'"

So everyone knew who Daniel worshipped, who he proclaimed, his life was a living testimony. And again, I trust that your life is the same. I hope that if I were to ask your friends, what do you think about so and so? Well, I, you know, I'm not real sure. I think they go to church somewhere. I hope they would say, oh, you know, that person is a devoted worshipper of Jesus Christ. So that's what we have with Daniel. And by the way, I find it interesting that in the first year of Darius, his reign, which was around 538 or 537 BC, he issued a decree to allow all of the Jewish exiles to go back to Jerusalem after their 70 years of captivity. And that occurred prior to the scenario that we are reading here. So without a doubt, Daniel would have had much to do with that since he was second in command, right? You can imagine that Daniel's character and his conduct had a profound influence on the king and everybody around him. He was God's man. God empowered him to accomplish his purposes. And I might add that this is his desire for your life as well. Every single one of us, who have truly come to saving faith in Christ are now inhabited by the living God. We have been gifted to put his glory on display, we're all part of this magnificent spiritual organism, the body of Christ. Why? So that our life will redound to His glory. So that's what we have here with Daniel.

Go to verse six. "Then these commissioners and satraps came by agreement to the king." Obviously, they've been collaborating together, they've been scheming, "and spoke to him as follows: 'King Darius, live forever! All the commissioners of the kingdom,'" which by the way, was probably a bit of an exaggeration, but it sounds good. "'All the commissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps the high officials and the governors have consulted together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who makes a petition to any god or man besides you, O king, for 30 days, shall be cast into the lion's den.'" Which of course, was one of the most cruel and terrifying forms of punishment, a powerful deterrent against anyone who would dare rebel against the king. Now, we must understand that throughout history, ancient monarchs were looked upon as a manifestation of deity. So such a tribute to his glory would not have been considered foreign to them. This was fairly common. And of course, such flattery certainly appeal to the king's vanity, which is a weakness that we all must guard against. And they probably figured, you know, 30 days is long enough for us to catch him in the act so that we can tell on him to the king. Verse eight, Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document so that it may not be changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.'" So, in other words, we just love you so much king, we just worship you, are just the greatest. By the way, there's a whole lot more that would have been said than what we have here in the text, but can't you imagine, you're just the greatest, and they're just laying it on here, you know? Okay. So this is what they're asking him to do.

Now, this idea of "laws of Medes and Persians that can't be revoked," you see, this was very different than when Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon. You see, with Nebuchadnezzar, his every desire was law. And if he changed his mind, that was the new law, but it didn't work that way with the Medes and the Persians. Whatever the king said, was bound by the unchangeable nature of his decrees. In fact we get a sample of this and Esther chapter one and verse 19, where we read how the laws of the Medes and the Persians "cannot be repealed." And in chapter eight and verse eight, "a decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king signet ring, may not be revoked." But you also must understand it was thought that for a king to decree something, and then later on change his mind, indicated that he made a mistake. Oh, well, we can't have that. Because the king is infallible, he's like a god. And to admit that he made a mistake would undermine his credibility and his authority. I have to laugh how often do you hear a president say, you know, folks, I am really sorry, I blew it, man, was that a mistake, please forgive me. You know, you're never gonna hear that. Instead, they're gonna double down on some some stupid decision and brag about how great it was and and how successful they are. And then if there's any problem with it, they're gonna blame it on somebody else and, and then quickly shift the public's attention along with a complicit media so that they're not looking at it anymore. And then they just move on. We've seen that, I've seen this my whole life. So have you. This has always been and will always be the modus operandi of arrogant, corruptive and deceptive little buffoons that are often put in authority over us.

So in a moment of weakness, the king lets his ego get the best of him. Verse nine, "Therefore, King Darius signed the document, that is, the injunction." Now, the trap has been set. Verse ten, "Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber, he had windows open towards Jerusalem);" and he closed the window so no one could see him pray. Oh, no, that's not what it says, does it? No. "And he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously." Man, what a testimony, I just love, I can't wait to meet Daniel someday, I can't wait to meet him. I mean, here's a guy that feared God, not man. He obeyed God, not man. He trusted in God to do whatever God deemed best with his life. Oh, dear friends, would we be the same way? Then Daniel didn't change his habit of worshipping the one true God simply because some, frankly, puny, little, depraved creature that God has made and put in authority said that I want you to disobey your God. No, I'm not going to do that. By the way, remember this the next time a group of politicians enact some law that requires you to bow the knee to Baal. Folks, when that happens, when they ask us to disobey God, we need to blow them off like a telemarketer at dinnertime. See them as little Lilliputians from Lilliput. You guys remember that? Okay, Jonathan Swift, the great novel Gulliver's Travels.

So, Daniel, hears the threat, all right? And he knows what these characters are up to. He knows their character, he knows what's going on. And he, I'm sure, he also knows their somewhere out there in the shadow, they're watching right now. But he shows no fear. He's going to continue to pray, as he always has. He's not going to embrace the world. He is not going to capitulate to the culture, his life is going to confront it. I might add a few minutes ago, we read from Psalm 55. You remember when David's heart was in anguish, and he was afraid, and the tears of death fell upon him because of his enemies? What did he say? He said this "As for me, I shall call upon God, and the Lord will save me evening and morning and at noon," three times a day. "I will complain and murmur, and he will hear my voice. He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me, for they are many who strive with me." Well, this was Daniel's pattern, as well. Three times a day in good times as well as now in bad times. And I trust that you all have a habit of prayer; doesn't necessarily have to be three times a day. But hopefully you will pray without ceasing, as the Scripture says. You will pray at all times, that there's a sense in which you're in constant communion with your God...(audio is not translatable).....

In other words, they came, they came purposely to witness the rebellion. That's the idea here, "and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God." Gotcha. "Then they approach," verse 12, "and spoke before the king about the king's injunction, 'Did you not sign an injunction that any man who makes a petition to any god or man besides you, O king, for thirty days, is to be cast into the lion's den?' The king replied, 'The statement is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians.'" Now, let me pause here. It doesn't say this... (audio is not translatable)....but it began to weep a little bit. Oh, dear friend, our colleague pays no attention to you. Can't you hear it? Oh, King he keeps making his petition three times a day. We can't believe it, it's Daniel.

Verse 14, "Then, as soon as the king heard the statement, he was deeply distressed and set his mind on delivering Daniel; and even until sunset he kept exerting himself to rescue him. You see what was going on here, is the king suddenly realized that he had been hoodwinked by these jealous colleagues of Daniel. Now it has sprung; he could see how his pride had gotten the best of him. And he's probably gathered all of his counsel, his legal counsel around said, guys, okay, we got to do something here. What can we do? Can we find a loophole in the law, somehow, some way to deliver this great man? Well, so we see that he keeps exerting himself to rescue him in verse 14. And then these devious plotters come again to press the matter in verse 15, "Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, 'Recognize, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or statute, which the king established may be changed.'" And again, I'm sure they put on a real show, feigning sorrow. Verse 16, "'Then the king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lion's den." in the aramaic (audio is not translatable)....

Archeologists have discovered a number of these pits in various places. And Carl F. Kyle, the famous 19th century Old Testament scholar, describes one he says, quote, "It consisted of a large square cavern under the earth, having a partition wall in the middle of it, which is furnished with a door which the keeper can open and close from above. By throwing in the food, he entices the lions from one chamber into the other, and then having shut the door, they enter the vacant space for the purpose of cleaning it. The Cavern is open above; its mouth being surrounded by a wall of a yard and a half high, over which one can look into the den." So it would have been something like this. Go back to verse 16, Daniel was brought in, cast into the lion's den, and then we read that, "The King spoke and said to Daniel, 'Your God, whom you constantly serve, will Himself deliver you.'" The language here, in the whole context, suggests that he probably said this, as Daniel was entering the den. They typically had a side, as well as a top opening with metal grates allowing on the side for people to view the horror. And also, for ventilation, Daniel probably went in through the side opening. But my what a testimony right? For the king to say, "Your God, whom you constantly serve." I love that. Folks, I don't care how much people hate you for the cause of Christ, that must be our testimony, that this is the God that we constantly serve. And he says, "He will deliver you." This is what he's hoping.

So verse 17, "A stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet ring, and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing would be changed in regard to Daniel." So this stone would have been the type of thing like even on Jesus tomb or round stone that would have been rolled, to kind of help with the gate with all that's on the side of the den. And it is sealed with the king's signet ring as well as the rest of the nobles. Now, I said that I doubt if there were three lions let me chase that rabbit for a moment. Because I've always thought about things like this as a little boy, I was wondering how many lions were in there, they say three, but it doesn't say that in the Bible. I don't know. I've always been curious about things like that. But you know, given the large number of people that were later thrown into the den, we could safely safely estimate that it was a whole lot more than three. Probably a couple of dozen or more. I mean later in verse 24, we read that Daniels quote, "malicious accusers, their children and wives were all thrown into the den, and they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones." Now, even if the only men accused consisted of a dozen or so of the ringleaders out of the 120 along with their families, just the group that would have lived in Babylon, it would suggest that there had to have been more than three lions so to speak. It would suggest that as well, that these lions and we know from other historical records, that many times they would be practically starved in order to be ready for the people to be thrown into the pit. Now I have seen lions in the wild in Africa. They are fearsome beasts, they can be between three and 500 pounds. A lion can consume 20 to 30 pounds of meat in a single day. And 20 children. And let's say that each of them offer about 20 pounds of meat. That's 800 pounds. If one lion were to eat 20 pounds, that's 40 lions. So I don't know how many were there. But let me just say, this is a horrifying thing. There had to have been a number of lions in there. You know, that's the type of odds that God likes, right?

So Daniel enters the den and the gate is sealed, verse 18, "Then the king went off to his palace and spent the night fasting, and no entertainment was brought before him; and his sleep fled from him." He is greatly distressed over all of this, he has no appetite. He wants no diversion (audio is not translatable).....

",,,,and went in haste to see the lion's den. When he had come near the den to Daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice. The king spoke and said to Daniel, "Daniel, servant of the living God,'" I have to have to smile their "servant of the living God;" I'm sure in the back of his mind...(audio is not translatable)... "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to deliver you from the lions?' Then Daniel spoke to the king, 'O king, live forever!'" I'm not sure I would have said that in my flesh. If I did, I'd probably be thinking, wait till I get my hands on you. "'Oh, king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lion's mouths and they have not harmed me, inasmuch as I was found innocent before Him; and also toward you. O king, I have committed no crime.'" Don't you wonder what his colleagues that put him in this situation, what they were thinking when they, I don't know, if they were there to see this? They certainly heard about it later. Can't you imagine what would have gone through their mind? I mean, this adds new meaning to the deer in the headlight look, you know? I mean, they knew they were dead meat. I guess there is a pun there. And I also have to think, my, these guardian angels, so to speak. Obviously, this angel was visible to Daniel. Text doesn't say this, but don't you know that as he goes in there, and the lions then are released into his chamber from the little sliding door that they have, don't you know that somehow the angel appeared to him doesn't say what he looked like. But I could just imagine the angel saying, "Daniel, come here, don't worry, puts his arm around him. You'll be alright. God's at work here." And then lions come in and just kind of lay down or something. We don't know. But my goodness. When God delivers, he delivers gloriously.

Now, did Daniel see the pre-icarnate Christ? Was that who this was? The text doesn't say, might have been. That might have been who was with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, we don't know. But Scripture does have much to say about angels. Psalm 34 seven, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and rescues them." Psalm 91 verse 11, "He will give His angels charge concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands that you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down." (audio is not translatable).... those who will inherit salvation. I've often thought over the course of my life, my goodness, I have absolutely given the angels a run for their money in protecting me, and you could say the same thing. Who knows?

Now back to the king. I can't imagine what would have gone through his mind. Daniel's not hurt. He's innocent. He had to have known that what he was witnessing was a miracle. And he had to have known that that miracle was caused by the true living God that Daniel worshipped, Yahweh. And he had to have also known that he had been tricked into doing this whole thing. And so I would imagine he was a bit steamed, verse 23, "Then the king was very pleased and gave orders for Daniel to be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him, because he had trusted in his God." So again, he probably went in through the side entrance, they had opened the door, all of the lions had come in. Now, Daniel is standing there, and the lions are still in that area, he can't go out the way he came in, because all of that has been sealed. And the lions are there, so what do they do, they probably drop a rope or something down and they they pull him up out of the top. Now, I want to pause here for a moment, dear friends. Please understand, that though we can trust in the Lord our God with all of our heart, that doesn't mean that he's always going to deliver us the way we want. Sometimes he allows the lions to devour us. Sometimes the flames consume us. Sometimes the cancer is not healed, right? Think of all of the martyrs who testify to these truths. But what we can be assured of is that his grace will always be sufficient, regardless of what we endure, he will always be there and if we die, we will pass immediately through the veil of death into glory, and receive..(audio is not translatable). And Daniel understood this, he trusted God come what may. And here we see God miraculously delivering his servant from Satan's attempt to destroy...(audio is not translatable) God judges the wicked, even at times on Earth, which is nothing compared to eternity.

Verse 24, "Then the king gave orders, and they brought those men who had maliciously accused Daniel, and they cast them, their children and their wives into the lions' den, and they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones." So they were dropped down from the top since the lions would have already been in that section. Obviously, the angels restraint had been lifted. And these terrifying beasts were now being used to judge the wicked. I can only imagine in my mind the terror in the hearts of those people, those men and their wives and their children. I have heard lions up close. I've heard them roar, and it is deafening. It is terrifying. Imagine being lined up and hearing all that's going on, until it was your turn. But oh dear friends, the judgment of God and hell is so exceedingly worse than that, we can't even begin to imagine it. Which makes us rejoice all the more in the grace of God through the gospel.

By the way, this was a common practice to kill the whole family and the children among Persian monarchs. In fact, the ancient Roman historian and soldier, Ammianus Marcellinus states, quote, "the laws among them," referring to the Persians, "are formidable, by which on account of the guilt of one, all the kindred perish."

So verse 25, "Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations and men of every language who were living in all the land: 'May your peace abound!'" And then I might add that in verses 26, through 27, it is really written in the original language in the form of a hymn, and Daniel probably helped him write this. But notice what it says, "'I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom, men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel; for He is the Living God and enduring forever and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed and His dominion will be forever. He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.' So, this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian." Again, it could read, "even in the reign of Cyrus the Persian."

Oh dear friends what a magnificent demonstration of the faithfulness of God and the power of God. And oh dear Christian, we need to celebrate this, don't we? This is the God that we serve. This is the God that we love. And I know many of you are struggling in difficult circumstances today. Life can be very, very hard. But I'm reminded of Second Corinthians 1:5, "Though the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance," it says, we know that we can find relief knowing that Satan's rule is just temporary. All of the stuff that we endure is temporary, the Lord is coming. And there is going to be complete deliverance far beyond what Daniel experienced in the lion's den. And I would add that the tragedies and the atrocities of life should animate our hatred towards Satan, and toward sin. It should never stir up anger towards God and the inevitable sorrows of life. In the sin cursed world are really opportunities for us to long all the more for glory, when according to Revelation 21 four, "He will wipe away every tear from our eyes, there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying or pain, the first things have passed away." But until that glorious day, we must remember that God has never abandoned us in our sufferings, for indeed, in his permissive providence, he has ordained to allow them to accomplish his glorious purposes in us, and through us. And through life's storms, we can trust God, and we can experience the joy of who he is. That's the amazing thing about all of it. And we can remember that his goodness, and justice remains untarnished in everything that he does. We can never accuse God of being unjust or being unfair. In fact, Moses said in Deuteronomy 32, four, "The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He. And it's for this reason that Peter encouraged the persecuted saints, in first Peter five, beginning of verse seven, he says, "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time, Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you." Folks, even in the hopelessness and helplessness of excruciating sorrow, and gratuitous evil, we can rest assured in his promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Moreover, as in the case of Daniel, whenever we look closely, at whatever trial we find ourselves in, we can always see his tender mercies, we can always see His goodness, we can always look and see his power being put on display. And then in the midst of the pain, as we see those things, we find comfort, do we not? We find comfort, we experience just the soul satisfying joy of his presence, consistent with those promises. Again, he will never leave us nor forsake us His grace will always be sufficient, as we read and Second Corinthians 12 nine and his throne is always accessible. Hebrews 4:16 "Therefore, let us what let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Oh, dear friends, truly as we read in Lamentations 3:22 "The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness." And in light of these great truths, we can affirm what James said in James one beginning in verse two, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Oh, we have so much to be thankful for do we not? Let's pray together.

Father, thank ou for this magnificent story that teaches us so much about your character, your love, your faithfulness, your power, your sovereign rule over all things. And we thank you that through the life of Daniel, we can see how you long to lavish your blessings upon those who are devoted to you truly, without compromise, Father, may we be that kind of people. And Lord, for those that know nothing of what it is to be united to you through faith in Christ, who know nothing of what it is to truly love the Lord with all their heart, to have an appetite for your word and, and long to spend time with you and enjoy the intimacy of fellowship that belongs to the redeemed Lord, for those that know nothing of that, once you bring conviction to their heart today, overwhelm them with the horror of their sin caused them to see the sword of your wrath dangling over them. But by the same token, help them to see their for the grace that is there as the forgiveness that is theirs. For all who will cry out to you and repentant faith. Thank you, Lord, that you save sinners. Thank you that you have saved us. Bless us encourage our hearts through what we've heard today. In Jesus name, Amen.