Daniel's God Rescues Darius

Let me invite you to turn in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 6. Daniel. Chapter 6. I'm really excited about this passage that we'll be looking at today because of the encouragement, that it, will be to all of us.

we're doing a verse by verse study through the book of Daniel, and as we continue through this book, we come today to Daniel chapter 6, verse 16, and my goal this morning is to look at verses 16 through 28, through the end of the chapter, and the title of the message is Daniel's God rescues Darius. Daniel's God rescues Darius. we often think of Daniel chapter 6 as telling the story of Daniel's rescue, of God rescuing Daniel from the lion's den, and this chapter certainly contains that story.

But a fair read of this chapter reveals that King Darius is the one who seems to need rescuing the most.

For he is the one who foolishly allowed himself to be entrapped by wicked men who sought to exploit his personal vanity with devastating consequences. What's striking about this chapter is that not a word is said anywhere in this chapter about any emotion that Daniel experiences upon being convicted of breaking the law. And being thrown into a lion's den. But in this chapter, and you can look for this in the places that I allude to, we read in verse 14 that Darius was deeply distressed.

In our text today, we will read of Darius spending the night fasting and of his sleep fleeing from him. In verse 20, we will read about him speaking with a troubled voice. And once Daniel is rescued from the lions, we are told how Darius is very pleased. But we will not be told anything anywhere about how Daniel felt personally about anything.

Including his rescue. So in the end, we will be left with a distinct impression that Daniel's rescue from the lion's den was more for Darius's benefit than it was for Daniel's. In fact, we're gonna see this morning how God rescued Darius through his rescue of Daniel, just like God rescues us. From sin through his rescue of Jesus from the tomb.

As we saw 2 weeks ago when we were in Daniel, or 3 weeks ago, when we were in Daniel chapter 6, Darius has conquered Babylon and is now in the process of setting up his government. And he really likes Daniel so much that he wants to make Daniel his vice president. Ruling over the other commissioners and the 120 satraps that he has appointed over his kingdom. Well, we've learned that the other government officials that Daniel would be over, do not want Daniel to be over them.

So they do an investigation into Daniel's professional life. Trying to find grounds to accuse him before the king. Finding no grounds to accuse Daniel, look at verse 5. They say we shall not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God.

And upon arriving at this conclusion, these wicked men manufacture a violation. They appeal to the king's personal vanity, and they get him to sign a law requiring everyone in the land to pray to him for the next 30 days. And attached to this law is an injunction that if anyone prays to any other god for the next 30 days, he is to be thrown into the lion's den as a punishment. And upon hearing of the signing of this horrible law, Daniel promptly, we learned, goes to his house and he kneels in prayer before his upper room windows, and there he prays to the true God of heaven.

And right on cue, the wicked conspirators show up at his house and they hear him praying to his God, and they realize that they now have exactly what they need to destroy Daniel. They quickly approached the king. And they accuse Daniel before the king of violating this new law, and they say in verse 13, Daniel pays no attention to you, O king, or to the injunction which you signed, but keeps making his petition 3 times a day. And upon hearing their accusation against Daniel, the king is greatly displeased with himself because he values Daniel so much.

The king does everything he can before sundown to rescue Daniel, but to no avail, which is so ironic. This is the man who told everyone in his kingdom to pray to him for the next 30 days so that he can answer their prayers. Yet he can't even get himself out of a jam that he got himself into. In verse 15, the text tells us, then these men, these are the wicked conspirators, 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 establishes may be changed.

And I am sure that these wicked men could hardly hide their satisfaction. At the way they have checkmated the king. And ensured that Daniel will now be thrown into the lion's den. And this is where we left off 3 weeks ago, and this morning, we're gonna pick up in verse 16, and we're going to observe 5 developments in the story of God bringing about a wonderful rescue for Darius through Daniel.

5 developments, and if you have a hard copy of your sermon notes with you this morning, you can fill in the blank. The first development in this unfolding story is that Darius has Daniel cast into the lion's den, hoping God might save him. Observe what happens in verse 16. Then the king gave orders and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lions' den.

The king spoke and said to Daniel, your God, whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you. Now, the wording of verse 16 here makes it evident that the king was waiting for Daniel at the location of the lions' den, and I think we can all imagine. How sheepish Darius looked when his and Daniel's eyes finally met one another's. I'm sure Darius gave Daniel a pitiful look that said, I am so sorry, Daniel.

I had no idea signing this new law would lead to this outcome. According to this verse, before Daniel was thrown into the lion's den, the king speaks to Daniel and he says, look at the verse again, your God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you. Now, the New American Standard translation that I am working from translates the king is making a confident, bold prediction that God will deliver Daniel, but some of your translations have him saying, may your God. Whom you constantly serve, deliver you.

In other words, this could be understood from the Aramaic as a wish or a prediction. And I think there's an element of both sentiments here. The king certainly wants, he wishes. That Daniel's God would rescue him from the lions, and it seems that the king half suspects that God might rescue him, though we're going to see in the coming verses that the king is plagued with doubts about whether this is really gonna happen.

Notice how the king. Describes Daniel as a man who constantly serves his God. This word constantly speaks of Daniel's unwavering steadfastness in his service of God, in all that he did in his private life and professional life, which the king has observed in Daniel from the day that he met him all the way up to the present day. In the sequence of events in terms of how they likely happened, it is then that the king.

Has Daniel cast into the lion's den, and once Daniel is thrown into the den, verse 17 says, 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. All these seals that the king and his nobles are imprinting on the soft clay. Where the stone is means that no one has authority to tamper with this stone at the entrance to the lions' den without unanimous permission of the king and every one of his nobles.

Not even the king by himself could tamper with this stone.

It could only be tampered with by agreement from all of them. And after this sealing is done, observe what happens in verse 18. Then the king went off to his palace and spent the night fasting. Literally it says he spent the night hungrily.

And no entertainment was brought before him, and his sleep fled from him. So clearly, the king is in no mood for dinner, though he is hungry. So he skips his dinner or any snacks on this night, and the king is in no mood for entertainment of whatever variety he was typically accustomed to. Instead, he tries to sleep, but at the end of verse 18, we read that his sleep fled from him.

Actually, we should find it remarkable here to read so much about the king here and hear nothing about Daniel in the den of lions. As Dale Ralph Davis says, it is a tad strange. Daniel is thrown to the lions, and we only hear about the king and his agonizing night. But I think this is actually part of the genius of this story.

Because guys, we are Darius. And we are the ones who wake up in the middle of the night with anxieties and with doubts and with deep regrets over sins that we have committed. And it's interesting, Daniel's the one telling this story, and he wants us to know. what a man is this that Daniel must be that he's telling this story and he doesn't want to talk about what he was feeling in the den.

He wants us to know the agonizing night that Darius had. That's crazy. So it is strange that the focus would be on Darius's agonizing night, but this is a miserable night for the king as he is worrying himself sick over what is happening to Daniel in the lion's den. Back in verse 16, we saw how the king had said to Daniel, your God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you, but his sleeplessness here.

Indicates that his heart was plagued with doubt. Over whether Daniel would really be rescued from the lions. The king is also no doubt plagued with guilt over signing that stupid decree. That he signed and he's worried about Daniel dying as a result of his own vanity and foolishness in signing that decree.

The commentator Leon Wood is certainly right when he says that there's every indication that Daniel enjoyed a better night's rest than the king. Enjoyed. Even though Daniel is in a lion's den and the king is in his palace. This was no doubt the worst night of the king's life, but morning finally comes, at which point Darius springs into action, which brings us to the second development in the story of God bringing about a wonderful rescue for Darius through Daniel.

Development number 2, Darius discovers that God saved Daniel from the lions. Observe what happens beginning in verse 19. Then the king arose at dawn, at the break of day, and went in haste to the lion's den. Now, ancient peoples.

Often had a belief in which if a person was given some judgment. And they survived that judgment unscathed, then their survival would stand as proof of their innocence and would result in their freedom. And we should probably have something like this belief in mind as we see Darius making haste to get to the lion's den at the crack of dawn, the morning after Daniel is cast into the lion's den. Look at verse 20.

When he, Darius, had come near to the den to Daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice. The Aramaic word translated troubled could be translated as anguished or pitiful. The king is clearly torn up inside with anxiety for Daniel and also torn up with feelings of guilt and regret for his role in Daniel being in this den of lions in the first place. And his deep remorse and worry comes out and sobs as he approaches the den and calls out Daniel's name, hoping desperately that somehow, some way, Daniel might still be alive.

As for what the king actually says, verse 20 continues saying the king spoke and said to Daniel, Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you constantly serve, been able to deliver you from the lions? What an anguished question. What's striking here is that the king does not yet even know if Daniel is alive, yet there's remarkable truth coming out of his mouth. Notice how he refers to Daniel's God as the living God.

Speaking of Daniel's God is the true God who is living and active and powerful in contrast to the lifeless idols of the nations. It's amazing to hear the living God in reference to the God of Israel like this. Coming from the lips of a Gentile king. Yet he asked Daniel, whom he does not yet know is even alive yet, has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to deliver you from the lions?

So there's both faith and doubt in Darius's question. We see faith in his use of the present tense when he speaks of Daniel as one who constantly is serving literally his God, thus addressing Daniel as if he's alive and still serving his God. Yet we also see Darius asking Daniel if Daniel's God has been able to deliver him from the lions. So there is doubt in the king's heart.

But the mere fact that he's here on this morning and speaking into the void of this den to a Daniel that he cannot yet see indicates that there is faith mixed with his doubt. So Will Daniel answer? Or will he not Is Daniel alive? Or is he dead Come back next week and well, no, I'm kidding.

We honestly, as we're reading this story, we don't know yet because the writer has beautifully kept us in suspense. But wonder of wonders, look at verse 21. Then Daniel spoke to the king. O king, live forever.

Guys, there's a double dose of wonderful. For the king here in Daniel's words, and the first wonderful thing is that Daniel is alive and he's able to respond to the king's call. And the second wonderful thing, maybe the more wonderful thing is that Daniel would speak such kind words to the king, saying to him, O king, live forever. It is because of Darius's foolishness that Daniel is in the lion's den in the first place, and yet now this guilt-ridden, fearful king hears Daniel's voice speaking this incredible benediction of good favor from Daniel, saying, O king, live forever.

By the way, if you were in Daniel's position. And the king is calling out to you to see if you're alive or dead, would you be tempted to delay replying for just Just for a little bit. Just to make him squirm a little and to feel bad and have to call maybe a few times and maybe learn his lesson. I think I would be tempted to delay my response, but it doesn't seem that Daniel delays at all, but promptly and beautifully replies to the king with this beautiful benediction to put his heart at rest.

And I should point out here that this is the first time that Daniel speaks in this chapter. And these first words he speaks should leap off the page at us. The commentator John Walford says, and I quote, that most people in Daniel's predicament would have immediately cried out for deliverance from the lions, saying, get me out of here. That would have been their first words.

But Daniel doesn't speak this way. Other men in Daniel's situation might have said, yeah, I'm alive and then cursed the king. For putting him in the lion's den, but Daniel doesn't do this either. His first priority is to convey To the king that he's alive and that he wants the king to live forever.

This is crazy grace. From Daniel. To Darius Daniel continues in verse 22, saying, My God sent His angel and shut the lions' 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. Daniel is doing a few things here in verse 22.

1st of all, he's giving God all the glory for his deliverance, declaring that God sent His angel to be in the den with him and to shut the mouths of the lions, and The wording here implies God did more than that. In fact, the reality implies he did more than that. lions, after all, can have their mouths shut but then destroy you with their claws, right? So evidently this angel stayed by Daniel's side through the night and not only kept the lions' mouths closed, but also kept them from attacking Daniel with their claws in any way, shape or form.

Daniel then gives two reasons God chose to protect him in this way, saying, number 1, I was found innocent before him, before God. In the matter for which I have been judged and thrown into the lion's den, I was found innocent before God. And then number 2, toward you, O king, I have committed no crime. Now, on one level, Daniel did commit a crime in the sense that he violated the king's decree.

But you will remember that that decree was signed under false pretenses and under the influence of wicked men who lied to the king and who were intentionally working against the king's desires. To promote Daniel. So in reality, it was the conspirators who were disloyal to the king, not Daniel. This was an unrighteous law, and Daniel, who no doubt tried to abide by the law in every way he could.

In this case, had to disobey, but not out of disloyalty to the king. All in all, Daniel has lived through the night and is now speaking to the king, wishing him well and explaining how it was that God protected him through the night. thereby proving his innocence toward God and toward the king. As you can imagine, the king, upon hearing this, is beside himself with joy over Daniel's amazing deliverance from the lions.

But the king's joy regarding Daniel and his deliverance turns to fury. Against the men who tried to get Daniel killed, and this brings us to the 3rd development in the story of God bringing about a wonderful rescue for Darius through Daniel. Number 3, Darius brings Daniel out of the lion's den and has Daniel's accusers cast into the den. Observe what happens in 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. In verse 14, we saw how the king was greatly distressed, and here we learned that he's very pleased. And then orders Daniel to be taken out of the den, which his men do immediately.

And we don't know this, but if the king had to break the seals in order to get Daniel out, then his actions here would show that he no longer cares what anyone might think about his actions. The king is filled with boldness right now. The power of Daniel's God shown in his rescue of Daniel causes Darius to see these seals. As inconsequential compared to the authority of the living God who has acted in this way.

Or it's possible the fact that nothing is said about moving the stone to get Daniel out, that maybe the stone was moved by God. That's possible, though it is speculation. Remarkably, once Daniel is taken out of the den, they check him over and discover that no injury whatever was found on him. No claw marks, no teeth marks, no injury in any way was found on him.

And why was no injury found on him? Look at the end of verse 23, because he had trusted in his God. In other words, even though Daniel did not. I would imagine he prefer to be in this lion's den.

He trusted God while in the den. And because of his trust of God while in the den, God honored his faith and made sure that he was completely unharmed. It is because of the language that is used here in verse 23 tying Daniel's rescue to his faith or trust in God that the writer of Hebrews speaks in Hebrews 11:33 about those who, and I quote, by faith, shut the mouths of lions, unquote. So yes, God was the one who shut the mouths of the lions, but the writer of Hebrews feels comfortable saying that Daniel shut their mouths.

Through his faith in God. As for the wicked conspirators who tried to destroy Daniel. Well, God has a terrible plan for their lives, and so does the king. It's important for us to appreciate that these wicked men not only had wronged Daniel in what they did, but they also lied to the king and tried to deprive the king of his beloved Daniel.

And to prevent the king from promoting Daniel as the king intended to do. They were the ones who committed treasonous crimes against the king. And the king knows this now. He would have realized this as far back as verse 13.

So observe what is said in verse 24. The king then gave orders and they brought those men who had maliciously accused Daniel. And I would encourage you to just underline the word maliciously accused, and I'll say something about that in a minute. 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.

The Aramaic expression translated had maliciously accused. Literally means to eat the pieces of. Or devour These wicked conspirators sought to devour or eat the pieces of Daniel by accusing him before the king, and now the king is going to see to it that the lions will be able to eat the pieces of these men. And their families for their crime.

And we should realize that the throwing of these men into the lion's den is a part of God's rescue of Daniel, making sure that these wicked men will no longer be around to do evil against Daniel or the king. And evidently the lions. seem really hungry all of a sudden. And who can blame them?

After all, they've been staring at Daniel all night but unable to eat him. So the very second that these wicked men and their families are thrown into the den, the lions pounce on them before they even hit the ground, attacking them with such a frenzy that the text says that the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. And the way that the lions are devouring these men and their family members makes it clear that they, these lions did not leave Daniel alone the night before because maybe they weren't hungry.

No, they were hungry.

So hungry that they now attack these conspirators and their families before they can even hit the ground. I am sure Daniel witnessed this scene or at least heard the sounds, the awful sounds of the lions attacking these men and their families, and And Daniel felt freshly grateful for the horrific violence that God had saved him from. As powerful as these lions are, as deadly and vicious as they are capable of being, God tamed them while Daniel was in the den. Now admittedly, it's a terrible thing for us to read that the wives and children of the conspirators were thrown to the lions together with the men who plotted against Daniel, but this was actually the custom of the day in the Persian Empire.

As 1 4th century Roman historian said, and I quote, the law among the Persians was formidable. By which, on account of the guilt of one, all the kindred perish. As awful as this moment is. What happens to these conspirators, wives and children reminds us of the truth that, and this is to the men here this morning, that the decisions we men make have tremendous impact.

Upon our families, upon our wives and our children. Our society is full of wives and children who are being ravaged by lions. As a result of the sinful actions of the men. Who lead their families.

So I plead with you men to walk with Christ. To walk in humility and repentance. And belief in Christ and don't give the devil a foothold into your family. Here in our passage for today, Darius has these men and their families thrown to the lions, ensuring that The Persian Meo Persian version of.

Justice is done, but Darius is not finished. Daniel's God has been unspeakably good to him by rescuing his beloved Daniel from the lions, and Darius now wants to, to give expression to his awe of Daniel's God for not only delivering Daniel from death, but for delivering the king from his own foolishness. And from a lifetime of guilt that he would have carried if Daniel had died. And this brings us to the 4th development in the story of God bringing about a wonderful rescue for Darius through Daniel.

Development number 4, Darius delivers a decree calling upon all to fear the God of Daniel. He delivers a decree calling upon all to fear the God of Daniel. Observe what the king does in 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 The king is delivering here a benediction of peace. To all the people of his kingdom, he is telling them that he personally wants them to experience Shalam. The Aramaic word for peace, and he wants their peace to be.

Multiplied literally, and he is about to tell them what they must do to experience this abounding peace. Do, are you interested in experiencing abounding peace in your life? You want that? All right.

Listen to Darius here. Listen to his counsel regard, regarding how his subjects can experience. A multiplied piece in verse 26. I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom, men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel.

Wow. So evidently, Darius believes that the path to abounding peace involves fearing and trembling before the God of Daniel. Which means that the fear of God is not antithetical to peace but is in fact necessary for true abounding peace. Do you understand that?

You understand how that works. The whole sweep of the Bible teaches us that true peace is found. In learning to tremble and fear before the one true God, standing in awe of his greatness and power and holiness and justice and wrath, and then letting God move towards you and place his hand on your shoulder and say to you, I have sent my son to atone for your sins. And to bear in his own person.

My wrath that you deserve for your sins. For you to hear that from this God that you fear, and then to believe in His Son. And then to thereby allow God, who taught your heart to fear, to now relieve that fear through His Son. And then to forever thereafter stand in grateful awe of this awesome God who has given you this amazing grace.

Our society today has cast off the fear of God. Has that made us a less fearful society? No, we're more fearful. Than ever.

What we need is the fear of God to loom larger than all other fears and then to allow our hearts to receive grace from this God through His Son. To allay That fear in a righteous way that then puts all other fears in perspective. This is amazing wisdom coming from a Medo Persian king. Looking back at our text, why should men fear and tremble before the God of Daniel?

Darius continues in the second half of verse 26. Saying, 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. Man, that's a lot of truth. Notice these truths that Darius is teaching his subjects about Daniel's God.

The God of Daniel is the one and only living God. This God will endure forever. Earthly kings do not endure forever, they come and go. And this God has a kingdom, and it's a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and the dominion of his kingdom is going to go on and on and on forever and ever.

Now, when you hear Darius speaking all these great truths about God, you should stop and ponder, where did he get these truths? Where did he learn them? He certainly didn't learn them all in this single moment here in Daniel 6. Evidently, Daniel has been teaching him these truths about God in the preceding months as they have been working together.

In other words, Daniel has been evangelizing his boss. And Darius has been listening. Some of the truths that Darius speaks here are truths that Daniel had taught Nebuchadnezzar back in Daniel 2. So it seems that Daniel's been telling Darius the stories about Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great statue that was shattered by a stone.

A stone that represents the kingdom of God that will never end. Darius has been hearing all these truths, and now this miracle in the lion's den has served to him to put a seal on these truths. For this miracle serves as overwhelming proof to the heart of the king that the truths that Daniel has been teaching him are true. And now Darius himself is speaking all these truths in this decree that he delivers to everyone throughout his realm because he wants everyone in his kingdom to know these truths about Daniel's God so that they can fear this God and thereby come to experience abounding peace.

In verse 27, Darius then speaks about God to the people of his kingdom and says, and I want you to notice the language of salvation here. 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 delivers, rescues, delivered. This is filled with the language of salvation. This reference to delivering and rescuing and signs and wonders in heaven and on earth is likely a, a broad reference to God's past acts on behalf of his people Israel, which Daniel had no doubt taught the king about. The king is also expressing here how Daniel's God has rescued Daniel from the very lions that the king had.

Thrown him to Lions are incredibly powerful animals who can do enormous damage in a matter of seconds, and lions are wild. Yet God has no problem delivering Daniel from the power of these wild lions. And I might add that if God could deliver Daniel from the power of these lions, he can certainly deliver you. From the power of the devil.

And from the power of sin. So if you're here this morning and you need deliverance from the roaring lion who is seeking to devour you, God can accomplish that deliverance for you. If you need rescue from a sin that has overtaken you as Darius needed, God can rescue you from that sin through Jesus. All in all, these are remarkable theological confessions from Darius in a moment.

In which he is feeling an overwhelming flood of gratefulness to God for delivering him from his own devices by rescuing Daniel from the lions' den a day earlier, Darius had pridefully signed a decree demanding that everyone pray to him. Or be thrown to the lions and now here he is a day later, calling upon everyone to like don't, don't pray to me and don't fear me. Fear and tremble before Daniel's God who truly has power to do signs and wonders and deliver from lions. Does this confession from Darius represent a genuine conversion?

Of Darius Maybe so. Or maybe it's an important step toward that conversion. What we can know. Is that Darius has personally gone from the depths of guilt to the heights of joy.

On this particular morning from the depths of being trapped by his own devices into a complete deliverance, from thinking he had lost Daniel forever because of his own foolishness to now being reunited with his beloved Daniel, who is very much alive and still very much wishes the king well. And in the final verses of this chapter, the king is giving all the glory to Daniel's God and commanding all people to join him. And fearing and trembling before this great living God of Daniel.

Well, as you might imagine, things went.

Very well for Daniel after this moment, which would have redounded to the king's benefit, and this brings us to the 5th and final development in the story of God bringing about a wonderful rescue for Darius through Daniel. Number 5, Daniel enjoys success during the reign of Darius, even Cyrus. Daniel enjoys success during the reign of Darius, even Cyrus. Observe what is said in verse 8, the final verse of this chapter.

So this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus, the Persian. Notice those words, this, Daniel. This Daniel In other words, this Daniel who prayed when it was against the law to pray, this Daniel who prayed even when it meant that he would be thrown to the lions. This Daniel whom evil men try to destroy, but whom God delivered from the lions because he was innocent and righteous, this Daniel who provoked this beautiful decree that just now has issued forth from the king, calling upon all people everywhere to tremble before the God of Daniel, this Daniel.

Verse 28 says, enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus, the Persian. This success would have included Darius proceeding with his promotion of Daniel over all the commissioners and the satraps, which was his original intent. Making Daniel the second most powerful man in the empire underneath Darius. And with all the evil commissioners and satraps that were involved in the plot against Daniel now killed, Daniel would have a pretty free hand in picking their replacements with decent men of integrity.

Which would have set Daniel up for even greater success. And the result is that Daniel prospers, and because Daniel was always so devoted and faithful in his service to the king, Daniel's own prospering would have redounded to the benefit of Darius. According to verse 28, Daniel isn't just enjoying success, he is enjoying success in connection with the rain. Of Darius, meaning that his success.

Serve to enrich. The reign of Darius. 3 weeks ago, we talked about how we can read verse 28 in two different ways. We can read it in a way that understands Darius and Cyrus to be two different people.

And understanding Darius to be a man who is ruling underneath Cyrus. or we can read it as follows, and the grammar totally allows for this, and we even see this in one other place in the Old Testament. We can read it this way, this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius, that is in the reign of Cyrus, the Persian. And if we understand the text in this way, which would be my very, very slight leaning.

Then we would understand the writer to be letting us know that Darius and Cyrus are one and the same person. However you choose to interpret that matter, what is clear from this verse is that Daniel, who is now in his 80s, Finishes his life well and enjoys the blessing of God in the final years of his life, and all of that blessing redounded so graciously to the benefit of a king. Who had once put Daniel's life in jeopardy. This is the amazing, gracious goodness of God toward Daniel.

And the amazing gracious goodness of God towards a very grateful Darius. There's a lot for us to ponder as we come to the end of this chapter. just a few things very quickly. For starters, I imagine.

we've thought about the king's edict, to pray to him for 30 days and how that impacted Daniel, but think about how it would have impacted all of the Jews living. in the Mido-Persian Empire who are exiled there. The king's edict would mean that the Jews living in exile in this foreign land, that they would be thrown to the lions if they prayed to the God of Israel instead of to Darius. So imagine their quandary.

But by Daniel taking a brave stand and being thrown in the lion's den, but then coming through the lion's den unscathed, and then eliciting this amazing decree from the king to tremble before Daniel's God, Daniel has just freed up every Jew in the land to continue to pray to the God of Israel. Imagine how encouraging it must have been to the Jews living in exile to receive this decree from the king. To fear and tremble before the God of Daniel. And how inspired these Jews living in exile must have been to learn of Daniel's faithfulness and to see how God was so beautifully taking care of all of them, even in their exile.

Also, on another front, it's impossible to read this story, and I'm sure some of you have already gone here in your minds and not think of the resurrection accounts that we find in the Gospels. Daniel was placed in what was supposed to be his tomb with a stone rolled over the entrance of that and then sealed just as Jesus was placed in a tomb with a stone put over the entrance and then sealed. Yet after Daniel was placed in what was supposed to be his tomb at the break of dawn the next morning, Darius comes running to this tomb, quote unquote, and there discovers that Daniel is alive and he hears Daniel saying to him, O king, live forever.

Which points us to the greater moment when the women came to the tomb of Jesus at the break of dawn on the Sunday morning after Jesus' death on the cross, and they discovered that Jesus was not dead, but alive.

And then later that very day, Jesus appears for the first time to his anguished and guilt-ridden disciples, and his first words to them are what? Peace be to you. He says that to them twice. Thereby giving them a double dose of wonderful, the assurance that he's alive and amazingly that he wishes them well.

Jesus is not angry with his disciples for deserting him on the night of his arrest. He's not angry with Peter for denying him 3 times. He doesn't wanna talk about and complain about all the suffering he endured on the cross, like, man, you guys, you have no idea what I've gone through. Doesn't wanna talk about that.

He died for their sins. And for our sins, and he comes forth from his tomb, not saying, cursed be you all for your sins that put me there. But saying to us all, peace be. With you If we would but believe in him.

God rescued Daniel from the lions. Because Daniel was relatively innocent before God and before the king. God raised Jesus, the greater Daniel from the dead, because Jesus was perfectly innocent and guiltless in every way. And in rescuing Jesus from the tomb, God thereby rescues us who believe in Him from the guilt of our sins that put him there.

In this chapter, we learned that Darius was very pleased when he learned that Daniel was alive. And in the gospel accounts, we learn of the unspeakable joy of Jesus' disciples upon realizing that Jesus is alive and raised from the dead, and their joy over his resurrection teaches us to rejoice as well. So if you are here this morning and you have never believed in Jesus, I wanna point you to him this morning. Because of your sins and because of my sins, Jesus was crucified on a cross and shed his blood on that cross, and then was buried in a tomb, but the Father raised Jesus from the dead, and Jesus comes forth alive from his grave and says to you, Peace be with you.

If you will just look to me and believe in me for your salvation. Just as Daniel had a heart of goodwill toward Darius, Jesus has. He has a good heart, full of goodwill toward you. Just as Daniel said to Darius, O king, live forever.

Jesus would love to enable you to live forever. If you would believe in him. Darius did not deserve such grace from Daniel, but that's what he got from Daniel. And Jesus stands ready to give you an even greater grace today.

So, my message to you is be like Darius. And call out to Jesus, just as Darius called out to Daniel with an anguished voice, and Jesus will respond. To your call and say Live forever Peace be with you. Finally, I have to touch on this, as I mentioned earlier, this story in Daniel 6 is alluded to in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 33.

Where mention is made of how Daniel through faith shut the mouths of lions. That's what happened in this case, but we all know that things don't always go this way for those who trust God, right? Early in church history, there were Christians thrown to the lions and harmed by them, devoured by them. These Christians trusted God and they glorified God through their willingness to suffer death by lions, and their trust was no less than Daniel's trust.

So how things play out in a given situation. is dependent upon God's will in the matter. And it's simply up to us to trust him with whatever outcome. He chooses for us.

And having said that, we should probably appreciate how even Daniel himself might have hoped for better circumstances than what he got. I'm sure Daniel might have hoped that God would prevent him from going into the lions' den in the first place. But God didn't choose to do that. He lets Daniel get thrown.

Into the lion's den. But then he saved Daniel while in the lion's den. And he sent his angel to be with Daniel while in that den of lions. In our own lives, we may prefer to avoid hardships and trials, hoping that God might save us from those hardships and trials.

But God doesn't always do that, does he? Instead, he often chooses to be with us inside the hardships. And to save us through. The hardships In other words, God doesn't always save us from But in such moments, we can know that he will always save us through.

Amen. And he will be with us. Even in the valley of the shadow of death where we don't have to ever fear any evil, why? Because our good shepherd.

is with us. Just as he was with Miley Davis yesterday. Afternoon when she passed from this life. To the next And I don't know about you, but I think I could go through anything.

Even death itself, so long as I know. That God is with me Let's pray together. Lord, I'm looking in the faces of precious brothers and sisters who you have not chosen to save from Heartrending trials. You have chosen to allow them.

To go through those trials. And I pray that this morning that every heart in this room would just be encouraged. And the sweetness of the reality that. You are with us.

Even in our trials. And that you save us through those trials. causing them to accomplish good in us and growing us to be more like Jesus. And we're so thankful, Lord, that the day.

is going to come when you will save us completely and utterly from every hardship and trial. And usher us into eternal glory. Where there will be no death or sorrow. Or grieving or pain.

Of any sort. And may these realities. Comfort our hearts in the moments. In which we find ourselves when our hearts are bleeding.

And when we are reeling. From mind numbing. Hardship And feeling low and desperate before you. Come to your precious people, Lord.

And be fully God. To them And unleash the fullness of your good heart. Upon them And I pray, Lord, if there's any in this room today who have not. Cried out to you.

That they would. See and you, the savior that they most need. One who. Died for their sins and because of their sins.

And then Came back from the dead and says, Peace be with you. I love you and I would like to be your savior. And I pray that if there's any here today who have never yet Cried out to you. And calling upon you to be their savior, that this would be the moment when they would do just that.

We have a great God. The God of Daniel is a wonderful God, and he's our God too. And just as Darius was excited to deliver this decree to people throughout the entirety of his empire, may we be just as excited as he, as forgiven sinners whose savior has come back from the dead. To make you known.

To tell the world about you. And to call them to faith in you that they too might experience salvation and the forgiveness of their sins just As we have been able to. We ask all of these things, Lord, in the mighty name of Jesus, and all God's people said, Amen. in Matthew 28, Jesus delivers the great commission to, his disciples and to the church.

And says all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. And in obedience to this commission of Jesus Christ, we're gonna be baptizing Nobu Cheng this morning. Nobu is not being baptized today in order to be saved, but in order to honor Jesus Christ who has already saved him.

and he is going to be coming up right now to give us a testimony of how Jesus has saved him. Let's welcome our brother as he comes. Hello? Yeah.

Hi, my name is Nobu. it is just a miracle that I get to share my testimony to all of you today. I'm, I'm 30 years old and I grew up in a non-Christian household in Japan. I do have several opportunities.

To connect with Christian people throughout my life. My life before I was saved by Jesus Christ, I always had a void in my heart, and I did not have peace. I always pursue whatever my flesh desires. With my pride, I used to think, I do not need God in my life.

My envy brought selfishness, and my lust was out of control. Through the process, my void has gone deeper and Just darker as I put layers on my sins. There's a point that God had to stop me and humble me. I realized that what I deserve is hell.

I felt useless and there was nothing positive I could bring to this world. After the realization. God began to orchestrate in my spirit. He used my suffering.

And began to show signs that were there from my childhood to today. I ask God Why am I so useless? Why don't I feel loved in this world? Why don't I have peace?

God answered my question by gently guiding me to this church. And introduce me to who Jesus Christ is. In, on this Good Friday this year. Through the word of God have revealed the gospel to me.

He showed me his deep love and mercy towards me. That he wants to save me from my sins. I have rejoiced from this news, repent my sinfulness. And accept Jesus Christ as my savior.

As a gift from God this Easter. My favorite verse is Ephesians 5:8. For you were formerly darkness. But now, You are a light in the Lord.

Walk as children of light. I was 4 years old. When I heard this verse, when I first heard this verse. And now I realized that God was always with me.

And a desire me to walk as his servant. What a comfort that he, just God shows his love and his work in such a way. And praise the Lord for all He has done. Thank you very much for witness my testimony today.

God is good, Amen. Yeah, thank you, Nobu. as our worship team comes up, to get ready to lead us in the closing song, let's, pray, together for our new brother in Christ. Let's pray.

Father, we, are so thankful for your work of salvation in Nobu's life. We're so thankful for the testimony that he has shared with us, this morning and How what he has shared with us points us so beautifully to you, Lord Jesus, reminding us of what a great and worthy, beautiful savior you are, so worthy of our trust. We pray for your blessing on Nobu on the road ahead. We ask for you to be his good shepherd.

And to protect him from the evil one. We ask you to grow him strong in you and to make him a powerful beacon of light for all whose lives he touches, and he has touched all of our lives today. We ask Lord, that you would accomplish great and eternal good through this dear brother in Christ. Bless him today in a special way.

May this be a day of great memory for him. That would never be forgotten as he takes the step of obedience to you and seeks to give honor and glory to your name. Through being baptized today. We ask Lord that you would look upon many others with your great mercy and that you would save them.

Around the world and through the ministry of Bible believing churches in this country and, and other nations of the world and through the ministry of this church. Use our witness as a congregation to point many to you and to help. Men and women define salvation through Jesus. We ask these things, Lord, with great thankfulness and our hearts.

And we ask them in the mighty name of our Savior Jesus Christ. And all God's people said, Amen.