Five Words on Daniel (Part 1 of 2)

About someone in your life you look up to someone you try to emulate today untruthful life. Alastair beg points us to a man in the Old Testament whose commitment to godliness and integrity makes him a worthy role model for all of us. This is part of a series called jars of Clay today were in the book of Daniel chapter 6, most of us know the story of Daniel.

I assume we certainly know the airplane days of how he was gathered up and taken away into captivity. He was part of a select group of outstanding young men how he purposed in his heart that he would not engage in defilement how his name was changed. His education was changed and so many things were changed in his life and get through it all. Distance by many miles from familiarity and from family Daniel stands out as a man of integrity in the midst of the declension of his day. By the time we arrive at the sixth chapter of Daniel. Many years have passed Daniel's accent would no longer be distinguishable. Probably from the people around him, he would have watched his family all grow up and mature in what was an alien context. His loyalty within the framework and structure of this environment had been unquestionable over many years now and he was a man of consistency, consistency, which he had displayed through a succession of kingdoms coming and going. He had served under Nebuchadnezzar and Bell Shatzer and now he was serving under the rule of Darius, we can probably safely estimate that by this time Daniel was 70 or 80 years old seems so far away. Does it not, I will Paul Simon just one more time for you, old friends, old friends sit on their part. Revenge like bookends newspaper blown through the grass balls on the brown toes of the high shoes of the old friends. Can you imagine us. Years from today sharing a park bench quietly how terribly strange to be 70 old friends is a yes he is losing it a little bit. He's obviously moving in that direction himself.

After all, he should know that we are a long way from that list and you're a lot closer than you realize. Let me tell you, and the consistency of Daniel and the ages of 70 and 80. In those decades was directly related to the choices that he made when he was your age tonight.

We might've expected the Daniel, by this stage, was living somewhere in the gatehouse of the Royal Palace. When people came on tours. You know the sort of as the six century BC coach party trips. They would come down the road and expect to see Daniel pottering around in the garden somewhere and they would crane their necks out of the out of the charioteers coaching they were looking trying CM no such picture is accurate. He was like Caleb here. I am still alive today 85 years old. Give me this mountain I'm ready for more. I'm ready for action. Still going strong, still marked by these elements of commitment and tonight. Those of us who are a little younger who were born a little later discover that God is able to save and keep through these early days.

Some of his in our middle years are able to give testimony to God's goodness and his faithfulness but we're looking now for those who run a little farther around the track were looking for those who are closer to resting the tape and we're looking for men and for women who will finish well.

It is said that few individuals finish well at a little grand to Olympic gold in the 1924 Olympics, but was better known for his unwillingness to run in the heats because they fell on the Lord's day was once asked what was the secret to his success in running the 400 m and he replied the secret of my success in the 400 m is that I run the first 200 as hard as I can. Then for the second, 200, with God's help I run harder and when the Edinburgh evening Post evening use I beg your pardon wrote concerning his victory in Paris. They said it was the last 50 m. That meant the making or the breaking of little the last 50 m. How many story details are there in the course of church history of people who in the last 50 m somehow or another, capitulated, fell apart gave up keeled over disintegrated, but not Daniel. True to the end.

Now I have five words for you to try and summarize this. I'll go through them as quickly as I number one.

Daniel is introduced to is someone who was distinguished if you have an NIV in front of you. You'll find the word in the third verse now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps structure of government is there for you as you scan the opening verses 120 satraps whose responsibility extended to various parts of the kingdom. They in turn were under the jurisdiction of three men. The job of each one was to ensure that the King didn't suffer loss presumably not suffering the loss of revenue, not suffering the loss of little pieces of territory out and on the fringe of the Empire. They were to be man of integrity guarding the king's interest in what we are told is that although these fellows were possessed of certain characteristics, Daniel stood head and shoulders above them. He was a man of exceptional capabilities and so much so that the king had decided that all of the three. He was the man to become his Prime Minister.

That's what it says in verse three the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. He had distinguished himself by two things largely by the quality of his life. The quality factor. Actually, the quality factors he was exceptional when you read the early chapters of Daniel. You know that he had an extraordinary capacity for facing and overcoming difficulties. He had come up trumps on numerous occasions by his ability to explain dreams he had uncanny wisdom which he brought to bear upon particular circumstances in which it enabled him to give practical judgments which actually alter the course of human history. His colleagues around him were jealous of him, they knew this to be true of him and they knew that they couldn't catch him out as they wanted to do on the basis of the responsibilities of his jaw in the second half of verse four were told they could find no corruption in him because he was trustworthy, and neither corrupt nor negligent in verses 6 to 9 provide us with a record of these callings of his going to persuade the king to issue an edict that would be short enough for them to be able to cope with and long enough to give them time to trap Daniel and the reason they wanted to trap him was simply so that he didn't get the top job they go into the king verse six tells us en masse. There's always safety in numbers.

In a show of solidarity. They are less than truthful the run through the ranks of the people who think this is a great idea if Darius had had his thinking cap on. He would have said, is Daniel involved in this but he wasn't thinking perhaps was considering other alum and so he was overwhelmed by the people that came in numbers and so they were able to manipulate the king, they appealed to his Eagle and they told him listen I want you to issue this edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any God or man. During the next 30 days notice the next little phrase except to you okay of your king that probably feels really good and make you feel really kingly, you know we want to make sure that nobody's doing anything towards any God or any other man except you Darius. These individuals are cooler calculated their spite and their hatred is deep-seated and they are responding to the quality factor in Daniel's life.

Also, they are responding to the integrity factor.

The kind of positions that Daniel enjoyed to this point in his life were all susceptible to corruption into graph.

If he had been a rascal and he had been a bad character, then by this time he could have stashed a ton of money but he had distinguished himself by saying no to all kinds of dishonesty and he was blameless. He was neither negligent nor was he correct in other words, there was no gap between his public activities in his private life he didn't cheat at work and he didn't cheat at home. He didn't cheat on his wife. He didn't cheat on his tests and he just flat out didn't cheat I don't know what contemporary politics would've done with Daniel.

Do you goodness gracious, they would have said who is this individual.

You mean to tell me that every stone we are and to overturn every investigative journalistic venture. We engage upon reveals the quality and integrity of his life that this man somehow or another has a crystal clear approach to living that he is a man consumed with a passion for purity in terms of his morality, and in terms of his integrity, and in terms of the quality of his existence. Yes, yes, Daniel realized that God was interested in is interested.

First of all, with the worker and then with the work he is doing. Daniel is the embodiment of Micah 68.

He has showed you a man what is good and what is the Lord require of you but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God and people order said, I wonder who's doing that and the answer would have been.

There is one fellow and his name is Daniel.

He was a man of stability in a shaky world amount of purity and a dusty world amount of integrity in a shady world therefore is no surprise to see why such a man would be the king's choice for such a key position and we might assume that Daniel would be loved and admired by all, but not soul. Hence, the plot second word is despised.

He was, not simply distinguish but he was despised, the quality of Daniel's life was more than matched by the jealousy of his colleagues because he was in line for the top job they tried to discredit him in the conduct of government affairs. But as you will see in verse five. They drew a blank white because in his day-to-day affairs. Daniel was displaying the characteristics of godliness like what like punctuality, respect, attention to detail, kindliness, honesty do you and I show such attention to detail in our everyday activities and when they overturned the details of Daniel's everyday activity. They found that it went right to the heart of the man and consequently they despised what was the basis for their spite and for their hatred. Daniel hadn't done anything to them. Daniel hadn't trampled on them on his way to the top.

Daniel was just doing a good job. Indeed, if he had trampled on them in the way to the top, there would have no be no reason for most of them to be concerned because that was the modus operandi of so many of them at that time and did remain so in public and political life. So why did they despise him in the leg. Daniel say Daniel, you're a good guy for this.

Let me tell you why.

What they couldn't handle in Daniel was his unswerving commitment to this God of his the couldn't handle the fact that he lived in such a way as to display an unshakable conviction as to the power and the might and the unity of his God it was not that these bare friends and colleagues were irreligious. It was not that they were had no interest in God and did a lot of interest in God's but they didn't like this fanaticism on Daniel's part, he would have been very happy of Daniel was prepared to succumb to the notion that what he was worshiping was simply one among many, but he wouldn't. And as we'll see in just a moment when he got down with his knees on the ground in his face towards Jerusalem wasn't simply going through a program of religious exercises he was declaring his conviction, the God of Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob was the final and ultimate truth and therefore left no room for the other religions of the world and you catch that all these generations later to maintain such a posture remains equally and totally unacceptable that in a culture that is embraced pluralism, relativism and syncretism where tolerance has been exalted above truth to put truth on the agenda at the expense of apparent tolerance is to create the only crime that is now punishable may say to you young people. If you're prepared to walk out from the walls of this institution and proclaim that Jesus is the good Shepherd and all who ever came before them are thieves and robbers.

If you are prepared to declare that Jesus Christ is along the way the truth and the life.

If you are prepared to affirm.

In short, with the apostles and ask for that.

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven among man whereby we must be saved. If you are prepared to give your life and unstinting way with a passion for the purity of the gospel. Then keep your armor on, and be prepared for to live with that kind of distinction will be to bring that kind of despite surely, Jesus meant something when he said, Blessed are you when men will persecute you and hate you and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake is not in the Bible for us to imagine that's in the Bible for us to experience not to go out with a persecution complex and seek to have people not like us, but to be prepared to be unequivocal in our commitment to the issues of the gospel Daniel UC was framed. They hated them. They plotted against him because he was a bad fellow, but because he stood for truth. He loved what God loved and he lived it out. The hatred that is revealed against them is surely what Paul refers to in two Thessalonians, when he talks about the mystery of lawlessness. Third word disciplined.

He was distinguished he was despised.

He was disciplined.

Actually, this characteristic of Daniel's life was the foundation of their plot. They knew that they could count on one thing in Daniel and that is that he would be absolutely consistent. I can imagine Daniel if we'd see him you know if he had a dog I bet he walked it at the exact same time every day. I think he was that kind of guy you know you would be able to set your watch by Daniel coming around the blog or there is Daniel. I saw them walking the dog and must be 830 you know he be that kind of man is sure where to get that from and I just made it up. I mean we can check.

We can check in. Heaven is just conjecture is an observation. The fact of the matter is if his commitment had been spasmodic if Daniel would be more like me. Maybe more like you if his life had been marred by bursts of enthusiasm followed by chronic inertia. They had never been sure of catching how many times you started an exercise program. Be honest, I many times and you start a program where you go to memorize every book in the Bible every verse in the Bible.

Be honest, right. Okay fine so we know the difference between absolute consistency and burst of enthusiasm followed by chronic inertia.

Some of our Christian lives are like human cannonballs. You know a great surge of energy would come flying out the end of the thing and fall Internet and lie there for days on end.

Somehow, rejoicing in the fact that we got propelled out the mouth of the canon you know it was a good feeling for a while. We must do that again sometime.

While I wasn't Daniel he was like a like a Rolls-Royce engine on a 747. Once they cranked him up. He just kept going and going and going and going and so his friend said getting on the basis of his consistency.

So they show up at his house Bible is open, you see it there in verse 11, they went as a group, these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.

They weren't surprised they knew they would. So they shoot off back to the king, and so they said you know we want to remind you of your royal decree which one the one you know that we thought out for you a few days ago where you learn to shut everything down for 30 days and eventually said oh yeah I'm with you.

I've got that and having caught Daniel know the catch.

The king, they dropped the bomb. They say, by the way, you know you said that anybody who wasn't doing this would be thrown in the Lions den. The king says your you're dead right. The decree stands can imagine just kind of waking up to it in accordance with the laws of the merged and the portions which cannot be revealed.

Then they said to the king.

Hey Daniel. Daniel is one of the exiles from Judah pays no attention to you. Okay or to the decree. In fact, he still prays three times a day is not paying attention to you that wasn't true. I wonder if any of us have the impression that Daniel's activity in prayer was some kind of reaction is him to the king's edict. In other words, he became a sort of political insurrectionist.

As a result of what had suddenly come down from the equivalent of Washington DC as only it said something that he didn't like any set out some sort that out what I'm going to do is I'll go to my house. I got a great big bay window at outset of my bay window and I'm sure the mild pre-three times a day.

Was it a display of defiance. After all, it would be one thing for him to pray briefly to pray quietly but with the end windows open and three times a day as something special. Don't you think what actually that perception is absolutely false. In most of the little books that and that the low Bible books with a picture of Daniel praying are completely bogus.

If you pardon me, the history and architecture of the time points to the fight that Daniel's house would've been as other houses and the windows were not a ground-level.

The windows were up high and not only were they applied, but they were small and the reason they were small enough high was to protect from the heat and from the robbers there for the picture is not so much of Daniel posturing in public as it is of the evil hearts of these characters who invaded his legitimate privacy and brines and I would of his routine activity. You notice very carefully that for Daniel when the crisis hit. It did not create his disciplined lifestyle. It revealed when crisis hits a marriage. It reveals the strength of the marriage when Kerr RR otherwise when crisis hits her school.

It reveals the character and caliber of the leadership of the school or the student body, whatever it might be. It reveals what is there. All yes it has an impact, yes it does create certain things, but the first thing it does is it shows up what's there and when the crisis hit. It showed up where Daniel wants crisis reveals character to wonderful perspective, especially when we think about being in the middle of challenging circumstances ourselves. Your listing to Truth for Life and a message from Alastair big titled five words on Daniel from a series called jars of Clay. If you been enjoying the study.

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