Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing, a biblical faith-filled vision for your life. God Pro vides. Pro means before is in prologue. Vid, VID, it means to see, as in video. God provide provides he sees before.
means that God in his limitless for division already knows what you need. and he knows what is best.
so he has already gone before you to make provision. Therefore God is unworried about your future. because he has already been in your future preparing the way providing God bless you to day. to see as Jesus sees. He sees a Father who always provides.
Let not your heart be anxious. God always Provides. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright. One of the ironies of this story. As you can't say for sure, because it doesn't exactly describe what Daniel was doing all night long with the lions, but we can infer.
that Daniel in the lion's den had a much more peaceful night than did the king. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt. Excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series called Daniel, as presented at Renolda Church in North Carolina.
If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Allen Reich Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at pastorallen.org or call 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860.
More on that later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright. I'm going to have you in Daniel chapter 6 today. I'm grieving a little bit because we're ending a bunch of messages on Daniel.
One day I'll come back. Yeah. For today, we'll say goodbye to Daniel with one of the most famous stories, not only from Daniel, but in all of the Bible. Then I hope today that you'll see in a whole new way.
So, while you're fighting Daniel, I want to give you another text that is foundational to understanding the symbol of the story of Daniel in the lion's den. And that is 1 Peter, you need not turn there, chapter 5, verse 6. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you. casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Be sober-minded.
Be watchful. your adversary the devil, Prowls around like a roaring lion. seeking someone to devour. Resist him? Firm in your faith.
Knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world, and after you've suffered a little while, the God of all grace. Who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion. Forever. And forever.
Amen. Did you ever hear about the uh Guy that had the side show at the carnival. He'd call out, he said, come one and all and see the lion. Lying down with the lamb. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a real lion and a real lamb in the same cage, lying down next to one another.
People pay their little bit, come in and see it. And one day one of the sideshow owner's friends came in and saw it. And sure enough, there was a lion and a lamb, a real lion, a real lamb, lying there peacefully in the cage together. And his friend said, This is astounding. The Bible has come to life.
He said, How do you do this? And the owner said, it's not that hard. All you gotta do is put a fresh lamb in there every so often. Are you ready for some good news today? Oh, come on now.
I love lamb. Chops. I like lamb chops. Anyway, um Are you ready for some good news today? We are in a spiritual battle.
And Satan, whose name literally means the accuser. Is at work in this spiritual battle to seek to accuse the people of God. such that we would not only sabotage ourselves, but disqualify ourselves. and is relentlessly trying to push us either towards uh religion or rebellion. And the gospel is a whole different way, a new and living way, the writer of Hebrews says.
And in this new and living way, Jesus has come. And he has taken the penalty. for sin so that justice has been executed. And all those who believe in Jesus are reckoned as if they are blameless. I give you the good news in the words of Samuel Whitlock Gandhi's nineteenth century hymn What though the accuser roar of ills that I have done, I know them well and thousands more.
Jehovah findeth None. Daniel chapter six It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps to be throughout the whole kingdom, and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. Then this Daniel became distinguished among all the other presidents and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. Let's pause here. Set the context of this.
Daniel is now 80 years old. He has been a favored foreigner in the foreign courts of the rulers of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar had completely sacked, destroyed Jerusalem, the temple, and had deported all of its inhabitants. And Daniel was amongst the first of those who had come, and he had found favor in the court. And there had been many instances of God's grace at work in his life, and he had the amazing prophetic ability to interpret dreams and see visions, and the Lord had done great things through him.
But after Belshazzar, the ruler of Babylon in 539, had an unholy feast, and the handwriting of God was on the wall that the kingdom was going to fall, and that very night Belshazzar and Babylon fell. And the new empire, Persia, took over. It would be the policy of Persia under King Cyrus to return those that had been deported back to their homelands. And so Persia would rule the known world, but the inhabitants of Jerusalem would be allowed to go back and ultimately to rebuild the city walls and to rebuild their temple. In fact, the scripture talks about Cyrus as God's anointed one, even though Cyrus is a seemingly pagan ruler, because God can use anyone He wants to for his purposes.
And Cyrus was his appointed one.
Now, what's a little bit confusing here is there's much scholarly discussion about who is Darius in chapter 6, verse 1. Darius the Mede. And some people say this is another name for Cyrus of Persia. There's some rather sophisticated arguments for why that may be the case. Others say no, this is one who was appointed as a governor under Cyrus.
So we're not absolutely sure exactly who Darius is, but he is the ruler at this point in 539 over a kingdom in which he sets up a new sort of system of presidents and satraps. And Daniel is so excellent. and uh winsome He finds favor with Darius, and Darius is planning to exalt him over all of the other amongst his council.
So, at verse 4, the presidents of Satrap sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault because he was faithful. And no error or fault was found in him. Then these men said, We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.
So what's happening here is basic jealousy. The other looking and saying, who is this exile? Who is this one who's not even like us? He's not even from here. And why is he getting this great position of authority?
And they began to hate him, and they began to conspire. And this is the way the conspiracy unfolds. Verse 6. The presidents of the satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, O King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors, are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction that whoever makes petition to any God or man for 30 days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.
Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked. Therefore, King Darius signed the document and the injunction.
So here's what they've done: they have persuaded the king to write into law that anyone who brings any sort of petition to any god needs to do so through King Darius. And most scholars would agree this is not really Darius trying to set himself up as a god, but a seemingly effective political strategy for uniting the new Meadow-Persian kingdom so that all of these peoples would be united under one authority, Darius. And so it's not actually forbidding them to pray to other gods, but it must come through Darius as if he is the intermediary. And so this is set into law. Darius is convinced: well, this seems like a reasonable plan for the next 30 days.
Verse 10, When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open towards Jerusalem. And he got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. These men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. And they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, O king, did you not sign an injunction that anyone who makes a petition to any God or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? And the king answered and said, The thing stands fast according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.
Let me just pause here to encourage you to make a mental note. of seeing that repetition of this statement about the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked, that there's a big emphasis here on the irrevocable nature of the law, that the law has to stand. Then they answered and said, Verse thirteen, said before the king, Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you've signed, but makes his petition three times a day. And then the king heard these words, he was much distressed, and set his mind to deliver Daniel. You've got to remember, he loved Daniel.
He was going to make Daniel his number one right-hand man. And he labored till the sun went down. To rescue him. He's trying to think of some way to get out of this. And then the men came by agreement to the king, and they said to the king, Know, O king, that it's the law of the Medes and Persians.
Here it is again: that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed. Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, May your God who Whom you serve continually, deliver you. And the stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet. and with the signet of its lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting And no diversions were brought to him. That that really that word means no entertainment, no minstrels, no songsters, no Netflix, no PlayStation. Nothing was brought to entertain him, and sleep fled from him. One of the ironies of this story. as you can't say for sure because it doesn't exactly describe what Daniel was doing all night long with the lions, but we can infer that Daniel in the lion's den had a much more peaceful night than did the king.
Then At break of day the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you serve continually been able to deliver you from the lions? Imagine his surprise when Daniel said to the king, O king, live forever My God. sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth.
And they have not harmed me because I was found blameless before him, and also before you, O king, I've done no harm. Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den.
So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions, they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones to pieces, just confirming that. It was a real miracle that they weren't fat, lazy, overfed lions. They actually were hungry.
And then King Darish wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth, Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree in all my royal dominion that people are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel. And then Daniel gets promoted. It's just a fantastic story. It is one of the greatest stories in the Bible.
It's one of the greatest stories in history. Every Sunday school child has read and heard about this story. And because it's so well known, it's also preached often. And Sometimes, after, usually, after I've already prepared most of my message, I'll go and I'll see. What have other people preached on a text?
And you can find any number of sermons on Daniel online that you would like to find. And most of them, I'd say ninety eight percent of all the sermons that you will read on Daniel, in one way or another, essentially have this as their main point. Be more like Daniel. Here are some examples of them. Here's one that was one of the highest-ranked ones on one website.
Have the three points. Choose character over comfort. Choose discipline over disorder. And choose love. Over life.
Choose character. Instead of worrying about how comfortable you are in life, just focus on your character. Focus your life on disciplines like prayer, and don't let yourself have a disorderly life. And choose love for God over love for your own life, and things will go well for you. That was one of the popular ones.
Another said: In public, purity should be your goal. I liked this one because Daniel was 80 years old at the time.
Somebody's got one sermon that was on, said, Stay positive, whatever your age. Yeah. I want to go on record saying I agree with that principle. No matter your age, stay positive. Um yes.
Copy! And um And yet, I think that this story is about a little bit more than that, don't you? I don't think Jesus died for us and gave us this great and glorious gospel so that we could tell people on Sunday morning, stay positive regardless of your age. Other sermons were about prayer. Pray like Daniel.
Pray three times a day. Pray without ceasing.
Some of them were on nonviolent resistance.
Some were about practicing your faith. Basically, quote, one said, We need more Daniels. We need more people who are willing to open their windows and honor him before a watching world. And I agree, we do need more of that. And another says, look at how he gives thanks.
He gives thanks so often and says, quote, here's a good test of the depth of your prayer life. How much of your time and energy in prayer is spent complaining about the circumstances of your life and asking for things to be different? And how much is spent giving thanks for God's overwhelming goodness? And honestly, after you read about 10 of these online, you just start going, yeah. No wonder the lions devouring me.
I'm nothing like Daniel. You see, telling people they ought to be more like Daniel. It doesn't make them more like Daniel. And in fact a matter Moralism and moralistic ways of reading the Bible. cause a great harm.
What's wrong with what I'd say moralistic reading of the Bible? is It has several different harms. First, it misses totally what the Bible says. is all about. The Bible, yes, is chock full of divine wisdom.
and we do well to heed that wisdom, and walk in its ways. But the Bible is not primarily a set of instructions about how you should live.
Sometimes people look at the Bible as if you just apply all of these instructions for godly living, and that's a secret to how it will go well for you.
Now there is a lot of secret wisdom in the Bible. But the Bible is not a set of instructions about how you ought to live. The Bible is a story about Jesus Christ. It's a story about the great redemptive purposes of God. From the beginning Until the end.
It is about the majesty and glory of a king who is a king. Who is so wise that though no one else could have figured it out, He found a way. to not violate his own justice. or law. to bring punishment against sin.
And at the same time, deliver his people from their sin and take them into glory with him. It is the most incredible story. And so when you read the Bible, You read the Bible first saying, where does this story fit into the big story? How does this story, through its good news, lead me to greater faith, joy, and obedience? The other problem with moralism and moralistic ways of reading the Bible is it doesn't build faith.
Because if you say, if we could all be good like Daniel, then God would really be with us. It is in the end a discouraging word. Because who can be that righteous? Who who can just calmly Just every time there's a major threat against your life, if you just would be more secretive about your prayer life, just go and be open. I mean, who is going to be so righteous as all of that?
But furthermore, it misses the whole point of Jesus' coming. Because if you announce that if you'll be good like Daniel, then God will be with you, you have entirely missed the point of the gospel. Because the point of the gospel is that Jesus Christ came at exactly the right time for the ungodly. The whole point of the gospel is that the Lord, in his intense, unquenchable love, was. Was infinitely attracted to you despite your sin.
And even further, Jesus says, I'm like a physician, and I've come for the sick. The Gospel is not a story about the people that were already righteous, and therefore God came and blessed them and delivered them from the lion's den. The story of the gospel is about how the lion is roaring, but God did something to shut the lion's mouth. Alan Wright. And today's teaching, Shutting the Mouth of the Roaring Lion.
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Now we are in our final days of offering this special product. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. Or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Alan, this is one of the most familiar stories of scripture.
If you had to just pick out a few that just about everybody knows, you got Adam and Eve, you got Noah in the Ark, you got the Ten Commandments, you've got Daniel in the lion's den, right? One of the greatest stories, and any school, Sunday school child has heard the story. And it's a great story, Daniel, just in the value of. Seeing the miraculous power of God. But this story, Daniel, more than any other in all of the Daniel narrative, this story reminds us that all of Daniel's narrative, all the big story, is always pointing us to Christ.
For there was another one who was put into a tomb. It was sealed by a stone. who the lion, our accuser, wanted to devour. but instead emerged victoriously On that first Easter day. What a great picture, ultimately, not just of Daniel the Lyons then, but Jesus who emerges out of the tomb.
Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
