This is Connect with Skip-Heitzig. Thanks for joining us for today's program. At Connect with Skip, our mission is to help you connect with God's Word in a deeper way and see how it applies to everyday life. That's why we make Bible teaching like today's available to you and people all around the world, on radio, online, and through resources that equip you to grow in your faith. One great way to do that is by taking the 30K 30-day challenge, a free daily email journey through the New Testament.
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Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skiff Heitzig. Would you turn in your Bibles, please, to Daniel chapter 6? Daniel chapter 6. I want to talk to you today about Faithfulness. Frayfulness is One of the supreme attributes.
Whether it's in a marriage, whether it's in business, whether it's in friendship. In Proverbs chapter 20.
Solomon said, Most men will proclaim each his own goodness. But who can find A faithful man. Who can find a faithful man or a faithful woman? That's typically an attribute we assign to God. We say, Great is thy faithfulness.
But again, the question: who can find a faithful man? There was a husband who was faithful to his wife, loved his wife dearly, but. His wife is a jealous woman. and always eyed him suspiciously and accused him of Bad behavior. He worked at an office, wore suits every day.
When he would come home in the evening, and if he had a blonde hair on his suit, she would accuse him of having a fling with a blonde in the office. Honey, it never happened. It would never be true. I love you. I'm completely, totally faithful and committed to you.
But she was just that jealous type. If he came home with a red hair on his coat or a brown hair or black hair, same thing. She'd accuse him.
So finally he wised up and he bought a little lint brush to keep in his car.
So he cleaned his suit one day, came in spotless. And She examined his suit. Not a hair on it. He bent down to kiss her thinking she'd be so relieved And she pushed her hand and said, Get away from me. I can't believe it.
You're having a fling with a bald woman. Who can find a faithful man? We ask that question every time a sports hero falls or a leader fails. Where is there somebody who is faithful? God found a faithful man in Moses in Numbers 12.
God says he, Moses, is faithful in all my house. Nehemiah found a faithful man in a leader by the name of Hananiah in Jerusalem. He described him as a faithful man who feared God more than most. Faithful. In the New Testament, Jesus spoke about a faithful and wise servant.
Who was able to assume control over all of his master's goods? And Jesus used the parable. And he said, Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful. Over these small areas I will make you ruler over ten cities.
In Yellowstone National Park, the most famous attraction is a geyser called. Old faithful. It's not the biggest geyser in the park. It's not the most powerful geyser. But it is the Biggest tourist attraction because of its regularity, its consistency.
You can count on old faithful. to go off at the right time. Of all of the attributes the people may possess, be it genius or competence, faithfulness always is the top of the list. As one leader said, The greatest ability is dependability.
Well, Daniel chapter 6, I'm tempted to go through it all because of the great story, but I'm going to divide it up into two and just look at the first few verses with you today because our focus is going to be on Daniel, who was faithful. In fact, that would be a word that sums up his life. He was a faithful man. And today, I want to look at his life like a walled city, a city with four ancient walls, walls of faithfulness. Daniel was faithful consistently.
Daniel was faithful professionally. Daniel was faithful under scrutiny. And Daniel was faithful spiritually.
So that is, over time, he was faithful to his boss, to his country, and to his God. And we'll read down from verse one to about verse 15 in total this morning. Go finish the rest of it next time. But let me just tell you what's happening, because you read of a new king. There has been a kingdom change.
They're There is new administration. Nebuchadnezzar's dynasty, even Belshazzar, is all gone. The kingdom has fallen to the Medes and the Persians. And we're introduced at the end of chapter five to a character named Darius. The Mead.
Darius the Mede We know historically the real ruler was Cyrus the Persian king, but he used Darius, also in history known as Gobrius or Gubaru, depending on what source you read, as the viceroy. And thus the de facto king of Babylon to rule this vast region.
So there has been what Nebuchadnezzar thought was impossible. Babylon has fallen. And a new kingdom has arisen, even as Daniel predicted in chapter 2. The arms and chest of silver, the head of gold is gone, and now the Medo-Persian Empire is fully in control. But our focus isn't on the Medo-Persian Empire.
It's not even on Darius the Mede. The real focus is on a character described in verse 4 as being. Faithful. And that is Daniel.
So let's look at our text and look at the first couple of verses and see how Daniel was faithful consistently. It pleased Darius. To set over the kingdom 120 satraps. Just such a weird word, satraps. I'll explain what they are in just a moment.
to be over the whole kingdom. And over these, that is, over these set traps. Three governors, of whom Daniel was one. That the satraps might give an account to them so that the king would suffer. No laws.
Daniel was one of three chiefs of staff, administrative governors, over 120,000. princes or provincial rulers, territorial rulers. That's the word satrap. In the Aramaic satrapies, it's even worse.
So these were regional rulers who all gave an account to three guys in charge, and Daniel was one of them. Here's what's interesting. Daniel in this chapter is about eighty-five years old. He's been in Babylon for over about 70 years. The captivity is about up.
So, almost 70 years, Daniel has lived since he was a teenager. He's still in Babylon. He was the teenager in chapter one. Who purposed in his heart not to defile himself with a portion of the king's delicacies, you remember? And six kings have come, and six kings have gone, and one kingdom has left, and another kingdom has arisen.
And Daniel is still there. He is not in abstentia. He's 85 years old, and he's still on the job. Faithful. Serving the Lord in all of these kings and in two of these nations, one after the other.
You see, faithfulness isn't doing the right thing once. Faithfulness is doing the right thing over and over and over and over. And Daniel is that man. When William Carey, who became the great missionary to India, Announced that he wanted to go overseas and serve the Lord on the mission field. His dad wasn't too stoked.
His dad tried to dissuade him and. Say you're not intellectually qualified, you don't know the Indian languages, you don't know the history, you don't know the culture. You shouldn't go. To which William Carey responded, but I can plod. Plod.
I can just put one foot in front of the other and I can plod along. Oh, the wonderful things God has wrought through faithful men and women who just put one foot in front of the other and plod along faithfully and consistently over time. Here's what I like: Daniel's 85 and he's not retired. I'm not saying it's bad to retire, but I just admire a guy who's 85 and. In our culture, We would want to put Daniel in a retirement home.
In our culture that reveres the young, And doesn't pay so much attention to the aged, unfortunately, that's where all the wisdom lies. Daniel is still very, very active, very much at work in this kingdom. Did you know that Thomas Edison at 90 was still inventing things? Frank Lloyd Wright at 90 was still drawing things. Michelangelo at 89 painted his most famous work still hanging in the Sistine Chapel called The Last Judgment on one of the great walls of that chapel.
John Wesley, at 88, could still preach forcefully and articulately after having traveled 250,000 miles in his lifetime. By horse, After preaching 4,000 sermons and writing volume after volume after volume. 88 still going strong. This year, Billy Graham turns 95. You know what he's been doing lately?
Writing another book. And preparing for the biggest evangelistic outreach of his time that will come later on this year that we're going to be a part of. 95 still serving the Lord. Faithful. Consistently.
Long obedience in the same direction. That's Daniel. Also, he was faithful professionally. Look back at verse two. And over these, 120 provincial rulers, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, some translations say was number one, the first.
That the satraps might give an account to them so that the king would suffer no loss. Then This Daniel Distinguished himself above the governors and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king gave thought to the king. to setting him over the whole Realm.
Now, once again, we see Daniel in a high-ranking government position. Isn't that interesting? No matter what chapter we have been in so far, Virtually every chapter, almost every chapter. Daniel is seen by his bosses. As somebody a cut above the rest and gives Daniel a promotion.
In chapter one, when he was a teenager, We are told God brought Daniel into favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. In Daniel the second chapter. King Nebuchadnezzar Promoted Daniel, gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon. and the chief administrator over all the wise men. In chapter 5, Belshazzar.
made a proclamation that Daniel should be the third ruler of the kingdom.
So it's just amazing that on a professional level, Every boss that he had saw the dependability and the competence of this man and promoted him, gave him a raise at every turn. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heidzig. Before we return to today's teaching, let me ask. Are we living in the last days? With uncertainty, conflict, and moral confusion dominating the headlines, it's a question many believers are asking.
Pastor Skip wants to help you understand what God's Word says about the end times so you can face the future with confidence. That's why this month we're offering two timely resources: his 2 CD teaching from Daniel, Bible from 30,000 feet. and his booklet, Are We Living in the Last Days? These will give you a clear biblical perspective on what's happening in the world. and how to be ready for what's ahead.
Request your copies when you give a gift of $25 or more at connectwithgift.com/slash offer. or call 800-922-8888.
Now let's get back to today's teaching. You remember in the New Testament that Jesus said, you're the light of the world? And he said, let your light so shine among men that people can see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. I think that the best place for that to happen is the workplace. Simply because next to your home, that's where you spend most of your time at work.
If you live to be 70 years of age, and I hope you live longer, but if you live to be 70 years of age, You will have worked by then a total conglomerate of 20 solid years. You'll have worked 20 solid years. You're going, no wonder I'm so tired. But the point is, that's 20 years. To be on stage at a workplace where people can observe how you work, what your ethics are like.
Like they did here with Daniel. Daniel's on the job. Honestly, some of my best years of ministry. were in the secular work environment. When I worked in radiology and Had the opportunity to witness to people, share my faith with people, work around people day in and day out who would never come to church, who were agnostic, atheistic.
or antagonistic. Or all the above. It was just very interesting and very, very fruitful. And I remember people coming up to me because they knew I loved to teach the Bible, even when I worked in the secular field. I love to teach the Bible, carried a Bible with me.
Somebody would say, do you think you ever want to go into full-time ministry? Full-time ministry. I smile and I say, I am in full-time ministry. I am full-time serving the Lord no matter where I am. at no matter who happens to be writing the check, I'm serving the Lord.
Now here's Daniel on the job serving the Lord professionally. But what is he doing? Is he passing out tracks? No, he's Working hard. He's doing a good job.
The king never said, Daniel, I need you for something special. Daniel never said, Well, I'm witnessing to a satrap. I'll be there in 10. Or I'm praying with this satrap or that governor. No.
He was a hard worker. He distinguished himself. Notice that in verse 3. He distinguished himself. Above the governors and the satraps.
That's an Aramaic participle. Aramaic is the language, the participle, the wording would be. Daniel was regularly distinguishing himself. In other words, this was his work ethic. He was a hard worker.
Whatever you would give him to do, he would do well, and he would distinguish himself above. Buy that work ethic. Back to those days in the medical field. We had a kid that was a kid. I was a kid.
He was a little younger kid in the department that I worked at. He was a. uh a guy who would go upstairs and and take the gurneys and bring the patients down to us. And um Uh a young believer, great guy. And I would have them go upstairs, or the department would, and get various patients to bring them down for radiographs or scans during the day.
One of the things we noticed about this orderly is that Um He was disorderly. He would bring these patients in 15, 20 minutes late, and the whole day would be backed up.
So I remember coming to him one day and saying, Everybody's noticing that you're the guy that's late, and you're always bringing patients in late, and you're getting us behind, and you're a Christian. And he smiled and goes, oh, but skip. I'm having the opportunity to witness to these patients before I bring them down and tell them about Christ and pray for them and pray with them. And I said, now I want you to listen very carefully. Do that on your own dime.
You can do that at lunchtime. You can do it after work. When you've clocked out, go back upstairs. And do witness to them and do pray with them, but when This hospital is paying you to bring patients down. Don't do that.
Just bring patience down. Listen. You want to be the best witness? Be the best worker. When you're a good worker, people go, I can rely on him.
He's dependable professionally. Why is that? Daniel was that man. He distinguished himself. Not only did he have a good work ethic, notice why in verse 3.
He distinguished himself above the governors and satraps because an excellent spirit. was in him. That's an attitude, not an action. That's an attitude. An excellent spirit.
He wasn't the kind of employee that walked around with his head down, always bummed out, always complaining. I'm going to go talk to HR about this and that, and I'm going to gripe. This Daniel had an excellent spirit. And as I read down through the text and I see him thanking God in his prayer in the worst trial of his life, thanking God. I see this excellent spirit.
When was the last time you thanked your boss? Why should I thank my boss? I'm not getting paid enough. Thank him or her that you have a job. Gratitude is the attitude that sets the altitude.
For your Christian life. That's an excellent spirit. Daniel had a work ethic. Daniel had an excellent spirit, no matter what job was given to him. I want you to pause for a moment and turn to the New Testament book of Ephesians, chapter 6.
for a moment. Just flip over to. Ephesians chapter 6. It's right after Ephesians chapter 5. I say it's important because chapter five.
Is speaking to husbands, wives, children, parents, and then he speaks to. Employees. Only in those days the employees were actual slaves. Of slave owners. And I want you to read with me what it says.
Ephesians chapter 6, verse 5. Keeping Daniel in mind now. Bondservants Translated also slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh. With fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, As to Christ, Not with iService, not a clock watcher. Not men pleasers.
Not when your boss comes around the corner. But as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With goodwill doing service as to the Lord, not to men. Knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is slave. Or free.
It's the same message as Daniel: work hard, have a great attitude. Work hard, have a great attitude. Same message.
Now he's writing to slaves. You go, well, I feel like a slave. No, these actually were slaves. They were owned, and the early church, the writings of Paul and Peter, all taught the slaves who had become Christians. To so exercise their slavery by being humble and hardworking and subservient to their slave owners, so that they would have an opportunity to spread the gospel.
If you took that attitude, that little bit of truth, that knowledge to work tomorrow morning, Monday, it would transform your entire workday. It would transform your workday. It would change a job of drudgery into a meaningful ministry. I'm here by the will of God, and I can spread the word and the work of God. There were three men out doing a job.
Same job, they were doing exactly the same task. A man walked up to one of the three of these men and said, What are you doing? First guy said, I'm breaking rocks. He grumbled just like that, I'm breaking rocks. He went up to the second man and said, what are you doing?
Second man said, I'm earning a living. A little better. Went up to the third guy, said, What are you doing? Third guy said, I'm building a cathedral. They were all doing exactly the same thing: breaking down rocks, building blocks to build a building.
One guy saw it as I'm just breaking rocks. Other guy thought I'm just earning a living. The other guy thought I'm building a cathedral. That's the big picture. I'm building a cathedral.
That's an excellent spirit. So Daniel was Faithful consistently, faithful, professionally. Third, I'd like you to notice that Daniel was faithful under scrutiny. Look at verse 4. The governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or fault.
Because he was faithful. Nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
So these governors and sat traps Thronged before the king and said to him, King Darius, live forever. They loved to butter the guy up. All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators, the satraps, the counselors, the advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute. And to make a firm decree that whoever petitions any God or man for 30 days, a month. Except you, O king.
shall be cast into the den of lions.
Now, O king. Establish the decree and sign the writing so that it cannot be changed according to the law. of the Medes and the Persians, which does not alter. Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.
So you got 120 provincial rulers, three administrators. And it says that the king sought, verse 3, to set Daniel above all of them and put him in charge of all of the realm. of Babylon. That is what got the jealousy going. It's not that this guy just got a promotion, because we all got a promotion, but He might get a promotion above our promotion.
A little historical note. It is not uncommon when one nation takes over another nation in antiquity. To use the existing talent of that nation, i.e., the infrastructure of government and government officials for the purpose of taxation to keep the peace. Especially if they could swear an allegiance to the new king.
So he felt pretty safe in doing that, but Because Daniel has always occupied a place of position, probably a lot of these other guys. Are seeing this as their opportunity to jockey for position, especially now that Daniel is going to be promoted, perhaps, over them. That is just pure Envy, pure jealousy. Anytime you occupy a position of authority. Or a position of power, or you're in a prominent position, you will be eyed by the envious.
and exposed to criticism. That just comes with the territory. No matter what field it's in, They'll look at you and they'll envy you and they'll criticize you. They tried to do that with Daniel. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzik.
Before you go, don't miss your chance to request this month's featured resources from Pastor Skip. The Bible from 30,000 feet 2 CD teaching from Daniel, and his booklet, Are We Living in the Last Days? Together, they'll help you understand what the Bible says about the future and how to be ready for it. These resources are our thanks for your gift of $25 or more to help share God's word with more people. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithgift.com slash offer.
And while you're there, sign up for the free 30K 30-day challenge to grow in your knowledge of God's Word. Thanks for spending time with us today and we'll see you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzigsig. Make a connection! Make a connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
