Faith In The One True God Endures Through All Adversity

Summit Church, I bring you greetings here from Central Asia.

I'm at one of the busiest ports in Central Asia here with Scott and Cindy, a couple of our church planters. It's hard to believe that we're over halfway through this summer mission experience that we are having, visiting some of our teams on the field. Because I've been here, I've been disconnected a little bit from what's going on in the United States, but not so disconnected that I haven't heard about these heart-rending tragedies that our country has endured over the last couple of weeks, and I want you to know that I'm praying, not just for our nation at large, but for you specifically, Summit Church, and the ongoing testimony that you have. I've heard that our campus pastors have done an absolutely phenomenal job of leading us and pastoring us during this time.

As we want to honor those who serve our country in uniform and the police force and the way they sacrificially serve and put their lives on the line, we want to honor them at the same time, we want to join with our African-American brothers and sisters in their continued fight for justice and for truth. So we have a unique role as the people of God of being intercessors and praying and bringing healing to peace. I'm a little envious because this weekend is a really special one at the Summit Church for two reasons. One, one of our pastors, Daniel Simmons, is going to come and he's going to bring us the next installment in our series. We're going through the whole story as we look at the whole picture of the Bible. Daniel Simmons is going to be preaching on the Book of Daniel.

I know that's way too trite, but it was just too good to pass up. So he's going to bring up a short message on the Book of Daniel. And then we have the distinct privilege of having with us Sally Lloyd-Jones, who authored the book, the Jesus Storybook Bible that we've been going through as a church. All of our families have been walking kind of step by step with us through this book. It's been incredible.

My family's been doing it. It's one of the best kind of big picture devotional books you can have. In addition to that, she's written a book that I also love. It's Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing. It's great. Actually, my son uses it as his morning devotional.

He read it this morning. It's good for families just to kind of capture the essence of the Bible in various short devotionals. We have both of those that are at all of our campuses today, but we have an awesome privilege of just some incredible teaching and to meet one of our new favorite authors, Sally Lloyd-Jones. Well, hello, Summit Church.

At all of our campuses across the Triangle, we have a really special treat. Sally Lloyd-Jones is here. We're going to get to talk to her a little bit about her amazing Bible that she wrote, the Jesus Storybook Bible, and even a few other books that she has out. But to start it off, Sally, I'd like to just know a little bit about you. So tell us just a little bit about yourself. Well, thank you for having me, first of all.

I'm so honored to be here. So I'm British, as you could probably tell. But I was born in Africa and in Kampala, Uganda, the oldest of four girls. So we were like four blonde English girls in the heart of darkest Africa. And the beginning of my life was just like an adventure, and it was like going on safari.

It was fabulous. Then we went back to England, which was a bit gray and cold. And then I was sent to boarding school when I was eight in the New Forest. And the New Forest had Charles I in it. So I don't know what it's talking about. It's not new at all.

It's quite ancient. Anyway, that was a wonderful school. And then I got a job in publishing and I ended up in America and I came for a year. And that was in 1989. So that tells you everything that you need to know about what I know. That's true.

That's true. You know, the Jesus Storybook Bible is an amazing resource for families in particular. We've actually had several of them.

A couple of them have been torn apart. My son ate at least two stories out of it. It's very biblical. It is very biblical. Ezekiel ate something, but my son actually thought it might taste good.

But tell us a little bit, because this Bible does such a great job of telling about the love of God. So when I think about my kids hearing this, what was your experience with Christianity as a child growing up? Well, I became a Christian when I was four.

My dad had converted through John Stott's ministry in East Africa. And he came home one day having heard a missionary telling him how great it had been with her. She'd asked her little daughter, would she like to become a Christian? And it had been marvelous. And so he came home and he said to me, Sally, darling. And I was on my tricycle and I was four. He said, darling, would you like to invite Jesus into your heart? And I went, no, thank you.

And tricycle off. So polite. I'm very British that way. But the reason I love that story is because first of all, it tells you children know what they're doing. And fortunately, you know, so as a four year old, I really was very polite, but I know that I didn't want to do that. But later that year, I did become a Christian and Jesus became my best friend. And I can't remember a time that he wasn't my best friend.

So what an honor that is. And then but really, I struggled with God. I didn't understand God the Father. I think I thought he was just a very strict version of my father who was already quite strict. So I was a bit scared of him. And I used to just think, well, I understand Jesus loves me, but I don't know about God.

Yeah. Well, so I think one of the things that's amazing to hear you say that is that when I read this, one of the things I know is that your understanding of God is that he is a loving father, very powerful, but also very loving. So can you tell us a little bit about what happened in your life where like what did God do in your life to make that transition from? Oh, he's this very stern, strict God to one who is definitely loving.

I mean, definitely powerful, but also incredibly loving. Yeah, it took a while because it got worse before it got better because I then when I was about six, I was going to a Sunday school in England and for some reason, I don't know what they were doing. And they were meaning well.

And I don't criticize them because I actually think that I should really thank them first for the Jesus getting me to write it. Because I went to this Sunday school and I thought as a six year old something that like, you know, I was telling my self when I grew up, I'm never ever going to go to church ever again. But I was someone who Jesus was my best friend.

And yet I was saying that. And I think it was because in that Sunday school, however it happened, I got the message that I wasn't enough. I wasn't doing it right. And God must not be very pleased with me. And, you know, I had this idea that the Bible was all about rules, that you keep these rules and then God will love you because you're good. But I knew I wasn't keeping the rules all the time. I was quite good.

But I, you know, as anyone, you know, you're not exactly always good. So then I got that feeling that was slightly in trouble with God. But then the other thing was in the Bible, I thought, well, you've got to be as brave as Daniel, haven't you?

Or as brave as David. And then God will love you. So I would imagine myself being thrown to lions.

And then I'd be thinking, I don't think I could do it. I think I'd say, no, no, I'll stop praying. Whatever you say, I won't do it. I won't do it.

Just don't throw me to the lions. So all of that to say I ended up getting the vague feeling that God must not really be very pleased with me. And as a result, I now, whenever I go into churches or schools, I ask a question, which I'm going to ask you, but you don't have to put up your hands unless you want to. I ask children in Sunday schools, and these are children who know all the Bible stories and the right answers. One time I said to them, how many people here know the right answers? And this little boy said, I know all the answers. So it's very honest, isn't it?

Is it my son? Because he knows a lot. So I asked them, first of all, I say, how many people here think you have to be good for God to love you? And it's usually quite silent. And I put my hand up because I don't know about you, but I struggle to believe that every single day of my life. And then the children will put their hands up. And then I ask, and how many people here think if you stop being good, God will stop loving you?

And then they all put their hands up. And that just tells me how ingrained in us is this idea that God's love is conditional. And it was only when I was older that my heart was melted by actually realizing everything we see in Jesus, we see in God.

God is the one who allowed his son to come, who sacrificed his son, who loves us, who would move heaven and earth to be with us. And when I started seeing that, that's why I wrote the Jesus Storybook Bible, because I thought of myself in that Sunday school and I thought, I don't want any child to leave feeling like God will only love them if they're good. God loves us not because we're good. He loves us because he's good.

And that won't ever change. Well, I'm so glad you did write it, because on a personal note, like there are nights when I'm reading this to my kids and I will start to tear up because I'm really engaging with God and I am seeing how much he loves me. I'm thinking about my kids and how much he loves them. And they'll be like, why are you crying?

And I'll wipe tears away from my eyes. But I find that that's actually a common theme, that the Jesus Storybook Bible is impacting not just kids, but people of all ages, like parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, college students, which is like, you know, who knew? But it is. Why do you think that is?

Why is that happening? I think we can't beat this story. It's the most beautiful story that you could ever read of self-sacrificing God. And there's no other story like it, is there? And most of the stories that we love are probably just echoes of the ultimate story.

And, you know, you can't get a better story. And people, there's no one I know who doesn't need to know that God loves them. I mean, we may think we know, but the way we live, being anxious, is basically thinking, well, God must not love me enough to look after me.

You know, these things, it's always under the root. And it's always like the enemy whispering, God doesn't really love you. Yeah. Well, speaking of how God is like triumphing in that area, there was actually a lady at one of our campuses, our Cary campus, and she was ministering to a Muslim woman. And this is the Bible that she was taking her through to kind of get her acquainted with the real stories. And that lady actually became a believer. See, that's just amazing.

Yeah. So the words that are in here are really powerful. Tell us a little bit about your book called The Story of God's Love for You, because it's kind of like this, but it's a little different. Well, it's exactly the same text, because you see, the poor children, all these adults kept taking their book. And I just thought, you know, it's not right, is it?

That's true. Let's just make sure those naughty adults get their own copyright. And, of course, naughty adults aren't grown up enough to know that pictures are necessary. So we took out the pictures, and we called it something different, because actually, in all seriousness, we realized Bible and Jesus on the cover is immediately going to shut the door to some people.

That's going to be a huge barrier. But if you really cut to the chase, and we called it The Story of God's Love for You, because that's what it is, then suddenly, you can give this book to everyone, and you can give it to people who wouldn't be seen dead reading a children's book. And it's the same text, so they won't realize they're reading a children's book. And that way, we can reach everyone. And it was so exciting to me to think you could do a beautifully designed book, and then it would reach people who you couldn't give the Jesus Storybook Bible to.

Yeah. That's awesome. One of the things, as I've read through this, and we've read it many times, my children have favorite stories. It seems like we've read the story about Joseph and the story about Jairus and his daughter about 80 million times in my house.

But were there any of the ones when you were writing it that particularly had an impact on you? It's hard to choose them, because like children say, and I see some of my children. I call them my children because they're my bosses.

I work for them. So they're here. So I'm on best behavior. But children always say they're all my favorites because they're so kind. We adults, we don't think twice.

My favorite's this, and leave all the others. So in some sense... So my question was a bad question. Very bad question. No child would ever... Well, they would ask that, but they'd always say that's my favorite.

So it's hard. I'm going to say a different one than I said last time, because they're all my favorites. But one of my favorites is called The Servant King, because it's about Jesus washing the disciples' feet. And all the disciples are like, oh, that's not a job I'd ever do.

And Jesus of all people kneels down and does it. And part of why I love that story as well is that I originally called it Stinky Feet, which is a very good title. It is a good title. But not for the publisher. The publisher's like, no, no, we can't have stinky in the Bible. We must call it something else.

So I changed the title. But do you know what? This proves that a story knows what it's doing.

Every child I know will not ask for The Servant King. They ask for the stinky feet story. And I love telling that because that just shows you the story is what it is. So there you are. That's one of my favorites.

Yeah, yeah. So I know that God is using this book kind of all over the world. Tell us about some of the amazing things that you've heard about. So I've heard about, it's now in 34 languages, which is amazing to me.

Praise God. And one of the ways I've heard it being used is in China. It's being used with Chinese prostitutes.

In Japan, Japanese businessmen are meeting before work to read it. It's being used in high security prisons with women. It's being used in old people's homes and with people with Alzheimer's. It's being used with children with autism. It's just like only God could do such a thing.

None of us ever imagined. And it's about to be translated into Arabic. And it's about, right now, if you want to join in praying, it's being translated into Arabic. Yeah, well, I can't wait to hear what God does with it in the Middle East and in North Africa. But tell us a little bit about your other book, Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing.

Yeah, that's the follow-up to the Jesus through Bible, and Jago does the illustration as well. But I wrote it for my niece, who was about six, and she was a very vivacious little girl. One time she called me in America and said, Sally, I want to be an opera singer.

And I went, that's wonderful. And then she went, what is an opera singer? But she knew she wanted to be it. And she was singing and dancing her way through life.

And now she's probably going to be someone who's into musical theater. But at the age of six, that's what she was like. And then almost overnight, she became very quiet and hidden away. And when she spoke, you could hardly hear her. It was as if she was losing her voice and her own self. And then we found out she was being bullied at school. And when I asked her why she went so quiet, she said, I thought if I stopped being me, I'd stop getting in trouble. And of course, that's heartbreaking. And I asked her, well, what are you reading before you go into school to help you?

And there was nothing that she was reading that was helpful. It was all very moralistic and kind of Sunday school in the worst way, school, like lessons. And I thought, well, there's always time for lessons, but not when you're facing your enemies. And as grownups, we have bullies, but we have resources. We know, OK, I'm scared of going to work. I'm going to go and read a lovely passage. We don't go and read some manual on how we should be like the boy who's got his lunch and we've got to go and share our lunch. That's not helpful to a bully.

So I thought she doesn't have anything that's helping her. And I wish there was something to tell her what God says about her instead of what these bullies were saying. And then I thought, well, I better write it. So that's why I wrote it. I wanted it to be a book of hope for children. Yeah. Yeah. And maybe adults, too.

I'm sure it would. I mean, if it's like this, it would be speaking the truth of God's love and the truth of the gospel to anybody that's reading it. So right now, our church is reading through the entire Bible in a year.

And there are so many people here that are actually like they're really doing it. And we've gotten through Leviticus. We've gone through Numbers, you know, almost got through Deuteronomy. That's amazing.

You're on the way then. We're in the prophets right now. The most interesting and exciting part and scariest part of the Bible. But we're about halfway through.

So what do you think is the value of something like that? And what encouragement would you give us just to keep pushing through and to get God's word into our hearts and lives? Well, I mean, I applaud you and I think it's wonderful. And I've only ever read through the Bible once, and I did it with other friends during the 90 day Bible. And it was really hard in Leviticus. It was like, oh, what are we doing?

Glazing over and then the genealogies and all that. But the thing I learned and I think what's so exciting is I started to really look forward to it. I never used to look forward to reading the Bible. Sorry. I used to think I'm doing this as a favor, God.

I'm really good. It's that thing again. I've got to be good so God will love me, which I kind of missed. But the minute I realized we're not doing it as a favor, we get to read the Bible. It's a gift. And if we like I think about it, if you were told right now you could have breakfast with Jesus, would you say, no, sorry, I'm doing email?

You'd leap at the chance, wouldn't you? And I realized we're the ones who miss out when we don't show up and when we don't open the word because the word is active and we know that, don't we? We'll read a passage one year and it won't speak to us. You read it the next year and suddenly it's like, oh, my word, it's speaking directly.

And why wouldn't we want God to speak directly to us every morning? Yeah. You know, that's pretty awesome. So I think it's amazing what you're doing. Wonderful.

Yeah. Well, Summit, will you please put your hands together for Sally Lou Jones? Thank you. So before you leave, and because you have one of the coolest accents that's probably ever been on this stage, would you mind reading one of the stories out here, the story of Daniel and the scary sleepover? I'd be happy.

Thank you very much. I'd love to. You have to use your imaginations because you can't see the amazing art, which is amazing. But children are used to using their imaginations. Poor grownups might not be so good.

But anyway, I've got some children here, so we're all right. Daniel and the scary sleepover. Things were not looking good for God's people. They'd been captured and taken far from home, and now they were slaves of the king of Babylon. But God had not left his people. He was with them and he was looking after them. Daniel loved God and he obeyed him. Now, God made Daniel able to understand lots of difficult things.

So it wasn't long before the king of Babylon noticed him. King Darius liked how clever Daniel was. So he made Daniel his most important helper of all and put him in charge of lots of other helpers.

But the other helpers didn't like this. They wanted to be the king. They wanted the king to like them best. They wanted to get rid of Daniel. So they spied on Daniel. They tried to find things wrong with Daniel, things they could tell the king, things they could... But there weren't any. None.

They couldn't find anything at all. Oh, except there was just the one thing. Every day, three times a day, without fail, no matter what, Daniel went to his room, closed the door, and prayed.

They smiled to themselves. Let's get the king to make a law. No one is allowed to pray to anyone except to the king. Daniel will not obey this law, and he will be punished. They were pleased with themselves for being so clever and hurried off to tell the king. The king liked their idea. He didn't know they were tricking him. So he made it into a law. Everyone must pray only to me.

If you don't, the lions will have you for their dinner. Daniel heard this. He knew it was wrong to pray to anyone except God. He had to do what God said, whatever it cost him, even if it meant he would die. So Daniel went to his room, closed the door, and prayed.

That's just what the bad men knew Daniel would do. They skipped straight off to tell the king. Oh, your most glittering highness. Your law says, does it not, that everyone must pray to you alone, sire. Yes, said the king.

Oh, magisterial brightness. Then correct us if we're wrong, but it would seem that Daniel is praying to God, not to you. The king was sad.

He had been tricked. He didn't want to hurt Daniel, but he couldn't change his law, and so he let the soldiers throw Daniel to the lions. May your God, who you love so much, rescue you, the king said. The king went back to his palace, but he didn't sleep that night, not a wink.

He tossed and turned until finally, at the first glimmer of dawn, he leapt out of bed and ran straight to the den. Daniel, he cried, has your God rescued you? Yes, Daniel shouted. God sent an angel to close the lions' mouths. And there, resting his head on Daniel's lap, was the biggest lion, purring like a little kitten. The king brought Daniel out of the den. Look, he said, Daniel doesn't even have a scratch. The king made a new law. Daniel's God is the true God, the God who rescues. Pray to him instead. God would keep on rescuing his people, and the time was coming when God would send another brave hero, like Daniel, who would love God and do what God said, whatever it cost him, even if it meant he would die.

And together, they would pull off the greatest rescue the world has ever known. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you. And if you have had any interaction with the Jesus Storybook Bible, you just know that it is just so gospel saturated. It points to Jesus so well. And like I said in there, there have been times when I have read the Jesus Storybook Bible that it has been, I've been sitting on the edge of my bed in tears just because the presence of God is so full in it. So it is difficult to have to come up here after Sally because she's so great and she's so funny and witty. She's written probably one of the best children's Bibles in the history of the world, and she has an amazing accent, doesn't she? And then you've got me, and I've written eight blog posts that two people have read, and I sound like the guy off the Home Depot commercial. At least that's what I've been told.

Let's do this. So one of the reasons that we're going to take a look at the story of Daniel and the Scary Sleepover or Daniel and the Lion's Den is because it's so well known. And I'm sure that probably every single one of you in here, you have at least heard that story in some way. So whether you have been in church your whole life or whether you've had hardly any contact with the Bible or with Christianity, you've probably heard this story.

It's just that famous. It's told in every single Sunday school. It is a staple of children's curriculum in churches. And usually the way the story goes is kind of like this. It's like Daniel was this great man of faith, and when adversity came against him, he stood strong. And then the application is because Daniel was a great man of faith, you should be a great man of faith or a great woman of faith.

And because he stood strong in adversity, you should stand strong in adversity and shake your fist at it. And one of the problems with that is that there's kind of a hidden implication. And sometimes it's stated, sometimes it's not. But what the implication is is that if you're a strong person of faith, that if you dare to be a Daniel, then when you get thrown into the lions, metaphorically, then God will come and shut their mouths.

And in one sense, I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater because I do. I want to be a man of faith. I want our church to be recognized for the faith that we have in God and we still believe and we know that God does great things. But the truth is, when we look in reality, we know that God does not always shut the mouths of the lions. We can look at our own lives and know that sometimes that doesn't happen.

We can look at history. There are other people who really loved God, who had strong faith, maybe as strong as Daniel. They were thrown to the lions, and guess what happened to them? The lions ate them.

The lions got them. God didn't send the angel at that point. And so what we know from that is the point of this story cannot be Daniel's faith. What the point of the story is is the object of Daniel's faith.

It's trying to get us to think about the object of Daniel's faith, not just his faith. And in particular, what I want to look at today, just for a few minutes, is what faith in the one true God looks like in the face of adversity. Because we're facing that right now all the time. You can't even turn on the news and see how our society is not facing adversity. I mean, the past couple of weeks in particular have been so hard. There's been so much tragedy going on.

It's going on not just in our country, not just in our church, but in the whole world. But also we know adversity because it comes against us individually. We have probably all had things that we've had to go through that are incredibly hard, that as we go through them, we look and we say, God, I know what the Bible says about you. I know what I'm supposed to believe, but I'm looking at what I'm going through in my life.

And it is really hard to bring those together. I know I'm supposed to come in here and put my hand up when we sing and put a smile on my face and feel joyful, but today I just can't do it. Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about because you've gone through it. Some of you might be in it right now.

And if you haven't, then you will. You will face that type of adversity that makes you ask the really hard questions. But this story has some really good news for us because what it tells us is faith in the one true God, real faith in the one true God, real faith in the one true God endures through all adversity. In fact, what I would even say, maybe I could even say it a little bit stronger. Faith in the one true God can thrive in the face of adversity and faith in the one true God triumphs over all adversity. And so I just want to take a look at one thing in Daniel's life, one thing that's true about him that I believe that if it's also true about us, that we will have that type of faith that endures through the midst of all adversity. And so I've just got a one point sermon today.

You ain't never had that at Summit Church, have you? Right? Just one point. Okay? So if you are a note taker, just know you just got to write one thing down the page and me and you are good.

All right? And this is the point. This is the thing that if it's true about Daniel, if it's true about us, I think it'll change everything.

This is it. Daniel lived as if he was on his way home. Daniel lived as if he was on his way home. And I want to just take a look at one verse to kind of illustrate this because I think it sums up all of it. It sums up how he did this and why he did this. And it's verse 10. So if you've got your Bibles, Daniel in the Lion's Den is Daniel chapter six.

I'm going to look at 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. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he had done previously. You see, Daniel never forgot his true home, did he? Three times a day, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, Daniel got down and he faced where he was from in Jerusalem and he prayed to God. You see, Daniel had grown up in the midst of adversity. Daniel, at the age of 11 or 12, the Babylonians attacked his city.

And to tell you that God doesn't always act in a way that we think He should have always come down and miraculous save, the Babylonians won that battle, they knocked down the walls, they burned down the temple, they burned the city, they took Daniel out of his home and they took him to Babylon. And that would have been extremely devastating for him because his whole identity as a Jewish man was built upon the land where he lived, the temple that he worshipped at, and the people that he was always around. So Daniel grew up in adversity.

And Daniel, not only was he taken out of his home, but he grew up around people who had lifestyles he wouldn't have agreed with. They would have told stories and jokes he would not have liked. He would have found them repulsive and offensive.

They worshipped gods that were bloodthirsty. He worked for kings. He was very successful at what he did. He worked for kings and those kings were temperamental.

And if you messed up, you were likely to lose your life. But not only that, because he was an Israelite and different than everybody else around, he was discriminated against. He was discriminated against by the people that he worked with and those people were constantly trying to undermine him. And that's where we find him in here. They've tried to undermine him and the only thing they could do was, they were like, well, we'll pit Daniel's belief in his God against a law of the land and maybe we'll get him. And so this is where we are.

And even in the midst of that, guess what? Daniel doesn't forget where his true home is. And this is one of the things that I think, home is a really powerful image for us, isn't it? Like even if you didn't grow up in a good home, we have this ideal of what home should be.

And so I have this actually, this memory. My dad loved to host Christmas at our house on Christmas Day. I mean, he would smoke a turkey all night. He would put on this Christmas music from the early 70s that, you know, I mean, the fact that I downloaded all of it, but my wife hates it.

But it just brings back such memories. And one of the things that he would do is, my dad would invite the whole family. When I meet the whole family, I mean, he would invite the Uncle Eddies of our family.

Like ants that I didn't know, I didn't really understand how they were related to us. And my dad called them the weirdos. But he said, but there are weirdos.

And that day was always so fun. And when I got to be a teenager and a little snarky, I was like, Dad, you are one of the weirdos. But the truth is, is that I loved it, and he loved it, and they loved it. And it's because I think the ideal of home is home is where you belong. And on that day on Christmas, my dad said to all the weirdos, you belong here. You're our family. Home is one of those places where it's okay to be the weirdo that you are. You don't have to have your guard up.

Because people love you just the way you are. And we kind of understand that that's the way the world should be. That I need a place like home. My wife actually just went out of town a few days ago, or a few weeks ago, and she took the kids.

We have three kids. So my house is loud. It's crazy. People always making a mess. You know, it doesn't matter how much we tell them to clean up. I stepped on about 80 million Legos, and they hurt, you know. But as they were gone, people were like, hey, was it just awesome?

I'm like, no. Because, you know, home, you know, I have a house, but home is the people. Home is with the weirdos.

If you don't have the people with you that you love, then you don't have a home. And so when Daniel is facing Jerusalem, he's remembering where he's from, but more than that, he's meeting with God. He is meeting with his God because he knows where his true home is. And as the story of Daniel goes along in the entire book, one of the things that he begins to see and that we begin to see with him is that his real home was with God and that Daniel actually didn't need to be in Jerusalem to be with God because God was with Daniel in Babylon. That's one of the reasons why Daniel's faith was able to endure because God was with him in the midst of adversity, and guess what? The same can be true for us, that if our faith is in God, if your faith is in God, he is with you no matter what you are going through, no matter where you are, and no matter what adversity you're facing.

So even in the midst of adversity, if you have faith in the one true God, he is with you, and he will always be with you. So Daniel never forgot his true home, but also, Daniel never made his new home in Babylon. And what I mean is this, not that he didn't have a house. He did have a house.

We know that. But he didn't let his hearts grow roots in Babylon. Daniel never held too tightly to anything that was in Babylon.

He never put his faith in anything that Babylon had to offer. And this is really important because the world is constantly calling to us. The world that we live in is constantly calling to us saying, hey, if you can just put your faith here, if you can just attain this, then you'll have it all.

But let me ask you a question. What could you possibly put your hope in in this world that you are not going to ultimately lose anyway? What happiness do you have right now that if the wrong thing happened, if the worst thing imaginable happened, you couldn't lose with just one phone call? Your health? Your family? Your reputation? Your portfolio? Your bank account?

Your spouse? The truth is that we are only one sentence away from losing anything that we find valuable in this world. And where are you going to be if that happens and your faith is in it? Where are you going to go if that thing in this world that you have your faith in, that you have your hope in, crumbles? What most people do is they just kind of pick up their life and they just plant their roots in something else that is in this world.

But this story says, wait a second, there's another option. Let me read another part of the passage that I think speaks to this very specifically. Verse 20. Darius has thrown Daniel in the lion's den. He loved Daniel. He knew he was tricked. He doesn't go to sleep that night. He's so worried.

At sunrise, he runs to the tomb. This is where this picks up in verse 20. The king cried out in a tone of anguish to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions? Then Daniel said to the king, O king, live forever.

Daniel's very polite too, just like Sally. That's not what I'd be saying to him. At least I'd be making him sweat it.

I'd be quiet for about 30 seconds. He'd be like, he did, and he's very mad at you, Darius. Daniel continues, he says, my God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths and they have not harmed me because I was found blameless before him and also before you, O king, I have done no harm. Now most people are like, that's the climax of the story. Daniel's thrown in the lions' den and when the tomb is open, he's saved. But it's actually not the climax of the story.

It's not actually the point of the story. It's what Darius says next that is the climax and the main point that we want to see. So I want you to listen to this and remember that Darius is a pagan king. Darius doesn't have faith in the one true God. Darius doesn't love God, but this is what he says because of what he has seen.

Listen to this. Darius says, I make a decree that in all my royal dominion, people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God enduring forever and his kingdom shall never be destroyed and his dominion shall be to the end. This is the theme of the whole book and this is the climax of this chapter, that there is one God, he endures forever, and his kingdom shall never come to an end.

You know what Darius is saying? There is no adversity that can come against God or come against God's kingdom and can overthrow it. You see, this book is not about one man's awesome life. It is not about his faith. It is about the object of his faith that endures forever and whose kingdom will never be to an end. I love the way that the Jesus story, what Bible ends this because I think it hits on the nerve center of it.

Let me read it. God would keep on rescuing his people. And the time was coming when God would send another brave hero, like Daniel, who would love God and do what he said and whatever it cost him, even if it meant he would die, and together they would pull off the greatest rescue the world has ever known. You see, the most important thing about Daniel is who he points to. The most important thing about Daniel is who he symbolizes.

And he symbolizes and points to our Savior. He points to Jesus because, like Daniel, Jesus was an exile who was falsely accused by his enemies and brought before a ruler who sought unsuccessfully to deliver him from his fate before handing him over to a violent death. Like Daniel, Jesus was condemned to die, and his body was placed in a pit so that the situation could not be changed by human intervention. But Jesus' trial went deeper than Daniel's, didn't it? He didn't merely suffer the threat of death.

He went down into death itself. And although Jesus was innocent, he suffered the fate of the guilty ones. And there was no angel to comfort Jesus with the presence of God when he was in his pit. On the contrary, he was left in the blackness, utterly alone and abandoned by God, suffering the fate that we, the guilty, deserved.

His body was left entombed in an icy grave for three days before an angel finally came to roll away his stone. When Daniel came out from the lion's den, he came out alone. No one else was saved by God's intervention of Daniel. But when Jesus came out from his tomb, he came out as the head of a mighty company of people who have been redeemed from the pit through his death.

Because of the work of Christ on our behalf, the divine judge says, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty. You're free, and you're free, and you're free, and you're free, and you're a new creation. You're my children, and you will be for all time. And because my kingdom is made up of you, because your home is with me, and my kingdom endures forever, guess what? You're going to endure forever. No matter when you face the lions.

No matter when the lions eat you, you're still going to endure forever. Because I'm going to bring you back from the dead, and you're going to be my children forever and for all time. Summit, is your faith in Christ? Is your home with Christ?

It's not about a place. We definitely want to come to this place to worship together. But wherever you go, your home can be with Jesus. So here's the question for you. Do you have faith in this God, in the one true God?

And if not, where do you put your faith? Church, all of us, every single one of us, me included, there are things in this world that we kind of wrap our hands around. There are things in this world that we kind of have our roots in too deeply.

What are those for you? You know what some good news is for you? Just go to the Lord, the way that Daniel did. All you've got to say, you say, Lord, I am sorry that it's there. If you ever say you are sorry to God, and you mean it, guess what?

Forgiven, instantly, right there. How often do you go to Him just to be in His presence? Daniel had that habit, just going to God, just to be in His presence, the way Sally said when she was like, it's just like I get to eat breakfast with Jesus every single day.

If you have faith in the one true God, you have access to Him all the time. He's like a good Father that loves to be around His children. And when you go to God, I want you to remember three things. I want you to remember who He is. I want you to remember who you are. And I want you to remember where your true home is because He is the one true God, the living God. He endures forever, and His kingdom will never come to an end. And if you know Him, then you are a child of the King. You are more loved than you could possibly believe.

The Bible says that you are a co-heir with Christ and that you are a new creation. And your home? Well, your home is with Him always and forever. Listen, church, if you believe this, then your faith can endure, and your faith will triumph through any adversity, not because your faith is awesome, but because His work is awesome and He has triumphed over the greatest adversity for you already.

Let's pray. Father, I want to thank You so much for what You have done on our behalf. You sent Your Son.

You sent Your Son, and He lived a perfect life. But then He was thrown into the pit, and in that pit, all of our sin came down on Him. But death couldn't hold Him down. Not even the adversity of death could defeat Christ.

For three days later, the stone was rolled away, and He came out of His tomb as well. But unlike Daniel, who died again, Jesus, we know You are still alive. We're not just praying to the air right now. We are praying to You, and You hear us, and You are interacting with us, and You are here with us. God, we are home because we are with You. So God, I pray right now that we would seek You. God, as we are about to stand up in a few minutes and sing, God, I pray that we would sing with all of our hearts because we love You, and we see what You have done for us. And there is no better place to be than to be home to be with You. I pray all this in Your name. Amen.