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I Dare You: Be Faithful! - Daniel 6:1-15

Taught on | Topic: faithfulness | Keywords: Daniel, faithful, faithfulness, persecution, Medes, Persian, King Darius, consistent, consistency, dependable, diligence, attitude, ethics

Daniel was consistently faithful, both publicly and privately. His diligence and attitude set him apart from his peers and his reputation withstood harsh scrutiny. When his life was on the line, Daniel refused to compromise—he dared to be faithful!

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2/24/2013
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I Dare You: Be Faithful!
Daniel 6:1-15
Skip Heitzig
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Daniel was consistently faithful, both publicly and privately. His diligence and attitude set him apart from his peers and his reputation withstood harsh scrutiny. When his life was on the line, Daniel refused to compromise—he dared to be faithful!
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27 Daniel - I Dare You - 2013

27 Daniel - I Dare You - 2013

Skip Heitzig unfolds the book of Daniel verse by verse in the series I Dare You. We'll learn how Daniel lived differently and made a huge impact on his society, and we'll be challenged to do the same.

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Outline

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  1. He Was Faithful Consistently (vv. 1-2)


  2. He Was Faithful Professionally (v. 3)


  3. He Was Faithful Under Scrutiny (vv. 4-9)


  4. He Was Faithful Spiritually (vv. 10-15)

Detailed Notes

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  1. Introduction
    1. Faithfulness is one of the supreme attributes, whether it's in marriage, friendship, or business
    2. Who can find a faithful man or woman? "Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?" Proverbs 20:6
    3. Typically faithfulness is an attribute we assign to God
    4. There was a faithful man with a jealous wife, she didn't believe he was faithful
    5. God found a faithful man in Moses (see Numbers 12:7)
    6. Nehemiah found a faithful man in Hananiah (see Nehemiah 7:2)
    7. In the New Testament Jesus spoke of a faithful and wise servant, "Well done good and faithful servant" (see Matthew 25:21-23)
    8. In Yellowstone National Park there is a geyser called Old Faithful
      1. It's regular
      2. It's consistent
      3. It can be counted on
    9. In all of the attributes people give to genius and competence, faithfulness is always at the top of the list
    10. One leader said that the greatest ability is dependability
  2. Faithfulness sums up Daniel's life
    1. Consistently faithful
    2. Faithful in his professional life
    3. Faithful under scrutiny
    4. Faithful spiritually
    5. Over time, he was faithful to his boss, his country, and his God
    6. There has been a kingdom change
      1. Medes and the Persians are now in charge
      2. Darius the Mede is ruling—he's the de facto king, but Cyrus was the real ruler
      3. Babylon has fallen as predicted in Daniel 2
  3. Daniel is consistently faithful
    1. Daniel was one of three regional rulers over 120 provincial rulers
    2. Satraps were the territorial/provincial rulers
    3. Daniel is now 85 years old
      1. Daniel has lived in Babylon since he was a teenager—about 70 years
      2. Six kings have come and gone
      3. One kingdom has gone and another has arisen
      4. He's still on the job—faithful
      5. Serving the Lord
    4. Faithfulness is doing the right thing over and over and over
      1. Missionary to India William Carey said, "I can plod"
      2. Just put one foot in front of the other
      3. God has wrought wonderful things through men and women who plod along faithfully and consistently
    5. Daniel is 85 and he's still not retired
      1. In our culture we'd put him in a nursing home
      2. Thomas Edison at 90 years old was still inventing
      3. Frank Lloyd Wright at 90 was still drawing
      4. Michelangelo at 85 years old painted his most famous work that is still hanging in the Sistine Chapel
      5. John Wesley at 88 years old could still preach forcefully and articulately
      6. At age 95 Billy Graham is writing another book and preparing for the biggest evangelism event of his life
      7. Song writer George Beverly is 104 years old and he can still sing—better than most
    6. Faithful consistently—long obedience in the same direction—that's Daniel
  4. Daniel is seen as a cut above—he's faithful professionally
    1. In virtually every chapter so far Daniel is seen as a cut above all the rest
      1. In Daniel chapter 1 he had favor and good will
      2. In Daniel chapter 2 King Nebuchadnezzar promoted him
      3. In Daniel chapter 5 Belshazzar set him as third ruler over the kingdom
      4. Every boss he had saw the competence and dependability of Daniel
    2. In the New Testament Jesus said "You are the light of the world...let your light shine before men" (Matthew 5:14-16)
      1. The best place to be a light is at work
      2. If you live to be 70 years old, you will have worked 20 solid years
      3. The point is: that's 20 years for people to observe you
    3. Some of Skip's best years of ministry were in the secular work world
      1. Worked around people day in and day out who might never come to church
      2. Interesting
      3. Fruitful
      4. People would ask "Do you think you ever want to go into full-time ministry?"
      5. His reply: "I am!"
    4. Daniel had a good work ethic; What is Daniel doing?
      1. He's serving the Lord
      2. He was a hard worker
      3. He distinguished himself
        1. Aramaic participle: regularly distinguishing himself
        2. He had a strong work ethic
        3. Whatever he was given to do, he did well
      4. Skip worked with a young believer in the medical field who was responsible for bringing patients down to radiology
        1. He was known as the guy who was consistently late
        2. He would witness to the patients and pray with them
        3. Do what you are paid to do
        4. Witness and pray on your lunch hour or after work
        5. You want to be the best witness? Be the best worker—have a strong work ethic
    5. Daniel had an excellent spirit/attitude
      1. He wasn't always bummed out and complaining
      2. Thanked God in time of trial
      3. When was the last time you thanked your boss?
      4. Gratitude is the attitude that sets the altitude for your Christian life
      5. Work hard, have a good attitude (see Ephesians 6:5-8)
        1. Slaves were owned
        2. Be humble so that you have the opportunity to evangelize
        3. That attitude would change a job drudgery to a meaningful ministry
        4. Three men working, doing the same job; breaking rocks, earning a living, building a cathedral
  5. Daniel was faithful under scrutiny
    1. The king sought to put Daniel above all the realm of Babylon
      1. His peers were jealous
      2. Anytime you are in a position of authority or power, you will be envied and criticized
      3. Scripture tells us to rejoice with those who rejoice (see Romans 12:15); how hard is that?
    2. Even under scrutiny, Daniel was blameless—there were no skeletons in his closet
    3. Lord Acton said, "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely"
    4. Kent Hughes wrote an article about corruption among the 100th United States Congress
    5. Daniel was clean but not without controversy
      1. Chapter one controversy: won't eat foods that would defile him
      2. Chapter two controversy: told the king that his kingdom was coming down
      3. Chapter four controversy: told the king that he was prideful
      4. Chapter five controversy: he was a party pooper
      5. In all controversy he distinguished himself above the rest
      6. Billy Graham has been a controversial figure who found himself under scrutiny of the media
        1. Since 1955 Billy Graham has been on the George Gallup list The Ten Most Admired Men in America 56 times—more than any other human being
        2. He's never been number one
        3. But he's always in the top ten
        4. Because even under scrutiny, he's a faithful man
  6. Daniel was faithful spiritually
    1. It was the written law that he couldn't pray
      1. He opened his window
      2. Got on his knees
      3. Prayed three times a day
    2. It was his custom
      1. He'd always done it
      2. He's doing it now
      3. He's faithful
    3. Were there other options for Daniel?
      1. Lay low for a month?
      2. Could he have prayed in private?
      3. If Daniel would have changed to praying in private, it would have discredited his testimony
      4. Better to die for a conviction than live with a compromise
    4. Skip is often convicted over this verse; think of all the lame excuses I've/we've had for not being consistently faithful in our prayer life
      1. Common excuses
        1. Need my beauty sleep
        2. I exercise at that time
        3. My show's on TV
        4. I'm so busy with work
      2. Faithful people in our own church
        1. They don't make a big splash
        2. Most don't even know who they are
        3. The group who meets on Sundays to pray for the church and us every week
        4. Faithful couple every week who pray for all the prayer requests sent in and placed in the agape boxes
        5. Faithful woman who stands in front of the map and lays her hands on all the different parts of the world and prays for all the missionaries
  7. Closing
    1. Who can find a faithful man or woman?
    2. Plodding—long obedience in the same direction
    3. George Boldt managed a small hotel in Philadelphia
      1. Good manager
      2. Gave his room to William Waldorf Astor
      3. William asked him to manage his hotel in New York City
    4. Be faithful in the little things
      1. How are you managing your life?
      2. We are saved by grace but are rewarded according to our faithfulness
    5. Be a faithful worker
    6. Work hard with an excellent spirit


Publications referenced: article on corruption in the U.S. 100th Congress; Gallup list The Ten Most Admired Men in America
Figures referenced: William Carey, Thomas Edison, Frank Lloyd Wright, Michelangelo, John Wesley, Billy Graham, George Beverly Shea, Lord Acton, Kent Hughes, George Gallup, George Boldt, William Waldorf Astor
Cross references: Numbers 12:7, Nehemiah 7:2, Proverbs 20:6, Daniel 1, 2, 4, 5, Matthew 5:14, 25:21-23, Romans 12:15, Ephesians 6:5-8

Transcript

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Great to have you with us, great to be with you. Would you turn in your Bibles please to Daniel, chapter 6. Daniel, chapter 6, I want to talk to you today about faithfulness. Faithfulness 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 was 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'd never happen. 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 a 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!" [laughter]

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 that 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 is 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 about verse 1 to about verse 15 in total this morning, and go finish the rest of it the next time.

But let me just tell you what's happening, because you read of a new king. There has been a kingdom change. There, 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 5 to a character named Darius the Mede, Darius the Mede.

We know historically the real ruler was Cyrus the Persian king, but he used Darius (also in history known as Gobryus/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 that Daniel was faithful consistently.

"It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty 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 satraps, "three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give an account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss."

Daniel was one of three chiefs of staff, administrative governors, over one hundred and twenty princes or provincial rulers, territorial rulers—that's the word satrap; in the Aramaic, satrapes, 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 about seventy years. The captivity is about up. So almost seventy years Daniel has lived, since he was a teenager, he's still in Babylon. He was the teenager in chapter 1 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's not in absentia, he's eighty-five 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 eighty-five and he's not retired. I'm not saying it's bad to retire, but I just admire a guy who's eighty-five—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 ninety was still inventing things? Frank Lloyd Wright at ninety was still drawing things. Michelangelo at eighty-nine 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 eighty-eight could still preach forcefully and articulately after having traveled two hundred fifty thousand miles in his lifetime by horse, after preaching four thousand sermons, and writing volume after volume after volume; eighty-eight still going strong.

This year Billy Graham turns ninety-five. 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. Ninety-five, still serving the Lord.

Last year I went to visit his song leader George Beverly Shea in his home. He's one hundred four years old this year. He can still sing better than most. Faithful, consistently, long obedience in the same direction—that's Daniel.

Also he was faithful professionally. Look back at verse 2, "Over these," one hundred and twenty 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 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 1 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 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 seventy years of age, and I hope you live longer, but if you live to be seventy years of age, you will have worked by then a total conglomerate of twenty solid years. You'll have worked twenty solid years. You're going, "No wonder I'm so tired."

But the point is that's twenty 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 is 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 loved 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'd smile and I'd say, "I am in full-time ministry." I am full-time serving the Lord no matter where I'm 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 tracts? 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, "Oh, I'm witnessing to a satrap, I'll be there in ten," 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 by that work ethic.

Back to those days in the medical field; we had a kid—a kid, I was a kid, he was a little younger kid in the department that I worked at. He was a guy who would go upstairs and take the gurneys and bring the patients down to us and ah young believer, great guy. And I would have him go upstairs, or the department would, and get various patients to bring them down for radiographs or scans during the day.

And one of the things we noticed about this orderly is that he was disorderly. He would, he would bring these patients in fifteen to twenty 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 he 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 lunch time. 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 patients 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 walks around with his head down, always bummed out, always complaining: "I'm going to go talk to H.R. about this and that, and I'm gonna 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. [laughter] I say—it's important because chapter 5 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 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 eye service," 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, "I feel like a slave." No, these actually were slaves. They were owned. And the early church, the writings of Paul and Peter, all talked to 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?" The 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." It's a little better.

Went up to the third guy, said, "What are you doing?" The 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." The other guy saw it: "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, "So 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 satraps 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 thirty 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 a hundred and twenty 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.

Any time 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 just look at you, and they'll envy you, and they'll criticize you. They tried to do that with Daniel.

To flip the coin and look at the Christian ethic, it says in Romans 12 that you are to "rejoice with those who rejoice," and you are to "weep with those that weep." How many of you think it's harder to rejoice with people that rejoice than to weep when they weep? I do.

I'll give you an example: Somebody hurting around you. Oh, man, that's the first thing you'll do. You'll get around them: "I'm so sorry. Oh, how can I help? Oh, I love you. I hurt when you hurt." But when somebody else gets a promotion where you work, your brother or sister, how does that feel? And you didn't get one.

It's hard to rejoice with those that rejoice. "Hey, brother, they, they just gave me a hundred thousand dollar a year raise. Wow! Isn't that great? Aren't you happy for me?" "No. [laughter] Are you kidding?" Or if you were to come next Sunday and have the keys to a brand-new car and say, "Somebody in the church gave me a brand-new car." And the people around you that you know who have been praying for a car for a long time, how excited are they going to be for your rejoicing? Well, maybe you'll have a few go, "That's really good for you." "Lord, where's mine? But, Lord, it's good, it's good, it's all good." [laughter]

Daniel was promoted, they were promoted. Now Daniel, the king was just about to put him over the rest, and they thought, "Oh, this has got to stop." And with an envious eye they looked toward him, put him under scrutiny. But here's what you should notice: even under scrutiny, Daniel is blameless. He's above reproach. There are no skeletons in his closet.

Verse 4 in the Jerusalem translation says, "But they could find nothing to discredit him, and no case of negligence; he was so punctilious that they could find not a single instance of maladministration or neglect." Did you get that? Here's a powerful, political figure and there's no corruption. As they do an investigation on his past they can find nothing on him. He's squeaky clean.

It was Lord Acton who said, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Here's Daniel, he almost has absolute power, he's almost always had absolute power—there's no corruption.

Kent Hughes wrote a little article about corruption among the members of the One Hundredth United States Congress. Relax, that's not the Congress that's in power now, but a previous congress. And he noted that 29 were arrested for spousal abuse, 7 convicted of fraud, 19 arrested for writing bad checks, 117 of the them bankrupted two or more businesses, 14 were arrested on drug charges, 8 were arrested on shoplifting charges, 21 with lawsuits against them, 84 were charged with driving while intoxicated—your tax dollars at work.

Here's Daniel in Babylon now under the Medo-Persian domain. Daniel who has been a very controversial figure, and in the midst of all of the controversy that has followed him he's clean. Chapter 1, there was controversy because Daniel said, "I'm not going to eat that stuff. I'm not going to defile myself with your diet. I'm Jewish; I keep kosher." That was controversial, but the Lord blessed him because of that. He was clean anyway.

In chapter 2 controversy followed Daniel as Daniel announced to Nebuchadnezzar, "Your kingdom is coming down and another kingdom's coming after you." Nebuchadnezzar didn't want to hear that.

In chapter 4 controversy followed Daniel when Daniel said, "King, you're very, very prideful and God is going to humble you." Controversy followed him into chapter 5 when Daniel was the party pooper who walked in the midst of the drunken feast and said, "Uh, King, you're going to be dead within hours, and this kingdom tonight is coming down." But in all of the controversy he distinguished himself above the rest, a cut above, faithful.

I've always admired Dr. Billy Graham, and most Americans have as well. In fact, though he has been a controversial figure from the days with the Nixon administration and several different things over time, and he has been under the eye of scrutiny by the media, yet, since 1955 George Gallup has had a list of the Ten Most Admired Men in America; Billy Graham has been on that list. You know how many times? "Fifty-six times," says Gallup, "more than any other human being."

He's never been number one, but he's always been in the top ten, because even under scrutiny there's a faithful man. And Daniel, faithful consistently, professionally, under scrutiny, and finally, let's look at this, he was faithful spiritually.

Verse 10, I love this, "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he said, 'Uh-oh.' "No, it says, "He went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before God, as was his custom since early days. And then the men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

"And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king's decree: 'Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?'

"The king answered and said, 'The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which does not alter.' So they answered and said before the king, 'That Daniel,' "can't you just hear the tone in that?"That Daniel," reminds me of what my mom used to tell my dad when she didn't like my behavior: "That son of yours . . ."

"'That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but he makes his petition three times a day.' and the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, 'Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and the Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.' "

So it's written in the law, "You cannot pray." Does Daniel stop praying? Are you kidding? He goes home, opens the windows facing west toward Jerusalem, because that is his hope and anticipation that one day they're going to return after the captivity, gets down on his knees, and that day he prays three times.

You go, "Man, this guy he's, like, ostentatious. That's so, like, in your face." No, it's not. It's called being faithful. Did you notice what it says in verse 10? "As was his custom since the early days." Daniel is just doing what Daniel has always done; this isn't, like, new. Three times a day Daniel did it in the past, three times a day Daniel's doing it now.

You say, "Well, weren't there other options for Daniel? Couldn't he have said, 'Okay, I'll lay low for thirty days. One month can't hurt. Because if I lay low for thirty days, the law is over, I can go back to my praying, go back to my religion stuff'? Or couldn't he have said, 'I'll pray but I'll do it in private. After all, religion is a private thing'?"

Didn't do that. His custom was to open the windows unashamedly—you know, we get ashamed to pray in a restaurant before a meal. Daniel opens the windows to his house signifying his hope in the Lord, in Jerusalem being restored. Three times a day he gets down on his knees and he prays.

Here's why: If Daniel would have done all this in private instead of what he had always done, that would discredit his testimony. His enemies, these jealous men, would have thought, "Aha, it worked! It worked! We got him to stop." But Daniel believed something: it's better to die for a conviction, than to live with a compromise. "I'm not going to stop, even if you kill me."

I gotta tell you, I read through this section, and every time I do I stop and I get filled with conviction about this verse. Because I think of all the lame excuses I've had, we've had, for not being consistent and faithful in our prayer life: "Oh, I need my sleep, my beauty sleep. I exercise at that time. A show's on television. I'm just so busy with work."

But then I think of those faithful people in our own church. They don't make a big splash. Most of you don't even know who they are. But there's the group that meets on Sundays to gather together to pray for the church, the leadership, and all of us as we gather every week. There's the couple that faithfully comes to the prayer room every week and prays through all the prayer requests we send them by e-mail or written out in the agape boxes. There's the faithful woman who stands in front of the map and lays her hand on all the different parts of the world and for forty-five minutes prays for all the missionaries. "As was his custom since the early days."

Who can find a faithful man? Who can find a faithful woman? I'm praying that God will find a faithful man in me and in you. And it just takes plodding, you know, one foot in front of the other, just being faithful, getting up, doing the same thing, the long obedience in the same direction.

Let me tell you a story as I close, true story. George Boldt is his name—was his name. B-O-L-D-T, Boldt. George Boldt managed a small little hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; not much, but he was a good manager. One evening a couple came through the lobby, asked for a room. George Boldt said, "Rooms are filled. No vacancy. There's not a room here."

They were about to leave. George also knew there were no rooms in the city of Philadelphia. Travel was up, visitors were thick, there wasn't a single vacancy. George knew if they left his hotel they wouldn't find a room, so George said, "Listen, take my room. I'll sleep out on the couch. Just take my room." They said, "Oh, we can't take your room." He said, "No, I insist. If you don't take my room, you won't find a room."

So they took his room, spent the night, got up the next day. They were checking out at the hotel out of his room, and the elderly gentleman said to George Boldt, "You know, you are a good manager. You ought to manage the biggest, finest hotel in the world, and I'm going to build it for you one day." George said, "Okay. Yeah, right. Cool, thanks. See ya. God bless you guys."

A few years later George received a letter in the mail from an elderly gentleman in New York; it was that man. He reminded him of the story and asked George to come to New York and visit him for a few days. Inside the envelope was also a ticket so he could get there.

George gets to New York, is taken to a corner downtown Manhattan, downtown New York City, and looks up at this big, beautiful hotel. And the elderly gentleman said, "I'd like you to manage this hotel." The elderly gentleman's name? William Waldorf Astor, one of the wealthiest men in America. He just built the Waldorf Astoria, one of the finest hotels ever.

You see, that elderly gentleman knew that if George could be faithful in managing a little hotel in Philadelphia and be that caring for his patrons that he'd do a great job with the Waldorf Astoria. He was given the job. He was the manager of the Waldorf Astoria. Sound familiar? If you're faithful in the little things, you'll be ruler over ten cities.

How are you managing your life? Because how you're managing your life now will largely determine the position and rewards that you get when you're in glory in heaven. Saved by grace, purely by grace, but rewarded according to faithfulness.

Be a faithful worker. Be a faithful husband. Be a faithful wife. Be a faithful friend. Work hard, excellent spirit. Only God can work that in, but I figure the more we follow the faithful God, some of it ought to rub off. Let's pray.

Father, we pray it does. We pray that your character would rub off more and more upon us. That we like Daniel, a man who didn't have a big support group, didn't have a church or temple to go to, didn't have sacrifices or a priesthood in Babylon, all we know is that he had the writings of Jeremiah the prophet and a wholehearted commitment in the faithfulness of God. And, therefore, he himself in following you was faithful consistently, professionally, in scrutiny, and spiritually, like a finely built four-walled city, secure, because the faithful God kept him secure.

Lord, we, we pray marching into this next week, praying that you'll keep us, and that our workday whether we are a mother with a family, we have kids that depend on us, or we are men or women who go to work professionally, that we would see that as a holy calling and use it to spread your truth where we hang our hat or our coat for those eight hours or more during the day, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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1/6/2013
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I Dare You: Be Distinct!
Daniel 1
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Men and women of character will rise to meet a challenge. Our challenge over the next few months will be modeled in the life of Daniel, a man of God who stood out above the rest, honored God, and influenced his world. Each week, our service will be formed around a new challenge—a dare—to rise up, be counted, be different, and above all, be pleasing to God.
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1/13/2013
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I Dare You: Step Up!
Daniel 2:1-23
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Any crisis we face is a test. How will we respond? What actions will we take? What will our faith in God mean to us and to others in that moment of crisis? Daniel and his friends faced their moment of crisis when the King of Babylon’s insomnia became their worst nightmare. As they faced the possibility of their own death, they used the situation to display their life-giving faith. Let’s consider how we can step up to life’s difficulties and use them as spiritual opportunities.
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1/20/2013
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I Dare You: Speak Out!
Daniel 2:24-49
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Words can become jumbled when we feel intimidated by the one we’re speaking to, especially if the one we’re speaking to intends to kill us! That’s why this story is so inspiring: Daniel speaks out clearly, boldly, accurately, and yet humbly to Babylon’s monarch and thereby gives us a model of speaking God’s truth to our world.
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1/27/2013
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I Dare You: Stand Up!
Daniel 3
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Fitting in, blending in, and conforming to the values of the world around you is what is expected. If you dare go against the flow of popular worldly ideologies, you will be a marked person, regarded as a fanatic and relegated to the category of "dangerous individuals." Three of Daniel's friends decided it was better to stand up for God than to bow down to the wishes of the crowd. Their conviction of heart was to refuse to be "conformed to this world" (Romans 12:2).
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2/3/2013
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I Dare You: Submit!
Daniel 4:1-18
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Before us is a remarkable section of Scripture with a remarkable story about a king who makes a remarkable statement. It is the personal journal of an earthly political monarch who recognizes God’s authoritative rule in the human realm. As amazing as the story is, it carries with it implications for us to submit to God by submitting to man’s government.
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2/10/2013
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I Dare You: Be Humble!
Daniel 4:19-37
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A pundit once quipped, "Humility is like underwear—essential, but indecent if it shows!" The opposite of humility is pride, and Daniel 4 reveals it in spades. Nebuchadnezzar will learn (and then tell) about the greatest lesson God showed him in his long career—that He is able to humble those who walk in pride. So why not learn it the easy way? Listen carefully and apply these truths diligently. I dare you!
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2/17/2013
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I Dare You: Wake Up!
Daniel 5
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As a teacher was lecturing his class, he noticed a student sleeping in the back row, so he said to the sleeping student’s neighbor, "Hey, wake that guy up!" The neighbor answered back, "You put him to sleep, you wake him up!" Falling asleep on the job may be harmless in some situations, but not as the ruler of a nation, and certainly not when God’s judgment is impending. This week’s dare is directed to anyone who is not heeding divine warning signals and needs to wake up.
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3/3/2013
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I Dare You: Be Steadfast!
Daniel 6:10-28
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Calvin Miller once wrote, “Security is never the friend of faith. It is peril that produces steadfastness.” Daniel knew this to be true and was willing to sacrifice the security of life and limb because his heart was steadfast and immovable toward his God. Even though he had been faithful to king and country, this aged prophet faced the trial of a lifetime.
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3/10/2013
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I Dare You: Defend!
Daniel 7:1-8
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Daniel did fine when he was thrown into the lions’ den, but how does he fare when thrust into the critics’ den? Daniel is an amazing book of prophecy as well as history, yet it has not escaped the bright white light of antagonistic critics through the ages. Today I dare you to move beyond a shallow faith that depends on personal feelings and subjective experiences and learn to “contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3).
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3/24/2013
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I Dare You: Decide! - Part 1
Daniel 7:8-28
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The world as we know it won’t last forever. Time will not march on without interruption. Daniel saw a vision of four future kingdoms which can be documented historically. But one final worldwide antagonistic thrust against God is coming. It will be waged by a ruler typically referred to as the Antichrist (but actually there are many more names for him). A fourfold description of this coming dictator’s reign is highlighted before us. Even more basic is the choice we must all make about which kingdom we will be part of.
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4/14/2013
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I Dare You: Decide! - Part 2
Daniel 7
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The time is coming when the world will have to decide between a false messiah and the true Christ. Sadly, some already have. Today, we'll consider the world's fastest growing religion and how it might possibly interact with the Bible's predictions of the end times.
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4/21/2013
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I Dare You: Look Ahead!
Daniel 7:9-14;7:26-27
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Economists, meteorologists, visionaries, and psychics all share one thing in common: They all try to predict the future to announce what's coming. God's prophets never had to; God revealed it to them and they simply wrote it down or spoke it out. The central highlight of Daniel's vision in chapter 7 isn't the coming kingdoms of earthly men nor of the coming Antichrist but rather the coming of Jesus Christ. Let's look ahead and see what's coming.
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4/28/2013
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I Dare You: Be Great!
Daniel 8:1-8;8:20-22
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The New York Life Review posted this: "Great men have but a few hours to be 'great.' Like the rest of us, they must dress, bathe, and eat. And, being human, they must make visits to the dentist, doctor, and barber and have conferences with their wives about domestic matters. What makes men great is their ability to decide what is important, and then focus their attention on that." (I think that goes for great women too!) Let's compare three men who some consider to be great, and then see how we measure up.
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5/19/2013
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I Dare You: Be Shocked!
Daniel 8:8-27
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When was the last time you heard someone respond to an incident or piece of information by saying, “That’s shocking!”? Shock (emotional disgust, offense, and aversion) has been diminished due to a widespread exposure to facts and images. Things get too easily relegated to a file in our brains marked, “I’ve already heard this before.” It’s a sad day (and dangerous) when we become spiritually desensitized to God’s truth and the world’s pain.
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5/26/2013
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I Dare You: Pray!
Daniel 9:1-5
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I have never met a person who's regretted praying too much. I've met plenty who've regretted praying too little. Prayer is the one activity that everybody knows they need, but few actually do. It's preached often, but practiced seldom. Forgive me if I'm dispensing guilt—that's not my intention. I'd rather take a peek into the busy life of an ancient executive (Daniel), and see the role prayer played for him and, in so doing, get fired up about this most powerful of activities!
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6/2/2013
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I Dare You: Pray! - Part 2
Daniel 9:4-19
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Just as a square has four sides and is incomplete without all four sides, so too does effective prayer. Daniel leaves us with a great example (and a simple one at that). Though we can pray anywhere and anytime, these four elements form a great baseline for us to emulate. When you talk to God, make certain the signal is clear, your heart is pure, and your confidence is sure.
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6/9/2013
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I Dare You: Understand!
Daniel 9:20-27
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God wants us to understand! He wants us to understand the truth about life. He wants us to understand the way of salvation. He wants us to understand His plans for the future. Today we come to the scriptural key that unlocks the door to the prophetic future of God’s plan. If you have never known it before, choose to understand it now. I dare you!
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6/30/2013
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I Dare You: Fight!
Daniel 10
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Fighting is never fun, but it's sometimes necessary. Certainly that's the case with the Christian life: It's not a playground but a battleground. Spiritual warfare (the cosmic battle between forces of good and evil) is a reality that none can escape but few really understand. For Daniel, the curtain is pulled back and he is allowed to see past the natural world into the supernatural world. Let's get a firsthand briefing on a heavenly battle that has earthly repercussions.
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7/7/2013
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I Dare You: Remember!
Daniel 11:1-35
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Daniel 11 is packed with prophecies about the history of Israel and the world. In just the first 35 verses of the chapter, we find that 135 of those prophecies have already been fulfilled. As we look at the historical details Daniel received in his visions, God's sovereignty comes to the forefront and prompts us to remember that He will carry out the prophecies yet to be fulfilled.
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7/14/2013
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I Dare You: Rest!
Daniel 11:36-45
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It's hard to be at rest when everything around you is chaos and conflict. But today that is our dare. Peace isn't the absence of a storm but being at rest in the midst of the storm. Daniel is informed about a stormy future in store for his own people and for the whole world. As we look ahead to consider a leader who will come during the most tumultuous time in human history, I dare you to rest in four distinct ways:
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8/4/2013
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I Dare You: Hope!
Daniel 12:1-3
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There is nothing needed more in the world today than hope. Every generation faces the tendency toward despair and hopelessness. Daniel especially did since he was learning of his own people's future suffering that would last for multiplied generations. But at last, God gives him a precious ray of hope: The worst of times will usher in the best of times. Four words describe that future time and become four rungs on the ladder of hope.
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8/11/2013
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I Dare You: Respond!
Daniel 12:4-13
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The Christian life is essentially a response to God: God is the Master and we are His servants; He's the Good Shepherd and we are the sheep; He is the Head and we are members of His body. Even our love for God is a response: "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). In this final section of the book of Daniel, let's consider three things that God does and what our response should be in each case.
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8/18/2013
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I Dare You: Be Balanced!
Daniel 1-12
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One dictionary defines balance this way: "A condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions." That's a fitting word to describe the whole of Daniel's life. In today's final study of the book of Daniel, we consider the man himself and how his life was so outwardly powerful and yet so inwardly stable. Daniel was supremely balanced in at least four areas.
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There are 23 additional messages in this series.
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