Daniel: An Epitome Of Faithfulness And Steadfastnest

Daniel: An Epitome of Faithfulness and Steadfastnest

Study Text: Daniel 6: 1 - 28

Introduction:

- Daniel was taken captive to Babylon, but he was faithfully serving the Lord and taking his stand for that which is right.

- He lived in Babylon for many years, and he did not veered from the course he started on as a young man. He was still faithfully serving the God Who saved him by his grace.

- It seems that all his faithfulness to God was to draw the jealousy of his peers: He suffered the hatred of the ungodly, a plot against his life, and a death sentence in a lion’s den.

- But, through it all, Daniel rolled on. He remained faithful in spite of the changes going on around him.

- In this passage, Daniel was cast into a lion’s den. He was sentenced to die for doing nothing more than being faithful to his God.

- While Daniel faced a terrible sentence, he held fast to what made him a great man. Daniel remained steadfast and faithful.

- We can learn a lot of things from his life and conlude on our own that it is possible to be faithful in spite of what others around us are doing.

- We shall discuss this topic under four subheadings:

1. The Character of Daniel

2. The Choices of Daniel

3. The Challenges of Daniel

4. The Conquest of Daniel

I. The Character of Daniel V. 1-9

- He was brought to Babylon as a young man, enslaved, taken from his home and his people, and trained in the ways of the Babylonian court.

- He has been faithful to God, and God has blessed Daniel’s faithfulness, causing Daniel to find favor with every pagan king he served.

- After 70 years of faithful service, this former slave has become Prime Minister of the most powerful government in the world.

- God always honors faithful service. He may never promote you in the eyes of men, but He sees everything you do for Him. He keeps perfect records, and one day, you will be rewarded accordingly. Rev. 22:12.

- The other rulers of the kingdom were jealous of Daniel and sought to destroy him. After all, he was a Hebrew, and a slave, and they were Babylonians.

- So, they played to the vanity of the king and they devised a plan to get Darius to make a law that no one could pray to any God or even make a request of any person for 30 days.

- If you stop to think about it, the law was utterly absurd, yet, Darius signed it because it fed his pride and boosted his ego.

- Daniel’s problem was that he was faithful to the Lord, and the unbelievers around him hated him for it. They despised him because he was different, he was honest and he was real.

- Daniel was everything they could not be, and they could not stand him because of it. Thus, they devised a plan to get rid of him.

- You might as well know that if you are going to live for the Lord, some people around you are not going to like it. Those who do not know the Lord will always look for ways to attack those who are faithful to Him. 2 Tim. 3:12.

- Let them do what they will. Let them hate us, fight us, and try to silence us. But, regardless of what they do, let us determine in our hearts that we will do like Daniel and remain faithful!

- Beyond that, when the other presidents of the kingdom wanted to find some deficiency in Daniel that they might attack, they could find nothing wrong in his life at all.

- There were no skeletons in his closet. There was nothing hidden in his life. He was an open book. Daniel was faithful and faultless. That was his testimony among the lost. They could find nothing wrong in his life.

- They knew that Daniel was a man of prayer, so they moved Darius to suspend prayer for 30 days.

- They knew that Daniel would pray anyway. They saw that as their opportunity to have Daniel executed. That was what they were counting on, and they were not disappointed.

- Before we move on, let’s pause to ask ourselves this question: what is hidden in your life?

• If every secret were brought into the open, are there things there that would make you ashamed?

• Are there things there that would embarrass you or your family?

• Are there things there that would bring dishonor upon the church, the Gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Heavenly Father?

- If there are hidden sins, thoughts, and problem in the heart, they need to be brought out before the Lord and dealt with His way.