It seems that the earthly kings that Daniel served would never learn. We say last week how Nebuchadnezzar was so easily manipulated by people and so full of himself that he set an unjust law and followed through with an unjust punishment. But God delivered his faithful servants from the fire.
We see today that King Darius is no different; he has appointed Daniel to be over his satraps and was thinking about putting Daniel in charge of the whole kingdom. But jealousy prevailed in the Heart of the satraps and they started looking for a way to discredit Daniel and when they couldn’t find fault in him they convinced the King to make a law against praying to anyone but him for thirty days and if they did they would be thrown in the lion’s den.
Well the king announced the law and Daniel did as he always did He went to his room ,opened the windows and faced toward Jerusalem and kneeled down to pray three times a day as he always had and that’s when the trouble started . His enemies had kangaroo court and pumped King Darius up and then laid that guilt trip on him that he had to follow through with the punishment. And that’s where we find our Hero today facing the Den of Lions.
Read Scripture. (Daniel 16-22)
Daniel is delivered from the jaws of death and his accusers are cast in and are eaten, Darius decrees that all are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel and Daniel enjoyed success during the reign of Darius.
Now you may ask “Preacher, what’s this got to do with me?” I aint never seen a lion in Kemper County.
Well in the words of Ricky Ricardo “let me esplain it to you”
We my friends are at battle, we are fighting spiritual warfare every day it tells us in Ephesians 6:12 for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Brothers and sisters our main adversary is the devil.
Scripture tells us in 1st Peter 5:8 be sober, be vigilant; because[a] your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
God can deliver you from the Jaws of death just like He did Daniel. The devil uses deception, temptation, and accusations to try and destroy you. He will try and use your friends, your coworkers and your past to win the battle. And if the devil isn’t on your back sometimes you better be careful because if your never tempted or tried, or thrown to the lions, he’s already got you. When you try to live for God the devil will get on your back and only through the name of Jesus will you get him off. Get behind me Satan I aint fallin for that.
But he starts out with deception. The devil is a liar He will lie to you, and about you. He will plant lies in the minds of your friends and coworkers. He will tempt you with the things he knows that you like and he will make accusations against you and try and convince you to doubt your salvation by bringing to the forefront of your mind things from your past. He will make you doubt that God has forgiven you for the things of your past.
I worked for the coca cola company in Meridian part time for about 12 years and had a friend and coworker there named Henry Martin a lot of people called him Bishop because that was his title in his churches denomination, we all called him Rance. He had a saying that I will never forget. Anytime someone started to complain or gossip He would look at them and say “Don’t let the devil fool you into something that aint right.” “Don’t let the devil fool you” Words to live by , because that’s what the devil does he prowls around like a lion and then he opens those jaws of death and fools us, and we let him.
We have a God that can deliver us from the Jaws of Death if we just trust in Him. Don’t let the devil fool you into thinking that you are too close to God to be tempted. Jesus was as close to God as you could get and the Devil wasn’t afraid to go after him. Your enemy the Devil is walking around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
God can close the Jaws of death if you let him.
We have got to pray, we have got to have a relationship with Christ, we have got to be on the alert.
Don’t let the Devil fool you. God can deliver.
