What Darius saw in Daniel
Dan 6:16
Faith that cannot withstand testing, cannot be trusted.
“If your faith fizzles before the finish, it was faulty from the first”
Darius saw that Daniel was
1. Singular in his devotion. Thy God
Darius didn’t say, “One of the gods you serve”. He said “Thy God”.
How many gods do you bow down to today?
Money. Job. Physical appearance. Entertainment. Sex. Being comfortable. Influence Fame.
Where Do I Spend My Time? Where Do I Spend My Money?
Where Do I Get My Joy? What’s Always On My Mind?
Matt 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or
else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Matt 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Karl Barth was lecturing to a group of students at Princeton. One student asked the German
theologian "Sir, don’t you think that God has revealed himself in other religions and not
only in Christianity?" Barth’s answer stunned the crowd.
With a modest thunder he answered, "No, God has not revealed himself in any religion, including
Christianity. He has revealed himself in his Son."
2. Dedicated in his worship. Whom thou servest
Most people only want to know God because of what they can get from God.
They don’t want to serve, but to be served.
Matt 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give
his life a ransom for many.
Jn 13:12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down
again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? 13 Ye call me Master and
Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed
your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an
example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
3. Continual in his practice. Servest continually.
On again. Off again. Adrian Rogers and a part time marriage.
Col 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God and the Father by him.
Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
1Sam 12:24 Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how
great things he hath done for you.
Deut 13:4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments,
and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
Charles Stanley tells of a time when he was struggling with much opposition. In the midst of the turmoil, an elderly member of his church invited him to her apartment for lunch. He hesitated because he was busy and did not want to listen to some lecture, but he finally agreed. He met her downstairs at the retirement community where she lived. They had lunch together, and then she explained there was something she wanted to show him in her apartment. She assured Charles that it would not take long and it would be fine. She took him to a picture hanging on her living room, a picture of Daniel in the lions’ den. “Preacher,” she said, “look at this picture and tell me what you see.” Stanley looked at the picture and saw that all the lions had their mouths closed. Some were lying down and some were standing. Daniel was standing with his hands behind him looking up at a ray of light coming into the den. Stanley pointed out every detail he could think of. “Is there anything else?” she asked. He could think of nothing. She put her arm on his shoulder and said, “Preacher, what I want you to see is that Daniel doesn’t have his eyes on the lions, but on Christ.”
D.L. Moody one time saw a man beat his dog at a zoo one time because he was mad at him. He had made a bet and boasted about him being so obedient and when he tried to get the dog to so something he wanted, it wouldn’t do it and he lost his bet. He got so mad at that dog and just beat him and beat him and beat him mercilessly.
Finally, after he was wounded and bleeding and whimpering, he threw him in the lion's cage so that the lion would eat him. And that poor whimpering, beaten, pitiful dog, standing shaking on his legs was in the presence of that great lion. And that lion came over to that dog and sniffed him and then he begin to lick that little dog and the dog laid down and the lion laid down there just keeping him warm and licking his wounds. And the man, after a little while felt sorry for the dog and told the man to let him have his dog back. And the person in charge of the lion cage who had seen him beat that dog said, "Fine, you can have your dog back. But you're going to have to go in there and get him yourself!"
James Michener, writing in his book, The Source, tells the story of a man named Urbaal, who, was a farmer living about 2200 B.C. He worshiped two gods, one a god of death, the other a goddess of fertility.
One day, the temple priests tell Urbaal to bring his young son to the temple for sacrifice—if he wants good crops. Urbaal obeys, and on the appointed day drags his wife and boy to the scene of the boy’s “religious execution” by fire to the god of death.
After the sacrifice of Urbaal’s boy, and several others, the priests announce that one of the fathers will spend next week in the temple, with a new temple prostitute. Urbaal’s wife is stunned as she notices a desire written more intensely across his face than she had seen before, and she is overwhelmed to see him eagerly lunge forward when his name is called.
The ceremony over, she walks out of the temple with her head swimming, concluding that “if he had different gods, he would have been a different man.”
