CPAC sermon Daniel – A Man on a Mission 28 June 2009 Daniel 6 (v1-16)
(Recount some of Dileeni's testimony about "victimisation" etc....= Daniel in the lion's den!)
You’ve heard me say on a number of occasions that I believe God has called CPAC to a great task - that of sharing His love in this community and beyond, in fact, all over the world!
You’ve heard me say that we aren’t a church that exists to build our own little empire but we exist to build and extend the glorious Kingdom of God.
You’ve heard me say that I believe there is an apostolic calling upon our church.
We are here, not to keep people to ourselves, but to send people out as apostles, yes, and also as either prophets, pastors, teachers or evangelists.
That’s an Ephesians chapter 4:11-13 calling upon our church. … read that bible passage….
Now, not everyone will go, thank goodness, because we still need people here to keep the home fires burning, and to keep bringing people in, in order to send them out.
We all have a role to play, in one way or another.
No one role is any more important than another role; all are vital to the cause of building the Kingdom of God.
Now there are a number of ways of understanding the Kingdom of God.
For the purposes of what I am sharing this morning, this is what I mean by the Kingdom of God.
Jesus said the Kingdom is within us.
So the true Kingdom of God is the rule of God in the hearts of human beings.
The Kingdom of God is shaped by the hand of God.
God is the Potter shaping and moulding our hearts.
The Kingdom (you and I) is powered by God.
When you are building the Kingdom of God you are sowing “God seeds” into the lives of those you affect.
Remember what you do for the Kingdom is always powered by God because the Kingdom is the rule of God in the hearts of humans.
So it helps to have some power tools when doing Kingdom work.
You’ll know the television comedy series “Home Improvement” featuring Tim the Tool Man Taylor…..
To accomplish our mission as a church to build God’s Kingdom
you and I will need the proper power tools.
Let’s consider the tools we need in order to share God's love.
Yes we'll need our Bibles.
But what do you think is one of the most important power tools for us to have as we serve God and extend His Kingdom?
Daniel had it and he used it very effectively for God’s purposes.
Let me give you a little background information first.
As prophesied by Isaiah, Nebucadnezzar, king of Babylon invaded Judah around 606B.C.
He sacked the Jewish Temple of all valuables and took them back to Babylon.
He also took a number of young Judean princes.
Among them were Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
They were no more than pre-teens at this time, around 12-14 years old.
And they were indeed princes.
Josephus tells us that Daniel and his friends were of the family of Zedekiah.
This means their grandfather was good King Josiah...the king who attempted to return the people of Judah to obeying and worshiping and serving the one true God of Israel.
Daniel also heard the teaching of the prophets Jeremiah, Habbakkuk, and Zephaniah.
Reading the things that Daniel wrote in his book tell us that he had read the writings of Isaiah.
This suggests that, as he grew, Daniel was exposed to people who held a deep faith and trust in God.
He believed in God without compromise.
As a young man he was educated, honest, trustworthy and full of integrity.
He found favour with King Nebucadnezzar.
He served the King and within fifteen years of entering the king's service,
He had gained a reputation as a man of real wisdom.
Ezekiel refers to Daniel as being as wise as Noah and Job.
Daniel outlived Nebuchadneszzar and the next six kings of Babylon.
He lived on into the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia.
Now, the text we are looking at this morning refers to something that happened toward the end of Daniel's life, which, by the way, shows that we are never too old for God to use us in a powerful way.
Daniel was in his early 90's by this time.
He was given a great deal of responsibility in the Persian kingdom, working for King Darius, who most scholars believe ruled for King Cyrus.
So what is the power tool that Daniel used so effectively?
The power tool is the tool of personal integrity.
A dictionary definition of integrity is consistency and sincerity, with no deception or pretense.
The word integrity and the maths term “integer” come from the same root word which means, whole.
In other words, there is no discrepancy between what a person of integrity appears to be on the outside and what he or she is on the inside.
He is whole, the same through and through.
People with integrity have nothing to hide and nothing to fear.
Their lives are open books.
The opposite of integrity for example, is hypocrisy.
Charles Swindoll recounts the true story of a man who went into a Kentucky Fried Chicken store to get some chicken for himself and the young lady who was with him.
She waited in the car while he went in to pick up the chicken.
Inadvertently, the manager of the store handed the guy the box in which he had placed the financial proceeds of the day instead of a box of chicken.
The manager had camouflaged the money by putting the money in a chicken box.
The man took the box, which he thought was filled with chicken, went back to the car, and drove away.
When they eventually opened the box, they discovered they had a box full of money.
Realizing the mistake, he immediately returned to the place and gave the money back to the manager.
The manager was of course elated!
He was so pleased that he told the young man to stick around…
”I want to call the newspaper and have them take your picture.
You have to be the most honest guy in town!”
“Oh no, don't do that!” said the man.
“Why not?” asked the manager.
“Well, you see I'm married and the woman I'm with is not my wife”.
As this story illustrates, on the surface individuals may look like people of honesty and great integrity, people so thoroughly honest that if they’d been given the wrong change at a supermarket check out they'd give the 50 cents back.
But underneath, it isn't unusual to find some corruption or deception.
For the follower of Jesus Christ it means there must be a congruence,
or a consistency,
between our character and our creed,
between our beliefs and our behaviour,
between our walk and our talk.
It means loving God with the totality of who we are and allowing that love and our faith to extend to the whole of our life, including our families, our community relationships, and our careers.
INTEGRITY was Daniel’s middle name.
1. Daniel’s whole life illustrates the fact that integrity shows.
Is your integrity showing?
Daniel got a high powered job because people noticed his integrity.
His walk matched his talk.
His word was his bond.
He could be trusted to be completely fair and just.
In verse 3 it said that Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the high officers by his exceptional qualities that the king placed him over the entire empire.
If we are to be effective for God in representing Him in our daily lives,
we too must strive for personal integrity.
Proverbs 20:7 says, “The righteous person leads a blameless life.”
Evangelism is living your life as a person of integrity.
Evangelism is being Christ-like in every thing you do.
When it comes to evangelism, BEING precedes doing.
In that sense, you can ALL be evangelists, and impact people’s lives for good in one way or another, just by being yourself showing integrity in all you do.
So ask yourself, what message is your life conveying to those around you?
Is your integrity showing?
2. Daniel’s life shows us that living a life of integrity does not prevent you from the unfairness of life.
Being fair with others does not mean they will be FAIR with you!
Daniel wasn't thrown into the lions' den because he had done something wrong, but because he had done something right!
He was punished for the crime of praying in the privacy of his home – very unfair!
(Recall Dileeni's testimony..... victimisation...)
The truth is that in our fallen world things are so warped and twisted
that at times people are rewarded for doing wrong and punished for doing right!
This is hard to swallow.
Psalm 73 says,
“2 But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. 3 For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness…. 13 Did I keep my heart pure for nothing? Did I keep myself innocent for no reason? 14 I get nothing but trouble all day long; every morning brings me pain.” (Psalm 73:2-3, 13-14 )
YES, LIFE IS OFTEN UNFAIR!
No one, not even those with integrity, are exempt from tragedy and disappointment.
In fact, as the events of the first Easter remind us, even God Himself was not exempt.
Philip Yancey writes,
“Jesus offered no immunity, no way out of the unfairness of life but
rather a way through it to the other side.
Just as Good Friday demolished the instinctive belief that this life is
supposed to be fair, Easter Sunday followed with its startling clue to the
riddle of the universe. Out of the darkness, a bright light shone!” (unquote)
If you are facing unfairness, remember that Easter Sunday follows Good Friday.
Hang in there!
God will bring you through your own lions' den just as He did Daniel.
This is a very important Psalm so I am going to read a good chunk of it.
Grab hold of this…. King David in Psalm 37 said,
“ 1 Don’t worry about the wicked
or envy those who do wrong.
2 For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like spring flowers, they soon wither.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.
5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.
8 Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
it only leads to harm.
9 For the wicked will be destroyed,
but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.
10 Soon the wicked will disappear.
Though you look for them, they will be gone.
11 The lowly will possess the land
and will live in peace and prosperity.
12 The wicked plot against the godly;
they snarl at them in defiance.
13 But the Lord just laughs,
for he sees their day of judgment coming.
14 The wicked draw their swords
and string their bows
to kill the poor and the oppressed,
to slaughter those who do right.
15 But their swords will stab their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 It is better to be godly and have little
than to be evil and rich.
17 For the strength of the wicked will be shattered,
but the Lord takes care of the godly.
18 Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent,
and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.
19 They will not be disgraced in hard times;
even in famine they will have more than enough.
Life may be unfair.
God is always fair.
3. People of integrity know the importance of PRAYER.
Prayer was Daniel's daily habit every day, three times a day!
Perhaps he was following the example of David who wrote in Psalm 55:17,
“17 Morning, noon, and night I cry out in my distress and the Lord
hears my voice.”
When we spend time with God we become more and more like Him.
In his book on the spiritual disciplines, Richard Foster writes,
“In real prayer we begin to think God's thoughts after Him: to desire the
things He desires, to love the things He loves. Progressively we are
taught to see things from His point of view.”
Daniel wasn't on his knees because of some tragedy or emergency.
It was his REGULAR habit.
This constant communication with God was the source of his great integrity.
How is your prayer time?
What does it take to get you on your knees?
We must learn to shut the world out and tune God in at least ONCE a day every day without fail, otherwise the things of the world will crowd God out.
Many of us claim we are too busy for daily prayer but remember that Daniel was the CEO of a huge empire.
The truth is, prayer must be a priority.
We must reorder our daily schedules around time with God.
The Devil is very good at sending emails like this:
“Dear Christian,
When you're faced with a busy day, save precious time by skipping
your devotions. Signed, Satan”
As people of integrity, we can't afford to miss regular time alone in conversation with God if we are to live lives of significance for Him.
4. ....by using the power tool of integrity you can have an amazing IMPACT on this world.
Daniel's reputation as a man of integrity gave him the opportunity to impact two great empires: the Babylonian and the Persian empires.
He also changed the course of the history of the people of God.
Remember the King's proclamation after finding Daniel unharmed the next morning? He said,
25 Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world:
“Peace and prosperity to you!
26 “I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel.
For he is the living God,
and he will endure forever.
His kingdom will never be destroyed,
and his rule will never end.
27 He rescues and saves his people;
he performs miraculous signs and wonders
in the heavens and on earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.[a]
Most scholars doubt that King Darius ever became a worshiper of Yahweh but he did respect God's power so much that he later sent the Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild their Temple.
This never would have happened if it were not for Daniel's integrity.
And note how God used even pagan kings to prosper His purposes.
Like Daniel, you too can change your world by using the power tool of integrity.
This morning is the Holy Spirit speaking to you,
urging you to be a follower of Jesus in your scope of influence?
If you haven't been living a life of integrity,
if you haven't been conducting yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ... (Philippians 1:27 ) ...then it is never too late to begin to do so.
As I John 1:9 says,
“If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The tool of INTEGRITY is a POWER tool.
It won't work without the POWER of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
It is the Kingdom of God within us, Jesus within us,
who gives us the day to day ability to live lives of integrity.
Some of us may need to rededicate ourselves to God this morning, committing to keep our relationship with Jesus strong.
And, if you don't have access to that power,
if you have never surrendered your life to Jesus Christ,
then today is a good day to do that.
Decide today to accept Christ as your Lord and Saviour.
God is speaking to you today and now is the time to respond….
