Sermon Tone Analysis

Dan.

6; 1-16

 

Here's another story that you have probably heard since you were a small child; Daniel and the loin's den!

What a wonderful story to know and read to your kids and even to know for yourself no matter how old you are! It's a wonderful story indeed because we see not only God being what he is naturally; which is faithful to one of his children and sticking up for them.

But we see Daniel put in hot water as often as the case is and guess what comes out?

 

Faithfulness!

We as a society think highly about being gifted, talented, educated, skilled and trained.

But what about being faithful?

What about just being where you should be, when you ought to be there and be there in the right spirit?

Did you know that 85% of being successful in whatever is just that!

Being where you ought to be, when you ought to be there and being there in the right spirit!

That's what being faithful is all about!

That's an old fashioned concept today isn't it?

Being faithful?

If you were to ask me what is the best but least thing that you as a Christian could do for your lord; I would have to say; "Strive to be faithful as a Christian!

The gifted, talented, educated, skilled people don't get the job done for God!

They are out there chasing their dreams, chasing money, chasing what they think will bring them happiness in this life!

The work of God gets done by faithful ordinarily people who love God enough to be what they should be and that's being in their place at the right time and in the right spirit!

 

Faithfulness!

Listen I would rather take faithful people over gifted and talented folks in a heart beat; because I know if your faithful to God and his church then God has your heart!

But when your faithfulness can be broken like a tread that tells me, that your heart isn't in this!

It is somewhere else wishing the rest of you was there!

Your faithfulness is what drives the church of God; humanly speaking!

And when your faithfulness is not what it should to be; no wonder why church isn't as sweet as it used to be!

 

Let's set the scene of how Daniel dared to be faithful!

I.

Daniel's Faithfulness was sought for.

Vl-4

 

Here again we are faced with a totally new kingdom!

Chapter five was more than just the end of a chapter it was the end of a nation; the Babylonian nation!

The head of Gold was replaced by the belly and arms of silver, representing the Medo-Persian Empire!

Darius and Cyrus had came in under the walls of Babylon and conquered the strongest nation of their times!

When they came to power it seems that the infer structure was left whole, all those under the king remained in their place, just an new president came in.

Remember, Daniel was pretty high up when the other administration went under so he's right here in his same old office!

Darius was in a jam though; here he is coming in to be king and he probably doesn't trust anyone and knows that they aren't what they should be; so guess who Darius goes looking for?

He goes looking for someone who is faithful!

Someone who's probably not like him and the rest!

Someone who's not caught up in games and petty pursuits of that day!

Notice v3 “Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm”.

You can't read about the life of Daniel and miss the concept of faithfulness in this man's life!

There were times when he could have kept his mouth closed and just went with the rest of the crowd; but he didn't!

He chose to stand out and be faithful to his God!

And that's why we are reading about his life!

I wonder if anyone will read or speak of our faithfulness in years to come?

I wonder if your children or grand children will speak of your faithfulness while you are in heaven?

They just might if you dare to be faithful instead of just going the way of least resistance.

We must dare to be a Daniel in our days!

Faithfulness is needed now more than ever!

Even lost people who are CEO's, heads of departments, and their like prefers faithful people to be under them.

They want people with integrity, fortitude, moral strength, common sense, a sense of faithfulness about them!

They just want people to be what they ought to be when they are at work!

I can't help but remember that the administrator of our school was phoned one day from a freight company asking for more of these "preacher boys" for their shifts.

The guy said these were the best workers he had even seen.

They work and don't complain they are happy to be here and get along with everyone else.

They don't steal from the company or lie, they don't cuss the supervisors out like the rest.

Where do these guys come from?

He asked.

The administrator, said; Sir, these men are just being faithful Christians first and good employees second; that's all.

There's nothing magical about them!

Do lost people expect faithfulness from say, policemen, doctors, lawyers, CPA's, firemen, school teachers?

You bet they do!

They count on their faithfulness being there!

And oh my when their faithfulness isn't there, you here about it!

Darius was no dumbie, he knows that there is corruption in the leaders under him and sets out to find the one man that isn't corrupted like the rest!

Someone who's different in their life and who's going to be different at their job.

How do you get picked out of the crowd like Daniel was?

The Faithfulness that he had with God, naturally just spilled over into his professional life and if he would have had a family that too would have be influenced also!

Getting right with God does more than just saving you from hell; it puts you in a position where you can really start to living without any guilt!

Being saved isn't the end to what God can do with you, so many think it is.

But truly being saved is just the beginning to a life like Daniel's if you dare to try and that's all that God expects!

Daniel was preferred because he had what was called an excellent spirit in him, v3.

That speaks of his attitude, his performance, his purity, his over all character!

Who wouldn't want to have such a bright example like Daniel around them?

 

II.

The Plot to Stain Daniel's Faithfulness v4-5

 

These other guys apparently wanted this position that was given to Daniel!

In a private, carefully guarded room of the Median palace in Babylon, the governors of more than a hundred provinces gathered secretly.

The heads of states pulled their beards and shook their heads.

They had not been able to bring any charges against their opponent.

He wasn't a womanizer.

He didn't have any vested interests in a Persian Savings and Loan.

And he had too many friends in high places.

Even Darius the Mede, whom Cyrus had put in charge of the conquered Babylonian territories, favored him.

They checked all of the things he had done, every single memo he had ever written.

They dogged him, bugged his rooms, and had the Medo-Persian FBI follow every lead.

They were burning with rage and envy.

Finally one of the conspirators came up with a brilliant idea.

"We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God." (Dan.

6:5).

Has it ever occurred to you that maybe the reason why someone gives you such a hard time at work or else where, just might be because they are envious and jealous of who you are?

It wouldn't be the first time that a purer life brought conviction to those who were living in disobedience.

They can't find anything on Daniel, so they get him where they think they can, and that's in his walk with God!

They must have noticed that Daniel didn't accompany them into the idols' temple and such!

 

III.

The Subtle Snare v6-9

 

There is confusion inside the throne room.

The governors troop in, all talking noisily and catching the king off guard.

First of all, they begin with a lie.

They state that all of the leaders in the kingdom have consulted together, and yet they know that Daniel was never involved.

The next thing they do is use flattery to get the king's attention.

They rushed into the presence of the king and said, "Your highness, we've been thinking, and we've decided we are going to make you god for a month.

"

They bowed before the king and with inward smugness said: (read) Daniel 6:6-8