Be Courageous (Daniel 6)
Our day is not a day of courage and sacrifice. Ours is a day when cowardice surrounds us and I intend to prove this to you with a few examples.
Though women have been repeatedly attacked and abused by men claiming to be women, our society will not tell them they are not allowed in women’s only spaces. Rather than protecting those made vulnerable by such laws, the Cowards that be just allow it to take place. It’s easier and more popular to allow the abuse of these ladies than to stand up to anyone, so that is what happens.
There have been 62, 502, 904 abortions since Roe v. Wade passed in 1973. That is a horrific number. And according to the Guttmacher Institute,
“The reasons most frequently cited were that having a child would interfere with a woman’s education, work or ability to care for dependents (74%); that she could not afford a baby now (73%); and that she did not want to be a single mother or was having relationship problems (48%)….Younger women often reported that they were unprepared for the transition to motherhood, while older women regularly cited their responsibility to dependents.”[1]
While I understand that any of these reasons might seem big to a person, they are not nearly as big as the life of a child. And rather than make any sort of sacrifice the choice is given to terminate the pregnancy. And it has happened over 62 million times since 1973. If you multiply Arkansas’ population by 20, you still don’t reach 62 million. It’s over 2x the population of the entire state of Texas. That’s how many times this decision has been made.
As a country, let’s consider our relationship with China. We all know that the Chinese Communist government is wicked. We know that those who dissent to the current regime are tortured and put in detention centers. We have heard of the cruelty of their government and know that because of their secrecy, we probably don’t know the half of it. Ethnic minorities are placed in internment camps. The internet is controlled so that only government allowed information can go in and out of China. Religious leaders that are not recognized by the Chinese Communist Party are jailed because they endanger the security of the state. But because they use child labor and slave labor to make cheap goods. This has been known for years, but corporations like money more than they care about this, so the goods continue to be made there. And the same goes for our government officials. They like cheap goods flowing in and out of here more than they care about these things so, no one does a thing. Not to mention that there is substantial proof that Covid 19 started in a lab and we know that they covered it up and allowed this thing to go worldwide without saying anything. But no one does anything about it. Ours is not an era of courage.
My last example of this is that our country’s response to Covid 19 has proven to be damaging to children, so much so that children born during the pandemic have a significantly lower IQ. Children can’t study mouths as much as they did a few years ago because of masking. Children haven’t gotten to experience as many things because of lockdowns. And I would suspect that there are other issues regarding the virus as well. One would think that when this study came out people would say, “This is causing damage to children, I as an adult will assume any risk and go back to normal for the children.” But ours is not a day of courage so governors, mayors, and others allow for the harm to continue.
Our society is weak and lacking in courage. And that sort of thing rubs off on us and somehow, we got this idea that Christians are supposed to be weak. But that is not what we see in Scripture. Notice where the “cowardly” go and who they are associated with.
“And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”” (Revelation 21:6-8 ESV)
The Book of Revelation is a call for Christians to be strong and courageous amid governments and societies that stand against them. It is the one who “conquers” who is a believer. And the “cowardly” find their way into the “second death”. This sounds so strange to us. And it is because a little of the cowardly nature of our society has influenced us. But we are to be courageous. We are to conquer.
Today there are plenty of areas for Christians to find their courage tested. It has always been the case that people would be hostile toward you if you believed that Jesus is the only way. Now that has extended even to believing that only God gets to decide what a marriage is and what a man or a woman is. Our society has begun to be called a “Soft Totalitarianism”. Rod Dreher describes it as such,
“Under soft totalitarianism, the media, academia, corporate America, and other institutions practicing Newspeak and compelling the rest of us to engage in doublethink every day. Men have periods. The woman standing in front of you is to be called “he”. Diversity and inclusion means excluding those who object to ideological uniformity. Equity means treating persons unequally, regardless of their skills and achievements, to achieve an ideologically correct result.”[2]
This “soft totalitarianism” of our day has left Christians firmly on the outside. We believe that God defines reality. God tells us about the world and everything in it. He is the source and fount from which all that sort of knowledge comes. And that places us outside of the circle of inclusion. That excludes us from society. We believe what we believe because God’s Word has told is it is so, and the Spirit worked in us to see the beauty and truth of it. We believe that God created whole people, gender and all. And the person who struggles with this is a tormented person that needs help. In God’s Word we read that one biological man are to marry one biological woman, and that union alone is to be called marriage. That excludes us from the circle of inclusion. We stand outside of what our country would define as civilized society. And that is pressure that has been put on us. And the question that we will look at today concerns this idea. Will you stand for righteousness when you feel that pressure? This is important to consider because that pressure will only grow as time marches on. And it reminds me of a temptation from The Screwtape Letters.
In C.S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters, a demon is being trained by a more experienced demon to better tempt humans. In it, Screwtape tells his apprentice that God understands courage to be any of the human virtues put to the test. In other words, how do you respond when the pressure is applied?
“He sees as well as you do that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means, at the point of the highest reality. A chastity or honesty, or mercy, which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky.”[3]
Pressure is being applied as we speak. How are you responding to it? If you only tell the truth when it doesn’t hurt, then you l ack the courage to be truthful. If you are only merciful when it doesn’t hurt, you then you lack the courage to be truly merciful. And when applied to our day, if you only uphold righteousness when you’re around a group of people that agrees with you and will not ostracize you, then you are not courageous enough to truly uphold righteousness.
Do you have it in you to be courageous?
There are a lot of places we could turn in Scripture to think about courage. You see, courage is found throughout God’s Word. We could consider the courage of Joshua and Caleb. Or, we could talk about Jael driving a tent spike through Sissera’s head. We could discuss the bravery of Esther to save the people of Israel. Or we could discuss Nehemiah and the brave men assembling the walls of Israel with swords in one hand. And in the New Testament we could see the courage of the disciples after the resurrection of Christ, who underwent imprisonment and beating but still would carry the good news they were commanded to carry by their Lord but forbidden by the rulers of their day.
But today I want to discuss courage from a very familiar story. It’s the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den.
There was a transition of power that took place at about this time.
“Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.” (Daniel 5:30-31 ESV)
So, here we are with a new ruler, and a whole new way of doing things. And Daniel is placed as one of the three high officials that oversees the working of the satraps that Darius “set over the kingdom” (Daniel 6:1) These satraps were governors of sorts, or viceroys, that ruled for their king. And Daniel oversaw their work. So, the king had entrusted Daniel with a lot of authority.
Live courageous and influence people to the Lord.
Live Righteously Amid The Unrighteous (Daniel 6:1-5)
Daniel lived his life righteously, that is very obvious from our text and the rest of the Book of Daniel. And here he was distinguished because of his hard work and good spirit (Daniel 6:1-2). His life was so exemplary that the king recognized it and wanted to give him more authority (Daniel 6:3).
This righteous living and recognition of the king was not taken kindly be the other “high officials”. They became upset at the thought of Daniel having more authority than them and they plotted against him. But there was a problem. His life was so righteous that they couldn’t find anything to accuse him of (Daniel 6:4-5). After some thought they decided to get him in to trouble over the exclusivity of his worship. They knew he was devoted to the Lord, and worshiped and prayed to Him alone. Therefore, they attacked him where he could be attacked.
When we say that we should live courageously, we are not saying that we should make everyone mad at us. Sometimes the world hates you because you are standing for righteousness amid the darkness. Sometimes the world hates you because you are being a jerk. It’s okay to be hated when you stand for righteousness, that is a mark of courage. But when you are hated for being a jerk, there is no good to be said about that. Stop being a jerk!
We are in a dark world. This is for sure. But amid that, like Daniel, we need to be people who live righteously. We should seek to be the person that works as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24). We are those that have been rescued from the darkness. We no longer belong to this world but are separated from it because of what Christ has done for us.
God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us. He lived a perfect life and accomplished all righteousness on our behalf and died on a cross as the punishment for sin. Then He rose from the grave and completely accomplished our right standing with God. He did this to bring a people to Himself. The Christian is brought out of the Kingdom of Darkness and brought into the light. Because of what Christ has done for us and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are not part of the Kingdom of Darkness. And so, we should look different and live differently from the world. We are God’s people living in this world.
When you do your homework, kids, it should be done as unto the Lord. There should be a difference between how you approach life and how others at school approach life.
When your parents tell you what to do, you should obey your parents. They are the authorities in your life. God has placed them over you and your obedience to them is obedience to the Lord.
When you are caring for your children, you care for them as unto the Lord. God has placed those kids in your care. So you care for them to the best of your ability.
When you are at work, you must work as unto the Lord. And get recognized for being a hard worker in a world where most people are looking at their IPhones and wondering why they can’t get things done.
Live your life in a way that honors the Lord. In a dark world that reveals that you are different. You are not the same as everyone else. You are no longer part of this world, but a blood bought child of the king. And that makes a tremendous difference in your life.
Be Courageous (Daniel 6:5-18)
Now we get to see the courage of Daniel. This is where the pressure is applied, and Daniel continues to act righteously.
The jealousy of the other high officials did not like the thought of Daniel holding more power than them (Daniel 5:5). It’s a story as old as time. They wanted the power but did not live a life that the king thought was worthy of the power, therefore they would knock Daniel down a few pegs. And they would use his worship of the Lord to make this happen.
Their plan was a 30 Day Law. It was 4 Weeks To Worship The King. During this thirty days there were to be no prayers offered to any god or man. Only King Darius was to receive these prayers. Now, King Darius, believed that this sounded like a pretty good idea and went along with the plan. And it seems that he did so with no questions asked (Daniel 6:9).
If we ourselves into the culture a bit, we see that the king probably thought little of this. He probably thought this move would just help his authority within the kingdom. It was not unlawful to pray. They could still pray, they just had to pray in the way that the State said was lawful. Most of the people within the kingdom were pagan, and they could generally pray to a king and that did not violate their conscience. But this was a big problem for the Jew.
In the Keil-Delitzch commentaries, they describe the situation as being one where the king was considered a manifestation of the people’s gods. This meant that the religious homage that was to be given to the pagan gods could be given to the king who was ruling over them without violating the conscience of the pagan. But this did violate the conscience of the Hebrew who believed that prayer was to be offered to the One true God and Him alone.
So, here is that pressure. Daniel had already walked in righteousness and it has been noticed by all, but this was the first time in a while that his courage had been tried. But remember, Daniel had been walking in righteousness since he was transported to Babylon. You can read that he had walked in righteousness for a long time. But here came the point of testing. He saw the law with his own eyes and understood what would happen (Daniel 6:10). If he prayed to the One True God it would cost him his life.
So, how did Daniel respond?
Well, Daniel walked up to his room, to the open window that he prayed at three times every day, got down on his knees and prayed. He did not hide what he was doing and close the window. And he did not move what he was doing to another location. He went to the same place he prayed at three times a day, that place that everyone knew he prayed at and did not waver though it would likely cost him his life.
Daniel did not hide anything, and he made no effort to make peace with this worldly ruler. There were no weeks off to try and let this thing die down. He didn’t give it a day or two. As soon as he saw that it was illegal, he went upstairs and offered his prayers to the One True God in defiance of the king and his wicked law. He defied the king by doing the righteous thing that he had always done. He defied the king and obeyed the Lord.
It seems that the plotters were waiting for him to pray. They knew he would do so and had him arrested in the act. They were watching him and knew exactly when to get him (Daniel 6:11-13). And then he was hauled off to the king.
Now, the king was in distress. It was his law that caused all of this, but it could not be changed (Daniel 6:14-15). So, Daniel was thrown into the Lion’s Den and a stone sealed him into what everyone believed was Daniel’s tomb (Daniel 6:16-18). The king worried about Daniel because he thought well of Daniel, and he had been tricked. The king himself, when he found himself completely out of control, fasted and prayed for Daniel (Daniel 6:18).
When Daniel felt that pressure before him, he remained faithful. A quick look around and one realizes that it’s not that easy to follow Daniel in this.
In our day pastors who once called us to stand for truth and righteousness are feeling the pressure of our society, a pressure brought upon us by the “soft totalitarianism” that was described earlier, and they cowardly bend to their demands. We have churches that fly rainbow flags. There are pastors that wear rainbow vestments. We have pastors who preach and declare godless, Marxist theories from the pulpit. There are a number of pastors that we once held in high esteem, that called us to courage in the face of a godless society that have shown themselves to be cowards amid this godless age. And I am sure that you feel the pressure that they succumb to. But don’t. Christianity is not for the cowardly, and though they profess to be courageous and proclaimed that we should be as well they have shown themselves to be cowards in the face of this evil age.
Do you think that this was easy for Daniel? Do you think that Daniel did not feel that pressure that you feel?
I can guarantee you that he did. And the pressure he felt was death, not just people pleasing.
Daniel didn’t unknowingly go and pray. It says,
“When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.” (Daniel 6:10 ESV)
Daniel knew what was before him. He knew the danger that stood in front of him, and his response was to walk up to that open window and pray.
You see, we worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And his authority stands above and beyond any authority of this world. And when the State declares that churches are to operate in a certain day, cannot have their doors open, or cannot say certain things, it is time for us to have courage and fill this building to the brim.
When Covid hit and no one knew what was going on, it was good to shut down for a while and figure out what this thing was and how to deal with it. When we realized that it could be managed, it was time to worship the Lord in the Church buildings. And that is what took place. In some cases, states were telling churches that they could not meet but were allowing businesses to be open. And there was an obvious double-standard being applied. And courageous pastors opened up their churches and faced fines from their local government. Thankfully, we are blessed in this country, and they were able to file lawsuits and win. But the first step was to stand up and have courage. There came a point in the emergency when authoritarians realized how they could use this situation to their advantage.
We worship an authority much higher than they. And because of that we will follow the Lord. We will do what the Lord has commanded. We will meet because our Lord commands it. We will hear God’s Word preached because our Lord commands it. And no one will convince us to do otherwise.
I have told Amanda on a few occasions that if the government were to ever outlaw things to be discussed from the pulpit, that I hope I have the courage to start a sermon series on that topic. I am supposed to come to the pulpit and declare with boldness the Word of the Lord, and I pray that I show courage if that day ever come.
But that courage does not happen all at once. If you will not walk courageously today when it is a little easier, how do you expect to walk courageously when things get a bit tougher?
If you struggle to live righteously around your buddies at work because they’ll laugh at the way you behave, how much harder will it be to live righteously when it actually costs you something? Work on this. Because now you are folding at the point of pressure and lack the courage to live righteously.
And knowing that the world our children will live in is going to be more difficult, ought we not to prepare them to be able to handle the pressure. Read good stories of bravery to your children. As C.S. Lewis once stated in his essay, “On Three Ways Of Writing For Children”,
“Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage…Let there be wicked kings and beheadings, battles and dungeons, giants and dragons, and let villains be soundly killed at the end of the book.”
Let your children do hard things and conquer their fears. Challenge them. Put them to the test. Don’t let them be weak. They are going to grow up with villains to fight. Let them be prepared for it. Read books that teach children courage. Don’t fall in line with the thinking of our day. Don’t choose books to read that are totally void of violence. Of course, you must keep it age appropriate.
Read books like The Chronicles of Narnia, Peter Nimble and the Fantastic Eyes, The Lord of the Rings, The Wingfeather Saga, and Pilgrim’s Progress. My wife recommends Little Women when the girls are old enough because these four girls grow up to overcome many obstacles in their lives.
Raising courageous Christian children is not about just bringing them to church on Sunday. We teach them God’s Word. We teach them Christ. And we teach them about virtue. And we teach them, as best we can, to be courageous. And that is not something you can do by dropping them off with someone else. You must do the work. And as we and our children live courageously in this world it will influence change by the grace of God.
Courage And The Work Of The Lord Influence Change (Daniel 6:19-28)
Daniel’s salvation is nothing short of miraculous. God shut the mouth of the lions by sending an angel to do it (Daniel 6:19-22). This was salvation was so complete that Daniel was left completely unharmed by the lions.
The king’s response to this news was happiness that God had saved Daniel from the lions and also to have those who betrayed Daniel, along with their families, thrown into the lions’ den. And the lions feasted. This action seems harsh, but it is consistent with the behavior and laws of other people from this area and time. I am sure that it deterred people from doing this sort of thing again.
But notice what happened at the end of the text.
“Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth:
“Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”” (Daniel 6:25-27 ESV)
Though this is not a complete change of religion in the kingdom, it is a pagan king proclaiming the glory of the One True God to his entire kingdom. But how did we get here?
Well, Daniel courageously walked in righteousness and God worked. This massive change took place because Daniel defied the law of the king and God stopped the mouths of the lions. And the king recognized all of it and made this announcement to the kingdom.
It’s easy to complain about the wickedness that’s growing all around us. But it won’t be changed by our complaints. You can complain all day and all night, but if everyone just goes along to get along then nothing will change.
I want to use abortion as an illustration here. Had churches decided that, because abortion was the law of the land, they would just go along with the decision then there would have been no pushback and no change. Through years of marches and opposition to the law there is now a solid chance of Roe v. Wade being overturned. In fact, the decision for or against that has already been made, we are just waiting to hear about the decision.
When man-stealing and slavery began to be opposed it was Christians, oftentimes standing alone that forced the change. William Wilberforce, who was friends with John Newton, stood by himself and spent his entire life trying to eliminate slavery and the slave trade. And he saw it happen just before his death. That was a Christian who stood against the law of the land and others joined the cause. It led to the overturning of slavery.
The point is that the world is not changed by people who just go with the flow. The world is changed by people who stand against it. It’s changed by people who live by principles and will not waver.
The early church stood against its culture in a large variety of ways. They only worshiped God, which was against the law. And they held to a totally different sexual ethic, which was insane to the Roman mind. And they believed in something that the rest of Rome found ludicrous, God the Son took on human flesh and died on a cross for their sins. They were completely countercultural in every way. And in the face of hunger and danger they were courageous, and they changed the culture. Christianity expanded throughout the Roman Empire. Their faith was held to the point of pressure as they were threatened with death and even being thrown into the arena with hungry lions. Their trust in the Lord was held to the point of pressure as they lost the right to work because they worshiped the one true God and would not offer sacrifices to Caesar. They were courageous in the face of terrible trials and much of Rome became Christian.
If you and I are going to influence a wicked society, then it will happen because we are different from society and have the courage to stand upon the foundational truths that we find in God’s Word.
If you want to see change in the people around you then you’re going to need courage. If you want to see change happen in the life of your family then you’re going to need some courage. If you want to see the neighborhoods around this church change then you’re going to need some courage. If you want to see a Church built here that is a true light to the community then you’re going to need some courage.
Conclusion
The pressure to go along with society is mounting and I think we all feel it. It’s all around us, how can we not? But we are Christians. We are God’s courageous children. We have been rescued from this dark world by the finished work of Christ and power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, let us face these coming days with courage.
R. Dwain Minor
[1] https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/psrh/2005/reasons-us-women-have-abortions-quantitative-and-qualitative-perspectives You can read the study here https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/pubs/psrh/full/3711005.pdf
[2] Rod Dreher, Live Not By Lies, Sentinel, 2020, p. 15.
[3] C.S. Lewis, “Screwtape Letters”, Chapter 29