Sunday, October 10, 2021 AM

Good morning, everyone. It's good to be together this morning to worship together, to read the word together, to fellowship with one another.

A few announcements as we get started this morning. We will be having evening service tonight.

We do understand that there is some threat for some weather tonight, so just use your discretion on attending tonight.

Nothing is canceled, but just use your discretion on whether you come tonight. And then coming up this

Wednesday, we'll have dinner resuming at 545 in the Fellowship Hall for the whole church together.

And then also TAG is going to be picking back up after having a week off there.

So that will be at 630, and then the adults will have Bible study and prayer time all after we eat together.

Coming up on Sunday, October 24th, in the evening, Truth Group for the young adults will be meeting after the evening service.

And then looking ahead to Wednesday, October 27th. End of October, we'll be having a

Reformation emphasis on that Wednesday. It's kind of a celebration of the Reformation, the

Protestant Reformation, and so we'll be having some activities and lessons there. This week's fighter verse comes from Isaiah chapter 46, verses 9, 10, and 11.

Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other. I am

God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all of my purposes.

Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country,

I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass, I have purposed, and I will do it.

So good verse to memorize this week. If you have any kind of oversight or input into some budgetary processes for a particular department or area in the church, if you can get those into the church office by October 31st, that will help them in planning for the upcoming year.

Also, Operation Christmas Child is still going on. Look in your bulletin for a few of the things that you can be giving toward those shoe boxes, those

Christmas gift shoe boxes for those kids. And then the sewing ministry still has some needs as well.

I'm going to have Michael come up real quick, and he's going to share something about the deacon ministry, and then after he's done, we'll have a short video about Operation Christmas Child, and then once that video is over, we'll have

Brian come up and open us in prayer. Well, church, I just want to let you know that we have completed a year of Timothy's school with several young men in the church, and after talking with them, we do have several who would like to serve as deacons.

And so I wanted to let you know that James Brown and Jacob Cole and Dylan Hamilton and Daryl Hamilton have all expressed their desire to serve as deacons here at our church, have already attended a deacons meeting to kind of see the trajectory of where we're heading, and they are in agreement and excited about that direction.

And so as per the way we do things here, I wanted to let you know that, so that for two weeks that you all will be praying for these men and that you would encourage them and exhort them, and that if you are able to, then if you have any questions about that for the next two weeks, talk with your elder, and we'll be able to walk you through that.

If you don't know those names I just gave you, we could introduce you, make sure that you meet these men.

And then here in the near future, as the Lord wills, we're going to have a deacon ordination and just be in prayer for the deacon ministry of our church as we seek to serve the

Lord and to lead out in service here at Sunnyside Baptist Church.

So, okay, so thank you for committing to praying for these men. And now we're going to have the video.

I've had a lot of people tell me I'm lucky, but I tell them I'm chosen.

My name is Karabo Redlan. I was born in Lesotho, Southern Africa, and was raised in the villages.

When I was about five years old, I lost my father, and not long after my father's death, my mother left me at my grandmother's house, and I never saw her for years.

So my grandmother became a mother. She taught me a lot of things, including how to read and write.

But most importantly, she taught me about God. Loneliness in my life began when

I lost my grandma. The woman who raised me had to say goodbye to my love, to my grandmother.

Then a year after my grandma's passing, my mother also passed away. I was faced with the sad reality of being an orphan, which is something that I dreaded the most.

I had a home and a house in the villages, but I had no parents. I was alone.

My uncle brought me into his home in the city. It was there in the city that I met a friend, actually, who invited me to a church.

There was a truck filled with these shoeboxes. I received a shoebox myself, and I remember that shoebox filled one of the holes in my heart, and that was the hope of having something that belonged to me.

I had lost everything, so the gift of the box gave me the hope that this belongs to me, and it really filled my heart.

I realized God gave me what I was always in need of. I made a choice to personally seek

Him. Today I have a family, and I'm no longer an orphan. I know

I'm chosen. Someone took their time to work hard, and to pick my shoebox, and God used them to give me hope and to fill what my heart was in need of.

So today, if you hear the voice of God, do not hide in your heart. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

So I'm asking you to go prepare a gift today. Take a shoebox, give someone hope, and love somebody today, and spread the gospel.

Good morning.

Would you pray with me, please? Father, it is a privilege to come to this place with these people on this day, and only a holy

God could connect a child with a box packed with gifts and the word and encouragement from another continent.

Only a holy God could heal body and soul and mind and heart.

Only a holy God can teach us through His word the meaning of life, the treasure of salvation, the sacrifice

He made with His Son for us. Only a holy

God can bring men and women, children together as a family, a spiritual family.

Only a holy God can redeem souls. So this day,

Lord, as we worship you and we sing praises to you and we hear the word taught, would you remind us that none of this is by chance, none of this is by accident.

This is all planned by a holy God, our God, our sovereign

Master. And we ask these things in Christ's name.

Amen. Would you stand and we'll read our call to worship this morning.

First, I wanted to say it's a pleasure to see some faces we haven't seen for a few weeks.

So I'm going to put on a little hair on the face, and we appreciate that. Psalm 72, verses 12 through 13.

Oh God, be not far from me. Oh my God, make haste to help me.

May my accusers be put to shame and consumed with scorn and disgrace.

May they be covered who seek my hurt. Our first song will be in your new

Psalms book, 71B. 71B,

Do Not Forsake Me in Old Age. And then we'll move to our blue hymn on page 85.

Do not forsake me in old age when strength leaves me not.

For enemies against me speak to take my life they plot.

They say God has forsaken him.

Come, cease him, none will say. Oh God, do not be far from me.

God, hurry to my aid. Let all my foes be swallowed up and put them all to shame.

Clone them with scorn who seek my heart and reproach me on their name.

But fast for me, I'll always hold and head to all your praise.

All day I'll tell your saving acts, your countless righteous ways.

And 85, in your blue hymn, Though Glorious is Thy Name. We, thy blessed name,

We, the glorious saints of every nation,

Sing thy judgment as glorious.

From the throne of sin and shame,

I was bound to die a ransom. Hail thee, sinners, to reclaim what's right.

This is thy name. This is thy name.

If you have your Bible with you, turn to the Old Testament, to the prophet Isaiah. We'll be reading in Isaiah chapter 3, verses 1 through 15 this morning.

So, Isaiah chapter 3, starting in verse 1.

And as you read, your mind may go where mine did.

When I read through this earlier, it sounds a lot like the times in which we now live, which speaks to the timeless truth of God's word.

Isaiah 3, verse 1. For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread and all support of water, the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms.

And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor.

The youth will be insolent to the elder and the despised to the honorable.

For a man will take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, You have a cloak.

You shall be our leader. And this heap of ruins shall be under your rule. In that day he will speak out, saying,

I will not be a healer. In my house there is neither bread nor cloak. You shall not make me the leader of the people.

For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the

Lord, defying his glorious presence. For the look on their faces bears witness against them.

They proclaim their sin like Sodom. They do not hide it. Woe to them, for they have brought evil on themselves.

Tell the righteous that it will be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

Woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

My people, infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them.

O my people, your guides mislead you, and they have swallowed up the course of your paths.

The Lord has taken his place to contend. He stands to judge the peoples.

The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders and princes of his people. It is you who have devoured the vineyard.

The spoil of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor, declares the

Lord God of hosts. This is the word of the

Lord. Would you pray with me? Lord, as we read here of your righteous judgment against the sin of your people, we admit this morning,

Lord, that we are much like the nation of Israel. And we deserve your judgment.

We deserve your wrath. We deserve to be chastised.

Sadly, we deserve the leaders that we get, for we have gone astray.

As a nation, we have forsaken Christ, our cornerstone. We have forsaken the foundations upon which we were built.

Lord, would you, in your mercy, grant us repentance, lead us to seek your face, humble our hearts, that we might turn from our wicked ways.

Lord, help us to be as you have called your people to be, as a city set on a hill.

Lord, may your church pursue righteousness and holiness and godliness for the glory of your name.

For indeed, it is time for repentance to begin with the house of God. May that be so.

Lord, we need your grace. We need your mercy. And we come to you, the holy, righteous, and merciful judge of all the earth who will do what is right.

Thank you for your goodness and mercy in Christ, our Savior, our

Lord. Thank you for receiving us, not in our goodness, but because of Christ's holiness.

And we call upon your name, in the name of Christ. Amen. You may be seated.

We do yearn for that, don't we? For peace with man and with peace with God.

Our next two songs, the first one is in your blue hymnal, 425. And this is a peaceful song, in the garden.

And then your HMA will be 109. Sometimes a light surprises.

In the garden. They're singing.

Oh, joy.

I stay.

Through the night. Around me. But he.

Is. His voice. To me. Is. He.

With me. With me.

And he. Is.

Is. The soul. Is. Sweetly.

A. Day. In.

You. Has drawn. My heart.

The. Side. Of your. Glory. You.

See. The. Shine.

Brightly. My. Face. No. I see.

Christ. By. I.

I. Trust. You. See.

You. See. See. For.

The. The. Oh, give me faith like hysteria sing, that suffering lifts me to glory.

Hold by joy,

I fight the sin that turns my gaze from your glory.

Your Holy Spirit dwells within,

His presence arms me for victory.

Let death and hell against me rise, through death

I'll gain eternal joys.

More powers of hell will bend the knee before my great

King of Glory. Let's go to the

Lord in prayer together. Father, I thank you for gathering us today. And I thank you that we gather on this day, the first day of the week,

Lord, where we rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is the first fruits of the resurrection, in whom we have the beginnings of the new creation, in whom we have all of our hope.

Lord, we give you praise and we give you glory for your Son, Jesus Christ, as you have revealed yourself through Him to us in your

Word. And I ask today that you would grant us understanding of your

Word and desire to be conformed to it. Lord, that we would indeed confess you and confess our lives in light of you.

That we would agree with what you have to say. And that we would desire to follow through with the instructions that you give.

And Lord, I thank you for those who are here today, that you and your providence have brought healing and supply and opportunity for them to come and that they are here.

And I pray for those who are recuperating from illnesses or are too weak or unable to be here because of travel.

And Lord, I pray that you would watch over them, that you would care for them, that you would encourage them, and that you would give us opportunity to both see them and fellowship with them and minister to them very soon.

Lord, we thank you for hearing our prayers. We thank you for loving us and pray now that you would bless this time and help us to worship you as you respond to your

Word. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. I invite you to open your

Bibles to Daniel 6, Daniel chapter 6. We're going to read verses 1 through 10.

Daniel chapter 6, and we'll read verses 1 through 10. Last week, we began our look at Daniel chapter 6, putting our focus upon a discerning son.

Daniel has been appointed by Darius as one of three governors.

And yet, more importantly, he has been anointed by God's Spirit for this task, a civil servant in the

Medo -Persian empire and being filled with the Spirit, he fears the

Lord. And fearing the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge and understanding, and he's departing from evil and its health to Daniel.

And lo and behold, things are going really well for Daniel as he fears the Lord. And Darius notes this and is interested in making

Daniel second in command of the entire empire. He is so impressed with Daniel's godliness.

Daniel is a lawmaker, and so he is submitting himself to the law giver, and he is laboring for the peace of the empire in which he lives for a particular reason, hope -filled obedience.

God has promised to restore his people back to the land and to the city and to the temple in hope of the new covenant that he was going to bring about in that place.

And so his people are not to give up. His people are not to assimilate into the pagan program, but they are to be a light to the nations.

And as they return to the land, and as they return with new covenant hopes, they are to lead all the nations to that very same light who is

Christ. So God has anointed Daniel, and he has blessed

Daniel's behavior, and he has elevated Daniel to the right hand of Darius.

And in this position, Daniel functions as a wonderful signpost on the highway of the story of redemption of God's anointed chosen servant at the right hand.

But because Daniel has been elevated, because Daniel is living godly, he is targeted by the other government officials.

He is persecuted by the other government officials. We read about this last week, that they began to plot his downfall.

And remember what the apostle Paul told us, that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

Not the only experience godly people will have, but it is assured that we will suffer persecution.

So Daniel, once again, is forced to consider the riddle of statism, the deadly riddle of pagan statism.

What will he do? Well, the discerning son must obey God rather than men. The discerning son must obey

God rather than men, even if it costs him everything. Let's stand together, and I'm going to read

Daniel 6 verses 1 -10, the word of the Lord. It pleased

Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be over the whole kingdom, and over these three governors, of whom

Daniel was one, that the satraps may give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss. Then this

Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.

So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful, nor was there any error or fault found in him.

Then these men said, We shall not find any charge against this Daniel, unless we find it against him concerning the law of his

God. So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and thus said to him,

King Darius, live forever. All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you,

O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the

Medes and Persians, which does not alter. Therefore, King Darius signed the written decree.

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home, and in his upper room, with his windows open, toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his

God, as was his custom since early days. This is the word of the

Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. As we have opportunity as a family, we read through Acts together.

We've been kind of disrupted as of late, but we've been reading through Acts, and we've noticed a pattern. When something really good happens in the church, and the mission is flourishing and succeeding, very quickly something bad happens.

Things are going well, and then something bad happens. Then it's vice versa.

When something bad happens, then something good comes out of it, as God turns the bad into the good of his kingdom.

We see this with Daniel. Things are going well, and then something bad happens. You put bad in quotations because God is still in charge, and he's working it for something good, but even if the saints in the time can't see what that might be,

God always brings about the good that he determines. Daniel doesn't have to fear man.

He doesn't have to fear death. He can fear the Lord, wait upon him, trust him.

How else do we consider Daniel's response to tyranny, which is what happens? We see the motivation of it in verses 4 and 5.

We see the execution of it in verses 6 through 9, and then we see his response to that tyranny in verse 10.

As we think about Daniel's response to tyranny, we should keep in mind the wisdom of obeying

God rather than men. Proverbs 28 .7 says, Whoever keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons shames his father.

Lawmakers like Daniel and like us, as we're given responsibility over our own personal affairs and our families and our businesses, in the church, as we serve in the state, whatever it is, whenever we're called to make policy, make rules, make mandates, make decisions of how we're going to do things, as lawmakers we must submit to the lawgiver.

Lawmakers, whoever they are, wherever they are, in whatever fashion they serve, lawmakers must submit to the lawgiver.

And this is what we see in Daniel 6. And it begins by showing us a discerning son who obeys

God rather than men. His blameless behavior we saw in verses 1 through 5. And if you want to know why

Daniel is acting this way and trying to serve the Medo -Persian Empire with excellence, you have to read

Jeremiah 29 through 31. Now we're going to think about the devious detractors, the devious detractors in verses 6 through 9.

Conflict. Conflict. Bad blood.

Controversy. Verses 6 through 9. How are we to understand this conflict between Daniel and the other governors and the satraps?

Conflict between believers and nonbelievers is an interesting litmus test to identify those who fear the

Lord versus those who fear man. Of course, we all struggle with the fear of man. Jesus will save us from this.

The Holy Spirit will sanctify us in this. We all struggle with the fear of man. And we have no excuse to fear man at all.

We have zero excuse. There's no sound reasoning why the fear of man should remain in our hearts at all.

But when we see potential conflict or rising tension or actual controversy, we often view it as Christians.

If it's between believers and nonbelievers, sometimes we view it as a sign of something that's gone terribly wrong, as if the mission of the church is to make sure that everyone thinks we're awesome.

Very often we view controversy between believers and nonbelievers as out -and -out failure.

We have failed in the Great Commission because people are upset with us.

Many doubting churchmen think it's their spiritual gift to try to diffuse every single explosive issue so that no separating detonation ever goes off.

And yet, what if it is God's delight to make clear the lines between the camp of Christ and the wilderness of sin?

What if it is His delight to make clear the hope of His light versus the despair of pagan darkness?

Why are we tempted to rush in like the bomb squad, whether at Thanksgiving dinner or on Facebook or at work or in the community?

Why do we have this temptation to rush in like the bomb squad and take whatever live grenade there is, hide it under a shield, bolt it to the pavement, and detonate it in a very muffled and controlled way so that nobody gets upset?

You know, when you read the Gospels, Jesus time and again got into these situations where somebody tossed

Him a live grenade. Some kind of controversy. They want to see what

He's going to do with this very toxic subject, and so they toss Him a live grenade, and Jesus is always catching it, pulling the pin, and throwing it back.

What do we have to fear? The Lord uses these explosive situations to bring gospel clarity to those in darkness.

Christ advances His kingdom upon the backs of His converted or condemned enemies, having confronted them and overcome them.

And we have seen this in generation after generation after generation. So when we read here in Daniel 6 about this bald -faced opposition to Daniel, that shouldn't surprise us.

We shouldn't think that that doesn't go on today, that somehow we've gotten past that, that nobody's sitting around thinking about how to take down Christians.

Oh, that's just... All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

Let's believe the word. God put enmity between the woman and the serpent, between her seed and His seed.

So the answer is no, no. We can't get along. Sorry. Can't get along.

Can't get along with the LGBTQ plus so on and so forth agenda.

Nope, can't get along. Can't get along with abortion and selling baby parts and sacrificing unborn infants for the cause of science and using their material.

No, no. Can't get along. No, we don't get along. We don't get along with covetousness. We don't get along with greed.

We don't get along with corruption. We don't get along with lying. We don't get along. No, we don't agree.

No, we can't agree to disagree. I disagree and disagreeably disagree. No, we can't get along.

There's conflict between the woman and the serpent, between her seed and His seed. And God put it there.

And it's a righteous and good opposition. It's a righteous and good conflict. And I don't have to be bitter and angry and rude about it.

I can smile with all the joy of Christ and say, I totally disagree with you. And I think you're absolutely wrong. And here's why.

That's an argument. That's not a quarrel. God is interested in conflict and the manifestation of His glory again and again through the victory of Christ.

Given that context, I want us to look at the prideful mandate of these governors and satraps.

Notice how they bring this about and what their tactic seems to be. Verses 6 and 7.

So these governors and satraps thronged before the king and thus said to him,

King Darius, live forever. All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree that whoever petitions any god or man for 30 days except you,

O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. The jealous officials pour into the king's throne room like the raging sea.

The dam has burst with a perfect idea and everyone is for it.

How can the king refuse or even be allowed any time to think over it? Everybody is for this.

We must have this now. And it must be absolutely firm.

They come in with such emotional force and volume that it seems impossible to counter their point. Now we read back in verses 4 and 5 their jealous and devious motivations.

We know what they are up to, but here we see their tactics. Whenever a clamor arises with great fervency backed by a seemingly overwhelming majority that such and such a law or such and such a mandate must be passed and decreed immediately at all costs, beware, something is going on in the background.

All the yelling serves two purposes. One, to press forward the agenda quickly, and the other is to hide the real intentions.

Now look at this. What good is this new law, by the way, that they make? How could it possibly be spun as anything other than the fact that they're trying to take out

Daniel? The mandate could be cast in the sense of unity. Oh, this is about the unity of the

Medes and Persians. We need unity in our empire if we are to succeed.

We need the strengthening of the monarchy. Darius being a new king, we need to strengthen the monarchy. We need to promote the common good in our unity, indeed the greater good.

The plan, of course, is actually to create a mandate which exposes those who would oppose them, those who wouldn't fall into step.

The plan is to cancel Daniel. So they have to create a value, an ethic, which cannot be violated, but which

Daniel is most certain to violate. It is a classic example of persecution theory.

Persecution theory is based on the assumption of a civic religion.

You have to have a civic religion, which is all about making unity the purpose of all public policy.

A civic religion which makes unity the purpose of all public policy. The greatest moral impulse for the policies being made is that all would do the same and think the same.

And the assumption is that the victims of the persecution, those who are being persecuted, those who are not part of the civic religion, those who are not falling in line with the civic religion, those who are being persecuted are being persecuted because they are acting out of selfish motives.

Selfish motives. While the persecutors, they're simply being the public deputies.

It's public service. We've seen a lot of this lately, and it's nothing new. It's just persecution theory.

Those who trust the Lord and those who fear the Lord are often construed as selfish.

I'm not talking about just our own context and our own culture, and you're making connections to the last year and a half, two years, and so on.

I'm talking about all across the world where the church is thriving under the shepherding of Jesus Christ and his under -shepherds, where Christians are living and they're constantly running up against the civil religion, and they're constantly being considered to be selfish and self -centered and doing their own thing and destabilizing the nation and so on.

This is nothing new, and it's not unique to us. Those who trust the

Lord and fear the Lord are considered very often to be dangerous threats to the stability of the state.

Now, this law that is passed here in our text has nothing to do with establishing justice or promoting righteousness.

It is about eliminating opposition and rivals. It is about the elimination of God's man, the removal of God's word, and the denial of God's authority.

This is about statism, it's about autonomy, it's about pride, and those are the kinds of laws that are passed when lawmakers do not submit to the lawgiver in justice.

Now notice their commitment to destruction in verses 8 and 9. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, they say to him, so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the

Medes and Persians, which does not alter. Therefore, King Darius signed the written decree.

We must take a moment here to appreciate these folks' commitment to destruction, just how committed they are to this, that we want to destroy ourselves.

The very best official that they have in all the empire owes the entirety of his success to God and his communion with God.

Now they're targeting this very competent, capable man who is such a blessing to them all.

Here is a man in their midst who knows the Creator. He's actually indwelt by God, the only

God over the entirety of the universe. Here is a man in their midst who knows and treasures and is ready to share the eternal, never -failing word of God.

And these jealous fools are like, let's get rid of him. And then they move to cut themselves off from Revelation.

We're going to kill Daniel. And then notice, they cut themselves off from salvation.

Recall that Nineveh's king and people responded to Jonah's preaching and humbled themselves before God.

But here in the Medo -Persian empire, the king and the people outlaw any such repentance.

An amazing commitment to destruction. And they do so by the law of Medes and Persians which cannot be changed, which cannot be altered.

Oh, here is a society that held law in high regard. If the king agreed to craft a law according to the

Medes and Persians, he could not change it. Lex rex, the law is king over the king.

Indeed, backed up by the entirety of the empire, all the Medes and all the Persians.

Why is that so important in the pagan society? Well, recall that Christianity is defined by faith, hope, and love.

And the greatest of these is love. Paganism is defined by despair.

Despair. Part of the despair is that in a world view, a pagan world view, all is one.

Thus, the categories are fungible. And there is no outside perspective which can fix any category to any sure anchor.

So everything is always on the move and changing. And capriciousness, the capriciousness of the pagan gods and the pagan kings is legendary.

They're always changing their minds for no apparent reason at all. When Lord Fauci protests,

I am the science, and then agitates for contradictory standards and changing projections depending on the phases of the moon, with no hope of any full deliverance, you are watching despairing, capricious paganism in action.

You're watching it in action. There is no salvation. There is only despair and changing despair.

Those who put their faith in the bigness of the state will find it as a bruised reed, which when leaned upon will snap and stab the trusting hand.

The Medes and Persians sought to counter the despairing instability with a form of law that would be kept immutable, so that if any law were passed according to the

Medes and Persians, then the full weight of the empire and all the people would ensure that the lawmakers would always keep that law.

They were hoping for an island of surety in a foaming sea of change. Now, did that remarkable new system, did that corrective to the capricious whims of paganism, did that eliminate tyranny?

Did that eliminate despair? No. Babylon is gone.

The Medes and Persians are now here. The tyrant is dead. Long live the tyrant.

The new system has all the same problems as the old system. Think about how capricious this is.

Okay, now, all of a sudden, just for the next 30 days, you can't pray to anyone but the king. Talk about random.

Talk about random. How capricious is that? Dearly beloved, thinking that a change in forms of government or a change of leaders and systems is going to save man is a rejection of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Political upheaval will not save.

A new constitution will not save.

The Great Reset will not save. We already had a

Great Reset. We already had the washing away of violent, oppressive systems. We already had the restart of all humanity.

And what was God's assessment of humanity after the global flood? What did he say in Genesis 8 about the heart of man?

Still evil from the days of his youth. Nothing has changed in the heart of man. The Great Reset, the washing away of all oppressive systems has already happened, and it has happened to the full degree, and man's heart is still evil, depraved, backwards, dead, and in need of salvation.

If the global flood did not change man, then how will new politicians and new governments and new systems? The only change which will save us is the change which

Jesus Christ brings about through his life and death and resurrection. He is the law keeper, and he is the law giver to whom all lawmakers must submit.

It's not complicated. Lawmakers, personally in their households, in their churches, in their civil service, must confess the law giver, trusting in the law keeper to bring about the new creation he has begun by his resurrection and administrates in his ascension and completes in his return.

This is why it's so important. Just like we see in Daniel 6. Folks today seem to think that the salvation, the salvation of our health, the salvation of our prosperity, the salvation of our freedoms, the salvation of our society is in more law, more laws, and more laws.

We need more and more laws passed. We need them outright declared by fiat.

If you love your neighbors, you will agitate for more laws and hope and pray for more laws to follow.

And then if everyone would just follow more and more laws, then everyone would be saved. That's the culture in which we live.

Because it's paganism and it's despair and it's capriciousness and randomness everywhere.

And so, oh state, oh state, stabilize us.

Stabilize our ship in the roiling sea by bringing us more laws, more anchors.

Anchor us a hundred and a thousand times over until finally the anchors sink our ship.

Do more laws save? Do more laws deliver you? Does that work in your own life?

I mean, are you saved by making more and more and more rules for yourself?

Do you deliver yourself from sin and do you make up for your transgressions by adding more laws to follow?

Does that work in your household? Do you rescue your sons and your daughters from the devil by making a dozen new rules every month that they have to follow and remember and do?

Husbands and wives, do you preserve your marriage and save your marriage by adding more laws and rules to follow by trying to be more and more accountable following an increasing number of precepts?

Is that how that works? Is your business kept solvent and your employees aided and blessed by increasing regulation?

What happens to churches who become policy heavy and add more and more rules every time some kind of challenge comes up until we cannot remember why the thermostat cannot be changed at 3 p .m.

on Thursdays? Is the civil magistrate aided by the explosive growth of more mandates, laws, and policies?

Is the beast improved by transforming from a guard dog with the appropriate amount of teeth to a ravenous beast with way too many teeth?

Dearly beloved, please hear this. Laws do not save. Not even

God's law, which is perfect, Christ saves.

He's the end of the law unto righteousness for all who believe. You don't need laws to save you.

You need Christ to save you. You don't need the endless cycles of man's whimsical mandates. You need the law keeper who is the law giver who calls the weary and heavy laden to follow him unto all righteousness.

1 Timothy 1 .8 says God's law is good for those who use it lawfully. God's law isn't bad.

It's good. It's perfect. People can use it in the wrong way.

As lawmakers, we are to submit ourselves to the law giver. And as we follow the law keeper who is

Jesus Christ, he will show us what rules and mandates and standards we should adopt in our love for him as our sovereign and our absolute faith in his righteousness for our salvation and in our unwavering hope in his power and purpose to keep all his promises.

It's very much the same thing as religion. Religion used as a covering to look good is false.

Religion organizing our lives, religion for communion with God, to love

God, that's approved of in the scripture. Now, let's consider

Daniel's continued courage here in verse 10. Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home.

And in his upper room with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his

God as was his custom since early days. Remember some of his early days in Daniel 2 where he's praying and asking

God for wisdom, always going to the Lord. Daniel did not hesitate to obey

God rather than man. Now, what was his warrant? How could he just do that?

I mean, what was his authorization to say no to the obvious will of the state that he was supposed to serve and seek the peace of and just say no to that and do this other thing and pray to the

Lord? What was his warrant? Was he arrogant to think that he knew better and could do better than the collective wisdom of the entire empire?

Was Daniel acting selfishly, failing to love his neighbor because he wasn't participating in the civic strengthening moment?

There's no real dilemma here. Obedience to the civil magistrate when in conflict with obedience to God is not a dilemma at all.

It's not confusing. It's not complicated. You have to obey God. In this case, in order to adhere to man's law,

Daniel would have to break God's law. In this case, in order to follow men, Daniel would have to turn away from God.

So, that's not a complicated situation at all. There's no nuance there.

I mean, it's pretty clear what you're supposed to do. Proverbs 28 verse 9 says, One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

I don't want to hear about the holiness of God and the character of God and the desires of God. Even his prayer is an abomination.

Yet, consider the reverse. How sweet are the prayers of those who entrust themselves to the

Lord and do not abandon his word. Daniel was a lawmaker.

But he submitted himself to the law giver. And we see from the text, he'd been doing that for a long time. Now, if this event had occurred today,

I think all sorts of doubting churchmen would write articles and read articles and recommend articles that clarified that the state

Medo -Persia, they were not targeting believers in any way. This was a wide mandate that affected everybody.

It wasn't particularly about believers, about Christians, about saints.

There's no need for any kind of resistance here. I mean, the state didn't say that you cannot pray to God ever again.

I mean, that would be persecution. But it just stated that for the greater good, 30 days of no prayer except to the king.

And it wasn't even a mandate that forced the saints or the believers that they had to pray to Darius three times a day.

They could just abstain. I mean, look at the religious freedom here in the empire of the Medo -Persia empire.

Look at all the religious freedom here. They weren't being forced to pray to Darius. They could just abstain.

And then, frowning slightly, concerned about Daniel's approach.

You know, Daniel's decision to go pray three times that very day, the day that the mandate was passed.

With the windows open? I mean, clearly he's antagonizing these folks. He's not acting very lovingly.

He's forcing his Western customs on these Eastern people. He's failing in his missional enterprise.

And in fact, when you read through the rest of the story in chapter 6, I mean, how many godless pagans ended up dying and going to hell because of his confrontational methods?

I mean, whole families were killed. Daniel's obviously not in step with human flourishing as the highest value in God's eyes.

Actually, the fear of the Lord is the highest value in God's eyes. Fear of the

Lord, not the fear of man. I think probably some enterprising spin artist could probably turn the new mandate into a new spiritual discipline.

What do I learn by fasting from prayer for 30 days? Very holy.

I think somebody else would challenge concerned believers and say, you know, has prayer become such an idol to you that you can't abstain for 30 days out of love for your neighbor?

Answering doubting churchmen in this regard, I think, requires that we understand Daniel's posture and his direction in prayer.

Do you notice how he prayed, the direction he prayed? What was he doing? He opened up his windows because he wanted to see a direction.

He got on his knees. He's praying. He opened up his windows three times that day.

He kneels down in honor of, he knows who his master is. I know who the law giver is.

I may be a lawmaker, but I know who the law giver is. I'm down on my knees before his presence, and I'm facing

Jerusalem. He's facing

Jerusalem. Why would he do that? 1

Kings 8, verses 46 through 51. Consecration of Solomon's temple.

Here is Solomon's prayer. When they, meaning the people of God, when they sin against you, for there is no one who does not sin, let's be honest, right?

And you become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to the land of the enemy far or near.

Daniel's a captive in the land of the enemy, verse 47. Yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent and make supplication to you in the land of those who took them captive, saying,

We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness. And when they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the temple which

I have built for your name, then, here in heaven, your dwelling place, their prayer and their supplication.

And maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions they have transgressed against you.

And grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them. And look,

Daniel from his youth has been doing this. He was taken captive, and he went to the window three times a day, and he looked toward Jerusalem, and he prayed toward the shadows of Christ.

There is the land, there is the city, there is the temple, there is where God expressed Messiah in the shadows of the old covenant.

And here he is, and the death sentence has been passed against him because he's a praying man, and he's a

God -fearing man, and he needs compassion upon him in this moment so that he will not die. And so he is praying and directing his attention toward where God had revealed

Christ. He's not on his knees in the throne room, following up the big thronging scene, begging for the crumbs and scraps from pagan

Darius' table, saying, Can I have some little exclusion or way through that I can still do my prayer in some fashion?

Can you help me out, O king? He's not making petitions to the king. He's making petitions to the king of kings.

He's praying to the Lord. He's fearing God. And this is where our attention is to be.

So often our attention is on the crisis rather than on the Christ. We fear lawmakers who do not submit to the law giver, but what are they in his sight?

Do not focus on the serpent. Put your eyes on the Savior. We are going to be discerning sons and daughters in these days.

Then we have got to put our attention upon the law giver, who, as our law keeper, guides us into all the blessings of righteous living.

He will prosper us, and he will protect us, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against the church he builds.

Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the time you've given us in your word. It is an encouraging reminder of who you are and what you are all about.

Help us to be in agreement with you and to live according to your truth day in and day out, encouraged by your hope.

We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you stand for our song of benediction?

This is a great song for this closing. Great is thy faithfulness.

This is 43 in your blue hymnal. I called it green this morning.

I don't know why. Great is thy faithfulness.

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand has provided me.

For sin and all the peace that endureth.

Great is thy faithfulness.

Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies

I see. All I have needed.

May the love of the Father and the grace of the Son and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.