In 2007, a survey was taken asking Americans “How
many of The Ten Commandments can you name?”
Put to the test, Americans recalled the seven ingredients of a
McDonald's Big Mac hamburger and members of TV's "The Brady Bunch"
more easily than the Bible's Ten Commandments.
I would guess that even fewer people would know what the Ten
Commandments are really all about. Often
people look at the Ten commandments of God as a ladder to heaven. “Do these commandments and you’ll be OK”. But for human beings like us who have broken
the rungs on that ladder by our actions, the Ten Commandments can’t be used as
a way for us to climb into heaven. Yet
there is a part of us that keeps thinking that we can walk up on broken rungs. God had in mind for the commandments first of
all to be used by us more like a mirror than a ladder- a mirror to show us our
sins- a mirror to show us how much we need Jesus. In the coming weeks here at church we are
going to be using the 10 commandments as the guide for a summer sermon series
pointing out “the 10 reasons why I need Jesus.” Today as we look at the First Commandment we
dig back into the Old Testament to the story of Daniel in the lions’ den and
see why we should have no other gods.
God is the one to fear love and trust in. I. He
Is A Lion In Protecting His People.II. He
Is Not Lying About His Promises.
Daniel 6:1-23
1It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the
kingdom, 2with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The
satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss.
3Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps
by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole
kingdom. 4At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for
charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were
unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was
trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. 5Finally these men said, “We
will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has
something to do with the law of his God.” 6So these administrators and satraps
went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! 7The royal
administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that
the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to
any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your
Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. 8Now, Your Majesty, issue the
decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with
the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” 9So King Darius
put the decree in writing. 10Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been
published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward
Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks
to his God, just as he had done before. 11Then these men went as a group and
found Daniel praying and asking God for help. 12So they went to the king and
spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during
the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you,
Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “The
decree stands—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which
cannot be repealed.” 13Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the
exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you
put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” 14When the king heard this,
he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every
effort until sundown to save him. 15Then the men went as a group to King Darius
and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the
Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.”
16So the king gave the order, and they brought
Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your
God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” 17A stone was brought and placed
over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and
with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed.
18Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and
without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep. 19At
the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20When
he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel,
servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able
to rescue you from the lions?” 21Daniel answered, “May the king live forever!
22My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not
hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any
wrong before you, Your Majesty.” 23The king was overjoyed and gave orders to
lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound
was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
FEAR LOVE AND TRUST IN GOD ABOVE ALL
THINGS
I.
He Is A Lion In Protecting His People.
II.
He Is Not Lying About His Promises.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who
deserve first place in our lives, dear people who need Jesus just like me,
Out in
the garage at our house we have an old aquarium. It brings back memories of little ones
tapping on the glass and dipping little fingers into the water. I can also remember times when a fish decided
that they didn’t want to live in the water any more- they wanted to live out of
the water. They jumped out of the
tank. More than once I ran across those
little fish all dried out on the carpet.
I remember thinking that those little fish don’t belong here on the
ground. They belong in the water. The Bible says, “For God is not a God of
disorder but of peace.” God has a
certain order in his creation where everything fits-where everything tucks up
under and says, “Here is where I fit.” More
than once people have gotten themselves into trouble by jumping into a spot
where they did not belong. Think of Adam
and Eve and the trouble they brought on themselves and the world when they
thought that they belonged in God’s spot- a spot where they did not belong. The account of Daniel in the lions’ den begins with some people who
were not happy with where God had placed them and they brought all kinds of
trouble on themselves and others by trying to get into a spot where they did
not belong. Like fish out of water they
tried to put themselves in the spot of the king and ultimately In the place of
God- a place where they really didn’t belong.
By trying to have Daniel thrown into the lions’ den they found that God
is a lion in protecting His people.
God’s people had been carried off into exile in Babylon. For them exile meant that their city had been destroyed and they had
been carried from their homes to a far off land and used as servants for the
government of the people who captured the.
In that awful situation, many of God’s people shone likes stars. One of them was Daniel. Daniel so distinguished himself that the King
planned to place him over all the administrators. Some of the people in Babylon didn’t like
that order very much so they hatched an evil plan. “It had to have something to do with the law
of his god they thought because they could not find any fault in the way he had
been doing his job. They didn’t have to
look very far into the 10 commandments of Daniel’s God. The first commandment- “You shall have no
other gods.” That’s it! They must have
thought. Their plan played to that
desire of people to want to be in God’s spot.
They came to the king and said, “O King we thought it would be a good
thing if you made the order that anyone who prays to anyone or anything other
than you O king should be thrown into the lion’s den.” That sounded good to the king who put himself
where he didn’t belong by making the decree that he should be in the place of
God for 30 days. Just like they suggested
the King put the decree in writing. When
the King of the Medes and Persians did that it meant that the law could not be
changed even if it turned out that the law wasn’t such a great idea.
“Now
when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his
upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he
got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done
before. 11Then these men went as a group
and found Daniel praying and asking God for help”” By keeping up his worship schedule Daniel
shows that he fears God more than anything or anyone else. Daniel didn’t live his life in fear that God
was going to squash him. However the
fact that he went on worshipping God meant that he recognized that it was a lot
worse to be in trouble with God than to be trouble with some administrators and
their king even if their king had a den of lions. Daniel’s faithful service to the king showed
that he must have loved working for the king but Daniel showed that there was
one he loved more than a good job. Daniel
didn’t go out and get his own set of lions.
He didn’t go to the king with fingers pointing saying, “I know some bad
stuff about them!” He didn’t repay evil
for evil. He didn’t install surveillance
guards around his apartment so that his enemies would never get close enough to
see. Instead he trusted that God would
be able to work everything out.
Do we have it straight in our minds that it
is a lot worse to be trouble with God than to be in trouble with earthly
authorities or do we think that if no other human being knows about a sin then
we’re OK? Or do we do wrong things or
not do the right things because a friend, a boyfriend a girlfriend or a boss
might be upset with us? Though we might
say there is nothing we love more than God might have our actions at times
showed that other things and other people had a higher place in our hearts than
God? Who or what do we turn to when the
pressure is on? Have we ever turned to
things God says not to turn to? Maybe a
bottle? Or a computer or a phone? God would be right to throw us into a hell
far worse than a den of lions. Instead
he sent a Savior- who would be a lion in defending his people.
Like a
shot, the enemies of Daniel were off to tell the king that his decree had been
broken by his faithful servant Daniel.
The king probably realized that the administrators were up to no
good. 14When the king heard this, he was
greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort
until sundown to save him.” But they cut
him off before he could find a way to backtrack. “Then the men went as a group to King Darius
and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the
Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.”
It
might have looked like Daniel was done for.
But God knew differently. He knew
he was like a lion in defending his people.
Sounds like even the King knew that.
“16So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him
into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve
continually, rescue you!”
We’ve
heard a lot about a child falling into a gorilla enclosure in the last
weeks. Didn’t it hurt your heart to
watch that video? As much heart pounding
fear as I have for an angry gorilla, I think I would choose the gorilla over a
den of hungry lions. A stone was brought
and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet
ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be
changed.” The king was probably the most
powerful person in the world. He
couldn’t help Daniel. With hands
wringing he returned to his house. He
didn’t eat dinner and spent an anguished sleepless night.
It
seems like God does his best work when it seems as though a situation can’t be
changed. 19At the first light of dawn,
the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20When he came near the den, he
called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has
your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
21Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! 22My God sent his angel, and he
shut the mouths of the lions.” God was a
lion in rescuing his people.
Are
there lions out there on the horizon for you?
Maybe a lion in your wallet or purse?
Maybe someone who loves to chew on you at work? Maybe walking in the door at home feels like
walking into a lion’s den? Remember that
God is not lying when it comes to his promises!
Think of
his greatest promise- forgiveness of sin so that we could live in heaven. When mankind’s situation could not be
changed- God changed it. He sent his son
to rescue us. His perfect life of
fearing, loving and trusting in God perfectly counts for us. His shoulders searing with pain on the cross
bore the penalty for breaking not only the 1st commandment but every
commandment of God. He closed the mouth
of the lions. He promised a Savior and
he kept it!
If he can keep that promise, trust that he can keep
all of his other promises too. He is not
lying! “I will be with you always!” “He will not grow tired or weary and his
understanding no one can fathom.” “The
Lord watches over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.” He
breaks the power of canceled sin.
I’m
not sure why but I always sort of thought the first commandment was the easiest
to keep. I guess I thought, “Just don’t
bow down to idols of wood and stone. I
think of the Hindu idol with all the arms or the Greek idol with no arms I guess I was forgetting that idols have
arms that reach into my heart and yours too.
Good thing we have a Savior.
Here’s a good reminder of how much we need Jesus. Here’s a good reason to say thank you to
him by fearing loving and trusting in
him. Amen
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