YOU AND PAUL IN THE LIONS' DEN

May 21, 2008
Mike Blume




  Scripture Text:

 
Daniel 6:1-7 KJV  It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;  (2)  And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.  (3)  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.  (4)  Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.  (5)  Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.  (6)  Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.  (7)  All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

Romans 7:8-10 KJV  But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.  (9)  For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.  (10)  And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. (11) For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

  Message:

 
   

There are things in our lives that actually work against us and bring defeat to our Christian existence.
  • There were powers in Babylon that were as jealous of Daniel.
  • And they sought to rise up in power over Daniel.
  • And these powers represent sin and the works of the flesh.

Princes saw Daniel over them and first.
  • They saw he was above them, and something had to be done with them in order to destroy their influence.
  • Similarly, sin and the works of the flesh are like these jealous powers.
  • They must be defeated and conquered in our lives so we can do the will of God like we want to do.

Did you know that people operate the gifts of the Spirit and LIVE LIVES THAT ARE TERRIBLY DEFEATED AND SINFUL LIVES?

Remember Jesus will say many cast out devils and prophesy and work miracles, BUT HE NEVER KNEW THEM and they were workers of iniquity!

1 Corinthians 1:7 KJV  So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

1 Corinthians 3:3 KJV  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 KJV  (1)  Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.  (2)  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.  (3)  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

God's Supernatural Gifts of the Spirit were abounding in the Corinthians, while they were carnal and rendering all the gifts listed from chapter 12 to be nothing in their lives according to Chapter 13, since they had not love, NO FRUIT.

We should not even operate in the supernatural unless we have the fruit of the Spirit to make us SOMETHING.
  • Paul said I AM NOTHING without love.
  • God cannot use NOTHING to touch a world.

These people live defeated lives and cannot even enter the KINGDOM!

Just as the princes of Darius sought OCCASION in God's law to kill Daniel, sin takes occasion by the law of God to slay Paul.

This sin slays more and more Christians today as well.

Dan 6: (5)  Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. 

Romans 7:8-10 KJV  But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 


Another law came into effect just as Daniel was following God's law.
  • And this other law was created to put Daniel to death.

Romans 7:21 KJV  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

Daniel’s obedience to God’s law WAS GOOD!
  • But there was a law that attacked the GOOD THINGS HE WANTED TO DO.
  • And it would cause him to come into a den of lions.
  • And doing his human best was not going to help him.
  • But he found the key!


Thank God there is victory over the ENEMY OF DANIEL just like there is victory over THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH TODAY.

Romans 8:2 KJV  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

The law of sin and death is just like the LAW of the princes.

Dan 6:7 ...establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

The law of sin attacks you WHEN YOU SEEK TO DO THE WILL OF GOD.

EVERY TIME you want to dig in more and do the will of God, IT STRIKES YOU!

Was Daniel's law of God wrong to have him pray just because Darius had a law that would sentence him to death for doing it?
  • No.
  • Are you wrong to want to do the will of God just because EVIL STRIKES YOU WHEN YOU DO IT?
  • Should you stop trying to do good since the devil and sin seems to always make things bad whenever you try?
  • Of course not!
  • Do not stop serving God just because EVIL ATTACKS YOU WHEN YOU TRY.
  • Just learn the right way to DO GOOD.

I am going to show you that there is a right way to do good and a wrong way that makes you fail.

When you try to do good, you have to understand something very important or else your attempts are going to fail.

Notice how Paul describes sin…

Romans 7:13 KJV  Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

Paul said God would show how rotten and dirty that sin really is by revealing how it messes with the LAW OF GOD to destroy us!

Similarly, God was going to show Darius how evil and really miserable these princes were.

When it was over with, Darius knew how wicked these princes were and look what he did to them.

Daniel 6:24 KJV  And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.

Now Paul reveals the victory over these kinds of struggles.

Romans 7:25 KJV  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. …

THIS IS THE KEY:

THIS IS WHAT I MUST EXPLAIN TO YOU TONIGHT:

WHAT DOES THROUGH JESUS CHRIST MEAN?
  • All of this can only bring deliverance “through JESUS CHRIST” in some manner.
  • We need to learn what “THROUGH JESUS CHRIST MEANS.”

Look how the bible compares WHAT HAPPENED TO Jesus with us:

Romans 6:10-11 KJV  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.  (11)  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus died to sin once in verse 10.
  • Likewise we are dead to sin in verse 11.

Jesus now lives unto God in verse 10 after that death.
  • We are LIKEWISE alive unto God in verse 11.
  • And it is THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.

It is "through" His resurrection, since that resurrection is meant to stand for ours, so that we can see we resurrected.
  • "Through Jesus" means His experience is meant to be something we can claim for our experience.
  • So THROUGH Jesus' experience of having DIED and RESURRECTING out of it, Paul said he is delivered from the prison of his own body of death.

We must realize that we have sin in our flesh like a den of lions.
  • But that is not all.
  • We have another life force in us other than human.
  • We have JESUS INSIDE US AS WELL.

We might feel locked up inside our bodies like being inside a lions’ den,
  • But SOMEONE ELSE IS INSIDE US WHO BROKE OUT OF A PRISON HOUSE VERY SIMILAR TO THE LIONS DEN.

Daniel 6:17 KJV  And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.

Matthew 27:60 KJV  And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.

Matthew 27:65-66 KJV  Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.  (66)  So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.


The lions’ den was so similar to the tomb Jesus was buried in.
  • And whenever He gets inside something that is like a tomb a den or a prison, there's something about Him that can resurrect out of it!
  • God designed it this way in Daniel's story to help us realize that perils we enter are only like tombs we are in.
  • And Jesus has a way of breaking out of tombs!

We need to learn to do things THROUGH THE POWER OF JESUS INSIDE US.
  • The way SIN IN OUR FLESH OVERCOMES US WHEN WE TRY TO DO GOOD, is because WE TRY IT IN HUMAN POWER.
  • SIN IS STRONGER THAN HUMAN POWER.
  • We need to stop resorting to our human life, but to Jesus' life in us.
  • Not many churches ever taught their people to live by ANOTHER LIFE IN THEM.

We already died, were buried and resurrected with Jesus from sin and death when He saved us!
  • This same JESUS IS STILL INSIDE US.
  • And with Jesus inside us, we have power over sin and death!
  • IT ONLY WORKS WHEN YOU STOP TRYING YOUR BEST, and realize HE IS WITH YOU!
  • YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

Like Joshua tried to tell Israel that GOD IS WITH THEM to fight the giants and walled cities!

We’re too much like the doubtful Israelites.
  • We look at our abilities, and if we do not give up before we try, we try using our fleshly abilities.
  • AND THAT DOES NOT WORK!

When we find ourselves captive in a situation like Paul, which is so similar to Daniel's predicament, we need to realize JESUS IS INSIDE US, and we already overcame a lions’ den of a tomb when we were saved.
  • WE CAN OVERCOME ANY SITUATION THAT IS LIKE A DEN OF LIONS’ ALL OVER AGAIN, BUT HAVING FAITH IN THE RESURRECTING POWER OF JESUS.

Here is the MESSAGE:
  • Picture that predicament like Jesus' tomb.
  • ANY BAD SITUATION that brings DANGER to your salvation is like being in Jesus' tomb all over again.
  • Picture it as Jesus’ tomb because you have to relate your situation to the death of Jesus that you were baptized into.
  • Once you look at your situation like THE TOMB OF JESUS, you then make yourself understand that YOU DIED WITH JESUS AND WERE BURIED WITH HIM AND RESURRECTED WITH HIM.
  • AND IF YOU GET INTO ANY MORE PROBLEMS, THEN APPLY THAT SAME TRUTH TO THE PROBLEM.
  • THINK OF IT AS A TOMB THAT YOU WILL ONCE AGAIN RESURRECT WITH JESUS OUT OF!!!!
  • Think of ALL bad situations like the TOMB OF JESUS.
  • It is not just your tomb, but Jesus' tomb.
  • He is in you, so you brought him into the predicament with you.
  • And he has a great reputation for resurrecting out of tombs!
  • If you are going to be in a predicament, it is good to know Jesus is in it with you!
  • He is in you so much that when you see yourself in any lion's den of a tomb of any kind of problem, even when your OWN BODY acts like a prison with lions of sin and fleshly urges inside you that are ready to devour you, HE WILL RESURRECT OUT OF IT WITH YOU all over again!
  • Last time He was in a tomb, He resurrected out of it and you went with Him.
  • He is also there in the tomb of your body of death, and HE ALWAYS RESURRECTS OUT OF SUCH SITUATIONS.
  • But YOU HAVE TO TRUST HIM TO DO THAT with you over your present problem, because without your faith He cannot help you.

Jesus is waiting for you to look at your problem like a lions’ den or the tomb of Jesus.
  • Then when you think of it as His TOMB, you suddenly realize “WAIT A MINUTE!!! I RESURRECTED WITH JESUS FROM HIS TOMB when I was saved, AND I CAN RESURRECT OUT OF THIS PROBLEM THAT IS JUST LIKE A TOMB ALL OVER AGAIN!”

A greater law exists than the law of sin and death!

Romans 8:2 KJV  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

“IN CHRIST JESUS” means you are united to Him to such an extent that HE RESURRECTS WITH YOU OUT OF YOUR SITUATIONS!

Notice how Jesus lived.

John 5:19 KJV  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

John 5:30 KJV  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

John 8:28 KJV  Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

John 14:10 KJV  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Jesus told us to LIVE BY HIM JUST AS HE LIVED BY THE FATHER IN HIM.

John 6:57 KJV  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

And we can live the same way.

John 15:4-5 KJV  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.  (5)  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

You cannot overcome problems.

You cannot have victory over your own fleshly weaknesses WITHOUT HIM!

Paul learned to live like this:

Galatians 2:20 KJV  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Romans 7:15 KJV  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

Romans 7:18 KJV  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.


But look at what he said later!

Philippians 4:13 KJV  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.


Stop living by your weak human life.
  • Wake up tomorrow and realize you can decide to either live by your human life or by the divine life in you.
  • You can treat your lion’s den like the tomb of Jesus and come out of it.
  • We act like we have nothing besides human abilities at our disposal.
  • But you can learn to live by Jesus' life in you if you can stop thinking you have to do things in human power to be a better Christian through will power.

Romans 7:18 ...to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Daniel won because he did not use will power, or human life force, BUT HE BELIEVED.

Daniel 6:23 KJV  Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.

Do you believe in your Christ within you to such an extent that you actually learn to live by Him, and stop trusting in your human life?