YOU AND PAUL IN THE LIONS' DEN
January 18, 2004 amMF Blume
| Please
read Dan 6:1-28 (Entire chapter) (Chapter about Daniel in the Lions'
den) The title for this message will become clearer as we proceed today! I referred to the Apostle Paul, and read the account of Daniel.
Daniel was an innocent man and righteous in the kingdom's ways and the personal life he lived.
(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. The Apostle Paul's words in Romans 7 similarly describe himself as sincere and willing to do God's will.
(7) What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. (8) 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. Just like the princes forcing Darius to decree a law that forbade anyone from seeking God's will by engaging in prayer.
Daniel 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. Rom 7:10 (10) And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. Daniel's efforts to obey God's law caused him to be put to death!
(11) For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Those princes took advantage of the law of God for Daniel to pray, and deceived Darius and caused Daniel to be sentenced to death. Rom 7:12 (12) Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Daniel's prayer was not wrong.
(13) 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. But was Daniel's obedience to God's law intended to kill Daniel?
(18) 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. And like Daniel in the Lion's den, Paul was in a body of sin where sin inside, like lions, sought to kill him. Think of Daniel obeying God's law, but another law is set up to slay him! Rom 7:22-23 (22) For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: (23) But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. I SEE ANOTHER LAW!
There has to be a greater law rise up! Rom 7:24 (24) O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Who is going to deliver Daniel from the Lion's den??? Who is going to set Paul free from this body of sin like a den of lions? You are like Daniel, believer, when you want to do good and evil rises up everytime! Rom 7:21 (21) I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. The deceiving princes and presidents of sin have caused a law to be decreed. There are people who strive to live for God and try to do good, but only find themselves messing up in other areas!
Do not give up! You did nothing wrong in desiring to do God's will! After Paul asked who would deliver him, who does the next verse say He thanked, for deliverance? Rom 7:24-25 (24) O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (25) I thank God... And what does the next verse say was the means through which God would deliver Him? ....through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. THROUGH CHRIST JESUS! Let me pause and say that SIN wants to hound you like a hound from hell, right down to the place of DEATH!
(1) Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? Rom 7:4 (4) Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; ... WATCH THIS: Did you know that Christ Jesus was in a tomb, also?
(17) 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. Mat 27:60-66 (60) 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. (61) And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. (62) Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, (63) Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. (64) Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. (65) 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. And it is AT THE POINT OF JESUS' BURIAL THAT God UNITES us together with Jesus Christ to set us free. Rom 6:3-4 (3) Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? (4) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Deliverance from the body, or den, of death THROUGH CHRIST JESUS means that CHRIST'S DEATH IS BECOME OUR DEATH SO THAT WE ARE BURIED WITH HIM BY BAPTISM INTO DEATH SO THAT WE CAN BE SET FREE FROM SIN BY RESURRECTING WITH JESUS TO WALK IN NEWNESS OF "LIFE"! What did Paul say is a law that overrides the other law?
(2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. WALKING IN NEWNESS OF LIFE IS LIVING UNDER A NEW LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF "LIFE" IN CHRIST JESUS. "IN CHRIST JESUS" means that Jesus' death, burial and resurrection becomes your own!
I FOUND A NEW LIFE! I found it by uniting with Jesus Christ in His death.
You do not need a makeup job on the same old life!
And that Spirit will quicken your mortal body so that you can do things that ARE GOOD, instead of trying to do good and seeing evil rise up and cause you to do the bad. Rom 8:11-12 (11) But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (12) Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. You do not have to live a fleshly life full of sins!
CONTRAST: Rom 6:12 (12) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Rom 8:11 (11) But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Psa 19:13 (13) Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. I would rather have God's Spirit quicken my mortal body to do good, than to have sin reign in my mortal body to do bad. How is this all done? Romans 6 says you have to KNOW SOMETHING. Rom 6:3-8 (3) Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? (4) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (5) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: (6) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (7) For he that is dead is freed from sin. (8) Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: In other words: Rom 6:10-11 (10) 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. And then here is the kicker.. here is what you do: Rom 6:13 (13) Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Say, "GOD, HERE I AM! I believe that Jesus died as my representative in death." (And for those not yet repented and baptized, you need to then say...) "...I am like Daniel in the lion's den! I want to do good, but sin took hold of me and threw me into this lion's den of my own body of sin! Sin is alive in me like a pride of lions! I identify myself with the death and burial of Jesus Christ by submitting to water baptism in Jesus' name! Give me your Holy Ghost to quicken my mortal body to do good, instead of having sin reigning in my mortal body!" (And for those already repented and baptized...) "..I am like Daniel in the lions' den! I try to do good, but sin rises up and it's like I am in prison! Sin is like lions ready to devour me! I CLAIM MY IDENTITY WITH CHRIST'S DEATH AND BURIAL AND BELIEVE FOR YOU TO quicken me by the power of the Holy Ghost that is in me right now! I BELIEVE for you to set me free from the bite of sin" Sin will be stopped dead short of snapping you, like mouths of lions right there all the while, but whose mouths are shut. You must know that SIN IS IN YOUR FLESH even after you are saved. Sins are forgiven from your former life, but SIN is a force that is still in your mortal flesh. Otherwise people would not commit sins after salvation. • There is still a pull in this old flesh to commit sin. As born again believers, you can still live fleshly and not by faith, not allowing God's Spirit to quicken you, since you are simply not relying upon Him in your everyday life by faith for Him to empower you. And THAT is how you wind up in the lions' den. Rom 8:2 (2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Let's hear about the NEW LAW that overrides the OLD ONE. Dan 6:26-28 (26) I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. (27) He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. (28) So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Note this:
Who shall deliver me from the body of death?
He delivered me from the POWER OF SIN. Rom 6:14 (14) For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. And you will prosper! Dan 6:(28) So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Rom 8:1 (1) There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. |
