“Because he was faithful...”

Sunday, October 22, 2017

As one reads through the book of Daniel, there are many great stories to revisit. One that stands out is when Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were cast into the fiery furnace for not bowing to the golden image (Dan. 3). Another is when Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den for breaking a law by praying to God (Dan. 6).

Do you remember how Daniel’s enemies were able to get him in trouble with the king? In Daniel 6:4, the governors and satraps concluded that “they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error of fault found in him.”  You might expect these evil men to struggle to get Daniel to do anything wrong. You would be right…in the eyes of the Lord.

The interesting thing is what these wicked individuals decided to do. “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.”  (verse 5). They realized that if they are going to discredit Daniel in the eyes of king Darius (who liked Daniel), they would have to use Daniel’s loyalty to his God against him.

They convinced the king to make a decree that for thirty days no one could petition any god or man except the king (verses 7-9). Thus, when Daniel prayed to God as he always did, his enemies now had something of which to accuse him to the king (verses 12-13). They had successfully used Daniel’s faith against him. 

This is a valuable lesson we need to learn as Christians today. When God’s people are faithful, Satan will do all he can to get us to grow weary in doing good (Gal. 6:9). If members of the church will not engage in the immoral acts the world offers, then the devil will use our dedication to the Lord to create division within the body of Christ. This is exactly what the faithful church at Philadelphia was warned about (Rev. 3:7-13).

The devil can use the faithfulness of Christian’s against them by having our good actions condemned as evil ones (I Pet. 3:15; 4:14). For example, the world criticizes Christians who are rightly opposed to homosexual acts (Rom. 1:26-28). Similarly, local churches can be criticized for rightly disciplining a person who brings reproach upon the church. Some people will resist scripturally-required church discipline, and well-intentioned, faithful Christians can stumble in the face of this criticism even though it is something God calls for.

This should not surprise us. Why? Just like the enemies of Daniel, a local church full of godly members who are united in serving the Lord can still be divided by Satan if he uses their faithfulness against them. If the church strives to please the Lord by trying to keep itself unspotted, Satan can try to use this as a tool (I Pet. 5:8). However, the faithful will endure because they stay focused on two Godly goals; keeping the church unspotted (Eph. 5:27) and doing everything we can to help others be faithful to God (James 5:19-20).

To illustrate these points, I was told a wonderful story recently. A congregation and its preacher were trying to help return his wayward daughter to the Lord. She had been living in an ungodly way, and they wanted her to repent. Eventually, the preacher had to tearfully read the letter of withdrawal. His daughter stood up while he was reading and started to come forward. The preacher (her dad) ran down and embraced her. There was not a dry eye in the building. I was told this while attending a funeral. Both the preacher and his daughter were in attendance at the funeral. May we trust in the Lord and in His ways even when those around us offer criticism.

Chuck

Share