Let's turn to hymn number 52, Jesus shall reign. I think we need to be reminded of this. Politics come and go. Events come and go. But Jesus is on his throne. His father is right there. And so we need not fear. We need not be all discombobulated. So hymn number 52, Jesus Shall Reign. Let's go ahead and stand to sing about this. We've got five verses in the Korean. If you know the fifth in Korean, you're welcome to. We just have four in the English there. So we're gonna do four verses? Unless you wanna try the fifth in Korean, yes. No, I don't think I want to do that. Or you can turn around, we've got five on the screen. Jesus shall reign. And the sun does its successive journeys on, ♪ Back from shore to shore ♪ ♪ Timbers shall rest beneath the moor ♪ ♪ On North to South the Prince is near ♪ So beautiful, and so strong, to give this world to each other as family. ♪ Jesus crowned His head ♪ ♪ His sacrifice we worthy shall rise ♪ ♪ With every heart He sacrificed ♪ ♪ In Thy hands, O Lord ♪ ♪ Every town and world ♪ ♪ Our one desire ♪ ♪ Is to raise this land in worship ♪ ♪ And in praise of His shadowed reign ♪ ♪ And in praise of His holy name ♪ singing, you may be seated. Well, we have been looking, last week we started looking at a trio of righteousness, three righteous men. So we'll go ahead and start in Ezekiel 14 and then we'll make our way to the book of Daniel. So the goal is to look rather eventfully or thoroughly at the book of Daniel, but by way of introduction, please turn to Ezekiel 14, and we will be reminded about the circumstance where the Lord pointed out these three men were men who, from over the period of hundreds of years, were preeminent in the Lord's mind as being righteous. Okay, so we're in Ezekiel 14, drop down to verse 14. Ezekiel 14, verse 14, reminds us that even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in this land, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness, says the Lord God. These men are mentioned again in verse 16, even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, even though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, only they would be delivered and the land would be desolate. Skip a verse and look at verse 18. In verse 18, even though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be delivered. We're still in Ezekiel 14, and in verse 20, even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, in this land that has God's judgment, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness. Now drop down to verse 22 and 23. We are now talking about Jerusalem and Israel, or what is then Judah. Yet behold, and now we have mercy instead of the judgment previously seen in all those others. Yet behold, there shall be left in it, in Jerusalem, a remnant who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Surely they will come out to you, and you will see their ways and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem, all that I brought on it. They will comfort you. when you see their ways and their doings, and you shall know that I have done nothing without cause, that I have done in it, says the Lord God. Let's now go to the Lord. Our Father in heaven, we thank you that you hold the world in your hands. You are sovereign. You are God. You are in control. Lord, we know that the fate of the nations is in your hands. You are God. You are on your throne. Nothing will ever dislodge you from your throne, from your rule, your reign, your sovereignty. You are in control. And we rejoice that even though you are in control, you are not only mighty, almighty God, but Father, you are righteous, you are just, you are holy, you are good, and you deal with men with compassion, justice, and righteousness. So Lord, as we look at Daniel, we pray that you would encourage us to follow his model of righteousness, but also help us with Daniel to trust the Lord our God for wisdom and let, yes, Lord, for the fate of nations that may rise or fall, but Lord, you are yet Lord over all. And so we praise you. We look to you to strengthen our hearts, to give us a holy boldness to live as children of God in this world. In Jesus' name, amen. So, Daniel, a POW, prisoner of war, someone who had been captured, who in a sense was a hostage, but more than that, He was in a place that was frightening and strange to him. The capital of Jerusalem had been destroyed. His king, there in Judah, had been defeated. He was exiled from home. He was immersed in a foreign country, forced to learn a foreign language, assimilated into an educational system where the foreign country's literature, wisdom, and worldview would be pounded into his brain. He was renamed with a name which would honor another false god. Put yourself in this man's shoes for a moment as you turn to the book of Daniel. What would you do as a young man, separated from your parents, your loved ones, your neighbors, your friends? What would you do? How could you continue to live by biblical principles and stand out as being different even more different than you already were as a foreigner. Because Daniel, almost as soon as he came to Babylon, was confronted with the choice of whether to completely assimilate and to go all the way, give up his name, give up his God, give up the dietary laws, really give up his religion to become a model citizen, a good assimilated immigrant. Would you try to continue to live by what you know is right, what you know you can find here in the Bible when everyone else is not? You've been offered a full scholarship. You're able to eat whatever the king himself eats. And you know this is not the discount kimbap. This is the caviar. This is the pricey stuff, right? The king's table. I love kimbap, by the way. Anyway, what would you do when you, I mean, There's no longer the priests. There's no longer the sacrifices. All of those things have been wiped out. What do you do? As you're in Daniel chapter one, think about this man, Daniel. And what we see here is a man who, not just in his youth, but throughout his life, was what what Darius recognized as a servant of God. He was someone who was righteous. Philip P. Bliss wrote a hymn that sums up our response to his example. Standing by a purpose true, heeding God's command, honor them, the faithful few, all hail to Daniel's band. Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. Dare to have a purpose firm. Dare to stand alone. Dare to make it known. Many mighty men are lost, daring not to stand. Who for God had been a host by joining Daniel's band? Many giants, great and tall, stalking through the land, headlong to the earth would fall if met by Daniel's band. hold the gospel banner high, on to victory grand, Satan and his host defy, and shout for Daniel's hand. Daniel was a man who was true, true to his God, true to his faith, true to his duty to both God and man. Daniel, here in Ezekiel 14, was the only contemporary of Ezekiel. Noah was right after the flood and before the flood. Joe was a patriarchal figure. Daniel and Ezekiel were basically the same generation, the same time during the Babylonian captivity. And Daniel is the only contemporary man that Ezekiel identifies as righteous. And so Ezekiel, of course, was residing with the captives. Daniel hung out with three other captives in the court of the kings. So here is this man, Daniel. Look at Daniel chapter one, verse eight. Here he is. He's offered these daily provisions. And we read in Daniel one, verse eight, Daniel, purposed in his heart, he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself." Now as we look tonight at Daniel, we are going to see basically three points. We are going to see that Daniel was dedicated to the Lord, and his dedication to the Lord was seen, first of all, in his purity. He was determined not to defile himself. He was not going to break the Mosaic Law. He was not going to break those dietary laws. And so we're going to see that, and then we're also going to see, number two, that Daniel was righteous, not only in his purity, but his prayers. He is a prayer warrior. He is known for his prayers. And it was his prayers of confession, his prayers of communion, that really made him the man of God he was. And so he was righteous by his purity, his prayers. And then we see his righteous proclamation, where he revealed, proclaimed God's word. Alright, so first of all, Daniel's righteousness in his purity here in Daniel 1.8. He was a young captive. There were people who were older than he was, people who were presumably wiser than he was, people that were in a better social class, and in the midst of everyone else defiling themselves, notice in verse 8 that Daniel purposed in his heart. He is standing alone. It is his purpose. It is his priority to be pure. He would not defile himself. This is his own decision, his own commitment. He is not going to go to the left or to the right. He is not going to defile himself. He is not going to go with the ways of the world. And so it would be tempting to do what everyone else was doing. After all, it's a free meal. Save a lot of money, right? But here was a man who would obey God regardless of the cost, regardless of the social cost, regardless of perhaps, you know, the king's servant was not eager for him to do this. So this could bring some repercussions on him, on his health, on his social status, perhaps even penal colonies, penal costs. In other words, where he'd have to go to prison or be fined or something else. And so this pursuit of purity was not something that he did in isolation. He did this for himself. But notice that as he made this commitment, I will do right, pretty soon his one-man stand becomes a band of four. Because we have verse eight, it's singular. Daniel purposed it, his heart, he, he, one. But notice verse 10. In verse 10, we see that the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my Lord, the king, Notice that for who has appointed you your food and drink, for why should he see, now notice the plural, your faces. Now Daniel's only got one face. This is a request not just for Daniel, it is for his friends as well. And so verse 11, the proposal there, is for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, these servants. So now we've gone from Daniel taking a one-man stand to all four of these Israelite children being pure, determined that they will not defile themselves. How about us? As we look around this world, Do we find ourselves longing for the acceptance of those around us? Do we long to be approved of? Do we find ourselves desiring to fulfill the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life? Do we find ourselves longing for the world instead of determining by God's grace to live holy, righteous, pure lives that are separated from sin and separated to God. Do you belong to Jesus? Do you live for Him? Or is it all about what makes you comfortable, what makes you approved by this world, what makes you popular? Daniel's righteousness was wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Here is a man who is determined to do what's right, regardless of the cost, and what was his reward? Well, he was there at Babylonian U. Now, he was there on a full scholarship. And what they discovered, number one, the diet was actually pretty healthy. He was more healthy than anyone else. They say fatter, but that was in a good sense, all right? But notice, that's verse 15. But not only were they healthier, but God, verse 17, gives them knowledge and skill in the very things that they need to succeed in. They need to have skill and knowledge and literature, and they got it. They have wisdom. We see there in verse 17 that Daniel had understanding and visions and dreams. And so, compared to these people, who were just imbibing and drinking in the culture, in the worldview, and who were just doing everything the same as everyone else, the king cross-examines them, final exam, make or break, and what's the result? Verse 20, in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them what? A little bit better? By a hair? No. He found them ten times better. The other people were what? Magicians? Astrologers? I mean, they're looking at the dark arts. They're looking at wicked ways of getting knowledge, right? Astrology and all the rest. But God, in His wisdom, has equipped these men with a heavenly wisdom that is far better than this world's wisdom. And so their wisdom is ten times better than this foolish wisdom of the world. And we see that throughout the book, don't we? We have several competitions between Daniel's wisdom and the wisdom of the world, and every time, it's Daniel, God's wisdom, who wins out. This world and all its wisdom is a fool next to God. All right, so we see Daniel's righteousness and his purity. I want us to see Daniel's righteousness in his prayers. Now, we're going to start in chapter 2, even though I know we all want to go to chapter 6. Alright? So, in chapter 2, drop down to verse 17. Here's the situation. Wise men are dropping like flies. Why? They're being killed. Why? They can't tell what the king's dream is if the king doesn't tell them what the dream is. They can't interpret the dream unless they know what it is. The king is not all that reasonable, all right? He is a man who is often characterized as angry or furious. That's Nebuchadnezzar. All right, so Mr. King Furious, King Nebuchadnezzar, has commanded the wise men to be killed because you know they're not going to interpret something they don't know. And so we drop down to verse 17, and we're going to read verses 17 through 20. 3 of Daniel 2, Daniel 2, 17 through 23. Then Daniel went to his house, and he made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions. So what's the decision? The wise men are being killed. They don't know the dream. What do we do? All right, so that's the situation. Verse 18. Why does he let them know so they can hide and run? No, verse 18, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed. So here we have a prayer request, a prayer meeting, and a The prayer is answered, right? Verse 19, the secret was revealed to Daniel in the night vision. So what do we have? Go rush to the king? No, we have a praise service first. And so Daniel blesses the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his. That wisdom we got in chapter one, that's from God. Wisdom and might are his. He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings. He raises up kings. That's good to know, right? Who's in control? God, king maker, king breaker. He gives wisdom to the wise. He's a source of wisdom, knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness. Light dwells with him. And now just praise, just overflowing. I thank you and praise you, O God of my fathers. You have given me wisdom and might. Now guys, this is not a statement of pride. This is a statement of humility. This is giving God the credit for the giving, not saying, look at me, I'm 10 times better. None of these other guys could do it. He'll say none of these guys could do it, but it's not about pride. It's about what God has done, right? You have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you. You answered prayer. You have made known to us the king's demand. So what I want us to understand is that when these men's lives were on the line When the wise men were being killed, the process had already started, that judgment was being executed. What happened? Time for a prayer meeting. Daniel delegates, all right, you, you, you, get together, pray. And it seems like almost instantaneously, it's the very next verse, God gives a revelation, there it is. It's a secret known only to Nebuchadnezzar and God, and God spills the secret, right? He's a secret revealer. He knows all things. And instead of rushing right off, you know, woo-hoo, time to save our lives, it's, okay, Lord, you have done this. You have answered our prayers. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Oh, blessed be God forever and ever. Wisdom is his. Might is his. Secrets are his. Kings are broken and raised. It's all God. What I want us to understand, as Daniel goes in and tells this dream, this is going to put Daniel on the map. He's going to be elevated in position. He's going to become one of the wise men of Babylon. If Nebuchadnezzar didn't know him well at the test, this really doesn't. But what happens as Daniel is elevated? Daniel makes sure to read redirect the focus and the glory to God. It's not Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. It's the Lord. He's showing you. He's telling you. He's at work. He's giving you. It's not I, I, I. It's the Lord. It's God. Look at verse 28. In verse 28, the king said, Daniel, speaking to the king, the potentate of the world, right? Mighty king. There is a God in heaven who reveals secrets. He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head on your bed were these. Go straight through. But the focus here is on the Lord. It's on glorifying him. And so we drop down to verse 37 after he finishes explaining the statue of gold and gold head and all the rest. Drop down to verse 37. Not only does he tell the dream, he interprets the dream. Verse 37, you, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven, again, this redirecting the focus to God, the God of heaven has given not you took it, he gave it to you, has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. And wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven, he has given them into your hand and has made you rule over them. You are this head of gold." And he goes on. So here is Daniel. And we see that as he prays, He is seeking righteousness. He is praying righteously. He is depending on the Lord for deliverance. He's depending on the Lord for help. And then when he gets that help, he is righteous in not claiming credit. It's me, me, me. It's God. God has revealed this. God has shown this. God has given the kingdom. It's not about me. Now, we'll turn to, well, before we do that, verses 44 and 45. And so, yes, there's Nebuchadnezzar, but there was the rock that came off that mountain. And notice that the focus is still on the Lord. In the days of these kings, you know, after the following kingdoms, in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. Never destroyed. That kingdom shall not be left to other people. It will never be conquered. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, its interpretation Second prayer, turn to Daniel chapter six. This is probably where you wanted to start, right? With your prayers. Daniel's righteousness here in prayer. Now, if the first prayer was a prayer of deliverance, a prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer meeting, communal prayer, here in Daniel chapter six, here we see regular prayer. You know, we need to have daily time with the Lord. And so in Daniel 6, verse 10, we see that when Daniel knew the writing was signed, what writing? No worship. Worship only the king. That's the law of the land. Darius signed it. It's unbreakable, unchangeable. Thus, it's a law of the Medes and the Persians. And so Daniel hears, the king has said, And what does he do? Eight decades on, he does what he's been doing for the last 60, 70 years. Verse 10, when Daniel knew 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. Now, is there a period there in your Bible? Does he do this, you know, just to defy the king because, you know, he wants to show, you know, I'm a good believer? No, the verse, that's not in there. This is not about defiance. This is about submission to a greater king. And this is about a regular routine, not a new innovation. What you see there at the end of verse 10 is that he did this as was his custom. Every day, the expectation. Morning, noon, and night. Prayer time, prayer time, prayer time. This is not new, this is routine. This was his custom. Do we have a custom of coming to God in prayer? Do we come to God with all our needs, all the time? Or is it only when we go to church or prayer meeting? What is our prayer custom? What is our quiet time custom? Do we spend time in the Word of God, listening to God, reading to God, reading God's Word, before we go to Him in prayer? After we go to Him in prayer, do we read the Bible? I mean, this is regular time with God. That was his habit. You know, prayer is what made Daniel the righteous man he was, in part. That time with God, because he was a man of the scriptures, we'll get to that in a minute. And so if the king tries to forbid prayer, Well, he'd rather spend times with the lions than spend time apart from his God. To have some cat time rather than giving a, sorry, big cat time. Rather than missing out on that fellowship with God. I mean, do we value our prayer times more than our mealtimes more than other things we enjoy? What kind of priority is our prayer time? Is it something that's easily skipped or that we make other things take its place, you know, just on a whim? All right, so we have this. Of course, we know that he did spend time with the lions. And it was in that context that Darius, He was righteous, and so Darius' evaluation of his character at this time is, here is someone, in verse 20, who serves God continually. And so this is a servant of God who is righteous, who spends time with his God. Now then, turn to chapter nine. And what I want us to understand here is that his prayers were not just emergency prayers or rote prayers. Here was a man who needed to understand God's Word. And he obtained this understanding, this enlightenment, this wisdom. We've already seen he's wise, that God has given him wisdom. But God, who is all wise, gives wisdom gives understanding of his word to those who study his word. I know that sounds obvious, but so look there at chapter nine, verses one and two. In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem." So here is a man, he's 80 years old, he's still studying the scriptures. And he's there in Jeremiah, which is probably another contemporary. And in that, maybe, yeah. So he's another contemporary. And here is a man that says that this exile is going to be 70 years. And that's the word of God. And Daniel learns this. Apparently this is new or newly come to his attention. And so he determines, oh yeah, it's been about 70 years. He looks up on the calendar. Okay, oh, 70 years. Maybe we need to talk to the Lord about that. And so what he does, he doesn't form a political committee, he doesn't go to the king, Darius, or anyone else. What does he do? He goes to the king of kings. He goes to God himself. And what he does is he doesn't, he doesn't claim his own worth or his own righteousness. Now remember, Daniel was thinking of this guy as righteous Daniel, righteous Daniel. He's listed with Noah and Job. But Daniel, as you go through Daniel chapter 9, what do you see? Well, you do see he knows the scriptures. What is he...in this prayer, that's what the rest of the chapter is, he's quoting what? The Law of Moses, the Mosaic Covenant. And so we see the Mosaic Covenant quoted. We see him as you come down to verse 24, talking about the 70 weeks. So we see all this. So he's looking at Jeremiah, he's looking at the law of Moses, and he's basically claiming God's word in his prayers. He's saying, all right, Lord, this is the way it is. First of all, Lord, you are righteous. So he looks at the Mosaic Covenant in chapter nine, verse four, and in verses 11 through 13, but notice verse seven. In verse seven, he is pointing to his God, and he says, oh Lord, righteousness belongs to you. Being here in Babylon, we deserve it. We deserve all of our punishment. You are righteous. You are righteous to keep your promises. Righteousness belongs to you. Drop down to verse 14. In verse 14, we have the Law of Moses in verse 13. And then in verse 14, it says, the Lord has kept the disaster in mind and brought it upon us. Why? For the Lord, our God, is righteous in all the works which he does, even though we haven't obeyed his voice. The Lord is righteous. Again, look at verse 16. O Lord, according to all your righteousness, I pray, okay now, let up on your anger and your fury. Let your anger and your fury be turned away from your city, Jerusalem, your holy mountain. Three times he recognizes God's character as righteous. And even as he is acknowledging the justice of judgment to God's people, we see that he is appealing to the Lord's mercies. Look at verse nine. In verse nine, to the Lord our God above all, mercy and forgiveness. He is merciful. Forgiveness is a part of his character. And so he appeals in verse 19, O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act. Do not delay for your own sake. My God, for your city, your people, we're still called by your name. So you are right to judge us. We went astray. We sinned. And there is an extended confession of sin. And as Daniel studied the word of God and understood God's word, there were times when when this understanding brought sorrow. Right? Turn to chapter 10. We're almost done. In chapter 10, verses one and two, we see in the third year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, a message was revealed. So here's God revealing something to Daniel, whose name was called Balthasar. The message was true. but the appointed time was long. He, Daniel, understood the message and had understanding of the vision. So God speaks to Daniel. Daniel understands what God is saying. The response, verse two, in those days, I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled." All right, so here we see that Daniel seeks to understand God's Word, and as he fasts, as he studies God's Word, he prays about it. Finally, I want us to understand that Daniel was righteous not only in his prayers and in his purity, but thirdly, he is righteous in his proclamation. Basically, whether we're in Daniel 2, 4, or 5, or the end of the book as he records his visions, Daniel, what we understand is that Daniel had determined to live righteously. That was chapter 1. Daniel's righteousness, I want us to understand this, was empowered by the Holy Spirit. Both Nebuchadnezzar, probably his daughter the queen, and Belshazzar all acknowledge the Holy Spirit is in Daniel. So in Daniel 4 verse 9, Daniel 4 and 9, and we see Belteshazzar, which is Daniel's name, the chief of the magicians. Why? Because I know the spirit of the Holy God is in me. No secret troubles you. Explain the vision. So this is when Nebuchadnezzar has just had his second dream about the tree, and he calls Daniel to interpret it. The other guys could not. He says, I know you have God's spirit. And of course, Daniel 5, verse 11, we see the queen, which was probably Nebuchadnezzar's daughter. In verse 11, we see that the queen speaks, and says, there's a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. In the days of your father, Belteshazzar, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him. All right? And then Belteshazzar himself in verse 14 recognizes this as well. I have heard of you that the Spirit of God is in you. All right? In chapter 10, verses 11 and 19, the angel says, Daniel, you are a man who is beloved by God. You have sought to live rightly. The Holy Spirit has done a work in you. You are righteous. In this filling of the Holy Spirit, this love of God, this righteous life enabled Daniel to fearlessly proclaim God's word to the greatest kings on earth. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of kings. In Daniel chapter 2, he said, Nebuchadnezzar, sorry, your kingdom's not forever. Now, this is a guy who's top notch. You're the head of gold, but it's God's kingdom that's eternal. You're on a limited time span. And then the second time in Daniel chapter four in verse 19, we see that Daniel understands what that tree being cut down means. And we see Daniel is absolutely astonished. He's speechless. And Nebuchadnezzar actually comforts him. All right, don't worry. Don't let your heart be troubled. And he explains to Nebuchadnezzar, you're going to live like an animal. you need to know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men. Because time is growing short, I'll just read verses 24 and 25. In verse 24 and 25, the tree which he saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached the heavens, and which could be seen by all the earth, whose leaves were lovely. That was verse 20, dropping down to verse 24. This is the interpretation, O king. This is the decree of the Most High, which has come. In other words, God has said this. It's going to come without. Verse 25, they shall drive you from men. Your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven. Seven times shall pass over till you know what? That the Most High rules. The Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomsoever He chooses. Can you imagine standing in front of the king who has ordered people thrown into fiery furnaces, who has killed wise men, and you're telling him you're going to go around like an animal? I mean, would you be worried about your neck? I mean, you've already, I mean, this is, that's great. And of course, Daniel did take honor from Nebuchadnezzar, but his heir, Belshazzar, gets foolish with the temple goods in chapter five. And once again, Daniel tells it like it is. He gives him the writing on the wall, many, many times, right, of Jehan. And basically, notice in verse 17 of chapter five, Daniel answered and said before the king, let your gifts be for yourself. Give your rewards to another. Yet I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. You're going to die. Your kingdom is taken from you. And he refuses the bribery. He refuses the gift of Belshazzar. And what we see is the book continues. that Daniel spoke as God spoke. Daniel recorded what God revealed to him. God is a revealer of secrets who revealed the future of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and the nations to Daniel. And Daniel was a man who not only studied the scriptures revealed to Moses and Jeremiah, he also recorded God's own word through the Holy Spirit. as he sees these visions. Daniel's vision spoke of Persia, Greece, Rome, and the Messiah, the end times. And as we come to a close, Daniel teaches us, there it is. final judgment for the wicked, Daniel chapter 12. There's also endless reward for the righteous. Let us seek, by God's grace, help to the righteous. That's right. Father, we thank you that you are righteous. We thank you that as we trust your son and are enabled by the Holy Spirit, trusting in you, Father, You can grant us the wisdom, the empowerment to be righteous. Help us, Father, to be pure. Help us to be seeking your righteousness in prayer and studying your scriptures. And help us, Father, to speak your word to others as well. We pray this in Jesus' name, with thanksgiving, amen.