Stubborn Light

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 146
• Hymn — Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10
• Scripture Reading — Luke 4:16-30
• Hymn — God Is Known Among His People
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go
• Sermon
• Hymn — O Splendor of God's Glory Bright
• Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26

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Sermon Title: Faithful Light in the Face of Darkness

Scripture: Daniel 6:1-15

I. The Hatred of the Light

A. Daniel is elevated above the 120 satraps and two other high officials, appointed to ensure the king suffered no loss

1. Ancient near eastern kings were suspicious of court officials — fearing secret alliances or corruption
2. Daniel's integrity made him impossible to bribe or corrupt; he was duty-bound in every station God placed him

B. Because no legitimate fault could be found in Daniel, his enemies conspired to trap him through the law of his God (Daniel 6:4-5)

1. This parallels the Pharisees and scribes seeking to trap Jesus with trick questions throughout the Gospels
2. Enemies who hated each other (like Pharisees and Sadducees) came together "by agreement" against the light — just as they conspired together against Christ

C. The success of godliness is what provokes persecution

1. The greater the light shines, the greater the darkness reacts — darkness is exposed by the light
2. When exposure does not produce repentance, it produces revenge — accusation against the righteous
3. On a personal scale, all sinners instinctively accuse the one who exposes them rather than repenting
4. Disciples must count the cost not only of following Christ but of the success of that witness (John 1:5)

II. The Habits of the Light

A. When Daniel learned the document was signed, he went home and prayed as he had always done — three times a day, kneeling, facing Jerusalem (Daniel 6:10)

1. This was an act of purposeful, if indirect, defiance of the injunction
2. As Dale Ralph Davis notes: Daniel had to answer, "What matters most — the worship of God or my safety?" By praying, he destroyed the idol of his own safety

B. Daniel prayed toward Jerusalem, following the pattern of 1 Kings 8 at the dedication of Solomon's temple

1. Solomon prayed that if the people sinned and were exiled, God would hear their prayer directed toward the land, the city, and the house
2. Daniel's prayer was not merely a cry for personal deliverance — it was a covenantal prayer bound up in God's redemptive purposes for his people
3. This teaches us to pray your kingdom come, your will be done, even amid acute personal suffering — a cosmic, covenantal perspective on prayer (Matthew 6:10)

C. Daniel's prayer was not a crisis response — it was an established, habitual routine

1. The illustration of "salutary neglect" (c. 1607–1763): the American colonists had tasted freedom so deeply it was in their bloodstream — when Britain tightened the screws, revolution followed; Patrick Henry: "Give me liberty or give me death"
2. Daniel had prayed God into his bloodstream habitually every day — when the government tightened the screws, he was unmoved
3. Application: daily prayer, daily Scripture reading, and weekly Lord's Day worship are the ordinary means of grace meant to sink God so deeply into the soul that no threat can dislodge him
4. "Be preparing now for the days when salutary neglect are over" — form the habit before the crisis arrives

III. The Hesitation Toward the Light

A. Darius was greatly distressed when he heard the accusation against Daniel and labored until sundown to find a way to rescue him (Daniel 6:14)

B. The officials pressed Darius with the law of the Medes and Persians — an implicit threat to his reign if he violated established tradition (Daniel 6:15)

1. The contrast: verse 5 — the law of Daniel's God; verse 8 — the law of the Medes and Persians
2. Darius chose the traditions of men over the law of God — just as Jesus rebuked the Pharisees: "For the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God" (Matthew 15:6)
3. Irony: an edict declaring Darius the sole god for 30 days — yet he is powerless before a piece of paper bearing his own name; Hebrew satire on the absurdity of idolatry

C. Darius is a tragic figure who had tasted something of God's goodness through Daniel but could not turn from the world when it mattered most

1. The illustration of the parishioner who said she would give up anything for Christ except playing cards — the pastor replied, "Then that is your God"
2. As Thomas Chalmers taught: the heart cannot turn from an idol unless it is captured by a new and greater affection
3. Daniel could defy the edict because he had tasted and seen that the Lord is better — like Peter: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68)

D. Call to repentance and faith

1. Apart from the Spirit illumining the soul to the beauty of Christ, turning from idols is impossible — cry out for the Spirit
2. Fatten yourself on Christ until there is no room left for the world — get Christ into your bloodstream
3. The power of a changed life flows from union and communion with Jesus Christ, not from self-effort (Romans 4)
4. "Give me Christ or give me death — because even in death I will still have him"