Character Under Pressure
Sermon Transcript
0:00:14.0
Norman Schwarzkopf was a general in the United States Army. He served in the Gulf War. Many of you are familiar with him. And while he served in the Gulf War, he was the commander of the United States Central Command. Many years after the war, he was addressing the Corps of Cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point. And his words…well, they kind of went viral, his words to leaders. He said to the corps of cadets, “To be a 21st century leader you must have two things, competence and character.” He says, “I’ve met a lot of leaders that were very competent, but they didn’t have character. For every job they did well in the army, they sought reward in the form of promotions, in the form of awards and decorations, in the form of getting ahead at the expense of somebody else, in the form of another piece of paper that awarded them another degree. The only reason they wanted that was because it was a sure road to a faster promotion to somehow get to the top. You see, these were very competent people,” he says, “but they lacked character. And that’s sort of what it’s all about. To lead in the 21st century, to take soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coastguardsmen into battle you will be required to have both competence and character.” And General Schwarzkopf was right. He hit the nail right on the head.
0:01:47.7
Somebody once said that character is who you are when nobody is looking. That’s a pretty good definition. The problem is I can’t think of a time when nobody is looking because God is always looking. The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 16:9 that “the eyes of the Lord run back and forth across the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are completely his.” I often think about that verse when I’m on an airplane and I’m 30,000 feet above the earth. And I look out the window, and I imagine the Lord’s eyes scanning the earth back and both, looking for somebody whose heart is completely His. And He says, “I want to pour myself strong into that person.” I pray at that moment, “God, may that be me. I want to be that kind of person.”
0:02:44.8
So maybe a better definition of character was given by Thomas Payne, who says, “Reputation is what men and women thing of us. Character is what God and angels know of us.” What does God know about you? What do the angels of heaven know about you when nobody else is looking? That may define your character and my character more than anything else.
0:03:09.8
We’re in this series of messages titled “Standing Strong.” We’re studying through the book of Daniel. Daniel is a man of competence. He is a man of character. He is also a man of courage. I’ll add one to General Schwarzkopf’s list of things that you need to lead in the 21st century. Daniel is all three of those things. And one of the things that I’ve noticed over the years is that character often reveals itself when the pressure is on. You and I are kind of like sponges. You want to know what’s inside a sponge? Just squeeze it and all that stuff comes out, right?
0:03:41.6
Well, we’re kind of like that. You know, when the pressure comes in and when the world squeezes in on us, when the times are tough and we get squeezed hard for one reason or another, that’s when stuff comes out of it. Sometimes it’s good stuff; sometimes it’s bad stuff. Sometimes it reveals good character; sometimes it reveals a flaw in our character.
0:04:04.7
And that’s what I want to talk to you about this morning, about standing strong. Daniel was the man who models for us in Daniel 2 character under pressure. He’s going to model character and competence and courage throughout the book of Daniel. He’s already modeled some of that for us in Daniel 1. Later when he gets thrown into the fiery furnace with his three friends or when he gets thrown into the lion’s den, I mean, there is character. There is competence. There is great courage in Daniel. But in Daniel 2, character…his character is on display. It’s under pressure, and we can learn some things about what character looks like, how it responds under pressure.
0:04:45.3
Now, Daniel 2 is a fascinating chapter in the Bible and in the book of Daniel. We’re going to take two weeks to go through it. It’s 49 verses. The first 39 verses deal with a dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had. And with the dream comes some drama. We’re going to talk about that dream and that drama and some do’s and don'ts about character under pressure this week. Next week we’ll talk about the interpretation of the dream.
0:05:13.3
Now, this was a dream that was given 2500, 2600 years ago. And it’s our first indication, our first introduction to Bible prophecy from the book of Daniel. We’re going to go back to the future. Because from Daniel’s time of hearing this dream from the king, it was all future. But to us it’s history. But from that time forward it was in the future. And we’re going to be amazed. This is kind of message next week you’re going to want to get a front row seat and lean in. This is fascinating stuff. You’re going to be amazed at the detail and the precision of how what we know as history today was prophecy in Daniel’s time revealed to a king, interpreted by Daniel in such amazing detail. You’re going to want to be here next week to hear that.
0:06:05.7
But in the meantime, character under pressure. And in Daniel 2 it begins in verse 1 when it says, “In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.’” Now, about 25, 26 centuries ago there was a king named Nebuchadnezzar who was sleepless in Babylon. Not sleepless in Seattle, no. He was sleepless in Babylon. This king says, “I had a dream.” Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “I have a dream.” Stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and inspired a nation. He was inspired. He says, “I have a dream.” This king 2500, 2600 years ago had a dream. It didn’t inspire him. It frightened him to the core. Have you ever had a dream like that? Sometimes we call it a nightmare.
0:07:27.0
I had a dream this week…you know, I don’t remember my dreams very often, but this was a vivid dream. I don’t know, maybe I dreamed because I was reading and studying about dreams and know I was going to be talking about a king’s dream. But I had a dream this week. There were people in the dream I haven’t talked or seen in years. Now, there wasn’t anything prophetic about the dream. And, quite frankly, I don’t even remember the dream at this point. But I woke up in a fit in the morning. You know, you just have one of those dreams. Sometimes we call them nightmares.
0:07:56.7
The king had a dream, even a series of dreams like that. And the first thing he did was he called together his wise guys. He called together the best of the wisdom of the world at that time. You see them listed in verse 2. The magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, the Chaldeans. He summoned them into his presence. His default mechanism was to reach out to the wise men, to all these enchanters and astrologers, and say, “Hey, I need you to interpret my dream.” He didn’t just tell them to interpret the dream. He told them, “Tell me my dream and the interpretation.”
0:08:43.6
By the way, who do you reach out to when you need some wisdom? When you’re frightened by something? Who are your wise guys or your wise gals? I hope it’s not the astrology page or the horoscope page. Back during the time when Ronald Reagan was president and the assassination attempt was made on his life…and fortunately he wasn’t killed. But he was in the hospital for a while. We learned later that his wife, Nancy Reagan, who was frightened by the assassination attempt, sought the advice of astrologers and brought them into the White House. And that’s the way she made decisions about her husband’s schedule. Are you kidding me? Don’t seek the astrologers. The best of worldly wisdom were in these wise guys.
0:09:33.1
By the way, fast forward about 500 or 600 years to Bethlehem and the wise men showed up. It came out of this tradition. A tradition that dates back to ancient times when kings had, well, the enchanters and the sorcerers and the magicians. You know, those kinds of guys that you can find on cable television who are sorcerers or can read your mind or look into your…you, dead relatives, what they’re saying. Most of them are frauds and charlatans.
0:10:06.3
And all of this kind of reminds me…hold your place here in Daniel 2 and go with me to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. And listen to what the Bible says about the wisdom of man. Verse 18, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” You bet He has. And 2000 years ago the apostle Paul pointed out to the Corinthians, who were immersed in the Greek culture, which were putting out the best worldly wisdom and philosophy that the world knew at that time…and he said, “Where are the wise? Where are the philosophers? Where are the scribes? And he pointed to the cross of Jesus Christ that the world says in foolishness. They said it 2000 years ago, and there is still people today who point to the cross of Christ and say, “What is that all about?” But the wisdom of God was on display, redeeming the world through the blood of Jesus Christ. And it’s the wisdom of God, even the cross of Christ that makes foolish the wisdom of man.
0:11:40.4
Well, you back that up five, six centuries to the time of Daniel, and God is about to make foolish…I mean, just make them out to be no-nothing fools. He’s going to make the wisdom of man to look foolish in Daniel 2 here. Make sure that when you need wisdom, your wise guys and your wise gals are steeped in the Word of God. All the wisdom and the treasury of knowledge is found in Jesus Christ and in Christ alone.
0:12:10.9
We’ll read on beginning in verse 4. It says, “Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, ‘O king, live forever!’” Don’t you love how these guys buttered up the king? You know, they never said, “O king, die tomorrow.” It’s always, “‘O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.’” Well, of course you will. You tell me the dream, and I can come up with an interpretation for you. “The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, ‘The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins.’” Nebuchadnezzar was a ruthless, ruthless king. “‘But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.’ They answered a second time and said, ‘Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.’ The king answered and said, ‘I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.’ The Chaldeans answered the king and said, ‘There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.’” That’s about the closest thing to the truth that these guys ever said.
0:14:06.4
The king said, “Listen, you show me what I dreamed and then tell me the interpretation.” And they couldn’t do it. The wisest of the wise men, the best in worldly wisdom came at the summons of the king. And they were made to look foolish. It says in verse 12, “Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.” Now the pressure is on. Oh, is the pressure on. The pressure was on the wise men to produce not just the interpretation, but also the dream. They couldn’t do it. The decree went out from ruthless Nebuchadnezzar, “Eliminate all of them.” Daniel and his three friends by now were in service to the king. They were part of the wisdom of Babylon. And that decree came to Daniel and his three friends. Now character is under pressure. How is Daniel going to respond?
0:15:27.4
Well, I’ve got some do’s and don’ts for you. The rest of the passage we’ll look at today. Some do’s and don’ts about how character under pressure responds. One don’t and four do’s. How’s that for positive versus negative? The first don’t is, don’t panic. Don’t panic. Look at it there beginning in verse 14. “Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.” The news came to Daniel. And while everybody else was in a panic…I mean, a full on panic. And you can understand that. I mean, these wise guys are not just about to lose their jobs, they’re about to lose their lives because they can’t give the king what he wants. But the news comes to Daniel, and Daniel is kind of standing alone here. He is Mr. Calm and Cool. And a guy named Arioch, who was Nebuchadnezzar’s henchman here to carry out the decree, Daniel calls him and says, “Hey, Arioch, what’s going on here?” And the Bible says Daniel replied with prudence and discretion, not with panic.
0:16:44.1
Hey, when you get news of…well, some bad news that are maybe out of your control. Maybe some medical news or maybe you find out that your division at your company is getting sold off or closed down and everybody got a pink slip on Friday. Are you the one that is panicking like everybody else? Or are you calm and cool and collected because you know God is in control? Daniel just replied with prudence, with discretion, with calm. While everybody else was spinning out of control like a Tasmanian, Daniel was just inquiring, “What’s going on here?”
0:17:23.7
Isaiah 41:10 comes to my mind. Isaiah says, “Do not fear, for I am with you.” The Lord says, “Do not be anxious; look around you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Surely I will help you; surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” That’s a good one to remember when the news comes and you’re tempted to panic.
0:17:46.7
Secondly, do what is humanly possible. Let’s read on in verse 15. It says, “Daniel declared to Arioch, the king's captain, ‘Why is the decree of the king so urgent?’” He’s just entering into a conversation with him calmly. “Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.” I love what Daniel does here. He is calm. He gets into a conversation with Arioch. And then he goes directly to the king and sets an appointment with the king to share with him the interpretation. Now, what kind of faith is that? Daniel hasn’t even sought the Lord yet, but he is doing what is humanly possible here.
0:18:44.7
I love the fact that he has the conversation with Arioch, but then he goes directly to the king. Back when I was in sales and marketing a couple decades ago, I was taught and learned very quickly that if I was ever going to sell one of my products, I needed to get to the decision (0:19:00.1) maker. I was in medical sales. And that usually meant getting to the surgeon in the OR. It didn’t mean coming and leaning up against the receptionist desk and telling her what a great product I had. She or he wasn’t the decision maker. You’ve got to get to the decision maker. That meant I had to get into the OR. I had to get with the surgeon who was going to be using the product. Every salesman understands that. I love the practicality of Daniel. He has a conversation with Arioch here, but he knows that the king is the one who made the decree. So he goes right into the presence of the king. He does what is humanly possible, buying a little bit of time and even making an appointment with the king to come back with the interpretation. He takes bold action.
0:19:50.0
I know some people that when they get bad news they just kind of sit in the corner and wring their hands and accept their fate. No, come on. Do what is (0:20:00.0) humanly possible. Take bold action. Take bold steps.
0:20:07.7
And then number three, do call a prayer meeting. We’re getting there. I know some of you are saying, “No, Pastor, that just sounds like real humanistic wisdom here.” I’m just following the text here. First thing Daniel, he doesn’t panic. He does what is humanly possible. Then he calls the prayer meeting. Look in verse 17. “Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,”—now, remember their Babylonian names- Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—“his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.” Now Daniel calls the prayer meeting. He not only does what is humanly possible—he takes bold action—but he also engages in fervent prayer. And I love the balance and the practicality of both.
0:21:05.5
Do what is humanly possible like it all rests upon you and what you can get done. And then pray as though it entirely rests on the God of heaven to move heaven and earth to make things happen. And there’s both. There’s a both/and there. “The fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” But sometimes the Lord is saying, “Do what you’ve got to do. I’ve given you the means. I’ve given you the access. Go make an appointment with the king. Have a conversation there. And then come pray about it.”
0:21:36.4
By the way, don’t miss the fact that Daniel had three friends that he could call when the pressure was on to say, “Will you pray with me?” You got anybody like that in your life? Jesus had three people, His go-to guys. Their names were Peter, James, and John, three of His disciples. You read carefully the Gospels, and there were three or four occasions where…you know, I mean, He had His ministry with the twelve. But there were times that He pulled aside Peter, James, and John to maybe watch Him heal this person or to receive this teaching. In one case when He went to the Garden of Gethsemane with eleven of His disciples…remember, Judas was off betraying Jesus, but the other eleven were there with Jesus. He said to Peter, James, and John, “You come here, a little bit deeper into the garden here, and pray with Me.” You got anybody like that? Anybody who will confidentially go to the Lord in prayer when the pressure is on and you really need somebody to pray? Don’t miss that Daniel had his tribe here. He had his peeps. He had a small group and some people he could go to there.
0:23:00.2
The Bible says that Daniel prayed. It says, verse 19, “Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night.” Now he knows the dream. He knows the interpretation of the dream. And you have to come back next week. You’re going to know why King Nebuchadnezzar was frightened by this dream, because he was going to learn that his kingdom and his civilization wouldn’t last forever.
0:23:29.9
But Daniel now knows the vision. And it goes on to say, “Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said…” And now the scripture records for us Daniel’s prayer of praise. Let me read it. This is really fascinating. “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might,”—that’s the second time he’s used that phrase, “wisdom and might,”—“and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king's matter.”
0:24:28.8
If I were to summarize Daniel’s prayer here, I would just say wisdom and might belong to God. They belong to Him. Not to the wise guys. They didn’t have any wisdom. That was a bankrupt account of wisdom. Wisdom and might belong to God. The Bible says in the New Testament that “in Jesus are all the treasuries of wisdom and knowledge.” And here the might of the Lord is on display when He removes king and sets up kings. You know, when you look through the span of history and you see this king or this leader or this president rise and fall or this civilization rise up, we think it’s kind of coincidental. It’s political and all that. No, the God of heaven and earth has His hand on that. He rises up some and puts down others of His own choosing.
0:25:31.6
Hold your place here in Daniel 2 and go with me to Acts 17. The apostle Paul, when he is near Athens…or in Athens and at a place called the Areopagus…this was an open-air marketplace. I mean, he is in Athens in the 1st century. And this is the place where the sum total of all the worldly wisdom and philosophy of man was found in the Greek culture and in Athens. And people loved to gather in the Areopagus and just hear new ideas. And Paul went there like a missionary. And he shared Christ with them. And in the middle of Acts 17 he says this- “And God has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth.” Let me just put a stop right there and put a stop to all this craziness and this ethnic tension in our culture today. I don’t care what the color of your skin is. Let’s celebrate the diversity in our world. We all we came from one blood. And that’s back to Genesis, to Adam, to Eve. They are our spiritual and physical forefathers and foremothers. God has put that together. One blood. And He has determined…there are pre-appointed times, speaking of nations here…God has determined the pre-appointed times of nations and the boundaries of their dwellings.
0:27:14.3
Is God in the boundaries and border? You bet He is. Now, I’m not here to get political. Let me tell you something. When politics intersects with theology and the Word of God, the church needs to speak out. It is God’s plan in a fallen world to establish nations and nations with borders. If you don’t have a border, you don’t have a nation. And those who want to talk about a borderless world are those that will get in step and in stride at the end of the age, even during the Tribulation period when the Antichrist comes to power and establishes a one world government. Listen, friends, part of that is in motion already. It’s easier and easier for me as a student of the scripture to see how the end of the age happens in Daniel’s prophecies and in the book of Revelation when I just turn on the news because I hear the footprints and the hoof prints of the horses, the four horsemen of the apocalypse that are coming.
0:28:24.1
But God has always established nations and ethnicities. He rises up these. He puts down these. He forms a nation for a period of time with borders and with boundaries. Why does He do that? For His own divine purposes. Read on, “so that they should seek the Lord in order that they might grope for him and find him.” I don’t completely understand God’s eternal purposes. But somehow in the way He forms nations, raises up leaders, later puts them down, raises up civilizations with boundaries and borders and later puts them down, it is all part of His plan that through the forming of nations and leaders and all of that that the gospel gets to people. He knows best how to move the chess pieces so that the gospel gets to people so that they might possibly find Him. So let’s have good theology. Let’s have a good understanding of scripture, what God says in His Word, especially when we turn on the nightly news and we see all this craziness that is going on. Just read your Bible and you’ll be able to make sense of some of it.
0:29:39.8
“Wisdom and might belong to God” was the theme of Daniel’s prayer. We’re just talking about character under pressure. Let’s get back to our point here. Don’t panic. Do what is humanly possible. Do call a prayer meeting. If you don’t have go-to people, find some people. Find a life group. Find some people that you can connect with. Fourthly…and this is a simple one…do put others first. When you’re under pressure, when your character is being tested, look at verse 24. “Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: ‘Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.’” Now, we don’t need to linger long here, but I’m impressed with Daniel. Daniel could have been so self-serving. He could have come to Arioch and said, “Arioch, I’m the guy. I’ve got the interpretation. All right. I’m here to save the day, to save my own hide and my three friends.” But Daniel’s first concern was for the wise men of Babylon. As corrupt and as false as they were, Daniel still had concern for them. He put other people first.
0:31:03.1
Now, that’s a sign of character, is it not? He was a competent leader. He gained the favor of secular leaders in the Babylonian government as time went on. He was a man of courage. But his character, just the core of his being didn’t allow him to put himself first. He care for others. And I think that’s important for us to remember.
0:31:27.6
Finally, do give glory to God. Once Daniel gets into the presence of the king, listen to this conversation beginning in verse 25. “Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: ‘I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.’ The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar,”—that was his Babylonian name—“‘Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?’” Now, let me stop right here. Again, the temptation for Daniel to say, “Yup, I’m your guy. Spotlight on me. Watch me save the day, king.” He doesn’t do that. Verse 27, “Daniel answered the king and said, ‘No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.’”
0:33:04.4
What a humble response. Daniel had every opportunity to thrust himself to the center of attention, to even use the opportunity for his own selfish gain. No, he is concerned about others and cares about others. And when given the opportunity, when asked the question, Daniel says, “Listen, there is nobody can do what you’re asking to have done, king.” And he takes the opportunity to point the king…you talk about speaking truth to power. Imagine yourself as Daniel in front of the king who has the power, humanly speaking, of life and death. He says to the king, “But there is a God in heaven.” Wow!
0:33:48.7
Suppose you’re in that business situation or some situation where everybody loses their job. You’re Mr. or Mrs. Calm and Collected, and somebody comes up to you and asks you a question. Are you ready in season and out of season to point people to your faith in Jesus Christ as to the reason for your calmness and your coolness? Because you’re trusting in the God who is in control? He says, “But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom in me.”
0:34:21.2
Daniel kind of reminds me of a New Testament figure around the time of Christ known as John the Baptist. Remember John the Baptist? And just as Jesus was coming on the scene, messianic expectations were accelerating and were kind of at a fever pitch. And everybody was saying, “Oh, the messiah is somewhere. We know he is. We just feel it. It’s been all these years.” People were coming up to John and saying, “John, you’re looking kind of messiah-like. John, are you the messiah?” And, oh, what an opportunity for John to look in the mirror and saying, “You know, I’m looking a little messiah-like today. Maybe I ought to run with this and see where it takes me.” And John doesn’t do that. He says, “I’m not your guy.” And he pointed people to Jesus. And he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Listen, it takes character to the core of your being to not make yourself the center of attention and to point people away, either to others or, in this case, to Jesus Christ. To give glory to God. To humble yourself before Him.
0:35:30.3
Daniel is an amazing guy. We’re just getting started on seeing examples from his life on how to stand strong in our faith when the heat is on and when the pressure is on. If you don’t mind, just a couple of more minutes here, because in my message preparation, and even when I’m talking to young preachers, I always tell myself and others to ask one more question of the text. And that is, how do we get from where we are in the scripture to the cross of Christ? And how do we get there as fast as we can?
0:36:16.5
And when I asked that question of this text, it didn’t take long before the Lord put a thought in my heart that I think models what we’re talking about here with Daniel. There was a time when Jesus was under pressure, when the pressure was really on just hours before He went to the cross. Remember, He had been in Jerusalem with His disciples in the upper room. And toward the end of that time together, they leave the upper room, our best understanding is, and they begin to walk through the city of Jerusalem. They go through the Kidron Valley and up the other side toward the Mount of Olives. If you’ve been to Jerusalem and been to the Holy Land with us, you’ve got a picture in your mind of this. They’re heading toward the Mount of Olives. And at the base of the Mount of Olives is a little garden called Gethsemane. And it’s a garden with these trees, these olive trees that even today when you go visit the Holy Land…these trees date back 2000 years or more. They’re beautiful, beautiful trees, and it’s a beautiful garden. And we have every reason to believe that Jesus went there often to pray. But when the pressure was on, he went to Gethsemane, took His disciples there with Him. Took Peter, James, and John, said, “Come in a little bit deeper here and pray with Me.”
0:37:38.0
The word “gethsemane” literally means “oil press” because the olive trees are there. You can go to Israel today and learn how in the ancient culture they had ways of pressing the olives to squeeze out the oil. There is about a three-fold process. And they would put pressure on the olives. Well, Gethsemane is the oil press. The pressure came against Jesus. So much so that one of the Gospel writers tells us that Jesus sweat drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. That’s literally a medical condition called hematidrosis where the pressure and the stress is so great that the little capillaries just beneath the surface of your skin begin to break down. And it begins to mix with your sweat. And you literally sweat drops of blood. That’s what was happening to Jesus in Gethsemane. The weight, the pressure of the cross, humanly speaking, was so great it was having this effect on His body.
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But look at what Jesus does. He doesn’t panic, does He? You read the Gospel accounts from the upper room through the crucifixion. There is no panic in Jesus. He calls a prayer meeting, doesn’t He? He brings His disciples to Gethsemane, and they pray. Of course, His three prayer partners fall asleep on Him, but, you know, that’s the best He had at the time. And He really appealed to the Father for what was humanly possible. He said, “Father, let this cup pass from Me. Is there another way We can do this?” Well, the answer came back no. He cared about others first, didn’t He? He said earlier in His ministry, “The Son of Man has come to serve and not to be served.” And He served all the way to the cross. And in going to the cross, He gave glory to God. I mean, I just see a pattern and a picture that lines up perfectly with Daniel. It wasn’t hard for me to get from Daniel 2 to the cross of Christ.
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And my point is simply this. It’s great to learn a lesson about leadership and about character under pressure. And Daniel instructs us there. But that isn’t going to help you out one bit unless you’re in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Because you can’t live like Daniel, I can’t live like Daniel, without the power of God in us. And that only happens when you’re in a right relationship with God through faith in Christ. How does that happen? You get to the cross as quickly as you can. You come as a sinner who needs a savior, a savior who died on the cross for your sins, who paid the penalty for your sins. The foolishness of the cross makes the wisdom of a man look like idiocy, right? Don’t be one of the wise guys and the wise gals who keeps looking back 2000 years ago at the cross of Christ and says, “Ah, what does that mean?” It is the power of God unto salvation.
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And when you come into relationship with God through faith in Christ, He gives you the Holy Spirit. Now you have the resources within you to live like Daniel. When you’re under pressure, when your character is being tested…and He’ll even take the time to shape you and mold your character after the image of Christ so that when the pressure is on like it came upon Daniel and his three friends—not just once, not just twice, but multiple times—you respond with a divine response. And you don’t cave to the pressure like so many other people do.
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My encouragement to you is to dare to be a Daniel. But before that, to come to faith in Christ. Come to the cross of Christ where your Savior died and shed His blood for your sin and rose again from the dead so that sin would no longer have power over you, but that you could live a victorious life in Christ. Amen?
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Let’s pray together. God, thank You so much for Your Word. And thank You for Daniel’s example. Thank You for the cross of Jesus and for Jesus’s…not just example to us, but for what He did for us on the cross and through His resurrection. And I pray that if there is anybody here, Father, who has never trusted Jesus as his or her savior by faith, that today, by Your Holy Spirit, You would put not-so-gentle pressure on their heart to respond and to say yes to Jesus. And I pray this in Jesus’s name and for His sake, amen.
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