Daniel’s Undaunted Courage

Daniel's Undaunted Courage

A Sermon
(No. 815)

Delivered on Sunday Morning, June 14, 1868, by
C. H. SPURGEON,
at the [25]Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

"Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his
house; and his windows being open in his chamber towards Jerusalem,
he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave
thanks before his God, as he did before." Daniel 6:10.

Daniel had been exalted to very great worldly prosperity but his soul
had prospered, too. Oftentimes outward advancement means inward
decline. Tens of thousands have been intoxicated by success. Though
they bade fair in starting in the race of life to win the prize, they
were tempted to turn aside to gather the golden apples and so they
missed the crown. It was not so with Daniel–he was as perfect before
God in his high estate as in his lowlier days–and this is to be
accounted for by the fact that he sustained the energy of his outward
profession by constant secret communion with God.

He was, we are told, a man of an excellent spirit and a man abundant in
prayer–his head was not turned by his elevation. And the Lord
fulfilled in him His promise to "make His servant's feet like hinds'
feet, that they may stand upon their high places." Yet, although Daniel
preserved his integrity he did not find a position of greatness to be
one of rest. As the birds peck at the ripest fruit, so his envious
enemies assailed him. And as the most conspicuous warriors most attract
the arrows of the foe, so the honors of Daniel brought upon him the
enmities of many.

Seek not then, Beloved, seek not then with an excess of desire, or an
unrest of ambition to be great among the great ones of the earth! There
are more precious things than honor and wealth. A Persian king, wishing
to give two of his courtiers a token of his regard, gave to one of them
a golden cup and to the other a kiss. He who had obtained the golden
cup considered that he was hardly done by, and envied the courtier who
received the kiss from the monarch's own mouth! And let me say, let who
will receive the wealth and honors of the world which make up her
golden cup, if you receive a kiss of favor from the lips of God and
feel the sweetness of it in your inmost soul, you have received more
than they!

You have no reason whatever to repine though that kiss should come to
you in poverty and sickness, but rather to rejoice that God has counted
you worthy, in His infinite Grace, to receive the more of spirituals
though you have the less of temporals. Luther declared that all the
greatness of the world was but a bone which God threw to a dog, "For,"
says he, "he gives more to the Pope and to the Turk than to all His
saints put together," and so verily it is. To be great, distinguished
and wealthy may be the lot of a Haman who shall be hanged upon a
gallows, while God's true servant may sit at the gate and bear contempt
as did Mordecai.

Better to pine with Lazarus than feast with Dives for the love of God
more than compensates for temporary disadvantages. Better an ounce of
Divine Grace than a ton of worldly goods. Though the good things come
not as the left-handed blessings of outward prosperity, be you more
than content if you win the right-handed benediction of spiritual joy.

I present to you the example of Daniel for your observation, today,
believing that these are times when we need to be as firm and resolute
as he, and that, at any rate occasions will come to every one of us
before we win our crown, when we shall need to put our foot down firmly
and be steadfast and unflinching for the Lord and His Truth. First, let
me invite your attention to Daniel's habitual devotion–it is worthy of
our study. We might never have known of it if he had not been so sorely
tried–but fire reveals the hidden gold.

Daniel's habitual devotion. We are told that before, before the trial,
he had been in the constant habit of prayer. He prayed much. There are
some forms of spiritual life which are not absolutely essential, but
prayer is of the very essence of spirituality. He that has no prayer
lacks the very breath of the life of God in the soul. I will not say
that every man who prays is a Christian, but I will say that every man
who prays sincerely is so. Remember, men may pray after a fashion and
even practice private prayer, too, and yet may be deceiving themselves.
As the frogs of Egypt came up into the bedchambers, so does hypocrisy
intrude itself even into the private places where men pretend to
worship God!

But I do say that a cheerful constancy in sincere private devotion is
such a mark of Divine Grace that he who has it may fairly conclude
himself to be one of the Lord's family. Daniel always had subjects for
prayer and reasons for prayer. He prayed for himself that in his
eminent position he might not be uplifted with pride, might not be
taken in the snares of those who envied him, might not be permitted to
fall into the usual oppressions and dishonesties of Eastern rulers. He
prayed for his people. He saw many of the house of Judah who were not
in such prosperous circumstances as himself. He remembered those who
were in bonds, as being bound with them. Those who were bone of his
bone, and flesh of his flesh he brought in the arms of faith before his
God.

He interceded for Jerusalem. It grieved him that the city was laid
waste–that still the brand of the Chaldean destroyer was upon Mount
Zion, so beautiful–and once the joy of the whole earth. He pleaded for
the return from the captivity which he knew was ordained of his God. He
prayed for the glory of His God, that the day might come when the idols
should be utterly abolished and when the whole earth should know that
Jehovah rules in Heaven and among the sons of men. It would have been a
delightful thing to have listened at the keyhole of Daniel's closet and
to have heard the mighty intercessions which went up to the Lord God of
Hosts!

We read next that with all his prayers he mingled thanksgiving. Do
observe it, for so many forget this, "He prayed and gave thanks to
God." Surely, it is poor devotion which is always asking and never
returning its gratitude! Am I to live upon the bounty of God and never
to thank Him for what I receive? Surely prayers in which there is no
thanksgiving are selfish things–they rob God, and will a man rob
God–rob God even in his prayers? Rob God and yet expect that his
prayers should be successful?

Have I not often said in this place that prayer and praise resemble the
process by which we live? We breathe in the atmospheric air and then
breathe it out again–prayer takes in deep drafts of the love and Grace
of God, and then praise breathes it out again–

"Prayer and praise, with sins forgiven,

Bring down to earth the bliss of Heaven."

Good Daniel had learned to praise as well as to pray, and to offer to
God that sweet incense which was made of diverse spices, of earnest
desires and longings mingled with thanksgivings and adorations. It is
worthy of notice that the text says, "Daniel prayed and gave thanks
before his God."

This enters into the very soul of prayer–this getting before God. O
Brothers and Sisters, do you not often catch yourselves praying to the
wind, and in private uttering words as though you were only to be heard
by the four walls which bound your little room? But prayer, when it is
right, comes before God in realizing the majesty of the Throne of His
Grace and seeing the blood of the Eternal Covenant sprinkled on it!
Right prayer is discerning that God is gazing right through you,
reading every thought and interpreting every desire. It is feeling that
you, yourself, are speaking into the ear of God, and are now, as it
were–

"Plunged in the Godhead's deepest sea,

And lost in His immensity."

This is praying, when we draw near to God. I shall not care if you do
not use a single word, if you feel the majesty of God to be so
overwhelming that words are out of place–and silence becomes far more
expressive when you bow with sobs, and tears and groans that cannot be
uttered. That is the prayer which wins its suit of God and is dear to
the majesty of Heaven. Thus Daniel prayed and gave thanks–not before
men to be seen of them, nor yet in private before himself to satisfy
his conscience, but "before God"–of whom he had an audience thrice
each day.

That little word, "his," I must not let slip, however. He prayed and
gave thanks before his God. He spoke not to God merely as God who might
belong to any man and every man, but unto his God whom he had espoused
by a solemn determination that he would not turn aside from His
service–that determination having resulted from God's having
determined to select him and to make him His own man–peculiarly set
apart unto His own praise. "His God." Why, it seems to me to bring up
that word "covenant"–his "covenant God"–as though he had entered into
covenant with God according to the language of the Most High, "I will
be their God, and they shall be my people."

True son of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob was this Daniel when he
looked upon God as being his own, his property, could claim Him, could
say, as we sometimes sing in that sweet Psalm, "Yes, my own God is He!"
Oh, to feel that the Lord belongs wholly to me! My God, my God–as if
no other man can claim Him! My Father, my Shepherd, my Friend, my Lord,
and my God! Yes, here lies power in prayer–when a man can talk with
God as his covenant God. That man cannot miss! Every arrow sticks in
the center of the target when he pleads "before his God." That man must
conquer the angel at Jabbok's brook who grips Him with both hands by a
faith which knows its Heaven-worked claims!

It is not winning mercies from another's God, nor pleading outside the
Covenant, but the Believer feels that he is asking of his own God
mercies already promised and made sure to him by oaths, and Covenant
and blood. Some other particulars in the text are not quite so
important, nevertheless, observe that he prayed three times a day. That
does not tell you how often he prayed, but how often he was in the
posture of prayer. Doubtless he prayed 300 times a day if
necessary–his heart was always having commerce with the skies. But
thrice a day he formally prayed.

It has been well said that we usually take three meals in the day, and
that it is well to give the soul as many meals as the body. We need the
morning's guidance. We need the eventide's forgiveness. Do we not also
require the noontide's refreshment? Might we not well say at noontide,
"Tell me, O You whom my soul loves, where You feed, where You make Your
flock to rest at noon."

If you find from morn till eve too long an interval between prayer, put
in another golden link at midday. There is no rule in Scripture as to
how often you should pray and there is no rule as to when you should
pray. It is left to the man's own gracious spirit to suggest a season.
We need not come back to the bondage of the Mosaic Covenant–to be
under rule and rubric. We are left to that free Spirit who leads His
saints aright. Yet, three times a day is a commendable number. Notice,
also, the posture. That, also, is of little consequence since we read
in Scripture of men who prayed on the bed, with their face to the wall.

We read of David sitting before the Lord. How very common and
acceptable a posture was that of standing before God in prayer! Yet
there is a peculiar appropriateness, especially in private prayer, in
the posture of kneeling. It seems to say, "I cannot stand upright
before Your majesty. I am a beggar and I put myself in the position of
a beggar. I ask of You, great God, on bended knee, in the posture of
one who admits that he deserves nothing, but humbles himself before
Your gracious majesty."

The reason why he kneeled on the particular occasion mentioned in the
text was, no doubt, because he always had kneeled and therefore always
would kneel–he would not be driven from the posture, little as that
might be, at a tyrant's word! No, if all earth and Hell should be
against him, if he had found it more to God's honor to kneel then kneel
still, he would, even though he should be cast into the lions' den for
it! One more observation. We are told that Daniel kneeled upon his
knees with his window open towards Jerusalem. This was not done with
any view to publicity. It may be that nobody could see him, even when
his window was open, except the servants in the court.

I suppose the house to have been erected as most Eastern houses were,
with an open square in the center, and though he would be looking
towards Jerusalem, the windows would be looking into the court where he
could only be observed by those who might be residents in the house or
visitors on business. Probably his fellow counselors knew the hour
which he usually set apart for devotion and therefore called in so as
to find him in the act. Besides, you must remember that though it would
be strange, here, for a man to pray with his windows open where he
could be heard, it was not at all strange among the Orientals. You will
find the Pharisees and others not at all slow to perform their
devotions in any place when the hour of prayer comes, and therefore it
would not be regarded at all as being of a Pharisaic nature that he
should pray with his window open.

The window being open towards Jerusalem may have been suggested by the
prayer of Solomon, when he asked that if the Lord's people were
banished at any time, when they sought the Lord with their faces
towards that holy place God would hear them. It may have helped him,
also, to remember that dear city towards which every Jew's heart turns
with affection, even as the needle trembles towards its pole. The
thought of its ruin assisted his earnestness. The recollection of its
sin humbled him and the promises concerning it comforted him. He turned
towards Jerusalem.

And what does this say to us? Brothers and Sisters, it tells us that we
ought to take care when we pray, to have our window open towards
Calvary! Neither turn you to the East, nor to the West, but let your
spirits turn towards the Cross of Christ. That is the great point
towards which all the faces of the faithful must continually be
turned–where Jesus died, where Jesus rose, where Jesus intercedes
before the Throne of Mercy! There it is that the eyes of faith must
look. Always pray with your windows open towards Calvary! Look upon the
precious blood! Gaze steadfastly upon the risen Lord! Behold the
authority of His plea as before His Father He wins His suit for His
people, and you will grow strong to wrestle until you prevail!

We must now turn to a second consideration, Daniel's action under
trial. There is nothing that kings and queens are much fonder of than
meddling with religion. Though the Prussian king tried to make a number
of watches all tick together and could not do it, yet notwithstanding
the experiment and its failure, there are always evil counselors who
would force men's consciences to keep stroke. Folly is in the throne
when monarchs patronize or oppress religion. Caesar always muddles when
he meddles with the things of God.

In Daniel's day there was an act of uniformity passed in some respects
similar to the famous act which was thrust upon this land. Darius
ordained that no man should pray for 30 days. The other Act of
Uniformity commanded that no man should pray at any time in public
without his book. There is not very much to prefer between the two.
When this act of uniformity was passed, several courses were open to
Daniel. He might, for instance, have said, "This does not answer my
purpose. I have a high position in society. I am chief president over
all these dominions and though I am willing to suffer something for my
religion, yet gold may be bought too dear, and therefore I shall cease
to pray."

He might have found many precedents and many companions. What crowds,
when it has come to a question between life and truth, between honor
and Christ, have made the evil choice and perished infamously? Daniel
does not seem to have raised that question. Yet he might have said,
"Well, well, we must be prudent. God must be worshiped, certainly, but
there is no particular reason for my worshiping Him in the usual room,
nor even in the city where I live. I can retire in the evening or find
some more secret spot in my own house–and especially there is no
occasion to open the window. I can pray with the window shut and I
shall be just as acceptable before God. I think, therefore, I shall
keep my conscience clear, but not thrust out my religion in these evil
days."

Daniel did not so reason. He was a lion-like man and scorned to lower
his standard in the presence of the foe–for see, in his position, if
he had not prayed as before it would have been a scandal to the weak
and a scorn to the wicked! The weak would have said, "See, Daniel is
cowed by the decree." Then every poor Jew throughout the realm would
have found an excuse for forsaking his principles. And the wicked would
have said, "Note, he serves his God when all goes well, but see where
he drifts when trouble comes!" Daniel would not seek the secrecy which
prudence might have suggested.

Still, it might have suggested to him that he could pray inwardly.
Prayers without words are just as acceptable to God. Could he not do
this? He felt he could not, inasmuch as the decree was not inward and
the king's opposition to religion was not inward. He did not believe in
opposing outward falsehood by an inward truth. He did, in the language
of the hymn we were singing, "strength to strength oppose." He would
give distinct outward avowal of his own convictions in opposition to
the outward persecuting edict. As Daniel did not happen to have one of
those rotating, double-acting consciences, he did not try to import a
new meaning into the terms of the decree or invent a compromise between
it and his own convictions–he went straightforward in the plain path.

He knew what the edict meant and therefore down on his knees he went
before his God in direct defiance of it! Whether the edict might be
read in a milder sense or not did not trouble Daniel. He knew what
Darius meant by it and what the captains and the counselors meant by
it–and he knew, also, what he himself intended to do–and therefore he
did the right thing! Before his God he dared the lions rather than soil
his conscience with anything of evil. Observe with care what Daniel
did. He made up his mind to act as he had done before. Note how quietly
he acted. He did not say to any of his enemies, "I mean to carry out my
convictions." Not at all! He knew that talk was lost upon them, so he
resorted to actions instead of words.

He quietly went home when he found the law was passed–though grieved
that such a thing was done–and without a single word of repining or
caviling he sought his chamber. I do not find that he was at all
distracted or disturbed. The words, "As he had done before," seem to
imply that he went upstairs as calmly as he had been accustomed to do.
His servants would not have known, from his behavior, that any law had
been made! He always had gone at that hour to pray, and they could hear
him pray just as earnestly as he ever had done. He was focused on God
and therefore continued at perfect peace.

Note again how he acted unhesitatingly–immediately! He did not pause.
He did not ask for time to consider what he should do. In matters of
perilous duty our first thoughts are best. When there is anything to be
lost by religion, follow out the first thought of conscience, namely,
"Do the right." Who needs to question where duty points the way? Where
God commands there is no room for reason to raise doubts. Yet I have no
doubt if the devil could have whispered into the Prophet's ear, he
would have said, "Now, Daniel, you had better consider a little while.
You are in a position where you can materially help your friends. You
are of very great authority in this court–you may be of assistance to
the true religion. You do not know how many may be converted by your
example. You ought not lightly to give up a position where you can do
so much good."

That argument I have heard hundreds of times when people have been
urged to come out of false positions and do the right. But what have
you and I to do with maintaining our influence and position at the
expense of the Truth of God? It is never right to do a little wrong to
obtain the greatest possible good. Your duty is to do the right!
Consequences are with God! And, after all, it never can be, in the long
run, a good thing either for you or for others to do wrong. You will
observe, also, that Daniel did not act under excitement, but with a
full knowledge of the result. The record expressly has it–"When Daniel
knew that the writing was signed."

Many people will do right in a hurry and under strong excitement will
go further than they would have done in cold blood. But Daniel,
probably shut out from the council by some crafty device of the
counselors, no sooner heard that the statute stood good than, without
parley, his resolution was formed and his mind made up. It was not for
him to delay and to hesitate–he had all the data before him and
obedience made her determination known. Count the cost, young man,
before you profess to be a Christian! Do not espouse, upon a sudden, an
enterprise for which you will be unequal. Devote yourselves to the Lord
your God by His Grace, but let it be according to the command of Christ
after having first made an estimate of that which will be required of
you–and seek Grace from on high that you may accomplish what otherwise
will be impossible.

I like those words, and must go back to them again, "as he had done
before." Here he makes no alteration! He takes not the slightest
possible notice of the king's decree. At the same place, at the same
hour, in the same posture, and in the same spirit the Prophet is found.
This indicates to us the Christian's duty under persecution–he should
act under persecution as he would have done if none had arisen! If you
have worshiped God under the smile of your Christian friends, worship
Him under the crown of the ungodly. If you have, as a tradesman,
pursued a course of honest action in more prosperous times, do not, for
God's sake, for Christ's sake, tamper with that honest course because
the times have changed.

What has been right is right, and therefore abide by it. What you have
done sincerely, still do and God will give you a blessing in it. Daniel
could not have performed that act of praying, when the lions' den was
to be the penalty, if he had not fallen into the habit of constant
prayer beforehand. It was his secret communion with God which gave him
strength and vigor to push on. Because he was right he found it easier
to keep right whatever the penalty might be. I dare say I address some
young man who has come from the country from a godly family where true
religion has been daily set before him. But now he is placed in a
workshop where he is startled to find that Jesus is ridiculed and
religion is a byword. Now, Friend, so as you used to do at home–make
no difference to please vain men–take care that you begin as you mean
to go on.

I would not say merely, "Do not give up the spirit of religion," but,
"Do not even yield the form." The devil never gives up on us–do not
quit fighting him. He takes care to fight us with all his might–let us
do the same to him. I believe hundreds of Christian men make a hard lot
to themselves by little yielding at first, for generally is it so in
this world that if a man is determined and makes up his mind, after a
while the world will let him alone. In the barracks when the soldier
kneels to pray, how often has he been the subject of a thousand ribald
jests and so has given up all thought of bowing the knee? Yet we have
heard of a real convert, who, when he came into the regiment, having
been converted, knelt down to pray and as he persisted in so doing, his
comrades said, "Ah, he's one of the plucky ones! He's a genuine
fellow." And they left him alone, whereas, if he had once sneaked into
his bed without prayer he would never after that have dared to kneel.

There is nothing like following Daniel's example by never giving in,
for thus you will win the respect of those who otherwise would have
sneered at you. How soon the world will find out our real meaning! We
may think we are playing our game so prettily that they cannot make us
out, and that we shall be pleasing the world and pleasing God, too, but
it always comes to a dead failure. And then, while the world despises,
we have not the comfort of our conscience to sustain us. Oh, if our
fathers, the Puritans, would but have yielded a little–if they could
have made but a nick in their consciences, as some are now doing–then,
instead of being cast out of house and home and prevented from opening
their mouths to preach Christ, their yielding and consenting would have
kept them in ease and honor! But where, then, would have been that
Gospel light which gladdens the nations? Where those pure and sacred
institutions which they have handed down to us?

Now, at this hour, through their intrepid resolution they remain among
the blessed, and men honor them. Let us not, the sons of brave
fathers–let us not be cowards! Remember the days of Cromwell, and the
times when the godless Cavaliers felt the edge of the Roundheads'
sword–and though we take not carnal weapons, but eschew them utterly–
let us show our foemen that the manhood of England is in us still and
we are of the same metal as our sires!

Let us turn to the third point, with which we conclude–the secret
support of Daniel. There was something in the man which gave him this
backbone. There was a secret something which made him so magnanimous.
What was it? It resulted from several things. It sprang from the fact
that Daniel's religion was not the offspring of passion, but of
deep-seated principle. There are some men whose religion is like the
flower which lives upon the surface–they soon dry up when the sun of
persecution burns. But there are others who, like the forest trees,
send down their roots into the deep soil of principle–who know what
they know, have learned thoroughly what they have learned–and hold
fast what they have received. And these, in the time of trial, are
sustained by springs of secret Grace, and their leaf is not withered.

Because the Holy Spirit had inwrought into Daniel's' spirit the
principles of faith, he was sustained in the time of trial. But I doubt
not that Daniel was also supported by what he had read of the works of
God in the olden times. He was a great searcher of books and he had
found that in olden times Jehovah was always victorious. The Prophet's
eyes gleamed as he thought of Pharaoh and the Red Sea, as he remembered
Og, king of Basham, and the books of Arnon. And as his mind flew on to
Sennacherib and the hook put into leviathan's jaws to turn him back by
the way which he came, he was strengthened.

Remembering the works of the Lord, for which his spirit made diligent
search, he felt quite certain that the living God would prove Himself
true to His own. Besides, the Prophet's spirit was sustained by what he
had himself seen. He had been brought in close contact with the three
holy children who were brought before Nebuchadnezzar. Where Daniel was
at that time we do not precisely know, but he must have been well aware
of that heroic deed. He had seen king Nebuchadnezzar defied, had beheld
the Son of God walking in the furnace with the three heroes, and had
seen them come forth with not so much as the smell of fire passed upon
them! Here was grand encouragement.

Daniel also had personal experience of his God. He stood before
Nebuchadnezzar to tell him the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
And yes, on a yet more dread occasion, without fear and trembling, he
had faced the king Belshazzar when the thousands of his guests were
shouting to their gods and the king and his wives and concubines in
gorgeous state were drinking wine out of the bowls consecrated to
Jehovah. That lone man stood erect amid the ribald crew, and pointing
to the mysterious letters, read the terrible sentence, "Mene, Mene,
Tekel, Upharsin," a monarch's doom proclaimed in his presence by an
unarmed man! Was such a one likely now to be afraid!

He that trembled not before tens of thousands of fierce soldiery, shall
he fear now, when nothing but lions are in his way? Not he! He had
looked into the face of his God and would not fear the face of a lion!
Jehovah had overshadowed him and the den into which he would be cast
had nothing in it terrible to him. His own experience helped to
strengthen him! He had this conviction that God could deliver him, and
that if God did not deliver him, yet still such was his love to the God
of Israel that he would be content to give himself to die.

It is blessed to have such a confidence as this! You good people who
are tried and who may expect to be tried yet more, you will never stand
unless you come to this–"God can deliver me. But if He does not
deliver me, still I am well content to be a sacrifice for Jesus' sake."
Ah, some of you would gladly be Christians, but in the time of trial
you give it up! Like the freshwater sailor, who, seeing the ship decked
with all her colors and her fair white sails bellying to the wind,
thinks it must be a fine thing to be a mariner! But he is not far out
to sea before qualms have come upon him–he dreads the storm, and
vows–"If I can but once get safe to shore, I had done with sailoring
forever."

Many have said, "We will follow the Lord with Daniel." Yes, and
well-content they are to be with Daniel at Shushan in the king's
palace! But when it comes to the lions' den, then, "Daniel, good-bye."
Take heed to yourselves that you are not deceived with a fair
profession which shall afterwards fail you! Daniel failed not because
his love to his God rested deep in his inmost heart–it had become part
and parcel of himself and sustained by the two hands of love and
faith–he was graciously lifted over the rough and thorny places.

Remember that Daniel is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus had
enemies who sought to destroy Him. They could find nothing against Him
except, "touching His God." They accused Him of blasphemy, and then
afterwards, as they did Daniel, they brought a charge of sedition. He
was cast into the den–into the grave. His soul was among the lions.
They sealed His tomb with their signet, lest any should steal Him by
night, but He arose as Daniel did, alive and unhurt, and His enemies
were destroyed.

Now, if Daniel is a type of Christ, and the Lord Jesus is the great
representative Man for all who are in Him, you, Believer, must expect
that there will be those who will attack you. You must expect there
will be those who will assail you especially in your religion. You must
expect, too, that they will prevail against you for a time so that you
may be cast into the den–that they will seek to fasten you in as
though you were destroyed forever. But there will be a resurrection not
only of bodies, but of reputations, and you shall arise. When the
trumpet shall sound, not merely the corporeal particles, which make the
man, but the man's memory shall rise! His good name, which has been
buried beneath the clods of slander, shall rise to life! While as for
His enemies, they and their reputations shall find devouring
destruction from the Presence of the Lord.

Oh, to be a follower of Jesus, the great Daniel! To tread in His
footsteps wherever He goes! To be much with Him, whether in private or
public! This is a thing to be desired and though I exhort you to it, I
do not expect you to attain to it in your own strength! I point you to
the Holy Spirit who can work this in you, and make you to be greatly
beloved as was this Prophet of old.
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The Wall Daubed with Untempered Mortar

A Sermon