9.7.25 – The God Who Delivers from Death (Daniel 6:1–28)
Key Verse for 2025: “Watch your life and doctrine closely.” – 1 Timothy 4:16
INTRO: This week we looked at one of the most well-known stories in Scripture—Daniel in the lion’s den. Though familiar, Aaron reminded us not to miss its depth: Daniel’s life of steady, ordinary faithfulness revealed that God alone empowers and sustains ongoing faithfulness. Daniel was preserved not by his strength but by the living God who rescues from death.
Daniel’s story also points us to Jesus—the One who faced death, entered the grave, and rose again in victory so that all who trust Him may share in His deliverance.
MAIN POINT: God alone empowers and sustains ongoing faithfulness, and He has fully accomplished this in Christ.
SCRIPTURE-DRIVEN DISCUSSION
Read aloud Daniel 6:1–28. Let the group reflect briefly—what caught your attention as you listened?
Additional references from the sermon: John 15:18; 1 Peter 4:12; Acts 5:29; Psalm 22; Romans 4:25.
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
Observation 1: Faithfulness to God demands that we expect worldly opposition.
Reminder: Daniel’s integrity left him vulnerable—his enemies could only attack him in connection to his devotion to God (v. 5).
Q1: Where are you experiencing opposition or pressure because of your loyalty to Christ? How can remembering Jesus’ words in John 15:18 (“If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you”) prepare you to endure?
Observation 2: Ordinary faithfulness prepares you for extraordinary trials.
Reminder: Daniel didn’t begin praying when the law was signed—he prayed “as he had done previously” (v. 10). His habits prepared him for the trial ahead.
Q2: What ordinary practices of faith (prayer, Scripture, community) are shaping you right now? How do these daily habits prepare you for future challenges to your faith?
Observation 3: Only the living God can deliver from the power of death.
Reminder: Daniel was preserved because he trusted in God (v. 23). His rescue points forward to Christ’s resurrection.
Q3: Where do you need to trust God’s power over fear, trial, or even death itself? How does the gospel give you confidence that His verdict over you in Christ is “not guilty”?
Fulfillment in Christ
Reminder: Like Daniel, Jesus was conspired against, unjustly sentenced, sealed in a tomb—and at break of day He rose victorious. His resurrection secures our salvation.
Q4: How does Daniel’s story deepen your appreciation of what Christ has done for you? What difference should His victory over death make in your daily faithfulness?
LET’S REMEMBER:
Faithfulness isn’t fueled by sheer determination but by the God who delivers. Like Daniel, we face opposition and trials, but Christ has already conquered death. Because He lives, we can trust Him to sustain our faith—ordinary days and extraordinary trials alike.
Closing Application Question: Since what we’ve discussed is true and relevant, how will you live it out this week? For example, will you strengthen a daily habit of prayer like Daniel? Or will you take courage to stand firm in your workplace, family, or friendships, knowing God alone sustains you?
CLOSING PRAYER
Lord, thank You that You are the living God who delivers from death. Strengthen us to live faithfully in ordinary days and through extraordinary trials. Fix our eyes on Christ, our greater Deliverer, who was raised for our justification. May His life in us empower our ongoing faithfulness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.