TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - July 25, 2025 - Daniel 6:1-3 - An Excellent Spirit in a Corrupt World

Episode Date: July 25, 2025

In today’s Morning Manna, it's Faith Friday again, and we dive into Daniel 6:1-3, where Daniel’s faithfulness and “excellent spirit” set him apart in the courts of King Darius. Though living under a foreign empire, Daniel’s integrity and devotion to God elevated him above all the princes and presidents. We explore how true excellence flows from a heart aligned with God and why a believer’s character speaks louder than any title or position. Discover how we, too, can shine with an unwavering spirit in a world often bent on compromise. Teachers:  Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart.Join the leading community for Conservative Christians! https://www.FaithandValues.comYou can partner with us by visiting https://www.FaithandValues.com/donate, calling 1-800-576-2116, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961.Get high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves!https://www.AmericanReserves.comIt’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today!https://www.amazon.com/Final-Day-Characteristics-Second-Coming/dp/0578260816/Apple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books! https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/final-day-10-characteristics-of-the-second-coming/id1687129858Purchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today. https://www.sacrificingliberty.com/watchThe Fauci Elf is a hilarious gift guaranteed to make your friends laugh! Order yours today! https://tru.news/faucielf

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Morning Manna. And today is Friday, which means it's Faith Friday. It also means it's Holy Communion. And you are invited to participate with us in the Lord's Supper. So we focus on the topic of faith. And for I guess two months we've been in the book of Daniel, at least it seems like two months. And we're going to continue in the book of Daniel for at least the next three weeks. And today, we're going to be looking at chapter six. Now, you know, ordinarily people don't, don't study Daniel

for the purpose of learning about faith, but Yeah, they focus on the, they focus on the prophecy aspects of it, but there it's just so much more in Daniel than prophecy. This was a man of strong faith. So that's what we're looking for as we study Daniel chapter 6 starting this week and then for the next two weeks after that. We're looking for principles of faith. So, Doc, I'm going to have you read Daniel chapter 6 verses 1 through 9. Okay? All right. Let's pray. Almighty God,

our precious Father in heaven, thank you for this beautiful day. Father, thank you for being merciful for this beautiful day. Father, thank you for being merciful and kind and forgiving. Thank you for being gracious. Father, your graciousness, your kindness, your forgiving nature is beyond my comprehension. I desire so much to be like you in providing grace and mercy and forgiveness and kindness to others.

It's who teaches, Father. And Father, we're gathered here today to learn about faith, and we ask that you bring forth out of these scriptures in the book of Daniel, principles of faith, and make us stronger servants, stronger witnesses for you in this world of unfaithfulness. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. And welcome to Morning Mna today. We're so glad to have you here with us. No matter where you are in the world, from Russia, the Middle East, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, we

welcome you and across the US and Canada. Good morning, and glad to have you here with us. We're continuing our study on faith Fridays in the book of Daniel. And we are in Daniel chapter six, and we'll be reading verses 1 through 9 here, so if you'd like to turn there, we'll get started here in just a moment. Just a reminder, as Rick mentioned, at the end of our lesson today, we'll be celebrating the Lord's table, and you will need to have bread and either red wine or grape juice to participate and we welcome all believers, all baptized believers, to participate and we encourage you to participate. Let's read Daniel chapter 6 verses 1 through 9.

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 princes which should be over the whole kingdom, and over these three presidents of whom Daniel was first, that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find none occasion nor fault. For as much as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men,

We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king and said thus unto him, King Darius lived forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes, the counselors and captains have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for 30 days, save of thee, O King, he should be cast into the den of lions. Now, O King, establish the decree and sign the writing, that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians,

which altereth not. Wherefore, King Darius signed the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore King Darius signed the writing and the decree." God bless the reading of his word today. Amen. Political intrigue today in the palace, right? It is. It is.

It's like reading the Washington Post. Yes. Or the Washington Post. Yes. Or the London Times. The deep state was active. Yes, that's literally what was happening. There was a deep state coup against Daniel because of his religious beliefs and his, more than his beliefs, his commitment to God. So verse one, it pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 princes, which should be over the whole kingdom. All right, so let's get the context of where we're at.

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom. Darius was the new ruler. He was the conqueror. He had defeated Babylon. This is King Darius the Mede. And he moves quickly. He's conquered Babylon and he makes his move to consolidate his power very quickly. He takes an immediate initiative to establish a structured,

organized government for the rulership of his new dominion. So the introduction of King Darius the Mede, this marks a new era in what was formerly Babylon, then it became the Medo-Persian Empire. So this is a new world Order that's taking place. In today's parlance, we would say a New World Order was ushered in. Babylon had fallen. and the Medo-Persian Empire, which happened to be Iran, took over Babylon. And Babylon, the city of Babylon, was in what is now modern-day Iraq. So just think about how many thousands of years these rivalries have been

thousands of years as these rivalries have been taking place between these kingdoms and dominions. So there's a New World Order that has come into power. There's a transition of power. King Darius the Mede takes immediate possession of his new land Babylon and sets up his government. Theologically, what we're seeing here, this transition from Babylon to Medea, Persia, is the demonstration of God's sovereignty over the rise and fall of nations and empires and kingdoms. Right. It's still happening today. Yes.

Nations and empires fall, and new nations and empires appear. But the kingdom of God remains. The kingdom of God remains. The kingdom of God goes on. It doesn't matter who is the king of media Persia or who is the president of the United States. The kingdom of God lives on. That's one of the things that stands out. I'm looking at my notes from when we looked at this previously. Over the period of time, thousands of years since this event took place, and yet

the kingdom of God lives on and thrives. Kingdoms and empires and civilizations have risen and fallen, and yet, God still reigns. Yes, and the other thing we're gonna see in these verses that we're studying here today, Doc, is God's ability to sovereignly place inside those kingdoms his people. Absolutely.

The very important lesson to learn as you watch governments in your country and in other countries, that God is able to put his people in power. They may not be the king, Darius wasn't a believer, but Darius, as we will see here, was moved by God to move a believer up to the top. So it says, it pleased Darius.

This talks about his personal initiative, his strategic planning, his investment, his sovereign decision-making in establishing a new government, a new governmental structure new government, a new governmental structure that would become a stable, powerful kingdom. That's what he had in mind. I've conquered Babylon. I've got to move quickly before opposition forms. I've got to strike now.

I've won. I won the war. I'm taking control. I've got to set up a government immediately. We see the same thing today. More powerful nations move in quickly to establish their friendly governments in smaller nations that fall.

So it pleased Darius. There was personal satisfaction in this new organization. He was proud of himself. He liked his plan. He thought through this plan and he felt good about it. This was a strategic desire for effective centralized governmental authority that he permeate throughout his domain. What makes kings happy? Thoughts of good government.

That's what they're thinking about. He doesn't want any trouble. No trouble. I still remember, Doc, let's see, I want to say 2018-19, I attended a technology conference in Hong Kong. And one of the speakers, a Chinese businessman, he said something that a light clicked on inside my head. He said, if you're going to operate in business in China, you need to know this one thing.

Right? So, what am I thinking? Oh, you got to be a member of the Communist Party, right? What is it? He said, you need to know this one thing about Xi Jinping. You get this down and everything will go all right with you. And I'm sitting there listening because I want to hear this. This is coming from a, you know, I, Jack, you know, doc, I think it was Jack Ma.

Or, or he was quoting Jack Ma. It's been, you know, I said that 2018. He said, what drives Xi Jinping is his desire for a harmonious society. That sentence stuck in my head. When Xi Jinping wakes up in the morning, he doesn't want to get reports of trouble. He doesn't want to go into his office and his aides are saying, Mr. President, we have an uprising in the western province. We have a massive power failure in the southern province. He doesn't want to hear any of that. What that man was saying was, as long as you don't cause trouble, everything will go well with you in China. In other words, don't get on the radar screen. Go about your business, do what you want to do, but don't show up on the radar screen.

So it pleased Darius, okay? What pleased him? His plan to have a harmonious government in Babylon. That's what was on his mind. He had acquired the empire. He sought to learn from the previous empires. He examined their organizations, and then he established a new system designed for greater control and stability. Right. And a lot of people, when they read these passages, they have no idea of the size of these empires and civilizations.

The Medo-Persian Empire stretched, if you can imagine this, all the way from Greece to India. That's how big this had, Egypt was in the Medo-Persian Empire at this time too. So that's why you needed 120 princes because it was vast. And can you imagine how difficult it would be to manage that today? How much more so, you know, a couple thousand years ago, when you had limited communication and limited access to information, and yet he sought to establish a government that he could control the whole thing and be aware of everything that's going on. And actually, the way he's organized it is really quite brilliant.

No doubt, Doc. He was a very smart administrator. So what he's thinking here, he studied the previous empires. And what he's thinking is, what mistakes did they make that resulted in me conquering them? I don't wanna repeat it. I don't wanna make the same mistakes. I wanna learn from my enemies mistakes. I conquered them. Where did they go wrong?

Where did they give me the advantage? Where did they go wrong? Where did they give me the advantage? So his plan is to bring order, efficiency, stable administration to his vast new conquered kingdom. Again, he wanted a harmonious society. He wanted to be able to sit in his palace, smoke his cigar, look out across the land from his balcony and enjoy the day.

He didn't want any trouble. So he immediately established a clear administrative system to consolidate power and to guarantee effective rule over diverse peoples and territories. I mean, this was a kingdom of diversity. Different cultures, different ethnicities, different tribes, different languages, different currencies. He's gotta bring it all together. He's gotta hold this together.

This is not easy. So the act, this is very characteristic of any new monarch to move quickly to secure his power. So it says he appointed 120 princes. appointed 120 princes. The word, the title at that time was Satrap for prince. We're using the word prince, but the word then was Satrap. Satrap was a governor. So he appointed 120 governors, say traps, to manage this massive administrative system for his government. So it's just said that they were basically provincial governors,

running states or provinces entrusted with responsibility for the state of the state. The state of the state. The state of the state. The state of the state. The state of the state. The state of the state. The state of the state. The state of the state. The state of the state. The state of the state.

The state of the state. The state of the state. The state of the state. The state of the state. the central administration, and they are the king's direct agents. As Doc said earlier, the fact that there were 120 tells you how big this empire was. I mean, America, we have 50 governors. Darius had 120. 120. So he's always trying to do is make the government manageable. What this is setting up this is setting up the setting the stage for future jealousy and friction and competition among the 120 governors. So why are these details in the Bible? Does it really matter that Darius appointed 120 governors?

I think it's there because they establish the specific hierarchy within which Daniel would later be placed in these verses, which led to both opportunity for Daniel and opposition against Daniel. It's important to understand there were 120 governors You have to understand that principle to understand why he ended up being tossed in the lion's den Though these governors he say traps Princess they didn't wake up one morning and you know have a breakfast and say, hey guys, what can we do for fun today? Let's play a practical joke on somebody and somebody said, hey I got an idea, let's go get Daniel the Jew and throw him in a lion's pit, that'll be funny.

It didn't work like that. What drove these men to come up with a scheme to get Daniel thrown into a pit of lions? They saw him as a threat. He was a threat. His career was moving too fast. He was on a fast track. He was the king's golden boy. He could do no wrong. And why was he like that? Because the Lord gave him favor. The Lord gave him skills. The Lord blessed Daniel.

And Daniel's career fast track. He wasn't a Persian. he wasn't a mead, he was a Jew. He's in exile. Hey, this is a foreigner. This is what the other governors were saying. This guy's a foreigner. Why is he being promoted to rule over us? We've been with the king for a long time.

This Jew, he's conquered, he's a prisoner. And yet he's, the king just adores him. Couldn't say anything bad about Daniel to Darius. Darius had great respect and admiration for Daniel. Right. So that's why this is in the Bible to understand that that human emotions of jealousy Drove these men to Pressure Daniel, I mean pressure Darius to sign an executive order Is this what this comes down to they got him to sign an executive order and he this what this comes down to? They got him to sign an executive order,

and he didn't use an auto pen. He actually signed it himself. So, you know, in terms, you know, just in practical government terms, these governors, You know, just in practical government terms, these governors, they also had another very important duty. They collected taxes. Okay. A kingdom this big, obviously there has to be taxation and there's got to be an efficient tax collecting system, and there has to be a system in place to spot corrupt government officials who would be stealing some of the tax money.

So that's what Darius is thinking. He's appointed 120 men that he believes are loyal to him and honest and will oversee the collection of taxes. So they're to collect taxes, they are to maintain law and order, they are to administer justice, they are to enforce the king's decrees. That's their job. Right. So these 100... As part of their job, they also have power.

And power drives men. It's one of those characteristics of mankind. It's like other passions, but power in politics is a boy. And we see it, you know, we did, of course, the true news program for years and every day. You see how power corrupts man. And that's that's saying power corrupts and absolute power corrupts. Absolutely. Yes. The more power a person gets, the more corrupt they become. Yes. So these 120 governors, satraps, would be over the whole kingdom.

So Darius has set up a comprehensive, effective government to control the entire unified empire. The whole kingdom, that signifies Darius' desire for absolute comprehensive control and efficient management of his domain. I'm reiterating the 120 governors. They were there to collect taxes, administer justice, maintain law and order, carry out the king's decrees, but they were also there to prevent rebellions, to maintain internal stability, and to integrate the newly conquered territories into the empire. That's a king's biggest headache when he conquers a new land.

He's got to integrate the people into his kingdom. It's a new culture. There's rebellion. There's friction. So again, I'm just giving you the general background of what was taking place when this story developed with Daniel. Main thing is order. Darius desired order. And what do we get from this? God is a God of order. That even human leaders recognize the need,

the requirement for order. Without order, there's anarchy. This desire for order, This desire for order, God often uses it to set the stage for His divine plan. That's what we see here. God moves Daniel up the ladder in the Medo-Persian Empire government. And this sets the stage for this rebellion against Daniel. A plot, it's a plot. It was a coup, it was a plot.

Yes. Theologically, what do we see? God is sovereign over all earthly rulers and kingdoms. Just as Darius established his empire, set up his administration, God is orchestrating events to serve his divine plan. to serve His divine plan. God uses human structures, even pagan structures for His ultimate purposes.

That's right. That's important to understand. It doesn't necessarily mean He endorses them, but He does use he does use it. And that's the big mistake we make often here in the in the United States is that, you know, there's the idea that God has somehow endorsed the current government, or whatever government in the United States. That's not the case. God uses it. He

doesn't necessarily endorse it. Right. That doesn't mean God's wearing a MAGA hat in heaven, but he will use it. And he can lift it up and he can tear it down. And he can lift it up and he can tear it down. Yes, like that. Nations are putty in his hands like a potter. God plucks up, tears down. Daniel talks about the potter and the nations. So the creation of this vast Persian empire, this governmental system to manage the Persian empire.

On the surface level, it's for political purposes. But on the spiritual level, it's for God's glory. He allows us to come together to bring glory to himself. We should in today's world expect to see God reveal his power, his truth, his glory in, within, inside secular systems, inside political systems. God will work in today's world to bring about his glory. The danger is, is putting a divine stamp on the politicians. Yes.

That's the danger. Doc, how many times have we heard various Christian Zionists compare Donald Trump to King Darius? Oh yes, or to Cyrus or to any biblical king, depending on the particular way the winds How it would fit them at that time. Right. Verse 2, and over these three presidents, of whom Daniel was one, that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage." So now there's a second tier of administration,

which is important because it's necessary to see this because of Daniel's rapid rise in the government. So you got 120 governors, but now the king says, from these 120, I'm going to choose three, and they are going to be my inner circle. They're going to be the ones that I'm going to work through. I can't work through 120. I can work through three. I can only get three in my office. I don't have an office big enough for 120. We'll never get anything done. It'll take them forever to travel just for a meeting. They didn't have the internet. They didn't have telephones.

So now he establishes a inner circle of three super governors. This is his cabinet. He now has tightened his control. And he's now has greater accountability. So these three super administrators. It's amazing, it's absolutely amazing that Daniel is included in the three. Yes. Now do you see how the jealousy was building? It was bad enough that he was one of the 120.

But now he's one of the three. Again, you can hear the other governor saying, hey, wait a minute, he's a foreigner. He speaks Hebrew. He's a Jew. We conquered him. we conquered his country He's only alive because of our Mercy

We could have killed him and What's he doing now now he's ruling over us And that's really what it comes down to he's ruling over us. That's really what it comes down to. He's ruling over us. So, why was Daniel elevated? Well, he had proven administrative skill, he had unimpeachable integrity, he had exceptional wisdom. And not only was it Darius who recognized it, but Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, the previous kings. Right. Yeah, people forget that Daniel served under four

separate empires, and in the top levels of that. Now think of how difficult that must have been to actually serve under four different kings, and one of them thought he was a cow. Yes, and the other one saw a finger writing on the wall in blood. Yeah, that's chapter five. So Daniel had a reputation. His people said to him, King Darius, Daniel's been around a long time. He served Nebuchadnezzar. He served Belshazzar. He knows where the

water main lines run. He knows where all the toll booths are located. He knows the names of all the tax collectors. We can't get rid of him. We need to keep him. See, this is what kept him in the government. That was the beginning when Darius took over. Somebody said to him, hey, I would keep that Jew, Daniel. He knows a lot. Let's keep him and learn from him.

We'll decide later what to do with him. But let's not get rid of him. He's got a lot of knowledge and experience and information. Let's keep him here. But the longer he was there, the more Darius said, this guy is the best I've got. He didn't say it to other people, but the king was thinking it. other people, but the king was thinking it. This guy's the best I have. No wonder he served other kings.

I'd be a fool to get rid of this guy. So Darius recognized Daniel's unique abilities, his trustworthiness, his skills and characteristics and traits and virtues that transcend the cultures and ethnicities and political boundaries. And for that reason, Daniel elevated, I mean Darius elevated Daniel to one of the three super governor positions and gave him substantial power

over the other governors and direct access to the king. That's the big one right there. over the other governors and direct access to the king. That's the big one right there. That's right. He could get a meeting with Darius. There were three people in the government that could walk into Darius' office and talk. And Daniel was one of them. So this sets the stage for the jealousy, the envy, and then the conspiracy, the plot.

Because that's what it was. It was a conspiracy to remove him, a plot to have him killed. and it all had to do with Daniel's meteor rise. He just climbed, he went through the sky like a meteor. This is that the princes might give accounts under them, give accounts to these three. Now the other governors have to report to these three super chiefs. the Now it gets down to the bone, doesn't it? They were auditing the books. They were the doge for Darius. Yeah, you got it, the doge team.

They had the ability to fire government bureaucrats. They had the ability to open up and look into bank accounts. They had the right to look at the ledgers. I didn't have bank accounts, but you know what I mean. They had the right to look at the finances. They could walk into an office and say to the comptroller or that government agency, bring us the books. They had power. And everybody knew when they came in the office, they represented the king. And that the king should have no damage.

What does that mean? That the king would not suffer loss. That he would not lose any money. That he would not lose any prestige. There you go, yes. That his image would not be hurt. Make sure you watch out for the king. He doesn't wanna lose tax money.

He doesn't want to be embarrassed or humiliated. He doesn't want setbacks. Watch out for the king, protect him. So that the king should have no damage. So that the king should have no damage. So these three governors were watching over revenues, taxes, tributes, anything that had to go into the Royal Treasury. Right. Go ahead, Doc. ironic that Daniel and the three presidents, they were focused on giving accounts, talking about the integrity of the king and the kingdom. And yet it's Daniel's integrity that gets

called into question later. in a way that they couldn't, well, they couldn't accuse him of crookedness. That was it. They actually said that. Hey, we can't find anything wrong with this guy. Right. The only way we're going to bring him down is to get him trapped with service to his God. But they couldn't find any dirt on him. Again, he's appointed these three super governors. These are his top cabinet officials, and he's given them broad administrative ability and powers. And it is to protect the king.

Again, the king is telling them, I want a harmonious society. I do not want to spend my days dealing with problems. I've got bigger things. I'm creating war plans to take over another country. not want to spend my days I've got bigger things. I war plans to take over an things to build. I've got I'm working on that. We'r empire putting up statuie

a lot of things here. I d time for petty problems. You guys deal with it. So we see here how God places his people in crucial, to uphold justice and integrity even inside a secular government. Governments were never intended by God to be on earth. That was never his plan. His plan was for him to be the king of the human race. But it didn't work out that way, did it? People wanted a king. They had Nimrod and then the Hebrews, the Israelites, they said, Hey, we want a king like everybody else.

And God's saying to them, but I'm your king, and we want a king like the other countries. Imagine, just think about how insulting that was to God. Yeah, and God even tried to tell him, listen, if you have a king, he's going to take your sons and put them into war. He's going to take your daughters and make them part of his kingdom. He's going to tax you. He is going to take your money from you. You still want a king? Oh yeah, yeah we still want one. Yeah we do, we want one, we want one. And they still today want one. Yeah. And they've got one. Nothing's changed. Americans want a king. They've got one. Donald Trump.

There's a part of the country that just the stronger he becomes, the more they love it. I don't want to get into that. Human nature is what it is. But we get back to Daniel. Daniel was widely recognized for his honesty, his incorruptibility, and his administrative skills. And this is part of his strength was his the source of his problems. And we can learn this principle today, where you excel for the glory of God will be the very place Satan will attack you.

Your strength for God, the things that you do right for God is the very place Satan will attack you. There will be people who will plot against you. So we see God's sovereign hand in elevating Daniel to a position of immense influence and oversight. One of the three presidents, okay? See, God can place you in strategic roles, even in unexpected environments. That's why, you know, in business, whatever environment you're in, let the Lord elevate you. Let Him promote you up higher.

Become a manager, to become a vice president, become a CEO, or whatever environment that you're in. It could be in an organization. He desires to have his people in prominent places. Verse three, we're never gonna get to nine, oh wow. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then, then tells us

that Daniel's preference was a direct that Daniel's preference was a direct observable consequence of his performance. He was distinguished above all others. He's now elevated above the three. He went from the 120 to the three, and now he's above the three. He is on a rocket ride, and it's God's hand that's moving him. Now, Daniel had to have the material, he had to have what it took to qualify for that rocket ride. But God had been working in that man's life for decades. Was Daniel perfect? Of course not, he was a human.

But his heart was set on serving God. So we don't know all the things that God did in Daniel's life, chiseling away things, you know. Believe me, you are not going to be elevated by God without him chiseling on you. The hammer and chisels going to be there breaking off sharp edges, he's going to polish. He's going to apply fire, that's going to happen before he elevates you. You'll get gradual elevation, as you pass each test. But Daniel obviously had passed the test because he's now, like I said, he's on a rocket ride, and now he's preferred above. He's distinguished above all the other bureaucrats in King Darius' government.

in King Darius' government. It is the hand of God who elevated him, who took him to the top. Again, I don't want to get political, but too many times here in America, Christians are looking at the top person who gets elected to decide is God for him or against him? What you should be looking for is who are the top people directly below that person? Who did God elevate up to a place where the president, the prime minister, whatever government official will listen to that person?

I mean, why didn't God put his man in the kingship? He didn't. He put his man in the inner circle of the king. And the whole time God's using the king. But he had Daniel there to influence the king. It's just because an excellent spirit was found in him. It's just because an excellent spirit was found in him. He got promoted because of who he was, what he was, what he was on the inside, an excellent spirit.

Was he perfect? No. Was he sinless? No. Was he sinless? No. He had an excellent spirit. There was no corruption. You couldn't bribe Daniel. He wasn't lazy.

He was an idol. He didn't sleep half the day in his government office. He wasn't driven by ambition. He wouldn't step over other people to get to the top. He was loyal. He wasn't going to be disloyal to the king. He was trustworthy. He was reliable. Reliable? He got things done. Whatever you asked him to do, whatever you instructed him to do, he did it. That's reliable. What's unreliable? A person who never carries out instructions. So true distinction and lasting influence comes from your internal character and the indwelling

of the Holy Spirit. It does not come from your external accomplishments. And the King sought—the King thought to set him over the whole realm. So now, now he takes another, his career goes higher. You know, Darius says, Daniel, I was thinking about this. I don't have a better person in my entire government. Instead of me working with three, I just want to work with you. He's basically become the prime minister now. He's the prime minister who goes directly into the king and now tells everybody else what the

king wants. He's now bypassed the other two governors, the other two presidents. He's now their boss. Imagine here, again, we're using modern day real life scenarios. Imagine President Trump says to his cabinet, and I'm just picking a name. All right. I just is picking a name. Ladies and gentlemen, I have decided that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is now my top administrator. You will be meeting with him.

He will be supervising all of the departments. He kind of is already, isn't he? I'm seeing it. I'm seeing it. I watched the body language. I see President Trump putting his arm around him, tapping his shoulder, laughing. It's clear, very clear clear he likes Marco Rubio. He didn't years ago, but he likes him now.

The more he works with Marco Rubio, the more he likes him. You don't think the other cabinet members sitting there aren't thinking, hey, this guy's moving up pretty fast. Sure they are. Where's Vice President Vance? I don't know. I don't see President Trump tapping Vice President Vance on the shoulder and laughing and wrapping his arm around him.

I see him doing it to Marco Rubio. That's the body language telling me Marco Rubio is now number one under Donald Trump. So it says if you want to get something done, you wanna go to Rubio. That's what's happening here in Daniel's story. Everybody realized this Jewish foreigner, this exile who worships another God, is now our boss.

What are we gonna do about it? He's over the entire realm. He's been placed over the entire realm. He's been placed over the entire realm. So next week, we'll pick up at verse four. I was hoping to get to nine. I didn't. So we'll pick up Daniel 6, verse 4, next Friday. OK?

All right, Doc. I know we need to have the Lord's Supper before we dismiss everybody. That's right. And so we appreciate you being here today and following along with us in this day. I hope this study today has been a blessing to you. We're going to enter into the Lord's Table at this time. And so we ask that you, if you haven't already, go ahead and gather bread and either red wine or grape juice. And we're going to be praying a blessing over that here in just a moment.

And before we do that, we normally set aside a few moments to reflect upon our own situation, our own relationship with the Lord, where we're at with the Lord, that we are not making sins of commission or omission in our lives, not neglecting things. Daniel's a great example of someone that lived committed and was a man of great character, someone we should emulate. And even in the midst of a vast empire,

and so many against him, he stood firm for God in the midst of a vast empire and so many against him, he stood firm for God in the midst of that. We'll discuss more of that next Friday. Rick, would you pray for us right now that there would be no, uh, nothing between us and heaven as relates to us entering into the Lord's table, that we won't suffer from any kind of guilt as a result of entering the Lord's table because of unconfessed sin. Would you pray for us right now? Yes. Heavenly Father, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our great mediator.

And we pray through the Holy Spirit, our advocate. Father, it is no news to you or big surprise that we are sinners, that we live in mortal flesh and that we come from a race of fallen creatures. Yes. You know that. And you made provision for us to be forgiven and to be reconciled to you. And we're not forgiven one time. We're forgiven every time we repent and ask for forgiveness.

You forgave us of our sins when we asked for salvation through our faith in Jesus Christ. But each of us have sinned since our salvation. And you have forgiven us every time we repent it every time we have confessed our wrongdoing you have forgiven us and you do not remember it after our confession and so father once again we come to you we had this prayer with you last week, but we're having it again today. Amen. Because seven days have transpired and we've done wrong. We've said things wrong, we've thought things wrong, and there are things that we didn't do that was wrong. There are things that we didn't save that was wrong. So Father, we confess our sins and we ask forgiveness. Let us come to the Lord's table

with clean hands, clean lips, clean hearts, clean minds in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. hearts, clean minds in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Praise God. Thank you, Rick. Appreciate that. We're going to intern to the Lord's communion here. And so I'm gonna pray a blessing over the elements of communion. I want you to pray with me and where where you are across the globe across the U. S and Canada today, we're participating in this. The across the US and Canada today. We're participating in this, the celebration of the Lord's Table. And it should both give us great reflection in our own lives about the sacrifice that Jesus made, but also give us tremendous joy that the Father sent His Son to die for us. And we recognize that on a regular basis through the Lord's table. Let's pray.

Almighty God, in your tender mercy, you gave your only begotten Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption. He offered himself and made once for all time a perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. And he instituted this remembrance of his passion and death, which he commanded us to continue until he comes again and so father we ask you to bless and sanctify with your word and holy spirit these gifts of bread and wine that we may partake in his most blessed body and blood. Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed once for all upon the cross. Therefore, let us keep the feast. Hallelujah. On the night that he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had

given thanks, he broke it, and he gave it to his disciples, saying, Take eat. This is Do this in remembrance of me. The body of our Lord Jesus Christ was given for you. Preserve your body and soul to everlasting life. This is the bread of heaven. Take and eat in remembrance that Christ died for you. After supper, Jesus took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, drink this, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me. Praise God. Hallelujah. Glory to God. The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for you, preserve your body and soul to everlasting life. Drink the cup of salvation in remembrance that Christ's blood was shed for you and be thankful. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold Him who takes away the sins of the world, and blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. This sacrament is the gift of God for the people of God. Feed on him by faith with thanksgiving that Christ died for you. Praise God. Glory to

God. What a tremendous opportunity to share in the communion of saints on a regular basis, Rick. It connects us as part of the family of God no matter where we are. So we got people in Russia, in the Middle East, Japan, the Philippines, and across the U.S. and Canada. It just humbles me every time that we do this to think that there are hundreds of people all over the world sharing the bread and the cup with us. Praise God. Amen. It's a great time to be alive. Amen. Praise God. Well, Rick, any final words as we end this week of morning manna? No, just my usual. Make time over the weekend to be quiet before the Lord.

Find a place, create a place in your home that's your place to meet with the Lord. Make it a sacred place. Make it the place where you and the Lord meet and spend time with him and be still and listen. Just chat, just talk. Just have a talk with him, okay? You don't have to pray these formal prayers, just talk to your father, right? Tell him where you're hurt, tell him what you're afraid of, tell him what you're hurt. Tell him what you're afraid of. Tell him what you're concerned about.

Tell him what you desire, what you hope for. Just express your feelings and your thoughts to your father and let him talk back to you. It's a conversation. Have a conversation with your dad. That's what I desire you to do. Amen. Praise God. Well, we appreciate you being here with us all this week for Morning Manna, and we'll pick back up in our study and Proverbs on Monday. And so be looking forward to that and continued wisdom as the Lord downloads through

His Holy Spirit new information, new knowledge and understanding about how to live victoriously in this world around us. God bless you. We love you very much and we'll see you on the Monday edition of Morning Manor.