Peter Cartwright was a circuit-riding Methodist preacher in Illinois during the mid-1800s. An uncompromising man, he had come north from Tennessee because of his opposition to slavery. One Sunday morning when he was scheduled to preach, his deacons told him that President Andrew Jackson was in the congregation. Knowing Cartwright was used to saying whatever he felt God wanted him to say, regardless of how people might react, they warned him not to say anything that would offend the chief executive. He stood up to preach and said, “I understand President Andrew Jackson is here. I have been requested to be guarded in my remarks. Andrew Jackson will go to Hell if he does not repent.” The audience was shocked. They wondered how the President would respond to this, but after the service he told Cartwright, “Sir, if I had a regiment of men like you, I could whip the world.”

It takes guts to do what Carwright did. It could have cost him his reputation, calling out the President like he did. Yet, he had the courage to proclaim the harsh law in its full force because that is what was needed. Do you think you could do the same? You probably don’t have the same level of pressure as preaching before the President, but the pressure is still there. There is always the pressure to compromise on God’s Word because that is one of the many ways Satan attacks the Church of God. Familial pressure, societal pressure, even pressure from fellow Christians.

This Reformation Sunday, we see that the pressure to compromise on God’s Word has been Satan’s attack from the beginning. Daniel’s pressure came from the King of the Medes and Persians. He was threatened with the lion’s den – which meant certain death. Luther’s pressure came from the Roman Church, who declared him an outlaw, which meant he could be killed at any moment. Yet both Daniel and Luther stood firm on the Word of God despite the very real threats on their lives. Why? Because they recognized the importance of the Gospel. They knew that the freedom they have from sin and the promise of eternal life was worth far more than anything else this life could offer. To them, the freedom of the Gospel was worth giving up everything.

Today, let us join the heroes of faith who have gone before us and stand unwavering on the Freedom of the Gospel of Christ. Let us pray: Lord, Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth, Amen.

Let me give you some context to Daniel’s situation. He is around 80 years old by this time. He was taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylonian empire when he was a young teenager. Even as a young lad, he faced pressure to compromise on God’s Word. The Babylonian diet included foods the Jews were forbidden to eat. Then, Daniel stood firm on God’s Word, trusting in God to be with him and protect him, and convinced the Babylonians to not feed them those forbidden foods. He lived through Nebuchadnezzar’s decree that the whole empire should worship the statue of himself, or else be thrown into the fiery furnace. That account tells the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but certainly Daniel remained faithful too.

By this time, Nebuchadnezzar, and his empire were dead and gone. It was the Medes and Persians in control now and the pressures upon Daniel lessened for a time. But that would all change as the satraps and fellow officials of Daniel became jealous. The Lord had blessed the work Daniel did. He stood out as far more excellent than everyone else, and King Darius was going to make Daniel 2^nd in command over the whole empire. But these other officials and satraps couldn’t let that happen.

At first, they watched Daniel, hoping to catch him in some dirty business, or filthy habit, but they found nothing. Everything he did was by the book. They needed to catch up disobeying the law of his God. So, they came to the king and appealed to Darius’ pride saying, O King Darius, live forever! ⁷ All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.

You can hear how they butter him up, almost like a child might do their chores without a peep, and pay compliments to mom and dad only because they want something. Darius falls for it hook, line, and sinker. That brings us to the verse we read just a little bit ago. Daniel knew that Darius had signed this edict. It was now against the national law for Daniel to pray to the LORD God and not to Darius.

The pressure upon Daniel was greater than you might expect. He is at least 80 years old. He could argue that his time of fighting the good fight was over and shouldn’t be expected to outwardly stand up to an immoral edict. Besides that, there were a number of different ways he could have compromised his prayer routine. Daniel prayed three times a day, in his window, facing Jerusalem. He could have prayed in a more private location, or not done it as frequently. But that would mean hiding his faith, compromising on his worship of the true God. Despite knowing it could cost him his life, Daniel continued to worship God as he had done before.

You know the rest of the story. Those jealous officials reported Daniel to the king, who had no choice but to throw Daniel in the lion’s den. The next day, Darius, grief stricken, ran to the den only to find Daniel still alive. The Lord God had protected Daniel and an angel closed the mouths of the lions so they did not hurt him. The trust Daniel had in the true God, and God’s providence and protection was on full display, not just for King Darius, but across the empire and throughout history, until this day.

Daniel didn’t have the guarantee from God that he would be protected. Yet, Daniel knew the freedom he had in God’s promise of the Messiah. It wasn’t a freedom to do whatever he wanted, but the freedom of forgiveness of his sin. In faith, Daniel trusted in the words Jesus would say in Matthew 10:32, So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.

Just over 500 years ago, Martin Luther and the other reformers faced down a very similar threat. Just 100 years before Luther nailed the 95 theses, there was a man named John Hus who spoke out against abuses and false teaching in the church. John Hus was burned at the stake. Even while the Reformation was in full throttle, there was wars, people rounded up and imprisoned or killed. Luther was forced to change his identity and live in a castle for nearly a year due to being labeled an outlaw.

The pressure on Luther was very much the same as Daniel. It could cost him his very life. Was it really worth the risk? Luther’s own words to the face of the Holy Roman Emperor would say it was. “Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason—for I do not trust either in popes or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not retract anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me. Amen”.

Like Daniel, it was the power of the free forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ alone that gave Luther the courage to stand firm. It was God’s grace that had reached Luther at his lowest moment – a monk who would beat himself sore because he could not please an angry God. It was the pure Scriptures that the Holy Spirit finally revealed to him that God is not angry, but has justified the world freely for Christ’s sake. That was a message worth dying for because it gave ordinary people who had been trapped in darkness, a most glorious light.

But, you see, Luther died long after the Reformation had begun and became too large of a movement to slow down. Like Daniel, the Lord protected and preserved him so that the truth of His Gospel could be proclaimed throughout the land. Whether it was Elector Frederick, who gave the order to kidnap Luther and take him into witness protection; or whether it was the Ottoman empire threatening the borders of the Holy Roman Empire and thus distracting the Emperor from squashing the small Lutheran movement. There are countless more ways the Lord made sure His Word could go forth.

That is some pretty impressive company for us to be included with, isn’t it? Heroes of faith who did not back down to the pressures laid against them, but who stood firm in the freedom of the Gospel. Will you do the same?

It is a very different situation that you and I are in right now. We are not facing a direct threat of death from the government or ruling authority. That does not mean we aren’t facing pressure to compromise on God’s Word just the same.

When is the last time you took a look at what our confessions are, read through the Book of Concord; or simply examined the theology of our society and line it up with what Scripture says? It doesn’t take much to realize that the two are not compatible.

We are said to be intolerant for calling homosexuality a sin. We are called old fashioned for saying that premarital sex is wrong. We are labeled as foolish and ignorant for preaching that the world was created in six normal days.

Is this keeping us from growing as a church. Do people drive by and say, “I could never, with what they teach!” Do you feel personal pressure to dance around certain teachings that God has given us? How do we respond to such pressure?

It comes down to one thing: How much do you care about bringing people the message of salvation? When it comes to standing firm on God’s Word, what can we do but to proclaim the very warnings God gives us of our own sin? Our own sexual immorality can cause us to lose our faith. Our own blasphemy can cause us to lose out on the kingdom of heaven. Our own hatred, gossip, envy, or covetousness is sin that separates us from God. It is God’s Word that convicts our sinful flesh, that tells us we are sinners who deserve God’s judgment.

Then, it was the sweetness of the Gospel that assures we have complete forgiveness of all sin. It is the blood of Jesus our Savior that tells you and me that the lust of our heart, the wickedness of our thoughts, and the dastardly deeds of our bodies are graciously taken away for His sake. We are free from a life of sin because of our loving God who, having paid the price for our sin, now works in us to lead a chaste and decent life.

That freedom from sin is why we stand firm on the Gospel – the good news that yes, we are all sinners, but salvation is won by Christ. That is why we dare not cave to the pressure of those around us, but remain steadfast, as Daniel did in the face of King Darius’ ungodly edict. By his continuance in the steadfastness of his faith, he had the opportunity to confess the true God before the ungodly that they too may turn and repent. Luther did the same thing in his day. He called out the injustices in the church, but more fully proclaimed the pure, unadulterated Gospel that child, parent, priest, or monk may all receive the saving gift of God.

You, the Christian of today, stand firm in the freedom of God’s Word. Let His message be your foundation that by God’s grace, His heavenly kingdom may be full. In Jesus name, Amen.