Turn with me if you would now
to Daniel chapter three. Daniel three. We have a brother
who has expressed his desire to confess the Lord in believers
baptism. And when I realized that these
particular verses were going to line up with this particular
service, I realized that I don't believe a better portion of scripture
could be used to illustrate to us what baptism is. I honestly
don't know if there's a better place I could go to to really
illustrate what baptism is than this right here. When we truly come to know what
the gospel is, we come to know what baptism
is. When we really come to know what the gospel actually is,
we come to know what baptism is, the true actual baptism that
God's people were immersed to. And the picture, the ordinance,
that's what this is. This is a picture. This is an
ordinance given that represents the true baptism that God's people
were immersed into. This type This open confession
is not the true baptism of God. This is not it. This is a picture. This is an illustration. It is
a confession of the true baptism. Romans 10 says, with the mouth,
confession is made. With the mouth, confession is
made. Acts chapter 8 says, with the heart, confession is made. If you believe with all your
heart. But our Lord gave this ordinance
so that with the whole body, confession could be made. The
whole body, head to toe. We know that in this story here
in Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, these three men
were thrown into a fiery furnace. And it's because they were taking
a stand for the truth. That's why they were thrown in.
They were taking a stand for the truth. And that stand needs
to be made against false religion, against idolatry for the truth. That stand needs to be made.
But with that being said, the spiritual picture here has always
been, we're going to see tonight something that's no different
from the way it's always been. We're not going to see this in
a new way or a new light. This is not a different angle
on the story. The spiritual picture here is
the judgment that these three men who represent God's people These three men represent all
of God's people, all of God's elect out of every tribe, nation,
kindred, tongue, and generation. All of God's people have a judgment
to face just like everybody else in this world. And what you are confessing here
and what all of us confess here is a judgment. A judgment that
had to be faced. These three men representing
all of God's people, even though they were God's people, they
still had a judgment to face for their sin. They still had
a judgment to face for their sin. And when we confess this
ordinance, we are confessing a judgment. That's what we're
confessing. When we observe this ordinance,
we are showing every soul who sees it, what we are saying to
every soul who sees it is, this is how I was judged. That's what
we're confessing. This, everybody has a judgment. And this was mine. This is how
I was judged. Now in this spiritual picture,
These three men were thrown into a burning fiery furnace because
a law was given and they disobeyed it. Right or wrong, right or wrong,
Nebuchadnezzar represents the law. He laid down the law. A law was
given and these three men said, we are not going to obey it.
We're not going to do it. And that's a picture of man's
sin against the holy law of God. We have sinned. We have sinned. Everybody spends
their lifetime trying to hide it, trying to hide their sin.
But we need to get honest because there's no hiding it from God.
It's all naked and opened unto the God who sees everything.
and we're gonna have to deal with this God. We have sinned. We are sinners. The moment that
we lose sight of that and the moment that we forget that, that
is the moment that we lose the hope of our confession. We're
sinners. And the moment we lose sight
of that and the moment we forget that, that's the moment we lose
the hope of our confession. Losing sight of the fact that
we are sinners is losing all hope before God because he said
he came to save sinners. That's who he came to save, sinners. I was in a building the other
day and they had an idol hanging on the wall. It was something
that people look to religiously and worship with reverence. That's what Exodus tells us is
a graven image, something that is made with man's hands, anything
that a craftsman makes or molds or shapes or carves or whatever,
that when you look at it, it's a symbol of religion and it's
something that people look to with religious reverence. That's
a graven image and an idol. And this particular one was a
wooden cross. And it had some barbed wire that had been braided
into a circle and hung on it. And it had a bunch of sayings
stuck on the wall around it. So I walked over to this graven
image and I started reading the sayings on the wall and they
said things like this. Never forget to put yourself
first. What happened to Christ? What
happened to Christ? Never forget to put, all over
this thing, never forget to put yourself first. What happened
to I must decrease? They said things like, you are
much greater than you think you are. Amazing, isn't it? Always remember
to show kindness to others, but never forget to show kindness
to yourself. It was all about self, self,
self. The theme of that idolatry was,
you are not a sinner. You're a good person. If that
is the case, then why the cross? If that's the case, what is the
cross for? If that's the case, what's that crown of thorns for? Can you find one place in the
scripture where the apostles or the disciples spoke like that? One place. Peter cried, I'm a
sinful man. That's what Peter cried. Paul cried, I'm the chief sinner. John the Baptist cried, I must
decrease. Isaiah cried, woe is me, I am
undone. I'm a sinner, I'm a sinner. That's what we're confessing
in this. I'm a sinner who's worthy of judgment. When you do this in just a moment,
what you're saying to everybody here is, This judgment had to come on
me because I'm a sinner. It had to come on me. I am a
sinner before God and I need a Savior. I'm at a place where
I need mercy. I am at the mercy of a Savior. My only hope is a Savior. Now, because of our sin against
the lawmaker, this is what was owed to us,
all right? What we're about to read. Nebuchadnezzar
right here, he represents the law that was against us. He said,
this is my command to you. And these three men said, we're
not gonna do it. So look at verse 19. It says, then was Nebuchadnezzar
full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Therefore he spake and commanded
that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it
was known to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty
men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men
were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their
other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning
fiery furnace." Oh, the picture of judgment. Oh, the picture
of judgment. How many times did our Lord say
in that last day, I'm going to send my angels and they're going
to come round up everything that is a transgressor against me? And it's going to be burned up.
It's going to be cast out. Oh, the picture of judgment.
That's how man goes into the judgment of God. Bound in sin. Bound by his sin. And men and women, we all cannot
do anything about it. Cannot resist it. Cannot run
from it. At that moment, if a soul goes
into that judgment, all that soul can do is take the fury, bear the fury and the wrath that
is spewed out on him or her. And I thought about this, as
bad as we could possibly imagine the judgment of God, as I talk
about it, everybody here is imagining it. As bad as we could possibly
imagine the judgment of God to be, once a soul enters into it,
that soul will realize it is infinitely worse than I ever
dreamed. Seven times hotter than I could
have ever imagined. Verse 19, then was Nebuchadnezzar
full of fury and the form of his visage was changed against
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spake and commanded
that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it
was known to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty
men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men
were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their
other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning,
fiery furnace. Nothing was spared from judgment. It was said of nothing concerning
them. Well, you know, this is actually
a good article of clothing right here. We'll set that aside. This
is worthy to be spared. All of it went into the judgment.
All of it went in. Verse 21, these men were bound
in their coats, their hosen, their hats, their other garments,
and they were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace,
into the heart of it. No one will wind up just dipping
their toe in the judgment of God. Nobody. Every soul that goes in goes
into the heart of it. And that's why you're gonna go
all the way under. That's the reason why. You're
gonna go all the way under. That's why total immersion takes
place. It's because every soul that
enters the judgment of God is plunged all the way into the
heart of it. Verse 22, therefore, because
the king's commandment was urgent, And the furnace exceeding hot,
the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound into the midst of the burning,
fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king
was astonished. Can you imagine this moment? I tell you every time we come
here, this is one of my favorite stories. But can you imagine this moment?
They throw these men in. The fire is so hot, he got his
most mighty soldiers to throw them in. He lost his best men
throwing them in. That fire was so hot, it consumed
them. But they had just enough strength
to throw those men all the way into the center of that furnace. And they fell down bound. And Nebuchadnezzar got up and
he looked inside that furnace. Verse 24, Nebuchadnezzar the
king was astonished. and rose up in haste and spake
and said unto his counselors, did not we cast three men bound
into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the
king, true, O king. He answered and said, lo, I see
four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire and they have
no hurt. And the form of the fourth is
like the Son of God. These three men went into the
heart of the fire. Nothing stopped it just before
it happened. And I want to make that point.
In the movies, they always stop it just before it happens. Oh,
it didn't happen. Nothing stopped it from happening.
They went in. They went into the heart of the
fire. They received the full judgment
that was owed to them. But the law that demanded the
judgment was astonished. Because the judgment did not
consume them. It didn't even hurt them. It
actually set them free. The very judgment that was poured
out on them set them free. They were not in there alone.
That's the reason why they were not in there alone. The law looked directly into
the judgment of God. And think about, think about
that. The law condemned to judgment. And in that judgment, the law
looked directly into that judgment and said, I see Jesus Christ. I see Jesus Christ. I can only
imagine that the moment those men were thrown in, they were
thrilled in a moment in the blink of an eye. They were thrilled. Can you imagine
the joy that was inside that burning, fiery furnace, seven
times hotter than it was ever known to be? Can you imagine
the joy among all four of them? The joy and the rejoicing, I
can see the Lord, as soon as they went in, I can see the Lord
telling them, I told you I'd never leave you. Oh fire, where is thy sting?
Oh furnace, where is your victory? I told you I'd never leave you.
I told you I'm with you always. Verse 26, then Nebuchadnezzar
came near to the mouth of the burning, fiery furnace and spake
and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the Most High
God. Don't you love that? He saw something, didn't he?
Just a minute ago, Well, you think it was maybe less than
60 seconds ago?" He said, "'Who is that God that shall deliver
you out of my hand?' And they said, "'Be it known unto you,
we're not going to allow this.'" Well, it'd take longer than 60 seconds
to heat the furnace, wouldn't it? But however long that was,
he went from saying that To verse 26, Nebuchadnezzar came near
to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spake and said, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the Most High God, come. The law is saying this. In this
spiritual picture, the law said that. You see this spiritual
picture? The law says, Come forth, come
hither, come, come. The spirit, the bride say come. Everything says come. Verse 26,
Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace
and spake and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants
of the Most High God, come forth and come hither. Then Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego came forth in the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors, and
captains, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw
these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was
a hair of their head singed, Neither were their coats changed,
nor the smell of fire had passed on them. They were not consumed
by any of it in any way, shape, or form. And it's because Christ
consumed all of it. That's what happened in that
judgment. Christ consumed all of it. Our God is a consuming
fire. Our God is the consumer and He
is able to consume all of the judgment that's owed to me and
you. He consumed all of that for them. He consumed all of that from
them. There was not even a trace of
condemnation on them because Christ took it all to Himself.
He took all of that condemnation into Himself. He consumed all
of the judgment. He consumed all of the effects
of the judgment in Himself. They couldn't find one evidence
of that judgment on Hananiah, Mishael, or Azariah. And do you know in glory there
is only one man who bears the evidence of the judgment of God
on his people? There's only one man. When we
get to glory and we experience this great fellowship with all
this innumerable company of saints, not only will there not be one
trace of sin on any of God's people, There won't even be one
trace of God's judgment on sin on any of God's people. If we
want to see the evidence of God's judgment on our sin, we will
have to look to Jesus Christ for that. Hold your place right here in
Daniel and go to Revelation chapter one. Revelation 1, the Apostle John
said in verse 12, I turned to see the voice that spake with
me, and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the
midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man,
Jesus Christ, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about
the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white
like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame
of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned
in a furnace. Why do his feet look like that?
It's because they did burn in a furnace. The furnace of God's
fiery judgment. John the Baptist kept saying,
I am not worthy to unlatch his shoes. But he said, there is
one coming after me who is going to baptize you with fire. He is going to baptize you with
fire. He is going to immerse you into
the judgment of God's wrath. That's what he was saying. There
is one coming after me and he is going to immerse you. He's
going to baptize you into the judgment of God's wrath. But
here's the thing about it. You won't be alone. You won't be alone because you're
going to be with him. As you pass through that fire,
he will be with you because you're going to be in him. You're going
to be immersed into him, immersed into the judgment of God. Baptism
is actually God's people being baptized with the baptism that
he was baptized with. That's what it is. And that's our confession. That
is our salvation. That is our salvation. And that's
the gospel. That's the gospel. Go with me
back to Daniel 3. Water baptism. Our Lord told us to do this.
There's a reason why we went through all the effort of putting
a baptistry in this building. Our Lord told us to do it. It
is a picture of being immersed into Jesus Christ while being
immersed into the judgment of God on our sin. Hiding in Him. This is a picture of death, burial,
and resurrection. And in this picture, and it's
because of this text, I have, and I've been hesitating to tell
you this, and you'll understand why. I'm going to tell it to
you, but you're gonna have to give me a minute to preface and
condemn myself for just a minute. I've seen, because of this text
right here, this is an order, this is a picture. Okay, this
is a picture. I have seen another component
to this picture and what our Lord is showing to us in here,
I've never seen before in my life. I've never seen this before
in my life. And before I tell you what it
is, I do want to preface with this. I'm a sinful man. Woe is unto me, not unto me,
not unto him. I must decrease. I don't want
to, Well, you get it, okay? This
is a picture. I say this fearfully and I say
this humbly. But this is the hope of what
we're confessing. This is the hope of what we are confessing.
In just a minute, you are going to go into that water. You are
actually going to go into that water. You are not just gonna stick
your toe in that water. You are going to go all the way
down. I'm not just going to dip my fingers in it and sprinkle
some water on you. You're going to go all the way
down. You are actually going to go all the way down into that
water. You are going into that water.
But do you know what? You are not going in there alone. Somebody is about to go into
that water with you. And that somebody, that person
is going to lower you down. You're not going to lower yourself
down. This is a work of somebody. Somebody is going to lower you
down and immerse you all the way in. This is going to happen
to you. And then that same person is
going to lift you up. And then that same person is
going to say to you, you're free to go. You're free to go. That's what we're confessing.
That's what we're confessing. That's what the Apostle Paul
confessed. He said, I am crucified with
Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and
gave himself for me. Now, go back to Daniel 3. Let
me read these last few verses and we'll be done. Daniel 3,
verse 27. It says, the princes, governors,
and captains, and the king's counselors being gathered together,
saw these men upon whose body the fire had no power, nor was
a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed,
nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar
spake and said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego. who hath sent his angel and delivered
his servants that trusted in him and have changed the king's
word and yielded their bodies that they might not serve nor
worship any God except their own God. Therefore, I make a
decree that every people, nation, and language which speak anything
amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall
be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made a dunghill because
there is no other God that can deliver after this sword. Then
the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province
of Babylon. Outside of Christ, there is no
chance. There is no possibility of escaping
the judgment of God. We see that in those soldiers
that threw them in. The same fire consumed them. The same fire. Outside of Christ,
the judgment of God is an all-consuming fire. But in Christ, the fire,
the judgment, the wrath is all-consumed. And that's what we're confessing.
Everything that I had to endure because of my sin, I endured
it in Jesus Christ. I endured it all in Jesus Christ. He was with me. And that's why
I'm saved. That's why I'm saved. He's all
my hope. He's all my salvation. He's all
my life. That's what we're confessing.
Is that what you're confessing? All right, let's go confessing.
You can go on back.