Turn with me to the Old Testament
book of Daniel. While you're turning, let me
say I suppose two of the most popular Old Testament stories
found in the Bible have to do with four men who lived during
the same time in Babylon. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego,
who were thrown into the fiery furnace, and Daniel, who was
thrown into the lion's den. And the best I can remember growing
up in church, these stories were always told in a way that praised
these four men for their faithfulness to God in the midst of their
affliction, their adversity. In Daniel chapter 3, we're told
that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not bow to that gold idol
that King Nebuchadnezzar had made in his own image and likeness. And then in Daniel chapter 6,
we're told that Daniel would not cease to pray unto his God
three times a day when King Darius forbid any in his kingdom to
do so. Because these four men refused
to compromise their beliefs at all, they broke the law of the
king and were sentenced to die. As you know, the three Hebrew
children in the fiery furnace, and Daniel in the lion's den. And it's also important to note
that these four men were prominent men in the kingdom of Babylon. at Daniel chapter 2, if you would.
As you remember, Daniel had interpreted the dreams and the visions of
King Nebuchadnezzar, and in verse 48 of Daniel 2, we read, Then
the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many gifts,
and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief
of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. Then Daniel
requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
over the fairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel sat in
the gate of the king." These four men were somebodies in Babylon. And as the world would see it,
their insubordination was costly to them. But they didn't fear
man. who was able to kill the body
but not the soul. They feared God who was able
to destroy both soul and body in hell, Matthew chapter 10.
And every time I heard these stories growing up, these four
men were praised for their faithfulness and their courage as they faced
death. And these stories have often
been told and preached to encourage and exhort God's people to remain
faithful in the face of adversity and times of trouble and threats
of persecution. And no doubt, they are a great
encouragement for believers to remain faithful to their God.
Yet I'm telling you that I do not believe that that is the
purpose that these two stories are recorded in the scriptures.
These stories show us the gospel. These stories are about divine
deliverance, about divine redemption. They speak of the believer's
deliverance from the curse of the law by the sovereign hand
of God Almighty. They speak of Christ. These are stories about the Lord
Jesus Christ. And they were not recorded in
order for us to praise these four men. I can assure you that
these would be the last men in the world that would want the
praise of men. The Holy Spirit did not record
these events in the Bible to encourage us to be like Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego and Daniel. Though that may be a third or
fourth reason, but not the first. These stories were recorded in
the Old Testament to show us how God saves sinners. These
stories were recorded to show us that salvation is by the sovereign
grace and mercy of God in Christ. To Him, give all the prophets
witness. that through his name whosoever
believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. Acts chapter
10 verse 43. And our Lord said, we looked
at it not long ago, he said, search the scriptures for in
them you think you have eternal life, but they are they which
testify of me. How often do we say it? This
is a hymn book, H-I-M, it's all about hymn. And I want to endeavor
to show you the gospel this morning from these two accounts found
here in this small book of Daniel. We'll read the scriptures and
trust the Holy Spirit to do most of the preaching this morning.
May we always remember that whatsoever things were written aforetime
And these Old Testament scriptures were written for our learning
that we might, through patience and comfort of the scriptures,
have hope. Now look at Daniel chapter 3. We'll read, as I said, a good
portion of scripture here. And in verse 1, we read, Nebuchadnezzar,
the king, made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits. and the breather of six cubits,
and he set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king
sent together the princes, the governors, and the captains,
the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and
all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of
the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Now keep
in mind that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were commanded to
come to this event also. Verse 3 tells us, then the princes,
the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the
counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces
were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that
Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. This was a big to-do. This
was a big to-do, a big grand event put on by the king and
everybody that was anybody was commanded to come, to be there.
And they stood before the image the Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Then a herald, that's an official messenger bringing news, cried
aloud, notice this, to you it is commanded. This is not a request,
this is not If you want to. To you it is commanded, O people,
nations, and languages. This was the law of the king. The law of the king, what he
said goes. This was the king's commandment.
It was inflexible. It was unbending. It was unforgiving. What was this law that was commanded?
Verse five, that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet,
the flute, the harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds
of music, you shall fall down and worship the golden image
that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. And whosoever falleth
not down and worshipeth shall the same hour We're not messing
around here. The same hour that you don't
bow down, you'll be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery
furnace. You see, there was a consequence
in disobeying and offending the King's law and commandment. Dear
sinner, there is a consequence for disobeying and offending
God's law. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. The wages of sin is death. God will by no means clear the
guilty. Verse 7. Therefore, at that time,
when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, the flute,
the harp, the sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the
people, the nations, and the languages fell down and worshiped
the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had set up. But Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego did not bow to the golden image. Verse
8. Wherefore, at that time, certain
Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. They had their eyes
on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Don't ever think, believer, the
people aren't watching you. They're watching you. They want
to see if what you've got is real. They had their eyes on
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to see what they do. And they
spake, and they said to the King Nebuchadnezzar, O King, live
forever. Thou, O King, hast made a decree."
Now that's a law. That was a commandment signed
and sealed with the King's ring. Oh, when that ring was insignated
onto a law, it was law. It was law. You dare not disobey. Anyway, it was made a decree
that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute,
harp, sackbutt, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music,
shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whosoever falleth
not down and worship it, that he should be cast into the midst
of a burning, fiery furnace. And there are certain Jews, whom
thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, these men, O king, have not regarded
thee. They serve not thy gods, nor
worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Now listen
to me. Those who do not bow to the law
and the commandment of the king will face harsh consequences. You better believe they will.
And in verse 13, then Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage and fury, commanded
to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that they brought these
men before the king. And I'm telling you, what a picture
we have here of God. His wrath, His judgment and justice
is against all who refuse to keep His law and bow to His Christ. God is angry with the wicked
every day because the wicked will not bow to his word and
his son. Read on, verse 14. Nebuchadnezzar
spake and said unto them, is it true? Is it true, O Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego? Do not ye serve my gods, nor
worship the golden image which I have set up? Now, if ye be
ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute,
harp, sackbutt, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music,
ye fall down, and worse the image which I have made, well, but
if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst
of a burning, fiery furnace, and who is that God that shall
deliver you out of my hands? Now listen to me. One day, All
of us will stand before God the King over all and give an account
of the things that we've done. And all of us will be asked the
same question, is it true? Is it true? Is it true that you've
broken my law? Is it true that you've rejected
my son? And on that day, everyone who
has ever lived will understand what the law says and who it
says it to. The law says, is it true? And
it says to them who are under the law that every mouth may
be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God.
On that day of judgment, every man, woman, and sinner will be
without excuse. And those who stand before God
guilty, like the three Hebrew children, will be cast into the
fire. The scripture says it's not quenched.
If all the world is guilty before God, what hope of redemption
is there for any? Look at verse 16. Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar,
we're not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so,
our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning,
fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king."
Did you notice their language there? He's able, our God's able,
and He will deliver us. But then look what they say,
but if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not
serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast
set up. They say if our God delivers us, or if He doesn't, we trust
Him to do what is right concerning us. Oh, for that kind of faith. But understand this, dear friends,
the only hope that any of us, any of us have of being saved
is the divine intervention and deliverance of God. Christ will
deliver his elect out of the hand of the law and the justice
of God. Look at 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 wont 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. And 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. And you may ask, well, what's
going on there? Well, this was done to make it even hotter.
This was done to make it more unbearable for them. In 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. Now was this the end of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego? No, sir. No, sir. You see, Christ
hath redeemed his people from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for them. For it's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. And look at verse 24. Then Nebuchadnezzar
the king was astonished and rose up in haste and spake and said
unto his counselors, did we not cast three men bound into the
midst of the fire? And they answered and said unto
the king, true, O king. And 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. There you have the gospel, dear
sinner. What did Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego lose in that fire? What did they gain? The child
of God loses nothing that is worth keeping. He doesn't lose
his garments in the furnace of affliction because he's clothed
with the perfect righteousness of Christ that he wrought for
them. The child of God is not hurt. And he loses not a grain
of the God-given treasure that God gives. King Nebuchadnezzar
said, I see four men loose. The fire did not hurt them, but
it broke their bonds They're loose from the bondage that sin
had brought them. What did the king see? He said,
I see four men loose walking. Walking, there's life. They're
walking with Christ, this fourth man that is the Son of God. They're walking with the Son
of God assures some things. It assures that reconciliation
has been made between God and man. It assures that fellowship
has been restored between God and man. Like Enoch of old, they
are walking with God. And there's no heart come to
them. Do you see that? Why? Because of who it is they're
walking with. Because of who it is that's with
them. Because of who walks with them. Because of who will be
with them forevermore. In verse 26, then Nebuchadnezzar
came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spake
and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of
the Most High God. Oh, his tune changed a little,
didn't it? He said, come forth and come hither. Then Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego came forth of 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. Friends, God gets all the glory,
all the honor in the chosen sinner's salvation. Look at verse 28.
Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, Bless me the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. who had 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."
He's made another decree now. 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. Has God shown you that? There's
no God like our God. There's no Savior like our Savior. There is none that can deliver
like He can. Verse 30, Then the king promoted
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. You see, friends, in the elect
sinner's salvation, God is glorified and sinners are blessed. Quickly
look at Daniel chapter 6 with me. Let me, just for lack of
time, give you a brief account of what's going on here. First
of all, King Darius ruled over the kingdom, and under him were
told that there were three presidents, three men. Daniel was one of
these three presidents. And under those three presidents
were 120 rulers, or princes, and under them was counselors, and captains,
and mighty men. And King Darius loved Daniel,
and he respected him. He was a faithful man, Daniel
was. He was a courageous man. He was
a wise man. And the king would have made
Daniel the ruler over the whole kingdom under him, of course. And these other two presidents,
and these 120 princes or leaders, These counselors and captains
and mighty men, they were jealous of Daniel. They were jealous
of his relationship with the king. So they came to King Darius
seeking some way to find fault with Daniel. And in verse 4,
one of them said, well, you won't find any fault with him. I'm
paraphrasing, but he said, you won't find any fault. He's faithful.
He's faithful to the king. He's a man of integrity. He's
a man of honesty. You won't find any fault with
him at all. So they finally decided that
there was one area in which they could find fault with him, and
that was concerning the law of his God. So they came to King
Darius, who was a vain man. We are, too, by nature, aren't
we? We're vain men and women. Man in his best state is altogether
vanity. So let's don't be too hard on
King Darius. And they said to him, King Darius,
all the presidents have met together. Of course, Daniel wasn't in on
that. So they lied right there. It wasn't all of them. And the
princes and the councils and captains, they've met together,
and we want to honor you. We want to show you honor. But
they weren't seeking to honor King Darius. They were seeking
to destroy Daniel. And look in verse 12. They said,
we want to establish a law, a decree, according to the laws of the
Medes and Persians, which cannot be altered. Does that sound familiar? Sounds again a lot like God's
law. "...cannot be altered, which
cannot under any circumstance be changed." Friends, God's law
cannot under any circumstances be changed. And this is what
we want you to do. We want you to make a law, we
want you to issue a decree that for 30 days, no one in the entire
kingdom is to ask a petition or make a request of to any God,
any individual except you. And being puffed up in his heart
and his mind, King Darius said, that sounds pretty good. That
sounds pretty good. I like that idea, he said. But
he never gave a moment's thought concerning Daniel. And so he
signed the decree and he put his stamp on it, and it was a
law And these presidents went out with it in their hands. Oh,
I can just see them smiling. Oh, we got him now. You know
why? They knew Daniel wouldn't stop
praying. They knew that he would not forsake fellowship with his
God. They knew that Daniel would pray
to his God regardless of the law that the king made. And this
was the only way that they could trap him. And they said, O king,
if any man offers a prayer to anyone but you for thirty days,
let him be cast into the lion's den. The king said, that's right,
according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot
be changed. And of course Daniel prayed.
God's people pray. He prayed three times a day. He turned his face toward Jerusalem
and he prayed. And they were watching him. They
were watching him. And they came and they told the
king. And in verse 14, when the king heard these words, he was
displeased with himself. Now watch this. And he set his
heart on Daniel to deliver him. You see Darius' dilemma here?
He thought, how am I going to honor the law which cannot be
changed, and yet deliver my friend who's guilty of breaking the
law. That's our dilemma. That's our dilemma. How are we
going to honor the law that God gave, the law that we've offended,
and yet be delivered from the curse of that law? You answer
that, you've preached the gospel. Do you see what these two stories
are about? They're about how God saves sinners. And it's said that Darius paced
the floor all night long. He didn't eat. He couldn't sleep.
All he could think about was Daniel. He so desired to find
a way that he could deliver Daniel. Do you desire to find a way to
be delivered? Have you lost sleep? Have you not been able to eat
thinking about how you can be delivered? Do you desire to find
a way to be delivered? And in verse 15, these reprobates
became impatient and they said, what are you waiting for? The
law was signed. You sealed it with your ring. Daniel's broken
the law. The law cannot be altered. The
law cannot be ignored. The law must be kept. And the
king told Daniel, he said, there's no hope for you. No hope for
you unless God delivers you. You've broken the law, Daniel,
and the law cannot be changed. There's no way under heaven that
I can set you free. There's nothing you or anybody
else can do to change it. If you're going to be delivered,
God's going to have to deliver you. Do you see what the law
does? It shuts us up to Christ. That's
what it does. It shuts us up to Christ. Do
you see the Gospel here? Verse 17, And a stone was brought,
and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with
his own signet, and with the signet of his hands, that the
purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. And again,
I think of that blessed verse in Galatians 3.10, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things. and all things
that are written in the book of the law to do them. Not some
of the law, not part of the law, but the whole law must be kept
and it must be kept perfectly. Isn't that what James said? He
said to offend in one point is to be guilty of the whole law.
You see how inflexible, unbending God's law and justice is. The law of God is holy. It demands
perfect obedience in every area. The law of God demands absolute
perfection. And Daniel is shut up to one
thing, and dear sinner, so are we. We've broken the law. The law justly condemns us. May
we, like sinking Peter, say, Lord, save me or I'll perish. Now that's what we're shut up
to. Our salvation is in the hands of God. Well, you know, I let
go and let God. No, you didn't. No, sir, you
did not. Well, I gave Jesus my heart. No you didn't. He don't want
that wretched thing. He doesn't want it. He's got
to give you a new heart. Salvation is in the hands of
God. Mercy and grace are in His hands to give to whom He will.
Isn't that what the Scriptures say? We're not just making this
up. He has mercy on whom He'll have
mercy. He'll have compassion on whom
He'll have compassion. They're His to give. Mercy and
grace are. God doesn't deliver us by saying,
well, let's just forget that he or she sinned. We can look
over that. We can look over that. What he did wasn't that bad.
God doesn't say, let's just forget that he or she broke the law.
We just turn our back to it. We'll just sweep that under a
rug. Nope. God's law is inflexible, unbending,
unforgiving. How then can any be saved? Only one way. Only one way. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. The law says you have to suffer
the punishment of your sins. That punishment is death. Eternal
death. Eternal condemnation. He that
believeth not is condemned already. We're born condemned. Oh, I'm
telling you, the punishment is death. The wages of sin is death.
Christ came and He took my sins. My sins were laid on Him. He
suffered the punishment of my sin in my place. It's called
substitution. There's no gospel apart from
substitution. There's no gospel, no salvation
in any other but in Christ Jesus our Lord. Christ died on the
cross so that His people would not have to die. He took their
place. He died in their room instead. And because He was perfect, Death
and hell couldn't hold him. And because I'm in him, death
and hell can't hold me either. He died the just for the unjust
to bring us to God. And as I said the first hour,
that'll mean something to you if you see that you cannot come
and that you will not come, that you must be brought. That's what
Christ said, other sheep I have that I must bring. Oh, if you
are here yet without Christ, be comforted in the fact that
He's got other sheep that He must bring. You have to be brought. Look
at verse 19. I'll finish up. Then the king rose up very early
in the morning and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den,
he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel. And the king spake
and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is
thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the
lions? I want you to pay close attention
to what Daniel says here. Then said Daniel unto the king,
O king, live forever. My God has sent His angel, and
has shut the lion's mouths, and they have not hurt me. Friends,
the believer's profession is, my God has sent His Son. He sent His Son. And he's blotted out, he's shut
out, he's shut up the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us. Now look at this, verse 22, Daniel
continued and he said, For as much as before him innocency
was found in me, and also before thee, O king, have I done no
hurt. Now was Daniel innocent? No, sir. Daniel was a sinner
just like you and I. But innocence was found in him. Key word, in him, or words. If you're in Christ Jesus, innocence
is found in you, for Christ in you is the hope of glory. How
can I be certain that innocence is found in me? How can I be
certain that Christ is found in me? Verse 23, Then was the
king exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should
take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of
the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because,
here's the reason, he believed in his God. What must I do to
be saved? Only one thing you can do. Only
one thing I can do. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. That's it. You can't do that
apart from mercy and grace. You cannot do that apart from
God granting you faith in Christ. Now if you're here this morning, and you're without Christ, you've
broken God's law. And because His law is holy and
just and you've broken it, the soul that sins must die. You
must die. But here's the Gospel. Christ
has redeemed some from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for them, for it is written, everyone that hangeth on a tree."
Now, if you're one of His, that's what Christ did for you. He redeemed
you from your disobedience and the breaking of the law by hanging
on a cross in your room and in your stead. I love that old song. I don't know how much the writer
knows about God, but he had a good song. He said, I should have
been crucified. You and I should have been crucified.
You and I should have suffered and died. But Christ Jesus hung
on that cross in our place. He paid the debt that we could
not pay. So what I say to you in closing,
believe on Him. Trust in Him. For He shall, He
shall, He shall save His people from their sin. What a God, what
a Savior, what a Gospel. None like it. Only one. OK. I appreciate your attention. Larry Brown, would you dismiss
us in prayer, please?