Turn with me, if you would, to
Daniel chapter 3. Daniel chapter 3. Let's begin
reading in verse 13, and we'll read to the end of the chapter. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage
and fury, commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before
the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said
unto them, 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 you be ready that at
what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sacrament,
psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down
and worship the image which I have made well. But if you worship
not, you 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? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are 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 thy hand, O king. 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.' 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. 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. 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 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.
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, 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 in 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 sort. Then the king
promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. Let's pray together. Our high and holy heavenly Father,
Lord, we come to you tonight. Sincerely so thankful to be called
by your name, so thankful to be your people, Lord. We could
be gathered anywhere right now. We could be gathered around any
false gospel. We could be gathered around lies
right now. We could be focused on programs
and community service and things that do not matter, but you have
brought us to the truth of the word. And Lord, we're so thankful
to be here. We pray that you might speak
to us tonight. We sincerely. Desire to hear
from you, Lord, we. We pray that you might lay hold
of us and. Call us to yourself, Lord. Thank
you for all of your goodness and kindness to centers in this
world. We thank you for our brethren in Africa and our brethren. In
Australia and our brethren all over this world forward, we're
just so. Thankful Lord, we pray that you would bless them, bless
the congregations we know of, the congregations of believers
we do not know of. We pray that you might truly
bless your word in the days ahead and the years ahead, Lord, however
long you will allow this earth to continue. Lord, bless your
gospel. Would you please Send a revival in the midst of
our years, Lord. Let the gospel thrive and cause sinners to fall down and
bow to it and believe it and love it, need it. We pray, Lord, that you might
be merciful to this city. We continually ask for this city,
these people who we live with and work with and have acquaintances
with, Lord, we pray for them. We pray that you might have mercy
on them, Lord, please. If you have been so kind and
willing to show mercy to us, you can show it to anybody. Lord,
thank you for this moment. Please help us, please. Draw
us near to you. We we want to be near. Our Lord,
we want to be under his blood, Lord, we. Plead the blood of
Christ and. It's in that blood and it's in
his name that we pray to you right now. Amen. Turn with me now to 236 and let's
all stand together again. 236 Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now
am found. Was grace that taught my heart
to fear And grace my fears relieved How precious did that grace appear dangers, toils and snares, I
have already come. His grace hath brought me safe
thus far, and grace will lead me on. We've no less days to sing God's
praise Than when we first begun Bear with me back to Daniel chapter
three. Sunday night, we looked at the
end of this chapter, which was this actual moment that Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace. And we just read the astonishment
of Nebuchadnezzar because his judgment was on three men. But four men were in there. The absolute astonishment. because
four men were in there. And when Nebuchadnezzar looked
into the heart of that judgment, he literally said, I see Jesus
Christ. That's always been one of the
most amazing things to me. The form of the fourth is he
looks just like the son of God. I've always thought, how did
he know that? But I know how he knew that. It's the same way
that you will know that when you see him. You will not ask
him, are you Jesus Christ? You ever thought about that?
The moment you see him, you will know him. His people. While he walked this
earth, no one knew him, did they? Think about how many people had
dealings with him and touched him and, you know, come over
here and they had no idea who he was. But God's people, the
moment they see Him, they know Him. Nebuchadnezzar said, I see
Jesus Christ. In that moment, God revealed
Jesus Christ crucified to him. In that moment, God revealed the gospel. Nebuchadnezzar
witnessed through that event The gospel, the glory of the
gospel. And that glory is the fact that
Jesus Christ bore the judgment, not only with his people, he
was in there with his people, but it was not only with his
people, he bore it for his people and from his people. He consumed
all of that judgment into himself. There was no hurt to them. Because all the hurt went into
him. All of that hurt. It had to go
somewhere. And all of that hurt went into
him. There was no evidence of that
judgment on them and it's because he took all of that to himself
too. He is the only one who bears
the scars of God's judgment on his people for their sin. He's
the only one. And in that we see the glory
of the gospel. That is the glory of the gospel. In one of these days, I would
love to just one time Really appreciate that. I say it all
the time. I say it all the time. In one
of these days, we're all gonna truly appreciate what that means. But that is the glory of the
gospel. In Nebuchadnezzar, seeing the judgment on Jesus Christ,
and seeing that he willingly went into that judgment, he was
not thrown into that fire. He was not bound and thrown into
that fire. He willingly went into that fire. He fully, completely delivered
his people out of that judgment, out of that fire. And in Nebuchadnezzar
seeing that judgment to be on Jesus Christ, he had the gospel
revealed to him. That's what happened. He had
the gospel revealed to him. And what I want us to see tonight,
the reason we're here, I finished these verses. but I wanted to
come back because of something that he said in verse 28. And let's read it. Nebuchadnezzar
spake and said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, who have sent his angel and delivered his servants that
trusted in him and have changed the king's word. That really struck me. When the gospel is revealed,
and this is what I want us to see tonight. When the gospel
is revealed, repentance comes. It's not just added to the way
that somebody's already going. And some of you will understand
what I mean by that. A lot of people in false religion,
they hear some things of truth and they're like, well, that
sounds good. We'll just add that to everything that I've already
been doing. When the gospel comes, total repentance takes place. Total repentance. I've titled
this message, Beautiful Repentance, because that's what it is. Beautiful
repentance, gracious repentance. It's that way every single time.
Now we mentioned this on Sunday, but I just wanna dwell on it
for a minute tonight. The glory of repentance. And we're gonna see that glory
in Nebuchadnezzar, in his repentance. I have three points for this
message. Number one, the pride of man. Number two, the goodness of God. And number three, the complete,
total changed mind of repentance. And that's how it goes. Starts
with the pride of man. And then the goodness of God
comes. And it brings a complete, total. Changed mind of repentance
in one moment, we See all of those things right here. So Nebuchadnezzar
built an image. It was his image, meaning it
belonged to him. It was built for his vain glory. And he told everybody to bow
down to him. And what he meant in saying that
was bow down to me, bow down to me. And that is the natural
arrogant pride of man. Nebuchadnezzar was told, there
are three men who will not bow to you. Look at verse 13 again. Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and
fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they
brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and
said unto them, is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not
you serve my gods nor worship the golden image which I have
set up? Now if you be ready that at what time you hear the sound
of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all
kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which I
have made well. But if you worship not, you 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? That is the natural pride of
all of mankind in this world. You bow to me. I'm number one. I'm going to be number one. Who
do you think you are that you would try to assert yourself
over me." That is the natural heart of man against God. The
scripture says that the heart of man is enmity against God. And it naturally says, I will
not have him reign over me. I will not have God, the God-man
reign over me. And people hear that and they
say, That's not true. I will have Jesus Christ reign
over me. That's the natural response.
You tell people that that's man's nature. I will not have him reign
over me. The first response is, that's
not true. I love Jesus. I will have him reign over me.
And people will say that until they hear who the Lord Jesus
Christ really is. And they will do that until they
hear who he loves and who he hates. And what he will accept
and what he won't accept. And the fact that he is the sovereign
almighty God who does whatever he wants with whoever he wants.
Nobody can stop him. Nobody can influence him. Nobody has any influence over
him. He kills. I was I had a store, you know,
for a while, and. I think it was Hurricane Katrina,
somebody came through. Raising money for Hurricane Katrina,
and I happily contributed to that and then walking out, she
said, thank you. You know, God didn't want this
to happen. And I said, ma'am, God caused this. And buddy, she
was not happy about that. God kills, God makes alive. God is the very one who wounds. He's the very one who heals. Every king and ruler on this
earth, all of their hearts are in his hands. Who makes wars
and rumors of wars? He does. Everything is in His hand. He
is turning everybody exactly how He wants them to be turned.
We're at His mercy. We are all at His mercy, the
mercy of this sovereign God, this high and holy judge of the
earth. Once people hear that, they say,
nope, I don't like that God. I do not want that God. I will
not have that God reign over me. The only God that I want
is the one that I can control. The God that's in my hands, the
God that I do with as I please, the God who is at my mercy. That's
the natural heart of mankind. It says, I will have no one reign
over me. I will reign over everyone. That's
what Nebuchadnezzar said when he told everybody, bow to me,
bow to my authority, bow to my glory that I've raised up. That's
the arrogance and the pride of man. I'm not going to bow to
you. You're going to bow to me. Man
has to be humbled from that. Man has to be humbled and Nebuchadnezzar
found out God is able to do it. Mankind, all of mankind in his
pride and his arrogance, he has to be humbled, stopped in his
tracks. This is, I'm gonna read something
to you here. This was in Brother Henry Mahan's bulletin in 1998.
It's titled The Last Word. As soon as I read this, I thought,
that's good. One night at sea, a ship's captain
saw what appeared to be the lights of another ship out in front
of him. So he had his signalman blink
to the other ship, change your course. The reply came back, change your
course. The ship's captain signaled back,
I am a captain, change your course. To which the reply was, I am
a seaman first class. Which if you don't know, that's
a much lower rank than captain. Down there at the bottom. I'm
a seaman first class, change your course. This infuriated
the ship's captain, so he signaled, you fool, change your course,
this is a battleship. The seaman replied, and I said,
change your course, this is a lighthouse. Human will, honestly, man's going
against God, man's going against the rock, the unmovable rock. And man says, I don't like what
you're doing, change it. The article goes on to say, human
will, rank, and pride have no alternative except to change
your course when confronted with the unyielding, unchanging Word
of God, even if that message comes through a lowly servant. And that's just so, isn't it? Nebuchadnezzar reared up his
pride saying, you bow to me. But the message came back to
him. It's not going to happen. It's
not going to happen. The word of our God shall stand. Aren't you so glad God tells
his people this? Our God is a rock that cannot
be moved. And the only bowing down that's
going to take place is us bowing down to the sovereign. That's
it. Us bowing down to the sovereign. Verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar,
we are 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 thy hand, O king. 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.
Now, what Nebuchadnezzar is about to see is going to bring repentance
to him. And repentance is, if I haven't
made it clear yet, repentance is a changed mind. That's what
it is, a changed mind. And we all need it. We all need
a changed mind. And before we read this, follow
me to a few scriptures here. I want to I want us to see a
couple of truths concerning repentance. All right. Turn over to Matthew
nine. Matthew 9 verse 13, it says, but go ye and learn what that
meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice,
for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Number one, repentance is for
sinners. Nebuchadnezzar was a sinner.
I'm a sinner, you are a sinner. But thank God repentance is for
sinners. Look over at Luke chapter three
with me. Luke 3, verse 3, it says, speaking of John the Baptist,
he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism
of repentance for the remission of sins. Repentance is immersion
into this changed mind on what saves us. That's what repentance is. It's
a changed mind. On what saves us, it's for sinners. It's for sinners, sinful people.
And it is an effectual revelation on what actually saves us. That's
what repentance is. Turn over to Acts chapter five. Acts chapter five, verse 29,
it says, Then Peter and the other apostles
answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. That's
repentance. We ought to obey God rather than
men. The reason I had you turn here was for verses 30 and 31.
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you slew and hanged
on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his
right hand to be a prince and a savior for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. With repentance, forgiveness
comes. He gives it to his people. Repentance
is for God's people. That's who it's for, God's people.
And with repentance comes forgiveness. They go hand in hand. One is
the evidence of the other one. Look with me at Acts chapter
11. Verse 18, it says, When they had heard these things,
they held their peace and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also
to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." Repentance is unto
life. It's unto forgiveness. It's unto
life. If God ever grants, if He ever
gives repentance to a sinner, it will be to that sinner's eternal
life. If God ever brings that Completely
changed mind. Look at Acts 19 with me. Verse four. Then said Paul, John barely baptized
with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they
should believe on him which should come after him. That is on Christ
Jesus. With repentance comes faith.
Faith in Christ, they go hand in hand. Repentance is a turning
from self to Christ. That's what it is. Look at Acts
20 verse 21, got two more here, Acts 20 verse 21. It says, testifying both to the
Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a turn, it's a turning
from the natural sinful ways of man to the holy, just, Sovereign,
right ways of God. All right, last one, go to Romans
2. Romans 2 verse 3, it says, And
thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things,
and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of
God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance
and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth
thee to repentance. If any soul is going to receive
repentance, that soul is gonna have to be led there by God.
And if a soul is led there by God, that is God's goodness to
that soul. If Nebuchadnezzar received repentance,
he received the goodness and kindness of God. That revelation
of repentance, that changed mind, that is God's grace. That's what
it is. God's mercy, God's grace, his
goodness, his patience, it's the evidence of his love. Why would God give something
like that to Nebuchadnezzar? Why would God give him a totally
changed mind? He changed that man. Why? God loved him. And it's the same
for us. If God gives it to us, He loves
us. Go with me back to Daniel 3. Verse 19. I'll be quick. 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 want or 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. 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 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. I see. I was blind, but now I see. I see something. You know, I've told you many
times that story of that man, Brother Burke. He didn't want
to attend services. He didn't want anything. And
he ended up going. had to go by himself because
his wife was sick and the Lord opened his eyes and his ears
and his heart and came home and put up his horse, coming up to
the house. His wife was standing on the
porch there with her hands on her hips and she said, God saved
you, didn't he? And he said, yeah, I believe
he did. How did you know? She said, I
heard you singing all the way up the drive. Amazing grace,
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was
lost, now I'm found. I was blind, now I see. That's repentance. When repentance
is seen in a sinner, it is a beautiful thing. I was lost. I was lost, but now I see. I see something. Verse 25, 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. I see something I have never
seen before. That's what he's saying. I see
something I've never seen before. What is it, Nebuchadnezzar? It's
not a what, it's a who. I see a person I have never seen
before. Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, the only
mediator between God and man. Verse 26, Nebuchadnezzar came
near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spake and said,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Ye servants of the Most High
God. Is that not the evidence? I know
we said all this Sunday night. I just had to say it again. Is
that not the evidence of a changed mind, changed heart, changed
man? You servants of the Most High God. Just in what he saw
there, it brought a total change of mind. It went from who is
that God to I know who that God is. It went from he is going to bow
to me to I'm going to bow to him. A total change of mind. Not only
toward God, but also toward the people of God. When God grants
repentance toward God in a sinner, He grants repentance in that
sinner toward all the people of God. Total change of mind. Verse 26, 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, come forth and come hither. Come, you come. He hated them
seven verses before this. Now he's saying, you come out,
come out of that fire, you come to me, brethren. Verse 26 goes on to say, then
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth of the midst of the
fire. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the kings,
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. Psalm 34 verse 7 says the angel
of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth
them. Nebuchadnezzar said the Lord
himself has encamped around his people and delivered them and
granted me repentance in the process. Verse 28, Nebuchadnezzar
said, he has changed the king's word. You know, the only one
who can change the king's word and physically speaking, all
of us thinking that's what we are, kings, the king, the king,
who controls the heart of the king. You know, repentance is a willing
thing. It's a commanded thing, but it's a desired thing. Who
controls the heart of this sinner right here? He does. What does
this sinner want to do when he controls his heart? Exactly what
he wanted me to do. Amen. Amen. He has changed the king's word. Nebuchadnezzar said he's changed
the king's everything. And in chapter four, he's going
to tell us all that. He'll explain all that. Verse
28, Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, blessed be the God of Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego, who hath sent his angel and delivered
his 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 sort. That's what I say. That's what
repentance has caused me to say. There is no other God that can
deliver after this sort. Nebuchadnezzar said, who is that
God that can deliver? He's now saying he's the only
one that can deliver. That is true repentance. It's
Christ and only Christ. There is no other God who can
deliver after this sword to the uttermost, to the fullest degree. Verse 30, then the king promoted
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. That is beautiful repentance. Amazing repentance. Oh, that
God in his goodness would grant that to you and me, honestly,
sincerely, grant it to us, grant it to our children. Have thine
own way, Lord, have thine own way. Thou art the potter, we
are the clay. Mold us and make us after thy
will while we are waiting, yielded, and still. Let's all sing that
together.