God That Shall Deliver Thee

Well, good morning, everyone. If you haven't noticed, I'm not Frank. He woke up with an allergic reaction this morning. His lips were swollen, and he's at the ER. I think it might be a bug bite, but they're not sure. He's got me and hopefully the Lord will be with us.

I'd like to open this morning by reading from Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43, starting in verse one. But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and that formed thee, O Israel, I like scripture when it refers to Jacob in Israel, because that reminds me that I'm still a Jacob, and yet God has created a new man in me.

Fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee, When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable. and I have loved thee, therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy life.

Fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth. Everyone that is called by my name For I have created him for my glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him.

May the Lord bless his word. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, so thankful that in Christ we can be made sinless, our sin put away on the tree and made righteous in him to approach your holy throne of justice and mercy and grace. Father, we pray that you would bless the service here this morning, that you would leave us not alone, but that you would send your spirit to be among us, that you would Take away the clay vessel and have your word shine through to the hearts of your children, your people. Father, we pray that you would restore Frank, our pastor, that you would give him health, continue to strengthen him, leave him not alone.

Father, we pray for those going through particular trials, Lord, we know it's thy will. We pray that. You would restore them to us that you would pray, especially for for Novi Sparks as she. Begins to get through these treatments for for cancer, Lord. They've been through so much and we we know it's it's your will. We pray that you would accomplish your will in all things and.

In bringing your children to the Father, we pray for all those here that you would have mercy on our souls. Leave us not unto ourselves, but show us Christ. Show us our need for him. Cause us to run to him. It's in his name that we pray these things for our good and for his sake. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. All right, Sean. If you would please stand as we sing our call to worship.

God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm, and rides upon the storm. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take The clouds you so much dread Are big with mercy and shall break With blessing on your head With blessing on your head Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face. He hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. But sweet will be the flower. Okay, if you would turn your hymnals to song number 129, and we'll sing At the Cross, 129.

Alas, and did my Savior bleed, would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away, It was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day. Was it for crimes that I have done?

He groaned upon the tree. Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree. At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day. Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut his glories in. When Christ the mighty maker died, for man the creature sinned. At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day.

But drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe. Here, Lord, I give myself away, tis all that I can do. At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day.

Okay, if you'll turn to Daniel chapter 3. Daniel chapter 3, that's where our lesson's going to be this morning. And as you're turning, I just want to give a little bit of a refresher on what we talked about last week. We've kind of been going through the book of Daniel. And here we had Daniel and four other, or three other children of Israel, Jewish children that were in captivity in Babylon.

And God had set them aside as a certain people to be brought up in the king's court and to learn. In Daniel chapter 1, 17, it says, God gave them knowledge and skill and all learning and wisdom and gave Daniel the ability to interpret dreams. So God blessed them. God taught them. They were taught of God. And then in chapter 2, which we studied last week, the king had this dream. He couldn't even remember it. He wanted it to be to be interpreted.

And God gave Daniel the ability to see the secret things of God and tell him what that dream meant. And God revealed it to Daniel. And then at the end of that, the king said, of a truth it is that your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of secrets. seeing that thou couldst reveal this secret. And then he spared their lives, and he set Daniel up as the chief ruler, and he set those other three up in places of authority under Daniel in Babylon.

So then, now we're getting to Chapter 3. And this is a story that has been taught in our children's classes for many, many years, but I don't think that we can ever get away from learning from God's word. And I pray that he would reveal it to us this morning. This is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace. And as we go through this chapter, I'd like to look at six things as we go through this.

First, we're going to see the religion of man. And then the second thing we're going to see is the response of natural man to man's religion. Then we're going to see the response of God's certain children to man's religion. Then we're going to see the judgment. Then we're going to see the deliverance of God's certain people. And finally, we're going to see the ultimate result. I'd like to begin by looking at the religion of man, and that's set forth in verses one through six.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king, made an image of gold whose height was three-square cubits and breadth of six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, and 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. Then the princes, the governors, the 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. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then an herald cried aloud, to you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at the time when you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

And who so falleth not down and worshipeth shall that same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. So the first thing we see here in man's religion, the religion that man imagines in our own mind is that it's manmade. Nebuchadnezzar set up that image of gold to be worshipped.

And that idol didn't have any power. It's man-made, and it's powerless. That idol could do nothing but sit there, and yet they wanted to worship it. If men were going to be saved, if anything was going to happen, men had to do it. And that's what we do by nature. We set up a god that can't do anything without us. It doesn't have any power without us doing something. We've got to do something. And then it was a big show.

It was 90 feet tall. That's nine stories. The tallest building in Ashland is 13 stories. Could you imagine a golden image nine stories tall? That's big. That's a big show. And in religion, we make a show of our so-called righteous works, our good works. It's all a show. Look at me. I can meet God's law. I can be good enough to satisfy God's law. And then it appeals to the senses.

We have a music service at the start of our worship service sing some of the old songs that are gospel-related songs that tell forth the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that prepares us for worship. But we don't call that our worship service. But here, they're using this music not just to worship God, but to generate emotion. And that's the religion of today. They call song leaders worship leaders. because it generates that emotion and it gets people worked up. And that's where man's religion works on. It works on our earthly hearts. It works on our emotions and our feelings. It tries to make us feel good about ourselves and about us being able to work to do God's will.

And then it glorifies man. Now, it's not recorded here, but many people think that this statue that Nebuchadnezzar set up was a statue of himself. And it's gonna glorify him. But even if it wasn't a statue of him, the fact that he says, you fall down and worship at it, and people do it, that's glorifying him. That's not glorifying God. And in fact, it's taking away from God's glory. God's glory is that he's going to save whom he will save. And to think that you can do something to save yourself, that's robbing God of the glory of salvation. And then it's based on a threat. Man's religion is based on a threat.

People are told if you don't bow down, you're going to be thrown into the fiery furnace. Well, if you don't keep God's law, you're going to go to hell. You're gonna be in eternal flames in hell. In man's religion, men are doing what they don't want to do.

You know, that goes against the grace of God. Man's religion ends with, if you do this, you'll be saved. The gospel starts with, God did this, and you're saved. It's God's will. Salvation's not a reward for what we've done. Salvation, the gospel starts with the full, free, the unmerited forgiveness of sins through the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

And then finally, there's always a choice involved. Do this or don't do that. They believe man. is more powerful than God. That's the religion of the world. And I pray that we don't get caught up in that. It's so difficult. God is glorious. We need to keep that in mind. And don't try to rob him of his glory. Okay, let's move on. Verses 7 through 12, we're going to look at the response of natural man to God's religion.

So verses seven through 12, therefore, at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, 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. Wherefore, at that time, certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews They spake and said to the king, Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever. Thou, O king, hast made a decree that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackcloth, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoso falleth not down and worshipeth, that he should be cast into the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. 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." So the people that aren't God's certain people, when they heard that music, they did is they were commanded, they bowed to the threat. They looked to their own work for salvation.

If we bow to this idol, if we comply with the law, we'll be saved. And there's no distinction in denominations or religions. Verse seven, what does it say? It says all kinds of, it says, All the people, the nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image. There's only two religions in this world.

There's man's religion, and I hesitate to call it God's religion. There's the gospel, the good news. There's salvation in Christ. There's only two things preached, that you can save yourself or you can be saved in Christ. Those are the only two things preached. All those people, they fell down and that salvation of works is completely contrary to the word of God. If you want any evidence, this work that they did, just like any works that we do for righteousness, are contrary to the word of God.

The first three commandments of the 10 commandments that were set forth in Exodus were, Thou shalt not make unto any graven image. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them. And I'm sorry, the first one is thou shalt have no other gods before me. First three commandments. You're not gonna have any gods before me, you're not gonna make any graven images to worship, and you're not gonna bow yourself down to them.

They tried to keep this law, and in keeping those laws, they broke God's law because they couldn't keep it perfectly. Trying to keep the law is contrary to the gospel, and it appeals to men's pride. You know, they came before the king. Oh, thou king, live forever. We get puffed up in our pride, in our self-righteous robes, and they look to the law. They said, you made a decree. King, you made a decree. And then they compared their works with those of other men. They said, wherefore, at certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews.

Man's religion, we're going to try to keep it ourselves. And we're going to be jealous. We're going to think that we're better than other people. We can keep it better. Okay, I'm a sinner, I'm not perfect, but man, I'm better than that guy in the street.

Well, there aren't any degrees of sin. Christ said to think it is to do it. Even if you don't sin outwardly, and you do, I do, we all do, it goes through our minds. And one sin going through your mind, it's like leaven, the whole loaf. So that's the response of man to man's religion.

I'm gonna be really careful here because grace and having the grace of God revealed to us, that should create humility. You know, I've been talking about the religion of the world and what other people think and where we were at one time, but we should never be accused of having pride of grace. When we think of the word of God, we hear, who maketh thee to differ, right? We hear that, we need to feel that. None of us would be here this morning if God hadn't revealed his word to us and had the grace and the mercy upon us to sit us underneath a gospel and to tell us the good news, to tell us you don't have to do it, the work is done, and I pray And this is a, it's so hard.

I go out into the world and people start being religious and I just, you don't know, you don't know. And my own sinful pride comes up and instead of sharing, all I know is if God didn't do it for me, I have no hope because I know my heart. And I know I'm a sinner and I know I need a savior.

Don't be beating on people for their religion. Tell them about Christ. Tell them about your need. Tell them what you found in Christ. Let's not have pride of grace or pride of doctrine. Okay. Now I want to look at the response of God's certain children to man's religion. And that's gonna be in verses 12 through 18. So first of all, okay, verse 12. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, these men, O king, have not regarded thee. They serve not thy gods, small g, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

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 or worship the golden image which I have set up?

Now if ye be ready, at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet the flute, the harp, the sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made well. But if ye worship not, ye shall be cast that same hour into the midst of the burning fire and 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 thine 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. false religion appeared to them again to worship, to do this to be saved.

And notice that they said, well, first of all, if you had any doubt what I said about where the glory of man's religion is, read what was said in verse 15. And who is that God that should deliver thee out of my hands? King Nebuchadnezzar didn't think God could deliver someone out of his hands. He's putting himself above God. He thinks he has more power than God.

But notice, they said, we're not careful to answer this question. He said, we don't even have to think about this. This is a quote unquote no brainer, right? Because it's been revealed to them. They will not worship a false god. because they've been taught of God. And there's really no choice involved for them. It's not that they're choosing to worship the true and living God. It's that they know the true and living God, and they can't worship any other God. And they know that that king has no power over them except God give it to them.

Back in Daniel 2, verses 20 through 22, let's read it. This is Daniel saying, Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his. And he changes the times and the seasons. He removeth the kings, setteth up the kings. He giveth wisdom to the wise and knowledge to them that know. Understanding. He reveals the deep secret things. He knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth in him.

These men knew that God was in charge, and the only reason that king was on that throne was because God put him there. And they knew that God could deliver them from out of his hand, and that he would, either through the fiery furnace or through death in the fiery furnace.

But they didn't have a choice. They're gonna worship God or die. That's, I don't have a choice. Either I'm gonna worship God or I'm gonna die. I don't have any other hope. I don't see, there's nowhere that I can look for any hope outside of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And you know, even Nebuchadnezzar knew that in his head. After that dream was revealed to him in Daniel 2.47, we read what Nebuchadnezzar's response was. And the king answered unto Daniel and said, of a truth it is that your God is a God of gods and Lord of kings and revealer of secrets, seeing now couldst reveal this secret. He was told the gospel and he knew it in his head, but God hadn't revealed his word in his heart yet.

And that's, I pray that I don't just have a head knowledge, that I'm just not looking at this gospel as the logical way that I could be saved because I know what I am. but that it's for Christ's glory. And I don't want to fear men. I don't want to fear death. I want to worship Christ. I want to worship God for who he is, the true, the living God. We worship him because he's worthy of worship. And you know, They didn't fear the king.

Matthew 10, 28 says, fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Fear God. And that's not a slavish fear of God's going to, if I don't do something right, God's going to punish me. That's not what it means to fear God, to fear God, is to be afraid of facing a just and holy God outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's to claim, my only claim is Christ, not myself. That's my fear, is to be found in myself before God. But to be found in Christ, that's the fear of God.

They know that if God's willing, he's able to deliver them. And that's the foundation of our faith. What does it say in Jude verse 24? Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Christ is able. He's able. He's not only able, he's done it. And they worship God for who he is and not for what he could do for them. He's like that leper that we read about in Matthew.

And behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. We know God's able, and if it's his will, he's gonna save us from this furnace. If not, we're gonna die in that furnace. But we're gonna be out of your hands, and we're in God's hands. And that was their response. And for them to serve a false god was death. It didn't matter. And they had no choice because they knew God and they're not gonna serve a false god. All right, well, in verses 19 through 23, we're gonna see the judgment back in Daniel chapter three, 19 through 23.

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, and 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."

They didn't keep the king's law. This was an unjust law, but it's no different than us trying to keep God's law. Just as they couldn't keep it because they knew the living God and they weren't going to keep this unjust law, we can't keep God's perfect law. The only thing that man's religion can do is to bind men in that law that we cannot keep. And there's sorrow there. because we can't keep God's law. And even God's certain people are bound by their sinful flesh. And that causes so many trials in our lives because we feel that and we know it and we regret it, we mourn for it. You know, when we hear these scriptures about sin and us being sin, It's not just some fact, it breaks our hearts.

Because we know that's us. We know when it says they are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good, no not one. That's me. Lord, I've gone against you. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in this sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. God, I see your law, and I know I'm a sin. I know I'm the sinner. And we cry out like Paul did in Romans, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? I'm in this sinful body, this body of death. there's a judgment coming.

And that furnace was heated to seven times normal. That seven we've talked about in our high school classes, that seven is the number of perfection, of completion, right? God created the world in six days and on the seventh day it was complete, rested. That Sabbath in Christ, the completed work of our Lord Jesus Christ, that signifies that God's justice is gonna be completely satisfied And they were cast into that furnace to completely satisfy God's justice.

And if left to themselves, that would be the sad end of our story. That was the sad end of the story for those strong men, the men strong in the religion of man, the ones that bound them in the law, they were burned up by God's perfect justice. That was the end of the story for them. They represented people that are depending on their own works for righteousness and for salvation. And God's perfect judgment fell on them and it killed them, even though they thought that they were keeping the law.

One of the most sobering scriptures that I can imagine is Matthew 7, verses 22 through 23. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

That's what happened to those men, strong, in the religion of our minds. And I pray that we won't be found in ourselves, that we'd be found in Christ. And that's where the deliverance is. Let's continue. That wasn't the end of the story for these people, for God's certain people. Verses 24 through 27.

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 from the midst of the fire, and 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 the fire had passed on them." Not three, but four men.

That man was the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. The one who was going to be revealed and incarnate later, this is pre-incarnate, Christ was with them. Christ was making a difference between these three certain people and those men that threw him into the furnace. Jesus Christ is the only hope of salvation. And they're loose. They're no longer bound by the law.

What does it say in John 8, 36? If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. And then in Romans, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. And then in Galatians 5, verse one, stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. Be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

They're free in Christ. What is it to be free? When Jesus Christ, God's holy son, died on the cross, he said, it's finished. His people were set free. They're at liberty. Their sin was no more. They're made completely faultless in Him. That's what it is to be free. To be free is to not owe anything. God's people and the Lord Jesus Christ, we don't owe anything. The debt of our sin was fully paid and we've been made completely righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. And to be free is to do whatever you want.

And, you know, natural man's religion, that means, OK, I'm going to sin because that's my want. But that's not the want of God's people. He gives us a new heart. There's a new birth. And we don't want to sin anymore. We cry, oh, wretched man that I am. Deliver me from this sinful flesh. I want to be like Christ. I want to be in Christ. I want Christ. And that's what it is to be free, to be, I have no sin debt, I'm completely righteous in Christ, and I want him. And I have what I want. I have what I want. And they had no hurt. That flame had no power over them. Why? Because God's justice had been satisfied.

We read Romans 8.2, but before 8.2 comes 8.1, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but in the spirit. That new man that walks in the spirit, there's no hurt. We're perfect in Christ.

And you know, they didn't even have a hair singed. I don't know. The dads here probably know because they played with fire when they were younger. You play with fire, you're going to get burned. But the first thing that gets burned is your hair, right?

They didn't even have a hint of God's justice fall on them. Christ took it all. Not even a hair was singed. I mean, you get a match near your hair, it's going to shrivel up. Not burned, but it's going to be singed. They didn't have a hair singed. They didn't endure the slightest bit of God's wrath. And then their coats were not changed. And those coats represent the righteousness of Christ in which he clothes his people. It can't be changed. You can't add anything to it. You can't take anything from it. Those coats were not changed. And then there isn't even the slightest blemish on that. There wasn't any soot on those coats. There wasn't the slightest hint of sin.

Completely righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're perfect and sinless in God's sight in the Lord Jesus Christ. And God sees things as they are. It's not playing games. It's not, I'm gonna look away and pretend you're perfect. In Christ, we're perfect. We're righteous. We're one with him and one with the Father. Not even the slightest blemish. Isaiah 6110, talking about that robe. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be found joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.

And then finally, they didn't even smell like smoke. If you've been to a campfire or have a little fire at your house, you sit there around that and you're enjoying it, whatever, then the next day all your clothes smell like smoke. That smoke is like sin. Just being near it pollutes us. And that sin, there's no sin left. You can't detect even the scent of it. It's been completely taken away. As far as the East is from the West, our sins have been taken from us. There's not even a hint of that. We're perfect in Christ. He put them all away. All right. Then the final thing I wanted to look at is the ultimate result. Verses 27 through 30. Well, we read verse 27, but let's read it again. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counselors being gathered together saw these men upon whom the body had no power, neither was in hair or their heads singed. Singed. Not a hint of God's wrath did they endure. Neither were their coats changed, completely righteous, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Wasn't even a hint of their sin left.

Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him, that have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies that they might not serve or 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 than the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. in the province of Babylon.

The ultimate result is God is glorified. That's what this world is here for. If you want to know the meaning of life, it's to glorify God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And the entire world saw that his children trusted in him and God delivered them. That glorified God. Verse 29, he says, there's no other God that can deliver after this sort. What sort is that? What sort is it that God delivers? That's his glory.

There's no other God who can make men completely free of sin and completely righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. that can provide that double cure. When we sing that song, I hope we've never missed the meaning of that. We're saved from wrath and we're made pure. Our debt's been paid and we're righteous in Christ. We lack nothing. We're perfect in Him. We're perfect and complete in the Lord Jesus Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power.

It's God's glory. God's glorified. You know, Moses asked God to show me, show me your glory. He'd seen a lot of miracles. He'd seen deliverance out of Egypt. He said, show me your glory. He said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee and I will proclaim thy name, the name, I will claim the name of the Lord before thee and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and show mercy. upon whom I will show mercy.

God's glory is in delivering a sinful people, making them perfect in the Lord Jesus Christ, working out a salvation that man's mind can't come up with. It's only God can deliver like that. I want to read one more scripture. If you'll turn with me to John 17. We can't go wrong reading in John 17. And let's think about this as God's glory. What's the ultimate result is the glory of God. John 17, starting in verse one, gonna read down through verse 10.

These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son may also glorify thee. As thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth.

I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou with me. I'm sorry. My sinful flesh can't even read this. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word." They've kept that word. We didn't keep this word. In Christ we kept this word.

Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou has given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.

If we believe that we have no hope but the Lord Jesus Christ, if that's been revealed to us, if we've been given new birth in Christ, we're objects of God's glory. And we're gonna come. What did Christ say? All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. That's God's glory, that men come to him, and that he won't cast them out. John 6, 44 through 45 says, no man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. May we be, may we hear and be taught of the Father and come to Christ.

Then one more scripture, Psalm 135 verse four, to think that this could be us. For the Lord has chosen Jacob unto himself. He's chosen sinful man, he's chosen to save some sinful men. And Israel has given him a new birth, a new heart, a new want for his peculiar treasure. Treasures of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, if you would turn in your hymnal to song number 359, and stand as we sing, My Faith Looks Up To Thee. 359. My faith looks up to thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine.

Now hear me when I pray, Take all my sin away, O let me from this day be wholly thine. May thy rich grace impart strength to my fainting heart, my zeal inspire. As thou hast died for me, O may my love to thee Pure, warm, and changeless be a living fire. While life's dark maze I tread and griefs around me spread, be thou my guide. Bid darkness turn to day. Wipe sorrow's tears away. nor let me ever stray from thee aside. When ends life's transient dream, when death's cold sullen stream shall o'er me roll, Blessed Savior, then in love, fear and distrust remove. Oh, bear me safe above a ransomed soul.

God That Shall Deliver Thee

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God That Shall Deliver Thee

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