All right, if you would, let's
begin our service, opening our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11.
I want to remember in prayer Brother
Eric Floyd, who's preaching in Pikeville, Kentucky this morning.
And also I would imagine a lot of you have already heard this,
but Kevin Thacker, one of our very own, Clay Curtis tries to
claim him as his, but he's one of our very own. It's been called
to pastor the church in San Diego, California. And I've never been
there. Eric and Isaac have been there. I've never been there. I understand
it's a smaller congregation. I've talked to some of the men
here and Kevin gets ready to move out there. We're going to
send him monthly support to help them. It's expensive. I cannot imagine
how expensive it is going to be to live in San Diego, California.
But we're going to do that. Send him monthly support to help
him and pray the Lord will bless him in this new calling. I know he's got the right temperament
for it and I pray the Lord bless him richly. All right. Hebrews chapter 11. We'll begin
our reading in verse 33. who through faith subdued kingdoms,
want righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths
of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of
the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in
fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received
their dead, raised to life again. And others were tortured, not
accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection.
And others, had trial of cruel mockings and scourging, yea,
moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn
asunder. They were tempted, were slain
with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins
and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom
the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and
in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And these
all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the
promise. God having provided some better
thing for us, that they, without us, should not be made perfect. All right, let's stand together
as Mike leads us in singing our call to worship. I once was a stranger to grace
and to God, I knew not my danger and felt not my load. The Prince spoke in rapture of
Christ on the tree, meant nothing to me. When free grace awoke me, my
life from on high, then legal fear shook me, I trembled to
die. No refuge, no safety in self
could I seek, My Savior must be. My terrors all vanished before
His sweet name. My guilty fears banished, with
boldness I came. Thank you, be seated, please. Turn to page 10 in my great hymns
of faith, number 10. O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home. Under the shadow of thy throne,
Still may we dwell secure. Sufficient is thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure. Before the hills in order stood,
For earth received her frame. From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless fears the same. Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
bears all its sons away. They fly forgotten as a dream. Nights at the opening day. O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come. be thou our guide while life
shall last and our eternal home. Now let's turn over to 201. 201. comforting thought, he is able
to deliver this. Tis the grandest theme through
the ages rung, Tis the grandest theme for a mortal tongue, Tis
the grandest theme that the world o'ersung, Our God is able to
deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. Though by sin oppressed, go to
Him for rest. Our God is able to to deliver
thee. Tis the grandest theme in the
earth for man. Tis the grandest theme for immortal
strength. Tis the grandest theme tell the
world again. Our God is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. Though by sin oppressed, go to
him for rest, Our God is able to deliver thee. Tis the grandest theme, let the
tidings roll, To the guilty heart, to the sinful soul, God in faith,
He will make thee whole. Our God is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. Though by sin oppressed, go to
Him for rest, Our God is able to deliver thee. Pastors asked us to read Daniel
chapter three, if you turn with me. Daniel chapter three, we're going
to read the last two verses starting in verse 29. I'm sorry, starting in verse
20, Daniel chapter three, starting in verse 20. 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. These three men,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound into the midst
of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king
was astonished, 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 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 the 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 holy heavenly father. What
a awesome privilege it is. I'm unspeakable privilege that
you've given us the right to bow before you and call you our
father, to, to approach unto your, your holy throne. What
a privilege that is. Words can't describe. We're thankful. We're humble. We praise your
holy name for the right to come to you through Christ. We pray
that your name, that Christ's name be glorified here in this
place today, that we not be left to ourselves and our our foolishness
and our evil, sinful thoughts, the ways that we would devise
to come for cleansing of our sin left to ourselves. Father,
leave us not to ourselves. Keep us clinging to Christ and
keep us clinging only to Christ. We're sinful people, Father.
We pray that you keep us. Praise your holy name. We're
so thankful for Christ and his work and his sacrifice and his
death. The only hope for we vile, filthy
sinners covered, as we heard this morning, covered with leprosy,
hopeless, other than to be made clean and declared clean and
righteous because of Christ's work. Father, we're thankful
and we pray that that The name of Christ continue to be declared
from this place according to your will and according to your
good pleasure. We pray that you bless our pastor and we thank
you for him. Bless the message that goes forth. We pray for
this congregation and I thank you for our brothers and sisters
that are gathered here today. That you bless the hearts of
us listening. Give us a ear to hear in mercy. and in truth. I pray that you
send your spirit to be here with us today, that we meet not in
vain, but that our time be useful, that we are enabled to worship
you. We pray for those that are in
the valley of trouble, whatever that may be. We think specifically
of our brother Bob Coffey, that you be with him and with his
family. We thank you for him. We pray
for for others, whatever the trial may be. If it's sickness
of body or of mind or of heart, we pray for our young people,
the trials that they go through in this world. And I pray that
you hedge them about and keep them according to your pleasure.
Draw them to yourself and keep them. And in your time, save
their souls. Give them life according to your
will. Father, if thou will, thou canst make us clean. We pray
that for our young children. We pray for our parents that
you give us patience and wisdom in raising our children. For
those who are older and struggling with whatever that
may be, if it's sickness of body or whatever the trial is, Father,
that you comfort as only you can. I pray for Kevin as he undertakes
the pastor, and I pray for that congregation, that you bless
them and bless Kevin according to your will, to your good pleasure. And we pray this thankfully in
Christ's name and for his sake. Amen. Have faith in God when your pathway
is lonely. He sees and knows all the way
you have trod. Never alone. are the least of His children. Have faith in God. Have faith in God. Have faith in God. He's on His throne. Have faith in God. He watches o'er his own. He cannot fail. He must prevail. Have faith in God. Have faith in God. Have faith in God when your prayers
are unanswered. Your earnest plea He will never
forget. Wait on the Lord, trust His word,
and be patient. Have faith in God, He'll answer
yet. Have faith in God in your pain
and your sorrow. His heart is touched with your
grief and despair. Cast all your cares and your
burdens upon Him. And leave them there, oh leave
them there. Sing it with me. Have faith in
God, He's on His throne. Have faith in God, He watches
o'er his own. He cannot fail, He must prevail. Have faith in God. Have faith in God. Have faith in God, though all
else fail about you. Have faith in God, He provides
for His own. He cannot fail, though all kingdoms
shall perish. He reigns upon His throne. Have faith in God, He's on His
throne. Have faith in God, He watches
over you. He cannot fail. He must prevail. Have faith in God. Have faith in God. If you would turn again to Daniel
chapter 3, the passage Brother Jonathan just read for us. Let
me remind you the verse I read to open the scripture, the service
that brought me to Daniel chapter 3. The writer to the Hebrews
talks about those who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the violence of fire. I want us to look and see how
the violence of fire was quenched by faith. The story of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, you all know it very well, is usually
preached with the moral to the story being resist idolatry and
God will deliver you. Now, there is no question we
ought to resist idolatry. We ought to stand against it.
We ought to refuse to bow to any idol. We ought to refuse
any compromise with idolatry. But there are many martyrs who
had begged to differ with the moral of the story, God will
deliver you if you resist idolatry. And that's not the point of this
passage of scripture at all. Hebrews 35 or 11 verse 35 went
on to say women received their dead race to life again and others
were tortured, not accepting deliverance. So the moral to
the story, God will always deliver you if you resist idolatry. cannot
be true. The message of this passage of
scripture in Daniel chapter three, in all of scripture, is that
the Lord Jesus Christ is able to deliver his people from God's
wrath against their sin. And that's the title of the message
this morning. Christ is able. He is able and he does deliver
his people so completely that in the end, there won't even
be a smell of sin on There won't be even a smell of the smoke
of God's justice found on any of his people. Daniel chapter
three, let's begin looking in verse one. Nebuchadnezzar the
king made an image of gold whose height was three score cubits
and the breadth thereof six cubits. And he set it up in the plain
of Dura in the province of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar the king said
to gather together the princes, the governors, the captains,
the judges, 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,
and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the
sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered
together under the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar
the king had set up. And they stood before the image
that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then a herald cried aloud, to
you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that
at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut,
psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musics, you fall down and
worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set
up. And whoso falls not down and worshipeth shall the same
hour be cast in the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. 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 and nations and languages fell down and worshipped the
golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Now here
Nebuchadnezzar built this statue. It's about 90 feet tall, pretty
big undertaking. And the people have all gathered
together to have a dedication ceremony to the statue. We don't
know what the image of the statue was in. It could have been Nebuchadnezzar.
Some people think it was Nebuchadnezzar's father, it could have been a
Babylonian idol, we don't know. And you know, there's no problem,
inherent problem, having a large statue or monument. You know,
we here in the United States have a Statue of Liberty. Buddy,
we'd fight to protect it. We like it, don't we? I mean,
who goes to New York City, does not go see the Statue of Liberty.
We like Mount Rushmore, big, big old monument. Boy, we like
that, those founding fathers, and we just love that here. But
the problem we read is this statue was set up as an object of worship.
And no matter whose image it was in, this is an idol. And
what's going on here is classic man's false religion. First thing
that they have to do is whip the people into a religious fervor
with an orchestra of musical instruments. You know, today
we'd be using a set of drums and a bass guitar and electric
guitar and tambourines and things. They had all this kind of, you
know, instruments. to use music to get people in the right emotional
state. And that's what false religion
does. They've got to use music to whip people into a frenzy
because their message doesn't reach the heart. Now, music,
believe me, I'm not against music in any way. It's a scriptural
part of worship. And we here, we enjoy music as
a part of worship. It's an important part of worship.
But the worship service is not just about our emotions. We preach
the gospel to the heart and God is worshiped from the heart,
not just an emotional show. I mean, certainly the gospel
ought to reach our emotions, but this is not a purely emotional
thing. You know, I don't want somebody
to make an emotional decision to come to Christ. I don't want
that at all. I was at a funeral one time and
this fellow, I won't say preaching, talking at the funeral. I mean,
I felt so sorry for the family. My goodness, they're broken hearted.
They're grieving. He keeps trying to get them all
to make a decision for Jesus. You know, it's as far as we can
go with this poor person, you know, we're burying it. I want people to come to Christ.
I pray for it every single day. I want it to be because God,
the Holy Spirit, blesses the words of your so that you come
and the Spirit reveals Christ to you. Because if not, will
that kind of faith still be there when the music stops? Buddy,
someday the music's going to stop. Will that kind of faith
still be there, that emotional thing? I doubt it. The second
thing about man's false religion is they use threats to get people
to worship and do what they want them to do because they don't
see another way to do it. Man's religion begins with the
threats of the law and it ends with forgiveness as a reward
for your obedience. But it begins with the law. It
begins with threats. That's what Nebuchadnezzar did,
isn't it? The gospel didn't work that way. The gospel begins with
the forgiveness of sin because of who Christ is and what Christ
has accomplished for his people. And the gospel ends with obedience
of faith. to believe Christ, not obedience
to the law, obedience to not try to keep the law to make God
happy with you, but the obedience of faith to trust Christ to be
all it takes to save your sorry soul. That's where the gospel
ends. It begins with a declaration of forgiveness of sins in Christ.
Man's religion forces you to worship or God's going to get
you. The gospel begins with worship willingly from the heart. because
Christ has already been punished for us. That's a big difference,
isn't it? The third thing about man's religion is this. In man's
religion, there are plenty of people to hold your feet to the
fire. I mean, it's just like everybody's
job to watch everybody, turn everybody in, you know. Look
here at verse eight. Wherefore, at that time, certain
Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. You know, they were
so upset that the Jews, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
had been promoted Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, they spake and said
to the king, Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever. The Iowa
king has made a decree that every man that should hear the sound
of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all
kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image.
And whoso falls not down and worshipeth, that he should be
cast in the midst of a 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. As this is
man's religion, it promotes everybody to watch everybody, and it promotes
you to expose their sin, to expose their faults every chance you
get, especially if it's going to help you kind of get promoted
up their ranks, you know, that's what these men are doing. Whereas
the gospel is the exact opposite of that. We all know we have
seen, we all know we have fault. What's the gospel teach God's
people? Oh, love cover the multitude of sins. Big difference in there. Now look at verse 13. 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 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 worship the image which I have made well. But if ye worship
not, ye should 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, there it is again, the only way false religion
knows how to operate, with threats. The threat of punishment is the
only way false religion knows how to control anybody. I mean,
they just can't imagine a new heart, a new nature, a motive
of love. The threat of punishment is the
only way they know how to control anybody. And that's what Nebuchadnezzar's
using. He said, now, if you do what
I say, worship this gigantic image I've set up, well, it'll
be well with you. But if you don't do what I say,
I'm gonna throw you that very hour into the midst of a burning,
fiery furnace. And then at the end of verse
15, Nebuchadnezzar asked the question. I want all of us to
answer for ourselves this morning, to ask ourselves, not ask everybody
else, ask ourselves, and answer for ourselves. Who is that God
that shall deliver you. Who is that God? Is your God
able to deliver you? Is it? Is your God able to deliver
you from the power of men? Is your God greater than the
creature? You know, idols aren't, are they? Idols are never greater
than the creature, because they only are allowed to have the
power men give them. Idols, they're not greater. But
much more importantly than that, Is your God able to deliver you
from God? Is your God able to deliver you
from God's justice? Is your God holy so that His
holy justice must be satisfied? And then is He able to deliver
you from it? Is He? Is your God able to deliver
you from His justice against your sin? Is your God able to
make you holy? He's able to make you not guilty. Because see, just forgiving sin,
and you know, normally when we talk about forgiving sin, we'll
just choose to ignore it. Or it'll always be there in the
back of our mind, but we'll just choose not to bring it up again.
That's kind of what we talk about as forgiveness. Well, that kind
of forgiveness of sin won't work now. Justice must be satisfied. Is your God able to deliver you?
Is He able to forgive you? and at the same time satisfy
justice for you. Is he? Well, look at the answer
of these three men to Nebuchadnezzar, 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 one way or another. He's going
to deliver us out of your hand. O King, but if not, be it known
unto thee, O King, that we will not serve by gods, nor worship
the golden image which thou hast set up." And Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego didn't have to think about this one. You know, it's
easy for us to read this story and, you know, boy, they're facing
something mighty tough here. I mean, I can't imagine being
burned to death. I mean, I just thought a horrible
thing. And they said, even so, we don't have to think about
this one. We're not going to worship your idol. We're not
going to bow down to this image that you set up. They're not
going to compromise here. They said, our God's able to
deliver us. This is the companion message
to the Sunday school lesson we had this morning. Our God's able. He's able to deliver us. Now,
I don't know if he'll be pleased to do it, but one way or another,
he's going to deliver us out of your hand. One way or another,
this thing's over. Either he's going to deliver
us from the fiery furnace, or he's going to deliver us from
your power by using the fire furnace to take us home and be
with him. But one way or another, you don't have any control in
this matter. Our God's going to deliver us one way or another. He's able to deliver us from
you. He's able to deliver us from this fiery furnace. The
only thing is, we don't know if he'll be pleased to. But one
way or another, we're happy to bow to his will. Because either
way, he's going to deliver us. And oh, that made Nebuchadnezzar
angry. 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. Now Nebuchadnezzar, his visage,
his face, the way he looked at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
changed. He used to admire these men greatly. I mean, he sent them over the
province of Babylon. He respected them. He maybe even
felt some love for them, but no more, no more. Remember Darius,
King Darius, he, oh, he was so concerned about trying to find
a way to deliver Daniel from the den of lions, not Nebuchadnezzar.
Oh, he was angry. His visions toward them changed. And he ordered that they put
seven times more fuel in that furnace than ever put in it before.
And that fire was a hot fire. I mean, it was hot. Brought on
by the wrath of the king. That fire was so hot. I mean,
this is no pretend fire now. It killed the men that threw
Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego into the fire. Verse 20. 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 in 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. That fire was no No pretend thing,
was it? It killed those men that took
up these three Jewish children and threw them into the fire.
Now here's another mark of man's false religion. They try to tie
you up. They just got to tie you up.
The only way they can constrain you and keep you where you're
supposed to be is they tie you up so you can't run away. They
put you under bondage to the law. They try to bind you with
the chains of the law because they just can't imagine another
way to get people not to sin. They just can't imagine such
a thing. But the gospel sets people free from the law, free
from the requirements of the law, free from the threats of
the law. The gospel, God in His grace, gives a new heart to His
people and they've got new motives. The believer's motive is not
that they're afraid of God's threats of punishment. The believer's
motive is love for Christ, love and thanksgiving to God. All
right. Now we've set the stage. I'm
going to get to the point of the whole message. Nebuchadnezzar
asked this question, who is that God that shall deliver you? Well,
now he's going to get his answer. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
24, Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded. He rose up in
haste and spake unto his counselors, did not we cast three men bound
in the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the
king, true, O king. He answered and said, lo, I see
four men. They're loose. They're walking
in the midst of the fire and they have no heart. And the form
of the fourth is like the son of God. And Nebuchadnezzar, he
knew Three men had been cast down in that fire, but he saw
four. How did he know that the fourth
one was a son of God? And you're wondering, how did
he know that? I don't know. It could be he heard something
about God from Daniel. Could be. Daniel believed Christ. Daniel knew Christ was coming.
Maybe he told Nebuchadnezzar something about the glorious
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But somehow, I don't know how,
but when Nebuchadnezzar saw the Son of God, he saw the Lord Jesus
Christ, he knew exactly who it was. You know, we who preach, we preach
Christ the best we can. It's often very feeble. You can't know what it's like
for poor Janet to go home with me after I've preached. Thinking what a poor job that
I did talking about God Almighty, talking about salvation for sinners
in the Son of God. You can't do it justice, but
we do the best we can. This I promise you. God the Holy
Spirit never lets you quit hearing the voice of a preacher. He speaks
to your heart. and reveals Christ to you, you're
going to know exactly who he is. You'll see him and you'll
know exactly who he is. The spirit will take the things
of Christ and show them to you. And you'll know this can't be
anyone but Christ. It can't be anyone but the son
of God who's come to deliver me. And he's the one that's got
to do it. Only Christ can come and deliver
like this. How he came and delivered Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego is a picture of how he sets all of his people
free. He comes to his people and he
sets them free. Only Christ can do it. First,
Christ sets his people completely and utterly free. Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego were bound when they were thrown down in the
midst of that fiery furnace. But when they met Christ, they
were set free. Everything that they used to
try to bind them was gone. They were set free. And when
the Lord Jesus Christ comes to His people, He sets them free.
He sets them free from everything that man's religion used to bind
them. He sets them free. He sets them
free from their rules and their regulations. He sets them free
from the law. And you know how He does it?
By keeping the law for them. So that the law has no more power
over them. He makes his people free. This
is the Son of God. And if the Son should make you
free, oh, you'll be free indeed. You'll be free indeed. You may
spend a lot of time constantly taking off those old grave clothes
that bound you, but you're going to be free. Christ makes you
free. He sets his people free from
the law and he sets his people free from sin. Now, that's not
to say that when God saves us, we quit sinning, because that's
not so. No, we still sin. We can't do
anything but sin. But, if Christ shall make you
free, sin shall not have dominion over you. Because you're not
under the law. You're under grace. Sin cannot
damn you. It cannot damn you. Sin cannot
damn you. If Christ died for you. Because
he took your sin away. Now you'll still sin. You don't
have the power to stop sinning, but sin will no longer have the
power over you to stop you from believing Christ. You know, I
grew up constantly. I'm just, Oh, I tried to make
myself believe. I mean, in my head, I could see
this gospel was true. I mean, I can, and I could see
just logically speaking, Nothing else can be true. There's no
other message can possibly be true. Either God is God or there's
no God whatsoever. I mean, it's just, I could see
that. Either Christ is the savior of sinners or there's no hope
of salvation for anybody. I can see that. I could not make
myself believe it. Oh, I couldn't do it. And then
one day I thought, I believe that. One day I thought, I believe
him. I believe him. I believe Christ.
Oh, I don't want any other way. And I could not believe it. I
thought, well, maybe this is a thing, you know, and it'll
go away tomorrow. I could not believe it. What
happened? Sin should not have dominion over you because God
gave a new nature and that new nature God gives in the new birth.
Cannot sin. It can't not believe Christ and
that new nature rules. so that you'll never not believe
Christ again. You're free, free from sin, free
from the power of sin. Christ sets his people free from
all the ceremony that man's religion requires. And now they're finally
free to worship God from the heart. Oh, he sets his people
free. So that religion, so that salvation,
so that these things of God are not just the right form. not
just the right words on paper, but it's life in the heart. That's
how Christ makes his people free. Secondly, Christ enables his
people to walk, to walk. And this walking is a twofold
thing. First, Christ sets his people free to follow him, to
walk, to walk with him and he will walk with you. God's people walk through this
life. They walk. looking to, following,
trusting Christ. They're walking. They're not
running around in fear. They're walking. They're in enemy
territory, but they're walking through it because they know
their God rules. They don't have to run through
it. They walk through it. Second, Christ enables his people
to walk through the fiery furnace of trial. Now, almost completely,
this fiery furnace is a picture of God's Wrath against sin is
justice against sin. But you can see a picture of
a trial here, can't you? Fiery furnace of trial. Well,
again, God's people are walking in it. They're not running around
in it. They're not running around in
a panic in the midst of this trial as though some strange
thing happened to them and they don't know what's going on. They
walk. Well, why are they walking and
not running? because our Savior has promised
to be with us there. Hold your place there and look
over to Isaiah chapter 43. Isaiah chapter 43. And we've got quite a few of
our folks, our loved ones, who are in this very furnace, this
trial right now. You listen to this. The Word
of God will help you. Isaiah 43, verse one. But now, thus sayeth the Lord
that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I've called thee by thy
name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the
waters, he doesn't say fear not because you won't pass through
the waters, does he? He said, when you pass through the waters,
I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee when thou walkest. not run when you
walk 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 Saba for thee, since thou was precious in my sight.
Thou has been honorable and I have loved thee. Therefore, while
I give men for thee and people for thy life, fear not. Fear not when you go through
the rivers. Fear not when you go through the deep waters. Fear
not when you walk through the fire. Why not? For I am with
thee. I am with thee. Fear not. God's people walk through the
fire of this hot, hot trial because God walks with us. They walk. Third, Christ sets his people
free, and this is the primary point of this. Christ sets his
people free from God's wrath against sin. Now this fire, this
is a hot fire, fueled by the anger of the king, the king of
kings and lord of lords. This fire of God's judgment is
fueled by God's hatred of sin. That's what fire is almost always
a picture of in scripture. The burnt offerings. All throughout
the Old Testament you read about burnt offerings, burnt offerings,
burnt offerings. Well, you know why that was a burnt offering?
Because of the fire that consumed the sacrifice. That fire was
a picture of God's wrath against sin. Sin must be purged. It's purged with fire. Sin had
to be paid for. God's justice had to be satisfied. God's fire fell on Sodom and
Gomorrah, didn't it? As a picture of God's wrath.
against sin. Remember Elijah at Mount Carmel? He told those prophets of Baal,
y'all, we'll get you an altar. We'll build you an altar and
get you a sacrifice. I'll build an altar and have a sacrifice.
And we'll put wood under, but put no fire on it. And you pray
and I'll pray. And we're going to agree on this
matter. Whoever has fire, fall from heaven on their sacrifice.
That's God. Let him be God. Those prophets of Baal screamed
and cried and played music and danced around and cut themselves
and did everything in this world they could think of and nothing
happened, did it? Because they're calling to a God that's not there.
Elijah prayed a short prayer and fire fell from heaven. And remember how he had them
dig a trench and dump all that water on it? The fire fell from
heaven, consumed the sacrifice, consumed the fire, consumed the
rocks and the dust. That's a picture of God's justice. against sin. The true and living
God will have justice against sin. That's what the fire is
a picture of. So it's not just that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
suffered no hurt because the fire wasn't real. We all know
the fire was real, wasn't it? The fire was real. Killed those
men, tried to throw them in there. The fire didn't even not hurt
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego simply because Christ was with
them in the fiery furnace. The fire didn't hurt Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego because Christ suffered all that fire
for them. He shielded them from harm as
their substitute so that the fire of God's wrath against the
sin of his people can never hurt anyone for whom Christ died.
Never, ever. Why not? Now, there'll still
be consequences for our sin. Absolutely, there will. You don't
think there'll be consequences for your sin? This is the example
I use all the time. Just go down here to Winchester
Avenue, run up and down about 65 miles an hour and see if there's
any consequences for your sin. Yeah, there'll be consequences
for it, but God's not going to punish you for it. If Christ
died for you, he's not. It's not because the fire of
God's wrath is not going to hurt us, it's because, you know, God's
people, we sin less than other people. No, we don't either.
No, just as much. The fire of God's wrath is not
going to get us because we got the right doctrine and other
people don't. That's not so. I mean, it is so, but that's
not why God's not going to get his people. The fire of God's
wrath cannot hurt anyone for whom Christ died because Christ
suffered all of God's wrath against the sin of his people as their
substitute. Suffered it all. Suffered until
there was no more wrath left in the Father for his people.
So that the Father said, there's no more fury left in me. I poured
it all out on your substitute. Christ was made sin for God's
elect. God wasn't playing games when
he did it. This is not just a paper transaction. He was made sin
and God Almighty poured out all of the eternal God's wrath against
sin upon His Son. The fire of God's wrath fell.
Why? Because of sin. And Christ suffered until all
that sin that was laid on Him was gone. You know, normally
a fire goes out when the fuels all burnt up. The fire burnt
up the sacrifice. In this case, the sacrifice of
Christ consumed the fire. The fire went out when there
was no more fuel left. The sin was gone. And now there's
no fire. There's no wrath left for anyone
for whom Christ died. He satisfied it all. He took
it all. And all that's left for God's
elect is God's love, God's mercy, God's grace, in God's acceptance,
because Christ bore the fire for his people. Now, the fire
of God's wrath against sin most certainly has the power to destroy,
and it will one day. It'll destroy the unbeliever.
God's going to send a fire, burn up this earth. But that fire
will never come near God's elect. Never, ever, ever. Because Christ
completely delivered his people from judgment by suffering for
them as their substitute. So if you believe on Christ,
Christ died for you, you have absolutely no reason to fear
judgment because Christ has delivered you from it. And let me show
you how completely he did. 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, 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 gathered
together and 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. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
were so completely delivered from this fire, their body temperature
was normal. They weren't even hot. They were so completely delivered
from the fire, the hair on their arms wasn't even singed. They
were so completely delivered from the power of that fire,
their clothes didn't even smell of smoke. Now you think of that. And it was like They hadn't even
been around the fire. It seemed like they hadn't even
been near the fire, much less in it. That's how completely
Christ delivered them from the fire. And the same thing is true
spiritually for all of God's elect. Christ has completely,
completely, completely, completely delivered his people from sin. He's delivered his people from
God's wrath against their sin. So that in the judgment, they
won't even smell of smoke. I mean, they just won't even
smell of it. Christ said, it's not going to come naive. Then
it won't. And the proof of it is they won't
even smell like smoke. Christ has so completely delivered
his people from sin that he has made them perfectly righteous. These men were thrown in that
fire in their coats. And even their coats didn't smell
of fire. Even their coats weren't changed,
marred a bit by the fire. That coat is a picture of the
righteousness of Christ. In Christ's righteousness, we
need to, I know we use the term a robe of righteousness, but
Christ's righteousness is not a robe that covers up our sin,
even though it's still there and nobody can see it. I got
a tie on, nobody can see it. I mean, that's not how Christ's
righteousness is. It just covers up sins there
just so you can't see it. I mean, but you know it's still
there. Why our sin? If it was just covered up, God
knows it's there. Because what does Scripture say? God looks
on the heart. Look on the outward countenance.
God looks on the heart. Christ has made his people righteous
through and through. Given them a new nature that
is righteous, that is perfect. that has never, that can never
sin. And no matter what fire of trial,
and no matter where we go as we walk through this enemy territory
going on, nothing we ever encounter can change or mar that righteousness.
Because it's perfect. It's perfect. We didn't do anything
to get it. It's all Christ in it. And we
can't do anything to mar it. He'll keep it perfect. So, what
God is able to deliver you from sin what God is able to deliver
you from God's wrath. Only the Lord Jesus Christ. The
law can't do it, because we can't keep the law. I mean, somebody
could try to bind me with it all they want, but it can't stop me from
breaking the law. You bind me up. Oh, you want
to imagine things I'll think about you. I mean, it's not going
to stop me from sinning. Sin comes from the inside. The
ceremonies of religion can't do it. Those ceremonies are just
how it works. They're pictures of the truth inward. The best
that we can do our sincerity, I can do it. Those prophets of
Baal were sincere, weren't they? Not one of them lived through
the day. Only the Lord Jesus Christ is able to deliver his
people. He's able to make you righteous.
He's able to pay for your sin. He's able to both justify and
sanctify you. He is able to keep you to the
Only the Lord Jesus Christ is able to keep you from falling
and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory
with exceeding joy. Oh, he's able. Is that who you
trust in? Is your God, whatever it is you're
trusting, is able to do all that? If you're trusting in something
other than Christ alone, your honest answer to that has to
be no. It has to be if you're honest. Oh, may God help us. May God make us to trust the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one able to do
it. Let's bow together in prayer.
Our father, how we thank you for this full, complete, free
salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. How we thank you for a savior
who saves, a savior who delivers. Father, I pray you bless your
word. Get much glory to your name, to the preaching of your
word. Reveal yourself in your greatest
glory in mercy for sinners to us here this morning. And let
us leave here this morning, trusting in, believing in, resting in
the Lord Jesus Christ and in him be delivered from your wrath,
from our sin, from what we are and deliver us and see us and
hear us only in our Lord Jesus Christ. It's in His precious
name, for His glory we pray and give thanks. Amen. Let's stand and turn to 280.
280. Let's do the chorus after the first verse and the last. One and four. Dying with Jesus, my death-reckoned
mind Living with Jesus, a new life divine Looking to Jesus,
till glory does shine Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine
Moment by moment, I'm kept in His love. Moment by moment, I fly from
above, looking to Jesus till glory does shine. Moment by moment, O Lord, I'm Never a trial that he is
not there, Never a burden that he doth not bear, Never a sorrow
that he doth not share, you Never a heartache and never a
groan Never a teardrop and never a moan Never a danger but there
on the throne Moment by moment He thinks of his own. Never a weakness that he doth
not feel. Never a sickness that he cannot
heal. Moment by moment in war, Jesus, my Savior, abides with
me still. Moment by moment, I'm kept in
His love. Moment by moment, I fly from
above. Looking to Jesus till glory does
shine. Moment by moment, O Lord, I am
Thine.