My subject this morning is Darius,
Daniel, and the Lion's Den. Daniel chapter 6. Darius, Daniel,
and the Lion's Den. Now there are many, many things
clearly set before us in this sixth chapter of Daniel's prophecy. Lessons that are needed lessons
that should be heeded by all who would follow and worship
God, by all who would seek God's glory in this world. But most
people, most people never understand why Daniel was cast into and
delivered from the lion's den. Children hear the story in the
Sunday schools, as with most Bible stories. There are things
taught about the need for faithfulness to God and in prayer and about
God's might and power, the miracle that God performed in stopping
the mouths of the lions and preventing any harm from coming to Daniel. All of those things are true.
But the purpose of this story, And it is a true story. The purpose
of this piece of history was to show us something far, far
greater than Daniel's greatness as a man and his faithfulness
as the servant of God. Something far more important
than to convince us of the might and power of God who's able even
to stop the mouths of lions and prevent harm from coming to his
servant being cast into the lion's den. This thing came to pass
by divine appointment in order to teach us the necessity of
atonement by Jesus Christ the Lord. Now somewhere in your notes
or on the margin of your Bible, write this down. Daniel chapter
6 teaches us the necessity of atonement by Jesus Christ the
Lord. The Lord God reveals his name,
his character, his glory to Moses. He says, I'll cause all my glory
to pass before you, and I'll show you who I am. He said, I
am Merciful and gracious. Long-suffering and good. Forgiving,
iniquity, transgression, and sin. But before that, he said,
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And I will be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. And he declares, I will by no
means clear the guilty. How can God do that? How can God by no means clear
the guilty and yet forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin? How can
he do both? There is only one way. There is only one way. And that is by the sacrifice
of his son, making atonement for sin, Forgiving us, God does,
in absolute sovereignty, through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Justify us, He does, in absolute
freeness, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Make
us righteous, He does. But not just by saying, I'm going
to look at you as though you were righteous. He does it by
an actual work of grace, redeeming our souls by the sacrifice of
his darling son, by whom and in whom he magnified his law
and made it honorable. Brother Dodd, was there no other
way God could do this? No other way. In fact, the Holy
Spirit tells us if righteousness could come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. If God could save you, if God
could forgive your sin, if God could just act as though it never
happened, as a mere act of sovereignty, then He sacrificed His Son for
nothing. He sacrificed His Son for nothing. People often say that we Preaching
God's sovereignty, his absolute predestination, his sovereign
election and reprobation. God orders all things according
to his will, so that makes God a monster. Marked to suggest
that God sacrificed his son for nothing, that makes God a monster. God Almighty could not, he could
not save sinners but by the satisfaction of divine justice. That's what
Darius, Daniel, and the lion's den teaches us. Daniel was one
of the Jews of the captivity, carried into Babylonian captivity
70 years before we get to this sixth chapter. By the time we
get to chapter 6, it's right at the time when Darius is about
to deliver Israel out of Babylonian captivity. Daniel was carried
into Babylon when he was a young man, probably somewhere between
20 and 30 years old, a young adult. So that makes Daniel now
90 years old or better. This is not a picture of an old
man or a young man being thrown in a den of lions. This is an
old, old man. Daniel was carried into Babylon
according to God's providence, by God's purpose, along with
the children of Israel because of the sins of the nation. This
man Daniel was beloved of God and was given gifts that only
God could give a man. gifts not only to interpret visions
and dreams, but gifts to know what the dreams were before they
were told him. Daniel had told Nebuchadnezzar
what his dream was in chapter 2, and then he gave him the interpretation
of it. In chapter 5, he interpreted
the handwriting of the wall against Belshazzar the king, who took
his father Nebuchadnezzar's place. And Belshazzar demanded that
Daniel be clothed with scarlet and a gold chain put on his neck,
and he was made third ruler in the kingdom. And no sooner had
he done so than that very night, Belshazzar was slain by the hand
of God. Darius set 120 princes over the
kingdom. He established three presidents
over those princes, and he made Daniel the chief of the three. so that all the other princes,
these other 120 princes throughout the realm of Babylon were required
to report to Daniel. The Median king Darius so greatly
loved and respected and admired Daniel because there was an excellent
spirit in him. So much he loved him, admired
him, and respected him that he planned to make Daniel to be
the head over the whole kingdom. His intent was to make Daniel
head of everything. He'll be second only to the king
on his throne. That's what we read in the beginning
of chapter six. Well, the other presidents and
princes were jealous. As you can imagine, they were
green with envy. Their jealousy caused them to
despise Daniel, though he had done nothing to harm them. They
hated him because they envied him. And their hatred of God's
servant calls them to seek some way to discredit him, some way
to make him look bad before the king. But they found no fault
in Daniel. They watched him. Watched him. They watched him. This is the
way the sons of Esau always do. This is the way the sons of Cain
always behave. This is the way Ishmael always
behaves. They're watching him. They're
watching him. They're watching him. You think,
well, these folks, oh, I've got their friendship now. They admire
me. They think highly of me because
I treat them with respect and I worship God. They know that.
They respect me for that. Don't you think it for a minute. Don't you think it for a minute.
They're watching you. They're watching you to get something,
to find some spot, some weakness, some frailty, some fault. And
if they find it, you can bank on it. They'll use it. That's
the way with the sons of Ishmael. Finally, these princes decided
that the only way they were going to get Daniel would be to charge
him with something against the king and kingdom relating to
his worship of and faithfulness to his God. They're going to
have to find something in the law of his God. Something in
the law of his God. Not some fault with the law itself
as it's stated in letter, but some fault in the law of God
as Daniel worshiped God. If you're going to find anything
against him, it's got to be here. This is the thing that distinguishes
Daniel from all others. He worships God. This is the
thing that makes him distinct from all the other presidents
in the kingdom, from all the other princes in the kingdom.
This man, he worships God. And so they hatched a plan. Now,
though Daniel was in a pagan society, surrounded by idolatrous
people, though he served in a kingdom under a king who had no regard
for God and no regard for the worship of God, a Babylonian
pagan. I was reading these chapters,
these 12 chapters of Daniel this week, doing some writing on these
chapters. I kept thinking to myself, what
a shameful, shameful man I am to murmur and complain and find
myself griping about the rulers of our land in my day, wicked
as they are. Daniel worshipped and served
God and did nothing to oppose Darius God make me such a man. You see
this is not my home My citizenship is in another country One far
beyond this world And the affairs of this world shouldn't concern
me for five minutes. Now, that's just fact. That's
just fact. I say that to my wife and to
her husband and to you. The affairs of this world shouldn't
concern us for five minutes. Our business is with eternity.
God, write that on my heart and on yours. Our business is with
eternity. Daniel worshipped and prayed
three times a day, not to make a show of religion, not as though
the Pharisees, standing in a street corner with their scriptures
in their garments and blowing a trumpet saying, look at me,
I'm a godly fellow. Daniel opened his windows because
he wanted everybody to know he was praying. No, he lived somewhere
where windows needed to be opened. How would you like to live in
Babylon and shut the windows and have no breeze in your house
and no air conditioning either? Daniel just opened his windows
and he faced toward Jerusalem, faced toward the place where
the temple of God was. The place where God had established
the ark and the mercy seat, where God said he'd meet his people,
the place of sacrifice. He prayed toward Jerusalem because
everything representing Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, was
at Jerusalem. And so he prayed toward Jerusalem
three times. And when he heard the decree
these presidents had made, these men had gotten Darius to make,
Daniel prayed toward Jerusalem, and
he called upon his God, just as he'd been doing before. These
men pretending to be Darius's friends, these men pretending
to honor the king, these wicked, wretched men drew up a decree. They drew up a law, and they
called it a royal statute. In the decree, it was required
that for 30 days, For 30 days, anyone in the kingdom who asked
any man or any god for anything except Darius would be thrown
in the lion's den. Oh, man. That'd make a fellow
feel reported, wouldn't it? Why, these folks think so much
of me, they want to make me a god. These folks think so much of
me, they want me to stand as God in the kingdom for 30 days
so that the whole kingdom respects me as God and nobody asks anyone
for anything except me, Darius. He goes, I'll sign that, boys.
Yes, sir. They said, now put your seal on it. Seal it as the
law of the Medes and Persians which cannot be broken. And Darius,
flattered and fooled by those men, signed the decree. We're
told in verse 8, it could not be changed according to the law
of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. And then Daniel
is accused. Look at verses 10 through 17. Now, when Daniel knew that the
writing was signed, He got together all the Jews and said, fellas,
now we need to speak to the king about this and see if we can't
get him somehow or another to set this law aside or to allow
us, because we're Jews of the captivity and he wants to honor
us, not to abide by this. We need to petition the king
for this. No. No, he didn't. He called the
Jews together and said, we need, as a unified voice, to let the
king and the kingdom know we're not going to obey this law. No,
no. What did he do? When he knew
that the writing was signed, he went into his house, and his
windows being opened in his chamber, toward Jerusalem, he kneeled
upon his knees three times a day and prayed, and gave thanks before
his God as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled and
found Daniel praying and making supplications before his God. Then they came near and spake
before the king concerning the king's decree. Hast thou not
signed the decree? Isn't it amazing how wicked men
always have to get a group together to give them some support? Wicked
men that never address anything on their own. Bob, what do you
think? Bob, we need to talk about this. Now let's go talk to the king.
Now let's go see what we can do. Now we've busted some forces. Men don't behave that way. Just
wicked cowards. These men assembled and found
Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. Then they came
near and spake before the king concerning the king's decree.
Hast thou not signed a decree that every man that shall ask
a petition of any god or man within thirty days, save of thee,
O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered
and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes
and Persians, which altereth not. Verse 13. Then answered
they and said before the king, that Daniel, that Daniel, this
is what you can expect from that Daniel, that Daniel that you
thought was your servant, that Daniel you thought was so noble,
that Daniel that you place such honor on, that Daniel, which
is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee,
O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition
three times a day. Then the king, when he heard
these words, was sore displeased with himself. And he set his
heart on Daniel to deliver him. And he labored to the going down
of the sun to deliver him. Then these men assembled unto
the king and said unto the king, know, O king, That the law of
the Medes and Persians is that no decree nor statute which the
king establisheth may be changed. Then the king commanded and they
brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. Now, just try
to picture it. Here's an old man, at least 90,
at least 90. And they pick him up and throw
him into a pit with lions. That would be enough to kill
most old men, at least to do them serious bodily injury. They
cast him into the den. Now the king spake and said to
Daniel, thy God, whom thou servest continually, he will deliver
thee. Verse 17. And a stone was brought
and laid on the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with
his own signet, with the signet of his lords, that the purpose
might not be changed concerning Daniel. Now in all of this, Daniel
is a picture of our Redeemer. Our Lord Jesus was that one in
whom there was no fault to be found. He is called this man,
that man, the one held in contempt by all, the envy of all the people,
the princes and the priests and the scribes in Israel. And they
delivered him to be crucified. And when he was crucified, they
laid a stone on his tomb and sealed it so as to make certain
that he couldn't escape or someone steal him out of the tomb. The
princes of Babylon reported Daniel to the king, and they reminded
the king of his decree. And Darius knew that he'd been
fooled. He was ashamed of himself, displeased with himself. But
he was trapped. He was trapped by the very law
he had written. He was trapped by the very law
he had written. Daniel's got to die. Daniel's got to go to the lion's
den. He was honored bound to abide
by the law, no matter the cost. Because he admired Daniel, because
he loved Daniel, he labored to the going down of the sun to
deliver him. But there was nothing he could
do. The law was established. Daniel had violated the law,
and the sentence must be executed. And so the king commanded Daniel
to be cast into the den of lions. Read on. Look at verse 18. Then
the king went to the palace and passed the night fasting. Verse
19. Then the king arose very early
in the morning and went in haste into the den of lions. And when
he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto
Daniel. And the king spake and said to
Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom
thou service continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
Then Daniel said unto the king, O king, Live forever. Oh, what a faithful man this
man is. He's speaking to this king, this pagan barbarian, who
had thrown him into the den of lions, and he says, Oh, king,
live forever. If there's any man faithful in
the kingdom, it's me. Any true patriot, it is me, the
captive from Judah, who lives in Babylon, to whom you've entrusted
so much. Oh, King, live forever. My God
has sent his angel and has shut the lion's mouths that they have
not hurt me. For as much as before him, Not
before you, not before the other princes, not before the presidents,
not before the people. Before him, innocency was found
in me. Now that could only be said of
Daniel as Daniel's found in Christ. It could only be said truly,
factually, factually of one man alone. And that man is the God-man,
our Savior. And also before thee, O King,
have I done no hurt. I've never done a thing to harm
you. Verse 23, Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded
that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel
was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found
upon him. Not a bone broken, not a claw
mark on him, not any filth from the lions mauling him or slobbering
on him. There was no hurt done to him.
Not a bruise on him. No hurt done to him. And commanded
that they should bring him out of the dead, no matter what was
found on him, because he believed in his God. Verse 25. Then King
Darius wrote unto all the people, the nations, and languages that
dwell on all the earth. Look at the last part of verse
26. The God of Daniel, he is the living God, steadfast forever. And then in verse 28, so This Daniel prospered. The Lord
did indeed deliver Daniel from the lions. Daniel told Darius,
my God has sent his angel and shut the lion's mouths that they
have not hurt me. Now preparing this message I
read A lot of comments by folks, and some said the lions had just
been fed, so they weren't hungry. And some said that the lions
were just at this particular time, they didn't bother Daniel,
because they were fully satisfied. And when Daniel was cast into
the lion's den, they didn't bother him at all. Daniel said, God
shut the mouth of the lions. Daniel was cast into the pit,
and no hurt was done to him. This very familiar, beautiful
story is intended and was brought to pass, I have no doubt, to
teach us the work of our Redeemer and our salvation by Him. Oh,
Spirit of God, give us eyes now to see our Savior and hearts
to trust Him. Turn our hearts to Him whose
heart is ever turned to us. Why couldn't Darius deliver Daniel
from the lion's den? Why? He was an absolute monarch. He was sovereign. He's the king. He could do what he wanted to,
yes, but only at a cost. It would have cost him his kingdom.
It would have cost him his dominion. It would have cost him order
in the kingdom. It would have cost him respect
and trust. If the king has written the law
and sealed it with the law, with the signature of the Medes and
Persians, and then he is to violate that law that he's written, he's
to set aside that law that he's written, even for what he dearly
loves, then the king could never again be trusted by anyone. The king could never again be
trusted by anyone. Now hear what God says. The soul
that sinneth, it shall die. That means you're going to die
under the wrath of God for your sins or you can't trust God for
anything. You can't believe God for anything.
His word may again be broken in any area at any time. Daniel must go to the lion's
den because the king has written the law. That was Darius' dilemma. The law had to be honored. Justice
had to be satisfied. The crime had to be punished.
And yet the king set his heart on Daniel to deliver him, but
he couldn't. Daniel must go to the lion's
den. Daz's dilemma shows us the necessity
of our Savior's sin-atoning sacrifice as our substitute. Do you ever
ask yourself, why did the Lord Jesus die upon the cursed tree? Why did the Son of God die such
a painful, ignominious, torturous death, a cursed death, the cursed
death of one hanging on the tree? Why was he crucified at Calvary?
Someone says, well, he died for us to show us his great love
for us. And it is true, greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
And God commends his love to us in that while we were enemies,
Christ died for us. But that lady sitting there knows
I love her. She's fully convinced that I
love her. And I've never died for her. My family knows I love
them. And I'm willing to die for them,
I believe. But I never have. I hope you
know my love for you. And I'm willing to die for you,
I believe, but I never have. Well, surely then, God in glory
could show me He loves me without sacrificing His Son for me. Someone
said, well, He died for us, the Lord Jesus did, to save us from
our sins. That's true. That's true, no
question about that. Without His salvation, without
His death, we could not be saved. But was there no other way? No
other way for God to save sinners? The Lord God sacrificed his darling
son for us upon the cursed tree, that his righteousness might
be declared, that he might be just and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus. We are the rightful subjects
of an absolute monarch, the living God. the mighty monarch of the
universe. And he's issued good, righteous
laws for the regulation of our hearts and our lives. And it
is beneficial to us should we obey those laws. The law God
has given has a dreadful but sure penalty annexed to it. The
soul that sinneth, it shall die. And God cannot deny himself. The wages of sin is death. God cannot disgrace himself.
He cannot bring honor or dishonor upon his holy law. He cannot
and will not set aside his justice. He will not violate his righteousness. Is there then no hope for sinners?
No hope for guilty souls like you and me? God help me to be clear. I spent months and months and
months and months in darkness and despair, in dread of God and the punishment
of sin. I was terrified to go to sleep
at night for fear of waking up in hell and terrified to walk
through the day constantly, constantly. I'd go to church and read my
Bible. I'd go to church and read my Bible. Every now and then,
I'd try to rededicate what never had been dedicated. I'd try to
make some changes, and nothing happened. Nothing happened. And
I would do what preachers said to do. And I would try to pray,
and nothing happened. Nothing was sufficient to quieten
my conscience. Nothing sufficient to say that's
enough. Nothing that I could bring to
God and say, now, now, I know that God in His justice can forgive
and save a sinner like me. Until God revealed His Son in
me, and the satisfaction of justice by His sacrifice, and looking
on the Son of God, God said, that's enough. Will you hear me? Oh, God help
you to hear me. That's enough. Nothing else is. You see, you and I cannot obey
God's law. We cannot bring in righteousness. We cannot put away sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ, God's
darling son, fulfilled all righteousness on behalf of his people. And
by his death upon the cursed tree, fully satisfied the justice
of God on our behalf. And we, being in Him, God punished
us to the full satisfaction of His justice. Look, if you dare, into gaping
hell. Look, if you dare, into the pit
of the dam. Daniel, in chapters 7 and 8,
saw a vision of God's judgment, and he was so terrified at the
thought of it that he fainted and was sick to his stomach for
many days. If you had a clue, oh, if we
only had a clue what awaits the damned, we too would be terrified
and sick to our stomachs. Look, if you dare, into the pit
of the damned. And hear the screeches of the
damned as they suffer the wrath of God forever in hell. And know
this, it will never end. Because man cannot satisfy infinite
justice. You can't do it. You can't do
it. But one man did. That man who is the infinite
God, by the sacrifice of himself, took the flaming sword of divine
justice and swallowed it up on the altar. Fire from heaven consumed the
sacrifice. Here is a sacrifice, Christ the
Lamb of God who consumed the fire of God's wrath. And God
Almighty now is just to justify all who believe on him. Now learn
these four things and I'll be done. First, the law of God cannot
be changed. Darius' law was foolish. Any believer should have violated
Darius's law. Any believer would have violated
Darius's law. Any believer would continue to
pray to God and to God alone and acknowledge no other God.
But the law of Darius wasn't God's law. God's law is something
else. God's law is perfect. It's spiritual. It reaches beyond. carnal things. Paul said, as touching the law,
I was blameless. What on earth does that mean?
What does that mean? With regard to his outward behavior,
as he understood the letter of the law, nobody could point a
finger at Paul and say, there, you did that. That's wrong. He
didn't steal from folks. He didn't lie to folks. He didn't
commit adultery. He didn't commit murder. He wasn't
a fornicator. He worshiped God. He honored
God. He gave tithes. He kept the Sabbath days. Nobody
could point a finger at the law and say you're blameless. And
then Paul said, when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. I saw something I hadn't seen
before. The law requires something inside me. The law requires perfection
on the inside as well as the outside. Oh, now what was it
you said you did was so good? What was it you thought was so
noble? I'm talking about inside. Adultery is not just the physical
act. If a man looks on a woman to
lust after her, he's an adulterer. Murder is not just taking a knife,
slipping it on a man's backside and slitting his throat. No,
no. Murder is being angry with a fellow without reason. But the book says it. Stealing is not just taking what
somebody has with your hands. Not robbing a bank or pickpocket
or something like that. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no. Stealing is wanting what somebody else has. Read the book
of God. Our Savior said, except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, you shall in no case inherit or enter into the
kingdom of heaven. God's law cannot be changed. That's what God requires. Be
ye holy, for I am holy. Be ye perfect, for I am perfect. Skip, that's what God requires
of you and of me, perfection. Perfection. He won't accept your
best efforts. He won't accept your good intentions.
He won't accept noble goals. No, God requires perfection on
the inside and the outside. But we've broken God's law. People talk about living by the
law and keeping the law. I have so many friends around
the world, and you do too, who have been duped into this silly,
superstitious idea that somehow we honor God by trying to keep
the law. No! You honor God by trusting
Him who kept the law! You can't keep God's law. You
can't perform righteousness. This is what the Jews and most
people everywhere do. The Lord laid in Zion a foundation
stone. It lacked in precious. On this
stone, Christ Jesus, all who are born of God are built by
grace and built by faith. But most people stumble over
the stumbling stone. They stumble over that rock on
which we're built as a stumbling stone. They trip up over Christ
crucified, say, no, that's not enough. I've got to do good. And they go about to establish
their own righteousness and refuse to submit to the righteousness
of God in Christ Jesus. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness. God's law can't be changed. We
have violated God's law on every side. There are no exceptions. Number three, yet God will deliver
his elect. Turn one more time to Romans
chapter three. I want you to see this. Darius couldn't find a way to
deliver Daniel from his law. But God, the living God, the
triune Jehovah, looks on His Son, who stood up
for us from eternity as the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world, and says concerning His elect, deliver Him from going
down to the pit. And this is how. Romans 3 verse
19. Now we know that what things
whoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law.
It says it for this purpose, to get you to shut up. To get
you to quit talking about how good you are. to get you to quit
making excuses for your sin. That every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore,
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in
His sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. Verse 21. But now the righteousness
of God, watch this, without the law. Without the law. As long as you keep clinging
to the law, you don't have God's righteousness. The righteousness
of God without the law is manifested. It's evident. It's as clear and
plain as the nose on your face. Being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Being testified to by Daniel
being delivered from the lion's den. Even the righteousness of
God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. Righteousness brought
to us by our Savior's faith as our substitute. Unto all and
upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. Verse
23. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that's
in Christ Jesus. Now watch this. whom God has
set forth. God put him out there. God sent
him. God gave him. God set him forth
in the scriptures to be a propitiation, a justice satisfying sacrifice
through faith in his blood to declare God's righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. What's that mean? to declare
that God is right in forgiving sin. Oh, bless His name! God is right
to forgive me. Do you understand that? God is right to forgive me. God is right to forgive me. He cannot do otherwise since
Christ died for me. to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. To declare, I say, at this time
God's righteousness, that God might be just and the justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus. Larry, we often say concerning
our Redeemer, he is as fully God as though he were not man.
and as fully man as though he were not God. Great, great truth. Listen to this. In the sacrifice of Jesus Christ,
God Almighty as fully punishes my sins as if he could not forgive
sin. And he as fully forgives our
sins as if he could not punish our sins. He will by no means clear the
guilty, for he takes away our guilt in the sacrifice of his
son. And he forgives iniquity, transgression,
and sin by the sacrifice of his son. Jesus paid it all. All the debt we owe. Sin had
left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Look at the den of lions again.
Look at verse 22. Daniel 6, verse 22. My God hath sent His angel. He hath shut the lions' mouths. The most horrible dream I ever
had in my life, I had repeatedly from my youth, until I was nearly
17 years old. I woke up in cold sweat, horrified,
from my youth until I was nearly a grown man. I dreamed of constantly
forever falling into hell. And now, since I saw Christ crucified
for me, I've never seen it again. Haven't had that dream since
I was 16 years old, Frank. Since the day I saw the Redeemer
crucified, gaping hell's mouth has been shut. The lion's mouth
shut, not only that, not only that, Daniel said, they didn't
hurt me. No harm done to me. No harm done. Nothing happened. Because before God, innocence
is found in me. That's the gospel revealed in
the lion's den according to God's purpose. Now, here's the last
thing. That God, that God who saves
sinners by mercy and truth, by grace and justice, that God who
saves sinners honorably to his character, he is the true and
living God. That's what Darius learned. God
helped you to learn it. People say, well, I don't want
justice. I don't want justice. That's what you're going to get,
want it or not. Justice. Jerry Sadler, when you
stand before God in judgment, you're going to get justice.
God can't give anything else. Just justice. If hell is what
you deserve, hell shall be your portion forever. If everlasting
life with Christ in heaven is what you deserve, it shall be
your portion forever. Well, how can that be true for
anybody? In Christ Jesus, we, for whom
He was made sin, are made the very righteousness of God in
Him. And God says concerning his people. Every sinner who believes on
his son. God says to every sinner who
believes on his son. You didn't hear that did you? O sinner, believe on the Son
of God. And God says, innocency is found
in you. No sin, no transgression, no
iniquity, no blame, no corruption, no guilt. Christ took it away. Satisfying justice. He is just
and the justifier of everyone who believes in his son. God
help you to believe. Trust Christ. Oh sinner, trust
Christ. And go home with the witness
of God in your soul, with the witness of God in your conscience,
that you're guiltless, sinless, and holy before the holy God. Innocency found in you, for Christ
is in you.