Turn with me to the 11th chapter
of the book of John. And this evening, I'm going to
be speaking from 1 Corinthians chapter 16. And the title of
the message is the joy of giving. And we're going to see from that
passage of scripture what the Bible teaches about this subject
of giving the joy. joy of giving. John chapter 11 beginning in verse 7. Then after that saith he to his
disciples let us go into Judea again. Now the last time they
were in Judea They were going to stone him.
They picked up rocks to throw at him. They wanted to kill him.
And so he says, let's go there again. That place where they
sought to stone me. Verse 8. His disciples say unto
him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee. And goest
thou thither again, we can certainly understand their response. Jesus
answered, are there not 12 hours in the day? If any man walk in
the day, he stumbleth not because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night,
He stumbleth because there is no light in him. What the Lord is saying is I
have a work to do. That's going to be done. And you're afraid of going there. And we understand their fear,
don't we? But in the path of obedience, there is nothing to
fear. No man can harm me. I will not
allow circumstances that appear unfavorable and even dangerous
to keep me from doing my father's will. I will walk and not stumble
in obedience. You only stumble while walking
in the night. in disobedience. I've entitled
this message, Obedience. Do you remember the story of
Saul's disobedience? Would you turn back for a moment
to 1 Samuel chapter 15? 1 Samuel 15. Now here's God's command
to King Saul. Verse 3. Now go and smite. Amalek. And utterly destroy all that
they have. And spare them not. But slay
both man and woman. infant and suckling, ox and sheep,
camel and ass. Now, if God says to do this,
it's the thing to do. They deserve this. This was God's
judgment against these people. And someone is thinking when
they read that passage of scripture, how could God be so harsh and
cruel? Well, the Amalekites were a harsh,
cruel people. and the Lord is giving them what
they deserve. Remember, look back up in verse
2, thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek
did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way when he came
up from Egypt. And as a matter of fact, the
Amalekites typically represent the flesh. There's typical teaching
here. They typically represent the
flesh, our great enemy. Now, how did Saul respond to
this command? Verse 8, After they went in to
fight the Amalekites, he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites,
alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the
sword, but he didn't kill the king. But Saul and the people
spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and
of the fatlings, and the lambs, and of that which was good, and
would not destroy them while we could be benefited from that.
But everything else that was vile and refuse, they destroyed
utterly." Now look what God says to him in response to this. Verse
19. He says this to Saul through
Samuel. Wherefore then didst thou not
obey the voice of the Lord? But didst fly upon the spoil
and didst evil in the sight of the Lord. And Saul said unto
Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and have gone
the way which the Lord sent me. And I brought Agag, the king
of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. Now, remember
this. Partial obedience is what? Disobedience. He didn't obey, he said he did,
but he didn't. Verse 20, And Saul said unto
Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone
the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king
of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites, but the people,
took of the spoil, sheep, and oxen, the chief of the things
which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto
the Lord thy God in Gilgal. We had a good motive for this.
We wanted to take these good sheep and so on and use them
for sacrifice for you. And Samuel said, Hath the Lord
as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying
the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. Faith without
obedience is not faith at all. Love without obedience is not
love at all. Repentance without obedience
is not repentance at all. Worship without obedience is not worship
at all. You see, faith is obedience. We read of the obedience of faith. Believing God is obedience to
his command. What gives me a right to believe?
He commands me to. Believing Christ is obedience
to his command. Love is obedience. He that hath my commandments
and keepeth them, our Lord said, he it is that loveth me. If you love me, Keep my commandments. Repentance is obedience. God commanded all men everywhere
to repent. Worship is obedience. To obey is better than sacrifice
and to hearken than to fat of lambs. Now, the gospel is to
be obeyed because God is to be obeyed. The truth is to be obeyed. Now, I can certainly understand
the disciples' hesitance to go back to Judea. They thought it
meant death. Look back in John chapter 11,
verse 16. And I love Thomas's attitude
here in verse 16. of John chapter 11, then said,
Thomas, which is called Didymus unto his fellow disciples, let
us also go that we may die with him. Now he thought if we go
back there, they're going to kill him and we're going to be
killed too. But let's go and die with him. Now, the main thought of this
passage of scripture that is our text in John chapter nine
is that there is no danger in obedience. There is only danger in disobedience. Now I want you to think about
this issue, this thought, this concept, if you will, of obedience.
The Lord Jesus Christ is God. You know that. Jesus is God. Isn't that a wonderful thing
to say? Jesus Christ is God. He's God the Son, God manifest
in the flesh, And He became obedient. The Scripture says in Philippians
2, He became obedient unto death. Even the death of the cross.
God the Father said to His Son, you go and allow yourself to
be nailed to that cross. And He said, yes, Father. And
He became obedient all the way to death. Look in Hebrews chapter
5 for a moment. Hebrews chapter 5. Verse 7. Who, speaking of the Lord Jesus,
in the days of His flesh, when He walked here as God manifest
in the flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications
with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save
him from death and was heard in that he feared, though he
were a son, yet learned he what? Obedience. By the things which
he suffered and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that want. obey Him. The Lord said, Why call ye me,
Lord, Lord, and do not those things which I say? Paul said
in Romans chapter 6, verse 16, Know ye not that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey? His servants ye are to whom ye
obey, whether of sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness. Now, is there anything more important
than obedience? Now, I realize that we're saved
by the obedience of Christ. We're not saved by our personal
obedience to God. We're saved by Christ's personal
obedience to God. We're saved by the obedience
of Christ. Now, what is the evidence that
we're saved by the obedience of Christ? We obey His voice. That's the evidence. He is the
author of eternal salvation. And I love that term, eternal
salvation. I've been saved eternally by
the Lord Jesus Christ. You know when I was saved? People
always try to struggle as to when they were saved. Well, I
know this. I was saved whenever He agreed to be my surety. Everything
that God requires of me, He looks to the Lord Jesus Christ for.
I'm saved by His obedience. Every thought is to be brought
into captivity according to 2 Corinthians 10 to the obedience of Christ. Right now, I know I'm saved by
His obedience. His obedience. And the evidence
that I've been saved by His obedience is I obey His voice. I believe His gospel. Now, my mind was brought to the
story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when I thought about
this thing of obedience. My mind was drawn to that. So
let's turn over to Daniel chapter 3. Daniel chapter 3. Verse 1. Daniel chapter 3. Verse 1. Nebuchadnezzar, the king, made
an image of gold whose height was 3 square cubits, 90 feet,
and the breadth thereof 6 cubits, 18 feet, a 90 foot by 18 foot
idol. And He set it up in the plain
of Dura in the province of Babylon. Now this story begins with a
man-made God, impressive to the flesh. Ninety feet high, but
it was Nebuchadnezzar who set it up. I think the language here
is kind of ironic. As a matter of fact, if you go
on reading through this passage of Scripture, it's repeated over
and over and over again how Nebuchadnezzar set it up. You see, a false God
isn't it. And it's set up by man. A God set up by man is no God
at all. And this story begins with a
man-made God. And if your God is controlled
by man in any way, if he's anything less than the
absolute sovereign of the universe whose will must be done. Anything
less than absolutely independent is a false god that cannot save
and it set up by man and it's not going to do me any good.
It was set up, I think it's interesting, in the province of Babylon. What
is Babylon? Well, you remember where Babylon
is introduced to us. Same plane that the Tower of
Babel was built up. Babylon means confusion. And
it's the representation of man's attempt to reach God. It's a
representation of false religion. Remember that Babylonish garment?
that Achan hid the garment, the covering of man's religion. It
caused a curse to come upon Israel and it had to be expelled. Babylon,
false religion. So this story begins with a false
god and false religion. Verse 2, Then Nebuchadnezzar
the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, the
captains, the judges, the treasurers, and the counselors, and the sheriffs,
and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of
the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. They decided to have a special
service to honor this god that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then
the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers,
the counselors, the sheriffs, all the somebodies, the big shots,
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's commanded,
O people, nations, and languages, that at what time you hear the
sound of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbuck, the psaltery,
the dulcimer, and all kinds of music, Kind of sounds like your
modern contemporary religious service. You fall down and worship
the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. And whoso
falleth not down and worshipeth shall the same hour be cast into
the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Now here we have the
driving force behind human religion. Would you please listen to me
carefully? The driving force behind human religion is not
the truth. It's fear. Fear of what you'll lose. Fear of what you won't gain.
Fear of what you'll miss out on. Fear of punishment. Fear of loss. Fear of hell. Fear
of what men will think. The fear of man. Now remember
this, there's two kinds of fear in this world. Only two kinds,
there's the fear of God and the fear of anything else. The fear
of God and the fear of anything else. The fear of anything else
is contrary to the fear of God. Now, true worship is absent in
man's religion. True worship worships God for
who he is. True worship is response to the
truth. God is spirit and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth. There's no worship
apart from worshiping him in spirit. That means with the Holy
Spirit. The only way you can worship
God is with the Holy Spirit. I saw some kind of ad just this
week where it said, come worship with us. I'm not going to say
that. Natural man, I want you to come and hear the gospel,
but only a believer can worship God because only a believer has
the Spirit of God. I'm not going to say come and
worship with us because you can't do that unless you have the Holy
Spirit. You can't do that unless you have a regenerate nature.
That's what worship is. They that worship God must worship
Him in spirit and in truth, the truth of the gospel. There's
no worship of God in error. It doesn't happen. Do you hear
that? It does not happen. Ain't nobody ever worshiped God
in error. It's impossible. They who worship God must worship
Him in spirit, by the Holy Spirit, according to the truth of the
gospel. He is the truth. Verse 7. Now these fellows were
afraid. If you don't bow down before
this idol, You're going to be cast into a burning, fiery furnace. Verse 7, 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. Of course they did. Who wants
to be thrown into a burning, fiery furnace? I don't. Verse
8. 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, has made a decree
that every man that shall 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 falleth
not down and worshipeth, that he should be cast into the midst
of a burning, fiery furnace. Now there are certain Jews whom
thou has said over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, And these men, O king, have not regarded
thee. They serve not thy gods, nor
worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Now, perhaps
there were other Jews who bowed down, but these three fellows
didn't. Certainly, it was dangerous to
not obey Nebuchadnezzar. Was it really? Peter said we ought to obey God
rather than man. Listen to this scripture from
Luke chapter 12 verses 4 and 5. Our Lord said, Be not afraid
of them that kill the body. And after that there is no more
they can do. But I forewarn you whom you shall fear. Fear him
which after he hath killed have power to cast into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear him. Now what a testimony against
these men. Look at verse 12 again. 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 failed to obey. They serve not thy God, nor worship
the golden image which thou hast set up." I sure would like to
have that laid to my charge, wouldn't you? I love that saying, if they arrested
people for being a Christian, would they have enough evidence
to convict you? Oh, would to God that this could
be laid to the charge of every one of us. No regard for the
God of man. a refusal to bow down. Verse
13. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage and fury, commanded to bring
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before
the king, and 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, this is always going to
bring about a rage. You see, as long as you are inclusive
and ecumenical, you have your view of the truth. I have my
view of the truth. We believe differently, but we're
going to wind up in the same place. We're all traveling to
God just on different roads, different roads. I have my belief.
You have your belief. We're all going the same place.
As long as we have that kind of attitude, it's not going to
cause any trouble. I'm OK. You're OK. We're happy
together. But if you have no regard to
a false gospel and a false God, it's going to bring you trouble. Verse 15. Now, if you be ready, That at
what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut,
psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down
and worship the image which I have made. Boy, you know, that tells it right there, doesn't
it? Well, you're in good shape, but
if you worship not, You shall be cast to the same hour into
the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is that God
that should deliver you out of my hands? You know, false religion
in reality has a very small God. Nebuchadnezzar saying, I'm the
one in control. Who is that God that will deliver
you out of my hands? Now their response, verse 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful
to answer thee in this matter. We have no anxiety about how
to answer you. If it be so, verse 17, 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. He's able
to deliver us. Nebuchadnezzar, you're a pawn
in God's hand. I love the words of our Lord
to Pilate when Pilate said, don't you know that I have power to
crucify you? And I have power to release you.
And I can just hear the way our Lord said this. You have no power
at all over me. except it be given thee from
above. You know, faith is believing
He is able. Isn't that the very essence of
faith? He is able. He's able to deliver me. He's
able to save me. He is able to save me with no
help from me. I love what of those blind men
coming up to the Lord. And I don't know how they got
in there, but they groped their way into the house where our
Lord was. And he said, do you believe that I'm able to do this? You believe I'm able to give
you sight? You believe that I'm able to save you with no help
from you? They said, yay, Lord. That's
what faith is. It's believing his ability. He says, they say in verse 17,
if it be so, if it's His will, 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, if He lets us burn
in that fiery furnace, if He is pleased in His sovereign will
to not deliver us, Be it known unto thee, O King, that we will
not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast
set up." Make no mistake about it. It's not going to happen. Now
these men, I want you to think about these three noble men.
They knew. that obedience was going to cost
them their life. Was it worth it? I ask myself that question. I
ask you that question. Is it worth it? Is it too great
a price to pay? Verse 19. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full
of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spake and commanded
that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it
was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty
men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
and to cast them into the burning, fiery furnace." Now this is human
religion's agenda to bind and men and to kill them. Verse 22. Then 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." Now, this is the realness of this fiery furnace. Humanly
speaking, there's no deliverance. And this is demonstrated by when
these men threw them in, the fellows that threw them in were
killed. They were burned up immediately because of the heat of this burning,
fiery furnace. But the story is not over. Look
in verse 24. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king
was astonished. And he 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, not bound, but set free,
walking in the midst of the fire, and they had no hurt, and the
form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Now, why did the fiery furnace
kill these mighty men, but did not at all harm Shadrach and
Meshach and Abednego? Was it because they had some
kind of special fireproof clothing that delivered them from that?
No, not at all. The difference was the Son of
God. We threw three men in there.
Yeah, but I see four men. Loose and walking in the fourth
is like unto the Son of God. Now, listen real carefully. What's
the difference between a saved man and a lost man? What's the
difference between a Christian and one who's not a Christian?
The Son of God. Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter
4 verse 7, who maketh thee to differ from another? And what
hast thou that thou didst not receive? Who made you to differ
from another? Now, if you're a believer, I
don't have to convince you of this. You know it so. And this
is one of the things I love about the truth. When somebody hears
the truth, they know it so. You don't have to convince them.
Who made you to differ from somebody else? The Son of God did. He
made the difference in election. I was chosen in Him before time
began. He made the difference when He
redeemed me in His own precious blood and put away my sin and
worked out a perfect righteousness for me. He made the difference
in regeneration when He gave me a spirit, when He gave me
a new heart. And now I see the gospel. He's the difference.
Why is it that these men are set free? These other fellows
were killed. Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
go, I think this is really neat. They're not bound up anymore.
Do you know the only time you're going to be set free is when
you obey? There is only liberty. There is only freedom in obedience. Anything else is a binding. But
they were set free in this obedience, weren't they? Oh, the gospel
is to be obeyed. You're commanded. You're commanded. This is God's command to you. You're commanded to believe the
gospel. Obey. That's your right to believe. Well, what if I'm not one of
the elect? You don't need to worry about it. Your command
is to obey the gospel. Call upon the name of the Lord.
That's all you need to worry about. Examine your calling and
election and make them sure. You can't make your election
sure until you make your calling sure. Well, how can I make my
calling sure? Call! The called call, whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Call on his name
right now. That's obedience to his command.
You've got a right to do what he told you to. If he tells you
to do it, you've got a right to do it. The difference was the Lord.
Now, listen, let's go on reading. Verse 25, He answered and said,
Lo, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire, and
they had no hurt. And the form of the fourth is
like unto 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..." Can you imagine?
This really happened, folks. Can you imagine watching them
walk through that furnace? I mean, here they come. Then
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth out of the midst of
the fire. And the princes, governors, and
captains, and the king's council, being together, saw these men
upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their
head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell
of fire had passed on them." Now this can only be understood.
This is a notable miracle indeed. But this can only be understood
in light of the gospel. You know, Christ has so completely
saved me that the condemnation of God, the fire of God, the
furnace has no power at all against me. No condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. You know, I don't even have the
smell of smoke. I don't even have the smell of sin on me.
You know, smell means something bad. He was talking about a bad
smell. When there's a bad smell, there's a bad reason behind it.
But I don't even have the smell of sin. Holy in God's sight. No smell of sin. I love the way
they say their coats were not changed. You see, the coat of
the believer is what? What is the garment of the believer?
It's the righteousness and merits of the Lord Jesus Christ justified. Justified. Not guilty. Justified by His righteousness.
That coat can't be changed, can it? It's the immutable coat of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the security of the
believer. We come out of that furnace without even the smell
of sin on us. That's how powerful the blood
of Christ is. The blood of Christ makes it to where everybody He
died for, they don't even have the smell of sin. Perfect in
God's sight. Justified in God's sight. Not
even a hair of my head singed. Verse 28. 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 and have changed the king's word and yielded their
bodies that they might not serve nor worship any God. except their
God. Now you know what Nebuchadnezzar
was impressed with? The God of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. Look what he goes on to say in
verse 29. Therefore I make a decree that
every people, nation, and language would 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's
no other God that can deliver after this sort. Now what a deliverance. And you see the deliverance of
these men in this miracle. But there's no God that can deliver
after this sort that can take somebody like me. The chief of sinners. the very
chief of sinners, and can make me just like the Lord Jesus Christ,
and causes me to persevere. And by His grace, I say with
these fellows, I'll go into the fiery furnace before I'll worship
any God except the God who saved me, the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ who's cleansed me. And when I say that, it scares
me. I think, well, what if the Lord tries me? Well, I hope I
don't get tried, to be honest with you. Lead us not into temptation.
I don't want to be tried. I'm afraid I'll... But still,
by the grace of God, the way I feel right now, Him giving
me the grace, I'm going to be right there with these fellows. There's liberty, there's freedom
in obedience. They walked set free. No God can deliver after this
sort. He takes a sinner and justifies
them and makes that sinner obedient to his gospel and preserves him
all the way to the end. Now don't ever, oh may God deliver
us, don't ever Here's the best way I know how
to say this. Death is to be chosen over disobedience. Amen? Amen. Let's pray together.