Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyvert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyvert. I'm reading from Daniel chapter
3. It's about Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego being thrown into the fiery furnace. We read beginning
in verse 22, And the furnace exceeding hot,
the flame of the fire slew those men, which took up Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound into the midst of a burning,
fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king
was astonished. and rose up in haste and spake,
and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound
into the midst of the fire? They answered and said, Unto
the king, true, O king. And he answered and said, Lo,
I see four men, loose, walking, in the midst of the fire, and
they have no hurt. And the fourth is like the Son
of God." I've entitled this message, Man's
Religion and God's Religion. You see, there are only two religions,
the religion of God and the religion that man has made up. And in
this story, we're given a contrast between man's religion and God's
religion. Now, this chapter opens up with
King Nebuchadnezzar making an image. It was 90 feet high, 15
feet wide, a golden image. And he said, everybody is gonna
have to bow before the image that I've made when the music
starts. And so when he would start his
music, everybody would bow in the direction of that huge golden
image. Solid gold, 90 feet high, about
the story of a nine-story building, about the height of a nine-story
building. Now, there were three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who we find out in Chapter 2 had been given high positions. They
were Jewish, part of the captivity during Daniel's time, and they
refused to bow. Now, there were men who were
jealous of them, men who were under them, so they went to King
Nebuchadnezzar, and they told the king about these three men
who refused to bow. Now, Nebuchadnezzar knew them.
But when he found out that they would not bow before his image,
he was furious. And he came to them, we read
beginning in verse 15, verse 14 of Daniel chapter 3, 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, if you'd
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've made, well,
you'll be in good shape. But if you worship not, you shall
be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace,
and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hand?"
Now, look at their reply. Verse 16. Shadrach and Meshach
and Abednego answered and said unto the king, O Nebuchadnezzar,
we're not careful to answer thee in this matter. It's not like
we have to scratch our head and try to come up with a decision.
The decision's already made. We don't have any choice. We're
not going to worship your golden image. If it be so, our God,
whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace,
and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. Don't think
that you have control God has control, and you're in His hand,
and He will deliver us out of your hand. But if not, if He
lets us go and be burnt up in that fiery furnace, be it known
unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship
the golden image which thou hast set up." Now, King Nebuchadnezzar
was so angry. He had these men at this time
bound, and he said, heat the furnace seven times hotter than
it's usually heated. And it was so hot that the men
who took these men to the furnace were burned up while they were
trying to throw these men into the furnace. But can you imagine
what it must have been like for Nebuchadnezzar to look into that
furnace and see four men, not three, four. And they were loose. They weren't tied up. They were
walking. And the fourth was like unto
the Son of God. How did he know he was the Son
of God? If you ever see the Son of God, By faith you'll know
He's the Son of God. There won't be any question regarding
who He is. And these four men came out,
and look at this description, verse 27. After they came out of the midst
of the fire, and the princes, governors, and captains, and
kings, counselors, being gathered together, saw these men upon
whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their
head singed, neither was the smell of fire passed over them. They came out totally well, no
burns. They didn't even smell of smoke. Now, I realize people look at
this as a children's Bible story, but it is something that literally
took place. And in this, we see the religion
of man and the religion of God contrasted. Now, the first point
I would like to make with regard to the religion of man, it has
a man-made God. God created by men. Nebuchadnezzar made this golden
image. And the first thing we have to
understand about man's religion is it is a God that man has made. It's not the true God, not the
living God, but a God that man has made, a false God, a counterfeit
God. And in man's religion, there's
an appeal to the senses. What took place during this religious
service? There was a bunch of music. And
at the sound of the music, you were to bow down and worship. And what's more appealing to
the senses than music? Now, I think this is very interesting.
In contemporary Christianity, The song leader is called the
worship leader, and it's made out as if the real worship is
going on during the singing. And that's the main focus of
most contemporary religion in most churches. In central Kentucky
right now, the main focus is the music, not the Word of God. not the preaching of the gospel,
but the music. That's where we feel. That's
where we experience all these emotions and so on. It was an
appeal to the flesh. As I said, the music leader is
called the worship leader. That's when the worship is really
going on. Now, The motivation behind man's
religion-it's a man-made God, it's appealing to the senses-the
motivation behind man-made religion is a hope of gain or a fear of
loss. Now, when these people heard
that music, they bowed down because they were afraid of what was
going to take place if they didn't. It wasn't because of true worship.
They were afraid that they would be punished, that they would
be thrown into a fire. And they thought, if we did,
there's gain. We can earn brownie points, I
suppose, with Nebuchadnezzar. We can please him. They thought
somehow they could be benefited from it. But it wasn't to worship
God for who He is. Their worship was out of fear
of what would happen if they did not worship. And in man's
religion, there's always a choice involved. Now, think about this. We can choose to bow and we'll
be saved. We can choose to stand up and
then we're really in trouble. But our salvation, our well-being
is ultimately dependent upon the choice we make. Now, that's man's religion. There's
always a choice involved. Your destiny is dependent upon
the choice that you make. Salvation is according to man's
free will and the choice he makes. That's what most people's religion
is all about. Now, I think this is very interesting. In this man-made religion, there's
always jealousy involved. You'll notice these men turned
in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. There's always competition involved. Who's the holiest? Who's the
most blessed? Who's the godliest? There's even rewards in heaven
where some people are going to have it higher than the other.
Some people are more obedient. They've done better and they're
more blessed. There's always a competition.
involved. And man's religion always hates
a sovereign God, a God who is in control. Who is that God that
will deliver you out of my hands? You see, in man's religion, man
thinks he's more powerful than God. Now, somebody says, I don't
believe man's more powerful than God. If you believe in free will,
you do. You believe that your will can
trump God's will and that your will can keep His will from taking
place. If you believe that, you believe
yourself to be more powerful than God. Nebuchadnezzar says,
who is that God that will deliver you out of my hands? Man's religion hates a God that's
absolutely in control and denies Him. And man's religion is binding. It ties you up to where you-that's
what did they do to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? They bound
them before they cast them into the burning, fiery furnace. Man's
religion is afraid of liberty. man's religion is afraid of freedom,
the freedom of grace. Now, what is involved in freedom? You don't owe anything, and you
get to do what you want to do. And that scares religious people
to death. When they hear of grace, they think, well, that's going
to promote sin, because they don't really understand what the freedom
of grace really is. So we see man's religion starting
with this man-made God based upon human choice, appealing
to the senses, it's not saving religion. Now, let's consider
God's religion, the religion that is of God, that is God's
religion, not man's religion, God's religion. Well, it begins
with the true character of God. That's the starting point, who
God really is. In verse 15, Nebuchadnezzar says,
now if you be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the
different instruments and you bow down, it'll be good for you. But if you don't bow down, I'm
going to throw you into a fiery furnace. And who is that God
that will deliver you out of my hands?" And I love their reply. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
answered and said unto the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful
to answer thee in this matter. It's not like we need to make
a choice. If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver. You see, God is God, and you
are in His hands. He's not in your hands, Nebuchadnezzar. If it's His will for Him to deliver
us, He can deliver us because of His almighty power. You see, God is God. What does
that mean? That means He's the absolute
sovereign of the universe, the cause of causes, the One who
is all-powerful, who has the power to make sure His will always
comes to pass. WE'RE NOT GOING TO BOW TO YOUR
FALSE IDEA OF GOD, BECAUSE WE KNOW OUR GOD IS ABLE TO DELIVER
US. YOU SEE, HE REALLY IS GOD. AND DEBORAH KINNESAR IS GOING
TO FIND THAT OUT IN A MORE REMARKABLE FASHION IN DANIEL CHAPTER 4.
And he finds out that he doeth, and these are Nebuchadnezzar's
words after God taught him who he was, turned him into a beast,
and then taught him who he was. He said, he doeth according to
his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. And there's none that can stay his hand or say unto
him, what doest thou? He is in absolute control. So in God's religion, true and
living God, His character is declared. All of His glorious
attributes, His holiness, His sovereignty, His righteousness,
His immutability, His eternality, whatever, God is declared. Our God is able. Isn't that what Abraham believed. Abraham staggered not at the
promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God, being fully persuaded that what God had promised, he
was able also to perform. You see, in the religion of God,
salvation is of the Lord, and he is able to save without my
help." That is the character of the true and the living God. And in God's religion, there's
no choice involved. There's no-you're not given two
directions and, well, I'll choose one or the other. No. When Nebuchadnezzar
confronts them. They said, We're not careful
to answer thee in this matter. It's not like there's a choice.
We're not going to bow to your golden image because he's not
real. He's not true. Now, you believe when you have
no choice. If you choose to believe, you're
choosing to believe in error. But when you believe the truth,
you don't choose to believe the truth. You believe the truth
because it's true. There's no choice involved. There's only
one way. There's not two things to consider, and you pick one. There's only one way. They said,
we don't have to make a choice about this. And in God's religion,
He's worshiped for who He is. and not because of the benefits
we may believe we receive. Now, how did Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego answer him? Well, he's able to deliver us.
But if he doesn't, If He is pleased to let us burn to death in that
fiery furnace, we still will not worship your false God."
Now, that's the way the truth works. It worships God for who He is. The leper came up to the Lord
and said, if you will, you can make me
clean." Now, I know you don't have to because you're God, and
whatever you do is right, but if you will, you can make me
clean. He worshiped Him for who He was
before He was made clean. Now, the issue of worship is
the issue of God's religion. We worship Him for who He is
and not because of some kind of benefit we think we're going
to receive out of it, not because we think we're going to gain
in our lives. Because of that, He is worshiped
for who He is. And if that is not behind our
worship, it is man's religion and not God's religion. Now, in God's religion, men refuse
to worship that which is not God. THEY HAVE NO RESPECT FOR
A FALSE GOD. LOOK IN VERSE 12, THERE ARE CERTAIN
JEWS WHOM THOU SET OVER THE AFFAIRS OF THE PROMISES OF BABYLON, SHADRACH,
MESHACH, AND BED, AND GO. THESE MEN, O KING, HAVE NOT REGARDED
THEE. THEY SERVE NOT THY GODS, NOR
WORSHIP THE GOLDEN IMAGE WHICH THOU SET UP. THEY REFUSED. NOW,
IN GOD'S RELIGION, THOSE WHO ARE A PART OF IT WILL NOT. THEY REFUSE TO WORSHIP FALSE
CONCEPTS OF GOD. They have no respect for a false
concept of God. Now understand, I want to be
a respectful person, and I want to show everybody respect. I don't want to be a disrespectful
person. That's a terrible way to treat anybody. But a false
God, a God that's not the God of the Bible, I have no respect
for. Nothing but contempt for a false
God. That's a God that can't save
anyway. And if you can tolerate a false
God, it's because you don't really love the true. You see, if you
love the true, if you love the Lord Jesus Christ, if you love
His way of salvation by grace, you will not tolerate that which
denies the true. Now, the religion of God saves. That false religion, that image
that Nebuchadnezzar set up, it couldn't save anybody. It's an
image. It's an idol. It might have been very valuable.
It no doubt was. Ninety feet high, solid gold.
Who knows how expensive something like this might be, but it could
be measured. It could be measured. You know, the God of false religion
can be measured. You can explain Him away. But
that God could not save. But God's religion saves. Now, they said, if it be so,
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning,
fiery furnace. He's able. We don't know if He
will, but He's able. But He did. He did. I love the way they're brought
out They're thrown into the fiery furnace, and they're brought
out not even smelling like smoke. No hurt upon them. That same
fire that killed the men who threw them in had no power over
them. You see, this gives us some idea
of the power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what
was the difference between the men who died in the fire and
the men who didn't? Christ was the difference, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And He saves in such a way
as there's not even a smell of sin on a believer. not a smell
of sin. He put it away so completely
that there's not a smell of sin, and we're unbound. We're loosed
in God's religion. He was in shackles. He was tied
up when they were bound in by Nebuchadnezzar, but when they
were thrown into the fire with the Son of God, they were set
free, and Christ is the only reason. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
MADE THE DIFFERENCE. GOD'S RELIGION SETS MEN FREE. LOOK IN VERSE 23, AND THESE THREE
MEN, SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO, FELL DOWN BOUND INTO THE MIDST
OF THE BURNING FIRE HE FURNISHED. THEN NEBUCHANEZAR THE KING WAS
ASTONISHED, AND ROSE UP IN HAZE, AND SPAKE, AND SAID UNTO HIS
COUNSELORS, DID WE NOT CAST THREE MEN BOUND IN THE MIDST OF THE
FIRE? THEY ANSWERED AND SAID, TRUE, O KING. HE ANSWERED, LO,
I SEE FOUR MEN LOOSE. set free, walking. Now, in the gospel, men are set free. Now, what is
it to be free? To be free is to not owe anything,
to be debt-free. And that is what the blood of
Christ accomplished for every believer. I owe nothing but gratitude
and love because I don't have any debts. I stand perfect before
the law of God. And to be free is to do what
you want to do, not to do what you feel like you'll be punished
if you don't do, but you're doing what you want to do. You know, most people's religion
is actually a very unhappy thing. They're doing what they really
don't want to do, and they're not doing what they really want
to do. But in the gospel, you're set
free to do what you want to do. Here is the key. When God saves
somebody, He changes their want to. I want to follow the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's my want to. I want to
be His disciple. I want to follow Him through
whatever. That is every believer's desire. It's what they want to do. They've
been set free. They've been untied. They've
been unbound. And look at this statement that
Nebuchadnezzar makes regarding these men. Then Nebuchadnezzar
spake and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, who hath sent his angels and delivered his servant that
trusted in him. Now, these men trusted their
God. They didn't know what He was
going to do. They didn't know whether he was going to let them
burn in the fiery furnace and then bring them into heaven or
preserve them in the fiery furnace. They didn't know what he was
going to do, but they trusted him. They trusted him. Whatever he does is right. We trust him. I think of that passage of Scripture
where Paul said in II Timothy 1.12, I know whom I have believed. Not I know what I believe. I
know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded. I am convinced
that He is able. Same thing that these three Hebrew
children believed. Our God is able. I am persuaded
that He is able, has all ability to keep that which I've committed
to Him. against that day. Paul, what
have you committed to Him? The entire salvation of my soul. I'm burning all bridges. If who
He is and what He did is not enough to save me, I will not
be saved. I'm not looking anywhere else. I'm looking to Him only. Now, that's what these three
men did. They trusted their God. Do you know, do I know what it
is to trust the Lord Jesus Christ and not look to myself in any
way? To look to Him only. And one of the things that is
so glorious about this story, we see that the gospel is a gospel
worth dying for. they were willing to be thrown
into a burning, fiery furnace rather than to worship a false
god. That lets us know how glorious
the gospel is, that it's a gospel worth dying for. I love that,
and I love what Nebuchadnezzar says in the end, he says in verse
29, 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 God that can deliver
after this sort. The religion of God saves. May God give me and you the grace
to be a part of His religion and not a part of man's religion,
because man's religion will not save. Nebuchadnezzar's religion
is a false god, a man-made god, that salvation is ultimately
up to you, your decision. That's false. But the true God's
religion is based upon His character and His ability to save. Now
we have this message on DVD and CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Niver praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at todsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.