Thy God Will Deliver Thee

Q: What does the Bible say about God's ability to save?

The Bible affirms that God is able to save to the uttermost those who come to Him through Christ. Scripture teaches that God's power to save is without limit. As Hebrews 7:25 states, Jesus is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him because He always lives to intercede for them. The ability of God is not contingent on human effort but rests solely in His sovereign grace, able to fulfill His promises and extend mercy to sinners. This salvation is a reflection of His character, demonstrating that He can be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26).

Q: How do we know God's law must be satisfied?

God's law demands satisfaction due to His holy nature, affirming justice without compromise. God's law, set forth from eternity, reflects His holiness and requires that justice be maintained. As the sermon illustrates with Darius's dilemma, the law of the Medes and Persians could not be altered, demonstrating that laws, once made, are binding. Similarly, God's decree is immutable; the soul that sins must die (Ezekiel 18:4). However, God's love and justice harmonize in Christ, who fulfilled the law and took the punishment for sin upon Himself (Isaiah 53:5). Therefore, the profound truth is that God’s law must be satisfied, and this satisfaction is accomplished through Christ’s sacrificial death.

Q: Why is believing in God important for salvation?

Believing in God is essential for salvation because it aligns us with His will and grace. Faith in God is foundational for salvation, as it acknowledges our need for divine grace and recognizes the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement for sin. Daniel exemplified this faith; despite the threat of death in the lion's den, he believed God and remained steadfast in prayer. Romans 10:9 emphasizes that confession and belief in our heart lead to salvation. This belief is not mere intellectual assent but a heart that trusts in God's promises and His capability to save. By believing, we receive the benefits of Christ’s work on the cross, becoming partakers of His grace and justification (Romans 5:1).

I had planned to speak to you
tonight from John the 17th chapter, but Brother Jim Eccles read a
scripture in the study tonight that was such a blessing to me,
and I could tell that it was to the men in the prayer room
It has such a powerful, powerful reference to the redemptive work
of our Lord Jesus Christ that I felt impressed to preach from
that passage of Scripture. If you'll open your Bibles to
the book of Daniel. Now, I'll bring the message Wednesday
night that I intended to bring this evening, and Wednesday night
we're going to, the Lord willing, observe the Lord's table. Lord's table this coming Wednesday
evening. And I'll be preaching from John
17 on the Lord's prayer for His own. Now, Belshazzar was king. He was king of this country,
and he was a blasphemous man, a propane man, a wicked man. And he sent his service down
to the temple of God and took out the gold and silver vessels
that were used in the worship of the Lord. And he gave a great
party, a big feast, and he had his princes and captains and concubines and people to
drink wine out of these vessels that he had taken out of the
temple in Jerusalem. And when that took place in their
revelry and drunkenness, they all were shocked when something
occurred quite out of the ordinary. They looked over on the wall
and there was a hand, a man's hand, no body, no arm, just a
hand. And that hand was writing on
the wall of the palace there where they were meeting,
where they were having their party. And it wrote several words
over there on the wall, the hand did. And Belshazzar was greatly
troubled, as were the people you can imagine. And he asked
his so-called wise men, and advisers to tell him what it meant. They
read what it said. He said, tell me what it means.
None of them could. It was suggested to him that
Daniel, one of the children of Israel, that was brought there
in captivity out of Jerusalem and out of Israel, it was suggested
that Daniel could tell him what it meant, that Daniel's God was
with him, and that Daniel's God would tell him interpretation. So they brought Daniel. And here
in verse 25 of Daniel 5, Daniel reads the writing and interprets
it for him, in Daniel 5, verse 25. And Daniel said, this is
the writing, and this is the writing, Daniel 5, 25, this is
the writing that was written, This is the interpretation of
the thing, O King, meaning God has numbered your kingdom and
finished it. That's what that first word means.
Tikal means you're weighed in the balances and found wanting.
Perez, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the
Persians. And so that old Belshazzar, he commanded that they clothed
Daniel with scarlet, put a gold chain of gold around his neck,
and made a proclamation concerning Daniel that he should be the
third ruler in the kingdom. Verse 30 says, In that night
was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain, and Darius the
Median took the kingdom. Belshazzar is dead now. God's
judgment fell upon him. And this man, Darius, became
the king over that kingdom. And he was three score and two
years old when he became king, 62 years old when he became king. And verse 1 of chapter 6 says,
And it pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and
twenty princes. He's going to divide the power, he's going
to be the king, and these men are going to direct things for
him, be responsible to him over the doings of the people, which
should be over the whole kingdom. And over these 120 princes, he
made three presidents, of whom Daniel was the first. Daniel
was recognized as a man who knew God, a man of integrity, a man
of honesty. You can imagine, when he interpreted
what was written on the wall of that palace, his fame went
throughout all the land. The king made him the first in
command. The Belshazzar did. And when
Duras took over, he was impressed with Daniel. He was intrigued
with Daniel. He actually loved him and saw
the value of this great man, Daniel. And when he selected
his three presidents, he made Daniel the first man under him
over all the other two presidents and all the 120 princes. of whom Daniel was the first,
that the princes might give account unto them, and the king should
have no damage. Now then, this Daniel was preferred
above the president and the princes because an excellent spirit was
in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
Well, what this did, the king preferred Daniel Loved him genuinely
and appreciated him. Saw the value of him and put
him over everybody. And you know what this did to
these other fellas? Made them jealous. They hated Daniel. They
were presidents too, but Daniel was preferred above them. These
120 princes, wise men, students. Daniel was an alien anyway. He
came from, he was an Israelite. Imagine putting a Jew over all
these fellas? So, verse 4, then the presidents and the princes
sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom.
But they couldn't find. They could find none occasion
of fault. They couldn't find anything wrong with him. He was
an honest man, a man of integrity. For as much as he was faithful,
neither was there any error or fault found in him. And then,
said these men, they got together and plotted. And they said, we're
not going to find any occasion against this man, Daniel, unless
we find it against him concerning the law of his God. He's a man
devoted to God. If we find anything wrong with
him, it's going to have to be in this area right here. Any
disagreement's going to have to be here. He believes God,
and we don't. And the king doesn't. All right. Then these presidents and princes
assembled together to the king, and they said, Thus unto the
king they said king to rise live forever now. They've all got
together. They come before the king All
the presidents of the kingdom the governors the princes the
counselors the captains have consulted together to establish
a royal statute And to make a firm decree That whosoever shall ask
a petition of any god or any man for 30 days except save except
of thee O king He'll be cast to the den of life Now here's
what they're doing. They know Daniel's going to pray.
Daniel's a man of prayer. They know he's going to pray.
So they come to the king, and the kings, they caught him off
guard. The king had all this pride and
arrogance that all of us have so much of, and they caught him
off guard. And what they're saying to him
is this, now for 30 days, we want you to pass a law for 30
days, that anybody that asks a petition or utters a prayer
or request of anybody in the kingdom or any god except you,
put him in the den of lions. Oh, isn't that wonderful he thought
that they should think that much of me? Now King, verse 8, established
the decree and signed the writing that it be not changed according
to the law of the Medes and Persians which alter it not. Now here's
what they know. Once the king has signed the
law into effect and stamped it with his reign, signet. It could
not be changed. It could not be altered. It was set. Wherefore, a king
derives, signed the writing and the decree. He signed it. Now, Daniel knew that the writing
was signed. He got wind of this. He knew
what was going on. But it didn't change his alter
his beliefs or his attitude or his activities, he prayed. He always did pray. He's going
to pray now. He believed God. He's going to keep believing
God. What this king and all these princes and presidents did had
no effect on Daniel. He believed God. So, he went
to his house and his windows being opened in his chamber towards
Jerusalem. Now, he kneeled and prayed. Now,
Daniel's not an idolater, and he's not praying toward Mecca
or something like that. But you know Jerusalem is where
the temple was. The temple's where the mercy
seat was. The mercy seat's where the atonement was. The atonement's
where redemption is, and that's the reason Daniel was praying
toward Jerusalem. Same reason that Jonah said, I will look
toward the temple one more time. I'll pray. And that's just like
we look to Christ when we pray. And so Daniel opened the window,
and he did what he did every day. Three times a day, he prayed.
He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed, giving
thanks before his God, as he did a fourth time. Well, then
these fellows assembled and found Daniel praying, making supplication
before his God. I'm sure they were waiting in
the bushes. They knew what he was going to do. Then they came
there. And they spoke before the king
concerning the king's decree, and they said, Has 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 lion's den, the den of lions? Isn't that what you
signed? Didn't you sign that decree? The king answered and
said, That's true. That's true. Watch it. He states
it again, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which
cannot be changed, altered not. Now this is important that you
remember that. Then answered they and said before
the king, that Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity
of Judah, that Jew, that Israelite, he doesn't regard you, O king,
nor the decree that you've signed." He makes his petition three times
a day to his God. Now watch. Then the king, when
he heard these words, was displeased with himself. He realized he'd
been duped. He realized that their so-called
honoring him was just to get to his friend Daniel. But there
wasn't a thing he could do about it. The law was signed. Not one thing. The decree was
signed. And he set his heart on Daniel
to deliver him. He loved Daniel. He didn't want
to throw Daniel in the lion's den. He set his heart on Daniel
to deliver him, and he labored till the going down of the sun
to deliver him. He walked the floor. They probably
came around noon or before and told him, and all afternoon he
thought, now how can I get around the law? How can I deliver Daniel
and yet keep my word? How can I set Daniel free and
yet honor my law? How can I release Daniel? I don't
want to kill Daniel. And yet how in the world am I
going to let Daniel go free and yet not lose my justice? Are you with me? This man's a
type of the Heavenly Father. Now, I know he's a sorry type.
I know he breaks down in a lot of places, but he is a type.
And we're beloved of God. We've been beloved to God forever,
forever, from the foundation of the world. He said, I've loved
you with everlasting love. But we've broken God's law, which
cannot be changed. You talk about the law of the
Medes and Persians, which alters not and cannot be changed. God
has signed a decree back in the councils of eternity that the
soul that sinneth shall die. Sin, when it's finished, brings
forth death. And it can't be changed. But
I'll tell you this, our God doesn't have to labor to the going down
of the Son. When He gave the law, He also
gave the way that it could be satisfied. See, Darius is walking
the floor. The law is signed. Daniel's got
to go in the lion's den. There's nothing I can do. But
there's something God can do. And I'm going to show you in
a few moments. But let's see what happens here. All right,
verse 15, here came these fellows. The king is trying to find out.
I call this Darius' Dilemma. He loves Daniel, but he loves
his law. He wants to free Daniel, but
he's got to fulfill the law. He wants to set Daniel free,
but he's got to keep the teeth in the law, or he's done. If
he lets Daniel go, every other law goes with him. Every other
convict criminal comes and says, let me go too. Yeah, but it doesn't
matter what you do. The law is the law. All right,
then these fellows assembled unto the king, verse 15, and
said to the king, No, king, that the law of the Medes and Persians,
you know what it is? That no decree nor stature which
the king establisheth may be changed? Then the king commanded
it, and they brought Daniel, cast him into the den of lions.
Now the king spake and said to Daniel, Thy God, whom thou serveth
continually, He'll deliver thee. Oh, isn't that wonderful? Like
Jim said, I don't know whether he believed that or not, but
he said it. He said it. One of those old Pharisees over
yonder said, let's crucify this Jesus. It's better that He die
than the whole nation die. And when he said that, he was
prophesying how Christ would deliver His people. Better He
die than all His people die. So He dies and they don't die.
And this man says, your God will deliver you. He'll deliver you. And he will. And a stone was
brought and laid upon the mouth of the den of lions, and the
king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his Lord's,
that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Let
me tell you something. We're the Daniels. The purpose
of God in His law is not going to be changed concerning us,
and the purpose of His grace is not going to be changed concerning
us. And the purpose of his mercy is not going to be changed concerning
that. Everything is on schedule. Alright, read on. Then the king
went to his palace and passed the night fasting. Neither was
instruments of music brought before him. His sleep went from
him. Then the king rose very early in the morning, personally,
by himself, and went in haste unto the den of the lions. Early
in the morning. I can just see him before sun
up. He hadn't slept a wink. Hadn't slept a wink. He loved
this man. But the law, listen, the law, I don't know whether
to say it's stronger than love, but it has to be satisfied. Love
has to go where the law is concerned. And only the way God loves is
with a holy love. That's the reason that I can't
understand this talk about God loves you and so do I, and Jesus
loves you, and everybody is in love with you. Somebody is angry
with somebody. Because the law has got to be satisfied. So he
went in haste, and in verse 20, when he came to the dead, he
cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel. And the king spake
and said, O Daniel, servant of the living God, Is thy God whom
thou servest continually able to deliver thee from the lions?
What a question. Is your God, my God's not able,
that's what he was saying. The God of the heathens is not
able. The heathen is not able. The God of present day religion
is not able unless you let him. Is your God able to deliver you
from the lions? I ask you that tonight. Is the
God you worship, the God in whom you believe, is He able
to satisfy His law and set you free? To satisfy His justice
and set you free? to honor His holiness and righteousness
and show mercy to you? Is your God able in some way
to be just and justify? Is He able to save a sinner like
you? Mine is. The God of this Bible
is. He's able. It says He's able
to save to the uttermost them that come to God by Him. He's
able to keep us from falling. He's able to present you and
me faultless, unblameable, unreprovable before His presence. He's able
to raise up our bodies. He's able to conform them to
His image. My God's able. That old king
standing out there, Hey Daniel, is your God able? Oh, if he just
knew how able he is. How able he is. Then Daniel said
unto the king, O king, live forever. My God has sent His angel. Who's
that? Jim told us. That's the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the angel of the covenant.
He's the messenger of the covenant. My God has sent His angel, the
Lord Jesus Christ. As my Father sent me, Christ
said, so send thou you. Eternal life is to know God and
Jesus Christ whom He sent. He sent his angel, listen, and
he shut the mouth of the lions. He shut the mouth of the lions.
You see these lions, the law was broken and these lions represent
the law's policemen that punish. These lions are the the ones
that get the vengeance of the law. You see that Daniel had
broken the law and they turned him over to the lions. Well,
you and I have broken God's law and Christ Jesus came and shut
the mouth of the lions. Every charge. Who shall anything
charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemneth? Where
are your accusers? Our Lord came and shut their
mouths because He fulfilled the law. And those who exact the
punishment which the law requires can't do anything to you, because
he shut their mouth. He shut their mouth. Listen,
read on. And they haven't hurt me. They
haven't hurt me. They haven't hurt me. Satan can't
hurt me. He's the accuser of the brethren,
but he's got nothing to accuse us of. He came to Christ and
found nothing in Him. He can't touch me. He can't hurt
me. Clear you don't. For as much as before him, innocence
was found in me. totally, completely justified.
Innocence. Oh, I tell you. And also before
the old king have I done no hurt. Oh, let me tell you something.
The law can't touch me. I haven't broken the law and
I haven't offended God. Isn't that something? In Christ.
He said, I always do those things that please my Father. And that's
what I can say in Christ. God sent His angel and shut the
mouth of the lion. And they did me no harm. Because
innocence, innocence it was found in me. And I haven't done you
any harm either, O King. Now that's justification and
that's what Christ did. Then the King was exceeding glad
for him. And the King, He's the only one
who can, The king commanded they should take Daniel out of the
den. What does that make you think
of? Deliver him from going down into the pit. I found a ransom. Oh, I tell you here, the king
stands before the door of that den of lions and he tells his
messengers to take Daniel out of there and set him free. See, the law is satisfied now.
The law of the Medes and Persians is satisfied. Daniel is free. Take him out. I found a ransom.
And Daniel comes out free. And that's the way that the Lord
Jesus Christ has redeemed us. Now let's read on some more.
Then the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded they
should take Daniel out of the den. So Daniel was taken out
of the den, and no matter of hurt was found upon him, because
he believed in his God. Now young people, Here's the
key right here. He believed God. He believed
God. He believed God. Daniel believed
God. No matter what the adversity
was, or the conflict was, or who the enemy was, Daniel believed
God. Daniel believed God before the
decree. Daniel believed God during the
decree. Daniel believed God when they came to arrest him. And
Daniel believed God when they put him in the lion's den. Daniel
believed God. And that was the integrity that
was found in him. He believed God. And that's the
way you and I will be delivered from hurt and harm and judgment
and condemnation. It's because we believe Christ.
We believe God. Brother Bill Clark and I were
in 1972. That was 21 years ago. I was over in Ireland preaching. Branickstown, and Limerick, and
Dublin, and Bangor, Ireland. I've preached to several churches
there. Bill and I did a lot of driving over the little country
of Ireland. It's the same size as the state
of West Virginia. Ireland, the entire country of
Ireland is the same size as West Virginia. 175 feet wide, 250
feet long, and we covered most of it. And he was pointing out
many of the interesting things. about Ireland to me. And we passed
through this little town and he said, see that big stone there? He said, that's what they call
the lynch stone. And I said, the lynch stone?
He said, yeah, that's the lynch stone. He said, there's a story
behind that that happened many, many, many, many years ago. He
said, back in those days, back hundred years ago or more, 150
years ago, that Ireland had these Lord Mayors, a man that was the
wealthiest man in the village or the town, and about everybody
worked for him. He lived up on the hill and people farmed for him and worked
for him and did all these things, and he was the the most important
man, ran the town. And he said, in this town, there
was a very wealthy man who had a house up on the hill named
Fitz Stevens. And he was a beloved man. He loved the people. He was good
to them all. They loved him. And he had one son. But this
son was such a rebel. He was such a bad boy. So they had some visitors from
another country came over to visit the little town, to visit
the Fitzstephens, and they brought their son with them. They had
one son, and they brought him with them. And he was a nice
boy. He was just the opposite of this Fitzstephens. The Fitzstephens
son was a rebel, just a troublemaker. This other boy, about the same
age that belonged to his friends, was just a kind. Kind, fine young
man. Well, when the parents went back
home, Mr. Fitzstevens talked them into leaving their son here,
said, let him visit with us. He's such a good influence on
my lad. He's so kind and loving and obedient
and such an outstanding example in every way. Leave him here
and let him visit with us and see if he can help my boy to
make something out of himself. So they consented and they left. Well, a Fitz Stevens boy had
a girlfriend, and the girlfriend fell in love with the visitor. And the Fitz Stevens boy got
so angry, he went into his bedroom one night while he was asleep
and stabbed him to death. And the father was just devastated. And they buried the visiting
boy. And he called on the people of
the community to try his boy for murder and hang him. And
they wouldn't do it. He couldn't get anybody to do
it. He couldn't get anybody to arrest him. He couldn't get anybody
to try him. He couldn't get anybody to judge
him. Because they all were motivated by several things. They loved
the old man. They worked for him. They feared him. They didn't understand him. They
just couldn't put his son to death. And early one morning,
they were all awakened at the crack of dawn with the bell ringing
up at the mansion. And when the bell rang at the
mansion, that means come up there and assemble. And all the people
got their clothes together and they put them on and started
walking and As they came up the hill, to the house on the hill,
to the mansion, they saw Mr. Fitzsteven standing on a balcony.
And a strong man standing with him, one of his servants. And between them was this son
that had murdered the best in both. And he had a rope around
his neck. And the rope was thrown over
a limb on the tree beside the balcony. And all the people got there
and the old man stood and waited. He said, now, my friends, he
said, my son is a murderer. And the law says he has to die.
And I want you to know that I'm not bigger than the law. If it
had been your son, we would have hung him. If it had been any
son of any of you, he would have died. The law must be honored. And therefore, you wouldn't hang
him. I'll have to do it. And he pushed him off the balcony. And his son swung there under
the tree with a broken neck and died. And the people were, of course,
their appreciation for him, respect for him, and love for him magnified. But they all thought, how could
he do it? Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. My
God's law, which He has set forth over His universe, He's magnified
His Word above His name. And that law is going to be honored.
If you break it, you die. If His Son breaks it, His Son
dies. And his son was made sin for us. His son came into this
world, took my place. And when he took my place, he
took my murder, my theft, my adultery, my lying, my cheating,
my stealing, my blasphemy, my sins. And God found him guilty,
and it pleased God to nail him to a cross. And he rang the bell
one day, and he called all of us around that cross, and he
said, My son is going to die because he's a sinner. I was
Christ the sinner. He was numbered with the transgressors.
And I'll tell you, when we stood there and watched God crucifying,
God lynching, God hanging, we're seeing, boy, if your love for
God and your honor and respect and esteem of the Most High God
doesn't reach a pinnacle when you see Him bruise him, please
God to bruise him for you and me. That's the greatest thing
in the way he did it, not for himself, but for us. It honored
his law and his justice and satisfied his holiness and righteousness,
but my friends, that's why Christ had to die, because he was made
sin for us. You see that? That's what Doris C. couldn't
do. That's the reason he's walking the floor and laboring to the
going down to the sun. How am I going to punish Daniel
and set him free? Can't do it. God can. He's your
God able. In Christ he is. He came down
and took our place, paid our debt. That's the glorious gospel
of substitution. And let me tell you, all this
was done, and the benefits and blessings of it, to those who
believe God. Daniel believed God. Now, it's
not a matter of it's done whether man believes
or not. No, sir, for those who believe God. All right, Mike,
come lead us in a hymn, please.

Thy God Will Deliver Thee

What does the Bible say about God's ability to save?

How do we know God's law must be satisfied?

Why is believing in God important for salvation?

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Thy God Will Deliver Thee

What does the Bible say about God's ability to save?

How do we know God's law must be satisfied?

Why is believing in God important for salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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