When I was growing up and scriptures
like this were read in our home church and in other services
which I attended, Daniel was praised for his faithfulness
and for his courage to pray even when threatened with death. Daniel
purposed in his heart. that he would pray to his God
regardless of what the king said, and then we were exhorted, the
purpose in our heart, that in the face of all manner of obstacles
and threats of persecution, that we would be faithful to our religion. This is not the purpose of this
story at all. This story is given to illustrate
as are all the stories in the Old Testament, are deliverance
from the curse of the broken law by the hand of our God. This
is the gospel. This was not written in God's
word to praise Daniel. Daniel would be the last person
in the world who would want the praise of men. This story was not written to
encourage us to be like Daniel. though I suppose that's the second,
third, or fourth reason, but not the first reason. It is written
to show us how God saves sinners. He said, Brother Millenheim,
the world, do you see any gospel in the sixth chapter of Daniel?
Where in the world do you see how God saves sinners? Well, let me give a brief account
of the setting here First of all, King Darius ruled over the
kingdom, and under him there were three presidents, three
men. Daniel was one of these three
presidents. Under those three presidents
were 120 rulers or princes, and under them counselors and captains
and mighty men. And the king loved Daniel, respected
him. He was a faithful man, he was
a courageous man, he was a wise man. And the king would have
made Daniel the ruler over the kingdom under him, of course. And these other two presidents,
these hundred and twenty princes or leaders, these counselors
and captains and mighty men were jealous. So they came to the
king, they sought some way to find fault with Daniel, they
got together and they said, Maybe we can find some fault with him.
One of them said, you won't find any fault with him. He's a faithful
man. He's faithful to the king. He's a man of integrity. He's
a man of honesty. You won't find any fault with
him at all. And they finally decided there was one area where
they could find fault with him, and that's concerning the law
of his God. And so they came to King Darius,
who was a vain man, And they said to him, they said, King
Darius, we've met together. All the presidents, of course
Daniel wasn't in on this meeting, and the princes and the counselors
and captains have met together. And we want to honor you, O King.
They weren't seeking to honor him, they were seeking to destroy
Daniel. But he listened to them, they said, we want to honor you
and here's what we would like for you to do. We want you to
establish a law. a decree according to the laws
of the Medes and Persians which cannot be altered, which cannot
under any circumstance be changed. And this is what we want you
to do. We want you to make it a law, issue a decree, that for
thirty days no one in the entire kingdom is to ask a petition
or make a request of any god or any individual except of you."
Isn't that wonderful? And the King says that sounds
good. For thirty days nobody will ask any man for anything
or any God. He never thought for a moment
about Daniel. And so he signed the decree and
put his stamp on it. And these presidents went out
with it in their hand. They knew Daniel wouldn't stopped
praying, they knew Daniel would pray to his God regardless of
what decree was handed down, and this is the way they would
trust him. They said, O King, if any man offers a prayer or
asks a petition of any God or man for thirty days, he'd be
cast into the lion's den. The king said, that's right,
according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be
changed. Now then, of course Daniel prayed,
he prayed three times a day. He turned his face toward Jerusalem,
and he prayed. And they came and told the king.
And the king, it said in verse 14, when he heard these words,
Daniel is asking a petition of his God. Got to go to the lion's
den. And it says in verse 14, when
the king heard these words, he was displeased with himself.
Now watch this. And he set his heart on Daniel
to deliver him. Darius's dilemma. How am I going
to honor the law, which cannot be changed, and yet deliver my
friend who's guilty of breaking the law? And it's said that he
paced the floor all night long. He didn't eat. He didn't sleep.
He walked the floor all day to the setting of the sun, to the
sun, going down to the sun to deliver Daniel. And these men
came in to him and they said in verse 15, O king, what are
you waiting for? Daniel's broken the law, the
law was established, the law was signed, the law had the seal
of the king upon it, it cannot be altered, it cannot be changed,
what are you waiting for? Put Daniel in the lion's den.
And then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, no way
out, no way possibly, no way possibly could he deliver Daniel. So he brought Daniel and cast
him into the den of lions, and he spake to Daniel before he
went into the lion's den, and he said, Daniel, I can't deliver
you, and you can't deliver yourself.
There's no hope, Daniel, unless God delivers you. No hope. You've broken the law, Daniel,
and the law can't be changed. And there's no way under heaven
that I can set you free. No way. And nothing you can do
or anybody else. Now, Daniel, you're God, whom
you serve continually. He'll deliver you. You see the
gospel? Turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter
1. This is how God saves sinners. 2nd Corinthians chapter 1. Let's
see if I can make it live for you. 2nd Corinthians chapter
1 verse 9 says this. We had the sentence of death
in ourselves. We had the sentence of death
in ourselves. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.
that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the
dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver,
in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us." Now my message
has four points. Number one, the law of God cannot
be changed. These men came in to Darius,
and they said, Darius, you signed the decree You sign the law. The statute is signed. Daniel
must go to the lion's den. It cannot be changed. Now, my
friends, the law of God cannot be changed. Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image. Thou shalt have no other god
before thee. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Thou shalt
not kill. thou shalt not steal, thou shalt
not commit adultery, thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not bear
false witness. God's law cannot be changed.
There is no way under heaven that the law of God can be changed
for you, for me, for an angel, for any man. Turn to Romans chapter
7. In the 7th chapter of Romans,
verse 12, the word of God says, Romans 7, 12, the law is holy. For the law is holy, verse 12,
Romans 7. The commandment is holy, and
it's just, and it's good. It's the very character and nature
of God. There's nothing wrong with the
law. The error is in you and me. There's nothing wrong with
God's law. The law of God is holy. I'm glad God's law is what
it is. It's a perfect law, and it demands
perfect love. And it demands perfect thought,
and it demands perfect obedience, and it demands perfect action.
There is no loophole in the law of God. There is no excuse. It's the same for all His creatures. In Galatians chapter 3, verse
10, listen to this verse now. This is very important. Galatians
3, verse 10. Listen to it. as are of the works of the law,
are under the curse of the law. For it is written, Cursed is
every one that continueth not in all things, in all things that are written in the book
of the law to do them." Not some of the law, not part of the law.
James said to offend in one point is to be guilty of the whole
law of God. The law of God is holy. It demands
perfect obedience in every area. Not in one area and falls short
in another. Not in this area and falls short
in this area. The law of God demands absolute
perfection. It is holy. God's law is holy. And God's law demands perfection. Absolute perfection. It demands
obedience. Now look at this second thing.
Turn back to Romans 7, verse 14. The law is holy. That's clear, isn't it? The law
of God is holy. It cannot be changed because
God's nature never changes. God is holy. It can demand nothing
less than perfection because God is perfect. And it's the
same to all his creatures, and it demands perfection in all
things. And to offend in one jot or one
tittle or one minute article of the law is to be guilty of
the whole law. That can't be changed. Now here's
where a lot of people get around it, though. In verse 14, Romans
7, nearly everybody will admit the law is holy. But here's where
they get around it. We know that the law is spiritual. The law is spiritual. Now when
a sinner, and here's what most people haven't discovered, and
many of you haven't discovered it. The law of God is spiritual,
and when a sinner discovers the spirituality of the law, that's
when he discovers his carnality. That's when. We can look at the
outward duties demanded by the law and in some measure come
up to them. We can look at the outward actions
which are required by the law. Thou shalt not kill. Well, to
my knowledge I've never shot anybody. Thou shalt not steal. All of
us are pretty proud of our outward honesty, aren't we? They could stack papers down
here at the drugstore on the counter and say, leave a dime
and take your paper. And I imagine if there were ten
papers, there'd be a dollar there the next morning. Most men are
basically outwardly proud of their integrity. Honor system in schools works
pretty good. But the law, here's what we haven't
discovered. The law is spiritual. We've lowered the spirituality
of the law and made it apply only to outward duties. Now I
want you to listen to some scripture in Galatians 4. Now listen to
this. When a man discovers the spirituality of the law, that's
when he dies. That's when Paul died. Paul said,
when the law came, I died. Well, you say that's the first
time he'd seen the law. Don't kid yourself, he was a master
of the law. He was a student of Gamaliel,
the greatest school of religion in his day. He could recite the
law of God backwards at midnight, coming down the staircase on
his head. He knew the law. But when the law came, I died. What do you mean by that? When
the law came in its spirituality, Not just in a bunch of thou shalt
not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, but when
the law came in its demand for not only outward obedience, but
inward perfection in affections, in will, in mind, in thought,
in imagination, in motive, in attitude, in all things. Paul
said, it slew me. It slew me. Galatians 4.21 says,
tell me. you that desire to be under the
law. You want to be saved by your
works, by your deeds, by your obedience to the law. Do you
not hear the law? Don't you hear what the law demands? Don't you hear the law? Well,
let's listen to the law. Turn to Matthew chapter 5. Now,
here our Lord Jesus Christ is speaking. In Matthew chapter
5. Now, I want you to listen to
the law now. You who would be saved by the law, you who would
be underworks for religion, you who talk about your perfection
and your sinlessness and your obedience to the law. Don't you
hear the law? Do you know what it says? Well,
I know what it says. The preacher says, I shall not
kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness,
thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. All these have I kept from my
youth up, or from my conversion, or from my second work of grace
up. Let's see if you have. In Matthew 5.21, our Lord said,
You have heard that it was said by them of old times, thou shalt
not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall
be in danger of the judgment. That's the law, isn't it? But
I say unto you, and this is the Lord interpreting his law. It's been interpreted long enough
by your religious leaders. It's been interpreted long enough
by your rabbis and your Pharisees and your scribes and your Sadducees.
Now I'm going to interpret the law for you, Christ said. This
is God interpreting his law. Thou shalt not kill means whosoever
is angry. with his brother without a cause,
shall be in danger of judgment. And whosoever shall say to his
brother Rekha, that is, vain fellow, he's so angry that he
calls him a vain fellow, he's arguing now, shall be in danger
of the council. And whosoever shall say in his
anger, in his anger, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
So Christ said that not only does the law say thou shalt not
kill or take the physical life of another, but thou shalt not
even have any malice or anger or malice toward others. Thou
shalt love thine enemy, and bless them that persecute you, and
pray for them which despitefully use you. That's the law. You say, I'm short there. Let's
go on. Look at Matthew 5.27, same chapter. You have heard that it was said
by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, here's the
Lord interpreting His law, that whosoever looketh on a woman
or a man. It goes for both. When we speak
of men, we speak of women. This was written before women
lived. You didn't have to say chairperson,
you could say chairman. It says here, whosoever looketh
on a woman, to lust after her. That's look with intent or look
with desire. Or have a desire for unlawful. affection, has committed adultery
already in his heart. That's the law of God. You say,
well, we'd have to blindfold ourselves. Well, that's what
I'm saying. The human nature, the human nature is turned to
sin. It's bent toward evil. It wants
that which is not its own. Stolen fruits are sweet to the
taste. That's what the word of God says.
Then verse 33, now you've heard it said by them of old times,
Thou shalt not forswear thyself, thou shalt perform unto the Lord
thine oaths. You made any promises lately you hadn't kept? Or have
you sworn lately? Have you said anything when somebody
asked you a question, have you said, made any reply except yes
or no? Well yes, the other day I said just sure as there's a
God in heaven this is true, that was a sin. The other day I said, I swear
it so, that's a sin. I say unto you, swear not at
all, neither by heaven, that's God's throne, nor the earth,
that's his footstool, nor by Jerusalem, that's the city of
the great King, nor by your own head, because you can't make
one hair white or black, but you let your communication be
what? Yea, yea, nay, nay, anything more than that comes of evil. Verse 43, you've heard it said
by them of old times, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine
enemy. It's all right to hate your enemies. It's not all right
to hate anybody. I say unto you, here's the law,
you love your enemy. You bless them that curse you.
Turn to Matthew 15. Have I read enough or shall we
read some more? Brethren, the law is holy and
the law is spiritual. And I'm sick and tired of this
generation of preachers that are going up and down the country
telling people that salvation is in quitting drinking and smoking
and going to the show and dancing and playing cards and then you're
holy. It's nauseous to me and I know
it's nauseating to a holy God. They don't know what sin is.
The law is spiritual. The law deals with the attitude.
The law deals with the heart. The law deals with the motive.
And to clean up the outside of the cup and platter doesn't do
anything about the inside. But if the inside is cleaned
up, and I have a right relationship with God, and the Spirit of God
puts a new nature within me that brings me to love God, and love
and honor His Word, and God puts within me his Spirit and I have
that divine nature, then the outside will be cleaned up. I
will avoid appearance of evil. I will eat no meat if it offends
my brother. I will try to direct my steps
so that it will bring honor and glory to my God. But the beat
of my heart is not just to abstain from some outward things and
follow some outward rules and regulations, it's to live and
fellowship and have an intimate relationship with a holy God. And because He's holy, I'm holy.
Now listen to Matthew 15. In verse 14, Christ is talking
about these religious leaders. The disciples came to Him in
verse 12 and they said, Verse 12, Matthew 15, don't you
know that the Pharisees, that is the religious leaders, were
offended after they heard that saying? And Christ said, every
plant which my heavenly Father didn't plant will be rooted up,
leave them alone. They're blind leaders of the
blind, that's what they are. They're blind leaders leading
a bunch of blind people that follow them like sheep follow
a shepherd. Leave them alone. And the disciples said, verse
15, well tell us what you meant by that parable. And Christ said,
verse 16, are you without understanding? Don't you know that whatsoever
enters into the mouth goes into the belly and is cast out into
the draft? These things, those things, verse
18, which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart. They
defile a man. Far out of the heart proceeds
evil thoughts. You know, if you were asked by
someone to name the worst sin, I heard somebody said to me yesterday,
they committed the worst sin known to man. If somebody asked
you to name the worst sin you know, what would you name? You
know what the Lord Jesus named first? Evil thoughts. When the Lord Jesus started talking
about that which defiled a person, the first thing he said was evil
thoughts. And then murders. adulteries,
fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemy, these are the things
that defile a man. To eat without saying a blessing. To eat without washing your hands. That's not what defiles a man. We get our religion off our sleeves
into our hearts, it do a lot of good. Get our religion out
of our little ceremonies into our hearts. And prayer would
spring from the heart. And petitions would spring from
the heart. And obedience would spring from
the heart. And we'd stop following rules
and regulations. Well, the law must stand. Turn
back to our text. Daniel. And King Darius signed
the law. He signed the decree. And these
men said, it can't be changed. And this is God's law, my friend,
and it can't be changed. The law must stand. I want you
to listen. Don't turn. Just let me turn
over here quickly and read something the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans
chapter 3. He said in Romans chapter 3,
verse 19, Now we know that what things forever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth, except
the preacher, no, every mouth, that every mouth, except the
little intermediate Sunday school girl, uh-uh, every mouth, that
every mouth, except Grandma Susie, she's such a wonderful old lady,
no, it says every mouth, even Grandma Susie's. It says that
every mouth, that every mouth may be stopped. And all the world
become guilty. Grandma Susie, you're guilty. And little intermediate girl,
you're guilty. And preacher, you're guilty.
Guilty before God. Daniel, you're guilty! There's not a thing I can do. King Darius labored, it says
here in Daniel 6, he labored till the going down of the sun
to try to deliver his friend Daniel. It could not be done. I can see the king in his chambers
pacing back and forth. The law has been declared, the
law has been signed, and Daniel has broken the law, and he paces
up and down. How can I be true to the law
and yet deliver my friend? How can I be true to the law
and yet set Daniel free? Turn to Romans 3 with me a minute.
Let me show you something. Romans 3, 26. If you can find
the answer to that question, you'll learn the gospel. How
can God be true to the law and set you
free? You've broken the law, and the
law can't be changed. The law is holy. The law is spiritual.
And God says, every soul that sinneth, it shall surely die.
I will and know I have cleared the guilty. And there's Daniel
over there guilty. He's broken the law, no question
about it. The law can't be changed. Here's the king trying to set
him free. And he can't do it. One's got to be sacrificed, either
Daniel or the law. He sets Daniel free, the law's
gone and he's gone. If he stands by the law, Daniel's
got to die. Look at Romans 3.26, to declare
I say at this time his righteousness that God might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. How can God be just
and yet justify me? How can God be righteous and
hold up his law and exalt his law and honor his law and yet
set me free, show mercy to me? How can it be done? That's Darius'
dilemma. How can I do it, Darius said.
How can I do it? You've broken God's law, my friend.
Let me ask you, how do you propose to be delivered at the judgment?
You've broken God's law. You say, well, I think God loves
everybody. Darius loved Daniel, but he couldn't
set him free. Well, I think when it comes down,
when the chips are down, and when I die and stand before the
judgment, somehow I just believe that no way will be found. Darius
couldn't find a way, and he wanted to deliver Daniel more than he
wanted anything else. And don't you know if a fallible
king will stand by his law that strong, how strong do you think
God will stand by his law? he who spared not his own son."
Well, how are you going to be delivered? It's not by works
of righteousness which we've done. By the deeds of the law
shall no flesh be justified. We know Christ said in Matthew
7, many were saying to me in that day, Lord, we've preached.
But Daniel was a preacher. We've prophesied, not like Daniel. We did many wonderful works.
Daniel did so many wonderful works, the king was going to
make him the number one man in the king. But the law still stands. The law still has got to be satisfied.
Not by church association. Well, I was a member of the church.
Judas was an apostle. There's no safety in the walls
of an organization. You just curl up in that bed
that's too narrow and try to pull the cover of religious denominationalism
up over you, you'll find it too short. Or you hide in the refuge
of your denomination or your sectarianism, you'll find when
the judgment of God sweeps through, you'll be swept out with the
preacher and all the rest of them. The sacraments, the ordinances,
the ceremonies will not set us free. Job asked those questions. Turn to Job chapter 4. Listen
to this. Job said in chapter 4 verse 17, Shall mortal man be more just
than God? Shall a man be more pure than
his maker? Behold, God puts no trust in
his servants, his angels he charged with folly, how much less in
them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in
the dust which are crushed before the moth. Turn to Job 9.20. Listen to Job here. If I justify
myself, my own mouth will condemn me. If I say I'm perfect, it
shall prove me perverse. Look at Job 15, verse 14. What is man that he should be
clean? He that's born of a woman, that he should be righteous.
Job 15, 15. Behold, God puts no trust in his saints. The heavens
are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man which drinks iniquity like the water. Daniel, I can't
help you. You've broken the law. Now, Daniel, you shut up to one
thing. your God will have to deliver
you. Your God will have to deliver you. In John chapter 1 verse 12, turn
over there with me. Brethren, when Jonah got down
in the bottom of the sea in the belly of the whale, the seaweeds
about his head and the iron bars closed, he thought forever. In
the belly of hell, he said, He cried, salvation is of the Lord. You and I have broken a holy
law. You and I have broken a spiritual
law. You and I are absolutely unable
in any way to fulfill the law of God and the perfection which
he requires, and we are shut up in the gates of death. We're
shut up in the prison of condemnation. We're held in the dungeon of
bondage to a broken law, and there's no way out, neither by
works or decisions or promises or vows or reformation or morality. We are sure for hell as we're
standing here, unless somebody does something. And you can't
do it, and I can't do it, and the Mother Church can't do it,
and the ordinances can't do it, and the sacraments can't do it.
Only God can do it. Only God. He's going to have
to work something out. Almighty God is going to have
to do something. Like Peter said, as he sank beneath
the waves, Lord, save me, or I perish. Daniel, Darius said, I can't
help you. The law condemns you. The law
justly charges you. You've broken the law. You're
guilty. You've got to go to the lion's den. Nothing I can do.
The preacher said, nothing I can do. You say to your children,
nothing I can do, son. You've broken God's law. Nothing anybody can do but God.
And salvation's in the hands of God, and mercy's in the hands
of God, and grace is in the hands of God, and compassion's in the
hands of God, and salvation's a gift of God. And he gives it
to whomsoever he will. Now, how did God deliver us?
In Galatians 4. God doesn't deliver us by saying,
well, let's just forget that he sinned. Let's just forget
that he broke the law. No, sir. In Galatians 4, verse
4, when the fullness of time was come, God in his mercy sent
forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law. Jesus Christ
came down here to this earth. Now, God required that you obey
his law. perfectly, didn't he? He required
that you and I obey, that we love our enemies, that we pray
for them which despitefully use us, that we not ever have a thought
or an attitude or a motive or an imagination of sin. We couldn't
handle that. So Christ came down here made
of a woman, born just like you are. His mother carried him in
her womb and nine months later he was born. He was begotten.
He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. He was the perfect man.
He was God Almighty in the flesh. And he faced this law, watch
it, made of a woman, made under that law, to redeem them that
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Now turn to Romans 5 verse 19. Let me show you something here.
In Romans 5 verse 19, it says here, by one man's disobedience,
that's Adam, By one man's disobedience we were made sinners. That's
what happened to this whole outfit. Back in the Garden of Eden our
father fell, and since then every child that's been born has been
born with a tendency to do evil. Not only was he imputed unto
us guilt, but imparted unto us an evil nature. Paul said, the
things I would do I don't do them, the things I would not
do I do. Somebody said, why is it so much harder to do good
than to do evil? Because we have an evil nature.
You don't have a good nature, you've got a human nature. Christ
said that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and in the flesh
no man can please God. The flesh longs to please itself. And even after you're converted,
you'll have that conflict between the spirit and the flesh, between
the regenerated man and the unregenerated man. And it says here, by the
obedience of one, by the disobedience of one, we were made sinners,
by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. So Christ
came down here as a man, and he met this law, and he obeyed
it perfectly, in every jot and tittle, as a man. He was tempted
at all points as we are tempted, yet without sin. And then he
went to the cross and there he was wounded for our transgressions.
There the law says you've got to die. Christ came and took
my place and died for me. The law says you have to suffer
the punishment of your sins. Christ came and my sins were
laid on him and he suffered the punishment of sin. He died on
the cross that we might not die. He took our place. He died and
he rose again. He suffered in our stead. And
that's how God set us free. That's how God set us free. Old
Dr. A.J. Gordon was pastor of the
Large Baptist Church up in Boston many years ago, a long time ago. And he said he was walking down
the street one day and One of his little Sunday school boys
was coming down the street and he had a birdcage in his hand,
an old homemade birdcage. And in that birdcage were two
little frightened sparrows, field birds. And Dr. Gordon said as
that boy walked up to him with that little old homemade birdcage
wired together, you know, he looked at those little birds
and they were just in that shivering and shaking and scared to death.
And he said, Son, where'd you get the birds? Well, he said,
I trapped them. Dr. Gordon said, well, do you
want to sell them? Sell these old birds? Well, he said, Poacher,
these birds are no good. And Dr. Gordon said, I'm aware
of that. But he said, I'll buy them. Well,
he said, they can't sing. Dr. Gordon said, I'm aware of
that, but I'll buy them. Oh, he said, there's plenty more
just like them. He said, I'm aware of that too,
but I'll buy them. Well, he said, Preacher, you
can go out there in the field and catch some. I know that,
but I would like to have those two birds. And the little boy
said, Well, I'll tell you what I'll do. He said, I'll sell you
a bird's cage and all for two dollars. And two dollars was
a lot of money then. Dr. Gordon reached in his pocket
and he pulled out two dollars and handed it to the little boy.
And the little boy shook his head and handed that homemade
cage with his two field birds to A.J. Gordon. pocketed his
money and walked on down the street. And Dr. Gordon said,
I just stood there and held my birds and watched him walk off.
And every once in a while he'd turn and look, you know, and
grin. And he said, I just stood there and waited on him, held
my birds. And he went on down the street. Finally, just before
he turned the corner, he looked back at me and shook his head,
full picture, what in the world he'd want with those birds. And
he rounded the corner. And Dr. Gordon said, when he
rounded the corner, I took my birds and I held them up in the
cage and then I took the wire off the door and I opened the
door and I held it up in the air and I patted the back of
it and I said, all right, little bird, I bought you. You belong
to me. I'm setting you free. Fly off. And he said those little birds
spotted that open door and they kind of eased over there, you
know, and glanced back at him and hardly believed And then
one of them, whoosh, right off into the air. Right behind him
the other one. And he said as they went up in
there he could almost read their thoughts. Set free! Redeemed! Set free. One day the law of
God had me bound in bondage, in prison. And I couldn't get
free. And the Lord Jesus Christ came
by and looked at me and loved me, and you. And he said, Lord,
I'll buy those birds. And the Lord said, Lord, they're
no good. He said, I know that. In my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. Lord, they can't sing, I know
that. There's plenty more, Lord, I
know that, but I want those. My Lord, they'll break your heart,
I know that. And they'll spit on you, and
they'll revile you, and they'll cast you out, and they'll reject
you, I know that, but I want them. How much will it cost? And the law said it'll cost the
silver of your sweat and the gold of your blood. And Christ
said, I'll take them. And he came down here to this
earth, and he gave his life, and he died for my soul, and
he bought me. And he sent me the glorious good
news. And he said, fly out now, you're
free. The debt's paid. I redeemed you, you're mine!
And I set you free. And brother, I've flown out,
redeemed how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of
the Lamb, redeemed by his infinite mercy, redeemed his child forever
I am. What the law could not do, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of flesh condemns sin in the
flesh and set me free. Our Father, take the word and
make it a sharp two-edged sword to pierce our heart and reveal
unto us the mercy of our great God, the love and grace and compassion
of our Lord to those bound by sin and bound by iniquity and
sentenced with the sentence of death upon us. And yet by his
mercy he hath delivered, he doth deliver, and by his mercy we
know he shall deliver us. We are his own, bought with his
blood, and we shall never perish. In his name we pray. Amen.