I invite your attention back
to Daniel, the third chapter. Nebuchadnezzar, having experienced
somewhat the power and might of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, makes this statement concerning the deliverance of
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the burning furnace. There
is no other God that can deliver after this sort. No other God
that can deliver after this sort. Now this is a bit of biblical
history that most everyone is familiar with and has been, if
they've ever been any time in church at all, the story of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. It's the story of bravery, of
honor, of courage, and allegiance to the Lord God. Now, at the
time of this writing, Israel is in captivity under the rule
of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar is her king. And Babylon from its beginnings
at the Tower of Babel in Genesis until the destruction and the
revelation is symbolic of false works religion and hatred of
the one through God. When you see the word Babylon
in Scripture, that's a description of false religion that hates
God. In the end, the last book of
the Bible, it is called the Great Whore Babylon the great whore
Babylon now the fact that Babylon is the seat of false religion
is seen in the fact that Nebuchadnezzar in the previous chapter seemed
to honor God look back at chapter 2 in verse 47 After a vision
had been interpreted by Daniel the king answered and said Daniel
Answered under Daniel and said of a truth it is that your God
is a God of God's Your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings,
and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. But, in the very next chapter,
now I don't know how much time between these two incidences
took place, but I know in Scripture they are side by side, and generally
when it's like that, there's a purpose for things being close
together. We find Nebuchadnezzar, after
saying such nice things about God, building a golden idol in
the plain of Dura, some 90 feet tall, an image, and commanding
men to worship the image or the idol that he has made. Now, a
mark of false religion. is that it may say nice things
about God, but it seeks to control men by erecting a God of its
own making, and it's usually a big, beautiful, expansive,
expensive, and extravagant God that cannot save, but threatens
judgment if not absolutely obeyed. This was this God that was erected
on the plain of Jericho. He couldn't save anybody. He
couldn't save anybody, but He could sure put you in the fire.
He could sure put you in the fire. The God of this day, the
God of false religion, cannot save you against your will. That's
what people say. But they freely admit that He
will cast you into hell against your will. That's an idol. That's not the true God. Nebuchadnezzar
is a picture of the false preacher who's holding a crusade to convert
everyone with the threat of burning if they don't comply. For this
convention he gathers the best of the best. He has all the trappings
that apply to the flesh. In verse 2 it says, Then Nebuchadnezzar
the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, the
captain, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, and the sheriffs,
and all the rulers of the provinces to come at the dedication of
the image which Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had set up. In verse 2, he gets men of power
and local celebrities to join him on the podium. It may be
even the case that Daniel was on this podium. I don't know. He's certainly not mentioned
in chapter 3. And somebody told him, told the
king, that that one in the furnace was the Son of God. I don't know
whether Daniel was on the podium or not, but he had already made
a counselor and a ruler and a governor over many areas in Babylon because
of his ability to interpret dreams. But it's a good way to get things
going if you can get all the popular folks and the celebrities
to join you on the podium. And in verse 5, it says this,
that at what time you hear the sound of cornet, flute, harp,
sackbolt, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall
down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king
has set up. Now verse 5, he strikes up the band. plays all kinds
of music to work up the crowd and tops it off with the piece
de resistance. He holds judgment over every
head of anyone who does not bow to his God. There is no possibility
that there will be less than perfect attendance, you see.
There is no voluntary worship, however. It will be worship or
I'll kill you. You worship, or I'll kill you.
Fear rules the day. Not godly fear, which is reverence
and love and worship for the true God, but fear of death. Fear of death. You remember those
in Isaiah 28 who said, We've made a covenant with hell? Oh,
we made a covenant with death? And with hell we are in agreement?
They didn't fear death. At least they said they didn't.
They felt like they weren't going to die because they were good
people. Or if they died, they didn't have great rewards on
the other side because they were good people and they made an
agreement with hell. They didn't feel like they would go to hell. Only
bad people do that. Only bad people go to hell. Fear
ruled the day. Our Lord said this in Hebrews
chapter 2 and verse 14 and 15 that He came into this world
and took upon Himself the form of His children to remove from
them the fear of death. You ever wonder how God gets
people to worship Him? He don't hold death over their
head. He don't threaten them. How does He get them to worship
Him? They worship Him voluntarily. But if you can't get them to
do it voluntarily, you hold that threat over their head. hold
that thread over their head. When Nebuchadnezzar lit the fire
and stoked it in that furnace, his plan really worked well.
The whole crowd showed up. To avoid the furnace, all you
had to do was show up, join in the festivities, take part in
the celebration, and make the designated posture, and save
your own skin. That's all you had to do to show
up to do it. And be sure that if you don't,
somebody is watching. They're going to tell on you.
They're going to get you if you aren't watching. Verse 8 says,
Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near and accused
the Jews They spake and said unto the
king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever! Thou, O king, hast
made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of
the cornet, and the flute, and the harp, and the sackcloth,
and the psalter, and the dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall
down and worship the golden image. And whoso falleth not down in
worship, that he should be cast into the midst of the burning
furnace. There were certain Jews whom thou hast sent over the
affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
These men, O king, have not regarded thee. They serve not thy gods,
nor worship the golden image which thou hast made. You can
rest assured of this. In useless religion, religion
that is without Christ and without grace, they will be watching
you. They will be watching you. Paul
said of those Judaizers in Galatia, they were sent in spies privily. to spy out our liberty in Jesus
Christ. You see, a person who spies on
you cannot justify their behavior unless they make sure you join
in with them. And if you don't, they want you
to perish. They want you to perish. I've
said over the years, the hardest thing in the matter of preaching about
hell is to make sure you don't enjoy it. That you don't sound vindictive
and mean and you don't feel that way. To preach about hell without
tears in your eyes and a broken heart makes you one of these
folks here. Makes you one of these folks
here. Religion seems to delight in the fact that you're going
to burn if you don't join up with them. If you don't join
up with them. Now wouldn't you know it, And
all this crowd is a fly in Nebuchadnezzar's ointment. Out of all these religious
compliant bunch, there were these three rebels, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. These refused to bow down to
this man-made, government-backed, celebrity-endorsed God. Now who are these three? There
are three young Jewish men who are slaves to Babylon, but servants
to the Most High God. These men have already paid a
great price. They've probably been made eunuchs.
Do you know what that means? They've been castrated. Probably. Now some will try to not say
that if you read commentaries, but generally speaking, when
you were set among the eunuchs, and the chief eunuch was set
over you, that means you were castrated. You became a eunuch. And they believed the eunuchs
wouldn't bother the women, that's why they made them eunuchs, and
they'd keep their mind on what they were doing. And these three
men were made eunuchs, or at least put under the rule of the
eunuchs. It says in verse 3 of chapter 1, "...and the king spake
unto Ashpenaz, the master of the eunuchs, that he should bring
certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of
the princes." What does that mean? If these men were made
eunuchs, there is no chance that they'll have a progeny. No chance. Their line will end
with them. They won't be able to have children.
So really, humanly speaking, they're the end of the line.
They're the end of the line. They lose their own names. And
they're given pagan names. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
are pagan names. They're Babylonian names. That
wasn't their names when they got there. Their names, according
to verse 5 and 6, it says, "...the king appointed a daily provision
for the king's meat and the wine which they drank, so nourishing
them three years that it end there they might stand before
the king. Now among these were the children of Judah, Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah." That was their Jewish names.
that their parents had given them. But they changed them to
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Hananiah, what does that mean?
God has favored. I've received grace. That's what
that means. I've received grace. That name's changed to Shadrach.
What does that mean? A great writer or a penman, a great scribe. Mishael, what does that mean?
Who is Like God he is. A godly man. A godly man. That's what that name means.
Godly. And they changed his name to Meshach. What does that mean?
Guest of the King. Guest of the King. And Azariah
means God has helped. And they changed his name to
Abednego. That means servant of Nebo, who is the God of learning
and letters. Servant of a false god. So they
renamed these young men who were offered the best of the king's
food. We just read that. Because the king wanted to make
them healthy and special for the jobs that he wanted to designate
them to do. But they refused to eat the king's
food. And so they were in trouble for
that. They were going to be cast out.
And Daniel says, well, don't do that. He said, let's just
have sort of a test on this thing. They won't eat the king's food,
but let's feed them pulse. We'll just feed them pulse and
see how they look at the end of three years. And of course
they look great. You know what pulse is? Beans. We can relate
to that, can't we? They ate beans. And they came
out on the other end just fine. God kept them comely anyway.
And it is these three men who refused to bow to the idol. Out of all those that were called
to worship, these three men refused to bow to this golden idol, this
90-foot idol in the plain of Dura. And when Nebuchadnezzar
found out, he tried to give them a chance to repent. This was
a religion of second chances. Look at verses 11, look at verses
14 and 15 of chapter 3. And Nebuchadnezzar spake, and
said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Do ye
not serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have
set up? Now, if ye be ready, that at the time ye hear the
sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbutt, psalter, and dulcimer,
and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which
I have made, well, that's good. But if ye worship not, ye shall
be cast in the same hour into the midst of the burning fiery
furnace, And who is that God that shall deliver you out of
my hand? Deliver you out of my hand. Of course, his offer is carried
with the thread of the burning furnace, but Nebuchadnezzar made
a tactical error here. In the last phrase of verse 15,
he threw down a gauntlet. Who is the God that will deliver
you out of my hands? I'm gonna put you in the fire
and ain't no God can stop me. That's what he said. No God can
stop me. Now generally, rhetorical questions
don't get an answer, but this one is soon going to be answered
from heaven. But first however, he got his
answer from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Look at verses
16 through 18. And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
answered and said, to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not
careful to answer thee in this matter. We're going to answer
you straight up and we're not worried about it. Now think about
this. Here's a fire in furnace, full
of flames, heat rising out in the plain of Dura. Here's Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of the mightiest empire in the world. And here's these
three young fellows. And they said, ìWeíre going to
tell you straight and weíre not worried about how we tell you. Weíre
not worried about how we tell you.î Hereís what they said,
ìIf it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us
from the burning, fiery furnace.î You remember what Belshazzar
asked Daniel when Daniel was cast into the
Lionís Den because of a law that Belshazzar had made? Melchizedek
couldn't sleep all night long. He ran out to the lion's den
the next morning. He said, Daniel, is the God you serve daily able
to deliver you? Was He able to deliver you? That's
the question, isn't it? And the answer is simply this,
if He wants to, He will. If He wants to, He will. If it
be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the
fire of earnest, and He will deliver us out of thy hand, O
King. Who is a God that can deliver you out of my hand? I'm going
to tell you who the God is that can deliver me out of your hand. That's what they said. But if
not, if not, if He don't deliver us, if we turn to ashes in that
fire 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. We're not going to do it. Whether
we live or whether we die, it doesn't matter to us. If God
wants to save us, He'll save us. If He don't, He won't. That's
His business. We bow to our God, not to the God that you made
with your own hands. And you know the rest of the
story. Nebuchadnezzar got hot, mad hot. And he told the men
to stoke the furnace and pour on more coal on the fire and
get it hot as could be. And he bound up Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. And the guards that took them
to cast them into the furnace, they themselves were consumed
with the fire and heat from the furnace. And Nebuchadnezzar thought he
had done what he said he was going to do. And as he sat looking
into that fire and furnace, he saw not three men, but four men. And he looks over at one of his
counselors and said, ìHow many fells I throw in that fire?î And he said, ìThree.î He said,
ìI see a fourth man.î And this was his testimony. And the fourth
one appears like the Son of God. The Son of God. Look at verse 29, "...because there is no other
God that can deliver after this sword." What sword is that? That's what I want to know. Evidently, He knows some other
swords and other gods who deliver after other swords, but Nothing
but this God can deliver after this sort. And this phrase is
a statement of astonishment made by a king whose threats and fire
have miserably failed. A king who has been shot down
by three young eunuchs and the words they spake. There is no
God that can deliver after this shortage and astonishment. Well,
it is clear that Baal, the primary God of Babylon, has failed to
deliver the king's servants from just being near the fire. They
were consumed just being near the fire. And these three fellows,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, have been in the fire. And the
Scripture says they came out completely unscathed. He said,
ìTheir clothes didnít even smell like smoke. How it wasnít singed
on their head. They came out just like they
went in.î They came out just like they went in. The image
erected on the plane of Darius proved to be an idle idol. It
canít do anything. But I want us to see that these
words spoken in awe by the king of this false religion are words
that unbeknownst to him set forth the gospel of Godís glory. The
gospel right here in that fire furnace. Right there in that
fire furnace is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Symbolically,
fire is always representative of judgment. Always. Fire represents judgment. These three men were delivered
from judgment. They were delivered from the
fire. But in their deliverance, they were not spared judgment. They weren't outside the fire and the Lord in the fire. They
were in the fire. They were in the fire. Our sins
must be judged. Our sins must be paid for and
the price is our death in the fiery furnace of God. That's
the payment of our sin. And you got to pay. Nobody escapes
this. These fellas didn't get off because
they were great guys. They didn't get off because the
king suddenly had a change of opinion. They was in that fire. They was in that judgment. But
they weren't alone. They weren't alone. The Son of
God was in the fire with them and for them. He was in the fire with them
and for them. What does that mean? He absorbed
the judgment for them. That's what it means. He absorbed
the judgment for them. He died for our sins according
to the Scriptures. He was made to be sin for us
who knew no sin. Jesus Christ died in our room
and stayed. The Lord, the Son of God in this
fire, He did not consume the fire. He consumed the fire for them. He was not consumed by the fire,
but He consumed the fire for them. The servants of the false
god were burned up just by being near the fire, but these three
weren't. Why? Because He bore our iniquities. He bore our iniquities. With
His stripes we are healed. He was wounded for our transgressions. This is a picture of imputation. The judgment that was due us,
that must be accounted as our judgment, was placed on the Lord
Jesus Christ on Calvary Street when He was made to be sin for
us. Also they, the three, were in
the fire with the Son of God. When Christ went to the cross
to bear the judgment of God for our sins, we were in Him. We were in Him. Most people think
that this happened apart from us. Our sins were punished on
Calvary Street. Christ was made to be sin for
us when our sins were made to meet on Him. Imputed to Him. He was charged with our sins.
It was our sins. And Scripture declares that we
were in Him when He died. So much so that when He died
before God, we died also. When He gave up the ghost before
God, we died also. Our sins were punished. How?
We died! God requires a death in our hands.
And he got it in a substitute. He got our death in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Scripture bears that out. Hold
your place at Daniel and look over at Romans chapter 6. Here
Paul is talking about the symbolism of baptism. The symbolism of
baptism in Romans chapter 6. Well, what does it symbolize
when we are baptized? I know a lot of people think
that baptism is like regeneration. It's not. Well, what do we get
out of going over there to the creek behind the rock and having
me dunk you in the water? What do you get out of that?
You get an opportunity to declare something. That's what you get.
An opportunity to declare something. That when Jesus Christ died,
You died. When he was buried, you were
buried. And when he rose from the dead,
you rose from the dead. That's what you're confessing.
You're confessing it in so many symbolic ways. One way is you're
putting your life in somebody else's hand. I baptized most
of you folks in here. There was a time when you went
out there, we got in the creek together, and you put your life
in my hand. You surrendered. You gave up. You weren't doing the breaststroke
or the backstroke or the Australian crawl. No, you weren't doing
any of those. What you did was you folded your
hands and held your nose and I took you by the arm and the
neck and I put you under the water. I put you into that which
you could not continue to live. I put you into death. Symbolically. And then I raised you out of
it. Baptism is an act of submission to God. I had a picture of an
act of submitting to God. That's what it is. That's why
we're baptized. Well, what does it say? It says we died. Is that scriptural? Is that scriptural? Romans chapter
6, look what it says. Now the word are here in Romans
chapter 6 and in the present tense should be translated in
the past tense. When Paul said, I am crucified
with Christ, if it was in the precedence, Christ would at that
time be being crucified. But he's not. What he means is,
I was crucified with Christ. That's what he means. That's
what it means here in baptism also. 3 says, Know ye not that so many
of us as were baptized unto Christ were baptized unto his death? Unto his death. Picturing his
death. Therefore, we were buried with him in baptism unto death. like as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glory of God, even so we should walk in newness
of life. For if we were planted together
in His likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness
of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified
with Him. was crucified with him, that
the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should serve
sin no more. For he that died is freed from sin, and if we
died with Christ, we believe that we should live with Him,
knowing therefore that the old man is dead. What happened on
Calvary Street? I died. I really died. Before God, I died. You say,
well, you didn't actually die. Oh, yes, I did. You see, the
way God sees things is the way it is. All this other stuff ain't
nothing to it. It's going to pass away with
a firm heat. Ain't nothing to it. Ain't nothing to you and
I. We hang on for a little bit,
but we're pretty well gone. I'm well past the mark now. I
ain't going to be here long. I ain't going to be here long.
But I died with Christ. I died with Him. That which God
says is so, is so. And He said, through Paul the
Apostle, that we go out in those baptismal waters to confess this,
I died when Christ died. You say, well, it's an admission
into the church. Listen, that's silly. That's silly. You know why? Under what authority
are you baptized? The authority of the church.
How can you be baptized under the authority of the church if
you're not a member of the church? You're a member of the body of Christ
already, or you wouldn't even want to be baptized. Baptized unto his death. What
are you saying? I'm dead. I'm dead. My sins have been paid
for. But my life is here with Christ in God. I'm dead. Galatians chapter 2. In verse
20, Paul said, I was crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I
live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me. Christ died in my room, and by
His obedience, I died unto God. Not only that, these three came
out of the furnished completely unscathed. I died, and yet I
live. They were not hurt when they
were judged. They weren't. Nor shall they
be hurt in the final judgment. They're not going to be hurt. 1 John chapter 4 and verse 17
says, we don't fear the judgment. I know religion operates on that
fear, just like Nebuchadnezzar held that flame out over people
if they didn't worship. True religion, the religion of
God, true religion, the religion of Christ, don't fear the judgment.
I know it makes for good preaching and it keeps people in church
and keeps them scared and wants them to... True religion, if
you trust Christ, you don't fear the judgment. Scripture says,
we don't fear the judgment, 1 John 4, 17, we don't fear the judgment
because as Christ is, so are we in the world. What does that
mean? How is Christ? He died, He rose,
He resurrected, He ascended. How are we? We died, we were
buried, we arose, and we ascended with Him and sit in heavenly
places with Him according to Ephesians chapter 2, right now. We say, what about, you know,
what about my sins of omission and commission? Listen, if any
sin is charged against you, any sin, any sin, any sin, one sin,
if you live your whole life perfectly and you have one sin to stand
before God, you're going to perish. If you read the text in Revelation
20, speaking of that final judgment, men are judged out of books.
the infidels, the dirty birds, and all those described in Scripture,
the vipers, those that were members of the whore Babylon that did
not come out of her when God called. They are open, books
are open, and they are judged out of the books, but the Lamb's
book of life is not a book of judgment. It is a book of record. And it says those will be judged
out of those books. But God's children will be looked
up to show that their name was written in heaven before the
foundation of the world. No judgment. These fellas were
in that fire. Christ was in there with them,
in there for them. They were in there with Him.
They came out of the judgment. They didn't even smell like smoke.
A lot of religion says, well, I know we're going to make it
through the judgment, but I believe we're going to all smell like sulfur. That guy don't
know God from a goose, because that's simply not the truth.
We're going to smell like the rose of Sherry and the lily of
the valley. We're going to be as pristine,
as pure as the driven snow. There's not going to be no judgment
for the children of God. Why? Because Christ paid my sin
debt on Calvary Street fully, completely, and all of it. So much so that God says, I don't
remember you having ever sinned. That's what justification means. Just as if I never sinned. These guys come out smelling
good. They came out smelling good. When these three came out, the
Son of God didn't come out. There's no indication of that.
There didn't four men come out of that furnace. Three men came
out of that furnace. Why? He died in the fire, but not from the
fire. He died having consumed the fire
that was due those three. He gave up His life freely after
He said, here they come. They walk out there. He said
what? It is finished. And then He gave up the ghost.
Then He gave up the ghost. God didn't kill His Son on Calvary
Street. God punished His Son for our
sins. He punished our son. Men didn't kill God, though they
were accused of murder and said, you killed Christ because that
was what was in their heart. They wanted to kill Him. They
said, this man shall not reign over. But men can't kill God.
They couldn't even take Him prisoner. They tried taking Him prisoner.
He just said, I am, and they fell away backwards. All He said
was, I am, and they fell down. He had to voluntarily give Himself
to me. And He gave His back to the smiters. He gave His face
to pluck off the iron. He turned out His face from spitting.
That's all a voluntary act. And then He died. He died. He didn't come out of the fire.
What does that remind us? Our judgment is done. Our judgment is done. He both
died, rose, and resurrected that He might be the Lord of the living
and the dead. When he had borne our judgment,
he gave up the ghost, was buried, rose again, and descended to
the right hand of God. He has borne the judgment of his people,
and they will never be judged again. That simple. That simple. That's the language of Scripture.
That's the language of Scripture. Who shall lay any king to the
charge of God's elect? Paul calls heaven to account,
hell to account. Earth to account, angels and
demons to account, any of you, anywhere, in all of this universe,
if you can lay one charge against God's elect, God is a failure,
and Christ's work didn't finish anything. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It's God that justifies. It's
God that declares them pure. God declares them perfect. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. It is Christ that died. In Romans
chapter 4 and verse 7 and 8. There are some verses in Scripture
you just read and read and read and read. You read them over
and over. I mean, you just can't stop reading them because they
say such a wonderful thing. Quoting Psalm 32. Paul says this, Blessed are they
whose iniquities are forgiven. And I've been blessed to the
Lord. Have you? You're darn right. I got a new house. Who's paying
for that? You making mortgage payments?
You ain't got a new house. You're paying for a new house.
I got me a new car. Who's paying for that? You got
car payments? It ain't yours, it's the bank's. It's the bank's. Don't think
so, stop making them payments. You see who it belongs to. Same
way with your house. Listen to me. God gives you something,
you don't pay for it. You don't give a dime for it.
Everything he gives is free. Free. And without strings. No strings attached. none whatsoever. Blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." Now look at this
next phrase. If you, by God's grace, can believe
this, I can tell you'll go home a happy person today, full of
joy in your heart. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. You know what blessedness is? You know what you are, and I
know what I am. But if you're a child of God,
if you went in that fiery furnace with Christ, and you came out
on the other side unscathed, if you're a child of God, no
matter what you do or don't do, listen very carefully, and you
may fall tomorrow, any person in here is capable of doing anything
if God does not keep us. and hold us. And there are instances
in Scripture where He suffered men to act like themselves. If
God allows you to be yourself, there's nothing you won't do.
Nothing you won't do. But let me tell you this, if
you murdered a man tomorrow, you'd have to pay the price with
the state. But if you're God's child, listen
very carefully, God will never charge you with that sin. Why? Because Christ already paid for
that sin. That's just a fact. You say,
well, that don't seem right. Who are you to question God?
He said, I will remember their sins no more. You think God felt
differently about David when he was wrapped up in Bathsheba's
arms in adultery than he did when he was dancing before the
ark for the glory of God? Do you think God felt differently
about him? Then God must change. God doesn't change. David changed.
David hurt himself. David wrote a psalm that said,
Oh, bring me back to the joy of my salvation. That's what
you'll do. You'll hurt the joy of your salvation.
But let me tell you, God's temperament, God's love, God's grace, God's
mercy, God's attitude toward you will never change. unless he can change, and he
can't change. I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Right now, as you live and breathe,
you old wretched sinner, saved by grace. God will never charge
you with sin. That's what it is to be blessed.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Impute means to charge. Blessed
is that man. The story of that furnace and
those four men inside is good news for all sinners. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name. Amen.